The Sun.
London, England, 1862-03-31 00:00:00

THE NAVY.

VALETTA, Mr itch 25.—The only movement of
men-of-war in ' chat port since my last is the arrival
on the 2d inst.. of her Majesty's screw frigate Am-
phion, 36, C. Aptain C. A. Gordon (vice Birch, inva-
lided), froni Gibraltar. She performed the passage
in 12 days -under canvass. H.M.S. London, Scylla,
Intrepid., -and Procris were at Gibraltar at the latest
dates. The three line-of-battle ships now lying
in Malta harbour are the Marlborough (flagship),
Neptune, and Exmouth. The sickness on board the
last, mentioned vessel has entirely disappeared. Be-
sides the above mentioned liners we have here the,
:following ships of war of the fleet :—Amphion, 36;
Icarus, 11; Firefly, 4 ; Medina, 4 ; Boxer, 3 ;
Growler, 3; and Hibernia, receiving ship (bearing
the flag of Rear-Admiral of H. J. Codrington, C.8.,i
Admiral-Superintendent of her Majesty's Naval
Arsenal.

The Diadem, 32, screw frigate, Captain Scott, ar-
rived at Spitheod on Saturday evening from Ply-
mouth Sound and Bermuda. Yesterday, at 8 a.m.,
ahe exchax,ged the customary honorary salutes with
the Victory, flagship of the Commander-in-Chief,
Vice- Admiral Sir H. W. Bruce.

Veders have been received at Portsmouth to post-
-7.20ne for the present the fitting of the hydraulic
steering apparatus to the Black Prince, screw iron
frigate, as it would interfere materially with other
work being carried out at the stern of the ship.
The apparatus will in the meantime be completed
so as to be ready for shipment by the contractor.
The screw steam corvette Africa, was launched
from No. 2 slip in the Devonport dockyard on Sa-
turday. her dimensions are, length between per-
pendiculars, 160 ft; length of keel for tonnage, 139 ft
81in; breadth extreme, 30ft 4in ; breadth for ton-
nage, 30ft ; breadth moulded, 29ft 6in ; depth in
hole, 15ft 10in ; burden in tons, 688 16-94 ; horse
power, 150. The armament originally intended
for the Africa was ten 32-pounders, 30cwt, each Oft
4in in length; and one 32-pounder, 58cwt, 9ft
6in in length. It was, however, subsequently
determined to supply her with four Arm-
strong guns only. This will probably be altered.
If the Africa had four Armstrongs and superior
steam power, so as to keep her own distance from
-an opposing corvette, she would, all other things
being equal, no doubt become the victor; but if her '
opponent had equal steam power and the ordinary
armament of 11 guns, and were ranged up along-
side, the opposite result would as certainly follow.
It is considered that for defence against boarders
the Africa would not be so efficient with four Arm.
strongs as with the old armament. It is therefore
very possible that the corvette with be supplied with
four ordinary guns and four Armstrengs.
The screw steam sloop Chanticleer, with the two
gunboats Sandfly and Griper, left Plymouth on Sa-
turday, all three under steam, for Queenstown.
The iron-eased screw steam corvette Defence, re-
cently returned to Plymouth from an experimental
cruise in the Channel, will make good defects at
Portsmouth.

The Warrior, 40, at Devonport, will probably be
out of the hands of the dockyard artisans about the
16th of May. The Euryalus may be completed by
April 1 and the St. George by the 21st.

At Plymouth there are now 13 ships in the first di-
vision of the steam reserve and 7 in the second.

The sailing transport Albuera arrived at Wool-
wich on Saturday, bringing a detachment of the
Military Train from China.
The following appointments were made on Satur-
day at the Admiralty :—Lieut. J. C. Paterson,
additional, to the Excellent ; Dr J. W. S. Meikle-
jobn, assist.-surg., to the Asia ; James Martin,
assist.-surg., to Greenwich Hospital; Geo. Lawless,
clerk, to the Tribune, and Edward A. Dyer, clerk,
to the Revenge.