The Sun.
London, England, 1844-04-04 00:00:00

II

."0"

7'

LAUNCH OF THE BOSCAWEN,
SEVENTY GUNS.

WOOLWICH, APRIL 3.=At an early hour this morn-
ing numbers of persons arrived at Woolwich, and cv. my
hour, up to one o'clock, P.M., added to the numbers in
compound proportion, all apparently anxious to be pre-
sent to witness the interesting spectacle of the launch of
a man-of-war, and shortly after eleven o'clock carrieges
began to set down the fashionable' families who had ob-
tained tickets of entry to the enclosed galleries, and
before one o'clock all the seats and standing room wat
occupied with a most brilliant assembly, which was greatly
enlivened by the presence of the bright uniforms ot
officers of almost all ranks in the army and navy, and so
dense was . the crowd continually pressing onward, that
many were disappointed, being. unable to move forward
to witness the launch, which took place precisely at one
o'eloek, rather sooner than originally contemplated. la
the course of the forenoon it was ascertained that the
vessel had began to stretch upon the few remaiiiina;
bearers left previous to the launch, and that it would la
impossible to retain her with safety much beyond one
o'clock, and consequently the gates were thrown op, n at
an earlier hour by the older of Sir Francis Collier, Cap-
tain Superintendent, and it would have been scarce'y
possible for one hundred more to have had a sight of the
launch, had ten thousand at rived at a later hour.
When all was ready for knocking out the dog-slier s.
the Countess of Haddington, Lady of the First Lord,,.
the Admiralty, escorted by Commodore Sir Francis Col-
lier and Mr. Oliver Long, master shipwright, occupi! d a
station at the bow of the vessel, and a bottle of wine hay-
ing been opened, the Countess of Haddington drunk—
" Success to the Boscawen," and immediately after broke
the bottle of wine on the vessel, and in a few seeoiats
the dog-shores were struck, and the majestic ship glided
into the river Thames, amidst the enthusiastic cheers of
the assembled spectators, the band of the Royal Marines
playina. " Rule Britannia." The Monkey steam-vessel
took the Boscawen in tow shortly after the launch, and
she now remains moored alongside the Liebe, with the
Royal Standard, the Admiralty flag, and two Union flags
Hying on her jury-masts. Several steam-boats arrirei
in good time to allow the passengers on their densely-
crowded decks to witness the whole of the spectticle, i wing
to their excellent position on the river ; but others were
so late as only to be able to see the Boscawen after she en-
tered the river. The passengers on 'board in some degree
made up for their disappointment, by sailing round and
afterwards going on board the newly-launched man-of-
war, to inspect the whole of the interior of that fine sa
sel. Other parties went over the whole of the Dockyard,
and all appeared delighted with the fineness of the
day and the animated scene. The Mastiff, surveying-
vessel, and the Sulphur, devoted to the apprentices of
the engineering department, were decorated with a vs
riety of flags, and the latter, froni her cloie proximity
to the launch, was filled with a number of fashional)
families, for whom every arrangement was made fi r
their comfort by Commander Smith, who has charge of
the vessel. The arrangements of the harbour-master,
river, and local police, together with those attached to
'the dockyard, were admirably made for the public ac-
commodation, and the whole went off in a satisfactory
manner. Notwithstanding the immense crowds, and
with the exception of a few purse and pocket handker-
chief abstractors, several of whom were detected exer-
cising their vocation, and promptly taken before Mr.
' Jeremy, the Magistrate, to be dealt with according to
law, there did not appear to be any other interruption
to the pleasure of all during the day. The following
are the dimensions of the Boscawen:— Feet. In.

Length on the gun-deck lBO 0
Ditto keel for tonnage 146 91
Breadth extreme
Ditto for tonnage 53 0
Ditto moulded
Depth in hold
Burthens in tons old measure 2213 81-94
Ditto new ditto l9ll 2931-3500