The Sun.
London, England, 1853-10-10 00:00:00

EA VAL INTELLIGENCE.

We regret to hear that both the senior and second
naval members of the Admiralty are indisposed.
It is very probable that in the course of the present
week two or three screw line-of-battle ships will be com-
missioned. The sooner the nucleus of a crew for each
ship is formed the better.

We stated on Saturday that Commander M'Clure,
who ha 3 made the North-west passage, was first lieu-
tenant with Sir James Ross in the first searching expe-
dition for Sir J. Franklin. The gallant and distin-
guished officer, who was in Captain Austen's expedition,
performed the unparalleled feat of travelling 800 miles
in the Arctic regions, and thus happily saved from
starvation. Commander M'Clure was the second lieu-
tenant and brother officer of Commander M'Clintock
with Sir James Ross. Commander M'Clintock is also
an Irishman, and is now in command of the Intrepid,
screw tender, with Captain Kelett, C.B. The meeting
of those two officers again in the Arctic regions must
have been a most interesting one.
Lieut. Cresswell, who has brought home M'Clure's
dispatches, was mate of the Investigator, in Sir James
Ross's expedition.

There can be no doubt that if the junior officers of
the late expeditions in search of Sir John Franklin had
commanded, instead of their seniors, the North-west
passage would have been made many years since, and per-
haps some account given of the fate of Franklin. It is per-
haps a severe observation ; but its truth must press
itself upon the mind of everybody who has watched the
proceedings of each expedition as closely as we have
done.

The suggestion by a naval officer for erecting a monu-
ment in honour of the gallant and devoted French offi-
cer, M. Bellot, will, we doubt not, be promptly acted
upon. _ _

-The Royal yacht promotions this year include Lieut.
Charles R. Carter (1840), one of the seniors afloat (and
whdse promotion ought to have taken place at the re-
view), to the rank of commander ; and mates Edward
Wilmot, D. L. H. Anson, and G. L. Sullivan, to the
rank of lieutenant.—Morning Herald.

THE ACTIVE LIST OF CAPTAINS.—The number Of
officers on the active list of captains now is 432. By
the plan of naval retirement of June, 1851, they are to
be reduced to 350, by the promotion of one to three va-
cancies. Unless some great mortality takes place
amongst the seniors, or a general promotion of flag-
officers be made, the list of captains will not be reduced
to the intended establishment for a dozen years.

PLYMOUTH, OCT. 9.

Her Imperial Highness the Grand Duchess of Russia,
accompanied by the Prince and Princess Woronzow, left
Torquay on Saturday morning by the express train for
London,
The shipwrights and caulkers employed on her Ma-
jesty's ship Queen, 116, Captain T. Mitchell, worked
late on Friday night, and at 8.30 on Saturday morning,
her repairs having been completed, she was unlocked
and placed at her moorings in Hamoaze.
The President, 50, from the Eastward, arrived in the
Sound on Saturday morning. She is bound to Rio Ja-
neiro, to relieve the flag-ship Portland, 50, Captain
Henry Chads.
The screw-corvette Desperate, 8, Captain W. W.
Chambers, was towed alongside the sheer-hulk on Friday.
Her foremast has been taken out and sent to the mast-
house for examination.

The steam•transport Cyclops, 6, left the Sound on
Friday evening for Woolwich.

PORTSMOUTH, OCT. 9.
The Caesar, newly launched screw, 91, seems doomed
to ill luck. The public will not be prepared for the an-
nouncement, so soon after her dire mishap on leaving
the stocks at Pembroke, of her having been ashore on
her passage from that port to this. Signal guns of dis-
tress alarmed this port last night between 7 and 8 o'clock
from the east end of the Isle of Wight. The Sprightly
port steam-tender, Mr. G. Allen, master-commanding,
was promptly out of harbour to render help ; and the
Encounter screw corvette, Captain O'Callaghan, also got
under way from Spithead with the like object. We
gather that the Caesar, in tow of the paddle-frigate, Ma-
gicienne, Captain Fisher, left Pembroke on Thursday
afternoon, and had remarkably fine weather round, and
nothing amiss occurred until about 7.30 p.m. last night,
when, on rounding the Nab to make Spithead, the Ma-
gicienne grounded on the elbow of the Dean shoal, and
stranded the C2sar with her. It was low water at the
time, and the tide only fell 18 inches more after they
touched. The Magicienne was the first to float, and
when she backed astern to get hold of the Caesar the
tide threw her across the bows of the latter, and when
she steamed ahead to go clear, she took the ground
again, but only hung a few minutes. The Caesar re-
mained stranded until about half-past ten. Signal guns
of distress were fired in the interim, which brought the
Encounter and Sprightly to the scene of the disaster,
and the honour of extricating the line-of-battle ship
from her dangerous position, after she had floated
on the rise of the tide, remained for the hard-
worked little Sprightly, which took her in tow, and
guided her to a place of safety at the entrance to the
channel of the harbour. It was luckily a dead calm,
the water smooth as a lake, but the weather rather
heavy at the time of the grounding, which will be the
subject of investigation by a court of inquiry. The
Cesar was brought from Pembroke in charge of Mr.

