NEWS OF THE WEEK.
THE Tory Government is unlucky at sea. Mr. Plimsoll gave it its first defeat about the merchant sailors, and now it has sustained at sea its first great misfortune. At 12.50 a.m. of the 2nd (Thursday) the Vanguard,' an ironclad man-of-war, of 3,774 tons, and 14 guns, equal in fighting power almost to any ship in the Fleet, was cruising off the coast of Wicklow. A sud- den fog came on, but no fog-signal appears to have been sounded from the Vanguard,' and the Iron Duke,' a sister ironclad, armed with a short ram, ran into her, smashing her side, as we read the account, below the 4i-inch armour-plating. The ' Vanguard' was built in water-tight compartments, but so terrible was the wound that the men were instantly removed to the ' Iron Duke,' and in three-quarters of an hour she sank. The total loss exceeds half a million sterling, exclusive of any injury which the ' Iron Duke' may have sustained, and the accident may have most important consequences. It would seem to show, what has long been suspected, that no ship can be built which a ram would not destroy.
