The Sultan,' sunk by running on a reef of hidden
rocks near Malta, has been raised, and was on Monday floated safely into port. The work of recovery, abandoned by the Admiralty, was carried out by an Italian Company, who are to receive 250,000 as salvage,—a not unreasonable sum, considering that the vessel was worth something very near a million. The thickness of the 'Sultan's' side-armour is from 6 in. to 9 in., and she carries twelve guns (eight of 18 tons, and four of 12 tons), has engines of nearly 8,000 horse-power, and a. displacement of over 9,000 tons. No doubt she will need a great deal of repair; but for all that, her recovery is a subject of national congratulation. To have been obliged to strike her name off the Navy List would, considered as a fighting loss, have been equivalent to the destruction of at least two regiments,—a fact which the country never seems to realise when one of its first- class battle-ships goes to the bottom.
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