Tonkin assistant master-attendant of Portsmouth Dock-
yard, with Mr. Hill, second master of the Neptune, 120,
in this harbour, and a crew of 180 men of the Ports-
mouth and Devonport ordinaries. The average speed
of towing round was 64 knots per hour ; but under
" favourable circumstances" rather over 8 knots. The
Casar presents no outward appearances of her first dis-
aster, having undergone a complete overhaul and repair
of the damages. Whether she has suffered from her
last night's standing remains to be yet discovered.
The Encounter, 14, Captain O'Callaghan returned to
Spithead yesterday afternoon.

The Dolphin, -3, brigantine, Lieutenant Webber,
came into harbour last evening, to be caulked.
The Arab, 12, Commander Morris, arrived at Spit-
head yesterday for Chatham.

The Royal children will leave Osborne on Friday next
to join their parents.
Captain Crispin, of the Victoria and Albert, tele-
graphed to the Admiralty yesterday relative to the alte-
rations of her Majesty's steam-yacht.

WOOLWICH, OcT. 8.
The Black Eagle Admiralty steam-yacht, Master Com-
mander John E. Petly, returned to Woolwich to-day
after a lengthened absence in attendance on her Majesty,
and subsequently on the Lords of the Admiralty.
The Tyne store-ship, Master Commander Peter Wel-
,.

lington, on being taken into dock, to have her bottom
examined, was found to have her bottom as clean and
smooth in every part as if she had come home through a
sand-bank to scour it, and it also presents the singular
appearance in many places, especially a short distance
below the water-line, of having been worn as thin as a
sheet of tissue paper. She is to be re-coppered, and will
be refitted immediately for farther service.
The Sinbad arrived yesterday with stores from Ports-
mouth.

By letters received here from Thurso it was expected
the Phoenix screw steam-sloop from the Arctic regions
would arrive at Woolwich to-day or to-morrow, unless
Commander Inglefield subsequently ordered that she
should be detained at Greenhithe to ascertain if there has
been any deviation in her compasses since they were ad-
justed previous to her departure for the northern regions.
Every person imagined, when the Phoenix was fitting
out at Woolwich, that she was too large for the service
in which she was to be employed amongst the ice of the
Arctic regions ; but it now appears, from the testimony
of Commander Inglefield, that a vessel of less size, or
less strong in her construction, would not have encoun-
tered the perils the Phoenix had to go through, confirm.
ing the opinion we expressed before she left Woolwich
for Beechy Island, that she was not too large, but admi-
rably adapted for the service in -which she was to be
employed.
The absence of any further traces of Sir John Frank-
lin than those found at Beechy Island is not surprising,
as he must have gone up Wellington Channel, Dr. Smith's
sound, into the open water seen in the former by Capt.
Penny, or in the latter by Commander Inglefield during
his voyage in the summer of 1852, in the Isabel. It is
now evident that no dependence can be placed in the
Esquimaux delivering papers to the Russians, with whom
they trade, as Commander M'Clure gave them papers on
several occasions, not one of which ever found its way to
this country, although the gallant commander believed
the parties he confided them to as trustworthy. It is
well known Sir John Franklin's instructions were to
proceed to Melville Island and endeavour to find the
passage to Behring Straits, which is now ascertained to
exist, but the probability is that he found an opening be-
fore he could get there, and having entered it proceeded
to the north-east, after leaving papers, with the inten-
tion of reaching China, and if he is ever heard of it will
be when the great Christian party now in that empire
overcome the Tartars, who would naturally keep Sir
John Franklin and the crews of the Erebus and Terror
prisoners, if they had been forced to go on shore in any
part governed by the Tartar dynasty. The finding of
bottles on the coast of Siberia strengthens this view of
the course taken by Sir John Franklin, and there not
being papers in the bottles when handed over to the au-
thorities is not surprising after the testimony of the ex-
perience of Commander M'Clure ; and the absence of
papers from Beechy Island where the three graves were
found, can now be accounted for, when Commander
Inglefield states that he had visited a spot recently occu-
pied by Esquimaux, and amongst the remnants left by
them found some of Goldner's tin cases for provisions,
showing that little is known of the movements of the
inhabitants of the Arctic regions, or the places they
visit during their travels in search of provisions for their
subsistence.

OCT. 9.
The Rhadamanthus, steam store-ship, Master Com•
mander Belam, arrived this afternoon from Chatham.

FEARFUL COLLISION AT SEA.-SEVERAL
LIVES LOST.

