THE MEDITERRANEAN FLEET.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LIII, Issue 5919, 14 February 1880, Page 6

THE MEDITERRANEAN FLEET.

(Prom the Pall Mall Gazette, Nov, 14.) As the English Mediterranean fleet is again attracting attention, a brief examination of its nominal and real strength, and of the actual condition of the several ships composing it, may be interesting at the present moment. The naval force under the orders of Admiral Hornby comprises the Alexandra, Achilles, Monarch, Temeraire, Thunderer, and' Eupert, ironclad men-of- war ; the Baleigh, a large unarmoured iron frigate, sheathed with wood ; the Bittern, Condor, and Falcon, unarmoured gun-vessels of 774 tons each ; the Torch, a smaller gun vessel of 570 tohs ; the Cockatrice, Coquette, Cygnet, arid Express, all gunboats of 455 tons, except the first-named, which is of 330 tons only ; the Antelope, a paddle- wheel vessel of 1015 tons; the Helicon, a despatch vessel of 985 tons ; and the Cruiser, a sailing sloop of 960 tons, employed as a training ship for ordinary seamen. All these unarmoured vessels are in good condition, excepting the Cockatrice and Coquette, which are in fair condition only; and with his remark they may all, except perhaps the Baleigh, be dismissed ; since, although they are useful vessels for the duties on which they are ordinarily employed, they would hardly be able to interfere with decisive effect in naval operations on a large scale. The ironclad portion of the Mediterranean fleet is naturally that about which most interest is felt, and this section comprises nominally, as we have' seen, six vessels. Of these, however, the Thunderer is notoriously at present unfit for service. She is still in dock at Malta, making good the damage caused by the bursting of a 38-ton gun In her foremost turret on Jan. 2 last ; and according to the latest accounts, although ipopftiwp o3N>"btilug piouuodod wllli raplUly^ there is no chance of the vessel being ready for sea certainly this year. The Thunderer, therefore, must for a time at all events he struck off the effective of the Mediterranean squadron. Another of the ironclads, the Achilles, is also at the present moment in dock at Malta, making good the damage she suffered in her recent collision with the Alexandra. The repairs required are, however, very slight; so that she could in case of emergency be made perfectly seaworthy and ready for active service in a few hours. The Temeraire is also stated to be at the present moment unfit for sea ; but if this be the case it can only be because the opportunity afforded by an anticipated stay of some length at Malta had been taken advantage of to make good some slight defect in her machinery. The Temeraire is a comparatively new vessel, having been commissioned ' for the first time on August 1, 1877, while her boilers were only placed on board in 1876. Since her arrival in the Mediterranean nothing has ever been even whispered of anything being amiss with her, and she only arrived at Malta from her summer cruise on Oct. 24. Practically, therefore, Admiral Hornby has at his disposal his flagship, the Alexandra., and the Monarch, both at present at Malta, haying arrived there from Rhodes and Cyprus on Oct. 24; the Eupert, which when the last advices left was doing duty as guardship at Alexandria ; and the Achilles and Temeraire, both undergoing repair at Malta, but both of which could be made ready to proceed to sea in a perfectly serviceable condition in : a very short time. Of these vessels the two most powerful and efficient are undoubtedly the Alexandra and the Temeraire, and it is difficult to say which of them should be considered as the more formidable man-of : war. Then, not far inferior to them in regard to armament, but certainly inferior to them in thickness of armour, structural strength, and manoeuvring power, comes the Monarch, while the Achilles, a long, unhandy vessel, built in the first days of the ironclad construction, thinly armoured, and carrying a comparatively light armament, is far from being in any way a useful or formidable fighting ship, and would, it is reported, have been long since sent homo from the Mediterranean had it not been considered desirable, for reasons which we need not now go into, to withdraw the Invincible instead from under Admiral Hornb) ’B orders ; and, finally, the Eupert is merely a breast-work monitor, with defective boilers, in which it has been found necessary to reduce the pressure from 351 b to 251 b. Want of space prevent* us giving a detailed description of each of these ironclads, but it may be mentioned that the Alexandra is a vessel of 9492 tons displacement, armoured with plates from Sin to 12in thick, carrying two 25-ton and ten 18-ton guns, and fitted with engines of 8615 indicated horse-power, driving twin screws, the value of which, it may _be added, was demonstrated in a very striking manner in the recent action off the coast of South America. The Temeraire, 6423 tons displacement, carries four 25-ton and four 18-ton guns, is as heavily armoured as the Alexandra, is fitted with twin ' screws, and is driven by engines working up to 7700 indicated horse-power. The Monarch is a turret ship of the first-class, of 8342 tons displacement! and carrying four 23-ton and two 6i-ton guns, but she is protected only by armour 6in and 7in thick, and has only a single screw, although her engines are as powerful as those of the Temeraire. The Achilles, although of 9694 tons displacement,' is armed only with 14 12-ton guns; while her engines, driving a single screw, can only develop 6722 horse-power, and her armour is but 4fcin thick ; while the Eupert, finally, is of 5414 tons cisplaoement, carries two 18-ton guns, and is fitted with engines of 4200 indicated horse-power, working twin screws.