The Sun.
London, England, 1866-03-29 00:00:00

Naval and Military lutelli,gence.

Yesterday the Duke of Cambridge, K.G., Com-
mander of the Forces, accompanied by Mfjor Gene-
ral Lord William Paulet, Adjutant-General, Lieut.
Gen. Sir Hope Grant, K.C.8., Quartermaster-
General, and attended by Col. Tyrwhitt, aide-de-
camp, paid a visit to Aldershott, for the purpose of
holding his half-yearly inspection of the troops at
that station. His Royal Highness arrived at, Farn-
borough yesterday Awning about 9 o'clock, and
was received by Lieut.-Gen. the Hon. Sir James
Yorke Scarlett, K.C.8., commanding the division,
attended by Capt. Milligan and Lieut. Doherty,
aides-de-camp, and, accompanied by Col. Newdi-
gate, Assistant Adjutant-General ; Col. Herbert,
Assist.-Quartermaster-Gen. ; Col. Graham, V.C.,
R.E.; and other members of the Staff at Aldershot
immediately proceeded to the residence of Gen.
Scarlett, Forest-lodge. near Farnborough, where he
breakfasted. The troops had been under arms from
about 8 o'clock, and shortly before 9 proceeded from
their various quarters to Cove-common. Here they
took up position on their arrival, facing east,
and the formation was completed about 20
minutes to 10, in the following order :
Cavalry on the right, with the 3d Hus-
sars
.on the extreme of that flank ; infantry
in line of continuous column of brigades of the
left, with the Royal Engineer and Military Trains
forming second line in the rear. At 10 o'clock the
Duke, accompanied by Gen. Scarlett and a brilliant
suite, arrived on the ground, and was received with
a royal salute: His Royal Highness commenced the

proceedings of the day by making a minute inspec-

tion of the various branches of the service on the

field. This occupied about 20 minutes, at the con-

clusion of which the troops took ground to the right,
preparatory to marching past. A saluting base
having been formed, and the bands of the cavalry

brigade being massed opposite, the division marched

past in open column of batteries and squadrons, sec-
tions of troops, and open column of grand divisions
in quick time in the following order :—Staff of the
Division, Lieut.-Gen. Sir James,,Yorke Scarlett,
K.C.B ; Staff of Cavalry Brigade, Major-Gen.
Hodge, C. 8., Col. d'Aguilar, C. 8., Col. Mitchell,
and D Battery B Brigade Royal Horse Artillery ;
Lieut.-Col. Howard Vyse, and 3d King's OwnHus-
surs ; Major Lowe, and 17th Lancers ; Lieut.-Col.
Macnaughten, and Bth King's Royal Irish Hussars;
Capt. Higgon, and B Battery Brigade, and Capt.
Pitt, and F Battery 9th Brigade Royal Artillery ;
Capt. Duff and A and B Troops Royal Engineer
Train, and Col. Robertson and 4th troop of Mili-
tary Train ; pioneers, bands, drums, and pipers of
the lst Infantry Brigade ; Major-Gen. Russell,
C. 8., commanding Brigade ; Capt. Stockley and
29th Company Royal Engineers ; Col. Mackirdy
and 69th Regiment ; Col. Hope, C. 8., and 71st
Highland Light Infantry; pioneers, bands, and
bugles of 3d Brigade ; Col. Carter (63d Regiment),
Acting Brigadier, commanding ; Major Peel and Ist
Battalion 13th Light Infantry; Major Bowles and
63d Regiment ; Col. Roberts and 28th Regiment ;
pioneers, bands, and drums of 3d Brigade ; Briga-
dier-Gen. Renny, commanding ; Col. Gordon and
Ist Battalion 17th Regiment ; Col. Gildea and 81st'
Regiment ;- Lieut.-Col. L. Peel and 52d Light Infan-
try. The infantry after passing reformed on their
original ground, and the cavalry and artillery re-
passed by fours and subdivisions of batteries at a trot
in the same order of precedence asbefore. The infan=
try then marched back from the reverse flank, left in
front, in quarter-distance columns, and counter-
marched from the right, the Ist brigade leading, in
line of contiguous columns by brigades. The ap-
pearance of the troops and the manner in which
these operations were performed appeared to be
highly gratifying to the Duke. No further move-
ments were executed, as the weather, which had
been fine throughout the morning, looked extremely
threatening, and the troops were consequently dis-
missed to their quarters. His Royal Highness,
after a ride through the camp, returned to town in
the afternoon.

