The Sun.
London, England, 1864-05-23 00:00:00

COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE.

Gold fluctuated yesterday and to-day between 77
and 72 per cent. premium, and closes to-day at a
premium of 75 per cent. Exchange on London,
188 to 190.

Stooks slightly firmer. New York Centrals,
1311; Illinois, 125; Erie, 110; Six per Cent.
United States Bonds, 1061.

Cotton slightly firmer, middling upland, 85c. to
86c. Flour quiet. Wheat advancing. Corn
better. Provisions steady. Coffee quiet. Sugar
firmer. Molasses quiet. Petroleum—crude, 3710.;
refined, 571 c. to 58c.

Naval and Military Intelligence.

THE NAVY.

On Friday afternoon, the 13th inst., five large ships be-
longing to the Channel squadron, under command of Rear-
Admiral S. C. Dacres, C. 8., arrived in Plymouth Sound
from the Downs. Although it was the period of neap tides,
they were safely navigated one at a time, and a high water
permitted, through the narrows into Hamoaze, and placed
in the various docks in the arsenals at Devonport and Key-
ham. The water was then pumped out, the bottoms of the
ships ware cleansed and recoated, the valves were over-
hauled, and all the necessary interior alterations were made;
the water was lot into the ducks osoin, and on Saturday
last the ships resumed their moorings in Plymouth Sound,
fully prepared for any contingency, The depth of water in
the harbour, the value of the recent enlargement of the
docks, and other improvements at Plymouth, have thus
been tested most satisfactorily; but it was only through the
energy of the Harbour master, the Master attendant, and
the officers and artisans of the establishment, cordially
aided by the commanders and crews of the ships, that so
much has been done in so short a time. The Controller of
the Navy, Rear-Admiral Spencer Robinson, has been in
frequent personal consultation with Rear-Admiral Sy-
monds, C. 8., superintendent of the yard, and the services
of the electric wire in connection with Whitehall have been
in constant requisition. The flagship Edgar, 71, Capt. G.
T. Hornby was placed in No 2 dock at Keyham, where her
copper was cleansed from all the slime and weed which had
accumulated during thellast 12 months. The iron built
screw steamship Black Prince, Capt. James F. W. Wain-
wright, was placed in the Prince's Dock at Devonport,
out of which she was taken in November, 1863. Her
bottom was tolerably free; it was scoured, and received
another coating of Hay's composition. Her frame ap-
pears to have sustained its original condition unbroken—
the sights on deck proved her to be precisely the same
in dock as when afloat. According to Admiralty
order, the ponderous screw, 35 tons, was lifted and refixed.
The pine lining of the ammunition-room has been replaced
with teak, and her engineers have been supplied with the
new regulation lanterns. The screw steamship Warrior, 40,
Capt. the Hon. Arthur A. Cochrane, undertook in Novem-
ber, 1863, was placed in the Queen's Dock at Keyham,
which has just been lengthened, She received another
stating of Hay's composition ; her screw was lifted, and
some eight or ten Armstrong guns, the copper lining of the
chambers of which was defective, were exchanged for ethers
differently lined. During the last cruise she was trimmed
three feet by the stern. The enlargement of her rudder has
proved satisfactory. Although of the same size, 6,loo:tons,
and having engines of the same power, 1,250 horses, both
by Penn and Sons, she has always beaten her sister ship,
the Black Prince (which is 8 feet longer), whether
under steam or canvass. Her commission will terminate
in August next, but her hull and dngines appear to be suf-
ficiently sound to undertake another commission. The
arrior has not " broken" in dock a quarter of an inch.
Her engines have been supplied with some spare propeller
brasses; the lignum vitro for the banjo propeller frame con-
tinues in good order. Experienced engineers consider that
both the Black Prince and the Warrior would work better
with a fixed four-bladed screw like that of the Achilles, by
the adoption of which also the weight of the screw sheers,
four tons, and the banjo frame, seven tons, right aft, would
be avoided. The Defence, 16, Capt. Augustus Phillimore
(undocked in October last), was placed in No. 1 dock in the
Devonport-yard, where her coating of Peacock's composi-
tion was renewed. She is termed a " good ship." Under
canvass, her sister, the Resistance, 17, is the swifter of the
two. Her officers consider that the frame of the Defence and
her interior fittings are heavier-than those of the Resist-
ance. The iron- cased ship Prince Consort, 3.5, Captain
George G. Willes, C. 8., which was also undocked in Octo-
ber, 1863, was placed in No, 1 dock at Keyham. Her con-

dition excited considerable interest, from the fact that after

her memorable trip to Dublin last year it was discovered
that galvanic action had already set in on the iron plates.

Tc prevent the continuance of this evil, the upper layer of
her Muntz's metal was stripped cff, and immediately below
the iron plates a cutting, 4 inches deep, was made in the
plank all round the ship, and a band of zinc, 1i inch thick
and 4 inches wide, was inserted. The iutermediate thick-
ness, 2i inches, was filled in with plank after the heads of
her copper bolts had been struck off. This band would have
been 6 inches wide, but for the risk of disturbing a much
larger number of copper bolts. The Lords of the Admiralty
consider the results of the experiment sufficiently satisfac-
tory to justify them in their determination to place a zinc
band 12 inches wide round the iron cased cupola ship Royal
Sovereign, 5, at Portsmouth. It is considered at Devonport
that by cutting out so much of a ship's original planking
immediately under the lowest tier of iron plates that tier is
left almost entirely dependent on the support of its bolts, as
the original wooden foundation is to a great extent removed,
Her Majesty's corvette Wolverine, 21, Capt. De Hcosey,
still remains in the river off Woolwich dockyard. Her de-
lay is occasioned by the necessity of retur,ing the whole of
her :;nain cables, and supplying otl,
Are in their place, to
-work more freely over the capstans. Her present orders are
to join the Channel, and proceed eventually to the West
India station.
The Swedish screw corvette Gefie, 16, Capt Adeborg,
from Cherbourg for Stockholm, put into Great Yarmouth
roadstead last week for coal. On receiving supplies she pro.
ceded on her voyage,