The Sun.
London, England, 1862-01-20 00:00:00

THE NAVY.

The Warrior, 40, Captain the Hon A. Cochrane,
from Portsmouth, arrived at Plymouth yesterday
morning, and is appointed to sail to-morrow for
Lisbon and Gibraltar. The Galatea, from Sheer-
ness, arrived in the afternoon. Two hundred men
leave Plymouth this morning by the South Devon
Ratlway to join the Shannon at Portsmouth. The
Revenge, 89, Captain Fellowes, is appointed to
leave the Sound to-day for Ireland.
The screw steam gunboat Rainbow, 2 (tender to
the Ajax, at Kingstown), left Plymouth on Satur-
day for the coast of Ireland.
The Caesar, 86, screw, Captain Mason, steamed
into Portsmouth harbour on Saturday, after having
been officially inspected by Captain H. Broadhead,
commanding the steam reserve. She has commenced
stripping and clearing out, preparatory to paying
hEr crew and hauling down her pennant of com-
mission.

The Geyser, 6, paddle, Commander Jackson, has
bent sails at Portsmouth and gone out of harbour
to Spithead, preparatory to sailing for the Pacific
and Vancouver's Island.

The Trafalgar, 86, screw, Captain J. B. Dickson,
lying at Spithead, is expected to sail for the Medi-
terranean.

The fine frigate Arethusa, 51 guns, 3,141 tens,
having been lengthened to Chatham Dockyard,
converted from a sailing frigate to a screw steamer,
and fitted with engines of 600• horse power by
Messrs. J. Penn and Sons, Greenwich, got up steam
for the first time in the basin at Sheerness on Sa-
turday for the purpose of testing the engines, con-
siderable interest being manifested in the trial, the
Arethusa being one of the first vessels in the Royal
navy fitted with three cylinders instead of two as in
most other steamers. The officials present on board
the frigate on the part of the Government were
Capt. C. F. Sehomberg, late superintendent of the
steam reserve at Chatham ; Mr. W. Price, inspector
of machinery afloat ; Mr. W. R. Fabian, chief en-
gineer ; and Nil-. Townsend, foreman of the factory,
Mr. Holliday was also present on the part of the
contractors. The Arethusa is fitted with a pair of
expansive trunk engines of 500-horse power (nomi-
nal) ; diameter of cylinder, 7 feet 2 inches; length
of stroke, 3 feet 6 inches. The trial lasted five
hourq, the engines working very satisfactorily.
The result was as follows :—Number of revolutions
per minute 61 ; steam pressure, 201 b. ; temperature
of superheated steam, 305 deg. ; barometer, 26.5.
Instructions have been received to hasten forward
the completion of the Arethusa, and to report to
the Admiralty when she will be ready for trial at
the7measured mile.

The sailing frigate Calypso, 18, Capt. F. B.
Montresor, will be paid off and put out of commis-
sion at Chatham to-day.

The screw frigate Galatea, 26, 800 horse power,
left the Nore on Saturday morning for Plymouth,
under the charge of Commander J. Jackson, Assist.-
Master• Attendant of Sheerness Dockyard. She
is navigated round by a party of seamen and rig-
gers from Chatham and Sheerness Dockyards. The
Galatea is fully equipped, and ready for the pen-
dant.

The iron steam frigate Resistance, 18, 600-horse
power, is to be fitted with Cunningham's self-reef
ing topsails, under the personal superintendence of
the inventor, the fittings connected with which are
being prepared by Messrs. Warden and Co., Lime-
house, who prepared the fittings for the Defence,
18, iron steamer, at Chatham, to which the same in•
vention has been applied.

We have been officially requested to announce
that the Lords commissioners of the Admiralty
have extended the leave of absence of the Naval
Cadets of her Majesty's ship Britannia to the 4th
of February, on which day they are all to assemble
on board at Portsmouth.

Admiralty orders were on Saturday received at
Chatham Dockyard directing a return to be made of
the various ships belonging to the reserve at that
port, indicating their tonnage, horse-power, and
condition. The return is also to specify the time
that will be required to make good the defects in
the hull and machinery of those vessels wanting
repair, as well as the number of men required for
the work. In the case of those shii s which have
lately been surveyed, that fact is to be stated
against their names, but an approximate time they
will take to be repaired, and the number of men
required is to bg furnished. So important is the
return considered that, by a subsequent order from
the Admiralty, it is to be furnished immediately it
is prepared, as it is most urgently wanted.
On Saturday a despatch was received at Chatham
Dockyard from the Admiralty, directing the officers
of that establishment to report the earliest date at
which the armour-plated steam frigate Royal Oak,
51 guns, will be completed, and whether it is pos-
sible for her to be finished and launched before
October next. The return is to state the number
of additional hands that will be required to com-
plete her before the time specified.
A remarkable instance of the effect of severe frost
on iron occurred at the Ordnance-wharf, Chatham,
on Saturday. During the day a party of convicts
were employed in removing a number of the large
10-inch guns from one part of the establishment to
another in readiness for embarcation. In order to
facilitate the operation the large steam crane was
brought into requisition to lift the guns, but
scarcely had one of the 10-inch guns, weighing
95cwt., been attached to the gear than the massive
chain which held it suddenly snapped just as the
cannon was only a few feet from the ground. What
makes the accident appear the more remarkable is
the fact that not the slightest flaw could be detected
in the metal of which the chain is composed, the
chain itself being made to sustain double the weight.
and only a few days before having been used in
lifting weights of even tons. At the moment of
the gun falling, though several of the convicts were
at work within a couple of feet of it, not one was
injured.

The following appointments were made on Sa-
turday at the Admiralty :—Robert Gilpin, master,
to the Indus for the Perseus ; and John H. Marshall,
chief engineer, to the Asia for charge of the ma-
chinery of the Caesar, when paid off.