A direful collision happened near the Mouse Light
(some miles below the Nore) on Wednesday night last,
between the Trident steam-ship, Captain Morris, and the
brig Harewood, of London, Mr. Graham, master,
.which
ended in the almost instantaneous foundering of the latter
vessel, with six of the crew, who perished.
Since her recent serious mishap off St. Katherine's,
when she took fire, and had to be scuttled, the Trident
had been engaged on the Tonningen station. On Wed-
nesday she left Deptford for that port, and proceeded in
safety until about nine o'clock the same night, by which
time she had reached the vicinity of the Mouse Light,
when she came in fearful contact with the Harewood,
bound to London from Cardiff. Such was the tremen-
dous character of the shock that the brig went down in
about two minutes from the time of her being struck, and
all on board, with the exception of the master, Mr. Gra-
ham, and one of the crew, John Mason, were drowned.
It appears that the Harewood, which had recently been
alni,,st rebuilt, of 400 tons burden, and the property of
Mr. W. Dowell, Wapping-wall, weighed anchor at half-
past eight on the above evening, from the Oaze buoy to
the southward of the Mouse, the wind being S.W. strong
on a flood tide. She was kept close by the wind on the
larboard tack, In the course of three-quarters of an
hour, when nearly in mid channel, the crew descried
a bright light and then immediately a red one on the
brig's weather bow. It was at once conjectured to be
those of an approaching steamer, and the master took
his signal lantern to the weather gangway, ana waived
it for three or four minutes, and it was thought that it
had been observed. The red light was then missed, and
almost immediately afterwards a green one appeared in
sight, which at once intimated to them that the steamer
had changed her course, and was bearing down upon
the brig. Most of the hands were forward calling out
to her with all their might to alter her helm; however,
she came on, her weather bow striking the weather bow
of the Harewood.

The concussion is described to have been of a most
tremendous character, and it is said that the steamer,
owing to her size and power, although she had stopped
her engines, almost ran over the brig. The force of the
blow canted her on one side, and she immediately began
to fill, and in less than two minutes went down in 12
fathoms, not a scream nor a cry escaping from the six
unfortunate fellows who disappeared with her. As the
steamer was passing from the wreck, Mason, the seaman,
caught hold of the netting of the poop, and so got on
board, and observing his vessel go down, he jumped
into the quarter boat of the Trident, and called for
assistance with a view of rescuing any of his fellow ship-
mates who might be clinging to the rigging. Accom-
panied by the mate, he pulled off to the spars, and dis
covered the captain in the topmast rigging, which was a
few feet above the water. After some difficulty he was
extricated and got into the boat, but nothing could be
seen of the remainder of the men on board. They then
returned to the Trident, and she, having sustained some
damage, put back to the Thames, and landed the two
survivors. The names of those who perished are George
Waters (mate), John Alderson (seaman), Richard
Thompson (seaman), William Johnson (seaman), and
William Collins and Thomas George West (apprentices).
The vessel and cargo is a total loss. On the part of the
steamer it is alleged that the brig ran into her on the
starboard paddle box, and that perceiving the apparent
bearing of the Harewood, the engines were stopped.
Up to Saturday evening none of the bodies had been
picked up.

SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE.

CUSTOM-HOUSE—Oer. 8.

ENTERED INWARDS.—The Sanction, from Calcutta and
the Cape ; Mermaid, Cochin ; Alverton, Sydney ; John.
and Mary, Dunkirk ; Emma, South whale fishery ; Pro-
sperity, Rouen ; Minerva, Havre • English Rose, Dunkirk ;
Elora, Havro ; Agnia, do. ; John Brooks, St, Lucia ;
Sophie, Sonnesund.
ENTERED OUTWARDS FOR LOADING.—The Les Amis,
for Havre and Rouen ; Aid, Madeira and Jamaica ;
Excel, Antwerp ; Meander, Laun ceston ; Jersey, Lubeck
and River Gambia; Emily, Bahia; Blenheim, Port
Philip.
CLEARED OUTWARDS WITH CARGO.—The Ruby, for
Adelaide ; Speculation, Arendahl • Omega, Melbourne ;
Gratitude, Antwerp ; Economy, do. ; Syra ; Pa-
tientia, .rendahl ; Mary Bannatyne, Port Philip.

The Caroline and Mary Clarke, from New York, Sept.
14, lat. 39, long. 67, a vessel, about 60 tons, bottom up,
apparently in that situation ; Sept. 15, let. 40, long. 53,
passed a derelict American ship, under jury-masts, appa-
rently water-logged ; Sept. 16, let, 40, long. 39, spoke the
Sara Gorse, of Philadelphia, from Havannah to Queenstown
(Qy ? Saragossa, for Cowes, sailed Aug. 27), under jury.
masts, making for the nearest port, having been dis-
masted in the hurricane of the Bth of Sept., and lost part
of crew by yellow fever ; on Sept. 27, let. 47, long. 28,
passed a vessel of about 200 tons, bottom up, not coppered.
The Hope, for Dantzic has put back with loss of sails, &c.
The Amory, hence to Quebec, that put into Stradwell-
roads during the gale of the 28th ult., has been towed back
to this port.