The Sun.
London, England, 1862-05-08 00:00:00

THE NAVY.

A number of mechanics from the establishment
of Messrs. Maudslay and Co. have commenced ope-
rations on board the armour-plated frigate Royal
Oak, 51, building at Chatham Dockyard, to pre-
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pare that vessel for the reception of a_ pair of large
400-horse power trunk engines, which are being
made ready for her. The difficult task of boring
through the large stern post and keel of the ship
~.

:or the screw shEft was successfully completed yes-
;erday. The screw propeller, weighing about 12

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tons, has arrived at Chatham Dockyard from

Messrs. Maudslty's establishment. It has been

constructed on Griffiths's principle, with some
improvements ly the maker, from which a
slightly increased speed is anticipated. It is
intended to fix as much of the machinery as

possible on board the Royal Oak before she is
launched ; but, of course, it will be impossible to get

on board her large boilers and cylinders, and other
large portions of her engines, until the vessel is in

dock. The enginesfor the Royal Oak are those con-

strutted for the Bulwark, 91, before it was intended
to transform tha latter vessel into an iron-plated

frigate. As she will not be ready to receive her en-
gines for at least six months, it has been determined
to place them in the Royal Oak. The operation of

fixing the armour-plates to the sides of the ship is

o beat once commenced. It is not, however, to be

expected that the whole will be fixed before the
launch takes place. Each armour plate will be bed-

ded on felt and tar, to break the concussion of the

shock when striking the vessel's side, and also to
preserve the iron-plates from any effects arising from
their near contact with their timber backing.
The last mail brought letters to Plymouth from
the screw steam frigate Termagant, 25, Capt. Robt.

Hall, at Panama, which state that she would not

wait, as previously expected, for the arrival from
Valparaiso of the paddlewheel steam sloop Devas-
tation, 6, Commander John D. M'Crea, but would,

shortly after the departure of the mail, convey 100
supernumeraries to the screw steam frigate Bac-

chulau, 01, c.pt• 1) Mack'tizie, fistr liear-Adati

ral Sir T. Maitland, K.C.8., at Acapulco. Unless
any event of importance intervene, it was still sup-

posed that the Termagant would go southward from
Acapulco, possibly to Valparaiso, and leave the Pa-

cific station altogether in October. It is possible she
may be relieved by the screw steam frigate Tribune,
23, Capt. Lord Gifford, which left Plymouth on Sa-

,urday for service under Admiral Maitland.

For some time past the screw steamship Donegal,
99, Capt. S. Osborne, C. 8., has been expected to
arrive at Plymotth from Bermuda. It is, however,
stated now that she will go from that island to
Halifax, and that her return to England is post-
poned. She supplied some 50 marines, volunteers,
to join the expeditionary force in Mexico. They
went a short distance inland from Vera Cruz,

to a place called Marana, where 40 of them be-
came sick, and the whole returned to their ship. The
French soldiers are stationed considerably further
inland, and do rot suffer so much from the climite.
Both the English and French forces were treated
most amicably by the inhabitants, but no Spanish
soldier was safe.

The paddlewheel steamsloop Geyser, 6, Comman-
der Colin Campbell, embarked supernumerary sea-
men for ships at Portland, and left Plymouth on
Monday evening.
The screw steam gunvessel Mullet, 5, left Ply-
mouth on Tuesday for the coast of Africa.
The floating battery Trusty, fitted some time ago
with Captain Cole's cupola shield for experimental
purposes, has been refitted at Woolwich with the
plates, seven in number, which were uninjured in
the subsequent trial at Shoeburyness. The shield is
again ready for the second trial, and will be fired at
from Sir Wm. Armstrong's heavy ordnance. The
damaged plates, five in number, have not been re-
placed, but their vacancies have been filled with oak
planks, and the interior of the cupola has been
shored up with solid balks of timber, to render the
shield as irresistible a target as 44-inch slabs of
wrought iron over a breastwork of oak can possibly
supply. In the forthcoming experiments the shield
is not intended to revolve, but will be fired at on
one side only.

The following appointments were made yesterday
at the Admiralty :—Commander Iltid T. M. Nicholl,
to be Inspecting Commander in the Coastguard;
H. Harrison, in the Edinburgh, promoted to first-
class assist..engineer ; E. W. Thomas, in the Shel-
drake, promoted to first-class assist.-engineer; C.
Platt, in the Marlborough, promoted to first-class
assist.-engineer ; C. M'Keever, in the Majestic, pro-
moted to first-class assist.-engineer; W. H. Nichol-
son, in the Narcissus for the Penguin, promoted to
first-class assist.-engineer; John Bradbury, in the
Dauntless for the Leveret, promoted to first-class
assist.-engineer ; J. Swanson, Wm. Murray, and T.
Carline, in the Agamemnon, promoted to acting
first-class assist.-engineers; D. M. Shaw, promoted
to be surgeon ; Angus Robertson, assist.-surgeon
additional, to the Victory ; Alexander Cochran and
Walter P. Ogle, naval cadets, to the Emerald ;
Marcus L. Bridger, Butler J. S. 0. Carter, and
Marcus M'Causland, naval cadets, to the Trafalgar;
Arthur H. H. S. Mercer, J. E. Blakland, and H. C.
Litchfield, naval cadets, to the Warrior; W. Scrim,
master's assistant, to the Royal Adelaide.