The Sun.
London, England, 1868-02-11 00:00:00

LAUNCH OF THE HERCULES.

Yesterday afternoon one of the most powerfully
armed and one of the most strongly built ships
ever sent afloat was turned into the Thames from
Chatham Dockyard. It was not properly speaking
what is termed a launch. There was none of
the slap-dash business into the " native element,"
as it is most inaccurately termed. It was simply
a floating out at high tide from a dry dock of what
is at present the most powerful iron ship added to
our ....J.-, or tukt of any navy in the world. How
long she will maintain this pre-eminence for strength
it is perhaps difficult to say, for the Prussian frigate,
the King William, building at the Thames Iron
Works, and to be launched in a few weeks,
is larger than the Hercules—is nearly as strong as
her, and beyond all doubt has twice her battery
power. It is just now a nice subject of discussion
among artillerists and naval captains as to which
of the two would sink the other first, and opinions
are very equally divided on this point, though a by
no means small majority maintain that each would
infallibly sink the other, and that no matter
which went first, the unhappy victor would not
float more than a minute or two after her fatal
conquest.
The Hercules, which was sent afloat yesterday,
may be regarded
as a representative vessel of what
will probably soon be a numerous class. Her form
and sit upon the water is as graceful as that of a
China clipper, and when full-rigged she will be one
of the handsomest ships in the navy, and bear com-
parison even with the beautiful lines of the Warrior
and Black Prince themselves. In spite of all the
expedition that has been used upon her, she has been
just 20 months building, and another year will cer-
tainly elapse before she is fitted with her engines
and ready for sea.

The Hercules is structurally very much the same
principle as all our great ironclads, only very much
stronger. She has a double or cellular bottom,
one three feet from the other, and enormously
strengthened between by water-tight longitudinal
and transverse girders. Counting these she is
altogether divided into no less than 70 water-tight
compartments. Her main deck is of iron, planked
over, and her upper deck of steel. Yet, the
most ample ventilation is provided .everywhere.
Though both ends of the ship, stem and stern,
are covered with armour, yet a further
protection is given to the great main deck battery
by two transverse bulkheads, which enclose it at
either end, and which are of the most massive de-
scription. These are built of 12 inches of teak and
plated with six inches of iron. All the plates are of
the most splendid kind, both as to manufac-
ture and to fitting. The great fault of the
Hercules is that she only carries coals enough for
little over three days' steaming, and, to make
this steaming still more difficult, she is hampered
with the tremendous masts and spars of a line-of-
battle ship. The sooner the Admiralty recognises
the fact that it is no good building these ponderous
hulls and then trust to the wind to blow them
where they are wanted, the better. No ironclad
should require sails or top-hamper of any kind,
,but
depend on her steam alone. There is scarcely an officer
of the iron fleet who will not back this assertion
that there is not a vessel in the whole of our iron
squadron, whether old or new, which in a gale
could beat off a lee shore under canvas only.
Miss Corry, in the presence of a large number of
the Admiralty officials, named the ship yesterday,
and she was quietly warped out to her moorings
in the river by ropes. So well was this rather
difficult manceuvre performed that she never even
in the most trifling manner touched the side of the
long dock, through which she was pulled by hand
capstans.

Bishop Goss, of Liverpool, presided yesterday at
the annual meeting of the friends and supporters of the
Catholic reformatory ship Akbar, moored in the Mersey.
It was stated that the average number of boys on board
last year was 200, and that daring the year six absconded.
A letter was read from Mr. Baffles, stipendiary magistrate,
suggesting a laud reformatory in connection with the
Akbar. Bishop Goss said he highly approved of the sug
gestion, and it was resolved that efforts should be made to
carry it out.
THE PORT OF WlSBECH.—Annexed is a state-
ment of the foreign trade of the port of Wisbech during
the last five years:-1863, 124 vessels, of the aggregate
burden of 22,015 tons ; 1864, 158 vessels, 28,542 tons
1865, 217 vessels, 86,514 tons ; 1866, 122 vessels, 22,973
tons; and 1867, 133 vessels, 24,615 tons. The figures
given refer to vessels entering inwards with cargoes from
foreign countries; and, upon the whole, the foreign trade
of the port would appear to have made some slight pro-
grim of late.