The Sun.
London, England, 1857-10-09 00:00:00

THE LOSS OF A RUSSIAN VESSEL OF

TDB; LINE AND 826 LIVES.

The fourn-cil of St: Petersburg of Ist con-
tains the following account, communicated by order
of the Minister'of Marine, of the recent loss of a
vessel of the line, the Lefort
"It has pleased Providence I should participate
.in one of the greatest disasters that can happen at
sea, and to make me a witness of the instantaneous
and inexplicable loss of one of the vessels in my
fleet. A few minute; have suttic,ed fora beautiful
ship of the line, thoroughly seaworthy, to be en-
gulfed by the waves during a tempestuous night.
Not a cry of distress reached us from the sceno of
the disaster,:although we were but 4 cables' length
distant to windward. No one survives to ext.lain
to us the cause of this unparalleled catastrophe.
"On the 28th August (Sept. 9) four ships of the
line, the Imperatrice Alexandra, the Vladimir, r.
the Lefort of 84 guns, and the Pamiat Asova, of 74
guns, which were in the port of Revel, received •
orders to arm and return to CronMtadt. Ten days
afterwards the Pamiat Asova quitted the roads,
towed by a steam-frigate. The three other vessels
were ready to set sail two days later ;- they Lad ,
water and provisions for a month, and their stowage
was the same as at the end of their cruise in the
preceding year ; the Lefort was thoroughly repaired
at Cronaradt in 1852. I had received instructions
t profit by the favourable weather to set sail, with-
out
waiting for the steam-tugs. On the 9(1 of
Sept. (21st) I got under sail with beautiful weather
and a favourable breeze from S.S. W., the barome- ,
ter marking 29.79 Eogli-h. •A little later the a ind
f eshened, and abreast of the island of Rothskar we .
were obliged to take in two reefs in the topsails.
At half-past 8 p.m., after passing the -island of
Hochland, the fleet was making more than eleven
knots. The'sviud increasing' I ordered a third, and
then a fourth reef to be taken in. The barometer
being at 29.15, and the weather foggy, wo sailed as
close as possible to the wind, endeavouring to keep
our course by short tacks, until morning ; each
time I gave the signal for the manoeuvre. At half-
past.ll the wind shifted to the west, at midnight
to the N.W., and at four o'clock to the north, with
squalls and snow. At daybreak we were near the
island of Grand-Tutors. The fleet was on the star-
board tack, the Imperatrice Alexandra a little to
windward, and the Vladimir in the wake of the
Lefort, with four reefs in her topsails.
" At a distance of five miles from -linters- we
tacked. During our manoeuvre the Lefort ap-
peared to U 3 as if about to tack ; suddenly a vir-
lent squall laid her on her side. Though her sails
were let go, she leaned over so much to larboard
that we expected her masts would go, but she con-
tinued gradually to lean over till she foundered
the short time that the Vladimir took to tack
about. The keel of the Lefort appeared once, and
was then swallowed up in the waves.
" Exclusive of the commander and 12 officers,
the vessel had on board 743 seamen, 53 women,
and 17 children ; all perished.
" This disaster took place on September 10 (22),
at 23 minutes past seven a.m., at 5i miles to the
N.N.E. of the island of Grand-Tutors, at a depth,
of thirty fathoms. After this unparalleled catas-
trophe, the wind continuing to increase, we brailed
u the fore-topsails and top-gallant sails, and after-
wards the main-topsails, and decided to anchor at •
a depth of 31 fathomz, leting out all the cable of
two anchors. Fifty-three hours afterwards the
wind calmed, and the steamers arriving in the
meantime, towed us to Cronstadt.
" Signed by the Rear-Admiral

NORDMAN I."

N:ivrd ?41i liliacary luteiligence.

The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty have
determined to supply the whole of the ships of the
royal navy with Clifford's apparatus for lowering
ships' boats, and have made arrangements with Mr
C. Clifford to use the patent right.
The Sprightly, tender, Master Commander Geo.
Allen, was under orders yesterday to proceed to
Ryde, I. W., to convey Rear-Admiral Baynes from
thence to the Ganges, 84, at Spithead. The wea-
ther was, however, too boisterous to allow of any
one getting on board ; therefore, she is ordered to
be in readiness this morning to convoy Capt. Fulford
and about 100 liberty men to the Ganges, from
Portsmouth, and afterwards to proceed to Ryde to
attend on Rear-Admiral Baynes, whose flag is
hoisted at the wizen of the Ganges. She has been
fitted with Clifford's patent boat-lowering gear, and
the inventor is down for the purpose of practically
showing its advantages while a tremendous se% is
passing the ship at anchor at the rate of six knots
an hour.

Two companies of the 51st (the King's) Light In-
fantry left Dublin on Wednesday evening for
Queenstown, to embark in the Calcutta. The head-
quarters marked next morning for Queenstown un-
der the command of Col. Errington, and will also
embark in the Calcutta for India. The Cork Re-
porter of Wednesday gives the following account of
-the embarkation at that port of the two regiments
of cavalry destined to reinforce the army in India.
. _ _

"Amid the crowd of vessels of all sizes, build, and
rig which lay moored in the harbour was the Great
Britain, Captain Gray. Shortly after throe o'clock one
of the largest of the river steamers rounded Whitepoint,
having on board the head-quarters, band, &c., of the
17th Lancers, bound for India, and about to embark
ea board the Great Britain. Immediately on enter-
ing the harbour the band s'ruck up, 'Cheer, boys,
cheer,' and g The Girl I loft behind me,' as they
came alongside, amid the loud and hearty cheering of
comrades on board. When all were on board and
mustered the band came on the quarter-deck and
performed Auld Lang Syne.' The men then set about
taking up their quarters, and in the meantime the bands
of the Bth Hussars and 17th Lancers continued to play.
The scene at this time was very grand and striking. The
embarkation of the troops was conducted under the im-
mediate direction of Captain Locke, agent to the East
India Company, through whose exertions all the arrange-
ments were satisfactorily concluded."
The following are the officers who sail in the Great
Britain ;-Bth Hussars--Major Naylor tin com-
mano), Major Chetwode ; Captains M`Naughten,
Pageat, Henneage, Clowes, Penton, and Poore ;
Lieutenants Massunden, Hames, Webster, Mon-
tague, Henberry, and Stourton ; Cornets Richards,
Paullet, and Helme ; Doctors Lockwood and Sher-
lock. 17th Lancers—Lieut.-Col. Rose, Major
Morris, C.B. ; Major Learmouth' Captains White,
Knight, Macartuey, and Lowe ; Lieutenants Sey-
urour, King, Gibson, Nolan, Marshall, Banbridge,
and Hon. W. H. Curzon, Doctor Mockler, Assist-
ant-Surgeon Johnson, Lieutenant and Adjutant
Duncan. The following officers of these regiments
proceeded by overland route, on the 20th, to join
their respective regiments at the seat of war :-Bth
Hussars—Colonel De Salis. 17,11 Lancers—Colonel
Benson, Captains Sir William Gordon and Sir Geo.
Leith, and Mr. Partridge, veterinary surgeon.
At the meeting of ttie.Liverpool Dock Committee
yoterday a report was submitted respecting the new
fort on the site of the old magazines at New Brighton,
from the Works Committee, wh r thought that no
further opposition should be offered, but that Go-
vernment should be allowed to take its own course.
Mr. Bold observed that block-ships would be much
better for the protection of the fort. He thought
they should at least make application for a copy of
the plans. This was ordered to be done.