The Sun.
London, England, 1859-12-30 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.

Sir,—l find in the official correspondence con-
nected with the case of the Princess Royal that in
a despatch dated December 13 Admiral Bowles,
after describing the riot which had taken place on
board that ship, recommends " that the severest
measures should be taken to crush this thing spirit
of insubordination in the British Navy."
But in a previous letter to " my Lords," dated
November 20, Admiral Bowles appears to have ex-
pressed his opinion " that nothing can be more in-,
judicious or unjust than the way in which officers
and men returning from lengthened foreign service
are treated with respect to leave ; that they are
dealt with as if they were culprits in whom no con-
fidence could be placed, and are imprisoned unne-
cessarily on board their ships, while every possible
indulgence is extended to all around them.'
This being so, according to Admiral Bowles, I
would ask who is most in fault,—the inferiors ho
resist these injudicious and unjust rules, or the
superiors who enforce them ? Who are the parties
respecting whom the severest measures are to be
taken to crush the rising spirit of insubordination 9
Does Admiral Bowles mean that "My Lords"
ought to go to gaol for being injudicious and un-
just ? or that the seamen, whom they treat so
injudiciousy and unjustly, and who resent such
treatment, ought to go there ?
I may be excused for being in doubt as to the
gallant Admi'ral's precise meaning, inasmuch as
" My Lords," In their letter of Dec.s, declare them-
selves at a loss to understand the explanations
which he has offered to them respecting his own
part in the affair, and feel obliged to order further
inquiry into it. The haziness of Admiral Bowles'
language and explanations ought surely to prove
some excuse for the misconstruction which Captain
Baillie put upon his orders.—Your obedient servant,
Dec. 28. H.

IRON SHIPS AND TEE WRECK OF
THE ROYAL CHARTER.

(From the Life Boat)

How many " monster wrecks" has it been our
painful duty to chronicle during the past few years !
How sad is the reflection that their number appears
rather to be on the increase than on the decline !
During the present year alone have two great ships
perished on our own coasts, each consigning hun-
dreds of human beings to a watery grave. But the
other day it was the noble clipper Pomona, of 1,800
tons, a few hours only out of port, her voyage scarce
commenced, mistaking a light, running on an Irish
bank, and drowning no less than 385 of the' unfor-
tunate beings who had trusted in her. To-day it is
the passenger steamer Royal Charter, at the termi-
nation of her long homeward voyage, thrown upon
her native shore, and yielding no less than 455 of
her unhappy inmates to the cold grasp of death.
instead of restoring them to the warm embraces of
long expectant relatives and friends.
A wholesale destruction of life and property
under more melancholy circumstances it is difficult
to conceive. _

The Royal Charter had sailed from the distant
colony of Victoria, in Australia, on the 26th of
August, 1859, with 494 persons on board, the ma-
jority of whom were returning emigrants ; these
having at last attained the object of their distant
pilgrimage, like the laden bee, were once more
homeward bound. carrying with them the fruit of
their labours, and anticipating, maybe, a long and
tranquil enjoyment of the same in " their own,
their native land." But alas, when apparently on
the pointiof realisation, these natural but too often
vain anticipations were scattered to the winds : and,
as in the parable of nld, to each the awful mandate
went forth, " This night thy soul shall be required
of thee."

