The Sun.
London, England, 1845-02-14 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY--

same nature, many of which were " never tried in that
way," which the lion. and Gallant Member said, put
him in mind of the grave-digger in flanild, when he

patent colfine for biiryin,?, a hundred and twenty men a oThe last class in the service which he noticed was
that of the qua-brigs, and ,hf those a whole host had •been
introduced into the service, likely to excite a great deal of
notice but calculated to be of little service. There-was
the Barker, the Bruizer, and number c.f others, which if
taken together, would form a whole p tele. But these w. re
soon exploded, and the ten-gun brigs were shortly after-
wards introduced for them. These a-sin in their torn
had last year been ce ndenmed by the shipwright's
committee.' The ceuntry lied been put to an en .r-
-teens expense in their construction, and for their
nuPport, but they were proied to be utterly unfit for
-the purpose for which they were intended. The
Admiralty had indeed thrown away their own exertions
and the money of the country in building bad ships, and
when the American war broke out, and they might have
hooked forward to that event for many years, the
Admiralty were utterly unable to contend with their
s'iversaries. They had not indeed a single
'vessel of the same class fit to meet their
corvhettes, nor a single frigate capable of contending
Nvit their friates. He Sir C. Napier) well remem-
bered the reporgt of that day, when a naval officer would
bare been scouted if he he had ventured to utter even a
l
int of the inability of British ships to contend
theuecess-
,,
IIY with American vessels of the same refine; as eir
acand not svi thstand ne
all Ihe wareing they reeeived
ut hnet i they
Government
of the'day had never opened their eyes
learned that three British frigates lied beeu
eaPtured and conveyed into A merieen ports.—(hear.)gilat did they do then? The Admiralty immediately
dered six forty-gun frigates to be laid down ; but
they were so constructed that they proved to be utterly
aild they consequently had three on
to at the present- moment, and they were likely still
retain them in the same unprofitable state. The
nighttime and Gallant Officer at that time at the head
of the Admiralty directej Sir RSe ins to lay down
the
ieshiP which should have such
qiialities as would obviate
"ue defects which had been experienced. It was then
tconsidered that ships
had not been built strong enough.
ith the assistance of Mr. Bright, Mr. Roberts, Mr.
adgc and several other shipwrights, much improvement
no doubt, been effected. Ships had, fix twenty
that
Years befbre, been built with stern galleries, and much
was calculated to overload and encumber them.
These they altogether did away with, and introduced the
Plain round stern, which had now been generally adopted,
ancl with ade3irable success. Another error coin-
rktted by the shipwrights of those days was in the in-
tee
a utietion of heavy transome timbers. They had intro-
whichheavy diagonal timbers along the water-way,
nj quite overloaded the vessels, and were tit
t°e-Y for ships of far greater proportions
t •into which they were placed.
Ili meet
de- ha Commanded one, the Euryalus, whicliwas consi-
ed the 'd ,f the oceun; but after it was altered it
be pri e
`ea•
lise so bad that it would never stand upon its lev,
pea was nearly upset going to Scotland. Another fine
.B'e'" the Caledonia, had been widened. Lerd
bamouth begged that she might not be touched ;
siren
timbers, however, were throwu out or she had
B.eete widened, and had never been a good ship
0,1117' All those errors at length became so evident
becamea-a n,_"ange in the system of ship-building
improvements --cessarY ; and, he must say, they owed many
.ander,retihniazirv.t)s in this •rticular to the Yacht Club.—
Those vesselst which had been built
--arY Board were constructed in such a
tout at Tanner that they would neither wear, tack, or steer.
latsot the feeling of the public became sosetroo%
o,ae the Agdimleiralwtyay.and the Navy 130 ird w
Sir William Symonds was
