The Sun.
London, England, 1849-12-04 00:00:00

LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING-.

NAVAL INTELLIGENCE.
THE ARCTIC PROMOTIONS.

The following limited promotions have been made
of officers who were engaged in Sir James Ross's
Arctic expedition in search of Sir John Franklin :
Lieut. Robert John Le Mesurier M'Clure (1837),
first lieutenant of the Enterprise, to the rank of com-
mander.
Lieut. Melville George Hope Warrander Ross,
(1842), first lieutenant of the Investigator, to the
rank of commander.
Nate—Samuel G. Creswell (1848), of the Investi-
gator, to the rank of lieutenant.
Clerks—James Biggs (1841), acting paymaster
and purser of the Enterprise, and J. E. Gilpin (1844),
clerk in charge of the Investigator, to the rank of
paymaster and purser.
Commander M'Clure is an old officer, and since
his appointment to the Enterprise, more than forty
lieutenants have been promoted, and of these more
than nine tenths were his juniors in standing, as
lientei,ants. l_lis promotion cannot, therefore,
called that of advancement for his late perilous
and respor.sible se; vice as first lieutenant of the
Enterp%se. Commander M'Clure had, moreover,
served in Sir J. Back's expedition to the
Arctic regions. He passed his examination

as a lieutenant in 1830,

and after . serving

seven years as a mate received his commission. As
a lieutenant lie served in the Hastings, than in the
Niagara, on the lakes of Canada, 1838-39, when he
had the daring, and (shame to the English Govern-
ment) the inislOrtune to capture in a night expedition
that notorious freebooter " William Kelly." To his
honour be it said, Captain Sandotn, then in command,
supported his officer, and showed his appreciation of
his gallantry by appointing him to the superinten-
dence of the dockyard ; but subsequently he was re-
moved to a seagoing ship. He afterwards served as
first lieutenant of the Pilot, 16, Commander Ramsay,
on the North American and West India station,
and from 1842 to 1846 was in command of the Rom-
ney, receiving ship, at the Havannah. He next
served for some time in the Coast-guard, and was se-
lected by Sir James Ross as his first lieutenant for
the Enterprise.
Commander Ross passed his examination in De-
eemh.r. 1837 : 'O,3S promoted in 1842, on returning
from service iti the ClQopatra, 26,:0n the North Ame-

Ica and Wes India station. As a lieutenant he

served in the Columbia, steam-vessel, surveying in
the Bay of Fundy from 1842 to 1848, and on his
return to England was selected for first lieutenant of
the Investigator.
Lieutenant Cresswell was appointed to the Investi-
gator in May, 1848, and no less than 80 mates have
been promoted since that period. Of this number
about 30 were junior, as mates to Mr. Cresswell.
Paymaster and Purser Biggs, although acting in
that rank in several ships successively, has been al-
lowed to become the tenth only in seniority on the
list of eligible and ineligible clerks, many juniors
having been promoted since his appointment to the
Unterprise. Mr. Biggs was appointed by Sir E.
King from the Rose to be acting paymaster and
purser of the Clio, 18, when she was ordered from
Brazils to China, where sha was engaged at the taking
of Woosung, and in all the operations on the Yang-
tsi-Keang till the treaty of peace at Nankin. During
this service Mr. Biggs received a serious hurt in the
performance of his duty. Subsequently, when the
Clio was ordered to convey Major Itawlinson en route
to Bagdad, Mr. Biggs accompanied Captain Fitzjames,
Dr. Sloane, and Mr. Hicks (then mate), to that far-
fanned city as an escort, and were absent from the ship (in
the Persian Gulf) for about a month. Mr. Biggs, from
the Clio, next joined the Spiteful steam-sloop as
acting paymaster and purser, and served in that ship
for more than three years in the East Indies, in the
course of which period the steamer hoisted the flag
of the Commander-in. Chief, and was engaged in the
operations against the Borneo pirates, where Mr.
Biggs had the commissary's office of providing for the
troops and seamen of the expedition up the river to
the attack of the city of Borneo.
Thus we have shown that the above officers have
fairly earned their promotion, independently of what
they deserve for their late service in the Arctic expe-
dition ; for by their standing and services they could
not have been passed over, had they never served in
the Enterprise and Investigator; and it is only fair
to them that their commissions should lae dated back,
or that the senior and "acting" 'officers should have
that privilege accorded to them.
We have, then, yet to learn what acknowledgments
a generous country are about to confer on the
officers who were engaged in Sir James Ross's ex-
pedition, for this special service, beyond the functions
of one lieutenant and one clerk. Belonging to the
Enterprise we find there were the following officers :
Lieutenants F. L. M'Clintock (1845), so promi-
nently mentioned in Sir James Ross's official report,
and AV. H. J. Browne (1848), Dr. John Robertson
(1834), a highly respected and able officer, who had-
before served in an Arctic expedition ; Second Master
Stephen Court, and Clerk E. Whitehead : and in the

