The Sun.
London, England, 1865-05-11 00:00:00

Naval and Military Intelligence.

Instructions have been received at the port of
Plymouth by Mr. Luscombe, the vice-consul for
Russia, to prepare for the temporary reception of
the remains of the Czarewitch. The squadron in
charge consists of the frigate Alexander Newsky,
Capt. Fedowfsky, bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral
Lessofsky, the frigate Ileg, Capt. Bironleff, the cor-
vette Witias, Capt. Krehmer, and the clipperAlmas,
Capt. Zelenoy. The body is in charge of Gen. An-
nenkow, Aide-de-Camp-Gen. On arrival in the
Sound the squadron will be received with flags
hoistedhalf-mast high, and by Royal salutes of 21
guns, fired in slow time from the citadel at Ply-
mouth, and from the Royal Adelaide, 26, Capt.
Frederick B. P. Seymour, C. 8., in Hamoaze, which
bears the flag of Port-Admiral Sir Charles H. Free-
mantle, K.C.B.

The Deputy Director of Works to the Admiralty,
Mr. Scamp, has just conclnded an official visit to
Portsmouth, during which he has been engaged in
inspecting the lines which mark the sites of the
docks, basins, &c., in the plan approved for the ex-
tension of Portsmouth dockyard. The soil where
the excavations for the docks and basins will have
to be made has been found most favourable, and the
accuracy of the lines marked out having been tested
by the Deputy Director of Works the details of con-
struction will, it is understood, be now prepared.
Although the work as it is now to be carried out is
only a part of Mr. Scamp's original design for the
extension of the dockyard and the improvement of
the harbour, it will take from the harbour many
acres of its water space. In the elaborate report
drawn up by Mr. Scamp
on the condition of Ports-
mouth dockyard and the means he proposed for
their extension and improvement, and in his
evidence before the Committee of the House
of Commons on the same subject, an ample
compensating remedy is proposed for the loss
of this water space by taking advantage of
the flow of the tide from Chichester and Langston
harbours into that of Portsmouth through the con-
necting channel in front of the Hilsea defensive lines
on the north shore of Portsea Island. This is the
point at which there is the only road communication
between Portsmouth and its dockyard and the main'
land. The peculiar state of the tide in this connect-
ing channel between the harbours of Chichester and
Langston and that of Portsmouth, which gives Mr.
Scamp this means of compensation for any loss of
water space in the latter harbour, is that the tides from
Langston and Chichester flow through the connecting
channel into Portsmouth harbour for two hours after
the ebb has commenced at the mouth of Portsmouth
harbour, on the west side of Portsea Island. It is
evident, therefore, from this well-understood fact that
by giving increased area and depth to the new chan-
nel which is now forming in front of the new defen-
sive works at Hilsea, and by the aid of retaining
gates, to prevent the return of any portion of the
tide from Portsmouth to the two feeding harbours,
a vast volume of water may each day be added to the
contents of Portsmouth harbour. This will give the
ebb tide proportionate preponderance over the flood,
and thus increase its " scour," thereby removing the
singular shingle foundation in the centre of the har-
bour known as the " Ballast-bank," and also the
shingle " bar" in the entrance channel. These latter
results would not only render Portsmouth harbour
and its channel of entrance perfect in its interior com-
munication and approaches for ships of war between
30ft. and 40ft. draught of water, if we should ever
determine to build such monsters, but they would also
save a large annual expenditure under the head, as
shown in the Naval Estimates, of " dredging." The
defensive lines at Hilsea, commenced some five or six
years since by the War Department, have been greatly
delayed by the failure of successive contractors and
other unavoidable causes, and the delay in the com-
pletion of these works has necessarily delayed the
formation of the new harbours'-connecting channel;
at the same time the old channel has been also prac-
tically stopped. Now, however, a freeh contract has
been entered into to complete the last portion of the
fortifications—the earthen ramparts and curtains
that will connect the formidable flank casemated
batteries, the battery earthwork coverings, the new
roadway, and the harbours'-connecting channel ;
the latter, it is understood, to be carried on the plan
proposed by Mr. Scamp, and thus insure the effi-
ciency of Portsmouth harbour and its dockyard as
our chief naval station.

