The Sun.
London, England, 1860-03-29 00:00:00

THE 'NAVY.

The screw gun vessel Landrail, sister vessel
to the Ranger, was launched at Deptford yes-
terday afternoon. The Landrail is a fine spe-
cimen of a new class of screw vessels
between the ordinary gunboat and the steam de-
spatch or small corvette vessels. She was laid
down immediately after the launch of the Ranger
in November last, four mouths only being occupied
in her building, and has been constructed under the
superintendence of Mr. Chatfield, from a new
design, approved of by the Admiralty. Her arma-
ment, which will be furnished from Woolwich
Arsenal, will consist of five guns—namely, one 68-
pounder 95 cwt. gun, 10 feet in length ; and four
24-pounder howitzers. The following are her exact
dimensions :—Length between perpendiculars,
145 ft. ; length of keel for tonnage, 127 ft. 10in. ;
breadth extreme, 25ft. 4in. ; breadth for tonnage,
25ft. ; breadth moulded, 24ft. Gin. ; depth in hold,
13ft. ; burden in tons, 425 14-95. She is now in
the basin awaiting her engines, which will be of
80 horse-power.
The Bacchante, 51, screw frigate, in charge of
Captain G. T. Gordon, commanding the steam
reserve at Portsmouth, steamed out of the harbour
yesterday at 1 p.m., and proceeded to the trial
ground in Stokes Bay, to test her speed at the mea-
sured mile with the leading corners of her propeller
cut off. Mr. John Dinnen, Inspector of Machinery
to the Admiralty, and Mr. G. Murdoch, Inspector
Afloat at Portsmouth, and Mr. Miller, Assist.
Chief Engineer of Portsmouth Dockyard, were on
board to superintend the trial. The engines were
under the control of Mr. Warrener, from the firm
of Maudslay, Field, and Co. The force of the wind,
its direction, and the weather generally, approxi-
mated as nearly as possible to those experienced
on the official trial of the ship on the 6th inst.
The ship also drew the same water, consequently
the screw had the same immersion, and the only
difference in the two trials was that on the former
occasion the screw was tried in its original form,
and on the present one with its leading corners cut
off. Six runs were made on the former trial, and
gave the ship a mean speed in knots of 12.049. The
same number of runs were made yesterday, and
gave the ship a slight increase of speed; nothing,
however, of moment, beyond the fact that it was an
increase, with less vibration. The decrease on this
latter point was most satisfactorily marked by the ac-
tion of the iron-plated flooring of the stokehole. The
engines made nearly one more revolution per minute
yesterday than on the 6th inst.—the mean being
541. The temperature in the stokehole was 111.
At the conclusion of the runs at the measured mile
the ship's helm was put hard a-starboard, when she
made a complete circle under full steam in six
minutes. The steering apparatus, which is applied
on the plan of Vice-Admiral W.F. Martin, exhibits
as we stated on the 7th inst., a good command over
the rudder, but the wheel appears to work very
stiffly, requiring great exertion on the part of the
men to get the rudder hard over. The principle is
capable of great improvement, the crosshead on the
rudder, from which work the twu parallel bars,
being much too short, and reducing the power
brought to bear on the rudder-head in urecisely the
same degree as working a capstan, with bars only
one-third their usual length would do. Perhaps
the great merit of the invention, or the manner in
which it is applied in this case, consists in its work-
ing its crossheads and parallel bars underneath the
captain's cabin-floor, protected to a great extent
from the effects of shot by the ship's beams. The
ship returned into harbour at 4 p.m., and it had
been the intention of Capt. Gordon to berth her
alongside the Camperdown, off the north end of
the dockyard. When the ship had got half-way up
the harbour towards her berth a boat from the dock-
yard came off with orders for her to return along-
side, an operation, from the advanced position of
the ship, of extreme difficulty to perform, but
which was managed with consummate skill by the
Government pilot (Mr. Jones) on board at the time.
An order has been received to fit the Bacchante with
a poop, which is supposed to have been the cause of
her returning alongside the jetty. It is said she is
destined for the Pacific station, and will carry the
flag of either Vice-Admiral Smart, K.H., or that of
Sir T. Maitland, K.C.B. _ _

The Bullfinch, screw gunboat, Lieut.-Commander
James, tried an experimental propeller yesterday at
the measured mile in Stokes Bay.
The following appoiatments were made yesterday
at the Admiralty :—Lieut. Harry M'Hardy, to the
Forte; and J. Whittall, Paymaster, to the Pearl.