The Sun.
London, England, 1862-10-28 00:00:00

IHE NAVI.

VALETTA, Oct 23—There has been no mail from
the Commander-in-Chief at Corfu since the depar-
ture of the last mail for England, nor is there any
expected this week. Neither have there been any
arrivals or departures of men-of-war. The Doris,
32, Capt. Sir F. L. M'Clintock, has been ordered
from Naples for Messina, and will proceed home
shortly to be paid off. The Amphion, 36, Capt. A.
C. Gordon, now at Corfu, will, on her return, also
be sent home. The Mars, 80, Capt. J. N. Strange,
is on her way to Malta from the Coast of Syria; but
it is not yet known if she will proceed to England
on her arrival here or be detained in the Mediter-
ranean. The Edgar, 90, Capt. the Hon. F. A. Foley,
bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral S. C. Dares,
C. 8.; the Liffey, 51, Capt. G. Parker; and the
iron-plated frigates Warrior, 40, the Hon. A. Coch-
rane ; and the Black Prince, 4, Capt. J. F. Wright,
have arrived at Gibraltar from England and Lisbon.
The Edgar was to come on to Malta, and the Liffey
was to relieve the Malacca, 17, Capt. G. J. Napier,
at Gibraltar, which latter vessel was on her return
from a cruise on the coast of Spain to return to
Malta. The rate of steaming of the iron-plated
ships is reported excellent, and to have far exceeded
that of the Edgar and Liffey. The Phoebe, 51,
Capt, Fortescue, the Chanticleer, 17, Commander
C. Stirling, and the Galatea, 26, Capt. R. Maguire,
the former lying at Devonport, and the two latter
at Spithead, are reported for service in the Medi-
terranean. The Alacrity, 4, Commander J. Baird,
leaves to-morrow with a mail for Corfu. Her
Majesty's ships in port are—the Hibernia, receiv-
ing ship, Commander R, B. Harvey (bearing the
flag of Rear-Admiral H. J. Codrington, C. 8.), her
tenders Boxer and Growler, and the gunvessel
Alacrity, 4, Foxhound, 4, and Wanderer, 4. Dr.
Madden, of the Bth Regiment, left to join his regi-
ment at Gibraltar on Thursday last.
Rear-Admiral of the White John Kingcombe, of
Plymouth, is appointed to relieve Rear-Admiral of
the Red Sir Thomas Maitland, C. 8., Commander-in-
Chief on the Pacific station. Admiral Kingcombe
will hoist his flag on board the screw
steam frigate
Sutlej, 35, Capt. M. Conolley, now at Portsmouth.
Vice-Admiral of the Red Sir H. Stewart,
Commander-in-Chief at Devonport, returned on
Saturday from leave of absence and re-hoisted his
flag on Sunday on board the Royal Adelaide, 26,
Capt. C. Vesey, from which the flag of Rear-Admi-
ral Sir T. S. Pasley, second in command, was trans-
ferred at the same time to the guardship of steam
reserve Indus, Capt. A. C. Key, C.B.
The screw steam storeship Fox left
Plymouth on
Saturday morning for Woolwich.
The screw steam corvette Barrosa, 21, Capt. W.
W. Dowell, which left Sheerness under steam 011
Wednesday, arrived at Plymouth on Saturday
afternoon. She has lost an anchor and has some de-
fects to be made good. The Barrosa brought a
draught of supernumerary boys for the Impreg-
nable, and has received from that ship
and the
Implacable draughts of boys for distribution among
the fleet in China.

The screw steam frigate Phoebe, 51,
Capt. For-
tescue, was removed with the customary salutes on
Friday from Hamoaze int 3 Plymouth Sound, where
she took in a portion of her powder and ammuni-
tion on Saturday. She will sail shortly for the
Mediterranean.

His Prussian Majesty's sailing frigate Thetis,
36, was towed on Saturday outside Plymouth break-
water by the steam tug Prospero, and took her
departure for the Baltic.
The crew of the screw steam sloop Perseus, 17,
Commander Kingston, in Plymouth Sound, will be
inspected to-day. She has shipped her powder, and
will sail shortly for the Cape of Good Hope and
the East Indies.
The naval transport Dove, Mr. Burtenshaw, mas-
ter, has completed the unshipment at Chatham dock-
yard of about 100 tons of 41-inch, 3-inch, and 21--
inch armour-plates, from the Thames Ironworks
Company, for the iron-plated frigate Royal Oak,

34. About 50 tons more of iron plates will arrive
at the dockyard during the present week, which
will complete the quantity the Thames Ironworks
contracted to supply the Admiralty. The manner
in which the company has performed its contract
with the Government has given very general satis-
factiOn, the plates supplied being all of a very supe-
rior description, the whole standing the official tests
with highly satisfactory results. The plates, as soon
as they have passed through the hands of the officials
connected with the testing-house, are removed to
the factory, where they undergo the process of an-
nealing to render them as tough as possible. After
this they are bent by means of powerful hydraulic
pressure to the exact shape of the ship's side to
which they are to be bolted, the planing, boring,
and smoothing of each plate being performed at
another part of the dockyard, The Royal Oak has
now six tiers of armour plates bolted to each of her
broadsides, each plate being of the maximum thick-
ness of 41 inches. In the less exposed parts of the
exterior of the vessel the plates will be scarcely so
thick, but those have not yet been fastened in the
places they are to occupy, the efforts of the hands
employed on the Royal Oak being directed to the
completion of the tiers of armour plates on each of
her broadsides. She is to proceed from Chatham to
Shoeburyness for the purpose of shipping the
monster Horsfall gun and removing it to Woolwich.
Thence it will be forwarded to the Mersey Works,
Liverpool, where it was manufactured. As stated
in a paragraph which appeared in 7he Sun yester-
day, it is to be re-sighted and vented, in readiness
for some additional trials to be made with it. The