The Sun.
London, England, 1845-10-21 00:00:00

THE EXPERIMENTAL SQUADRON

OF 1844.
(A.)
COPY OF A REPORT FROM BEAR-ADMIRAL BOWLES, C. 8.,
TO THE SECRETARY OF THE ADMIRALTY, OF THE TRIALS
OF SAILING BETWEEN HER MAJESTY'S SHIPS QUEEN,
C.ALEDoNIA, ST. VINCENT, AND ALBION.
"Caledonia, at Sea, in lat. 46 deg. 19 min. N., long.
12 deg. W., 20th Nov., 1844._ _

" have to request you will inform their Lordships
that, in obedience to their orders of the 18th ult., I proceeded
to sea on the 23d ult., and on the 3d instant arrived off the
Bar of Lisbon, where, having ascertained that her Majesty's
ship Albion was not in the Tagus, I stood to the westward,
and or. the 6th inst. fell in with her off the rock. For some
days afterwards the wind was strong on shore, and it was
with some difficulty I gained a sufficient offing to enable me
to commence those trials of the Albion's sailing about which
I knew their Lordships felt most anxiety ' - and it is with
much pleasure I can report that, after a most careful observa-
tion of her qualities on.every point, I am fully convinced she
is a very fast-sailing ship, very stiff under canvass, and
working remarkably well; and, although from the extreme
fine and settled weather which has prevailed during the last
fortnight, T am not enabled to state how she behaves under
low sail and in blowing weather, I feel no doubt, from what I
observed, that her superiority under such circumstances would
be much more apparent and decided, and that I have, in fact,
seen her tried to the greatest disadvantage.
" It would naturally have been more satisfactory if ships
of her own clan', and of known good character, could have
been tried against her; and, although I feel very confident
of the result, I am nevertheless induced to recommend that
the first favourable opportunity may be taken of doing so.
" With respect to the Queen, her sailing was inferior to
that of this ship for the first three days after leaving Spit-
head, but it gradually improved afterwards, and I consider
her now. equal to the Caledonia by the wind, and superior
going free under all common circumstances. Both are, how-
ever, considerable slower than the St. Vincent, which ship
has sho. n a decided superiority on all occasions.
" The Queen's great defect seems to be an apparent want
of sufficient power in the rudder, which occasions her to
carry a slack helm and under low and easy sail to be kept
to the wind with difficulty. It is impossible to decide whe-
ther this arises from the rudder itself being too small, or
from any other cause which may be remediable by an alter-
ation in the stowage, or the position of the masts. There are
three experienced officers in the squadron, the commander
of this ship, the late master of the fleet in the Mediter-
ranean, and the master of the Albion, who all agree in ex-
pressing their surprise at the change which has taken place
fur the worse, and fully confirm the testimony borne by the
commander-in-chief in the Mediterranean, as well as by
other officers, as to her former good qualities; but as it is
obvious that nothing can be done at sea to improve her, and
as this slackness in her steering might compromise her
satlty in any difficult situation, I have thought it most ad-
visable to return to England before the full expiration of the
period specified in their Lordships' orders, and am now on
my way to Plymouth Sound, having directed the Queen and
St. Vincent, in. the event of separation in the Channel, to
proceed to Sheerness and Spithead.
" Sir William Symonds will lay before their Lordships his
"opinions and suggestions with respect to the necessary
our rations in the Queen; and I will, therefore, only add,
that, considering the defect principally complained of is her
3 ackness isf helm, it is very remarkable how well she stays
under difficult cirenuistances ; and I was particularly struck
by observing her tacked yesterday against a heavy head
swell, when he and the Albion, without hauling down their
jibs, carne round with perfect ease, while this ship and the
St. Vincent were (with their head sails: down), nearly double
the time in stays.