The 89th Regiment will arrive at Aldershott this
morning from Shorncliffe Camp. The strength of
the regiment is 38 officers, 620 men, 7 horses, 74
women, and 69 children. The 89th will be quar-
tered in D, G-, and II lines, North Camp, and will
:be attached to the Ist Brigade.

The 66th (Berkshire) Regiment, about to arrive
at Aldershott from Devonport will be quartered in
the west block infantry barracks, and be attached
to the 2d Brigade.

Information was yesterday received at Woolwich,
by the authorities of the Royal Arsenal, announcing
.that the 600• pounder 22-ton gun, recently supplied
by the Elswick Ordnance Company, had burst at
about the 54th round during the experimental firing
at Shoeburyness on the previous afternoon. The
gun on its arrival at Woolwich was subjected to a
most severe proof test at the Woolwich butt, and
was formally received and taken over by the Go-
vernment at a cost, it is stated, approaching £4,000.
It was subsequently transported to Shoeburyness and
was fired four rounds, with charges of 100 lb. of
powder and steel shot weighing 6001 b. each, against
the Hercules target with the success already known.
Preparations were afterwards entered into for a
course of firing with increasing charges, as the gun

was considered capable of withstanding any reason-
able amount of concussion, having been built up
under the supervision of Sir William Armstrong
with peculiar care and attention. The result made
known yesterday of the injury to the gun has
created much speculation and discussion as to the
future mode to be adopted in the manufacture of
our heavy ordnance. The • course of experiments
with the heavy gun at Shoeburyness commenced
with firing charges of 701 b. of powder, and shot ex-
ceeding 6001 b. night each, some few having been
expended in obtaining the desired range. As above
stated, after the 54th round a rent was discovered
longitudinally through the chase of the gun, the
tube as well as the outer casing having given way,
and the experiments were at an end.
The launch of the screw corvette Reindeer, 7,200
horse power, will take place at Chatham Dockyard
at about noon to-day. The public will be admitted
into the dockyard half an hour before the launch,
to witness the ceremony.
The screw steam sloop Icarus, 3,150 horse power,
Commander Thompson, left the Nore on Tuesday
for China.

The ironcased corvette Favourite, 10, 400 horse
power, Capt. F. H. Shortt, after being inspected at
the Nore, sailed on Tuesday for Portsmouth, where
she will receive her final orders from the Admiralty.
The Lord Warden, 24, 4,080 tons, 1,000 horse
power (nominal),is ordered to be fitted with a poop,
and some alterations are to be effected on her in
°'cler to adapt her for a flagship, for which she is
intended. This will detain her in dock for some
months longer, and in the meantime the work
of Pl), iilng her for sea will be proceeded with. She
is also
t the bow addition made to her bow, similar
to that in
latter
the Bellerophon, which, as in
the case of the o
attervessel, will add considerably
to her appearance. nearly the whole of her armour
plates have been t 1 e 1
leaving those only beneath
the counter and at the ilteerno,z,c,ibe put in place.
‘4patahte_ntrivetting ma-
Two of the largest of
pockyard by
chines have been erected at
f the i~tanronclad
Ironworks
frigate
Messrs. Taylor and Co., of
.thneiol,
to be used in the construction
Hercules and the turret ship Mona/a,.Thema-
chines were yesterday tested in the factory, in the
presence of the officials of the dockyard,
viten they
were found to answer their purpose most satisfac-
torily. One of the machines possess a vertical, and
the other a horizontal movement, and both are con..
structed to rivet plates as rapidly as several men
can supply them with' rivets.
On Tuesday evening Mr. E. J. Reed, the Chief
Constructor of the Navy, delivered a public lecture,
by invitation of the committee of, management, at
the Mechanics' Institute, Chatham, on 44 The Con-
struction of Ships to resist Shot and Shell." Besides
the members of the institute and general public a
large number of the principal naval and military
officers connected with the port and garrison were
present. After some introductory observations Mr.
Reed proceeded to explain the manner in which the
sides of the earliest of the vessels composing the
ironclad squadron were constructed to enable them
to resist the passage of shot and shell, instancing
successively the Warrior, Minotaur, Lord Warden,

