The Sun.
London, England, 1862-12-18 00:00:00

7HE NAVY.

A letter from Mal tea, dated Valetta, Dec. 12, says
--" 0 wing to the loss of the Peninsular and Orien-
tal Company's steamer Colombo, in the Indian
Ocean, there has been no homeward English mail
since the Ist inst. During this interval the fol-
low;.ng movements of men-of-war have occurred
in this port :—Her Majesty's screw line-of-battle
Blip St. George, 72, Captain the lion. F. Eger-
ton, having Prince Alfred on board, hove in sight
on the 'evening of the 7th inst., six days from Al-
giers. Being under sail, and the weather unfavour-
able, she did not enter port until the following
morning. Major Cowell and Prince Alfred, on
landing, went to the palace, where his Excellency
had caused apartmetts to be prepared for the recep-
tion of his Royal Highness. Lord H. Lennox and
Lord Elmley 'Were passengers by the St. George.
There was a select dinner at the palace the day be-
fore yest'srday in honour of the young Prince, who
appeared to be enjoying excellent health. The St.
George will leave in a day or two for Naples, to re-
lieve the Magicienne, 16, Capt. his Serene High-
tees the Prince of Leiningen, and send her to
Malta. Her Majesty's new paddlewheel despatch
vessel Psyche, Lieutenant-Commander Sterne,
arrived on the 7th inst., from Marseilles,
with the Countess of Elgin, who is on
her way to join her husband, the Viceroy of
India, at Calcutta. The Psyche experienced a rough
passage, and Lady Elgin consequently gladly ac-
cepted the invitation of Lady le Merchant to pass
a night at the palace, to recruit her strength before
proceedialg on her voyage. Her ladyship is accom-
panied by one of her younger children and Capt.
Grant and Mr. Wood. Lady Elgin embarked on
tbe Bth inst. on board the Psyche, which immedi-
ately steamed off for Alexandria, and will perform
the remainder of the sea voyage from no in TI.M.
;ship Feroze, which is awaiting her at that port.
From Alexandria the Psyehe will go to Constanti-
nople, for the use of the British Embassy there.
The paddlewheel surveying steamer Firefly, COM.
Mansell, which left Alexandria on the Ist inst., as
announced by telegraph, arrived here on the after-
noon of the 7th inst., to refit during the winter
months. This vessel has been employed in complet-
ing the surveys of the coasts of Syria and Egypt.
'The :Mars, 80, Capt. J. N. Strange, arrived yester-
duy from the coast of Syria, having been relieved on
asat station by the Malacca, 17, Capt. Napier. She
is on her way to England to be paid off, and will
leave to-morrow or next day. The Mars left Bey-
rout on the 29th ult., when all was quiet. She made
the passage chiefly under sail, using steam occasion-
ally. Off the west end of Candia she encountered
bad weather from the N.E. The Surprise, 4, Com.
Wtayte, was at Beyrout on the 29th, and the Wan-
derer, 4, Corn. Seymour, on another part of the
coast. The paddlewheel sloop, Firebrand, 6, Com-
mander Piers, left Malta on the 6th inst. for Gibral-
tar, to be stationed there; and the Alacrity, 4, Com-
mander Baird, took her departure on the Bth for
Corfu, 'with a mail for that island. From Corfu she
will proceed to Patras, the Piraeus, Syra, and Suda
Bay, and then return to Malta. Among the passen-
gers arrived during the week are Major-General
and Mrs. "Wood, Mr. Wood, aide-de-camp ; Prince
Alexander of Lieven, Major Armstrong,l6thßegi-
ment, and family ; Capt. Moore, Rifle Brigade, and
wife; the Hon. R. C. Legh, Auditor-General of
the Malta Government, and wife; and Lady
Hamilton Chichester. The following ships of war
are at present in Malta Harbour :—The Marlbo-
rough, 131 (bearing the flag of the Vice-Admiral
Commander-in-Chief Sir W. F. Martin, K.C.8.);
the Hibernia, receiving ship (bearing the flag of
Rear-Admiral Codrington, C. 8.) ; the Mars, 80;
the Trafalgar, 72 (leaving to-night or to-morrow
morning for Corfu) ; the St. George, 72 ; the Liffey,
39 (leaving to-morrow for the Piraeus) ; the Pncebe,
35; the Chanticleer, 17; the Firefly, surveying-
vessel ; and the tenders Boxer and Growler."
