The Sun.
London, England, 1862-05-10 00:00:00

Receipts.

THE NAVY.

The Royal Sovereign, converting at Portsmouth
from a 131 gun three decker to a 5 or 10 gun shield
ship, is now cut down to her lower deck, the plank-
ing of which has been taken up. Her orlop deck
is now fully exposed to view, from which a general
idea may be formed of what the appearance of her
decks and the room remaining for the accommoda-
tion of her officers and crew will be when fitted with
her five shield towers, and all the necessary fittings
of a berthing deck, and one deck of the ship. Such
the orlop deck will become when the conversion is
completed, the lower deck of the three decker being
transformed into the upper deck of the shield ship,
forming the glacis of the cylinders on which the
shields, with their guns, revolve. One thing is
evident, and is freely admitted by the warmest par-
tisans of Capt. Coles's principle, and that is, that
with only five shields the converted ship will give
but scant accommodation to even the small number
of officers and men she will carry. There were not
wanting many, too, who declara that the metamor-
phosed ship will never carry the weight of her ar-
mour, towers and shields, guns, and stores, at the
height she is expected to do—with the muzzle of
her guns 9 feet 6 inches from the water. The Royal
Sovereign, like all Sir Wm. Symonds's designs,
carries a rising floor throughout, and therefore can-
not have the flotation nor stability of a frigate like
the Diadem, or a three decker like the Victoria.
Judging from present appearances, we should feel
much surprised if the Royal Sovereign's orlop deck
stows all that is required of it when completed, or
if she, when converted, carries her guns the height
specified from the water.
Capt. Fedorovsky, commanding the Imperial Rus-
sian screw frigate Gramoboi, lying at Spithead,
yesterday paid an official visit to the naval and
military authorities at Portsmouth.
It was yesterday announced at Woolwich that the
experimental gunboat Enterprise, about to be con-
structed under the superintendence of Mr. Reed, is
ordered to be laid down without delay on one of the
building slips in Deptford dockyard, Her length,
it is stated, will be 140 feet over all. The framing
on which the plates will be carried up, from two
feet below to four feet above the water line, will be
of iron, and the bottom of wood. The whole of the
contract estimates, 26 in number, have been rejected.
The Rhadamanthus,paddle, Master-Corn. Sturdee,
arrived at Portsmouth yesterday from Woolwich
with supernumeraries for the guardship, and boilers
and machinery for the Royal Alfred iron-plated
frigate, and the Psyche, Admiralty paddle yacht.
Stores were yesterday received on board her Ma-
jesty's floating battery Trusty, in basin at Wool-
wich, and mess furniture was fitted below for the
accommodation of the officers and crew, appointed
for the approaching trip to Shoeburyness, on a trial
of Captain Coles's cupola target. Tho trial, it is
stated, has been unavoidably postponed on account
of a flaw having been discovered in the interior of
the great Armstrong gun, intended to have been
used on the occasion. The damage, it appears, is of
sufficient magnitude to render the gun unsafe for
present use, defect being on the spot where the
velocity of the missile commences, slightly beyond
the breech.

The hired transport Agrippa, laden with shot,
shell, guns, and other returned war stores from
Malta, yesterday commenced discharging at Wool-
wich, and the East Lothian commenced shipping
shot and shell for Vancouver's Island.

We are requested to correct a statement as to the
number of workmen employed in the Arsenal at
Woolwich, made in an article headed the "Japanese
Ambassadors," which appeared in The Sun of
Thursday. Instead of the number there stated, it
appears that nearly 3,000 artificers and labourers
are employed in the Royal gun factories, and that
the aggregate force of the Arsenal, which has been
reduced within the last few weeks by about 3,000
men, is upwards of 10,000.

The following appointments were made yesterday
at the Admiralty :—Commander Lord Elphinstone,
to the Vigilant ; Commander J. W. Pike, to the
Devastation ; J. King, surgeon, to the Indus ; J.
Fox, confirmed as engineer in the Tribune ; and E.
J. Humphreys and 3. A. Raven, acting second-class
assist.• engineers, to the Indus,

7HE ARMY.

The 29th Regiment (Lieut.-Col. E. H. Westropp)
at present at Aldershott, are under orders to re•
lieve the 76th Regiment at Glasgow.

The Ist battalion sth Regiment is under orders
to move from Portsmouth, and the 37th Regiment
from Plymouth, both for Aldershott, on the arrival
of the Ist battalion 6th and the 75th Regiment
from India.

The 13th Hussars, which are ordered to proceed
to Aldershott from Manchester, by detachments,
will, on arrival, be quartered in E. and F Lines,
North Camp, and be attached to the cavalry bri-
gade. The head-quarters will arrive on the 24th
inst.

The Lady Jocelyn screw steamer, of 2,240 tons,
Capt. Kerr, arrived off Falmouth from Calcutta,
with troops, on Thursday, and awaited orders
from the India-office as to place of landing. She
had a very long passage, and has been outstripped.
in speed by sailing transports. She left Calcutta on
the 11th of January, reached Madras on the 18th of
January, the Cape on the 4th of March, St. Helena
on the 16th of March, St. Michael's on the 28th of
April, and arrived off Falmouth on the Bth curt.
She brings troops, consisting of 242 officers and
men, and a large number of other passengers. The
officers in command were Capt. Wellington, 77th
Regiment ; Capt. Knight, 23d Regiment ; Lieut.
James, 13th Regiment ; Lieut; Dunbar, 34th Regi-
ment; and Dr. Smith, in medical charge. Among
the other
passengers were :—Major and Mrs.*Tal-
hot, Capt. Game,
Major Johnston, Capt. Tulloch,
M Capt. Fit z-
royaj-Gn
,oCrol.ean Sid Arli.
rts. Birch, Capt.
an Keane,dthreecildren, Col
and Mrs. Boilleau and two children, and Major and
Mrs. Fowler.

The left wing of the 96th Regiment disembarked
at Portsmouth yesterday morning from the steam
transport Adriatic, and left by South Coast Rail-
way at 9 a.m. for Shorncliffe, The military con-
victs were also disembarked, and sent on to their
destination. The invalids were conveyed to the
military hospital at Portsea. The Adriatic will have
cleared out her fittings and. stores, and be paid
out of the Government service, it is expected,
to-day. The ship attracted a good deal of attention
yesterday at Portsmouth among the naval officers in
the port, not only from the fact of her having been
specially constructed in America to contest the pas-
sage of the Atlantic with the Cunard steamers, but
also from the unusual extent of her accommodation
and the massive character of her metchinery, as her
cylinders have a diameter of 1011in.ches, with a 12
feet stroke of piston.