The Sun.
London, England, 1846-11-06 00:00:00

TO THE EDIEOR OF THE TIMES.

Sir,—As the final destruction of this magnificent ship
would be looked upon by the public with very great re-
gret, and, by naval men in particular, almost with a
degree of pain, retarding, as it would, the solution of
questions highly important to navigation : namely, the
efficacy of such, large iron ships ; the local variation of
the compass ; and, not the least important, the supe-
riority of the screw over every mode of propulsion, be-
side the feeling of sympathy so general in the disap-
pointment and loss accruing to the talented projectors
and owners of this truly unique and admirable vessel ;
it is to be regretted that the most common, evident, and
easy means of saving her had not at once been adopted,
and unless they are immediately put into operation her
total loss would appear to be inevitable.
She is said to lie on the sands of Dundrum Bay, not
yet very seriously injured, with ten feet of water in her
hold at high tide, which-flows out at ebb, and leaves her
dry; in' this position, she is, or should be, securely fixed
earns cwhi onrg
ianngdown hs
ho
ol er
ec,a,obrl ero fm mn g eoa cn hi t
wquarter, uhaernt egro,
tt
acvooraet-.
means would at once be resorted to in the Queen's
vbTeyonatehnffect this latter object, and drag her off, the follow-
ingservice:—all her spare, and as much of her heavy ma-
chinery as possible, should be taken out of her, as well as
the remains of her coal, and, indeed, every article but her
boilers, that could be removed previously to the nextspring
tide; at least a dozen hand-pumps would be pointed into
her holds, and all leaks stopped that could be reached at
each succeeding low water, leaving the scuttled hole to be
closed; until the last eob, before the spring tide intended
to float her, her masts would be taken out, and two extra
rough spars that have been previously used as shears for
her machinery, &c., placed fore and aft on both sides,
under her bilges, connected and secured by chain spars
under her keel—the sand dug away for this purpose—
these spars would be secured upwards by hawsers
through the ports over all, or inboard; about 400 water-
tight butts (casks), securely slung, would be ready on the
beach, to be firmly lashed under her bottom to the spars
the instant the state of the last ebb would permit; she
would at the same moment be cleared of any water tha
might remain below the scuttled hole by the pumps, and,
this hole closed and made water-tight, a heavy chain would
be extended from the ship into deep water, and dropped
with a buoy on it, to be picked up by the steamer that is
destined to drag her off; another of the same length, with
an anchor, it might also be found necessary to warp out,
should the steamers not be able to get close enough ; one
of these latter vessels, of 300 horse-power and light
draught, with two tugs, would be perhaps sufficient.
T. effect the above, 300 steady seamen would be re-
aoy3c,ecesa, occasions. Ido not, Sir, put this plan forward as
re-
quired, extra engineers, and the usual gear necessary on
snew—every naval fficer would immediately
upaatOnuhco:hewtt
—rhf
oerl,aacshathnneecilieiff
iintsgiraeadily obtained. It is true, it may be hauled up
apply the present state of the Great Britain, or any
material—thoughotheplac
in. her ,• but infi • eis n o
tt
onot r
docns the
y—
would attend both plan In tinheorefirestxpense, and delay
launched—a great difficulty this she must be re-
st shore ; in the
second, a gale and high tide wouldon render her not worth
the cost of the work.
I have the honour to re • main, your obedient humble
servant, W. H. OLDMIXON, Lieutenant, R.N.

_ ----
THE LORD MAYOR'S PROCESSION. —lt appears that the
route given en Wednesday has been altered to the following,
which will be found substantially correct:—The proees-
sion will start down Gresham-street, and proceed along
Princes-street, King William-street, and tu.ke water at
London-bridge.