The Sun.
London, England, 1861-01-02 00:00:00

TILE NAVY.

or

Y;esterday the Undaunted, 51, one of the im-
proved class of large screw frigates now under con-
stn action for the navy, was launched from Chatham
do( •kyard with complete success, making the fifth
of -the large vessels-of-war which have been built
at that establishment during little more than 12
months. The Undaunted is one of a squadron of
large 51-gun frigates now building at the various
Royal dockyards, all of which have been laid
down by direction of the present Board of Ad-
miralty, who have availed themselves of every
improvement which has been effected in that
class of vessel. She has been rather more than
a year in progress, and has been built under the
superintendence of Mr. 0. W. Lang, the master
shipbuilder at Chatham, and his assistants, from
the designs of Rear-Admiral Sir Baldwin Walker,
K.C.8., the late Surveyor of the Navy, Not-
withstanding the Undaunted is nominally
classed as a frigate, she is considerably larger than
most of the line•of-battle ships now afloat, being
only two feet less than the screw three-decker
Prince of Wales, 131 guns, launched a short time
since at Portsmouth, and nearly double the ton-
nage of many of our line-of-battle ships built a
quarter of a century ago. Her principal dimen-
sions are :

Feet. In,

Length between perpendiculars. 250 0
Length of keel for tonnage 214 9
Breadth, extreme 52 1
B roadth for tonnage
Breadth moulded . 50 9
Depth in hold
Burthen in tons, 3,399 44-94ths

Her armament will be an exceedingly formidable
one of 51 guns, which will be thus arranged :
upper deck—one 68-pounder pivot gun of 95 cwt.,
10ft. long, and twenty 32-pounders, each of 58 cwt.,
and 9ft. 6in. long; and main deck—thirty 8-inch
guns, each of 65 cwt., and 9ft. long. Her pro-
pelling power will consist of a pair of 600-horse
power engines by Messrs. Ravenhill arid Co. Her
figure-head is a colossal bust of a British sailor.
Although the weather was exceedingly unfavour-
able for the spectacle a large number of spectators
were present in the dockyard to witness the launch,
every spot which presented a view of the ceremony
having its occupant. Miss Johnstone, the eldest
daughter of Vice-Admiral W. J. Hope Johnstone,
Commander-in-Chief at the Nore, performed the
ceremony of " christening" the ship. A large
bower anchor brought the frigate up in the river,
and she was safely moored off the dockyard, The
Undaunted is to be fitted with her engines imme-
diately and be prepared for the steam reserve.
Another vessel of large size will be immediately
laid down on the same slip.

Preparations are being made at Devonport for
supplying a new forefoot to the screw steamship
Hero, 91, Commodore Seymour. Her false keel,
being defective, is being removed.

The War Department vessel Inkerman left Ply.
mouth on Monday, with stores for Woolwich.

The paddlewheel steam sloop Spiteful, Com-
mander Wilson, which left Plymouth on Friday
with the coal depot Alarm in tow, arrived at
Pembroke on Saturday.

The screw steam frigate Ariadne, 26, Captain
Vansittart, will be removed to-morrow (Thursday),
weather permitting, from Hamoaze to Plymouth
Sound.

The iron screw steamship Victoria, which has
for some time past been lying at anchor in Ply-
mouth Sound, is about to be removed by a Govern-
ment tug to the basin in Keyham steamyard for
examination and repair. The electric cable which
she has on board, which was intended originally
for Rangoon, is now to be laid from the island of
Malta to Alexandria, by which a gain of 10 days
is expected to be made in the transmission of in-
telligence between England and India.
It was blowing so heavily yesterday (Tuesday)
at Plymouth that the screw steamship St. George,
91, Capt. the Hon. Francis Egerton, in the Sound,
was riding with two anchors down, and the sheet
anchor cleared ready for dropping. Steam was got
up on board the screw steam corvette Jason, 21,
Capt. E von Donop, to assist her anchors is case of
need.

The crew of the screw steamship Royal Albert,
121, Capt. Henry Lacon, at Devonport, are strip
ping her foremast ; the main and mizen masts are
stripped.

The following appointments were made yester
day at the Admiralty :—Dr. Robert Beith, sur
geon, to Plymouth Hospital ; and Dr. John Stewart
(B), surgeon, to the Majestic.