The Sun.
London, England, 1864-09-30 00:00:00

Naval and Military Intelligence,

On Wednesday, Col. Woodhouse, C. 8., Commandant of
the Woolwich Depot, inspected the Ist Division of the
Depot Brigade of Royal Artillery, stationed at Sheerness•
The troops received the inspection in line, and after giving
the customary salute were inspected; they then marched

past in quick time in quarter-distance column, and were
again formed in line. The inspector addressed them in

complimentary terms upon their clean and smart appear-
ance. The Colonel then proceeded to inspect the barracks,
the soldiers' recreation rooms, the military hospital, and the

garrison books, and expressed his entire satisfaction with
the mode in which everything was kept.
At 10 o'clock on Wednesday night 150 officers and men
of the 13th Brigade of Royal Artillery, with their accoutre-

ments, landed at the Camber dock, Sheerness, from Shoed
baryness, and in three hours bf [erwards proceeded by special
train to Dover. At 9 the same evening No. 3 Battery of

the 2d Brigade of Royal Artillery arrived at Sheerness from

Woolwich, and were embarked for Shoeburyness.

The Serpent, 4, steam gunboat, 695 tone, 200 horse power,
was taken out of the large basin in Sheerness Dockyard on
Wednesday, and proceeded on a trip to the Nore Light and
back to the coal ship in the river, in order to test the ma-
chinery previous to the trial trip at the measured mile off
the Maplin Sands. The result was most satisfactory, and
the vessel wilt be taken on trial this day.

On Saturday last one of Captain Blakely's 11 inch ham-
mered cast steel guns, weighing 24 tons, underwent two

rounds of proof at the Woolwich butt, with charges of 451 b

of powder, and cylinders of 2401 b each. After the second
round Mr Mainlay, the proof master, detected a hissing

sound, which seemed to be caused by the passage of a mis-
sile through the butt. On examination it appeared that the
2-101 b cylinder had struck on an old shot, which had been
fired in some former proof and had not been extracted, and
that the latter had been forced upwards and passed through
the top of the butt. The continuation of the proof was there-
fore deferred to a future day. In the meantime the Royal
Engineer department undertook the examination and repair
of the butt, which was completed :on Wednesday morning;
the proof was then renewed. The charges were increased to
601 b of powder and 6001 b cylinders, and at the conc:usion of
the proof, notwithstanding the enormous amount of the

charges, not the slightest blemish or strain was detected in

the inns. Many parsons interested in the EI'CUSS of the
gun were in attendance each day, among whom were Mr
Ken'Wl, the Peruvian Consul in London; Col. Bolognese,
an artillery officer in the service of the Peruvian Gaavern"--
mene; c..ipt. Palliser, latt-Pjat nassars, and others. The
company was represented by Capt. Blakely, Mr Campbeil,
Mr Vavasecur, and Mr Wood:
Yesterday theßlal.ely ordnancr 7 inch steel gun, made to
the order of our own Government for naval purposes, was
proved at the butt, with charges of 311 lb of powder end
shot weighing 110Ib each. The gun is rilid with 18 grooves.
and weighs 6 tons 2 cwt. The proof was likewise satisfac-
tory, and the gun was taken in charge by the department
of the inspectors of artillery, and will be fitted as a ship's
gun for service.

