RAISING OF THE RUSSIAN WAR VESSELS AT SEBASTOPOL.

Lyttelton Times, Volume VIII, Issue 499, 15 August 1857, Page 3

RAISING OF THE RUSSIAN WAR VESSELS AT SEBASTOPOL.

(From th.c New : York Herald.) A few years since the combined nations f England and France despatched to the shoresV the Crimea a powerful and warlike expedition to exterminate and destroy. In a month or two an expedition will sail from the shores of this country for the same destination, but unlike the expedition first named, its purpost is to rescue and

Pj t ii as been before briefly stated that Mr. T E Gowen, of Boston, had obtained from tlie Russian Government the contract to ra ise'-from the waters of the harbour of Sebastopol the numerous vessels of war which were sunk there when the allied armies were besieging that spot long famous in the history of the world. The magnitude of this contract had not been fully understood in this, country. Mr. Gowen has heretofore been favourably known to the world by his success in raising the United States steam ship Missouri from the waters of the Bay|of Gibraltar,' a performance which ' engineers, from England; and oilier countries attempted in vain, It happened that' while at Gibraltar, a Russian vessel came into the harbour in a damaged condition. •To the relief of this vessel Mr. Gowen sent a number of his men, refusin 0" any compensation, and it is pro bable that this act of courtesy, with the fame obtained by Mr. Gowen in the bringing up of the Missouri, induced the Russian Government at the time they contemplated raising their sunken fleet, to send for -him, which was d>ne through the Russian Minister in .this-country.

Mr. Gowen accordingly went to St. Petersburgh, had a number of interviews with the Grand Duke Constantine, ami then proceeded across the country to Sebastopol for the purpose of makiug a personal investigation of the condition, of the ships. He was engaged in this business for several mouths, having a Russian steamer at his disposal. Here he descended with his submarine armour to the bottom of the harbour and examined the sunken vessels. He found that the channel of the harbour was in the middle, with banks upon both sides, that of the north being of sand, and that upon the south of mud. In the sand there were no worms: in the mud they were quite plentiful. Of course the vessels exposed to the attacks of the worms are now but of little value; but it fortunately happens that hut a small portion, comparatively, were sunk where they would suffer from the attacks of these worms.

When the English and French approached Sebastopol, the Russians, to protect their harbour, ■ sunk at'the entrance, between Forts Alexander and ."Constantine, two of the 120 gun ships, two of the 88 guns, two frigates and two corvettes. The line occupied by these sunken vesstls was about three-quarters of a mile long, the water being sixty feet deep. The vessels sank here were among the poorest in the fleet. In the great gale which was so fatal to the English and French vessels in the Black Sea, this line was so much disturbed that the Allies, if they had known it, could easily have obtained an entrance to the harbour. This caused the Russians to sink a second line between Fort Michael and Fort Nicholas, about a mile inward. When the Redan was captured by the Allies all the balance of the fleet was sunk, preparatory to abandoning the place. The following is a list of the vessels sunk :—

15 line of battle ships 1 boom ship. 7 frigates • 1 ten gun yacht. 5 corvettes 23 transports. 10 brigs of war 15 steamers of war 5 schooners of war 13 merchant ships. 5 tenders. In all 106 vessels.

The machinery of the steamers of war, being sunk, was"carefully covered with a preparation of tallow so prevent injury from the water. They were scuttled by boring three inch augur holes near the water line and all this was done before the English and Fiench appeared before the place, for the Russians did not entertain the idea of defending it, and one division of the army had advanced nine miles on the Perekop *oad, when word was brought that the English and French, instead of entering the city, had halted outside, and were fortifying their position. It was' then that the Russian a »tny returned, built the earth redoubts, and Wade that long and stubborn defence which has rendered the name of Sebastopol so famous. Thus the Russian officials at Sebastopol now tell the story. Mr. Gowen examined thirty ships, made a plan of the harbour and adjacent country, and returned to St. Petersburg. He found that there were no less than thirteen competitors for the contract from France and England,: among the former being the Company

known as the Credit Mobillier. The Government finally concluded to make the contract with Mr. Gowen on the most liberal terms, which cannot fail, we think, to be sixty-five million dollars, and he has a certain portion of the value of each ship raised at the moment it is placed in the hands, of the Russian Government.

