The Sun.
London, England, 1863-07-31 00:00:00

Naval and Military Intelligence.

THE NAVY.
Yesterday the Lords Commissioners of the Admi-
ralty paid an official visit to Chatham for the pur-
pose of making their annual inspection of the
dockyard and other naval establishments at that
port. The members of the Board present com-
prised his Grace the Duke of Somerset, K.G., First
Lord; Vice-Admiral the Hon. 'Sir F. W. Grey,
K.C.8., Rear-Admiral C. Eden, C. 8., Capt. the Hon.
J. R. Drummond, C. 8., and Air. J. Stansfelcl, M.P.,
Junior Lords ; Rear-Admiral the Right Hon. Lord
elm-erica Paget, C. 8., M.P., First Secretary ; Rear-
Admiral R. S. Robinson, Controller of the navy;
Col. G. T. Greene, director of Admiralty engineer•
ing works; Mr. E. J. Reed, chief constructor• of the
navy ; Capt. R. Hull, private secretary to the Duke
of Somerset, ar►d other officials. The members of
the Board arrived at the dockyard shortly before
noon, end alighting at the official residence of the
Capt.-Superintendent were received by Capt. E. G.
Fanshawe, Sir R. Mayne, Mr. Superintendent Mal-
lalieu, Mr. Ling, master shipbuilder : Mr. Moore
and Mr. Hutchens, assistant-master shipwrights;
Mr. Churchward, store receiver; Mr. Uhatworthy,
accountant; Mr. Rivers, clerk of works, and the
other heads of departments. The members of the
Board repaired in the first instance to the office of
the Captain Superintendent, and were occupied for
about half an hour in the transaction of official busi-
ness, after which they commenced the tour of the
yard for the purpose of inspecting the various ves-
sels under construction and repair. The large
iron frigate Achilles, 6,000 tons, 1,250 horse-
power, was the first vessel visited. Confi-
dent hopes are now entertained that she will
be afloat some time before the close of the
present year. Although her first armour-plate
was only fixed in its place on the sth of Febru-
ary last, no fewer than 238 plates had been bolted
to her broadsides up to yesterday afternoon, leav-
ing only about 100 more to be affixed to render the
whole exterior surface, down to sft. below her water-
line, as nearly as possible invulnerable. When it

is remembered that the whole of the iron work on
board the Achilles has, for the last 12 months, been
performed exclusively by the dockyard shipwrights,

who previously possessed no knowledge whatever
of iron shipbuilding, the progress made in the con-
struction of the iron vessel is without a parallel at
any of the Royal dockyards. Their lordships
ascended the upper deck of the frigate, over which
they were conducted by Mr. Lang and his subordi-
nates, and they afterwards went below to the main

deck, where a short time we spent in inspecting the

progress made in the work. Leaving the shipbuild-
ing department of the establishment the members

of the Board visited the ropery, in which nearly
the whole work of preparing the largest descrip-
tion of cables used in the navy is performed by
steam machinery. It will be necessary, however, to
erect other machinery to keep pace with the require-
ments of the increasing demands of the establish-
ment, which will involve an outlay of about £lO,OOO.
After deciding on the additional machinery to be
provided, the members of the Board resumed their
inspection of the naval portion of the dockyard, and
visited the Anchor-wharf, on which it is intended
to erect steam machinery for loading and unloading
the various vessels at the dockyard, thus doing away
with the great demand for manual labour for that

purpose. After inspecting No. 1 slip, which is at
present unoccupied, their lordships p►oceeded to the

