The Sun.
London, England, 1859-01-10 00:00:00

THE ARMY.

The members composing the economical com-
mittee at present sitting in Woolwich dockyard, on
Saturday announced the probability of terminating
their labours during the present week. With a
view of carrying out in its minor details the objects
for which they were appointed, they commenced
their researches by a thorough inspection of the
establishment of the yard, after which they entered
into a systematic subdivision of the departments
into 24 sections, and every one connected there-
with whom they presumed likely to afford them
any information relevant to the subject of their in-
vestigations, or who might suggest any mode of
improvement, has been subjected to a searching
examination, extending in some cases over a period
of three, four, and five days. The members of the
committee, as at the commencement of their labours
in the early part of last July, consist of—Rear-Ad-
miral Robt. Smart, A.D.C., 1C..11., chairman ; Mr.
Henry Chatfield, master shipwright of Deptford
dockyard ; Mr. Andrew Murray, chief engineer of
Portsmouth yard ; Mr. Laws, storekeeper of Chat-
ham yard; Mr. Robt. Bowman, civil engineer and
shipbuilder; and Mr. David Low, a clerk in Ports.
mouth dockyard, secretary.
Major H. Rowlands has taken the command of
the 3d Battalion of Infantry at Chatham Garrison,
in the absence, ,on leave, of Lieut.-Colonel C. E.
Fairtlough.
Major-General Eyre, in command of the troops
at Chatham Garrison, has distributed, at his own

expense, a large quantity of beef among the wives
of those soldiers belonging to the East India depots
who are not living with their husbands in barracks.
The General has also given a sum of money for dis-
tribution among the troops who compose the mili-
tary police of the garrison.
The division of Royal Marine Light Tnfantry at
Chatham being below its required strength recruit-
ing is now proceeding very energetically.
On account of the increased number of recruits
daily entered for service in the Royal Artillery
Regiment, a portion of the western block of the
barracks at Woolwich has been specially appro-
priated as detached mess and sleeping rooms for
the young recruits alone, whence, on passing the
necessary examinations and receiving their clothing,
they are to be draughted to regular quarters, and
immediately commence a course of active drill.

THE NAVIES OF THE WORLD.

(From the New York Times.)

In preparing the following comparative view of
the naval armaments of the world, we have been
anxious to ascertain as accurately as possible the
present available efficiency of those armaments ;
and to illustrate the extraordinary:development, to
which the Russian war gave so vigorous an impulse,
of the steam marine of war. We have, therefore,
omitted all consideration of the Russian navy, which
is now in process of reconstruction, and of navies
like those of Sweden and Denmark, from which we
have nothing to learn, since they remain like our
own, upon the footing of thirty years ago, and
are even in the rear of our own progress. Neither
of them possesses a single screw line-of-battle ship,
and the fleet of gunboats by which Sweden holds
the Gulf of Bothnia consists mainly of sailing ves-
sels. The navy of Spain would claim no more con-
sideration in a paper of this kind, were it not of
special interest to us in connection with the pre-
sent aspect of our relations with that Power.
We should add that our account of the French
navy rests mainly upon personal observations made
during the past summer, and upon documents pre-
pared for the use of a foreign Government, the
French Minister having forbidden by a recent
circular to the press, any specific statistical publica-
tions with regard to the naval forces of France.
The object of this prohibition it is not easy to di-
vine, though it may be supposed to have a reference
to those sinister designs upon " somebody " which
the Third Napoleon is so generally believed to be
cherishing.
Of steam line-of-battle ships, carrying. from 60
to 131 guns, and propelled by force varying from
200 to 700 horse-power, England has 52 ; France,
133 ; Holland, 1 ; Austria, 1.
Of sailing line-of-battle ships, carrying from 60
to' 120 guns, England has [44 ; France, 23 ; Hol-
land, 9 ; Spain, 6 ; the United States, 6.
In the above force we include, of course, only
vessels actually launched, and either actually
in commission capable of being fitted for sea within
a reasonable delay. But on " decomposing" the
figures of the sailing, fleet, we find that
three of the six American liners—The Penn-
sylvania, Columbus, and North Carolina—are
really
•only fit to remain where they now
are, in ordinary." The same is true of
two of the Spanish liners, and of a certain propor
tion of those of England and France. The other-
may be reckoned among the forces which may be
made available by the application of steam. The
liners of England. and France are undergoing this
transformation, and it was the intention of the
Government of Lord Palmerston to form out of the
superannuated English ships a strong squadron of
" blockships." The present Administration, we
believe, has virtually given up this project, and
rests content with the nine ships of this kind be-
queathed to it by its predecessors. One, at least, of
the vessels formerly reckoned by our own naval au-
thorities among the 74's—the Franklin—is now re-
building into a screw of 54 guns at Portsmouth, and
when completed, may take rank with ships like the
Edinburgh and the Russell of the English coast
squadron.
Very different are the steam line-of-battle ships
here enumerated. In this branch of the ser-
vice the French fleet may claim a just pre-emi-
nence. The steam linens of France have been
built on the basis of the experience acquired by
England, and although numerically inferior to
the British, are probably more directly available
for warlike purposes than the larger force of
their rivals. The armament of the first-class
French liners consists now of six 84's, 60 long 30-
pounders, and 54 30-pounder Paixhans. The
type of these magnificent vessels may be taken
to be the Algesiras, built by M. Depuy de Lome,
and launched in 1857. On her trial trip
this ship made the fastest passage ever known
to Algeria from Marseilles, in 32 hours, at the ave-
rage rate of 12 knots per hour. At this rate she
consumed 45 tons of coal per day, and, with an
expenditure of 70 tons per day, reached a speed of
14 knots. The Duke of Wellington and Marl-
borough, the leading ships of the English steam
navy, have never, we believe, exceeded an average
of 13 knots, but at this rate we have no vessel-of-
war, excepting the Niagara, which can claim
equality with them. The Emperor, the only
Austrian screw liner now afloat, though two others
are building, one at Venice and one at Pola, is
described as a splendid vessel of 100 guns, and is,
doubtless, a very fine ship.
Of steam frigates carrying from 20 to 54 guns,
and propelled by a force of from 150 to 1,000 horse-
power, England has 19 ; France, 28 ; Holland, 3 ;
Spain, 2.; United States, 6.

