The Sun.
London, England, 1864-05-13 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, MAY 13, 1864.

Naval and Military Intelligence,

THE NAVY.

VALETTA, May 8.-Her Majesty's paddlewheel
frigate Magicienne, 16, Capt. W. Armytage, ar-
rived here from Tunis on the 6th inst., bringing
news from that place of the sth, and the latest ac-
counts from Mehdia, Sfakes, and Suss, towns on
the coast. The following foreign men-of-war were
at Tunis on the sth. French,The Algesiras, 90,
screw liner (bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral
D'Herbingham ; the Redoubtable, 80, screw liner ;
the Alexandre, 100, screw liner (this ship had just
returned from a visit to ports on the coast) ; and
the Meteor, paddle sloop ; the Cator, 4, screw
sloop, was also cruising on the coast. Italian,-
The Maria Adelaide, 51, screw frigate (bearing the
flag of Admiral Albini) ; the Dec de Genova, 34,
screw frigate; the Magenta, 20, screw frigate; the
Etna, 11, screw corvette; and the Sirene, 1, paddle
sloop ; the Garibaldi had gone to Susa. A Turkish
corvette had also arrived. Two other Turkish
vessels, the Feizi Bahri, 22, arid the Peiki Cherif,
10, arrived at Malta yesterday, the former from
le and Gallipoli, and the latter from
Athens, on their way to Tunis, on a
GConstantinople nu tpaonl i
an
no
dp
special mission from the Sultan, in charge of his
Excellency Haydar Effendi, who is accompanied by
three secretaries. The influence of the French is
known to be very great in Tunis, and report says
they have threatened to appoint Frenchmen to ad-
minister public affairs. The British Consul-Genes
ral is no doubt very anxious to have the moral sup-
port afforded by the presence of a large naval force,
and it is considered here not unlikely that the
naval commander-in-chief in the Mediterranean
may receive instructions to proceed to Tunis with
the rest of his squadron. The Meanee, 60, Cap-
tain G. Wodehoose, was at Tunis, and the Pelican,
17, Commander H. T. Comber, was on a cruise
visiting the towns on the coast. The Firefly,
5, Lieutenant-Commander G. R. Wilkinson,
left Malta for Susa on the sth instant, and the
Royal Oak, 25, ironclad, Captain F. A. Campbell,
left yesterday, to assume the senior command. The
Magicienne is completing coals and provisions, and
will leave on return to Tunis as soon as ready. It is
said that on no accoant will any force be landed
from
r British oar
shipssexcept in the case of the Consulate
o
übjects being in actual danger or of a
o
written requisition from the Bey. There is no news
from Corfu. The Orlando, 46, Capt. G. G. Ran-
dolph, the Trident, 3, Commander P. J. Balfour, and
the steam tender Growler, were there on the 2d inst.
The Trident has this day arrived here. The Wan-
derer, 4, Commander M. P. Seymour, is at Patras.
The Cossack, 20, Capt.W. R. Rolland, is expected
here to-morrow from Zante and Corfu, and will be
relieved by the Liffey, 35, Capt. G. Parker, which
will leave this on Wednesday. The Revenge, 73
(bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral H. R. Yeleerton,
C. 8.), Capt. the Hon. F. A. Foley; the Gibraltar,
81, Capt. J. C. Prevost, and the Surprise, 4, Com-
mander W. H. Whyte, are at the Pirmas of Athens.
The transports for the removal of the troops from
the lonian Islands are expected there about the
beginning of June. The Himalaya was to leave
England on the 14th inst. for Malta and Corfu. The
Tamar was daily expected at Gibraltar from the
coast of Africa ; also en route for Malta and Corfu.
The Orontes will proceed direct from England and
Gibraltar 'without touching at Malta. The screw
storeship Supply, 2, Master Commander Bawden,
arrived at Gibraltar on the 2d inst., and has just
reached Malta. The Racoon, 22, Capt. Count
Gleichen, was to leave the same day to embark
Prince Alfred at Marseilles, and return with him to
Spithead, The Procris, screw gunboat, Lieut. the
Hon. J. Vivian, was at Gibraltar. The Caradoc, 2,
paddle despatch boat, Lieut. Commander E. Wilkin-
left the Pirceas on the 2d inst. for Syra, Smyrna, and
Constantinople. She has on board the Bishop of
Gibraltar. At Syra his lordship will consecrate a
church which has reoently been built there, and at
Smyrna and Constantinople he will hold Confirma-
tions. The Weser, 6, Commander Johnstone, and
the Cockatrice, 2, Lieut.-Commander Gillson, have
been ordered to Tenedos, where they will be met by
the Gibraltar line-of-battle ship, in order that a
Court-martial may be held on Assist.-Engineer
First-class John Frazer, of the Cockatrice. Nothing
has been heard for some time of the Phcebe, 35,
Capt. T. D. A. Fortescue, and the Chanticleer, 17,
Commander Risk; but by the last accounts they
were on the Coast of Syria, all well. The Marl.
borough, 121, (bearing the flag, of Vice-Admiral
Smart, K.H.), Capt. C. Fellowes, will go out to-
morrow for a cruise and target practice. The Fox-
hound, 4, Commander W. Anderson, will be ad-
mitted into the dry dock on Monday to have her
bottom cleaned. The Resistance, 16, ironclad,
Capt. W. C. Chamberlain, and the Psyche, 2,
despatch vessel, Lieut.-Commander R. Sterne, are
in port ready for sea. Lieut.-Col. Gubbins, who has
been appointed Assist.-Adjt.. Gen. in this garrison,
in lieu of Col. Willis, arrived hero last week, and
assumed the duties of his office. Col. Willis has
left for England.'

