The Sun.
London, England, 1866-11-26 00:00:00

LAUNCH OF THE GREAT REPUBLIC,'.

As we briefly announced yesterday morning the
Pacific Mail Steamship Company's new steamship
Great Republic, the first of the ships now being
constructed for the new line between San Francisco
and China, was successfully launched from the
shipyard of Mr. Henry Steers, at Greenpoint, on
November 8, in the presence of a large.number of
ladies and gentlemen, drawn thither by the public
announcement in the Times and others of the city
papers of the launch of the largest ship yet con-
structed in America.

Tonnage alone fqrms no basis for comparing the
size of a sailing-ship with that of a, steamer, all the
space occupied in the latter by the machinery being
excluded in calculating 'her capacity in -tons. The
space so excluded in a steamer of this immense size
would of itself contain bodily what, not many years
ago, would have passed for a large vessel.
Length, extreme 3BO feet.
Length between perpendiculars 360 feet.
Width of beam, moulded 4B feet 6 inches.
Width of beam, extreme 5O feet.
Depth of hold

The Great Republic, as we heard from the lips
of those present, well known •in the community as
veteran marine experts, is not only the largest but,
what is specially to be praised in these days, the
strongest ship yet built in this country. Our Ame-
ricanism teaches us to claim as national not what is
merely native, but what is also best; and in this
point of view we have always taken a just pride in
the magnificent fleet put afloat by the Pacific Mail
Company, during and since the war, beginning
with the Constitution, in 1861, and having such
ships as the well-known Colorado, Golden City,
Arizona, and Henry Chauncey for models. But
the Great Republic, the pioneer of the new fleet for
the China trade, surpasses all her predecessors.
Her frame timbers are of white and live oak. These
fastened with copper and iron, are braced with
straps of iron five inches wide and 7-Bths of an inch
thick, crossing each other diagonally every four feet.
Over this comes the inner planking, which is caulked
and payed with pitelLand then double strapped as
before, and outside this double-strapping comes the
exterior double planking of the very best Georgia
yellow pine. The whole is so thoroughly braced
and bolted and fastened together with treenails of
locust, spikes of 'iron or composition, and bolts of
copper, that it is difficult to imagine wind and
wave combined of sufficient power to cause distress
to so staunch a structure.

The Great Republic has three masts, and, to
meet the necessities of her route, on which it may at
times be desirable to use sails, will be full ship-
rigged, differing, however, from the familiar
arrangement by having her foremast the tallest of
the three, and her mizzen-mast the shortest. She
has three full decks, unusually stout and strongly
fastened, with an orlop deck fore and aft, extending
to the engine bulkhead. She has four stout water-
tight bulkheads, dividing the hold into five secure
compartments.

The engines are vertical beam, having a single
cylinder, in which the piston works, of 105 inches
diameter, nearly nine feet, and twelve feet stroke.
The paddle-wheels are to be 40 feet in diameter,
having a face of 12 feet, and each wheel is provided
with thirty-four oak buckets.

Register Carpenter's
Name. Tonnage. Tonnage. Builder.
Constitution
Golden City
Sacramento 2,683 3,351 Webb and Bell.
Colorado
Henry Chauncey 2,657 3,200 W. H. Webb.
Arizona
Montana 2,675 3,192 Webb and Bell.
Of these, the Constitution, Golden City, Sacra-
mento, and Montana, with the Golden Age, St.
Louis, and California, are on the line between
Panama and San Francisco, the Henry Chaun-
cey and Arizona, with the New York, Risinc,
Star, Ocean Queen, Northern Light, Ariel, and
Champion, are on the Atlantic, engaged regularly
as extra or freight steamers in the line between this
port and Aspinwall. The China line will consist of
the Colorado (already advertised from San Fran-
cisco for Hong Kong via Yokohama, Japan, on
the Ist of January next), and the following new
ships:

Register Company's
Builder.
Name. Tonnage. Tonnage.

Great Republic 4,100 ... 5,200 ... Henry Steers.
Celestial Empire
America 4,100 5,200 •••
Nippon - 5,200 ... .
--New York Paper. .