The Sun.
London, England, 1859-09-05 00:00:00

THE GREAT EASTERN•

•
As at present arranged, this noble vesselsge- scill
a
leave her moorings between the hours of six an
eight o'clock on Tuesday morning nest. The %-
fastest vessels of the Woolwich SteamPachet
e.lgaa
pany—the Petrel, Elfin, Sea Swallow, and
will commence running from Hungerford-br:ai
at half-past six a.m., and will accompallY thee,:relt-
Eastern to the Nore. A numerous partYci - of
men were employed yesterday in the
necessary work before her departure. In Stilt
quence of the prevailing opinion that the that
Eastern would leave on Saturday morning at at
Aver
time, from six o'clock the banks of the
Woolwich and other spots contained large
ell
bers of persons. many of whom had I.anne its
during the night to witness the great ship
passage.
W •
hen inquiries were first made as.to the rtiteloff
insurance for the Great Eastern the terms talkie;cies
ranged from five to 50 guineas. Several P,°
have since been taken out at six guineas, in
aping
ehrapletioanse_
all casualties with the exception of the rilhai"not
down clause, while for insurance simPlY ag the
the
total loss and not against other accidelltrial
amount asked is only from 20s. to 30s. If der'
rip should prove satisfactory many of thenitirant
writers, it is said, will then be willing ,bn not
policies at the ordinary risk. The eomPanY
insure the vessel, but leave individual shar:l°oi
to protect themselves to such extent as each
deem desirable.

OUR SCREW SHIPS•

4.- d Or'
The recent trials of the Mersey, Doris, an rig
lando have set the minds of most men on the ;art
unexceptionableipsl netosewsoarme
enlightened
nee,
steamed 13
hglt oo3hutkdleinansoec todnsvowmeat discover
ehudh. itroe6plwsaiciasi
hp:
hpehotaahrr‘pszeepsngepetanol
mo: i
rsie,
etnaar thatnn:
doe:a:el 1:
tier
iPoisesr
rfli:
swa
decker, one of the first ships built for the scree'gp
•Itawohnitgh eorr,
otl single-deckedahonoa dn.hooihrase
en- ship,optohwe the 3'er-oe'd
r e
Mersey,r, nearlygsingle-deckedowesivt helro ypooh
wft et
eel
little
hflwaoi
spnat ,
rge
:if,
king
jet: ctf
to 4,000 horses, has only been propelled the other
ah knot more than the Agamemnon. On thf:stith
70and, we have the Himalaya doing 16 kne'lmere
0-horse power, only partially exerted. ..„'.o,er
are anomalies here which ought not to be. Either •
theo model of the Himalaya is superior t? fah-
f the Mers® and Orlando, or there are d's'ato.
lisatGniatrl
oegei
ndnc
haeeatunrnenoainagldl
go
Admiral,
nefedoilsb7:seaesaikrtwrl
eti
knots,
ghhhloca, eiotoctbsunih,
ougsmantihlrna.
ttdtehirinesishouldaHali
Americawmo
fboa
ole
adwyewooden
fiiinquire hhro ifii)tt:h: clrueos r
:list:
te,iegnsioo;
are. matters which demaunctklevdtehe fullest
and engines
without any visible improvement. cost,
Theaondwimhpe
rnescsoimo
nplleetfetdi
Rwoenfirnind
mind
do
hy
the perceptsex p he.lrei mgceonotl,
n board the screw frigates is that there letitlia its
f siderable excess of power developed, whic' thail,
act, wasted, and that the waste retards rather.ooo
acceleratesh the speed. A curious exernplificati,lo,ol
.t e inurious excess of power has lately been oA`riew
1 o two
tal Company. One of them, the Vectis, eraPl,,,,a
on the Marseilles line, had 400-horse knots. That
the highest speed attainable was 14 knots. as
speed,t however, being considered unnecessaT 11
he contract did not stipulate for wore than
knots,to the directors determined to reduce the Pi the
resultpvower ,
obtainedo
goes
otsehos the rele4lclibu c
years
ei
withoa reduction isa2gasooq. uar t e r knot
250-horse. The reduction was effected, .an, The
ectis, which would only steam 14 with 4uu—were
on
and Retribution. Judging from these remises'
and
we see no reason to doubt that the Orlaneo„Torse
.attain a higher rate of speed with 500 or Or fier
power, moderately used, than with 1,000. jot
gaeeiri hot ;0
Amodel is symmetry itself. SheSbiimsoairalaarsterherestiTiftesr;isb.esisel
larm, and if not over-pressed with masts, yarotii`j
gines, and boilers, we should have nothing eeqi
to her. The masts and yards of the Orlandoyv dfiv
80 tons. Her mainmast is 3 feet 1 inch ilirtio.
meter, and all her other spars are in PreP° ees-
When under full speed the vibration must he:in_
a very il_._ll
sarily be terrific ; and this fact suggests
portant investigation. Experienced sailors are ir's
aware of the damaging effects of vibration sPuie,
ship's sailing qualities. It has been repeatedly
monstrated that the vibration caused by men Weil,,b.
about the decks is injurious ; but how rau,',..z.
more must a vessel's speed be affected by
ouw„
shaking occasioned by the action of theovr screw
Is it not possible to reduce the screw p
lution of the screw would not be scriou y
P We have often been asked why
d
mental to speed .
three masts ? Why should
give the Orlando only
a point at which the vibration ca
d . y :lhedreetvrr..
importance is not increased by the tauntne. s _
blic serviev
spars. But no department of the pu . _4
she not be rigged like the Himalaya ? As
osfhhiPer°
seems so hard to move as the naval archttectuiP
tbarkaennehs.t
long since condemned the ship-rig for long ces!',uo
ronAgdhroeortentcheerteo.
but # is, nevertheless, retained, and in spite ol it..,
orldrorgurleesssiNsr
seamen
hjoi...atii
most forcible arguments against it. The Admirals?,
will, we hope, look narrowly into this steam (Pell,
tion when at Portsmouth and Plymouth, and lie
perhaps, institute inquiries likely to clear awaY,
er
er
doubts surrounding it. In order to determine vi'lle
and to what extent masts and yards affect a o°a
motion through the water, the Orlando shouldbe triea
with all her masts on end and yards across' and
again with lower yards and topmasts struck and
topgallantmasts housed. If the latter experiree:/er
showed that there were less vibration and grea',-f
speed, it would be sufficient to prove that hes'i;c,
masts and yards have had a bad effect. It malls°,
said, however, that screw ships are sailing shiPs a ed
and that the one qualification is not to be sacrifie.,o.
to the other. But was it not shown in the sailwio
trials of steamers and sailing ships many Years ayes
that the Medea, a paddle steamer, under ca.nlie
was fully equal' to any other ship, aithoug4,;e
was rigged as a three-masted schooner ?
and•l
Orlando, with lighter, shorter, lower masts, __
four of them, would, there is strong reason tor!etr
her or_
lieve, be equally as fast, under sail, as with
sent tremendous spars ; but with this impPre,
tent difference, that she would be mech better if
analogY,bo
pared to go into action. Reasoning by
would have had three masts instead of six.
would Great Eastern had been a man-of-v0r',...5...---
United Service Gazette.

The Emilienne of Dieppe► the last of two vessel°
which left that port' this year for the Icelcod fishery'
returned three days ago with 20,000 fish, She has broug
back to France the crew of a vessel wrecked on the coast °'
Iceland,