The Sun.
London, England, 1863-11-14 00:00:00

THE NAVY.

Mr. J. Stansfeld, M.P., Junior Lord of the Admiralty,
continues his investigation of the dockyard accounts at
Sheerness.

VALETTA, NOV. B,—Her Majesty's despatch-vessel
Psyche, 2, Lieut.-Com. Sterne, arrived on Thursday after-
noon with the latest dates from the Piraeus, which port she
left at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, the 3d inst. On Wednesday the
Psyche passed the
asußussian corvette Sokol, which left Malta
on Tuesday for the Pir
ts-e westward.
Sokol had arrived here on
h
the Sunday previousfro
a t s Thea.rn Psyche.eu lc h uprassds
ae
yd
through a very heavy thunderstorm
when about 80 miles from Malta, with hail
and
Another r a i n,
the
wind changing from all parts of thed
compass.
the previous night. At
se-
vere thunderstorm was experience
the Piraeus the weather was fine.o the arrival ?
a ea
iodf the
young King of the Hellenes Admiral Smart, t
easttlier boats
of-
fered him the use of the launches, pinnaces
of the squadron ; but he declined the offer, pinnaces,
n his
sub-
jects should take umbrage. All accounts areeinncsw
stating
that the new King has succeeded in making a very
favour-
able first impression. A lamentable accident occurred dur-
ing the preparations for his reception. A store of firewors
at the Pirteus blew up, killing and wounding five persons.
It is not known when the Commander-in-Chief will return
to Malta, as Admiral Smart is awaiting orders from the Fo-
reign-office. The Marlborough will, in any case, shortly
come down here for the purpose of giving the men leave,
and she is expected before the 20th inst. Should the Coma
wander-in-Chief be detained in Greece, he will probably
hoist his flag temporarily on the Psyche, or the Gibraltar,
81, Captain Prevost, which arrived yesterday from Eng-
land, on her way to Greece. Her Majesty's corvette
Pelican, 17, left the Piraeus early in the morning of the
31st ultimo, for the coast of Syria, Commander Comber
having joined her, and Lieutenant Boger returned to his
duty as flag-lieutenant. The Queen, 76, Captain C. F.
Hillyar, sailed on the same day at 7 a.m. for Corfu,
Malta, and England, and has just come in. The Trafalgar,
70, Captain T. Mason, it was reported, would await her
orders from England; but the Meeanee, 89, Capt. Node-
house, St. George, 86, Capt. the Hon. F. Egerton, and the
Orlando, 46, Capt. Randolph, would leave in a few days for
Malta. The following is a list of the ships of war at Athens
on the2d inst.:—English.—Marlborough, 129 (flag of the
commander-in-chief), Revenge, 73 (flag of Rear-Admiral
Yelverton, C. 8.), Trafalgar, 70, Foxhound, 4, and Trident,
3 (inside the Piraeus) ; the Meeanee, 80, the St. George, 86,
and the Orlando, 46, in Salamis Bay, French—The Ma-
gicienne, frigate (bearing the flag of Admiral Abbeville) ;
the Mouette and Tangier, sloop, paddle ; and the Algeciras,
liner (hearing the flag of Admiral Bouet Willamuez), who
accompanied the King of the Greeks. Austrian—The
Frederich (bearing the broad pendant of Commodore Tege-
toff), the Dandolo, 31 guns, and the Wall and the Seahund,
gunboats. Prussian—The Basilisk and the Blitz, gunboats.
Italian—The Tancredi, paddle-sloop. Turkish The
Brousa, sloop, 17, Hessen Bey, Captain, There was no
Russian ship with the Royal cortege, Several Greek gun-
boats and a Greek merchant steamer joined them on this
side of St. Angelo. These Greek merchant steamers fly a
pendant, and are Government vessels. The Liffey, 35, Capt.
George Parker, the Wanderer, 4, Commander M. C. Sey-
mour, the Surprise, 4, Commander W. H. Whyte, and the
Firefly, surveying vessel, Commander A. Mansell, are at
Corfu and different points on the west coast of Greece. Her
Majesty's ship Chanticleer, 17, Commander C. Sterling,
left Malta on the 31st ult. for the Pirmus, and the Ma-
gicienne, 16, Capt. W. Armytage, returned thence on the
3d inst. Lieut. Oliver, 22d Regiment, was a passenger on
board the latter vessel, which has come down to load stores
and provisions for the fleet. The Supply, 2, iron screw
storeship, Master-Commander Bowden, arrived from Torbay
and Gibraltar on the 2d inst., with stores for the garrison
and fleet. The Hydra, 6, paddlewheel, surveying-vessel,
Lieut.-Commander Wilkinson (temporary), arrived on the
sth inst. from Plymouth and Gibraltar. This vessel has
been specially fitted for the surveying service, and has a
spacious chart-room on deck. She is very much superior
both as regards speed and accommodation, to the old Medina,
which she is about to replace. The Growler, tender, Staff-
Commander Stokes, went out on the 4th inst. to continue
the local survey in the neighbourhood of Gozo, and returned
on the 7th. Her next trip will be to examine the new
island reported to have been thrown up on the Chcrki
Rocks, near Tunis. The following military officers have
arrived during the week :—Lieut.-Col. Mattel, R.M.F.A.;
Capt. Do Laney, A.D.C.; Capt. Sir W. Fairfax, A.D.C.;
