The Sun.
London, England, 1866-10-26 00:00:00

Naval and Military Intelligence.

The iCommissioner appointed for the investiga-
tion of the transport service of the army paid their
second visit at Woolwich Arsenal yesterday morn-
ing, and went over the reserve storehouses and other
portions of the military store department which
they were unable to inspect during their former visit
to the arsenal. The members of the committee
present yesterday were as follows :--Lieut.-Gen.
Sir Duncan A. Cameron, K.C.8., late 42d Foot ;
Major-Gen. J. St. George, C. 8., R.A., Director of
Ordnance ; Col. J.C. Kennedy, C. 8., Commandant
Military Train ; Commissary-Gen.-in-Chief, Sir W.
J. Tyrone Power, K.C.B. ; Col. Shadwell, Military
Assistant at the War-office ; and Assist.-Commis-
sary-Gen. Henry Robinson, C.B. They were re-
ceived officially by Capt. Gordon, C. 8., principal
superintendent of stores, by whom they were ac-
companied throughout their investigation. One of
he main objects of their visit appears to have been
to carry out the project, sometime under considera-
tion, of consolidating in one department, under the
superintendence of Capt. Gordon, the entire charge
of the whole of the Government stores. It has
been rumoured for some time past time that in con-
sequence of the heavy duties in the shipping depart-
ment of Woolwich Arsenal, the post of Naval
Superintendent of Shipping will be again restored,
and be administered by a master in the Royal Navy,
as during the Crimean war. It was yesterday an-
nounced that the rumour was well founded, and
that the appointment will be made shortly. The
War Department, in recognition of the long services
and acknowledged capacities of Mr. Moors,who has
superintended the whole of the shipping since the
above-uamed period, have ordered his salary to be
augmented £lO per annum, and have conferred upon
him the title of Naval Assistant-Superintendent of
Shipping.
The armament intended for the hydraulic iron-cased
gunvessel Waterwitch, now in basin at Woolwich,
is in readiness for shipment, consisting of two 7-inch
and four 20 pounder guns, similar to those of the
Vixen and Viper.
Her Majesty's &rew troopship Orontes, Capt. H.
W. Hire, arrived at Quebec on the 2d inst., after a
stormy passage, and having been compelled to put
into St. John's, Newfoundland, to coal. The Orontes
had conveyed the 61st Regiment to Quebec, and the
regiment was duly landed with women and children,
horses, baggage, &c., when an order was sent on
board to receive the regiment again and convey it
to Bermuda, the disembarkation at Quebec having
been a mistake. The Orontes was to sail with them
again on the 13th, calling in at Sydney, Cape Bre-
ton, to meet her Majesty's screw troopship Tamar,
and transfer to her the invalided and time-expired
soldiers then on board for conveyance to England.
On arrival at Bermuda the Orontes would disem-
bark the 61st and then embark the 2d (Queen's) for
England. The Tamar may be expected to arrive at
Spithead about Nov. 2d, and the Orontes about
the 25th.

