The Sun.
London, England, 1847-02-05 00:00:00

THE:NAVY:

A COPY "of the TREASURY MINUTE RESTRICTING
NAVAL PROMOTIONS to ONE VACANCY in THREE ;
the Number of Officers on -the List at the Date of the
Minute, and the Number on the 3oth day of September,
1846." •

27 February, 1830.—At the Board,
Present, Viscount Melville, Sir George Cockburn, Sir Henry

Hotham, Sir George Olerk, Viscount Castlereagh,
Their Lordships having taken into ciinsidekation the state
of the Half-pay List, and-beidg desirous of operating its gra-
dual reduction in time of peace, -•- • -
Resolve,—That from this date no' promotion .(except for
special brilliant service) shall 'be made-fn any tank of com-
mission officers (save flag-officers), except in- the proportion
of 0114 promotion for every. three :vacancies which may be
mate by the'l•emoval by death, dismisSal, or.etber cause, of
officers from the effective lists of each rank kept at this
office; death or court-martial vicancieS,' liable to be filled by
commandere-in-chief abroad, not being reckoned:,
Promotion being thus limited, their Lordships deem it ne-
cessary that a control in 'Some, degree' c6rresponding should
be placed upon the original entry•oe-yoiing
.gentlemen into
the service; they therefore resolve, that in future all appoint-
ments of volunteers of the first class shall be-nsade directly
by their Lordships. •
Their Lordships direct that theselegulations be communi-
cated to the commanders-in-chief on foreign stations, with
an observation that they do not alter the authority vested in
them of appointing by commissions to death or court-mar-
tial vacancies; but that 'they do apply to the. subsequent va-
cancies which may be occasioned by the promotion of an
officer into an actual, death or .court-martial vacancy, and
that such subsequent vacancies are to be filled up only by
acting orders, as in the case of invaliding vacancies.
_(Signed-) • W. CROKER.
NUMBER of OFFICERS on' Itie:-,LIST of the :ROYAL
NAVY, on the 27th Eebruaryt•lB3o,-,and on the 30th Sep-
tember, 1846. - ,

Flag-officers
Ditto, superannuated
Retired Captains _ _ _
Captains ... _
Retired Captains, under Order in Cotincil
of 1840 ... ... •
Commanders ...
Retired Commanders, under Order in Cdan-
cil of 1816 •
ditto ...
from the Masters'
List

1830.
171.

14 2
858 730

Ditto
Ditto

48
918 855

100 100
.. 195

▪ 3,550 2,538
• 523 437

Lieutenants
Masters ..
Inspectors of Hospitals and Fleets •
Physicians -
Deputy Inspectors of Hospitals and Fleets
Surgeocs ~, ~, • • •••
Assistant-Surgeons ... ••• ' Paymasters and and Pursers

