The Sun.
London, England, 1864-08-18 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, AUGUST 18, 1864.

Naval and Military Intelligence.

The Lords of the Admiralty at present at Portsmouth re-
sumed their inspection of the dockyard, shipping, and pub-
lic establishments at that port yesterday, will continue it
to-day, and bring their labours to a close to-morrow (Fri-
day.) On Tuesday and yesterday evening they entertained
a party of naval officers and heads of the various depart-
ments at dinner on board the Osborne. Yesterday morn-
ing Lord Clarence Paget left Portsmouth for London and
Wales, and he will not rejoin the board at this port. Their
lordships commenced their duties yesterday with a discus-
sion on board the Osborne, after breakfast, relative to the
present convict prison in the dockyard. At present opinion
is very much divided upon the matter, some persons hold-
ing that the prison should be retained simply as such, while
others advocate the conversion of the prison into naval bar-
racks for seamen, and the erection of a new prison on the
newly-acquired ground at a greater distance from the heart
of the dockyard, and nearer the main timber stores. This
discussion ended, Earl de Grey and Ripon, accompanied by
Col. Jarvis, R.E., and Major Clarke, It E., the Admiralty
Director of Engineering Works, disembarked from the Os-
borne and left the harbour to view the defences north of
the dockyard and harbour, and the partly executed work
which is to form the water-channel communication in front
of Hilsea lines, between the harbours Of Portsmouth and
Langston. Owing to the failures of contractors for the exe-
cution of the Hilsea earthworks and moats and the com-
municating channel referred to, the tidal communication
between the two harbours has been for the greater part en-
and the scour of the ebb
tide out of Portsmouth harbour has suffered accordingly.
tirely stopped for several months,
To make this clearly understood,it will be only necessary here
to state that, through the narrow channel which affords the
means of communication between the waters of Portsmouth
two hour into Ports-
moutha-
and
Langstonhar harbour from harbours,
h a
has made out of Portsmouth harbonr at its southern or
bo
t the t
of tide
Laflnog flours two
after the ebb tide
chief entrance, and that, consequently, this important ad-
dition of water from Langston greatly increase the volume
of the ebb out of Portsmouth harbour, adds to its scouring
properties, and greatly lessens the danger of any formation
of shoals in the deep waterways of its harbour or its chan-
nel of entrance. It must, however, be evident that the
loss of this additional water to each tide that enters Ports-
mouth harbour is serious, and may result most prejudicially
upon the already too narrow water channels of the harbour.
The Duke of Somerset, with Admiral Sir F. Grey, the Hon.
J. R. Drummond, Mr. Childers, M.P., Rear-Admiral R. 8.
Robinson, Controller of the Navy, and Capt. R. Hall, pri-
vate Secretary to the Duke, subsequently disembarked from
the Osborne, and attended by Vice-Admiral Sir M. Sey-
mour, G.C.B„ Rear-Admiral Superintendent G. Elliot,
and the different officials at the bead of the various
departments in the dockyard, commenced e
gthuneinreryoffischiia:
round of inspection for the day. The Admiralty barge
first conveyed their lordships on board th
Excellent, Capt. Astley C. Key, 0.8., where they wit-
nessed some capital practice at different ranges with shot
and shell from guns of various calibres, rifled and smooth-
bore, fired from the decks of the Excellent and her uresent
tender, the Illustrious. Their lordships also had an op-
portunity of oeeing on board the two ships two 12-ton guns
of the same description as those on board the Royal Sove-
reign, with the exception that one is rifled, and is thus a
veritable 300-pounder. The other is a smoothbore, and is
therefore, like the five similar guns on board the Royal
Sovereign, a 150-pounder only. On board the Excellent
there are also a batch of Whitworth and Armstrong guns,
sent down to the ship for special practice and report upon
their capabilities. They include a Whitworth 6-in rifled
muzzle-loader, of 77 cwt., and others, down to a small 9-
pounder muzzle-loader, Sir W. Armstrong's includes a
wedge and muzzle-loader, of 7in. bore each, rifled ; a 7-in.
shunt gun, and some 12 and 9-pounder field guns. At the
conclusion of their inspection of the Excellent and her arma-
ment, their Lordships landed at the north end of the dock-
yard and went on board the turret ship Royal Sovereign,
Capt. Sherard Osborn, C. 8., where they were received by
Capts. Osborn and Coles and conducted over the ship. The
Duke of Somerset's attention was first drawn to the band of
teak sheathing now being applied to the ship at the water
line, to prevent any galvanic communication taking place
between the Muntz metal on the ship's bottom and the ar-
mour-plating on her sides. Since the dockyard at Ports-
mouth has existed it may safely be affirmed that no piece of
work of the same extent as the one now referred to has ever
been executed in sot hort a time as this will be. Some re-
marks relative to this work were made a few days since in
the Naval Intelligence of The Sun, which, perhaps, were
not very pleasing to the authorities, but may possibly have
assisted in bringing about the present change, and thus
affording a proof to the Admiralty, by actual results, that
work may be done in our public dockyards with a speed
and excellence which could not be excelled in the best ma-
naged private yard. The Duke of Wellington, screw three
