The Sun.
London, England, 1847-05-12 00:00:00

NAVAL CONSTRUCTION.

COPY OF INSTRUCTIONS GIVEN BY THE ADMIRALTY
TO THE COMMITTEE OF REFERENCE, ON QUESTIONS
RELATING TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF SHIPS.
My Lords having had under consideration the large
amount which is annually expended in building vessels
of war, and the great importance of adopting such plans
only as, after due examination by persons practically
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have recourse to greater precaution than has heretofore
existed, before finally p
vessel submitted to them, are pleased to direct
Ist That in future every draught shall be sent in, in
duplicate, and shall be accompanied by a model on the
scale of half an inch to a foot, in the ease of vessels of
150 feet and under in length, between the perpendicu-
lars, or of a quarter of an inch to a foot in the case of
vessels of greater length, and shall in the first instance
be submitted to the Board for inspection at one of their
regular sittings.
2d. That it the Board shall consider it expedient to
entertain the proposed design, one copy shall be referred,
as has heretofore been the practice, to the Surveyor of
the Navy, to be reported on by him, and the other to a
pet soyns,
t he
committee to be composed of two of the most scientific
•
Board,
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or moreselected
for hi
duty
not officially connected with the Admiralty, as their
Lordships may think proper to select, who are to report
competentt
their opinions respecting it in writing, and (in case of
disagreement) separately to the Board ; and in the event .
of any nautical difference of opinion between the sur-
veyor and the committee thus constituted, the report of
the surveyor is to be referred to the committee, and
that of the committee to the surveyor, who are to state,
after having duly weighed the arguments in favour of
their respective views, whether or not they still adhere
to their former opinions.
3d.—That a printed form, to be hereafter determined
by the Admiralty with the assistance of the surveyor
and the above-mentioned " Committee of Reference,"
shall be drawn up, containing questions with respect to
the capacity of the proposed vessel for carrying her
weights, her probable qualities as a man-of-war, and
other points of importance to her efficiency, to which
answers are to be inserted separately by the Surveyor,
and by each of the members of the " Committee of
Reference ;" but that their remarks are not to be con-
fined to such answers, but are to extend to every point
having relation to the design referred to them to which
they might think it proper to draw the attention of the
Board.

4th. That the Surveyor and the Committee of Re-
ference be desired to confer with the Chief Engineers of
the Woolwich and Portsmouth steam-factories, and to
submit for the consideration of the Board, a plan for
obtaining greater security than at present exists, that
the Steam Vessels to be hereafter ordered to be built will
float at the proper trim after their engines have been
fixed on board, and that they will stow the requisite
quantities of coals, water, provisions, &c., at the proper
immersion.

sth. That the reports of the surveyor and of the
committee of reference are to be circulated for a week
at least among the m. mbers of the board, and to be
taken into consideration on a day previously fixed, when
it is to be determined whether the design to which they
refer shall be approved or rejected, or (in the event of
the principle being approved, but objections being en-
'tertained in questions of detail) returned to the con-
structor for such alterations and adjustments as may be
required.

6th. That the surveyor and committee of reference
be given clearly to understand that, with respect to all
questions of mere calculation, such, for instance, as suffi-
ciency of displacement, sufficiency of space to stow the
proper quantities of water, provisions (coals in the case
of steamers), &c., in their proper places, the responsi-
bility will rest with them and not with the constructor,
who is not unfrequently ignorant of the weights which a
man-of-war is required to carry, and has, therefore, no
correct data on which to found his calculations in these
respects.

7th. My Lords also direct, that before any vessel shall
be ordered to be repaired, an estimate of the expense,
which is to be laid before the Board for consideration,
shall be sent in by the shipwright officers of the yard,
who are to distinguish between the probable cost of
giving her a thorough repair, and of repairing her in,
a more superficial manner, with inferior timber, sue- -
cient to fit her for only another station ; and. •
Bth. That no vessel shall be broken up or sold out of
the service (unless she be of an obsolete class of which
it might be desirable to get rid), without a survey having
first been held on her by two master shipwrights, of
whom the master shipwright of the Ordinary to which
she belongs is to be one, and that in the event of a differ-
ence of opinion between these two officers, she is to be
re-surveyed by a third master shipwright, who is to send
in a separate report, which, along with the reports of the
first survey, is to be laid before the Board.

NEW ARMAMENT FOR THE

STEAM NAVY.

The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, after
considerable experience of the power of the various
steam frigates and other steamers in the Royal Navy, as
regards their capabilities of bearing heavy armaments,
have resolved to fix the following as the armament of
each particular steamer. Vessels of similar, or nearly
similar, tonnage and horse-power are to be arranged in
classes.