Additional letters received yesterday by a Chat-
ham correspondent bring down the particulars re-
specting the cruise of the various vessels composing
the Channel squadron to the close of last week. The
correspondence relates chiefly to the experiments
made and the records kept of the rolling of the seve-
ral ships in a beam sea, not the least important of
the many questions arising in reference to the effici-
ency of ironclad frigates carrying the whole of their
armaments on the main deck. 'I he record of their
rolling in a rather heavy sea on Sunday, the 14th
inst., is represented to be a fair average indication of
their behaviour under such circumstances, and is as
follows :—Achilles, 2 deg.; Bellerophon, 5 deg.; Pal-
las, 9 deg.; Ocean, 10 deg.; Lord Clyde, 12 deg. ;
Hector, 10 to 12 deg.; and Caledonia, 15 deg. On
the night of Thursday, the 18th inst., it, blew a strong
gale, raising a heavily rolling, pitching sea, which
the ships of the squadron felt severely. On this oc-
casion the Caledonia lurched as much as 35 deg., the
Pallas to 32 deg., Lord Clyde to 27 deg., the Ocean
to 26 deg., and the hector to 20 deg., the extreme
roll of the Achilles not exceeding 16 deg., while that
of the Bellerophon was no more than 10 deg., such
is the extraordinary steadiness of these two vessels.
It is believed on board the Bellerophon that even the
present extreme steadiness of that frigate will be
improved upon as soon as the pig-iron ballast now
encumbering her leeks is replaced by the ship's guns,
inasmuch as this change will raise her centre of
gravity to a higher position. The cruise of the
Channel squadron has brought out the remarkable
fact that ironclad frigates are improved in their be-
haviour at sea in exact proportion as the weights
composing, or on board of them, are lifted higher—
a theory the very opposite of what was popularly
supposed to be the case. The Achilles and the
Bellerophon are the only two vessels having their
weights placed unusually high —the tower on the
Bellerophon's upper deck, constructed of 8-inch
armour-plates, and carried to a height of 10 feet,
weighing about 100 tons—and experience has demon-
strated that they are undoubtedly by far the steadiest
ships in the squadron. The trials of the various
vessels under sail, in order to arrive at comparative
results as to their respective merits, were continued
throughout last week, the Hector, en these occtbsions.,
doing remarkably well, and taking a good place
among the fastest ships of the squadron—viz., the
Pallas, Bellerophon, and Achilles. It is, perhaps,
undesirable to publish the figuresreceived from parti-
cular ships, inasmuch as the only available means of
observing at sea the progress made by each vessel of a
squadron, in a triai extending over some days, is not
sufficiently exact to avoid what might appear consi-
derable discrepancies in the reported results. It is, how-
ever, confidently asserted that the difficulty at first
experienced in tacking the Bellerophon on one or two
occasions has been greatly diminished as the pecu-
liarities of the balanced rudder have become better
understood. As the different proportions of sail-
power possessed by the respective vessels composing
the Channel squadron have been much discussed,
with the apparent object of underrating the superio-
rity of certain ships, we subjoin the particulars
(within a few feet in each case), together with the
several midship sections, as they are usually taken
as the standards of comparison, although it should
be observed that very short ships—like the Pallas,
for instance—cannot possibly have such fine water-
lines as the long vessels :—The area of sail in square
feet is in each ship as follows :—Achilles, 33,000 ;
Bellerophon, 23,800 ; Lord Clyde, 23,000 ; Ocean,
22,900 ; Caledonia, 22,200 ; Hector, 21,400; Pallas,
16,700; Wivern, 11,300; and Research, 11,200.
The area of the midship section in square feet is in
each ship as follows :—Achilles, 1,307 ; Bellerophon,
1,190 ; Lord Clyde, 1,250 ; Ocean, 1,165 ; Cale-
donia, 1,120 ; Hector, 1,180 ; Pallas, 800 ; Wivern,
600 ; and Research, 450. The above areas of can-
vas include courses, topsails, topgallant sails, jib,
and driver, but do not include royals, flying jib, and
'tudding sails.
The Reindeer, 7, 200-horse power, sloop corvette,
having been completed by the dockyard hands, was
undocked at Chatham and placed at mooring along-
side the dockyard The wliole of her guns arrived
yesterday at the Ordnance establishment from the
Royal gun factory, Woolwich, and she will be sup-
plied with her armamente forthwith.
The Terrible,
paddle corvette, Cant
V.C., steamed into Portsmouth • Commerell,
th harbour yesterday
for repairs and refit, The
intermediateh entablature
of her port engine is fractured, paddlewheels
and boxes require repair, and this, together with re-
pairs to hull and rig, may altogether occupy
some
considerable space of time to make good
The Pylades, 21, screw, 350-horse power, Capt.
Arthur W. A. Hood, arrived at Spithead yesterday
morning from the North American and West Indian
station. She brought home a few invalids, who
were landed from the 3ledway to dismantle and pay
out of commission. Capt. Hood has been appointed
to the command of the gunnery ship Excellent, and
the governorship of the Royal Naval College at
Portsmouth, vice Captain Astley C. Key, C. 8.,
now acting Director-general of Naval Ordnance.
The Lily, 4, screw gunvessel, 200-horse power,
arrived at Spithead yesterday morning from the
North American and IVest Indian Station. She re-
ceived orders yesterday evening to proceed round to
Woolwich to be dismantled and paid out of com-
mission.