._
We have been furnished with the following interesting
return of the steaming capabilities of some of the vessels in
the Channel fleet, as ascertained on two recent occasions :
—On the 27th August, in a trial of two hours, under full
boiler power, the results were as follows :—The Prince Con-
sort gained on the Hector 3,200 yards, on the Defence
3,880 yards, and on the Enterprise 5,300 yards. The
Research was not tested on this trial. On Sept. 20 trials
took place with half boiler power, of three hours' duration,
with the following results, the Research and Black Prince
being included in this trial :-.The Black Prince gained on
the Prince Consort 6,974 yards, the Prince Consort gained
on the Hector 5,475 yards, on the Defence 3,300 yards, on
the Research 19,614 yards, and on the Enterprise 19,825
yards. As the speed of the slowest ship in a fleet must
become the speed of the entire fleet in all combined offensive
and defensive operations, vessels like the Research and En-
terprise would appear to be misplaced when occupying posi-
tions as component parts of a British fleet in the Channel.
An almost universal feeling is entertained by naval officers
that for all purposes of warfare a slow vessel is worse than
useless, as her career can only end in capture by the enemy.
The paddlewheel steamsloop Gladiator, 6, Capt. Francis
H. Shortt, from Madeira, arrived in the Sound on Wednes-
day morning. She left Plymouth on June 21 for Madeira,
and arrived there on the 29th. On July 26 she took charge
of the sailing transport Wanboojeeg, which had been towed
to Madeira by the paddlewheel steamvessel Bulldog. The
Gladiator arrived with her at Sierra Leone on July 18, coaled
there, and left on the 20th for Cape Coast Castle. The
Wanboojeeg then embarked parts of the Ist and 2d West
Indian Regiments, and left Cape Coast Castle in charge of
the Gladiator on July 30, and was towed to lat 1 8 S. long
017 E, and on August 5 proceeded to Barbadoes. The
Gladiator returned to Cape Coast Castle, and on the Bth
embarked a part of the 4th West India Regiment, with
which she sailed on the 9th for Lagos. On the 12th she
disembarked them into the Investigator, 2. The Gladiator
then embarked a detachment of the 3d West India Regi-
ment, and proceeded to Palma. There she took on board
another detachment of the 3d, with whom she left on the
20th, and she arrived on the 30th at Sierra Leone. She
then embarked 75 men of the 3d West India Regiment,
and the crew of the Spanish slave vessel America, captured
by the Arid in the MEE ambigua Channel, and proceeded to
Gambia. She disembarked her detachment of the 3d West
India Regiment there, and sailed on the 4th of September,
with the slaver's crew, to Teneriffe. She left on the 13th
for Madeira, arrived there on the 16th, and left on the 20th
for England. The Gladiator has experienced light easterly
winds on the homeward passage. She brings es passengers
from Lagos EnsignM'Callagh and a soldier belonging to the
3d West India Regiment, and from Madeira 22 naval in-
valids. Having some slight injuries in her coal bunkers, she
will probably be sent to Keyham for repair. The 'West
Coast squadron were stationed at intervals of 15 miles up
and down the coast.
The Russian storeship Guiliack sailed from Plymouth on.
Monday for the River Amoor.
The screw steam corvette Brisk, 16, Capt. Charles W.
Hops, left Plymouth on Tuesday for Australia and New
Zealand.
The Channel squadron is expected at Plymouth towards
the close cf October or in the beginning of November.
Several hired mechanics and others working in the
Devonport dockyard will shortly be discharged, to reduce
the expenditure.
The following appointments were made on Wednesday at
the Admiralty : —Lieut. H. A. Clavering to command the
Sharpshooter, commissioned—Lieut, W. T.W. Hatubly to
the Orontes—and John Bruce (b.), chiof engineer, to the
Cumberland, for the Star.
The following appointments were made yesterday at the
Admiralty :—Lieut. F. W. Hallewes to commend the
Nimble, commissioned in a separate coterssm:_uut. R.
M. Spsrling, Lieut. 0. 11. Parker, and Lieut. E. G. Bourke
to the Rattlesnake—Lieut. J. E. Stokes to the Euryalus ;
Lieut. G. N, Smallpiece and Lieut. R. T. Clarke to
the Hector—Sub.Lieut. F, Romilly to the Racoon—Subs
Lieut, A. H. Duthie, Sub-Lieut. W. Neilson, and Sub-
Lieut, R. B. Wilkinson to the Rattlesnake—Sub-Lieut.
A. R. Cooper to the Sharpshooter--J. Southwick, second
master to the Sharpshooter; W. L. Harrison, master's-
assist., to the Sharpshooter--W. Lovely, assist.-paymaster,
o the Cumberland—A. P. Cox, assist.-paymaster, in charge
-o the Sharpshooter—G. C. E, A. Townsend, assist.-clerk,
o the Warrior—and C. Rasworthy, assist,-clerk, to the
Sharpshooter.