C. O.
252
in "Hongkong
I have the honour to be,
My Lord, Your Lordship's Most Obedient
Humble Servant,
Myreffumency.
The Daily Press.
HONGKONG, JANUARY 8TH, 1881.
GUNNERY AND STEAM TRIAL OF H.M.S.WIVERN"
BY OUR SPECIAL COMMISSIONER.] The Wivern, 4, ironclad turret ship, in charge of Commander John G. Jones, was taken outside for a gunnery and steam trial on Thursday morning. Governor Sir John Pope Hennessy went out to witness the target practice, and His Excellency was accompanied by Admiral Coste, C.B., Commodore Smith, Captain Cleveland, Flag-Lieut. W. H. Maitland-Dougall, and Captain Barton, A.D.C. to the Major-General Commanding; and a number of gunnery officers from the fleet now in harbour. Mr. R. H. Sleeman, Inspector of Machinery; and Mr. George Fitzgerald, Chief Engineer of the Iron Duke, were also present, but the engines of the Wivern were in charge of Mr. L. M. Gresw, Chief Engineer of the ship.
If there is one thing more than another which your "Commissioner" regards with a fixed and inveterate antipathy, it is getting up in the middle of the night. Under the impression that there was some connexion between ships and tide, and remembering the copy-book text which averred that the latter "waits for no man,” I gave orders to be called at six a.m., and was punctually roused out at that ghostly hour. There were few things stirring but the cooks and beasts; two dissipated-looking sparrows had apparently been making a night of it somewhere, and eventually found their way into my verandah, and an asthmatical coolie was dragging his weary limbs down the road as if nine men held him and one drove him; and notwithstanding that my faithful domestic had administered a skilfully compounded "eye-opener," that operation had to be repeated before I could fully appreciate the situation. Somebody, somewhere, has written, "Night is the time for rest," evidently knowing nothing about getting up in the middle of it to go on a steam trial. However, preliminary difficulties surmounted, I got to Peddar's Wharf, and soon after ran the gig alongside the gangway of the ironclad which was about to go on the cruise referred to above.
I almost feel that the Wivern is an old acquaintance, as I used to pass her daily in going from Liverpool to the Cheshire shore at the time she and her sister ship—now the Scorpion, at Bermuda—were lying together in the Sloyne, in the custody, if I remember rightly, of Captain "Jacky" Paynter, of the Revenge. These two vessels, popularly known through a clever cartoon in Punch of that period (1863), as "the Laird's rams," were no doubt built for the Confederates, although it was stated they were intended for some Eastern, not Western, navy; their names, too, tended to confirm a belief in their Eastern destination, as they had been christened El Tousson and El Monacir. Soon after their construction in Laird's yard, at Birkenhead, and just before they were ready for sea, strong representations were made by the Government of the United States, which resulted in the vessels' detention in the Mersey by the British authorities, and after lying there some considerable time they were eventually purchased by our Government.
The invention of the cupola or turret principle, as applied to war ships, is credited to the late Captain Cowper Coles, who made known the merits of this form of vessel in 1855; but it was not until 1861 that the Admiralty could be prevailed upon to regard the system in a favourable light. In the following year, however, the turret was adopted by Ericsson when he built the Monitor for the United States Government during the Civil War, and she gave a good account of herself in the memorable action with the Merrimac, just after the latter vessel had succeeded in effecting the destruction of the Cumberland and Congress.
Although seventeen years old, the Wivern is in an excellent state of preservation, nothing about her presenting that perishing appearance noticed in some ships even though they may have seen but little service. This will probably be accounted for by reason that she was originally well built, both in respect to the work and materials put into her, and that she has been well kept; added to which £30,000 was spent upon her not long since in giving her new boilers and decks, having forecastle and poop built, cabins fitted, and bilge keels placed upon her. Although, of course, the Wivern is a long way behind the terrific engines of destruction of more recent times, she is a fine addition to the China command, and properly manned should be a real protection to this harbour and Colony. She presents the least possible target, answers her helm most readily, has no top-hamper, possesses many water-tight compartments, and not a man need be exposed in working her big guns in action, as she has steering gear below and a bullet-proof tower for the officer directing the movements of the vessel. With all those immense advantages, it must be apparent that in the duello there is no craft of any nationality in the Far East that would have any chance with her. In addition to her fighting power, she is formidable as a ram, as she has four or five feet of spur; and on a recent occasion when I saw her in dry dock, I was surprised to find that she was rather a pretty model below the water-line. The Wivern is 220 feet long, with a beam of 41 feet, and in commission has a complement of 150 men; and, with stores, provisions, and ammunition on board, to fighting trim she has a mean draught of 17 feet.
Soon after His Excellency the Governor arrived on board, the ship's head was laid to westward and she proceeded under easy steam down the harbour and out through the Sulphur Channel; and on arriving off the south-east point of Lamma Island the steam trial commenced. The working of her machinery was highly satisfactory, and going down with the wind eleven knots were got out of her with 69 revolutions; after being brought head to wind and going back over the same course, a similar result was obtained; and later, with 70 revolutions, a slight improvement upon eleven knots was made.
The Wivern's armament consists of four 12-ton guns, Woolwich pattern, two in each turret; four Nordenfeldt guns, two on the forecastle and two on the poop; a Gatling gun, mounted on a carriage fit for shore fighting, but the gun can be readily detached and hoisted into a cutter for boat service; there is also a 9-pounder for the latter kind of work. In addition to this she carries the formidable Whitehead fish torpedoes, containing a charge of 33lbs. of gun-cotton, and spar torpedoes with 35lbs. of the same explosive. The projectiles for the 12-ton guns are of several kinds—empty common shell, weighing 237lbs.; Palliser chilled shot, of 250lbs., and Palliser chilled shell, of the same weight, but containing a bursting charge which explodes immediately it has contact with the object, besides these are case-shot and shrapnel. A full charge of powder is 30lbs. rifle large grain, and a battering charge 50lbs. pebble. The mechanical appliances adopted in loading and working these guns are such as to enable the gunners to fire with great rapidity, and the result is that a tremendous weight of metal can be poured into an enemy's ship in an incredibly short space of time. But of modern weapons, probably less is generally known about the Nordenfeldt gun than any other. The first ship in the British navy which received a Nordenfeldt gun was the Comus, now in Hongkong Harbour, followed by the Northampton, 12, double-screw armour-plated ship, and