The Sun.
London, England, 1863-10-29 00:00:00

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Na ival and Military Intelligence.

THE NAVY.

VALLTT A, Oct. 24.—Her Majesty's iron screw
troopship Orontes, Capt. IN. Hire, has made an-
other and third trip to Malta, from Gibraltar, which
she perfc ,rmed in three days and a few hours, bring-
ing wit, a her this time the 100th (Prince of Wales's)
Royal -Canadians. She arrived here on the 17th
inst., mad the same day the regiment disembarked
and tc rok up their quarters in Fort Ricasoli, lately
vacat ed by the 15th Foot. The following is the
strength of the 100th Regiment, as disembarked
from i this ship—Major W. Campbell, Major H.
Coo k ; Capts. H. G. Browne, T. W. W. Smythe, J.
Le e, R. L. Bayliff, I. Lamb, and H. E. Davidson ;
Vieuts. F. W. Benwell, H, W. Lawrell, C. A. Bol-
t oia, R. B. Dowling, G. U. Prior, and J. B. lierste-
man ; Ensigns W. Ritchie, W. Hudson, J. C. Slair-
lay, G. D. La Touche, D. S. D. Johnstone, G. P.
Lawry, and J. C. Jackson ; Surgeon J. S. Chartres,
Assist.-Surgeon J. T. Donaldson, and Quarter-
master W. Smith ; 106 non-commissioned officers
and men, 62 women, and 104 children ; Mrs Browne,
Mrs. Chartres, Mrs. Smythe, Mrs. Lee, Mrs. Lamb,
and Mrs. Smith. Col. Hallewell, Deputy Quarter-
-master-General, who left by the Orontes, also re-
turned by her. The 23c1 Royal Welsh Fusiteers
embarked to-day on board this vessel for Gibraltar,
and on her arrival there she will have completed the
service of transporting to Gibraltar and bringingo_
to
Malta regiments comprising in all about
per-
eons, without, hitherto, a single casualty, Her
an's d within
the short period of not more than sevenweeks.
Majeetty's surveying tender Growler, under
the
the com-
mand. of Staff-Commander Stokes,
into port on the 17th inst. from B.N., returned
surveying
Me-
dir.a Bank to the eastward of Malta. It was dis-
cr,vered some time ago by Capt. Spratt, 0.8., when
-returning from the coast of Barbary, and called by
him after the name of the ship under his command.
The Hydra, surveying vessel, is on her way from
England to the Medina, which has been dismantled,
and is to be broken up. The unexpected retirement
of Capt. Spratt from the surveying service, of which
he was so distinguished a member, will cause a
change in her destination, and it is doubtful, under
present circumstances, whether two vessels will be
retained in the surveying service on this station.
We learn from Corfu that the other surveying ves-
sel, Firefly, Commander A. Mansell, left on the 15th
inst. for the northward, to continue her hydrogra-
phical operations in that neighbourhood. The Or-
ban do, 46, Capt. G. R. Randolph, has also left Corfu
;for the Piraeus, to await the arrival of the King of
the Hellenes, and at last date there were no Eng-
lish men-of-war at that island. A Turkish trans-
port, with troops from Montenegro for Constanti-
nople, had put in there to coal. Her Majesty's
screw sloop Icarus, 11, Commander N. Salmon,
which has been under orders for England for some
months past, has at last received positive orders to
proceed to Malta on her way home, and she is daily
expected here from the Piteous. Nothing more is
said about the immediate return of the Marl-
borough, 121, Capt. C. Fellowes (flagship of Com-
mander-in Chief), and it is believed that she will
not leave Athens until after the arrival of the King,
when the Revenge, 78, Capt. the Hon. F. A. Foley
(bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral H. R. Yelverton,
CM.), will take her place on the Athens station ;
and Vice-Admiral R. Smart, K. 11., will return to
Malta. Her Majesty's ship Gibraltar, 81, screw,
Captain J. C. Prevost, which left Plymouth
on the 7th inst. for Gibraltar and Malta, to re-
lieve the Queen, 74, Captain C. F. Hillyar,
ordered home, has not yet arrived here. Her
Majesty's despatch-boat Psyche, 2, Lieutenant-
Commander Sterne, moved round from the Sliema
Creek yesterday to the Great Harbour, and left this
morning with the mail received last night from
Marseilles for the Commander-in-Chief."

