The Sun.
London, England, 1860-03-09 00:00:00

211. E NAVY,

LAUNCH OF = THE HOWE.
The • launch of the Howe was most successfully
effected from No. 2 shed at Pembroke dockyard on
Wednesda:y last. Froth an early hour in the morn-
ing the sightseers poured in from the surrounding
country. At•a few minutes before six o'clock Miss
Ramsay, daughter of Gen. Ramsay, niece to Capt.
George Ramsay,. C. 8., Captain-Superintendent of
Pembroke dockyard, came forward, and, taking the
gaily 'decorated bottle that hung at the vessel's
bow, 'dashed it against the stem, and the christen-
ing of the Howe was an accomplished fact. At 10
minutes past six o'clock
p.m. just three minutes
from the time the dogshores had been knocked
away, the Howe moved off, and, gliding grandly
down the greased ways, gathering speed as she
went, reached the water amid enthusiastic cheers
and waving of handkerchiefs, while the dockyard
band played " Rule Britannia." As soon as she
had gained a sufficient offing she was brought up,
and the largest line-of-battle ship in her Majesty's
navy swung to her anchor for the first time. The
Howe was designed by Rear-Admiral' Sir Baldwin
W. Walker, K.C.B. Controller of the Navy. She
was laid down in IVlarch, 1856, and, owing to the
press of work in all the royal dockyards at that
period, consequent on the. Russian war, she was
partly framed by superannuated shipwrights, re-
employed for the occasion. She is a very beauti-
ful model, and has been completed under the
immediate superintendence of Mr. Henry Cradock,
the present Master-Shipwriglit. Her figurehead is
a three-quarter length figure of Admiral Lord
Howe, in the old naval' uniform, and is about 15
feet_high. Her principallimensions are as follows :
Length over all, 301 ft. lin. ' • length between per-
pendiculars, 260 ft..; length of keel for tonnage,
220 ft.; breadth, extreme, 61ft. ; breadth for. ton-
nage, 60ft. 2in. ; breadth, moulded, 59ft. 4in. ; depth
of hold, 26ft. 4in.; depth from taffrail to under side
of keel. 65ft. 9in.; depth from top of figure-head to
keel, 61ft. 9in.; burden in tons of ship, 3,594; bur-
den in tons of engine-room, 1,842; burden in tons
of builder's measurement, 4,236; load draught of
water when ready for sea, afore 24ft. 9in. ; ditto,
abaft, about 251 t. Bin.
; weight of hull wnen
launched, about 3,500 tons. Her armament will
be as under :

Lower deck 32 8-inch guns, 65 cwt., 9ft. long.
Middle 30 8-inch guns, 65 cwt., Oft. long.
Main 32 32-pounders, 68 cwt., 9ft. 6in. long.
Upper 26 32-pounders, 42 cwt., 9ft. long.
Ditto 1 6S-pounder pivot, 95 cwt., 10 ft. long.

T0ta1..., 121
Her complement of officers and men will be 1,130.
Her engines are of 1,000 horse power, and are made
by Messrs. Penn and Son, of Greenwich.

Her Majesty's Royal paddle yacht Osborne,
Master-Commander Bower, has been taken into the
steam basin at Portsmouth for the purpose of hav-
ing her old boilers ,taken out, and receiving new
ones fitted with superheating steam apparatus.
The crew of the Euryalus, 51, screw, Captain J.
W. Tarleton, C. 8., were paid down in the steam
basin at Portsmouth yesterday, and granted 14
days' leave ashore.
The Nelson, 91, screw, in the steam basin at
Portsmouth, has again been placed under the steam
crane to complete receiving her machinery.
Orders have been received at Chatham for the
steam floating - battery Trusty, 14, which was so
severely injured from the spherical shots from the
Armstrong guns during the recent experiments, to
be taken into dock to be thoroughly repaired
and her defects made good. Several of her plates,
which are of immense thickness, were completely
riddled by the shots, some of which went com-
pletely through the sides of the vessel, the wrought
iron plates being fractured wherever they were
struck by a shot. In consequence of the compara-
tively little resistance presented by these iron-
plated floating batteries, no more vessels of that
class are to be constructed.

Her Majesty's paddlewheel transport Dee,
Master-Commander Thomas Pullen, was yesterday
hauled out of the steam basin at Woolwich, and
proceeded to Portsmouth, laden with a heavy cargo,
consisting of boilers for the Prince of Wales, steam
machinery for the Nelson, Victoria, Sutlej, Vulcan,
and some small gear for the Royal yacht the Vic-
toria and Albert.