Of sailing frigates, carrying from 32 to 54 guns,
England has 91; France, 54; Holland, 12 ; Spain,
10 ; United States, 12 ; Austria, 6.

The steam frigate of the first-class is now to be
classed as a smaller line-of-battle ship. It has no
advantages over the larger vessels of this rank in
point of speed, and is liable, of course, there-
fore, to be forced into unequal encounters with
its superiors ; but for the ordinary purposes of a
navy in times of peace it has great availability.
The proportions of our own vessels of this class,
and the character of the Dahlgren armament (always
supposing its utility in time of war), entitle them
really to rank with heavy liners ; and we have
achieved a higher success with these vessels than
with any others of our present navy. The English
frigates, also, such as the Imperieuse, Euryalus,
Arrogant, Shannon, and Mersey, which have been
built within the last six years, maintain the ancient
reputation of England on a nearer level with that
of France than the larger ships of her Britannic
Majesty. The Mersey is a particularly favourable
specimen of these vessels. She was launched in the
spring of the present year, is fitted with engines of
1,000 horse power, and carries an armament of
40 guns, 32's and 68's. The respective force in
steam and sailing frigates of England and
France significantly illustrates the secret of the
momentary superiority of the latter power in dis-
posable steam force. England is encumbered with
a larger amount of " old material" than her rival ;
but with a prudence and foresight which we should
be glad to see imitated nearer home, she is freeing
herself of this encumbrance as rapidly as is con-
sistent with a just economy and an aristocratic Ad-
miralty. Her paddlewheel steamers, too, of which a
division appeared in the great review at Spithead,
in April, 1856, are more numerous than the French;
but we believe the American Government is alone
at the present moment in the enterprise of adding
to this now useless arm of its service, and in seri-
ously considering paddlewheel packets like the
Adriatic and the Baltic as available additions to its
war force.

Steam corvettes, sloops of war, and avisos, mount-
ing from 5 to 20 guns, and of from 50 to 350-horse
power :—England, 156 ; France, 129 ; Holland, 7 ;
Spain, 15 ; United States, 12 ; Austria, 5.

The utility of vessels of this class has been seri-
ously impaired by the development of the gunboat
system, which has introduced vessels of equal
speed and less draught, carrying heavy armaments
of from two to five guns of the largest calibre, and
navigable at a much smaller expense, in the place
of the heterogeneous craft thus classified. Still,
the figures we have given will shew that, in the
event of a maritime war, France and England par-
ticularly possess a means of tormenting our coasts
and our commerce with ships of this calibre, which
deserves the attention of our authorities. The
French steam-corvette of 16 to 20 guns is a very
vexatious style of vessel. Great pains have been
bestowed by the French upon this class of vessel,
and we give the dimensions of one of its best types,
launched at Bordeaux in 1857, as a means of com-
parison with the three best vessels of the same de-
nomination which we now possess—the Hartford,
Brooklyn, and Lancaster—launched, but not yet
ready for sea, under the Act of Congress for build-
ing five new sloops of war :—Length, 230 ft. ; to
water line, 36 ft.; depth of hold 22 ft.; displace-
ment, 1,968 tons ; armament, four long and 12
short 60-pounders of the French, or sixty-eights of
our own calibre.
Sailing corvettes, &c., carrying from 10 to 20
guns—England, 105; France, 138; Holland, 21;
Spain, 23 ; Austria, 12 ; United States, 21.
Passing over now the small fry of brigs and
schooners detailed for revenue and coast duty in the
various countries, we come to the new and import-
ant classes of small steam-vessels, of which France
and England have now a small squadron in the
American waters. The steam gunboat is a wiry lit-
tle monster, ranging from 200 to 800 tons burden,
from 4 feet 3 inches to 12 feet of draught, carrying
from 2 to 6 68 or 84-pounder guns, and making from
7 to 13 knots, with steam power varying from 20
to 350 horses. She depends for the force of her re-
monstrances more upon the range and calibre than
the number of her cannon. The French type gun-