THE CHANNEL SQUADRON

Waipawa Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 782, 28 May 1885, Page 3

THE CHANNEL SQUADRON

A CORRESPONDENT with the Channel squadron writes :—“The Minotaur, flag ship of Vice-Admiral Algernon do Horsey, commanding the channel Squadron, arrived at Gibraltar on the 3rd of March. She made an exceptionally long passage, caused by tho prevalence of persistent head winds and very heavy seas. On one or two days she hardly made any progress at all. She left Spithead on the 21st ult., after a successful full-power trial of her machinery, when she attained a mean speed of over 13 knots. One of her crank bearings, however, got heated, and this, although adjusted before leaving England, was a constant source of more or less anxiety during tho whole of her voyage out. Her boilers, which have been repaired at a cost of more than £2,000, are estimated to last for another 18 months. Considerable surprise has been caused by the announcement that a new set of boilers lias been ordered to be ready at the expiration of this period of a precisely similar class to those at present in tho ship. Six of these are to he constructed at Portsmouth Dockyard and four at Sheerness. When a short time ago it was proposed, and all but decided, to fit compound engines to the Minotaur, thereby increasing her speed to 10 knots and practically doubling her coal-carrying capacity, while some grudged tho expenditure ot so largo a sum as £IBO,OOO on an experiment, yet many thought it an experiment worth trying. And this the more, because it was understood that her useless masts were to be done away with and she wus to carry on her upper deck the most formidable armament of torpedo boats of any ship in tho world. llad she proved a success, the Agincourt, Northumberland, and Achilles were to have been treated the same. Now, however, in naval circles there is but one opinion, and that is that putting new low-pressure boilers into her of tho antique type, to last for a probable ten years, is simply a mistake and waste of money. When they arc ready the ship herself will also bo ready to have much money expended on her for new breeeliloadingguns in place of her present obsolete armament, and new decks, which will be absolutely necessary at the same time. She will still, however, have obsolete engines, still burn 4II> of coal per 1.H.P., still carry only 31 days’ consumption at full speed. Tho Minotaur is considered utterly out of date as a lighting ship now. What will she ho in ten years time, before her new boilers are worn out? Another reason against keeping ships of this class going with their present equipment of masts and guns is tho disproportion between tho number of men required to man them and the service these exaggerated crews could possibly render on board such ships. Each vessel of tho Minotaur class has usually over 900 souls on board. Before leaving England this time a new instrument, called the Compteur Valessy, was fitted, to bo tried and reported on. This is an apparatus for indicating on deck that the engines are working at the prescribed speed, and is also supposed to possess special advantages when a fleet is manoeuvring at steam evolutions. It appears to answer the former object well enough, but no opinion as to its utility in steam tactics can be formed till it. has been tried in company with the Sultan and Neptune, which are both ordered to be supplied with it. It is the invention of a commander in tho French navy, is used in all their important ships, and costs when fitted over £2OO. An unusual act of insubordination occurred on hoard the Minotaur a few days ago. A boy, about lfi years old, was brought before Captain Britten charged with being incorrigibly uncleanly in bis habits. While ho was being interrogated he made a sudden rush at tho captain, and, aided by the roll of the ship, succeeded in knocking him backwards on to the ward-room skylight. Had this been unshipped, as is usually the case, tho consequences would probably have been very serious. The boy was made a prisoner of, and will bo tried by courtmartial, of course. It is not desirable to retain such as ho in tho service. Tho Channel Squadron, according to the original programme., was to have proceeded to Cagliari and Raima, returning t«* Gibraltar for orders. By latest instructions, however, the ships arc to go to Cadiz on the sth inst., and the fleet will probably act as guard of honor to the Prince and Princess of Wales during their projected Irish tour.”—London Times.