Col. Dunn, Major Brumell, Capt. Hutchinson, and Assist.-
Surg. Adcock, Ist battalion 22d Regiment. The following
have left :—Capt. Deane, 22d Regiment, for Marseilles, and
Major Drew, for Southampton. The telegraphic lines in
Sicily have been interrupted for some days, owing to the
heavy rains. Communication was re-established on Thurs-
day last, and now messages aro transmitted as usual. Her
Majesty's ships in port aro—The Hibernia, receiving ship
(flag of Rear-Admiral Austin, C. 8.) ; the Gibraltar, 81;
the Queen, 7G; the Phoebe, 35; the Ifagieie n
Woolwich
dockyard, 5,
4,125
16; the
Icarus, 4; the Hydra, G; the Growler, 2; the Medina;
the Psyche, 2 ; and the Supply, 2."
Her Majesty's armour-plated ship Caledonia,
tons, 1,000 horse power, recently launched at
dockyard, arrived at the Great Nora yesterday evening.
She will be taken into the harbour of Sheerness at iti o.od
tide this day, as her great draught of wa e t
possible to to take her into the harbour at any other
dtime.
Orders have been received at Sheernessraa
is not to be taken to Chatham dockyard, which wasa t e ae oche
original intention. She is to be taken into the large basin
at Sheerness dockyard, to be fitted and brought forward for
commission.
A day's firing at armour-plates took place yesterday at
Portsmouth, under the superintendence of Captain Astley
Key, C,8., commanding her Majesty's gunnery ship Excel-
lent, and resulted in a most decide hd triump for the plates
over the gun. The plates were bolted on the sides of the
Monarch target ship in the ordinary manner, with 2-inch
bolts, and were fired at with the 95cwt. 68 -pounder gun, at a
distance of 200 yards. There were four plates, comprising one
41-inch plate from the Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding
Company for the Minotaur, one 41-inch plate from Messrs.
John Brown and Co., of the Atlas Works, Sheffield, for the
Ocean, and one 51-inch plate from the same firm as an ex-
perimental plate, being made from Arcadian charcoal iron •
one 51-inch plate, and one ft-inch plate from Messrs. Ca
mell and Co., of the Cyclops Works, Sheffield. Messrs, m-
Tahteerlrea7llY- --
'-
Brown's Arcadian iron plate received nine shots,
which struck the right lower corner, and broke a Die:: off
16 inches in length by 15 inches in width. were three
injured
other slight cracks, but the plate was not na •
except in its broken corner, and this damage was solely due
to the shot striking at the extreme corner, and where the
backing also was afterwards found to be deficient. The
Brown
metal, however, with which Messrs. manufacture
their own plates is undoubtedly superior to the Arcadian
tried yesterday, the latter being apparently too hard for the
manufacture of armour plates of the first class. The Ocean's
plate, from Messrs. Brown, for a 41-inch plate, could not well,
with our present knowledge of armour-plate manufacture, be
surpassed. It is almost unnecessary to state that both these
were rolled plates, as none others are manufactured at
the Atlas Works. The Thames Company's plate for the
Minotaur, hammered, was the smallest of the four, but
was undoubtedly
s.
o f its
one of superior manufacture and metal.
L
Brown's Arcadian plate, it was severely da-
maged Like Messrs.
on
essr
one
ueeceosrnrlsy
gavebys whot,ay.
and,
twoiron
being
there unsupported, sari
plates
sent in as test plates by Messrs. Caramell of Sheffield were
rolled, and gained for their manufacturers a position never
before surpassed by any other plates on their first trial as
test
plates. The 51-inch plate, indeed, in its left centre,
re-
ceived six shots in a space measuring 18 inches horizontally
and 2 feet 10 inches vertically. Over this space and through
the indents of the shot marks there was nothing beyond
three slight surface cracks. The plate received 11 shots in
all. The 41-inch received eight shots, and was possibly one
shade inferior in quality to the 51-inch. The metal ofii thesewas
justt o the
been shot throughb't
two plates, as well as that of Messrs. Brown's 481eth,e
four
beautifully fibrous. At the conclusion of the trials o
side ure dw4i
tlb-
plates several shots were fired at a Frenchorat
sahniupf,as
inch plate that was bolted on to the targ
Arcadian iron bolts. One of these shots struck the French
plate in a comparatively uninjured part, and penetrated
s presenting a strong
clear through into the ship'
con-
trast to the stubborn resisttahnactehoaffderbeudit
he
two English 41-inch Plates
I'h© jot twelvemonths' experimentsrpaeletasiPnboetrihtnea-gt
their trial.
mouth have satisfactorily shown the gradual peroonag
serve in to the
ye soef 1
theatte rp,l ha
plates
et vbeery,
made in the eacellence of their manufacture by English
armour-plate
the makers'quality iht
as they
Admiralty the latter raise their testing standard. 'This is,
however, as it should be, if by so doing the Admiralty can
insure the best possible armour for our ships of war, andor
his the
manufacturer is satisfied with the price he obtains f

