The Sun.
London, England, 1862-01-31 00:00:00

TILE NAVY.

The Warrior, which left Plymouth on the 21st
inst., arrived at Lisbon on the 29th,and transhipped
her supernumeraries. She encountered gales
throughout the passage, and has sprung her main
yard. The Edgar was to sail from Lisbon for the
West Indies on the 30th inst.
The following is an extract of a letter received
by our Portsmouth correspondent from an officer
attached to the Mexican Expedition, dated Jan. 1,
at sea, off Cape Antonio :—" The following ships,
composing the Mexican Squadron, are now thus far
on their way to Vera Cruz :—Challenger, 22, screw,
bearing the flag of Commodore 'Dunlop ; Sanspareil,
70, screw, Capt. G. Le G. Bowyear, with the head-
quarters of the Marine Battalion, 450 officers and
men, under the command of Col; Lowder; Mersey,
40, screw, Capt. Caldwell, C.B. ; and St. George,
90, screw, Capt. the Hon. F. Egerton, with the re-
mainder of the Marines on board, equally divided
between them; and the Barracouta and Spiteful,
paddle steamers. The Commodore joined us last
evening from Havannah, where the French and
Spanish forces are collecting. The Fiench contin-
gent amounts to 2,500, including a battalion of
Zouaves from Algeria, and a battery of light rifled
guns. They, as well as the Spaniards, go com-
pletely equipped for the field—horses, mules, trans-
port—everything, in fact, that can render them
complete as a corps d'armee. The Spanish contin-
gent comprises 8,000 men of all arms. We expect
that the whale force will be assembled at Vera Cruz
in about 10 days."
The Calypso, IS, paid off at Chatham a few days
since, is to be fitted for a training ship for the Naval
Coast Volunteers and despatched to one of the large
ports.

The return called for by the Admiralty from the
officials at Chatham Dockyard, relative to the pro-
gress
made in the armour-plated screw steamer
Royal Oak, 51 guns, 1,000 horse power, under
construction at that establishment, and the pro-
bable time by which she will be completed, has
resulted in an order being despatched from
Admiral Robinson, the Controller of the
Navy, directing 100 additional hands to be
placed on board that vessel on Monday next, thus
swelling the number of shipwrights and other
workmen employed on the Royal Oak to 400 men,
the greatest anxiety being experienced to have her
completed and launched during the present sum-
mer. With the exception of a few tiers she is now
planked from stem to stern, and in a few days will
be ready to receive her armour-plates, which are
being forged at the Thames Iron Company's works,
Blackwell. To render her as compact as possible,
the whole of her ribs, timbers, and uprights are
bound together by means of enormous girders of
iron, which are carried obliquely across every tim-
ber in the ship. In this respect the Royal Oak is
constructed differently from the sister ship Cale-
, donia, building at Woolwich, which has her iron
girders carried outside her timbers. In planking the
exterior the utmost care has been taken to have no-
thing but the soundest description of teak, the
slightest flaw in the timber insuring its immediate
rejection, it being of paramount importance that no
repairs should be required to be effected in her
planking for a considerable time to come, as the
slightest alteration would require the removal of her
armour-plates. The sides of the Royal Oak will
present a solid wall of 29 inches thickness of oak
and teak, her exterior and interior planking being
each 8 inches thick, and her timbers 13 inches. Her
armour-plates, which will completely encase her
inches. The
sfribolme, satnedmofto a
ns t eurnni,for willm t behi
cokfntehses toughest iron pos-
oontract price for each plate is somewhere about
£l2O, and as nearly 500 plates will be required for
her, their prime cost alone will amount to about
£60,000. In addition to this, however, the plates
will have to be bent to the shape of the ship's side,
Which will again add to the cost of each.
Private letters have been received by our Chat-
ham correspondent, from the West Indies, giving
some further details respecting the loss of her Ma-
jesty's tTo nhs, 800 horse
e Conqueror
which she had left but a few days.
known as the Rum Crag, on her way to Bermuda,
Ilawa e power,
yew' rs
wrecked hc
Capt.ipedC on h Conqueror,
the morning Sotheby,r
ll
of Dec. 30, on a rock
e Conqueror, with some of the offi-
hfrocer
esmapnPi
pinnace
nrc Port Royal,ecwe
fart
brived at Port Royal,Samaica, on the
Bth inst.,when CommodoreD unlop,C.B.,immediately
despatched the Cygnet, 5, Commander A. T. Thrupp,
S. Hillyar,
inst., all well. Ba h
The
, ihanergrßi
ovinne dal at to
boardSt . ,
l7tThomas'se
Confederate
Commander
to render her assistance. The Cadmus, 21, Capt. H.
o I
the
corn--
O.7Nt
TmWbi s.esHiuo ennwei
treestd,t
sr rtiavteeds
salto
oSpt .
oTf h owma
ra sr
oocithi es Iw4 tahs na ss to.
at St. Thomas's on the same date.
The Adjutant-General, Sir James Yorke Scarlett,
has issued a circular memorandum, dated 25th inst.,
addressed to general officers commanding, and to
regiments and depots of regiments serving in Ca-
nada. It announces the augmentation to 1,200 rank
and file of the 15th Foot, Ist battalion; 16th Foot,
Ist and 2d battalions ; 17th Foot, Ist and 2d batta-
lions ; 30th Foot, 47th Foot, 60th Foot, 4th batta- -
lion ; 62d Foot, 63d Foot, 96th Foot, and Rifle Bri-
gade, Ist battalion ; and states that H.R.H. the
General Commanding-in-Chief has decided that the
distribution of their establishment shall be as fol-
lows :-10 senior companies, 3 field officers, 10 cap-
tains, 11 lieuts., 9 ensigns, 6 staff, 57 sergeants, e.
elusive of schoolmaster, 21 drummers andm
'2
captains, 3 lieuts., 1 ensign, 10 sergeants,co buglers,
anies
50 corporals, and 950 privates ; 2 depot
drum-
mers and buglers, 10 corporals, and 190 privates.
A circular memorandum, dated the 24th inst., ad-
dressed to the army at home, has been promulgated
from the Horse Guards, consenting to grant to the
cavalry serving at home permission to Wear their
capes, and to the infantry permission to Wear their
great coats when off duty,
at the discretion of their
commanding ofliCers•