793 644
362 293
642 481

Totals

... 7,967 6,533

HER MAJESTY'S STEAM-SLOOP

SPHYNX. -
BROOK, leLE OF Wxcarr, FEB. 2.—The crew of the
Sphynx and dockyard men were employed up to a late hour
last night in arranging the framework lihich is to rest upon
,the " camels," and at one time it was contemplated to make
an attempt at eleven ,o'clock.last night, but all the arrange-
ments could not be got ready:
The project of floating the wreck bvVamels is the idea cf
Mr. Watts, assistant-master shipwrigk of Portsmouth dock-
yard, and his views are carried out underthe superintendence
of Captain Austen, of Woolwich dockyard, and Commander
Cragg, of the Sphynx. - •
Captain W. H. Henderson, C. 8., of the Sidon steam-frigate,
arrived yesterday in the Retribution,ciiid assumed the com-
mand.here as senior officer. The steamers here are, the Re-
tribution, 800-horse power ; the:Porcupine, 132-horsepower,
Lieutenant-Commander (aating) Turnonr • the Africaine
tug, 90-horse power; and the Echo_ tug, 80-horse power
besides two docks and lumps ; the boats "of alt which were
busily employed in rendering the necessary _assistance with
hawsers, removing stores, &c.
In addition to the " camels," there' 'are to be .200 casks
lashed alongside the wreck to issist:hr floating her. The
weather has been extremely favourable for the last three
days, and to-day it is nearly. it-is the opinion of many
that the lifting power of barges and casks combined is'not
sufficient to float the vessel, clear of the bed ,she has made
in the sand, and of the ledge of rocks whioh are to sea-
ward, of her.
The Coast Guard take no part in the operatittinS, which are
exclusively carried on by the d=ock-yard, people and crews of
the respective ships in the offing. Mr. Murray, Chief en-
gineer and inspector of machinery of Partsmouth dock-yard ;
Captain Henry .Tarnes,_cfficer.oe royid.engineeis in charge of
works at Portsmouth duck-yard ; 'an Watts, assistant-
master-shipwright, and Mr. Bellamy., '...assistant-master-at-
tendant of the same establishment, are, all here,,,9-operating
with the senior naval ciptaitis (Henderson and Austen) and
the commander of the Sphynx. •
At high water to-day (Tuesday) flie wreck was moved
about 100 feet. She is now on the ledge whereon her guns
were hove overboard'and her inners'cut away. , She was got
so far byher own captain, as the steamers and lumps did
not assist in heaving, but were prepared, when necessary,
to assist.
At twelve o'clock to-night another Rant will be made. 1

•
NAVAL INTELLIGENCE.
Porrsmomn, WEDNESDA.Y.—Great. anxiety has been
manifested here to know-what result -attended the grand
effort to extricate the,Sphvnx from her- unnatural position.
We were enabled to fnrnisit yesterday. the result.of the first
attempt to heave the above unfortunate, vessel off, the shore,
which failed, we understnod;from one: of the
.camels having
burst after the vessel had been rnOved_loo•feet seawards.
By the arrival of the' Porcupine. steam-vessel, which came
into this harbour tci-day at 1 froth the wreck, with one
of the lumps laden with, gear in; tow, we. fire; in possession of
the finale to the scene commenced so atiipiciously yesterday.
It appears that another effort‘was madelast night to move
the Sphynx, which was continued .froni nine o'clock last
evening until one o'clock this morning. but no success beyond
moving the wreck about,tyvedve feet attended the effort, after
which it was found that the water ort the:outside was shoaler
than that in shore, and the tide did not rise so high as the
former one. The attempt has consequently been given up
for the present, and all .the vessels haVe been sent to
assist in the endeavour to float the'‘iii.eek will return to
harbour as soon as they hive again &fleeted the gear they
took down. • ... . •„

Thus, notwithstanding the phalanx of scientific men,
means, and appliances at command,,it appears the vessel is
actually in a worse position thanleforee• the effort was made
to extricate her, and the difficulty and, danger of attempting
to remove the machinery and take the hull to pieces in-
creased.
The wind and wearer during the whole time has been
most favourable for the'operations.
A number of the dockyard men who have been employed
at the wreck returned Allis afternoon in the Isle of Wight
packet.

The President, 50, Captain Stanley,. flag of Rear-Admiral
Decree, Commander-in-Chiet at the Cape of Good Hope, was
at Simon's-bay on the sth of December. Lieutenant E. S.
B. Von Douap (1838)r of this ship,, has succeeded Commander
Booth in the command.of the Columbia, 16, and proceeded
on to the East Indies.
By a private letter which came to hand thi,s morning
(dated December 1)—" The Dido, 2q, Captain Maxwell, had
just arrived from England; the Brilliant, V, Captain Wat-
' son, is gone on the coast; and the Cleopatra, 26, Captain-
Wyvill, which arrived yesterday (Noye,mber 80) from the
Mozambique, sails for Englatid, in 'a. week. She has the
fever on board very badly; two men died last night. The
Thunderbolt, steam sloop, Commander Boyle,- is awaiting her
relief. The Helena, 16, Captain Sir C. Ricketts, is cruizing."
The Vanguard, 80, Captain Willes, -was at Carthagena on
the 21st ult.
The Rattler, screw steam sloop, Commander Moorman, is
ordered to fit immediately for the reception of Lord How-
den, whom she will take out to the Rive:r, Plate.