h,sved to construct a ship, Captain Hayes was
built to construct one, and Captain Hendall
hall another. Those ships were the .4apphire, the
CeCerieger, and the Acorn, and those frigates, with the
to:amine, which was an 18-gun ship, the Wolf, and
-1.3, went to sea. The Sapphire and the Columbine
e, re the best of those vessels, and the guns of the
etie4the ship would go under the bottom of the leeward
the while the guns of the leeward ship would go over
other truck of the weather one. He, in common with mane
Bos Persons, wished to see the construction of their ves-
let
improved,i and he wrote a letter on the subject on the
rife). etcher, 1827, to his Royal Highness the Duke
tract to from which he begged leave to read an ex-
naval the House. In that letter he stated that tho
duet, service of the country would be much better con-
reet4l if the Naval and Admiralty Board were ainalga-
tere'r•Tand the whole placed under the controul of the
eeLigh Admiral. It was generally allowed that the
theeeleuoaed were the last to adopt any improvements;
the r m
wi,sregarded the suggestions of others, believing that
For 'e7(na wisdom of the' navy was centred in themselves.
ce;', naval officer to obtain a seat at the Naval Board,
to g-; necessary that he should possess interest enough
after appointed to one of the foreign dockyards, and
441 -.'"lng about from one to another, he succeeded to
h 44 the first • Somerset House. But he
se so vacancies at
Often expressed his opinion of how the Admi-
kaßaik-Lfermed, that he need not go into the question
"s (a. "hen the Right Hon. Baronet came into office,
Thejest oil. Charles Na ,la up the letter he had
ted by a papmhlet, ddressed to Sir J. Peelle',
arty "p'ght Honourable Baronet, as one of the first
• ard:/` hie administration, broke up the Naval
","1 riot an
,d he highly approved of that step ; but he
L'iNtit,;,tnink so highly of the body which had been
1'1%1,4174 for it. The consequence had been, the
tblt"f an immense quantity of work on the Ad-
t• r, Particularly on the First Lord, to such an ex-
lay at m, span
anwas morally and physically impossible for
heck iqt i L'l)l4'E) through the duties of that office, so as to
eight 1,44 the subjects of great importance that were
,e pow ore him every day of his life. It was not in
ttble;
ser of any man to do it. It was perfectly impos-
Ittee3•44 if they did not take some steps to change the
h: _!leY would continue to commit the errors which
einkl 8470ec essors had committed. After the Admiralty
I,4tet f, that Captain Symonds had constructed a fine
eee t-e Mid
lee-ght ;„, especially a good
e'edy 0„-e,"" the service, they took the great resp.onsi-
ioo,,nee--ft7nzilselves of allowing that gentleman to Jump
pet? tons: an 18gun corvetteT to a 50-gun frigate of
he Vernon had answered
ship Vernon.v
1;2 • 0„'",e,I1 and he really believed. that she was a good
the thou",k;aPtain Symonds producing the Vernon, he
"e got to be the fittest person to be Surveyor of
Navy .
e`irititie and although he had a great opinion of
'eoti '-'neeed-, as an officer, anti he knew what was a
thi_, leedel and
cq„'llt it„,, certain points. about a ship, he did not
ip er `," a ship sufficiently well to have the sole
Itest do,k‘,",eir building ; he had never been brought up
%tilt apt rd• and could not, there!' 're, judge of the
tijit'oa 'ether matters connected with the timber and
the,leauchse.lin the composition of a. man-of-war. After
le I.,poet ",` the Vernon she was tried, and believed
fi Part' ‘‘a'l extremely favourable, except the motion
114 Muler
et et. - sea, and that it was not quite so easy to
prey' had gistints as could be wished. The Vernon, how-
ND of asee'Leeming qualities ; she could carry a great
leioceuled-e,"vass, she was very handy on a lee shore,
*hey of (-''erk her guns generally well. Such was the
hertothe 4at,Pit,.aio Gunning and Captain Walpole, and
mottseuter.: Lord opposite had the command and took
ilk en tea lea, he found she had a worse and quicker
limn the wn he expected, though the opinion of her was,
tai built-61e, favourable. After that Sir IV. Symonds
