The Sun.
London, England, 1866-10-20 00:00:00

Naval and Military Intelligence.

Letters received yesterday by a Chatham cor- i
respondent bring down the proceedings of the vari-
ous vessels composing the Channel squadron, under
the command of Rear Admiral 11. It. Yelverton, i
C. 8., to the 13th inst. The chief interest appears 1
to be centred in the Bellerophon. Although no su-
periority over other ships, when under canvas alone,
was claimed for her by her designer, or the Admi-
ralty, scarcely one of the ships of the squadron, with
the exception of the Pallas and the Research, both
of which are also from Mr. Reed's design, can keep
pace with her under sail, especially against a head
sea. From some cause or other connected with her
rudder, for which no adequate reason can be as-
signed, the Bellerophon has not stayed in tacking so
well as the other ships. This, however, is considered
by the officers ou board to be a matter of very little
moment in a vessel of the tremendous offensive
powers of the Bellerophon, inasmuch as all future
naval actions will of necessity be fought under steam
only, when the surprising handiness cf the ship
would be relied on. It is, however, remarked on
board the Bellerophon that as the head sea increases
so her superiority under sail is brought out, while
the experience gained during the cruise in the Chan-
nel has shown that she dips and pitches to a head sea
much less than ordinary wooden frigates without a
pound of iron armour-plating about them—a fact
which can only be attributable to the form of the
U-shaped bow introduced both in the Bellerophon
and the Pallas. This fact is one of very consider-
able importance, as proving that even in ships of
comparatively short length there is no necessity for
leaving the ends unprotected with armour, pro-
vided the bows are properly formed. Consequently,
all the exposure and danger to the steering gear
and steam machinery resulting frem the unpro-
tected ends of ships like the Warrior, Black
Prince, Defence, Hector, and others of the earlier
built ironclads may be avoided without in the
slightest degree impairing the seagoing qualities of
our armour-plated ships. Another highly important
point brought out during the cruise of the squadron
has been that heavy guns can be safely and effec-
tually worked at the broadside ports even in mode-
rately rough weather. The Bellerophon was sent
to sea with only a small portion of her armament on
board, the remainder being represented by some
tons of the ordinary dockyard iron ballast (" Seely's
pig," as they are now ordinary termed in the dock-
yards.) The few guns she has on board are, how-
ever, of the largest class, bJing of the same size and
weight as those fitted in the turret ship, Royal Sove-
reign, and weighing 12 tons each. Her guns are, in
tact, just double the weight of any guns ever before
taken to sea in a British ship of war, while the ac-
counts received by the correspondent show that they
have been worked with perfect safety, even when the
entire squadron was rolling from 20 deg. to 30 deg.
in a heavily rolling sea. An experienced officer, who
has seen much of the working of guns in largo class
wooden frigates,
writes to the effect that there can
no longer be any question respecting the perfect
practicabilitythe broadside °off working nirgonocridandasnaese
the
eax
ripßye 'i. iwileenerie°gePh hth°aan
even during the worst weather.
has
shown many minor defects existing among the
slides and carriages, which are of the Elswick pat-
ctehrinne,
ryai:dfitpteudrealyt
Chatham
mendtoal The training ma-
hand, answers exceedingly weik , on the other
well, enabling
enabling the gun to
be put under complete control. The Achilles is de-
scribed as having behaved well during the cruise, but
the fact that she has been beatenby the Bellerophon
altogether negatives the hitherto received axiom that
great length is esssential tog high rate of speed in a
heavily armoured plated ship. In this respect the
Pallas,which is even shorter than the Bellerophon, is
even a more marked instance of the successof a short
ship, fos, with a moderate spread of canvas—and not a
very large amountof sail, as is sometimes represented
--and with her hull heavily burdened with armour,
she almost invariably beats the entire squadron of
armour clads. During the cruise, -then stationed in
the rear position, in the leeward line of the squad-
ron, and under canvas only, signal was made by the
Commander-in-Chief to the Pallas.to proceed to the
front and look out for the mail despatch steamer
Helicon. Immediately on receiving the order the
Pallas hauled up to the wind and drew ahead of the
other vessels of the fleet, a manoeuvre witnessed with
admiration from on board all the other ships of the
squadron In about three hours she had forereached
every other vessel by several miles, and intercepting
the helicon accomplished the task she was ordered
to undertake. On the 11th inst.,
against a head
swell, and with her royals set, the Bellerophon hauled
to the:wind. She was soon ahead of the other vessels
of the squadron, in this instance beating the Pallas.
‘ii, seah aliead sea it is invariably noticed that the Bel-
lerophon
itraiednsseroinhe:l e'
cr
as
being
y oth p e:
remarkably
a, and her
r kab l
ye dipasy t o a
easy.
The
segnidlaclorfotnh,a pitirsessetnatted, will continue at sea till the
t heymesotsetrsdeayvereo f
autumn g
tlline"th' in orderale to fall in with
s. morninge-, li
Vor-Gen. Lord F. Panlet,
C. 8., made his half
inspection of the 2d bat-
talion Scots Fusilier Guards, now quartered at Wind-
sor. The battalion paraded at 10.45 a m in the bar-
rack square, under the command of
601". Aitchison,
the following officers being present at their
pestsn
—Col. Shelley, Col. Derestord, Cap;,, - '
4Gasceigne