The expedition which sails from this country will consist of two vessels, one of which leaves Philadelphia on or about the Ist of April, and the second soon after. The number of persons engaged to accompany it from tV.is country is about one hundred aud fifty, the well known shipbuilder of this city, S. F. Holbrook,'Esq., being one of the superintendents. There will be, also, shipbuilders, caulkers, machinists, engineers &c. Some of the hydraulic machinery for raising the vessels is of the most colossal description, one cylinder alone weighing 54,000 lbs. ; indeed, it must be so, forborne of the vessels to be raised are of 5000 tons burthen. -The -value of the material to be furnished by the Russian Government to be used in the raising of this fleet will be about a million and a half of dollars, and the time occupied in performing the contract will, it is thought, be about eighteen months or two years.

At Kertch there were also some five or six Russian vessels sunk, which were included in the contract, and in the harbour of Sebastopol there are some 600,000 dollars worth of chains and anchors which the French and English threw overboard from inability to carry them off. In addition to the expedition from this country the Russian Government bind themselves to furnish from three thousand to five thousand men, whose pay from Mr. Gowen, as usual in that country, will not be more than twenty five cents per day, they finding themselves. Take il altogether, it is the greatest contract submarine or otherwise ever entered into, and it will be with pride and pleasure that the couutiymen of Mr. Gowen and his associates will hear of their entire success in the undertaking. Mr. Gowen, as is well known, is a self made, enterprising Yankee, who, though comparatively a young man, has travelled in nearly every country upon the globe.

Mr. Gowen, who was at Sebastopol in November last, gives us some interesting particulars from that now famous city. The Russian Government are engaged in rebuilding it. Before the siege it was quite a populous place containing, it is supposed, about sixty thousand persons. When Mr. Gowen was there, there were about six thousand people in the place. Several thousand labourers were then engaged upon the works, and the number was to be largely increased. The old city was famous for its narrow streets, like Boston ; the new city will be built in squares, like Philadelphia. It is also said that there are restrictions against the erection of wooden buildings. The forts about the city, according to the examinations of Mr. Gowen, are only about half destroyed. Of the immensity of the warlike material scattered with so much profuseness about this celebrated spot, some idea may be found from the fact that the Russians have already gathered over sixteen thousand.tons of shot and shell, and yet they are still so thickly scattered around that it is impossible to tread without touching them There are however, no dead bodies to be seen, they having all been carefully buried.

There was one. spot visited by Mr. Gowen of melancholy interest. Tt was a deep ravine formerly crossed by a bridge. In this ravine, the bodies of two thousand,Russians,French and English, killed in "one of the more fatal battles, had been placed, and covered with earth. A wooden cross above has a brief inscription, telling of the slaughtered thousands thus rudely entombed beneath.

The country between Moscow and Sebastopol, for eight hundred miles, Mr. Gowen describes as level and quite luxuriant. Wheat in some places sells as cheap as eight cents a bushel, and hay a dollar the ton. The climate at the time he was there was both be.iutitul and salubrious—one of the best, he thinks, he ever visited. In connection with his contract, Mr. Gowen is entrusted with a commission which may result greatly to the benefit of the country.

He has been requested by the Russian Government to bring with him specimens of our iron work, in the form of agricultural implements, tools of various kinds, machinery, &c. Mr. Gowen has given orders for the manufacture of articles of various kinds in this city, New York, Albany, and other places. So far as possible, the Russian Government and people prefer to trade with this country in preference to England, for their hatred of the English is as intense as ever.

While at Sebastopol, Mr. Gowen says there were large numbers of French and English arriving. They were the relatives and friends of those who had fallen in the contest, and were on a pilgrimage to find if

possible the grave of the beloved dead. In many cases the last resting place of the soldiers and the name of the deceased were cut in rude characters, but in others the dead were in undistiiiguishable masses, rendering identification impossible.

We are informed that many of the friends of Mr. 'Gowen, both in this country and in England, propose during the performance of the contract, to visif.Sebastopoi, with the double object of seeing the place, and witnessing the performance of this most stupendous undertaking.