etls• Atveral 26 gun frigates, and several 16-gun
the hr Ported t,he captains who had sailed these vessels
lienutlg ' eT" "tvourably of them, and they had said that
rs.lll 3 •Liorp
Sip ,_the f particularly were a great improvement
for
18-gun brigs. The next ship which
tholleh ‘ltuontrs had built was the Vanguard.
4,-. ship bee said against that ship ; but he believed
tietida he, 5,8.4 good ship. He had an opportunity of
Itr gaiee`tri,ekel in the Mediterranean. She had been
was in- the
Powerful and the Ganges. He had seen
eeae4s at heavy gale against six ships of' the line.
IN the e Van.;t and he must admit that when daylight
airier Much situard was the most leeward ship. He
11:1Led fat'Priand at that, but it could scarcely be con-
hr trial, lied are taa because unforeseen circumstances
they II eeureed to occasion such a state of things;
She her ,4,(.1.11ad no opportunities subsequently of
oititigua-rd“,l,lvr trial. But he was free to admit that
t4le en the a good, efficient, and seaworthy ship.
The-ediejeafint°ctel of the ship had been presented to
We- had "Y' it was evident that their Lord-
eie,Adreirart sufficiently considered the subject.
te;ed the - did not appear to have sufficiently con-
fiNtent model of the Vanguard. As fitted out at the
Neehilsur 11/efersiae would be set on fire in the very
NW` nst as °I "en- The Vanguard appeared on the
the a, c, 4,4 Bn_ The
ship, but she should be only
en4,4editet; 'Segun ship, as she lost two of her guns in
ilisee-tnetio lulean• The Gallant Officer condemned the
liineesdtit'e• 63,f, the Pique, as expensive, cltimsy, and
oext euok her voyage to the West Indies she a-
the Whr, " extraerdinary degree, that Captain
`id n • /lass a 'passenger, told her captain that if'
e get u
1 e eau°, P her runners and tackle, her course
(leeehe tiesderenns• Several vessels had been laid down
of at - the Pique,
to
10..ckeit wry had and six vessels had been laid
tet,e the Isltti enormous expense. The Surveyor
t„ ettild ship Called been allowed. to build a
pl fe the ' ed the Queen, and in order
tieglia_een, the Royal- Frederic was taken
Inetfee, of tbi was the eclat that attended the coin-
ell to 4 vessel. that the Queen of England went to
tAreellbe see her, The
ueen was sent to Malta,
iat th, a titan of one-of the oldest officers in the
),c' AdaorsaejtentY-five years of age ; and in order
lie eh et's fhe I,OYr ight form an opinion as to her sail-
he,arles N_ inidable was sent out with her, and he
forgott Napier thought that a very wise step.
e her en to 8 h vva no ore their ay that, with the example of the
eoue fwer thanees, the Board of' Admiralty laid
al1,1114r17(1./ was BelXXtrQealeeely" VaLmaellagbhl
et e r
in
n—and them.—th t
able
could
I_Q_
.believed it to be the fact, nevertheless,
Well' to sh" get the papers he had asked for, he would
iteek,,' the Queen the state those ships were now in.
t)1;' "a went to Malta, and the Admiralty
Its t e satisfied -
th, read the with her sailing powers. Now,
y Powers of the Queen; and here let him
of le dee. could of
b •
erAtiterep ,itneee ee believe, when he read it, that
tt the ,hltY, The have emanated from the Board
etabo._ after uocument was headed, "Character
rwrhe.e nine Truths' trial." (Here the lion.
ptliQk wieh caused ho questions and anewere from the
oyas?,„ c. "Tow
douoeds ltahuegghtueerenthrroiduLg.l?-wut.
Answer,Some
ht4y doe„hp
does
sr hesihme?"we"alrtathheerr
(12brelltil?) e-)gGlirteea,rt.)als c"orsiline'a'awrrerdy ".Is she weatherise
ntiuu ntrar,. augther.)
er,
„wiktrheatohtehroi3r..,s, hips ?"--
e ed hit '7
"n ea Ighter.) An
orer'st;olreger?yeeasy."—(•
"Does
a titereelllgs•l"'eeevri?liChuAiltilsw
5~hi44 na‘lit4istellagihte.r.) Then followed Laughter.)
Aaussewrei
ers,
qVueerse:
eseod b Points of ever •
ts,ttia, the ails e placed
on y position almost in which
said btlittie ve was apng voyage, to every one 'of
h, Of the , Never tried," which caused a
c,"'are
,Wcuid 4ughter.) The Hon. Member then
r't Ae • eetne to
clUes 4' art 4'ltaltv
sto 'Whinanother report of the
tioll or tweet ,on another t of the
4110yer" th
etns- He thenl'a rad the'
‘tt
ppeared to be of the