The trial of the engines of the screw steam iron-
cased cupola ship Scorpion, 4, built by Messrs. Laird,
of Birkenhead, took place on Monday outside Ply-
mouth breakwater. She made eight runs at the mea-
sured mile, which gave a mean of 11.448 knots per
hour. The circle was turned in 4 min. 31 sec.

The Pembroke, 60, 200-horse power, Capt. J. 0.
Johnson, flagship of Commodore A. F. Ryder, Con-
troller-General of the Coastguard, is ordered from
Harwich to theNore, for the purpose of being taken
into one of the vacant docks, either at Chatham or
Sheerness, for the purpose of undergoing an over-
haul and refit. A party of riggers and labourers will
at the same time be dispatched from the dockyard.
to Harwich, under the orders of Commander Hodges,
the assistant master-attendant, to examine the Pem-
broke's moorings in Harwich harbour.
The screw gunvessel Serpent, 4, 200-horse power,
Commander Bullock, fitting at Sheerness for sur-
veying service in the Eastern Seas, is nearly com-
plete in her equipment, and awaits Admiralty order
as to the date for her leaving the Nore. She takes
out with her a large supply of hydrographical
and surveying instruments, together with the neces-
sary appliances for carrying on the duties in which
she will be engaged. The whole of her officers and
crew have joined, and her guns, shot, shell, &c.,
have been despatched to her from Chatham dock-
yard. The Serpent is expected to be absent from
England several years.
Yesterday the Racehorse, which has been taken
up by the Government for the conveyance of con-
victs to Western Australia, received on board 153
convicts from St. Mary's Prison, Chatham, who
were conveyed from Chatham to the Nore in the
paddlewheel steamer Adder, Master-Commander
Blakey. The Racehorse will call in at Portsmouth

and Portland for the remainder of the convicts, the
total number she takes out being close upon 500.
The guard is selected from old pensioners who are
about to settle in Australia.
The Lords of the Admiralty have awarded Mr.
P. Thornton, the master shipbuilder at Chatham
dockyard, a gratuity of £5O, in acknowledgment of
their lordships' approbation of the unprecedentedly
short time in which the ironclad frigate Bellerophon,
16, 1,000-horse power, was completed and launched.
Their lordships, at the same time, :express, in an

Admiralty order addressed to the Captain Super,
intendent, the master shipwright, and the officers
and workmen employed on that vessel, their satis-
faction at the great progress made in building the
Bellerophon, which, as already noticed in The
Sun, was launched exactly twelve months after
she was commenced. The frigate is still alongside
the dockyard putting in the heavy portions fof
her machinery and boilers, six of the latter and two
lengths of shafting, together with a considerable
amount of the machinery, having already been
hoisted on board. According to existing arrange-
ments it is intended to dock. the Bellerophon on the
22d inst., providing her iron masts, which are being
manufactured by the Woodside Iron Company,
Birkenhead, arrive in time, the paddle-wheel steamer
Medusa, 312-horse power, Master Commander J.
Allard, having been ordered to proceed round to the
Mersey to convey them to Chatham. The state-
ments which have appeared from time to time in
certain of the morning papers relative to the defec-
tive and leaky state of the vessel since her launching
are incorrect. •
The following appointments were made yesterday
at the Admiralty :--Commander E. F. Kerby, Com-
mander J. W. Pike, Commander J. Z. Creasy, and
Commander Josiah H. Hatchard, to be Inspecting
Commanders in the Coastguard ; and Sidney J.
Spark, paymaster, to be paymaster in the charge of
the victualling establishment at Esquimault, Van-
couver's Island.
The following appointment has been made in the
Royal Naval Reserve :—To be assist.-engineer of
the second class, John Darroch.

MEXlCo.—Matamoras papers of the 13th ultimo
make no mention of the rumoured revolt of Cortinas.
Companies of citizens and aliens had been formed there
to preserve order. The consuls had organised the citizens
of their respective nationalities.