The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-06-02 00:00:00

LAUNCH OF TWO IRON STEAM-SHIPS.

The confidence entertained in the good properties of iron
vessels, and particularly their advantage in combining strength
with that light draught of water requisite in some branches
of trade, in peculiar localities, is becoming daily more and
more confirmed, by the success, both at home and abroad,
of the ships, built of that material, and the improvements
in their construction, which experience enables the builders
to introduce. It is not, therefore, improbable, but in twenty
years hence, or perhaps within a shorter period, one half of
our mercantile marine may be of iron, copper, or some com-
position of various metals that may be wrought by hammer,
or cast in pieces, and afterwards jointed, to any given mould
or model.

Be this as it may, the construction of " steam" vessels
of strong sheet iron is evidently much on the increase, par-
ticularly here and at Glasgow, the two ports that were the
first, we believe, in this country, and are still the most suc-
cessful (being put to their " metal") in directing their energies
to steam navigation. The " iron fleet" of England is conse-
quently receiving rapid accessions ; and not contented with
turning out one vessel at a time, our townsman, Mr.
John Laird, have several on the stocks at once, and, on
Saturday morning, launched two from his yard at North
Birkenhead, by the same tide ! The time appointed (the
tide being early) was about nine o'clock, and by that hour a
large concou.se of persons, including many ladies and gen-
tlemen from the neighbourhood, and not a few from this side
of the water were in attendance. Both the vessels were
decorated with flags, and some parties, besides the workmen,
preferred going on board and being launched with them.
The first one launched was her Majesty's Steam-vessel
Dover, to be placed on the station between Dover and
Calais, or Ostend. The following are her dimensions and
capacity :
Length (per measurement) llO feet
Breadth, or beam -do.
--
Will admeasure about

230 tons.

The .Dover is the first iron vessel belonging to the Ad-
miralty, and on her success will, no doubt, greatly depend
the future adoption of vessels of her build by the govern-
ment. She is of a remarkably fine model, having a degree
of rotundity in her sides, with ample bearing, and a fineness
in her lines, fore and aft, which will, in all probability,
ensure her a degree of speed and safety not yet attained by
any steam-vessel of her size. A few minutes after nine the
word was given, and she rushed into her destined element in
gallant style, amidst the hearty cheers of the spectators, fol-
lowed by a salute fired from cannon on the quay adjoining
the yard.
The second vessel launched was the Phlegethon :
Length (for measurement
Breadth
Capacity, upwards of
She is intended for sea and river service, on, we believe, a
foreign station, and will carry two long guns, one at the bow
and one at the stern, to work within a circle. This vessel is
also of a fine model, with ample bearings, so that she may
carry sail when required, either with the steam or without it,
as her paddle-wheels, on a new principle, by Mr. Laird,
may, when required, be thrown out of gear. She is hand-
somely, and we may add, rakishly rigged as a two-masted
schooner, and will, we doubt not, prove to be a clipper.
She was launched about half-past nine o'clock, and the
sight was one of the most gratifying we ever beheld. She
had a considerable distance to run down the ways before her
forefoot reached the water—which she took like a swan
breasting its native lake. We need scarcely say that the
welkin again rang with the acclamations of the spectators,
who lined the yard and theneighbouring shores, and which were
returned with equal enthusiustn by those who stood on her
decks. When afloat, the impression she conveyed from her
ledgth arid sharpness, was that of a very fast and inischiev-
'ous looking craft. She has a fine flush deck, and her paddle-
boxes do not rise to an unseemly height over her gunwale.
We believe this is the first instance of two iron vessels
being launched from the same slip by tire same tide, nor do
we recollect a case occurring in Liverpool of two wooden
vesssels of so large size being launched in one tide.
Both vessels exhibit many improvements in their construc-
tion, not tried in any iron vessel previously built ; and which
render them two of the strongest iron vessels afloat. They
are now receiving their machinery,—the Dover, from Messrs.
Fawcett, Preston & Co. and the Phlegethon from Messrs.
Forrester & Co.'s establishment. Both, it is expected will
be ready in the course of the present month.
The opinion in favour of iron steam-vessels appears to be
gaining ground in our southern as well as our northern ports,
if we may judge from an article in the United Service Jour-
nal for May, written by that most talented and well known
naval architect, Mr. Creuse. in that article he gives a full
description of the armed steamer Nemeses, and expresses
his conviction that iron ships may be built of large size, and
generally that they possess many advantages over wood ves-
sels.

As an instance of the superiority of vessels constructed on
the principle of safety introduced some time ago by Mr.
Laird, namely, that of dividing iron vessels into several
water-tight compartments by iron bulk-heads,—we may ad-
duce the following fact :
The wood steamer—Vulture, while running in the night
about nine knots an hour, on her first continental voyage
this year (as stated in our last), struck on a rock on the
. .

island Oesel, and had a hole driven into her bow. The water
she took in rushed to the stern, which sunk many feet on
the retiring of the tide, the vessel still sticking on the rock,
so that she became a wreck. The passengers with difficulty
escaped. The iron steam-ship—Memphis, while running at
the same speed, also struck, and had her bow injured in a
precisely similar manner, but the first opposing iron bulk-head
prevented her from filling, and she was got off and afterwards
steamed 230 miles on her voyage. The whole cost of her
repair was only from £25. to £30.!
Mr. Laird is now building three iron steam-vessels to
compose the new expedition about to be sent by government
up the river Niger, under the command of Captain Trotter.