The Sun.
London, England, 1853-08-12 00:00:00

THE REVIEW OF THE FLEET IN 1814.

At this moment, when the review of the fleet at
Spithead is exciting so much attention, it may not
be unacceptable to our readers if we extract from
our own columns a description of the last royal
review of the fleet which took place at Spithead o!2
the 25th of June, 1814, on the occasion of the visit
of the allied Sovereigns to London :
" PORTSMOUTFf, June 25. —The dockyard yesterday
morn
ing engaged the attention of our illustrious visitors.
The Prince Regent, the Duke of York, the King of
Prussia, the Prussian Princes, the other princes of Ger-
many, and a large assemblage of distinguished indi-
viduals, native and foreign, repaired early to the Em-
peror Alexander, at Commissioner Grey's house, whence
they proceeded to view the various establishments. The
ships building or repairing in the slips, the immense
naval stores of every description in the warehouses, the
rope-house, the copper-works, and all the other import-
ant branches, were examined with much attention. But
the Emperor and the King appeared more peculiarly in-
terested by that unequalled system of machinery for
making the ships' blocks, the rapid operations of which
they witnessed with particular pleasure. All expressed
their admiration of the mechanism, which they thought
was of itself well worth coming to Portsmouth to see.
The numerous objects of curiosity and utility in the yard
occupied all the forenoon.

" About two o'clock the royal barges, with the whole
party, and the rest of the grand aquatic procession, left
the King's-stairs at the dockyard, in the same order as
the day before, to pay another and a longer visit to the
fleet in the Roads. Royal salutes were fired from all
the batteries. On their arrival at the fleet, the Prince
Regent, Kin.. and Princes of Prussia, and many othe•..s,
went on board the Royal Sovereign yacht, which imme-
diately hoisted the royal standard. The Emperor Alex-
ander bad previously gone with the Duke of Clarence
on board the Impregnable, the interior of which seems
to afford his Imperial Majesty peculiar delight. He
was as assiduous as before in making himself personally
acquainted with nautical arrangements. The fleet, con-
sisting of 15 sail of the line, and about the same number
of frigates, formed a line of seven or eight miles in ex-
tent, in front of the isle of Wight. They received the
royal visitors with a general salute, after which they
slipped their cables, and werenie immediately under sail
northt-east
te
outgale, t o sea. y 813
wHietlhena's, brisknd eTehdeilyßcolyealscloSvet..
reign yacht ltehdethisTe
Naval Commissioners,
The yachts and barges of the
Commissioner; the Ordnance,
and other public offices, a great number of private
yachts, and above 200 vessels of all descriptions,
sailed
d
out, keeping at various distances from the fleet.
"About five o'clock the whole line-of-battle ships hove
to by signal, when the Prince Regent, the King of Prus-
sia, the Prussian and other Princes, left the Royal Sove-
reign, and went to the Emperor of Russia and his
party in the Impregnable, to which the royal standard
was accordingly shifted. At this time the leading
ships were about twelve miles from Portsmouth. The
royal circle partook of some entertainment in the Im-
pregnable's cabin. The signal was made soon after-
wards for the return of all the ships of war to their an-
chorage, where they were reviewed on Thursday. The
wind was not so favourable for sailing back. As they
returned, they continued their firing, so as to afford, in
some respects, the idea of a naval engagement.
"The whole line were at their anchorage by half-past
7, off Spithead, when the Emperor, King, Regent,
Princes, &c. &c., all quitted the man-of-war, and got
into their respective barges, sailed up the harbour, _ and
landed at the King's-stairs. All the artillery roundthe
eo ck
differentho us e ,
CwuormkbseorflanPdo,rtsaimdosutohutahndsePaofrotrstesa,,aonnd
thea l tj3hl
batteries at Haslar, were discharged, which was followed
by ten feux de joies of the many thousand military
drawn up.
The following were the moorings of the ships in line:—
Norge, Captain Rainer.
St. Domingo, Rear-Admiral Foote, Captain Pechell.
Bedford, Captain Jas. Walker.
•
Rodney, Vice-Admiral J. Martin, Captain C. Inglis.
Chatham, H.R.FI. Admiral of the Fleet, lion. H. B.
Blackwood, Captain of the Fleet.
\rille do Paris, the Lord High Admiral, Capt. Jones.
Impregnable, the Standard, Captain C. Adam.
Prince, Admiral Sir R. Bickerton, Bart., Captain
Folkes.

Tigre, Captain J. Halliday.
Queen, Rear-Admiral Sir F. Laforey, Bart., Captain
Colville.
Sceptre, Captain Devonshire.
Magnificent, Captain Lake.
Stirling Castle, Captain Butterfield.
Montague, Captain Heywood.
Frigates and others not mentioned.
The Portsmouth correspondent describes the town to
have been so full, that hundreds, the night previous to
the review, slept in stables and in the open fields, as beds
could not be obtained.