had taken all the coat; and waistcoats ttlfl—(Laughter.)
Now, in order that it should not be said that he wanted
to make fish of one and flesh of another"—(Laugh
t-r)—he would read the report of an officer of the navy
one of the most clever and talented in the service. He had
set out by praying the attention of. the
.Home to this
question, for it was not one either of party or politics.—
(Hear, hear.) Now, he would say, it was wrong for
the Board of Admiralty to lay down six Queens—
(Laughier)—he certainly could not see why they were
proceeded with. Well, the Queen came home, was tent
into docks, and underwent an examination by the
officers he had alluded to ; and the result was,
that the Queen was a vessel that had been re-
presented in a manner calculated to ruin any ship.
It appeared that the Queen steered so badly that she
was obliged to have her foresail up and her mainsail set
to keep her by the wind. She pitched in such a tre-
mendous manner that her middle-deck guns were in the
water, and he understood that her rolling was of the
same nature. He had before hire the report of the gal-
lant officer commanding her, who could not tell how she
would behave in Malta harbour--(Lanslster) —cud ~ciao
seemed to have had mach difficulty in picking up a
gale of wind—(Langhter)—which could not be done
on the coast of Portugal, in winter, but if he had
extended his peregrinations as far as the the Westward
Isles, he would have perhaps found no difficulty what-
ever. It appeared from the reports of this Gallant
Officer, that, the Queen found great difficulty in steering
for want of sufficient power in her rudder, and that
under low and easy sail she could not be well kept to
the wind. The Queen returned to port, and was finally
paid off, at Sheerness, and was now in the
Dockyard, at Chatham, to have her keel increased,
her stern-post changeds, (her magazine altered,
and other repairs. This was of course all done with the
approval of the surveyor of the navy himself. Now, if
this doctrine did not succeed in the case of the Queen,
what was tobe done? Were they to return to the system
upon which they acted fifty-five years ago? Were they
to go on building three-deckers and making them
seventy-fours, building seventy fours and making
them frigates, building frigates and making
them corvettes ?—(Hear.) If the Queen did not
answer, it would puzzle the Admiralty to tell
what to do with her? The only thing they could do was
to follow the example of their predecessors in the case
of the Boscawen. That ship was first of all laid down,
in 1814, as a seventy-four gun ship ; in 1819, she was
made an eighty-gun ship ; and, in 1834, after
eight
.yt ars' sailing, she waa changed into a seventy-gun
ship. upon the surveyor's present plan. He came next
to the Albion. Sir R. Symonds, before he left the navy,
laid down three ninety-two-gun ships, the Rodney,
the Nile, and the London. The Rodney was dis-
patched to a distant station. She carried thirty-two-
pounders on her lower, main, and quarter-decks ; she
measured 2.626 tons, and her hull cost 67.5501.
That vessel, as he before observed, was commanded by
Admiral Parker, than whom there was no better seaman.
She was next commanded by Captain Mansell, who was
an equally good officer, and after a careful examination
she was approved by both. Take her as a sea boat or as
a man-of-war, there was no better vessel,thoughof course
she could not sail so fast as vesssls of a smaller
size. Though she carried five morths' provisions, and
stores for a year, and was considerably loaded, she car-
ried her lover deck several inches out of the
water. She was as lively as any ship could be.
When the late Lords of the Admiralty came into
office, it was very natural that they should try
to build ships on the new principle, which would
be as good as those built on the old one; and, acecor-
dingly, the Albion was built, and commanded by Capt.
Lockart, an excellent seaman. He believed that the
Right Hon. and Gallant Officer opposite approved of
the Albion, and wrote a pamphlet in praise of the prin-
ciple upon which she was built. Well, when she was sent
with the Caledonia on an experimental trip, he
was informed that the Albion rolled in a dreadful
manner, and that it was perfectly impossible to
keep her lower port holes open. There was an
anecdote related of her which spoke volumes.
When the captain came alongside the Caledonia and
saw how quiet she was, compared to his own ship, he
called out to the Captain of the Caledonia, and said
(he would use his own words), " Damn my eyes,
Jack, your ship's aground."--(Much laughter.) The
Albion was a stiff ship, there was no doubt of it.
If there were no other reason, the 'great breadth of her
beam would be sufficient to ensure that quality. Her
sails also were better set than those of the St. Vincent.
If he understood the Gallant. Officer aright, there was
a serious disadvantage to which she was subject—an ina-
bility to keep her lower ports open when the weather was
rough. During the time she was in company with other
three-deckers and those other ships of the squadron which
had the whole of their ports open and their guns
run out, the Albion was obliged to keep her
lower ports closed. This was no slight disadvantage,
for if the commanding officer had made a signal for
the captain to open his lower ports and run out his guns,
he must have been placed in this very unpleasant posi-
tion—that he must either have disregarded the signal,
and so disobeyed his orders, or, by obeying them,
have opened his ports, and by bringing them,
through the sway of the ship, below the sur-
face of the water, have swamped the ship. He
might, it is true, have made a report to the Admi-
ralty that he was unable to carry ou with his lower
ports open, but this would have been, after all, but
mere talk, in which the country could take no
interest, however much it might justify her captain
for his conduct. But all the talk in the world was of no
avail. Another order might indeed have been given, and
as he saw an old sailor opposite to him—(Loud laughter,
as the attention of the House was directed
to the Solicitor-General)—there was some: one
who, beside the. Gallant Friend to whom he had
alluded, was able to judge of the propriety of the
objection alleged against this ship, and sea how
impossible it was for the Captain of the Albion to obey
either it or the signal of which he had previously spoken.
One mode by which the true character of this ship might
have been ascertained was by bringing herand the Queen
into a hostile position with respect to each other. In
fact, to get them engaged. He did not mean that they
should fire shot at each other, but that they should fire
as if they were in action, and then it would be seen
which ship fired the fastest, and which kept up her firing
the best. There was another objection to the Albion,
if the report be true which had been made respecting
her. The Rodney, which was a two-decker, carrying
92 guns, carried her lower deck seven feet six inches
out of the water when at sea, and fully stored. while the
Albion, with only three months' provisions on board, and
with only a usual rate of stores, was only six feet nine
and a half inches out of the water, if the level of the
lower deck was to be taken as the guage. There were
two ways by which this level was to be ascertained, for
it would be recollected that the range of the outer port
was three inches more than that of the same propor-
tionate parallel within. He alluded to the deck floor-
ing. The way in which a guage of the height of a ship
out of the water was to be taken was by taking a button
and laying it on a level with the port, slid to measure
the distance between that and another batten laid