and Bellerophon, each representing a different type
of the iron-plated squadron. With regard to the
trials which had taken place at Shoeburyness to test
cteontehne
the resisting powers of targetsitchonsastruee endtly been
r
principle of the vessels named,
targets
urged at a scientific meeting that tthhe hit
e
being
insisted upon were far too severe,
subjected systematically to trials which wouldnever
be equalled in actual warfare, where firing would b.
irregular, at greater distances, and with various de-
grees of obliquity. The Admiralty had, however,
considered it the wisest course to find out the worst
effects which could possibly be produced upon their
ships, and in this respect had acted most judiciously,
while the results would prove that our officers and
men would, in time of war, have the greatest confi-
dence in their ships, and go into action with a degree
of daring fully equal to that which in other times and
under other circumstances won us the naval honour
and renown we had so long enjoyed. After alluding to
the form of construction of the Warrior, in which
were embodied two subordinate but important com-
ponents—viz., the double skin plating above and
below the line of ports and the external stringers
upon the iron frames below the ports —Mr. Reed
described the construction of the Minotaur, and the
surprising nature of the results obtained in the ex-
perimental trials made on the Minotaur target,
which differed from the Warrior mainly in the re-
duction of the wood backing, with an increase of
equivalent weight in the armour. A single layer of
9in. teak, with armour of 5 in. thickness, formed
its component parts, the frames and skin plating
remaining about the same. For a long time it was
supposed that this target had proved much inferior
to that of the Warrior, while the departure from
the system adopted in the Warrior was repeatedly
condemned. Subsequently, however, the important
fact was discovered that the wrong powder had been
used in the trials against the Minotaur target, it
having been ascertained that what was known as 2
A powder had been used with two out of the three
rounds of 1501 b. cast-iron spherical shot fired from
the 10iin. gun at the target, the effect of which was
found to be to raise the striking velocity of the
shot from 1,620 ft. to 1,744 ft. per second. This
comparison consequently invalidated all the compa-
risons which were made at the time of, and after,
the trial, subsequent trials having proved the Mino-
taur, Agincourt, and Northumberland to possess far
greater strength than had been at first supposed.
Mr. Reed then passed on to consider the Bellerophon
and the experiments made on the Bellerophon tar-
get, the principal feature in which consisted in ex-
tending throughout its entire structure the
double skin plating and the external stringers pre-
viously introduced. By their adoption important
advantages were secured, the combined horizontal
and vertical 10-inch frames, connected bythe double
skin of three-quarter inch iron, constituting an
enormously strong and rigid structure. After allud-
ing to a variety of details connected with the Bel-
lerophon and the leading features which rendered
her superior to any of the ironclads which preceded
her, Mr. Reed next gave some interesting details
respecting the Lord Warden, and the improvements
made in her construction. The most striking of
these was the device of solidifying the frame in the
wake of the armour, the chief advantage being that
the frame of the ship was thus rendered solid, and
the inside of the vessel fitted with a thickness of 2ft.
Tin. of solid timber behind the 4i-inch armour
plating. Another important feature introduced in
the Lord Warden and Lord Clyde was the addi-
tional 11 inch of iron placed between the frames and
the outer planking of the ship, to prevent the pas-
sage of shell—the most important thing to guard
against in the case of a wooden armour-plated
vessel. Such a contingency was not thought possible
at the time the Warrior was designed, but the im-
provements effected by Mr. Whitworth and Sir W.
Armstrong demonstrated clearly that shells could be
made to penetrate the iron armour of armoured ships.
It was therefore decided to give the sides an addi-
tional thickness of iron plating, and. the results of
the experimental trials subsequently made proved
the soundness of the principle, the shells fired
against the targets so constructed failing to pass
through them. A similar plan was also to be
adopted in the construction of the Hercules, which
would carry a thickness of nine inches of armour-
plating for several feet above the water-line, with
a lacking of teak varying from 12 inches to 16
inches. The Hercules would, however, be ren-
dered still more capable to resist the passage of
shot and shell through her sides by the addition of
a 'double wood backing, supported by a second
series of frames and skin plates. The result of the
improvements in the constructiq of the Hercules
had been fully anticipated in the experimental
trials recently made on the Hercules target at
Shoeburyness, where it was only penetrated by two
600-pounder projectiles, each fired with 100 lb.
charges, both missiles striking upon the same spot,
leaving no doubt whatever that the Hercules her-
\sell would be proof against any shot fired from
any gun in the world. Mr. Reed, before terminat-
ing his address, briefly described the Monarch,
double turret ship, about being commenced at
Chatham dockyard, and concluded by describing
the several experiments made at Shoeburyness on
the various descriptions of -armour-plates and
targets, the particulars of which have been given
on various occasions in The Sun.