The Sun.
London, England, 1847-11-23 00:00:00

NAVAL INTELLIGENCE.

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PORTSMOUTH, Nov. 22. —•Rear-Admiral Phipps
llornby, C. 8., the newly appointed Commander-in-
Chief in the Pacific, arrived at this port with his
family and suite this afternoon by the South Western
Railway. The gallant Admiral proceeded to South-
sea, and will hoist his flag (blue at the mizen) on
board the Asia, 84, Captain Stopford, at Spithead
to-morrow. The Asia will be paid advance to-
morrow, and sail most probably on Thursday for the
Pacific, calling at Plymouth. She takes out super-
numeraries for Rio and Sir Thomas Herbert's squad-
ron. She is now manned, with the exception of a
few vacancies.

We hear great complaints respecting anchors, their
general insufficiency and want of strength. Those
lately supplied from our dockyards to the ships corn-
prising the squadron under the orders of Sir Charles
Napier in the Tagus fully verify this, as the follow-
ing ships are reported to have carried away their
anchors :—Canopus, 84, Vengeance, 84, Rodney, 92,
Amazon, 20, Terrible, Vixen, and Avenger steam-
frigates. This must be owing in a great measure to
faulty construction or bad workmanship, and requires
immediate correction ; for if these accidents occur,
which they have done, in the fair weather season,
we may expect at least to hear of some serious ca-
sualty as the foul weather season advances. The
Calliope, 26, Captain Stanley, we learn by the last
advices from New Zealand, broke all her anchors,
one after the other, on the above coast, nor is this a
solitary instance of similar occurrences, as the com-
manders of the troop frigates Apollo and Resistance
can testify. An anchor weighing upwards of five
tons now lies rejected in this dockyard, having failed
to withstand a strain of 68 tons! How is it to be
expected, then, that such anchors will hold a line-of-
battle ship in bad weather ?
Admiral Sir John West, the Commander-in• Chief
at Plymouth, is getting into very bad odour with the
inhabitants of his district, in consequence of having
issued an order that in future no letters shall be sent
through his office to ships upon station ; thus the re-
latives and friends of officers and men in her Ma-
jesty's fleets upon foreign stations are deprived of the
means from time immemorial open to them, of safely
transmitting their letters to their connexions so situ-
ated. Taking the coast of Africa station as an ex-
ample, to which part of the world there are no mails
regularly forwarded, and where news from England
is frequently at least nine months old before it gets
there, Sir John West's order is one of the most
vexatious character. The order is clearly not an
Admiralty order, or it would have been general, and
Portsmouth, Sheerness, and other Admiral's offices
included in its injunctions ; but the Commanders• in-
Chief of the latter ports are too liberal in every way
to have thought of inflicting such a privation upon
vast numbers of persons to whom the Admiral's office
is their only means for the transmission of letters to
or from their connexions. We trust the Lords of
the Admiralty will suggest to Sir John West the
necessity of discontinuing forthwith his obnoxious
order.

The following is an extract from a letter from
Plymouth :—" You will be both surprised and an-
noyed to hear that no less than 100 of the late fine
crew of the America 50-gun frigate are gone to
America since she was paid off here about a month
since ! And very many about these towns, owing to
their imprudence in squandering their money, there
being no ship fitting out here to receive them, arc
selling their clothes and may be expected to follow
the others. It is painful to see it."
Her Majesty and the Court will leave Farn-
borough station for Gosport, to-morrow at eleven
precisely.
The Netley tender arrived this morning with
newly entered men for the Asia and Bellerophon,
from Plymouth ; she sailed on her return this after-
noon.
The llamoaze lighter, with stores, and the Ply-
mouth buoy-boat, arrived from Devonport to-day.
The second division, including the head-quarters
of the 69th Regiment, embarked this morning from
the dockyard in flat-boats on board the Belleisle
troop-ship, Captain J. Kingeome, and that ship pro-
nd
the eba.s Retributionin,andFirefly
sitreertan;
steamer undocked to-day, preparatory to dockingead.
the