,i'l 7 .
.14 TIT S PAP E II
GGW,-€ --i"-41.a ,1•0::,
r*.; , WI
wr,rk. The Monarch may eerve for 0;,r1 ttitOW4'*Wi:lri ai
and then she will in her turn have fin litit 16;3'414 IPS
target ship, her sides being now nearly a, k
r-__ : 1 ,`;‘,:y•-•,*
Five frigates and four line.of-battls ships '
tlyittett:7l4:,—,
target ships at Portsmouth, and probably oaNnaer cill.
close the list, it being iuteaLd to erect butts on Whoiley
Island, a short distance from the Excellent, and test ail
plates in future oa shore, after the manner of Shoebury-
ness.

The following appointments were made on Thursday at
the Admiralty :—Commander Edwin Hay to the Harrier,
vice Sullivan, promoted to Captain ; Commander J. Moresby
to the Argus, vice Moore, promoted to Captain ; Lieut. Ed-
ward Barkby to the Havoc, vice Poole, promoted to Com-
mander; Lieutenant Thomas S. Gooch to the-Flamer, vice
Bosanquet, promoted to Commander; Henry S. Ley, mas-
ter, to the Cumberland, for the Caledonia; John Doyle,
paymaster, to the Shannon ; Arthur H. Kelly, aesist-
athillional, to the Victory; Denis WCarthy, assist-eurg..
additional, to the Royal Adelaide ; Charles IcJy, ciii.,l,-n-
-gineer, to the Cumberland, for the Caledth..ia ; James Rose,
assist-engineer, to the Satellite ; James Caspall, assist-
engineer, to the Stromboli ; Thomas M'lntosh, assist •en-
gincer, to the Alecto; James Grant, assist• engineer, to the
Triton; R. G. Foster, assist-engineer, to the Doterel; W.
E. Shingleton, assist-engineer, to the Doterel; and A M.
Brumage, assist-engineer, to the Victory, for the Sprightly.
c_ZThe following appointments were made yesterday at the
Admiralty :—Captain George O. Willes to the Royal Ade-
laide, for service in the Prince Consort; Capt. W. Bowden
to the Wasp, commissioned; Captain D. Spain to be trans-
port officer at Auckland, New Zealand ; Commander J.
D'Arcy to the Barracouta, vice 'Malcolm, allowed to resign
the appointment; Lieutenant William 11. Hall to the Ex-
cellent; F. H. S. O'Brien, midshipman, to the Victory;
R. F. 'Warden, midshipman, to the Liverpool ; Robert D.
B. Bruce, midshipman, to the Edgar ; H. G. Archer, E.
H. Arden,
Henry E. Wood, master's-assistant, to the
G. O'Connor, and A. A. Taylor, naval cadets,
to the Nile ;
Liverpool ; and James G.
G Bain, assist-enineer, tohe the
date of his • -
arrival in
Asia, as supernumerary from t
Er gland.

IFEBOAT SERVICES.—During the recent
3L4 heavy gales some of the hoe of s the Na tonal Lifeboat
Institution saved 417 persons from different wrecks. The
Committee of the Institution earnest ,y AE'PEAL to the
public for ASSISTANuE to enable them to meet the con-
tinued lies.. y demands on the Institution's 125 lif eb at estab-
likthrnents. (7ontributions are received by all the London
and by the Seoretary, Richard
and country bankers ; Lewis,ewi
at the Institution, 11, John-street, Adelphi,

MESSRS. JAY and CO. have now on show
_IL the most unique and perfect assortment of
BONNETS,

which their Manager has selected in Paris, and brought
back with her to this Establishment.
• 217, 249, 251, itegent-street.