&ong the level of the water.

By this measurement it

was ascertained that the height of the Albion could not

be so high,as six feet six inches. But. when sailing.
the Albion could not be so high as six feet six inches,

for he found by the builder's report that this was the
measurement which gave her height before she received
her guns. She had, therefore, at that time, ]2O guns to
take in ; and he would leave the House to judge whether
the addition of this weight would not decrease the height of
her lower deck ports out of the water when she got to sea.
He now came to the consideration of sailing ships in

general. It appeared by the list which had been.tur-
nished to him by the Admiralty, and which was now on
the table of the House, that, since 1830, five 120-

gun ships had been built, costing more than► 3,000,0001
The Queen cost 83,0001., the Trafalgar 87,0001., the

Royal William 76,000 L, the Waterloo '72,0001., and the

St. George 79,0001. From this it would be seen that,
in proportion, the Queen was more expensive than any
of them. The Rodney, of 2,626 tons, cost 67,5501. ;
the Nile, of the same burden,
.70,0001. ; the London, of

2,602 tons, 71,0001.; and the Albion' of ninety guns, and
a tonnage of 3,110 tons, 89,3411. When entirely fitted
up, the cost of the Albion would be immense. After

Marking the cost of the Vanguard, the Thunderer, and
other vessels, the Gallant Commodore went on to say
that, since 1830, there had been constructed six three-

deckers of 120 guns, five of 110 guns, four of 90, three
of 84, four of 80, two of 70, three of 30. five of 36,

four of 44, six of 26, together with seventeen 16-gun

brigs. The whole cost- of these, and other vessels,
amounted to 1,668,4601. He had one other observation

to make with respect to the Albion, which was, that

when she came info port, having been only a year out,
and but a short time at her waterways and diminish-
ing plank were so open, that wood was obliged to be

driven in between her seams before she waicoppered,
to such an extent that one hundred shipwrights and
apprentices were at work on her in Plymouth Dock-
yard for seven days, which was equivalent to seven
hundred men. He now came to a most impor-
tant question of naval construction, that of steam-boats.

Up to 1831 they had only a few steamers of low tonnage,
but in that year steam began to make a great progress,
and the Government found it absolutely neue,siry to do
something. At the time the Lord High Admiral was in
office, he (Sir C. Napier) took it on himself to write
him a letter on the subject, from which, if the House
would permit him, he would quote. lie said, as it was
uncertain whether the various experiments then trying
would succeed, he should recommend a vessel 30 feet
wide, 150 long, and 18 deep. She ought not to be so
fine as a man-of-war, nor to carry so much fuel. She
should consume 22 tons of coals a day. The engines
and the boilers should be secured against shocks. He
recommended that the wheel should not be so broad as

usual ; and though in that case the vessel would not go
fast in the river Thames, it would, in rough weather, be
under complete command. Now he (Sir C. Napier) had
seen the Admiralty go on building, tor the last fifteen or
sixteen years, steamboats without any bottom at all, and
in which the engines and boilers were so exposed as to
IN entirely unfit for war. When the Right Hon Baronet
came into office, he had, very much to his credit,
taken up steam. When Sir Thos. Hardy got into the
Admiralty, he naturally concluded that there would be
no difficulty in carrying out his views, but he had been
disappointed, for the same system was continued. The
building of the steam ve.sels had cost the country
359,585/. ; the fitting-up and machinery nearly the same
amount. He did think that when they proceeded to lay
out such an enormous sum, they should have paid the
greatest possible attention to the construction of the vessels.
All those imperfections of which he complained in the
construction of man-of-war steamers, were attributable

to the surveyors of the navy, for they had been built
upon the principle applied to the construction of sailing
vessels, without any consideration of the groat difference
that existed between the two classes of vessels. There

was also some blame attachable to the engineers ; but he

principally blamed the Board of 4dmiralry for not con-