The Sun.
London, England, 1867-04-24 00:00:00

The Russian Squadron off Fortsinouti3.

The Imperial Russian squadron, under the COnl'
mand of Rear-Admiral Kern, recently returned t°
Europe from the North Pacific, and now anchored
at the Motherbank, off Ryde, consisting of the sere(
frigate Askold (flag), 17 guns, Capt. Polozoff ; the
screw corvette Variv, 17 guns, Capt. Luudh ; and
the screw despatch vessel Izoumroud, 5 guns, Cap.
Brilkin, are waiting orders from St. Petersburg'
which are shortly expected. The Izoumroud' in
the meanwhile, will sail from the Motherhank
to-
morrow for Havre, with Admiral Kern and a 101111-
bcr of his officers on board, to enable them to pal
a visit to the great Paris Exhibition. She will 1°,1.°
Havre again to rejoin the Askold and Variag at the
Motherbank on the following Monday. The Izoum-
roud is a somewhat remarkable ship, and, as repre-
senting the swiftest class of unarmoured ships 111
the Russian navy, deserves more than the passing,
notice given to her two consorts. In the spring
of 1864 two Russian corvettes, the Pearl and the
Diamond, constructed on the same principles as ih°
Izonmroud—a great preponderance of length to
beam—put into the Thames, on their way front
Cronstadt to the North Pacific, and while Vieg
there were freely and somewhat unfavourably criti-
cised. So strongly, indeed, were opinions expresseu,
that, from the disproportion of their length to beam
and the lowness of their hulls on the water, they
were utterly unsafe for long ocean voyages, that
they were suddenly recalled to Cronstadt, although
it was understood at the time that their designer
was no less a person than the Lord High Admiral
of the Russian Navy, the Grand Duke Constantineci
However this may have been the case, the Gran
Duke himself evidently did not share in the un-
favourable opinions expressed upon the seagoing
qualities of the two ships recalled to Cronstadt ft-0
the Thames, for within a very short time after-
wards( the Izoumroud was placed under the command
of her present captain, and despatched on a voyage
round the world, in order thoroughly to test her
qualities, and the principle she represented. The
voyage out was made by the Cape of Good Hope, and
the return round Cape Horn ; and on all occasions'
in weather varying in such a long course, as would
necessarily be the case, from a pleasant summer breeze
to a heavy wintry gale, and including a tremendous
cyclone off Cape Horn, Capt. Brilkin and his officers
report the Izoumroud to have behaved admirably'
and without loss of spars or sails, or the springing
of the slightest leak throughout any part of her
hull. Her speed is also stated to be very great in all
weathers, under both sails and under steam. fler
average sea rate of speed under steam in moderate
weather is given as over 14 knots. Some little al-
lowance must always be made for the enthusiasm of
a naval officer when speaking of the ship in which
lie may at the time be serving, and the captain of
the Izoumroud and his officers may in this res Pee
have shared to some extent in the amiable fault
which is the common lot of their confreres in 3u
parts of the world, but the Izoumroud is uudoubterlif
a fast ship, a seaworthy ship, and well deserving'
from appearances, the admiration and praises Of all
on board of her. She is 250 English feet in length
between perpendiculars, but only 29k ft. in breadth;
her midship breadth of hull (she is timber built) 14
carried down as low as possible in the water, with
the ends tapered off as fine as those of a rive-
e
steamer,—the hull above the water-line being some-
what different in outline to the ideas followed in tll°
English and French navies in having an exceed-
ingly bold sheer, especially forward, where her rise
of the bow lines assimilate greatly to those generally
seen in an American merchant clipper. Her height
between decks is above the average of our latest
frigates, and ample space is given to officers, to
crew, and to stores of all kinds. The lower deck'
as is the rule in the Russian navy, possesses ne
mess tables for the crew, nor is any of the comfort
for them, nor the generally smart arrangements
and appearances which are such marked character-
istics of the crew's mess deck of an English ship
anywhere existing. The men are, however, iceji
treated, even from an English point of view, i 0 all
other respects, and perhaps the Russian seaman
does not care for the many little personal matted
on the mess deck of his ship that are so much, an
it must be said, so justly prized by the English sea
man. The Russian seaman is well fed, so well, indee
that he can leave portions of his food undrawn
the purser's stores, and for this he is always paid n
the current rate of the port at which the ship ninl
be stopping at the time such payment becomes due.
With regard to crime and punishments, the Russianti
sailor's nature in the former appearsto crop up Mile
the same as our own, the chief crime being stated ttit
be a fondness for too much rum. It is semewlln
extraordinary to find, however, Russian officers as-
serting that their men are treated with greater jus-
tice in any consideration of a charge brought against
them than are the seamen of our navy, and yet t
rulea of government in the Russian navy are base
upon, or rather copied from, those existing in thhe
English navy. As a proof of this, seamen in Pot'
navies are divided into first and second classes, ac-
cording to their character. In the Russian service 0°
man can be reduced from the first to the seco°,1
class, and also submitted to corporal punishment Pr
one crime—that is to say, a crime of ordinary cha-
racter. In the English service men have been re-
duced from first to second class and punished for ouee
crime. The difference iu this administration et
punishment must lie not in the meaning of the JO:
framed, but rather in the manner in which they are
interpreted. There is a third class of men in tor
Russian navy who may be called of a third class, or
kind of ever-in-trouble fellows. There may be site
men in our own navy, but they have not that dis-
tinct official classification which is given them in the
Russian navy. These few brief remarks on the coni;
parative comforts and government of seamen in the
Russian and British Royal navies may be surPhe;
mented by observing that in the former, as in t"
latter, the men have perfect freedom from any CO11;
trol over any convictions of feelings they possess .
matters of religion.
Pr
The machinery of the ship was manufactured a
them in the Cronstadt Royal Steam Factory andn
Foundery from designs by Messrs. Humphreys 0
Tennant, of London. They are of 350-11°1%
power, nominal, and are spoken of by the engineer
•
in charge and the officers of the ship very highly
indeed. The rig of the ship is three masted, withroe
square yards on the fore and main masts.
lower masts are short and snug, but carry very
0
square yards on the American principle. I),
armament of the ship only now remains to
noticed. This at present only consists of t`tvs
heavy 8-inch smooth bores, mounted on pilie
amidships, and three smaller rifled guns 00 t
broadside and the bow rifled on the French can°
ou
Ray principle. These guns are to be replaced
• ea
the ship's arrival at Cronstadt by four -heavy rdi
guns of late construction, two of which are t°

rifled Parrott's.
Possibly the Izountroud will not have her counter;
part at any time in the British Navy. We do 13:0
believe now in investing large sums of money t
Ole
production of unarmoured wooden built ships.
Izounttoud is, however, as already observed, 3 ft;;
rnarkable vessel, and there are many points ab°
her well worthy of observation.

FLOGGING IN THE ARMY AND NAVY.--111°Yr;
visions iu the now Mutiny Act for the army and i1i,,t..t1
act for the marine service are the same as to corP";,,
punishment. It was generally supposed that the alter.a,
don was only made as to the army, but the marines al°
clucled ia the other act,