The Sun.
London, England, 1853-02-08 00:00:00

NAVAL INTELLIGENCE.

The United Service Gazette states that Admiral Giffard
is seriously ill at his residence at Southampton. The
gallant veteran has been a commissioned officer for 63
years, and is above 80 years of age. He is on the ser-
vice pension list.

Sunday was the anniversary of Sir John Duckworth's
action off St. Domingo. We perceive from Allen's new
and comprehensive Navy List, just issued, that there
are 40 officers surviving who shared in the glories of the
day, among whom are Admirals Sir F. Austen, K.C.8.,
and Sir Samuel Pym, K.C.B.
Commander J. M. Stotler (1846), on the retired list
of 1830, died on the 28th ult., aged 68;
Surgeon Frederick Le Grand (1839), formerly in the
Cyclops, steam-frigate, on the coast of yria, and latterly
in charge of a convict ship, has been :appointed to the
screw three-decker Duke of Wellington, at Portsmouth.

PORTSMOUTH, FEB. 7.
Victoria and Albert, royal yacht, Capt. W. Crispin,
was brought down from her moorings this morning at
nine o'clock, and placed in the fitting basin. She has
had her masts taken out, preparatory to going into dock.
Asia, 84.—The weather covering of her deck was re-
moved this morning, and other preparations made for
getting her out on Friday next. Many hands are also
engaged in laying on Peacock's composition on her port
side, the starboard side having already been payed over
with Hay's.

The Are Queen, steam-tender to Victory, Master-
Commander W. F. Paul, was lying at her moorings off
the Royal Clarence Yard, when a collier named the
Apollo, belonging to the Messrs. Burrell, of Fareham,
in endeavouring to round the vessel to, got caught by
the tide, and set her foul of the Fire Queen. We are
happy to say there was but little damage done, although
it looked ugly enough at the time, a trifling part of the
shrouds being carried away. The master of the Apollo
very properly waited upon the admiral superintendent of
the dockyard, expressing his regret, and offering to pay
whatever damage may have been sustained.
Rodney, 92, Captain Charles Graham, C. 8., leaves
Spithead for Malta on Thursday next.
Fairy, steam-tender to the Victoria and Albert, Mas-
ter-Commander David N. Welch, was placed on the
gridiron this morning, to hare Griffiths' patent propeller
shipped. She will come off to-night about 8.30, and go
to her buoy up the harbour to-morrow at 10. She will
proceed to the measured mile at Stokes Bay to test the
advantages of this new principle. The trial will be un-
der the direction of Captain Crispin, of the Royal yacht
Victoria and Albert.

Frolic, 16, sloop, was removed from the basin this
morning, and towed up the harbour by the Echo, steam-
tug.

Prince Regent, 90, Captain Hutton, will go into the
angle dock to-morrow, to clean and examine her copper,
and to repair some trifling defects.
A Dutch ship, apparently 500 tons, brought up at the
Motherbank this morning, having run over a Dutch
galliot during the night. The crew got on board the
ship ; and pilot vessels have left the port to ascertain
whether she is afloat, as she was laden with timber, and
might have righted herself after the collision.

PLYMOUTH, FRB. 6.
Letters from Lisbon, dated the 27th of January, on
board her Majesty's steam block-ship Sanspareil, 81,
Captain Sidney C. Dacres, state that she will return to
England early in March.
Letters from Port Royal, Jamaica, on board her
Majesty's ship Persian, say—" We arrived here on the
28th of last month, with our commander (Mitchell) and
50 of the crew on the sick list, suffering from fever and
ague, contracted during our stay at Greytown. The
commander and 21 of the crew were at once sent to the
hospital, but, fortunately, no deaths have resulted from
the disease. We have refitted here, and as soon as the
patients can be removed on board we proceed to Eng-
land, where we hope to . arrive during the month of
February."

WOOLWICH, FEB. 7.
APPOINTMENTS.