The stability of the Queen and Albion has been on all
oecasionA very remarkable; and their inclination was always
cme half less than that of the Caledonia or St. Vincent, the
lied being, my the one case, from 3 to 3% deg., and in the
other 7 deg. It is very obvious, therefore, that these ships
'will carry their ports up and fight their guns with much
greater facility; and I have no doubt they will always ba.
found able to carry a reef more out of the course..., and
topsails on an emergency.
" The constant attention to these trials of tailing, which I
mat orally felt to be the most itnprytassf: object, and the con-
sequent necessity of keeping tl' L, rigging well up and in good
vier, have prevented me, during these shorts days, from de-
voting as much time as I should otherwise have done to the
various evolutions sloe-:itied in their Lordships' instructions;
there hes, t)c,,rl much useful extrase in the order of sail-
Is ano tine of battle, as well as in wearing at night by
tit?"."at ; and I have had every reason to be satisfied with the
!.rler and efficiency of the squadron; and the accuracy
our target practice was highly creditable, the St. Vincent
having sunk two casks, and this ship and the Queen one
each, at a distance of about SOO yards.
" I have endeavoured in the preceding observations to an-
swer as fully and distinctly as possible all their Lordships'
•qaestions with respect to the qualities of the four ships
under my command ; and it is enly furt her necessary to explain
that the very unusual and uninterrupted fine weather which
has prevaile.. since I left the coast of Portugal, and which
sti;rcontinues (the ships having never had more than one
reef in the topsails), prevents my repoi tir.g more fully on
their qualities in blowing weather. We had some strong
breezes on our passage toLisbon, but they came on suddenly,
znd moderated again quickly, so that there was no opportu-
nity for any lengthened comparison.
"I will therefore only further add, with respect to the
Queen, that I consider her as only labouring under some tent-
•perary disadvantage; and I shall be much surprised and dis-
appoioted if, after some trifling and inexpensive, alterations,
she is not found to be (at least) a very fair sailing and power-
f,;l ship. "I am, &c..
"WILLIAM BOWLES, Rear-Admiral."
(B.)
COPY OF A REPORT FROM CAPTAIN CORRY, R.N., TO THE
SECRETARY OF THE ADMIRALTY, OF THE TRIALS OF
SAILING OF HER MAJESTY'S BRIGS ESPIEGLE, DARING,
FLYING FISH, MIJTINE, WATERWITCH, PANTALOON,
O.,PREY, AND CRUISER.
" Her Majesty's Steam-vessel Firebrand,
Plymouth Sound, Dec. 9, 1844.
" Sir,—the experimental squadron placed under my com-
mand by my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, having
sat the 29th of October arrived in latitude 49 deg. N.,longi-
tude 10 lleg. W., I deemed it a good position for the exe-
vittion 4:f their Lordships' orders (dated 18th October, 1844),
the -English and Irish Channels being open to the N.E., the
Bay of Biscay- to the S.E., and the Atlantic Ocean to the
N.W., W.. and S.W. I therefore commenced the series of
trials, but having in consequence of the hazy weather been
ursuceessful in obtaining any result to the 2d and 3d of
November, I was induced to move from the bank of sound
ings further to the southward in search of clearer weather.
1,1 ing my 'eport I considered it advisable to disembarran
it. from all movements of the Firebrand, and the log, which
is for,varded herewith, will inform their Lordships of her pro
ceedings.

" Having giver, in a tabular form the distance in yards
gained by one vessel over another, I have placed it, with the
Kle,criprion of the trial, on the face of the diagram, which
thus at the same moment exhibit the commencement,
toe cmd, and the result of each contest. I have also caused
Vnriot;s returns to be made from the squadron, which I for-
ward in a condensed form, and to all of which I particularly
desire to draw their Lordships' attention.
" A summary of the result of the trials is naturallydivided
into tlic,se which took place on' and ' off' the wind. There
-were hi all fourteen trials, eight of which were 'on' and six
' riff' the wind. Of the eight 'on a wind,' two of them, viz.,
Nef:. 2 and 3, are excluded from the present classification in
consequence of thick hazy weather at their conclusion hav-
ing rendered abortive every attempt to obtain the correct
distance (..f the different vessels. They are, therefore, of use
only as substantiating the conclusions which are deduced
from the results of the other trials. The remaining six may
be thus divided : three with moderate or light breezes, and
three whir strong breezes or squally weather. With respect
to the other six tria:swhich took place 'off the wind,' they
are chased under the three heads, wind abeam,' abaft the
beam,' and right er, the two trials having taken place with
the vtrd in ea( h 4 those di: ections