Investigator, Lieutenants F. Robinson, (1844), an
old experienced officer, and John Barnard ; Surgeon
Robert Anderson (1846), the naturalist, and one of
the most active, energetic, and efficient officers in the
expedition ; Assistant Surgeon E. Adams and Second-
Master John H. Allard.

Surely from the above officers—eligible, worthy,
and deserving as they are—the Admiralty might
select a few whose promotion would mark the coup•
try's appreciation of the hazardous service which
they were dispatched by the Admiralty to perform.—
Herald.

We are happy to say we hear that Rear-Admiral
Superintendent Prescott, C. 8., was much better
yesterday. _ _ _

- Captain henry James Matson has been appointed
to study steam, at the factory, Woolwich.
The Commander-in-Chief at Portsmouth, Admiral
Sir Bladen Capel, accompanied by Captain Chads and
the flag-lieutenant, Mr. Cochran, went out to Spit.
head in the Myrtle, and mustered and inspected the
Eurydice, 26, Captain Anson. The crew were prac-
tised in various acts of seamanship, and their quarters
and gun exercise, but they did not fire at a target.
The Admiral was on board for about three hours.
So soon as he left, the .Eurydice discharged her
powder, and was towed into harbour, where she will
dismantle and prepare for paying off.
The Constance, 50, Captain Courtenay, is ordered
to be paid off at Devonport on Saturday next.
The Phoenix, 50, is ready for the pendant at
Sheerness ; but the Arethusa, 50, will not be ready
at Devonport for a day or two. They have been too
busy there with the Indefatigable.
Another mail arrived at Devonport, on Sunday
morning, for the Hound, 8, Commander C. Patten.
The weather was foul all day, blowing hard from the
south- west, but she was to put to sea early on Mon-
day morning, weather permitting.
The Amphion, 30, screw-frigate, having been tried
in Sheerness basin and reported complete, the Ad-
miralty have ordered her on a trial cruise, for a week,
in the North Sea, the Dasher, 1, steam vessel, Lieu-
tenant Commander Parks accompanying her.
The ,Iloratio, screw-frigate, was undocked at
Chatham on Friday, and on Saturday morning was
towed by the Monkey and Adder steam-vessels to the
East India Docks, to have her machinery put on
board.

The Tiger (steam-sloop, we presume), of 1,220
tons, was floated out of dock at Chatham, on Satur-
day. The following are her dimensions, as built :
Length between perpendiculars, 205 feet.
Length of keel for tonnage, 180 feet 5; inches.
Extreme breadth, 35 feet inches.
Breadth for tonnage, 35 feet 71 inches.
Breadth moulded, 34 feet 11 inches.
Depth in hold, 24 feet 6 inches.
Burden in tons, 1,220 52 94.
Draught of water forward, 8 feet 6 inches.
Aft, 9 feet 6i inches.
Broke in launching j-th of an inch.
The Stromboli, 6, steam-sloop, Commander Lord
A. Beauclerk, arrived at Devonport on Saturday
evening, with new-raised men from Ireland.
The Elfin and Fairy steam-tenders go daily to
Osborne, returning at night to Portsmouth harbour.
DocxyAans.—The officers of the respective dock-
yards have orders to report on the system of contract-
work, now that it has been in operation two years,
and to state their opinion whether it is best to continue
it, or to revert to the old system or any other.
Mr. William Aylward, late master shipwright's
assistant at Devonport yard, has been superannuated
on a pension of 3001. per annum.