The Sun.
London, England, 1862-01-11 00:00:00

THE NAVY.

Although the order from the Admiralty for the
conversion of the Royal Oak, under construction on
No. 7 slip at Chatham Dockyard, from a 91-gun
screw liner to a 51-gun armour•plated frigate, was
only given a few months since, such progress has al-
ready been made with that vessel that she is now
fully two-thirds planked, and, from the rate at which
she is proceeding, a very few months only will suffice
to see her completed,the Admiralty being exceedingly
anxious to have one of these newly-constructed
iron plated frigates at sea, in order to ascertain how
they will answer before any additional ships of the
kind, beyond those now building, are laid down.
Every part of the vessel is being constructed of
enormous strength to bear the tremendous weight
of some 400 cr 500 armour plates, each weighing on
an average four tons, which will encase her from stem
to stern. The armour-plates will be laid on teal;
planking, 8 inches in thickness, carried to a few fee t
below the water-line. The Admiralty have uncle r
consideration the invention of Mr. Scott Russet],
whereby the plates can be fastened to the planking
without any bolting whatever. It is, however, not
yet decided whether their • Lordships will avail
themselves of the plan, which is stated to be not
without its disadvantages. In order to test the
merits of the invention before the final decision has
been arrived at, a large target, intended to represent
a portion of the side of the Royal Oak, is now being
constructed at Chatham dockyard of balks of oak
timber and teak planking. When completed it will
be covered with armour plates, on Mr. Russell's
plan, and tested at Shoeburyness with the Arm-
strong guns and the ordinary GB-pounders and 10-
inch shot. Under the proposed system the plates
will be placed on the ship's side vertically, instead
of being hung longitudinally. The contract for ma-
nufacturing the armour-plates for the Royal Oak
has been taken by the Thames Iron Company. Each
plate will be 15ft. in length by 3ft. 2in. in width,
with a uniform thickness of 4-1-in., and a weight of 4
tons. The cost of each armour plate will be about
£l2O, exclusive of the additional cost of banding
and fixing it to the side of the ship. The Royal Oak
will be encased in armour-plates from stem to stern,
and not, as is the case with the Defence and some
others of our iron ships, only to within a certaiu dis-
tance on each side, by which means there will be no
necessity for iron shotproof bulkheads or compart-
ments, in the interior of the ship. In order to
strengthen her stern it is, we believe, intended to
do away with the ordinary well-hole for lifting
the screw, usually found on board screw steamers.
At all events, directions have been received for
a temporary suspension of the works at that part of
the frigate until the decision of the Controller of the
Navy is known on the subject. Should the proposal
be adopted, the screw will only be capable of being
raised while the ship i 5 in harbour.
The Clypso, 18, 734 tons, sailing ship, Capt, E,
B. Montresor, which is under orders to pay off and
be put out of commission at Chatham, was towed
into the Medway, from the Great Nore, on Thurs-
day, by the Lizard steamer. She has been in com-
mission upwards of four years, during the whole of
which time she has been stationed in the Pacific.
On arriving at the Nore, Admiral Johnstone, Com-
mander-in-Chief, made an official inspection of the
ship, and mustered the whole of the crew. He ex-
pressed himself highly satisfied with the appear-
ance of the vessel, considering the length of time
she had been in commission. The Calypso will go
into Chatham harl;.•our to dismantle,

The paddlewheel steamer Terrible, 21, 800 horse
power, Capt. F. H. H. Glasse, C. 8., having had the
defects in her machinery made good, proceeded yts-
terday from the coal depot, in the Medway, to the
Little Nore, for the purpose of towing the Brilliant,
26, sailing ship, to Dundee, to be used as a training
ship for the Naval Reserve at that port. The Ter-
rible returns to Sheerness, when the crew will be
paid off.

Her Majesty's screw steam vessel Rifleman, 8
guns, having been prepared at Woolwich with great
care, and fitted with a chart room on deck for sur-
veying service in China, was yesterday ordered to
sail (weather permitting) from Green hithe to Ports-
mouth.