This unfortunate ship, on Nov. 25th, having hug-
ged too closely the Anglesey coast in search of a
pilot, was caught in the late fearful gale which de-
vastated almost the entire coast of Great Britain,
and was compelled to anchor; but carrying away
all her anchoring-gear, she drifted on the rocks,
and quickly broke in halves. Although a line was
carried to the shore by an intrepid and skilful
swimmer from the ship, named Joseph Rogers, a
Maltese seaman, but few persons had time to avail
themselves of its aid ere the vessel and all beside
were engulfed together.
Two important questions here naturally arise :-
Ist. Was the anchoring-gear, that is to say, were
the anchors and cables of this ship, and are the an-
chors and cables of our merchant ships in general,of
sufficient strength, in sufficient number, of sufficient
weight, and sufficiently in readiness for immediate
use, to provide, as far as possible for the safety of
the vessels and their occupants in cases of emer-
gency ?
2d. Was this iron ship, and are our iron ships in
general by their strength of build and ociontifio
construction calculated to afford, as far as possible,
safety to those on board them in the event of their
coming into collision with the shore or with other
ships ?
On the occasion of the wreck of the Pomona in
April last, we took the opportunity to remark on
some of the imperfections of our system of light-
houses, the loss of that vessel having been pre-
viously occasioned by the mistaking one light for
another. The present case affords an opportunity
for some reflections on the two points above alluded
to, viz., the presumed inefficiency in too many in-
stances of the anchoring gear of our merchant ves-
sels, and the presumed insufficient strength of our
iron ships.
Our remarks will be principally devoted to the
second point. On the first we will only observe,
that numberless wrecks are occasioned every year
by vessels dragging their anchors, or breaking their
cables, and by not having their spare or sheet an-
chor clear for letting go. It is therefore only a
truism to remark on the importance of the anchoring
gear of a ship being carefully selected and of propor-
tionate strength to the duty devolving on it. The loss
of the magnificent steamship Prince, off Balaklava,
on the coast of the Crimea, with her immense, and
at that time invaluable cargo of military clothing,
the destruction of which occasioned such deplorable
suffering and loss of life to our brave soldiers before
Sebastopol, was a striking case in point. Had her
anchors been somewhat heavier, and her cables
somewhat larger, she might possibly have rode out
the gale in safety. The loss of the Royal Charter
is another striking illustration ; for who can say
that if her third anchor had been clear for letting
go, which it appears not to have been (the ship not
even being fitted with a third hawse-hole), who can
say that if it had been clear, and let go in proper
time, it might not have prevented the fearful loss
of life and of valuable property which took place ?
A standard size of anchors and cables proportionate
to tonnage ; a periodical examination and testing of
chain cables, as is practised in her Majesty's ships ;
and an occasional careful examination of the an-
choring gear of at least every passenger ship by the
surveyors of the Board of Trade or of the Emigration
Commissioners—would probably be the means of
preventing many wrecks and much loss of life.
On the second head, we need only advert to the
number of iron ships which have been wrecked, and
have quickly broken up—a fact known to all who are
conversant with the records of our maritime losses
during the past few years—to convince every one
of the importance of careful, diligent, and scientific
inquiry, as to whether the present system of con-
structing iron vessels may not be greatly improved
on. It has now been practically as well as theore-
tically shown that iron ships, as now built, break
up generally by separating amidships, far sooner
than wooden vessels, occasioning thereby a corre-
sponding increase in loss of lives. Of this fact the
case of the Royal Charter and of the mail steamer
Indian are the two most recent illustrations.

We have, in former papers, remarked on the too
frequent want of strength and general unseaworthi-
ness of our merchant ships, as being in great mea-
sure occasioned by the usual custom of insuring
vessels to their full value, and sometimes in excess
of it, so as to leav3 the owners little or no pecu-
niary interest in their safety, and inducing them to
build ships as cheaply as possible, rather than as
strongly as possible. We propose, more especially,
to quote the present case as the last instance
amongst many of the "insufficient strength of iron
ships as now built," and, in the name of humanity,
to urge on our Legislature, our Government, our
shipowners, our shipbuilders, and on our coun-
trymen generally, the great importance of tho sub-
ject, and the necessity that exists for adopting a
stronger mode of constructing iron vessels, and
especially those which are employed for the convey-
ance of large numbers of persons, such as emigrant
ships, troop ships, and other passenger craft.
It may be replied, where is the remedy ? If it
could be shown that iron vessels might be con-
tructed in a stronger and more desirable manner,
surely shipowners would be but too glad to possess
themselves of such an improved article. We fear
that, as stated above, shipowners are not in-
terested in having the best article, but the
cheapest article. Viewed even
ot. view,
in. a pecuniary, and
not in a philanthropic poin importance ; for eawlihthe
i subject is
one of national in
system of insurance the individual mayg by the
pro.tect
himself, yet every loss of valuable property
much a loss to the whole community as it wourd re
if uninsured; the loss is merely transferred to other
parties, and divided amongst a greater number.
As to the question of a remedy, it can be easily
made plain to the meanest capacity, that the art of
iron ship-building has not kept pace with the gene-
ral scientific acquirements of the age, at least so far
as strength and durability are concerned; which