decker (depot training ship), Capt. J. Seccombe, was next
visited, and their Lordships could not but have admired
the perfect order and condition of this model training
ship. While on board, the newly-erected cooking galley
built on the plans of Mr Grant, the storekeeper of
the Royal Clarence Victualling-yard,
was inspected by
their Lordships. Some bread, baked for the seamen of
the ship in the galley baking ovens, was sent on board
by the special desire of their Lordships for their lun-
cheon. The cooking galley,
composed entirely of iron,
roasts and bakes meat for the officers and ship's company,
as well as boiling by the ordinary ship's galley process. It
bakes 4501 b of bread for the ship's company in 11 hour,
which process can be repeated as often as may be desired,
It is fitted with a hot plate, and has also hot closets for
keeping the officers' and men's dinners warm when absent
from the ship on duty. It has also a boiler, which contains
300 gallons of water. The coppers of the galley are heated
on a new principle, and a great saving in fuel, with a greater
rapidity in cooking, is effected. From the Duke of Wel-
lington their lordships proceeded to the King's stairs
inspected two launches fitted
after which they went on board
landingwthiethOsborne double gsteco, r
eluncheonwhere theyengines, . s ,
After luncheon the board again
left the Osborne in the Admiralty barge, and landing on
the Gosport side of the harbour, inspected the Royal Cla-
rence Victualling yard, with its biscuit making machinery,
its patent flour mills, provision stores of all kinds, and
ships in Portsmouth harbour and at Spithead. The
sinlasupgeohttieornhoofutshe for
es
Royal
supply
ale
Marine Light
fresh meat to her Majes-
ty'siee
Light Infantry at Forton
barracks followed, and the day's work was wound up with
a visit to the establishments at llaslar, the extensive and
well-regulated royal naval hospital, and the gunboat yard.
This morning their lordships visited the head quarters of
the Royal Marine Artillery at Forts Eastney and Cumber-
land, some three miles south-east of Portsmouth, and in
the evening will patronise the ball at the King's Rooms,
Southsea, given annually in aid of the fueds of the Seamen's
and Marines' Orphan School. The Channel fleet is ordered
to Spithead, and is expected to arrive in time to enable its
officers and their friends to be present at the ball. On the
10th prox„ according to present arrangements, the Lords of
the Admiralty will leave England in their yacht Enchan-
tress for a tour of inspection to Gibraltar and Malta.
doubletan.ee to the ship Jean Gaujou
Commander C. Burney, of her Majesty's gunvessel
Speedy, has received from the Im-
perialFrdeanychanhidninigishtetrgloafest,hfeorhisk
on the Echnhas Rocks in 1864. The pre-
sent was conveyed to Jersey, for presentation to Commander
Burney, in the French Imperial steam corvette Ariel.
The Wolverine, 20, screw corvette, Capt. De Horsey,
which sailed a short time since from
Spithead to join,
to her apportioned
exertions
afterher'a Marine
ee ca handsome
rendering ft Sal is
tem-
porarily, the Channel fleet, has returned to Portsmouth to
lakeirn guns, ordered A couple of Capt. B by the War
Department and the Admiralty, Admire r
• " noW at Woolwich
troops of the 16th
umumakebegro.od defects and fill up her crew
awaiting proof.
been brought into use.
Birmingham. The regi-
ment is to be divided between Norwich, Ipswich
and Col-
chester;
the
HussarsOli
arrivedh ed ahead-quartersyatNportionsor w aiNorwich
hw thefi
IrloEmb e andßat re
oP3I cheater, where very
wrought-iron tube,
them available for
rolehwwinithtestimony r;u9cob.c
wa ut eiegers,s.
east O One
service condemned
tohbspaciousescopalpeutti
rne
aes iwe cast-ironbarracksyseicr.
ea bgiymatnphrsi haveyianendsedrsystemtirecentlyorendering
of
. af
byreasntedreddaywtiethstetdheabt
of its unfit-
wanads
ness for further use, yesterday fired twice at the proof butt
oLfo thewm oold r 6i
18 ploBus9ncle
andrs,
aweighingfter considerableform e rl
in Woolwich Arsenal with a charge of 161 b of powder and
shot weighing 1101 b. The gun has been bored up to 13
inches, and strengthened with a coiled tube reducing the
bore to seven inches. The present weight of the gun is
104 cwt. The tube made in the Royal gun factories is of
charcoal iron, and appears to be perfect. After firing
rWolawr
the two rounds in the presence of Major Freeth, Royal
Artillery, Inspector of Ordnance, and other officers, the
screw nut at the muzzle was turned round, and the tube
thereby drawn out a short distance to see that it was not
jammed in the gun, by which all the parts were ascertained
to be correct. The gun was afterwards sent up to the Royal
Gun Factories in order that the tube might be taken out,
the breech-plug unscrewed' from the tube, and the vent-
bush inserted, and which, according to a suggestion of
Capt. Palliser, will be screwed in from the interior of the
gun. To prove the amount of resistance which it is ex
petted the improvement will give to the old ordnance, the
gun is ordered to be fired 1,000 times consecutively. The
rifling is to consist of three grooves, and spiral for part of
the bore. The spiral will be uniform, the final pitch of the
rifling being a turn in 16ift. After completing the 1,000
rounds the gun will be despatched to Portsmouth for expe-
riments on board the gunnery-ship Excellent, to test its
power of penetrating the armour plates.
The following appointments have been. made at the Ad-
miralty frnucia W. Luton to; the Blenheim, for

service in the Coast Guard ; Sub-Lieut. Philip H. Worgan,
to the Wolverene ; Jas. W, G. Baccombe and N. S. Jones,
assist. clerks, to the Duncan.