The iron-cased frigate Prince Consort, Captain
Vesey, left P'ymouth Sound yesterday at noon for
the westward.

The iron screw steamship Black Prince, 41, Capt.
James F. B. Wainright, one of the Channel squad-
ren, now in the new long dock at Devonport, has
become a most interesting object to the residents,
many of whom have visited her. The ship, not-
withstanding her great length, preserves nearly
the same level as when afloat. During the late trial,
when her bottom was clean, she steamed over 14
knots an hour. She is now receiving new starboard
howse-pipes, in consequence of the fracture of the
former pipes when dropping anchor. Her general
repairs are of no great extent. Naval men in the
locality suggest that the mainmast of the Black
Prince ought to be further forward, nearer her
centre, if the position of her engines and machinery
would permit it. Many consider that her great
length demands four masts. Like several other
ships of war, her main shrouds are made of iron
wire. If these are shot away in action there are no
ready means of repair, as with hemp. It is sub-
mitted that the wire should be shackled on in
lengths of 10 or 12 feet, and that spare lengths
should be kept in store so as to be ready for any
casualty. One of the principal• objects of placing
the Black Prince in dock was to examine her bottom
in regard to its condition after the application of
two kinds of composition which were put on some
five months since. The starboard side received a
coating supplied by Mr. Melnnis ; that on the port
Bide is from the laboratory of Mr. Hay, the Admi-
ralty chymist. It may be said, in the first place,
that neither of these inventions is a complete pre-
ventive of the fouling of this ship's bottom, and in
the
second that it is difficult for an ordinary ob-
server to pronounce a faithful judgment on th
relative merits of either as
demonstrated in the pre-
sent case. Weed or grass, about eight inches long,
prevails on both sides,
supTheposed to be encouragf d by drop-
pings from the
ship, Which are naturally attracted
to the sides from the surface of the sea. Weed pre-
vails less below on the starboard side, which has
also less shellfish than there
on the port side,
where there are a few barnacles is
above. Below what
are called the " lands;' en the
port side, clusters
of small mussels and coraline vermicular shellfish
ere said to prevail. It is stated that where they
exist the bottom of the Black Prince was chafed by
some floating substance over which she passed at
sea. The quality of these applications, most impor-
tant in the estimation of naval men, remains to be
referred presentation of rust.
Thee
referred to—viz.,
starboard side is spotted with rust in almost every
direction, whereas on the port side corrosion
commenced only where the bows have been abraded-
by the chain cables, or the sides chafed by boats,
&c. It is therefore intended, after the bottom is
thoroughly cleaned, to pay her over entirely with a
coat of Hay's composition, that being considered
the best suited for the purpose.
Admiralty instructions have been received by the
authorities at Sheerness to the effect that her
4 ,063 M-
ajesty's screw steam iron ship Valiant, 34 gun
tons, 800 horse power, built by the eminent firm of
Messrs. Samuda, which was launched at Millwall a
few days ago, and has since been taken into the
Victoria dock to receive her machinery, is to be
taken to Chatham to be docked and surveyed, after
which she will be removed to Sheerness, to be fitted
for the first division of the steam reserve at that
Place.

The Fawn, 17, screw steam sloop, 751 tons, 100
horse Power, now fitting for sea at Sheerness Dock-
yard, has been removed from No. 1 Dock into the
basin, where she was placed under the shears and
masted. She is being brought forward for com-
mission with all despatch, and will shortly be com-
pleted. It is expected that the Fawn will take the
place of the Greyhound, 17, screw steam sloop, or
the Desperate, 8, screw steam sloop, both of which
vessels are erap:oyed on. the North America and
West India stations.

The Clio, 22, screw steam
.l corvette,l,472 tons,
400 horse power, belonging to the
first division of
the Sheerness steam reserve, and
commission a few weeks ago, b_so?l3r placed out of
orders of the Admiralty, to and:4oee docked, by
be alterations and
repairs, a frer which she will
ward f)r commission, n brought for-

2,Bel2c2ptoetne
T,irri Ir, 2, it,n portur troopship,
500 horse power, Capt. F. H. Slit.ling, is
to be out of the hands of Sheerness dockyard
ern.
cials in about a fortnight, when she win be taken
to the measured mile off Maplin Sands fora pre.