In the on a wind,' Nos. 1,4, and 7 are those in
-which the wied was either light or moderate. In the first of
they, (N‘,. 1) the F.,pigle and Mutine did not take a part.
beleg bent. In that of the fourth, the Daring did not par-
ticipate. end the Pantaloon was not present at the seventh.
In the trial No. 1, with the water smooth and a long
swell, the Flying Fish bad the greatest advantage ; the
Oeprey- ale, Daring slightly- differing from each other, coming
next ; but in the trial No. 7, when the wind was similar,
lint where instead of smooth water there was a cross head
se, the Daring was the most weatherly, the Flying Fish and
Espiegle coming after her, being followed, but at some dis-
tance, by the Mutine and Osprey. From the results of these
two triais with the same weather, but with the sea coming
in a different direction, it may safely he deduced that the
Daring with a head sea is the superior vessel ; and this is
really' remarkably confirmed by examining the details of
the trial No. 7, where it appears that for three hours, when
on the tack, with a following sea, there was comparatively
but little difference between the Flying Fish, Espiegle, and
Daring ; but that afterwards, when the signal to tack bad
been made, and they were brought to bow the sea, the ad-
vantage was chiefly gained, which in two hours gave the
Daring so great a superiority over the other two.
"With respect to the Espiegle and Flying Fish, the
former on the fourth trial beat the latter; but in the seventh,
the order was reversed by the latter weathering the former,
It therefore appears that on a wind, in moderate weather
there is no very material difference between them, though
whatever superiority does exist, rests with the Flying Fish.
As regards the Mut:ne and Osprey, they (notwithstandirg
the latter had a slight superiority over the Daring in the
first trial) may be considered as beaten vessels (the former,
however, having a decided advantage over the latter), and
any further comparison between them is unnecessary beyond
what the diagrams and tables afford, in which the gain and
loss of eech vessel is minutely given in yards.
" With respect to the Cruiser, except in the fourth trial,
she was considerably beaten by all, and even in that she had
only a night advantage over the Pantaloon and Osprey.
The Waterwitch had an advantage over the Pantaloon in the
only two of these three trials in which they were both
present, and in the fourth, in particular, it was very decided.
These were the trials close-hauled, with light or moderate
winds. The other three with strong breezes or squally
weather were the 6th, Ilth, and 13th, in all of which the
Dec ing obtained a marked and decided superiority over all
tee seetefron. In the sixth trial the Flying Fish and Water-
witch were about equal, and are placed next to the Daring.
and in the 11th the former vessel, and in the 13th the latter,
are also placed as second.
"It will be seen by referring to the tables attached to the
diaerams, that in the 11th trial the Flying Fish beat the
Waterwitch very considerably, but that in the 13th trial the
ender was reversed, the latter beating the former equally as
much as she was before beaten, which proves the Flying
Fish on a wind, in smooth water, to be the superior vessel of
the two, bit that with a head-sea and strong wind an equal
Superiority must be awarded to the Waterwitch.
" In the sixth trial the 3.lutine came next, and in the 11th
and 13th the Espia•gle, which vessel had, in the latter trial in
particular, a very decided advantage over the Mutine and re-
mainder of the squadron, the relative positions of which are
seen by referring to the diagram.
"In the trials with the wind abeam,' it will be seen by
turning to the tables of the eighth and 14th, that in both of
them the Daring was the leading vessel, the position of se-
cend having been occupied by the Fl ing Fish in the former,
anti the Espiegle in the latter • the Mutine being fourth in
the eighth. and third in the 14th, and having in the last-men-
tioned trial beaten the Flying Fish, but ohly 135 yards. With
the wind abaft the beam,' the 9th and 10th trials place the
Daring in the one, and I,.sp.egle in the other, as first. In
the former trial the Espiegle occupied. the second place, and
in the latter the Mutine,' Flying Fish being third in both.
Waterwitch was the last in the 9th, and Daring in the 10th.
ero trials, having
The Pantaloon did not take apart in t
been excluded for the reasons assigned ines
ee'llaegrbaeinfo.re the
"In the sth and 12th trials which took pace
wind, the Flying Fish and the Pantaloon were the tw
the Daring being second in the one, and Cruiser in theooltilriestr,,
the Espiegle and Wa'erwitch occupying the two last places
in both.
" This concludes a comparison of the sailing qualities of the
&padre), as arranged under each of the heads.
" Their capabilities for firing guns is shown by the reports
of observattone, which give the degrees of inclination at
different periods during each of the trials. Whilst alluding
to the inclination, I must state that I could not help remark-
PT, the extreme stiffness of the ESpi4ll when compare=d