The Sun.
London, England, 1848-10-21 00:00:00

NAVAL INTELLIGENCE.

PORTSMOUTH' FRlDAY.—Admiral the Honourable
Sir Bladen and Lady Capel will entertain the follow-
ing guests at the Admiralty-house to-morrow evening,
to celebrate the anniversary of the battle of Trafalgar,
in which Sir Bladen commanded the Phoebe frigate :
—Rear-Admiral Prescott, C.D., Mrs. and Miss
Prescott, Rear-Admiral Sir Charles Napier, K.C.8.,
Captain Chads, C. 8., Mrs. and Miss Chads, Flag-
Captain Eden and Mrs. Eden, Flag-Captain Dacres
and Mrs. Dacres, Commander Crispin, Commander
and Mrs. C. R. Johnson, