The Sun.
London, England, 1846-04-11 00:00:00

THE TERRIBLE STEAM-FRIGATE.

We were persuaded that it needed only a view of Mr.
Ding's Terrible side by side with the Surveyor's steam-
frigate Retribution, also of 800-horse power, to convince
the most prejudiced that, beyond all comparison, the
Terrible is the rnan-of- war steamer. This has been ad-
mitted by those who have thought and written differently;
and we a're sure it will also be adniitted, whenever the
trial takes place, that the Terrible is the stiffest, has
the best stowage, will meet a head-sea better, and in
the essential qualities of a fighting ship is far superior
to her competitor.. We will say nothing about speed,
for the Retribution has the same horse power, although
of 200 tons less burden. In the trip round to Ports-
mouth, the performances of the Terrible were most
satisfactory, and the experiments which were tried dis-
proved many statements which have been advanced with
much confidence. She left Greenhithe on Sunday even-
ing, and anchcted at the Swin Light. She weighed the
next day, and from the Downs, against a head sea and
wind W.S.W., she steamed to Spithead in little more than
14 hours. In this work she used only two of her boilers—
those next the engines—only- one-half her power, the en-
gines making nine and often nine-and-a-half revolutions
—against a gale of wind which kept a great number of
vessels in the Downs. Thus has the advantage been
quan-
tity shown f
000fals. her fourshe separate
ni boilers,ith
one, two,
saving half the ,
three, and
when requiring extraordinary speed, with the whole four;
so that even 400 tons of coals would last her twenty clays, if she had not an opportunity of using her sails,
experiment of
which, however, she could spread with very great
ad-
vantage
on her three masts, before the usingvvind,
coals. We believe Sir Charles Napier asserted iutnhoe
House of Commons that " the Terrible was the best
steamer we have, but she could not fire a stern gun "
and the Gallant Commodore has never acknowledged
fih his n
ge r rtenre. g
uOn
tohnee was tried, the
bow and stern guns on the main deck in a line with the
keel charged with 16lbs. of powder and ahotted, the bow
as
wllasaamdaadye.maErvneinryg
and Stern at an elevation of 1 i degrees. On this occa-
sion the concussion produced not a scratch or a shake
anywhere, not even a pane of glass in the cabins, or in
any part of the vessel was cracked, We have no doubt
that the forthccming trials will prove the Terrible to be.
what we have always asserted, not a perfect ship, in
every respect, but the most perfect and the finest steam-
Man-of-war in the British, or any other royal navy_,
and
that the architect who designed this ship is well
qualified
to improve on her lines in another.
SHEERNESS, WEDNESDAY.--In consideration of the
services of his brother, the gallant Lieutenant Walter
Y. Beale, of her Majesty's 10th Foot, who was killed at
the battle of Sobraon, Mr. Robert 13. Beale, the gunnery
mate of the Tratalgar, 120, the flag-ship at this port, has
been promoted by the Admiralty to the rank of Lieu-
tenant. His commission arrived on Sunday, and was
received with the most gratifying welcome by all on
board the Trafalgar. Mr. Beale passed for a Lieutenant
in 1843. He served as a midshipman on board the
Princess Charlotte, the flag-ship of Admiral Sir Robert