The Icarus, 11-gun screw sloop, Commander
Salmon, arrived yesterday at Spithead, from Malta
the 19th ult,, and Gibraltar the 28th, She sailed
again for the eastward to pay out of commission.
The Hector, iron frigate,
Spithead from the Downs.
also arrived yesterday at

The Royal Sovereign
turret ship has been
placed in the Warrior dock at Portsmouth, where
' she will probably remain for about three weeks,
-
unless her services should be urgently required
in the north. Yesterday Rear-Admiral George
Elliot, accompanied by Captain Sherard Osborn,
C.B. ; Mr. Andrew Murray, C.E., chief engineer
of the dockyard ; Mr. Cradock, master ship-
wright, and other officials, went on board the
ship to examine the two after-boilers sad their
broken connecting pipes and the main steampipe
in the endeavour to ascertain the exact cause
of the accident to the connecting pipes during the
preliminary trial of the ship on Tuesday last, as re-
ported in The Sun of the following day. No posi-
tive decision was arrived at, but Admiral Elliot,
Capt. Osborn, and Mr. Murray
expressed their
opinions that the accident arose from causes con-
nected with the boilers alone, and totally irrespec-
tive of the ships's weakness or strength, and the
opinion was also expressed that the ship had not
altered the least in her form, nor had the boilers in
their position. As, however, no cause was assigned
for the breaking of the communications between
the boilers and the steam pipe, the opinions given
on Wednesday, although doubtless entitled to great
weight from the position and professional know-
ledge of the gentlemen named, is only at present
on a par with the opinion expressed in The Sun of
Wednesday, that the accident was owing to the
alteration of the form of the ship's bottom caused
by the concentration of the weight of the turret and
gun, 113 tons, in a space of 8 feet. Lying in dock
or at anchor in still water this concentrated weight
would have no injurious effect on a converted wooden
ship's bottom, but with the ship driven ahead by
the fall power of tier engines there muet be a great
downward, ":oratory movement brought to bear
upon tfee.
part of the ship's bottom just underneath
t
the
.• .urret, and quite sufficient to account for the
otslocation of the connecting pipes between the
boiler and steam pipe when mechanical appliances
are not provided to meet the strain. The damage
to the pipes themselves can be repaired at little cost,
and if the form of the ship has not been disturbed,
there will be no occasion to interfere with the tur-
ret or boilers any farther than restoring the corn.
munications of the latter with the steam pipe in a
better form than before. The affair, however, must
be thoroughly investigated, and the accident ac-
counted for, not, as we have already intimated,
from the actual amount of damage done, but from
the importance which is attached to the danger of
more serious results following upon any similar ac-
cident at any future time. In former notices of the
Royal Sovereign attention was called to the fact
that a wide band of small.vitreous plates—i.e., thin
iron plates coated on their exterior surface with
fused glass had tent applied round the ship at the
water-line, with the intention of cutting off any
connection between the Muntz metal of the ship's
bottom and the armour-plating on her top sides,
and thus preventing any repetition of such catas-
trophes as recently occurred to one of her Majesty's
ships at Davenport. This band of plating was sur-
veyed yesterday and, en extraordinary ernoent of