“It is a weakness with the officers and men of any of Her Majesty’s ships to ‘crack up’ the vessels to which they belong, and it is rarely that a bluejacket growls openly against his ship. The warm confidence expressed in the ill-fated _Captain_ by her unfortunate crew is well remembered, and is sufficient to prove that even the first of this necessarily uncomfortable class of monitors was not met by the seamen of the Fleet in any complaining spirit, but that they submitted to the discomforts imposed upon them with characteristic cheerfulness. When, therefore, an unmistakable feeling of dissatisfaction prevails throughout a ship, and no hesitation is shown in expressing it, we may be certain that there is some valid reason for so unusual an occurrence. We hesitated to give currency to reports which reached us during the cruise of the _Devastation_ around the coast with the Channel Squadron, as we had good reason to believe that it was the intention of the Admiralty to pay her off, and berth her in Portsmouth harbour as a tender to the _Excellent_, the advantage of so doing being that a very large number of men passing through the School of Gunnery would thus be enabled to become acquainted with the latest improvements in the turret system.... But since the arrival at the Admiralty of Rear-Admiral Hornby, late in command of the Channel Squadron, who certainly should be able to form a correct estimate of the _Devastation’s_ fitness in every respect for sea service, it has been determined that she shall be ordered to Gibraltar, there probably to remain during the coming winter as a kind of ‘guardo.’ A cruise across the bay in the month of November is not looked forward to by the present crew, who have had a little experience both of being stifled by being battened down and of being nearly blown out of their hammocks when efforts at ventilation are made by opening every hatch. Her qualities as a sea-boat have been fairly tested, and the present notion of filling her up with stores for six months’ further service, and then stowing her away at Gibraltar, leads to the conclusion that on this point at least the value of the counsel of the First Lord’s new Naval adviser is not altogether apparent.