second building shed, where the 17-gun screw frigate
Reindeer is in the frame, but on which not a single
hand has been employed for several years, They next
visited the factory, in which the iron slabs as well as
the whole of the iron required in the construction
of the Achilles is prepared. Shortly before their
arrival the fine iron screw frigate Tamar, 2,800
tons, 500 horse power, steamed into the harbour
from Millwall, where she has been constructed for
the Admiralty by a private firm. This vessel will
be placed in the first dock which becomes
vacant for the purpose of being surveyed,
previous to her being taken over from her
builders. Their lordships partook of luncheon at
the official residence of Captain Superintendent
Fanshawe, and afterwards proceeded to inspect the
various wooden vessels lying on the several slips,
including the line-of-battle ship. Bulwark, 91, the
Belvidere, 51, the 11enai, 22, and the Myrmidon, 4,
on neither of which is a single hand employed. The
last slip inspected was that on which the blocks for
the new iron clad frigate the Lord Warden, the
first of the squadron of that class of vessel to be
constructed on Mr. Reed's plan, will be built.
Their lordships gave directions for some addi-
tional machinery to be erected on this slip to
facilitate the building operation, and, after inspect-
ing the stock of timber, left the dockyard. They
were then conducted over the block of buildings
recently erected by Messrs. Foord and Sons, Ro-
chester, adjoining the dockyard, for the married
officers and men of the Metropolitan police doing
duty at Chatham. At 3 o'clock their lordships
arrived at the Royal Marine Barracks, and were
received by Major-General A. B. Stransham, In-
spector-General ; Colonel T. Lemon, C. 8., Com-
mandant, and the entire staff of the division. The
battalion, which now numbers nearly 2,000 officers
and men, was drawn up on the groond parade.
After the division had defiled past their lordships
proceeded over the barracks, and afterwards made

a lengthened inspection of the additional barrack
buildings, now nearly completed. As soon as ready
for occupation, they will afford accommodation
for about 800 more men than can be crowded
into the present barracks, in addition to which
there will be commodious quarters erected for the
field officers and subalterns, and a parade-ground
double the size of the existing one provided. At

4 o'clock their lordships visited Melville Naval
Hospital, over which they were conducted by
Deputy-Inspector Kinnear, M.D., and the medical
staff of the establishment. The Lords of the Ad-
miralty afterwards returned to the dockyards to
visit the works at the eastern end of the establish-
ment, on St. Mary's Island, for the enlargement and
extension of the dockyard. They afterwards went
on board the Enchantress, Admiralty yacht in the
harbour, where they dined, and on board which
they slept last night, in readiness to resume their
inspection this morning.
The Channel fleet, under the command of Ad-
miral Dacres, which left bunderlund on Tuesday
morning, arrived in Leith roads on Wednesday
afternoon at 4 o'clock. The Edgar, 71, led the van
in coming up the Firth, and was followed by the
Emerald, Liverpool, Defence, Black Prince, War-
rior, Royal Oak, and Resistance. The anchorage
selected is a mile to the west of Inchkeith, and
about three milts from Leith harbour. The fleet
will remain for about a week in Leith roads. The
Channel fleet is expected to visit the Mersey before
completing its present cruise. Its appearance there
is not anticipated before the middle or end of next

month.
The Wye, iron screw storeship, 700 tons, 100
horse-power, Master Commanding Valentine G.
Roberts, which has recently received extensive
repairs, and been fitted with new boilers built by
Messrs Denney Brothers, at the hands of the ope•
ratives of Sheerness Dockyard, was taken out for
trial at the measured mile off Maplin Sands on
Wednesday. The vessel was in charge of Capt. W.
K. Hall, C. 8., of her Majesty's ship Cumberland,
guardship of the Sheerness steam reserve, and
the engines were under the superintendence
of Mr. W. Rumble, inspector of machinery afloat,
and Mr. G. Blaxland, chief engineer of Sheerness
dockyard. The average speed attained was 9.591.
knots, vacuum 27in. ; revolutions, maximum 71,
mean 7016 per minute; pressure of steam, 151 b.
draught of water—forward, 10ft. 4in., aft, 12ft. 6in.
The vessel is fitted with Griffith's sere w, pitch 16ft.,
diameter, 12ft. 6in. ; and the indicated horse•power
of her engines is 540. The trial was considered
very successful, and the vessel will shortly leave
this harbour for the west coast of Africa as a store-
ship.