The screw steam frigate Emerald, 60, Capt. A.
Cumming, was appointed to leave Plymouth yester-
day for Spithead, where she will receive anew screw
for trial. It is expected that the crew will be paid
off during the first week in January.
The Lords of the 'Admiralty have instructed the
s.u.tb.ovitioe in the Devonport dockyard to send up
an estimate of the coat of fitting a poop on the screw
steam sloop Liverpool. 51.
The screw steam frigate Doris, 32, Capt. Sir F.
M'Clintock, just returned from the Mediter-
ranean station, went on Tuesday from Plymouth
Sound to the dockyard at Devonport, where she
will be dismantled. Port Admiral Sir Houston
Stewart, 8.C.8., has received instructions from the
Lords of the Admiralty to inspect the ship and her
,crew in person before they are paid off and she is
placed in the reserve. •
The further progress in bending and preparing the
armour plates for the Royal Sovereign at Ports-
mouth is put a stop to for a few days, owing to a
portion of the travelling tubular crane having given
out. The accident is, fortunately, bat trifling, and
might have happened under any management; but
it shows what may follow if the present course is
persisted in. The shipwright department is doing
good service in the construction of our iron-cased
ships, but if proficiency in driving and clinching
an iron rivet is thought by the Admiralty to be a
sufficient qualification for taking charge of and
working mashines of unusual power, and to them,
of novel design, in preference to men having a
professional knowledge of the structure and ma-
nipulation of metals, the ultimate cost of our
Ships' armour-plates will be dear indeed. As an
annexe to the steam factory department, the full
Powers of the machinery would have been brought
into use. Under prefe nt arrangements matters will
'oon be brought to a dead lock, our ships will be
kept waiting for their plates, and a heavy bill for
damages will probably have to be presented. There
is plenty to do for both the iron and wood men of
Portsmouth yard, and if the Admiralty confine each
branch to their own proper duties, the public purse
will considerably benefit by such an order, and the
Royal Sovereign and Alfred be much earlier afloat
than they can be under present arrangements.
Workmen are employed upon the Sharpshooter,
iron screw gunvessel, in dock at Portsmouth, re-
pairing her damaged plates. This vessel has been
selected for fitment with Captain Warren's patented
bow rudder, but unless the Admiralty allow greater
progress to be made in the repairs of the vessel's hull
and machinery than is being made at present, the
trial of Capt. Warren's rudder must necessarily be
postponed to a very late date.
The Neptune, 86, screw, Capt. Hornby, was paid
out of commission yesterday, at Portsmouth, under
the superintendence of Capt. H. Broadhead, com-
manding the Reserve at the port. The appearance
of the crew is creditable to the ship. The silver
medals and gratuities awarded by the Admiralty foL
long service and good conduct will, on Capt. Horn-
bl's recommendation, be'given to Thos. Raymond,
~,eailtaalter, and Richard Lock, blacksmith. The
'ePteas will be placed in the third class Steam
Reserve. 'The ships in this class at Portsmouth are
now 13.0 nuttietous,
110 and
.e the required repairs to their
machinery are
steam factory depertment,
n avy, that it would take the
resources, nearly in working with its present
-- years to make them good and
render the ships fit for sea. -
One of those inexplicable orders which are said
to be a
received at part
Ports of the Admiralty "syste
tmh ," has been
mouth, directing
Department
energies of the Master Shipans. ,t the chief
shall be devoted to the repair"
the Esk, 21, screw corvette, arid the Curaoa, 24, B
ereW frigate,
even, if necessary, to the neglect of other work.
if this order is carried into effect, the tam_
elation
of the Royal Sovereign shield ship and the
Royal Alfred plated frigate will be delayed to allow
of heavy repairs being carried out to a half rotten
frigate and corvette. This is the more serious as
the shield ship is an experimental ship--a complete
hitherto acknowledged notions
innovation upon ur
til n
she as made her
of marine architecture, and,
of hull for ourure
ounra
n be hformed as to
trial sea trip no sound decisi
the most suitable description
iron ships. Reference has been several tim esmade
in these columns to the imperative necessity of
getting pie
this ship afloat as • kly
as possible, in
order that the public and the profession may under-
stand what are the real advantages to be gained by
the adoption, or partial adoption, of Capt. Colees
shield principle. Departmental authorities at the