The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1843-02-24 00:00:00

THE NEW STEA.M•SHIP HIBERNIA

We gave in our paper of Tuesday week a brief account of
this superb vessel, from the European Times; but having
since gone through her cabins, and seen her hull in the
graving dock, we are induced, in justice to her enterprising
proprietors, to supply a few additional particulars.
The Hibernia was built at Greenock, for the British and
North American Royal Mail Steam-packet Company, by Mr.
Robert Steele, the builder of the Columbia, one of the four
steam-ships hitherto employed on the line. The following
are her dimensions, power of engines, &c.:—
Length from tafrail to figure•head.... 240 feet.
Beam, or breadth
Depth of hold 231 feet.
Burthen, about
Engines—each 250 horse power, )
600 horse power.
but will work to 300, equal to S
Diameter of cylinders
Diameter of paddle wheels 3l feet 9 inches.
Length of stroke
Her entrance is remarkably sharp, yet with ample bearings
above. Her run is also finely drawn out, and there is not
the slightest abruptness or lump perceptible in any part of
her hull, so that her lines blend into an harmonious whole.
She has a round, or rather eliptic stern—a fashion now in-
troduced pretty generally in our large ships of war for addi-
tional strength. It is ornamented with carved work ; and
accustomed as we have been to the square stern, the design
is in this instance carried out with a degree of taste that
compels us to admit that a rounded one may be found equally
handsome.

The general plan of the deck and cabin accommodations is
similar to that adopted in the other ships of the line, though
some improvements, dictated by experience, and available
from the greater breadth of this vessel, have been embraced
in almost every department. The top or hurricane deck,
chiefly over the saloon, is extended forward by a wide flush
passage or platform amidships, and crosses the ship further
forwards, thus affording a continuous promenade, protected
by strong brass railings throughout about two-thirds of the
vessel's length. Similar additions have been made to the
other ships, which, when we first saw them, might almost as
well, we thought, have had a spar deck throughout. We
now perceive, however, that the present plan (the saloon
being a deck house, with a wide passage on each side between
it and the lofty bulwarks) is much better adapted for lighting
and ventillating, by windows in the lower parts of its sides,
respectively, the sleeping rooms and the ladies' and gentle-
men's cabins amidships, under the main deck, which must
otherwise be lighted through two decks. On the deck, for-
ward, are a variety of rooms and conveniences, so that the
whole resembles a village, with shops of all kinds. The
oil paintings, in pannels, with which it is enlivened all round,
are executed on slabs of slate, which casual damp has no
effect in warping. They appropriately represent some of the
principal cities, seaports, and interesting scenes in this
country and America. The styles and general wood work
are grained in oak, gilding employed but sparingly ; the
window blinds are of crimson silk ; and the whole has a i•ery
chaste and elegant appearance. The furniture is mahogany,
with telescope tables and sofa seats ingeniously contrived.
The steward's pantry (divided from the saloon by a thorough
passage) is in itself a curiosity. The quantity of plate, ar-
ranged in class cupboards, gives it the appearance of a silver-
smith's shop ; and in the middle, with a handsome clock
over the bar, is, par excellence, the " gin palace," from
which the wines, &c. will be served out to customers, as at
an inn. The sleeping rooms, below the saloon, are uncom-
monly spacious, and most comfortably fitted up ; and there
are below too, a private cabin for gentlemen and another for
ladies, each 18 feet in length, elegantly furnished, and suitable
in every respect for ease and retirement. The fore cabins
are equally large and commodious, and no fewer than 120
separate beds can, in all, be made up for passengers. The
vessel will carry a crew of ninety men, including those in the
engine department.

The engine, by Mr. Robert Napier, the celebrated builder,
of Glasgow, is well worth visiting. It is a truly stupendous
and highly-finished piece of machinery, resembling, in polish
and brightness, the finest clock work. There is hre, in the
middle of the frame work, a handsome clock, and opposite to
it, as a corresponding ornament, an indicator, which shows
every stroke made by the engine throughout the passage. By
some new improvements in the construction of the boilers,
for the more rapid generation of steam, it was found, on the
passage from Glasgow, that the consumption of fuel was very
much reduced, as compared with that in the other vessels of
the line—a consideration of the greatest importance as re-
gards ocean steam navigation. The vessel is of the usual rig
of steam-ships, but with rather heavier spars, as she is
calculated to carry a considerable press of canvas, in the
event of an accident to her machinery. For this purpose
also she carries (on deck) a thumping mainyard, which may
be readily sent aloft. The topgallant bulwarks are painted
of a light colour, which takes off the apparent height of the
hull from the water's edge. Seen afloat she is a truly noble-
looking vessel : and in her interior arrangements she is the
most compact and commodious vessel of the superior class
which we have yet seen.

The Hibernia will not leave the port, on her first transat-
lantic voyage, until the 19th of April. She will be com-
manded by Captain C. H. E. Judkins, the oldest " skipper"
(as he modestly calls himself) on the station, and who is so
well known, both as a seaman and a companion, that it were
superfluous here to dwell upon his merits. Meantime that
gentleman will make one other voyage in his former steam-
ship, the Columbia, he having been solicited by the company
to convey to his destination the new Governor-General, who
is to succeed Sir C. Bagot in the Canadas.