The Sun.
London, England, 1865-02-06 00:00:00

Naval and Military Intelligence.

Admiral Edhem Pasha and the officers of the
Turkish squadron now at Portsmouth have issued
cards of invitation to a ball on board the Turkish
screw line-of-battle ship Kossooa to-morrow evening.
The Fox, screw store frigate, Staff-Commander
Henry A. Moriarty, arrived at Spithead yesterday
from the Mediterranean. Her dates of sailing are
—Malta, Jan. 20 ; Gibraltar, Jan. 27. No vessels
were spoken on the passage. Strong westerly gales
were experienced.
The officers and men comprising the remainder of
the crew of her Majesty's late ship Bombay arrived
at Portsmouth dockyard by special train from
Liverpool at 1 a.m. on Saturday. The train on
arrival, passed through the terminal station of the
London and South-Western and South Coast Rail-
way Companies at Landport, and finally drew up
on the railway jetty in the dockyard, where the
Bombay's crew alighted, and embarked immediately
in boats for the three-decked training-ship Duke of
Wellington, Capt. John Seccombe, to which ship
they will be temporarily attached until the conclu-
sion of the court-martial, which Will assemble on
board her Majesty's ship Victory in a few days to
inquire into the recent destruction of the Bombay
by fire off Montevideo. Rear-Admiral Sidney Col-
poys Dacres, C. 8., the present Commander-in-
Chief of the Channel Fleet, will most probably fill
the office of President of the Court.

The Urgent screw troopship, Capt. S. H. Hen-
derson, sailed from Portsmouth on Saturday, with
naval and military supernumeraries on board, for
Plymouth and the Western Ports. She returns to
Spithead.
The old sailing ship Hindostan, 72, was removed
on Saturday from Hamoaze to the Devonport dock-
yard, to be fitted qs a dormitory for naval cadets
and attached to the training ship Britannia, 8, Capt.
Richard A. Powell, C. 8., at Dartmouth.
The lighter Hamoaze, J. Patten master, left
Devonport on Saturday with stores for Pembroke
dockyard.

The engines and machinery of the iron screw
steam troopship Megwra, 6, Capt. Montagu B.
Dunn, were tested outside Plymouth breakwater on
Saturday under the instruction of Capt. Edmon-
stone. The trial was considered satisfactory.
Gen. Sir John Burgoyne and Gen. St. George,
with the other members of the commission ap-
pointed to inquire into the circumstances attending
the position, construction, storage, and general ar-
rangements of the gunpowder magazines through-
out the kingdom, have been engaged during the
past week on their special duties in the south-
western military district. On Friday last the com-
mittee, attended by Col. Gordon, R.E., and
Colonel Elliott, R.A., commanding respectively
the Royal Engineers and Artillery in the district,
and by Xrincipal Military Storekeeper J. Row-
land, visited the Marchwood magazines, near
Southampton, the largest establishment of
the kind in the kingdom, and on Saturday
they were engaged in inspecting the magazines
at Tipnor, at the northern extremity of Ports-
mouth-harbour, and also the magazines and labora-
tory at Priddy's-bard, opposite Portsmouth dock-
yard, and the shell magazines, &c., at the Gunwharf,
Portsmouth. The Marchwood magazines, seven in
number, average a storage throughout the year of,
as nearly as possible, 2,500 tons of gunpowder.
They stand on the western shore of Southampton-
water, about two miles distant from Southampton
pierhead. The buildings are distributed in a trian-
gular form, the seven magazines, with their exami-
nation houses, cooperage, &c., occupying two sides
of the triangle, the base being formed with the
guardhouse, offices, &c. The general plan of the
magazines is a thick wall with a light timber and
slated roof for each magazine, which is again en-
closed by a grass-grown courtyard and its massive
outer wall ; and, as a further precaution, each maga-
zine is isolated from its neighbour by earthen tra-
verses, 21 feet in height, 40 feet thick at the base,
and 5 feet at the apex. Under these condi-
tions, should one of the magazines at Marchwood
ever explode, in all human probability the force of
the explosion would be expended upwards through
the light roofing, and without setting on fire the ad-
joining magazines, or damaging the buildings or
other property in the neighbourhood. The explo-
sion of any one of the Marchwood magazines would
be, in fact, but a similar " blow up" to that of the
Federal powder-ship in front of the bastions of Fort
Fisher. The Marchwood establishment stands on
about 17 acres of ground. The Tipnor magizines
stand on a strip of salt marsh jutting into the nor-
thern extremity of the waters of Portsmouth-har-
bour, almost within the shadow of the monster cen-
tral forts on Portsdown-hill, and are about two miles
distant, measuring in a straight line from the centre
of Portsmouth dockyard. They are bomb-proof,
and therefore possessthe destructive explosive powers
lately exhibited at Erith. Their average storage is
580 tons. Priddy's-hard magazines and laboratory
are the receiving and discharging warehouse for her
Majesty's fleets at Portsmouth: It stands half a
mile distant only from the northern building shed in
Portsmouth dockyard, and is only separated by a
narrow creek from the large naval victualling estab-
lishment of the Royal Clarence-yard. It contains
three magazines, one bomb-proof and the remainder
splinter-proof. The average storage is about 2,100
barrels. The laboratory, 106 yards distant from the
nearest magazine and 180 yards from the furthest,
is almost constantly at work, and the magazines are
as constantly open. Hence, the greatest care has
to be exercised in the supervision of the establish-
ment to prevent the chance of any accident ever
occurring. The Gun-wharf shell magazines have
upon the average about 8,000 shells stored in them,
but, as each shell is securely capped and enclosed in
its own separate box, there is not much danger of
any serious accident ever occurring to them. A
visit to the Gun-wharf Armoury, which is now
undergoing a rearrangement and receiving numerous
interesting additions of ancient armour, brought the
commission's labours at Portsmouth to a conclusion,
after which Sir John Burgoyne and his colleagues
Eeoht irst,
Battalionwho has
at
of D
left by Saturday's afternoon train for London. Col.
lmp
latelyoh
Colchester,
sbteeern,
hasin heenap-
pointed command-
pointed Deputy Quartermaster-General at the Cape
of Good Hope. The depots of the 63d and 84th are
expected to arrive at Colchester this week. On the
breaking up of the 9th Depotßattalion a rearrange-
ment of the camp accommodation
is to be carried'
into effect; the 10th Depot Battalion • will occupy
A, B, and C ranges, and the 4th Depot Battalion
D, E, and F ranges.

The following appointments have been made at the
Admiralty :—Lieut. George W. Osmond to the
Niger ; Lieut. Arthur J. Villiers to the Formidable ' •
James Cole, master, to the Jackal ; Sub-Lieut.
Charles S. Broome to the Niger ; Edmund W. Bust,
midshipman, to the Black Prince ; Win. W. Dove:
ton, naval cadet, to the Niger ; the Rev. James Robin-
son to be chaplain of the Meander, vice Hind ; Thos.
Potter, second master, to the Niger ; Gordon Jack-
son, 'surgeon (additional), to the Asia for the
Enchantress ; Jiihn F. Rule, assistant paymaster
(additional), to the Asia for the Enchantress; John