Surgeon.—Frederick W. Le Grand (1839), to the
Duke of Wellington, 131, screw steam-ship, at Ports-
mouth.

Assistant-Surgeons.—Stephen Bowden (1845), from
the Impregnable flag-ship at Devonport, to the Duke of
Wellington ; George F. Banks (1848), to the Duke of
Wellington.
Clerks—George N. Warren (1847), to the Ajax, 58,
screw steam flag-ship, at Cork ; Robert T. Mason (1848),
from the Ajax, at Cork, to the Impregnable flag-ship, at
Devonport.

The Janus steam-sloop was taken out of dock to-day
and into the basin, to be fitted as a tug, for service at
Portsmouth.

The Cormorant steam-sloop is' having her bottom
again made tight to a little above the water line, for
the purpose of having her taken out of the east dock
and into the basin, for the better convenience of having
her enginei taken out at the factory. She will then
be towed up to Deptford, to be broken up at that dock-
yard.

The Dover iron steam-vessel, from the Gambia, the
Lucifer, the Merlin, and Prospero steam-vessels are to
be taken up the river from Woolwich to Deptford Dock-
yard on Wednesday next.
The Cruiser steam-sloop, Commander Hon. George
IL Douglas, was tried again at the measured mile at
Sea Reach, and her speed with steam alone found to be
on an average of four runs, two down and two up,
6.608 knots, which was considered very satisfactory, as
her engines, by the Messrs. Rennie, are of only 60-horse
power. She left Greenhithe yesterday in charge of her
first Lieutenant William Lambard, for Portsmouth,
where Commander Hon. G. H. Douglas will join her
during the week. '
Lieutenant W. M. Walker, of the united States' navy,
visited the dockyard to-day by permission of the Lords
of the Admiralty.

THE SCREW-PROPELLER FOR WAR
• PURPOSES.
TO TIE EDITOR OF THE MORNING HERALD.

Sir,—For war purposes it has always been a sine qua
non with Captain Carpenter that there should be an
auxiliary screw propeller always ready to propel a vessel
in case the screw in the dead-wood should be entangled
by wreck, or otherwise become fouled by stratagems
usually practised in war. For example, he says, we are
at the present crisis about to trust our defence entirely
to a fleet of ships, which are to be propelled by means of
a single screw placed in the dead-wood, and if these
vessels should fail to defend us the chances are that we
may fall into the hands of an invading army, as we have
not an army at home that could compete with a force of
150,000 disciplined troops.
Now, amongst the artifices of war which he has always
been apprehensive would puzzle a fleet of screw-ships
and which has been the cause of his urging the Admi-
ralty; to adopt small quarter propellers as auxiliaries to
the large screw in the dead-wood, is the following •
fromperidred-
Nets may be made interwoven with wire, and suspended
in the water by means of corks, and stretched out
into the sea in the track of a pursuing enemy's e m
therey's
would
screw
d
fleet, which would themeffectuallystioinpesropalso 88 po
hc ee e da itnt
ag e ihne theird
a
small th
e main
with corks, branching out in different directions, so that
when the ship came abreast of them . they would wind
round the screw propeller as
chains also
in the water.
eToonnteheetednetwitthhereemawlol beualndeherspro
provided,
of course,
they
chains L.
rwoeurnedl laid outnet inth
the
chain soundings
vi as the screw wound
with it. The consequence be
thatcoiled round
the
ship t h ew shaftold
be in a perfect fix, ;ld then
aantd probably she would fall into the
proceedenemy's ihnanthdesir, or,
any rate, the opponents might
tatAione:•ever the
sailing-ship, it must .
e unmolested, and commit devas-
tation
pleased..
be remembered, would pass
over the net, and would not be entrapped like a screw-
vessel.

A paddle-wheel steamer would twist the net ronnd
the wheel, which could be got at and cleared.
Hence we see the necessity of providing all single-
screw vessels with an auxiliary, for it is clear such ships
will become very inefficient safeguards to our coast.
Our screw-vessels have not yet been proved in war ;