The Torch steam gun-vessel, built by Messrs.
Green for the Admiralty, has been taken into the
fourth dock at Chatham to be surveyed.
The line-of-battle screw steamer Atlas, 91, build-
ing at Chatham, has several hundred shipwrights
employed on her, in order that she may be brought
forward for launching. The whole of the caulkers
of the establishment are engaged caulking her.
The sister vessel Bulwark, 91, is also making great
progress.
The gunboat Biter, tender to the coast-guardship
Blenheim, 60, Capt. F. Scott, C,8., at Portland, ar-
rived on Tuesday at Plymouth. She is to be
docked and repaired.
The screw steamship- Conqueror, 101, Captain
Sotheby, C. 8., sailed from Plymouth on Tuesday to
join the squadron.
The screw steam-sloop Mutine, 17, Commander
William Graham, from Portland, arrived in Ply-
mouth Sound on Wednesday evening.
John Williams (1), belonging to her Majesty's
ship Trafalgar, was tried by court-martial at Ply-
mouth on Wednesday for refusing on the Ist o f
March to obey the orders of John Fawkes, addi-
tional boatswain, and for striking William Ray field,
leading seaman, and George Green, captain of the
foretop. The prisoner pleaded guilty, and was sen-
tenced to receive 48 lashes, be imprisoned twelve
months, and be-dismissed from her Majesty's ser-
vice.

On Monday last the master discovered that some
evil-disposed person had injured a quantity of new
rope on board the screw steamship Nile, 90, Capt.
A. P. E. Wilmot, C. 8., now under repair in the
basin at ICeyham steam yard, Devonport. The in-
jured rope, which is valued at over £3OO, included
a sheet or stream cable, which is hacked in several
places, in one of which two strands are cut through,
and a hawser (of about two or three inches), which
has been out in a similar way. An axe was found
near. The ship is for the present in the hands of
the dockyard artisans, who are at work on board in
all directions. The rope is on the orlop deck, where
candles are used. It is coiled within some square
wooden railwork, on the port side forward. There
is just ,space enough between the rails and the side
of the ship for people to pass, and, as very little
daylight can reach the place, it affords great facility
for the perpetration of such a mischievous act. Ex-
cepting the possible detention of the ship, there
appears no imaginary motive for its commission.
Up to Wednesday evening there was no clue to the
discovery of the offender. Port-Admiral Sir B.
Reynolds has been on board and examined the
damaged rope. It is expected that the Nile will be
ready for sea by the sth of April, and it is at pre-
sent arranged that she shall be at the Island of
Bermuda by the 10th of May, to meet the Emerald,
and receive Rear-Admiral Sir Alex. Milne, K.C.8.,
who will go in her to Halifax, where she will re-
main a few days, and then proceed to Quebec, to
be in attendance on his Royal Highness the Prince
of Wales during his visit to Canada.
Commander Mackenzie, of the Nile, whose leg
was broken some time since at Devonport dockyard
when rendering voluntary assistance to his boat's
crew, continues in the Royal Naval Hospital, Stone-
house. He is gradually recovering, and will, it is
expected, be well enough to join his ship before she
sails for her station.
For the future all vessels employed for the con-
veyance of troops from port to port in the United
Kingdom or Ireland are to be furnished with boats
fitted with Clifford's or Kynaston's loi.ering ap-
paratus.
The tide at high water yesterday at Portsmouth
did not reach the average height of ordinary spring
tides, and was considerably less than the tide of
the previous night. This was, no doubt, owing to
the wind, it having blown excessively hard the
greater part of the morning from N.N.E. to N.N.W.
The day previous it blew a hard gale from N.E.,
and both these causes combined must have greatly
checked the flow of the tide into Portsmouth har-
bour. Each tide has, however, run off extremely
low, a considerable portion of " Hamilton's Bank"
being uncovered at low water. From the position
and force of the wind it must have produced a groat
rise of tide along the coast of France in the Chan-
nel, as well as upon our own northern coasts. On
the 7th the barometer stood, at ,9 a.m., 30.10; at
5.30 p.m., 30.35; blowing a heavy gale the whole
day from the N.E., the air intensely cold. Yester-
day the barometer noted, at 9 a.m., 30.36 5.30
p.m., 30.28 ; a strong N.N.E. to N.N.W. breeze,
but not blowing so hard, nor the air so cold, as the
day previous (the 7th). A slight fall of snow took
place about 4 p.m.
Six of the junior officers belonging to her Ma-
jesty's ship Euryalus yesterday passed their ex-
aminations in seamanship as mates on board the
Britannia training ship at Portsmouth, in accord-
ance with the new regulations issued by the Ad-
miralty, in a highly creditable manner. Mr. Long
and Mr, liore receiyed fast class certi4eato i