The Sun.
London, England, 1846-06-05 00:00:00

HE SQUADRON OF EVOLUTION.

(From the Times.)
By the Gladiator, which had been dispatched to Cork
from the squadron of evolution, we have received reports
of all the trials of sailing which kai taken place up to
her departure. Since leaving Portsmouth the rendezvous
of the squadron had never been made known by signal,
but each captain or commander had it in a sealed letter,
which letter was not to be opened except in the event of
parting company. If we say, however, that the cruising
ground was between the latitude of 48 deg. and 49 deg.
north, and longitude 9 deg. and 10 deg. west, we
shall be near enough for reference. It was proposed
at the time our advices left that the whole of
the squadron shall be at Cork on Friday next, and
that their stay there should only be to get answers
to the letters which the Gladiator was to take in.
During their stay there, which was expected to be
at most only three days, the whole of the marines of
the squadron, and the field-pieces manned with seamen,
were to be landed on Spike Island. The number of the
men would probably be 2,000, the field-pieces twenty.
After sailing from Cork, the next landing was proposed
to he at Bantry Bay, where access to the shore is more
difficult on account of the serf. Whiddy Island, at the
bottom of the bay, was the place spoken of, though it
was considered too small. As to what bad already been
done, " but little," says one of our correspondents, "can
be said; the commodore keeps the squadron at it,
though, I lament to say, that in him, as well as in his
predecessors in command, long residence on shore as not
improved the nerves. As yet we have had no casualties,
or, at least, none have been reported."
A letter of subsequent date says :—" As Raleigh
joined to-day, and Belleisle, with the new
captain (John
Shepperd) of St. Vincent, is cruising in search of us,
our going into Cork is delayed until the 9th of June."
We subjoin a detailed account of each trial:—
The first table, that which contains the angle sub-
tended by the mast-heads of the respective ships, as also
their particular bearings at the commencement and at
the conclusion of each trial, furnishes elements suffi-
cient for those among our professional readers who may
have leisure to construct their own diagrams ; while tke
table of results affords to the uninitiated at one view
the advantages that each ship had over the others. For
instance, in trial No. 1 the Vanguard stands first ; if
the eye be carried along the line horizontally, it will be
found that the name of the Superb follows, marked 352;
that is, the Vanguard had the advantage of the Superb
by 352 fathoms. Again, the Vanguard beats the Albion
by 521 fathoms, the Queen by 799, and so on. The next
ship is the Superb, and it will be seen that she beats
the St. Vincent by 997 fathoms.
The mile is made up of 1,010 of these fathoms; 101
fathoms are taken as a cable's length; and 10 cables are
considered a mile.

No. I.
MAY 15.
TRIAL OF SAILING WITH THE WIND ABAFT.

At 11h. 30m7, force of wind from 3 to 2,
with a slight swell from the eastward; the signal was made
to try rate of sailing, and the course to be steered was W.
half N. The sail carried beside all plain sail was port lower,
topmast, and topgallant studding eails, and starboard top-
gallant studding sails with staysails. At 1 P.M., the wind
veered to due east, when the staysails and spankers were
taken in, the wind having fallen to 2 and PA. The rate of
sailing at starting was not more than from 31% to 4 knots.
RESULT.

cr. ci r.. C e.,
co 6 ' et. = .-- A 4 .
Ships' Names. ',1:7. ,i' , P .-'e E DJ
- 1
0 rs
1 I r
1 Vanguard ... ... 352 51 7291025'134912715
2 Superb... ... ... 169 377 673 i 997 2363
3 Albion ... ... ... ; 208 504; 828 2194
4 Queen ... ... ... — 620 1986
5 Rodney ... —.— 324 1690
6 St. Vincent ... ... —; 1366
7 Trafalgar (last) ...' !

REMARKS.
Before the trial of sailing took place, the line-of-battle
ships of the squadron (except St. Vincent) exercised firing
their cabin, ward-room, and gun-room guns from their stern
ports with a view of ascertaining the eff►cts of the concus-
sion on the frame-work of the stern, as also the time re-
quired for clearing away the bulk-heads, &c. The effect
produced by the concussion was in no instance material, al-
though it was greater than if fired from broadside guns.
The time taken varied from thirty minutes to an hour. The
weather was fine, the swell very trifling, and therefore
afforded no good opportunity of judging which of the ships
could have fought them best in heavier weather. The trial
of sailing was very uninteresting, except that the Rattler
was decidedly the best of the steam-vessels. No firing took
place on board them.

No. 11.
MAY 16.
Taut OF SAILING ON A WEID.
At two P.M. the lee division—namely, Queen, Rodney, and
Superb—started under single-reefed topsails, royals, jibs, and
spankers, the wind S. by W., the course ordered west, force
of wind 4 and freshening, with a little swell from the south-
ward, St. Vincent jogging along under easy sail. At four
r.m. the signal was made to tack, but the division being at
least seven miles ahead, the masthead angles could not be
depended oe. At 4h. 30m., Rodney being apparently the
best ship, was ordered to tack, with a view of ascertaining
if she could cross Queen's bows, Superb being unquestionably
at the time the windward ship; Rodney, however, failed to
do Po, and the recall was then made.
The ships at starting were as under, viz. :

p.-4
p.,
0.361;
Ships'Names. g 0 g
a- 0 I
Bearing.
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