The steam transport St. Andrew, for British
North America, left Woolwich pier yesterday morn-
ing at 6 o'clock for Greenhithe, to be adjusted for
sea.

The Megrera, screw troopship, Commander Hen-
derson, arrived at Portsmouth yesterday from the
Mediterranean, with military and naval invalids,
and a large quantity of condemned stores, 8.7 c. Her
screw shaft, which had been broken during her trip
to Corfu from Malta, was temporarily repaired on
her return to Malta, and consequently full speed
under steam has not been made during the home-
ward passage, which has been made under a com-
bination of sail and steam. Fine weather was ex-
perienced on the greater part of the way home.
Malta was left on Dec. 21, Gibraltar on the 31st,
and Vigo on San. 7. The Caesar, 86, screw, Capt.
T. 11. Mason, sailed from Gibraltar for Spithead
on Dec. 29. The Aboukir, 86, screw, Capt. C. F.
A. Shadwell, C. 8., sailed from the same port for
Bermuda on the evening of the 30th. When the
Megrera left Gibraltar the Algiers, 89, screw, Capt.
E. B. Rice ; the Queen, 86, screw, Capt. Charles F.
Hillyer ; the Lapwing, 4, screw, Commander Mon-
tague O'Reilly; and the Alacrity, 4, screw, Cvna-
wander J. K. E. Baird, were at anchor in the road-
stead. The Megrera's passenger list comprises—
Major Fulton, lath Regiment; Capt. Cardew, 2d
battalion 9th Regiment; Capt. 3. A. Brockman,
2d battalion 6th Regiment, and family; Alegsrs.
Edridge and Clifford, and families, of the
Purveyor's Department. The military and
invalids on board consist of 97 non commissioned
officers and men, 11 women, and 16 children, of
various regiments. The sick, 60 in number, many of
them in a very debilitated state, were, in the ab-
sence of a medical military man, placed under the
charge of Dr. Blaxall, the surgeon of the ship, ft om
whom they received every possible attention. r.fhe
naval invalids and supernumeraries were landed
from the ship yesterday afternoon. The military
will disembark this morning.

A battery of large 12-pounder 34cwt. iron guns
has arrived at Sheerness, to be mounted on the
saluting battery, to replace the 6-pounder g uns
already in position, it having been found that those
at present are of too small calibre to be heard by
vessels of war anchored at the Nore when saluting
the fortress. The guns were landed at the Ordnance
camber yesterday, and will be forthwith placed in
position.
No official notice has yet been given at Ports-
mouth respecting any discharge of hired mechanics
or labourers, consequent on our renewed peace ul
relations withle howeTtehermselves, and
understc led ,
both by o
America.an I
and
t i
thes ,
men
is further confirmed by an Admiralty order received
officials
yesterday morning, that the services of these inen
will not be required, in the present state of affs irs,
beyond April next. It is to be hoped, however, that
the authorities will not be too hasty in discharging ,
a body of valuable men who have entered the pub-
lic service at a period of emergency, and whose
homes lie at some considerable distance from the
place of their engagement. There is plenty of im-
portant work remaining to be done in Portsmouth
yard, and there can be no reason why the wholesale
discharge of men at the end of last year should be
now repeated.
Messrs. Westwood, Baillie, and Co., of Millwall,
have received Admiralty instructions to manufacture
for Woolwich Dockyard an appropriate hydraulic
press of 1,000 tons power, to work six ponderous
hammer heads, to be used for the bending and
preparation of the iron slabs for armour plating the
91 gunship Caledonia, under construction in that
yard. A new shed is to be built alongside the
building slip of the Caledonia, in which the hydrau-
lic press will be fitted, together with steam fur-
naces, forges, and all the appliances necessary to
permit of the greatest possible despatch of work.
The following appointments were made yester-
day at the Admiralty :—Commander Peter A.
Scott, to the Nile, additional for surveying service ;
and Lieut. J. C. Drew, additional to the Medina.

Her Majesty's ship Warrior steamed down from
Portsmouth into Cowes Roadstead on Saturday last, and
anchored off Osborne, where she has since remained. Hun-
dreds have visited her, every attention being shown to all
by the officers.