The Sun.
London, England, 1864-11-26 00:00:00

Naval and Military Intelligence.

Her Majesty's screw steamship Victoria, 102,
Capt. Goodenough, from [Portsmouth for Malta,
which put into Plymouth Sound on Thursday morn-
ing, embarked supernumerary seamen for the Medi-
terranean fleet, and proceeded at once for her des•
tin ation.

The iron screw steamship Achilles, 20, Capt. E,
W. Vansittart, having been repaired in No. 3 dock
at Keyham, was removed on Thursday, and is now
in the stream in Hamoaze.
An order was yesterday received at Chatham,
directing tho bailing ship Dating, 12, 426 tons, ats
tached to the reserve, to be sent round to the
Thames for the purpose of being broken up at the
yard of Messrs. Castle and Beech, at Charlton. A
subsequent telegram, received at the dockyard,
directed the Venus, 26, 1,069 tons, to be substituted
for the Daring.
Yesterday the sternpost for the iron frigate Bel-
lerophon, 14, I,ooo.horse power, weighing nearly 17
tons, and forged at the Mersey iron Company's
works, was shipped from the Oninance-wharf,
Chatham, and removed to the dockyard, in readi-
ness for being fixed in its place. The Bellerophon
will carry no ruddet-post, by which considerably
additional strength will be imparted to the stern of
the vessel, of which the rudder is, in fact, a pros
longation. The reason of the rudder-post being
abolished is on account of the adoption of the ba-
lance-rudder, which, although no novelty—the
same rudder having been in use in the merchant
service, and especially on board vessels employed
in whaling expeditions—is now introduced for the
first time in one of the largest vessels in the Royal
Navy. The peculiarity of the balance-rudder con-
sists in its being a kind of double, or, so to speak, a
rudder acting upon a rudder, the larger being fur•
nished with a smaller one, both being in the same
plane, and acting with a double leverage power on
the vessel.
The screw corvette Cadmus, 21, 400 horse power,
fitting for the first division of the Chatham Steam
Reserve, will be placed in No. 3 dock at Chatham
to-day, for the purpose of undergoing an examina-
tion in order to ascertain whether she has received
any injuries occasioned by the recent alterations
effected in her screw. The whole of the tubes of
the boilers have been removed and new tubes sub-
stituted, the Admiralty having directed the entire
number of tubes to be removed in consequence of
some few of them proving faulty, a subsequent
examination showing them to have been manufec-
tured from inferior copper.
Her Majesty's screw corvette Niger, 13 guns, no W
ready for the pennant at Woolwich, yesterday re-
turned to the Royal Arsenal and shipped her arma-

went, shot, &e. The Niger has been thoroughly
repaired, and has been fitted with the Roebuck's en•
gines, which, although of less nominal horse power,
have increased her actual rate of speed. In her
run to the Maplin Sands, where she made the
official trial of her engines, she realised 10t- knots
at full speed, which was considered highly satisfac-
tory. Mr Alfred F. Gibbons, master, the only
officer at present appointed, has joined and taken
up his commission.

A large amount of 100-pound shot, with patent
wads and ammunition for the new 26-gun iron ship
Minotaur, now at Portsmouth, was yesterday pres
pared for shipment in Woolwich Arsenal.

The Geyser, 6, paddle, Commander Thrupp, ar-
rived at Portsmouth yesterday morning from De.
vonport, with supernumerary seamen, &c. Soon
after her arrival the Geyser received orders to pro-
ceed into the Chinnel in search of the wreck of the
merchant ship Robin Hood, which was sunk through
collision with another vessel about five miles west of
Dungeness a few days since, while on her voyage
from London to Hong Kong. The Robin Hood
had a large quantity of Government stores on
board for Hong Kong, and as the wreck of the
ship is said to lie in from four to ten fathoms water,
it is thought the greater portion of these stores may
be recovered by the aid of divers. The Geyser left
Portsmouth harbour on her mission at 5 p.m.
The Edgar, screw line-of-battle ship, Capt. G.
P. Hornby, flagship of Rear-Admiral S. C. Dacres,
C. 8., refitting alongside the railway jetty of
Portsmouth, has received her new mainmast, and
yesterday sent up her topmast, in process of refit.

The Aurora, 35, screw frigate, Capt. Sir L,

APClintock, is completing her refit at the hands of
the shipwright department alongside Portsmouth
Dockyard.

The Marlborough, 131, screw three-decker, Capt.
C. Fellowes is stripped to her lower masts, in course
of dismantling to pay out of commission at Portsa
mouth, and is expected to be paid out about the Ist
proximo.

The Royal Alfred, iron-cased frigate, recently
launched at Portsmouth, has a large number of
hands employed upon her in No. 3 dock of that
yard. Her armour-plating, 42in., from John
Brown and Co.'s Atlas Steel and Iron Works,
Sheffield, is being rapidly affixed to her sides, the
two lower tiers of plates being nearly completed on
both sides and the third tier commenced amidships.
Mr Van Winckle, a scientific American engineer,
yesterday attended in the factory department of
Woolwich dockyard, by permission of the Lords
Commissioners of the Admiralty, and submitted to
the inspection and trial of Mr Trickett and the offi-
cers of the department a portable drilling machine,
to be used with advantage in punching rivet holes
in ship's boilers. The machine was put through a
succession of tests by each of the officers present,
who admitted its great efficiency and superiority
over any other apparatus which had been brought
to their notice.

Commauder George Biddlecombe, newly ap-
pointed master attendant of Woolwich dockyard,
yesterdny left Woolwich on leave of absence. The
duties of the yard will be performed in the interval
by Commander Luke, commanding the local Steam
Reserve.

Dr Salmon, Inspector-General of Hospitals, at the
Naval Infirmary at Woolwich, has been granted
leave of absence, as a'so Lieut.-Col. John Henry
Stewart, of the Woolwich division of Royal Marine
Light Infantry, on h;s promotion.

The sergeants of the 14th (King's) Hussars gave
an evening party in their barracks on Tuesday evens
ing last, in commemoration of the battle of Ram.
nuggur, fought against the Sikhs on the 22d Nov.,
1848. There were a number of officers present d ur.
ing the evening. The Officers' Dramatic Club com-
menced their second season's performance in the
Clubhouse on Thursday evening, when Boucicault's
comedy of London Assurance" and the farce of
" The Goose with the Golden Eggs" were performed.
The appointment of second assistant master bhip°
wright at Chatham dockyard, vacant by the pro-
motion of Mr A. Moore to be master shipbuilder at
Devonport dockyard, has been conferred on Mr
Dawson, foreman at Deptford.