STEAMERS PROPELLED BY PADDLES.—STEAMSHIPS.
—Terrible, 1,850 tons, 800 horse-power ; main deck.
four 56 pounders of 97 cwt., four 8-inch guns of 65 cwt.;
the 56-pounders on pivot slides, and carriages : the
(
8-inch guns on common carriages—upper deck: four 56-
p,qinders of 97 cwt. on pivot siid( s and carriages ; four
10-inch guns, 85 cwt. on common carriages : total guns,
16. Penelope, 1,616 tons, 650 horse-power; main deck.
eight 8 inch guns of 65 cwt., on slides and carriages;
two 68-pounder carronades of 36 cwt., on Hardy's com-
pressor carriages—upper deck : two 68-pounders of 95
cwt., on pivot slides and carriages ; four 8-inch guns of
65 cwt., on slides and carriages: total, 16. Retribution,
1,641 tons. 800 horse power; main deck, none (but it is
arranged that all steam ships which do not carry an
armament on the main deck, shall, if possible, carry four
32-pounders of 56 cwt., for head and stern firing)—
upper deck : two 68 pounders of 95 cwt., on slides and
carriages to pivot ; tour 10-inch guns, 85 cwt., on slide
and carriages: total 6.
STEAM FRIGATES.—CIass I—Avenger, 1,444 tons, 650
horse-power; and Birkenhead, of 1,400 tons, 500 horse-
power. Upper deck : two 68-pounders of 95 cwt., on
slides and carriages to pivot; four 10-inch guns, 85 cwt.,
on slides and carriages: total 6. At present.. the Avenger
carries by way of experiment two 32-pounders of 65
cwt., instead of the two 10-inch guns. Class 2 (A)—
Odin, 1,326 tons, 500 horse-power. Main deck: six 32-
pounders, 56 cwt., on common carriages. Upper deck:
two 68-pounders, 95 cwt., on pivot slides and carriages;
four 10-inch guns, 85 cwt., ou slides and carriages: total
12. The steamers also belonging to this class are the
Sidon and Leopard. Classs 2 (13)—Gladiator, 1,210
tons, 430 horse power; Sampson (450 h. p.); Centaur
(540 h. p.); Dragon (560 h. p.); Firebrand (400 h. p.);
Vulture (470 h. p.) ; and Cyclops (320 h. p.) Upper .
deck : two 68-pounders, 95 cwt., on pivot slide and
carriages ; four 10-inch guns, of 85 cwt., on slides and
carriages : total 6.
STEAM SLoors.—Class I—Gorgon, 1,111 tons, 320
horse-power; Bulldog (500), Fury (515), Inflexible
(378), Devastation (400), Sphynx (500), Cormorant
(300), Thunderbolt, since wrecked in Algoa Bay (300),
Virago (300), Eclair (287), Driver (280), Geyser (280).
Growler (280), Styx (280), Vixen (280), Spiteful
2-pounders
of ,(12,
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oSntero6mB
68-pounder
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P:a;rrfioaugre s 3.
all vessels of this class, 6. Class 2—Medea, 835 tons,
350-horse power ; Salamander (220), Hydra (200),
Hecate (240), Hecla (240), Hermes (220), and Trident
(3t,0). Upper deck: two 10 inch guns, 85 cwt,, on pivot
slides and carriages; four 32-pounders, 25 cwt., on
Hardy's compressor carriages. Total, 6. Class 3---
Ardent, 810 tons, 200 horse-power; Alecto (200), Poly-
phemus (200), and Prometheus (200). Upper deck: one
32-pounder, 45 cwt., on pivot slides and carriages.
Total, 3. A special exception is made in this class of
the Janus, 763 tons, 220 horse-power, which carries
only two 10-inch guns of 85 cwt., on pivot slides and
carriages.
BOMB STEAMERS.—Scourge, 1,124 tons, 420 horse:-
power. Upper deck: one 68-pounder, 95 cwt. on slide,
and carriage to pivot; one 13-inch mortar. Total, 2.
STEAM GUN VESSELS.—CIass I—Firefly, 550 tons,
220 horse-power;
32-pounder, 42 cwt., .
Flamer (120). Upper deck: one
32 pounder car-
ronades,on slide and carriage to pivot; .
"Yoe: Class 1 (A)—
Blazer, (126), Tartarus (136), and
17 cwt. on Idardy's carriages
Pluto (1001
(260), Antelope
Colombia (100). Oberon (260), Triton
0) and Volcano (140). Two (260), Acheron (17 ~ . .
Grappler, 559 tons, 220 horse-power, ,t .
32-
pounders, 56 cwt., on slides and carriages to pivot; two
32-pounders, 25 cwt., on compressor slides and car.
riages; total, 4. Class 2 (A)—Spitfire, 432 tons, 140
horse-power; Porcupine (132), Lucifer (180), Avon
(170), Gleaner (130), Shearwater (160), Kite (170).
Lightning (100), Meteor (100), and Comet (80). One
18-pounder, of 20 CAL, on slides and carriages to pivots;
Locust
2 0)(,B
two 18-pounder carronades, 10 cwt., on Hardy's com-
pressor carriages; total, 3. Class
)I—laTrp°yrell346
tons, 150 horse-power,
(200),
Jackal (150), Lizard (150), Bloodhound (150), and Myr-
midon (150). One 18-pounder,
of 22 t • t Ides
and carriages, and two 18-
ou'nd s cw,
~ on p
p er carronad esivo ,10 "cwt.„.:
on Hardy's carriages.
STEAM PACKETS. —W ildfire, 186 tons; Fearless,
Dasher, Monkey, and Dwarf. Two 6 pounder brass
' guns, of six cwt,
TUGS.—Echo, 295 tons, 140 horsepower, African
and Confidence. Two 32-pounders, of 56 cwt., on pivot
slides and carriages.
TROOP SHlPS.—Rhadamanthus, 813 tons, 220 horse-
power, Dee (220), and Alban (120). Foer 32 pounders
of 41 or 56 cwt., on common carriage's.—United Service
Gazette.

LARGE MERCANTILE FAILURE IN MANCIIESTER.-
MANCHESTER, TRURSDAY.—The town has been electrified
to-day by the announcement of a failure of very considerable
magnitude. The house is an American one, of the firm of
Roberts, Freeman, and Co. The amount currently stated is.
50,000/. or 60,0001. There are some four or five houses herk.
who have claims for 4,0001. or 5,0001. each, and the amount-
owing by the concern in Yorkshire is said to be very large.
The house had risen to credit, from the fact of their having
for some time previously to the stoppage employed a most
respectable firm to purchase on their account, but who lately
have not been known as the agents of the defaulting parties •
Dispatches for the Governor of the Mauritius was sent
last evening from the Colonial-office.