THE VOYAGE OF THE "INFLEXIBLE." (From the Times.)

New Zealander, Volume 5, Issue 415, 6 April 1850, Page 2

THE VOYAGE OF THE "INFLEXIBLE." (From the Times. )

In ft leading article of the Times of the Bth August last upon war iteamers and their capabilities, it was •tated that when Her Majesty's steamer Inflexible (then on her voyage home from Chiua) arrived, no doubt vrai entertained but that her log would 6how as large an amount of valuable tervice done as could be per ormed by any steamer in the Britikh or any other navy. Tiie Inflexible having since arrived rod been paid off we ha»e made it our business to enquire how far we were correct in our anticipation or what a British xrcau-of-war eteamer can do, and this oue, by the way, one of the most cotiitautly impugned mtt on list ; we now present the result of our inquiries as proof of the good foundation of the anticipations encouraged respecting her performances ;-— The Inflexible is one of the vessel* of the latter-day design of Ca|ituiii Sir William Symondu, was launched ■t Pembroke in 1846, it of 1122 fm, 375 horse power, direct action engines by Fawcett, with as 81b. load upon the valve. The distance run by her, not including going in or out of harbour, ftoir. she 9th of August, 1846, to the 28th of September, 1849, when she wai paid off was as follows : — Steamed 64,4; 7 nautical milei. Sailed 4,392 " " Total distance 68,869 " " £*' Number of days under steam 345| Ditto tinder sail 27f 372| Knots. Arerage daily steaming , 186 62 Average daily hailing 161,18 Fur the whole period 54,44 Hours. Time under one boiler 76f Ditto two boilers 4,047 Ditto Ihree boilers 3,324£ Ditto four boilers 844 Total 8,292 Knots. Rate of steaming per hour 7.775 Rute of sailing per hour 6 715 Her fires have been alight 483 days 9J hours. Total consumption of coals while under steam, 8121 tons 12£ cwt. Coals for raising steam and banking fires, 576 torn 12§ cwt. Average distance steamed per ton of coals, 7.983 knots. Consutnptioa of coals per hour, 19.588 cwt. ; ditto per day, 23 tons 10 cwt. 12$ lb. The abovrmentioned d fences are obtained by the patent log towed about 50 fathoms astern, out of the influence of the back water caused by the revolutions of the puddle wherli, and not from the common or hand lrg, or from the distance accompli-hrd in a run from A to B, or port to port, when making a voyage, for i lie error caused by throwing the common or baud log inro the *' back water" created by the revolutions of the wheels, h'ti been proved by the Inflexible to vary from one to even four knots an hour, the common log and revolutions giving 1 1 knots, while the patent log and bearings of the land gave only seven knots. The expenditure o coal has been obtained by the positive measurement of every tenth bag into the ship, sn<i every tenth as used by the fires, and a mean taken every four hours as the hourly expenditine. '1 he distance stated to bave been accomplished by the Inflexible has been deduced on the main from the time the patent log has been oveiboard, when the final departure from the land has been Uken; therefore e he must have run many hundreds of mites more than i recorded in these returns. This abstract, being from the voyages during the entire commission, includes the performances on the ttorarj coast of New Zealand, where she was coniliotiy employed running for fifteen moot hi, burning

the Newcastle Australian coal, the best quality of which is about ten per cent, inferior even when delt vered at the tilings, to good Enrich cosl ; but from having been exposed on the open beach at Nnw Zealand, it was rendered fully twenty-five percent, inferior to the avi'Mge Welch coal. Abont 4,000 iomo in estimate stated above are of that inferior qmlity,- au<l must therefore, be kentin view, when the economy of the expenditure is considered. Another important feature in the mode of ascertaining the true expenditure of this kkip must be here explained— the hourly and dail) expenditure always contains a certain amount allowed for wastage so that the true quantity remaining in the ship is known after the daily expenditure is aicer'amed. The quantt'y to be allowed for wastage was obtained in the following 1 manner:— On the outward voyoge of the Inflexible to the Cape of Good Hope, m August and September, 184 ft, when a run of five thousand five hundred and two miles were accomplished on a single coaling, at a mean average velocity of 7.31 knots per Jhour, and at an expenditure of 12 tons 19 cwt. 3 quarters l4lb , Blb. in every 2521b. were allowed for wastage tqual to 3.174 per cent. ; but a deficiency of 7 totn of coals in the whol« quantity leceived in England was found to be the result of this allowance, proving the actual whstage to be equal to 4.956 per cent., with coals of an average quality. On the voyage from the Cape of Good Hope to Port Jackson, Sydney, whei again 5356 nautical miles were accomplished on one coaling at an expenditure of 458 tons 10 cwt., or at the rate of 15 .ons 3 cwt. 2 quarters per day, and at a mean average veloc'ty of 7.87 knots per hour, 201b. in every 2521b. were allowed —equal to 8 per cent. ; hut on a survey of the remainder at the end of the voyage 12 torn were found remaining as surplus ; tiiii would be equal to 269 per cent, allowed more than was required by wastage and decreaie of density, thus proving the actual wast* , age during the voyage as equal to 5.31 per cfnt. 5. per cent was afterward* eitimated and fixed upon as correct, and must therefore be subti acted from the gross quantity, if the true duty in miles per ton of coals is sought by any parties who may investigate the above data. A remarkable inetance in the exercise of the full power of the engines occurred when the Inflexible lowed the barque Claudine, and succeeded in trans* porting 15' 0 soldiers, tent equipage, and baggage 1400 nautical miles in 12 days, four of which were employed in the landing of one regiment and the embarkation of another. It was highly important that the run from Madras to the Arracan coast should he performed in the least possible time, as the north-east monsoon, which would have Inca dead ahead, was bouily expected, theiefore the four boilers were put into requisition ; the Inflexible carefully kept at a favourable line of immersion to devdope ipeed, for when a vessel is to be towed for a moderate distance, care roust be ever taken not to have the towing vessel too deep. This forms * mere abstract from more voluminous data of a minute nature, extending over a period of more than three years, compiled with the single object of eliciting the truth.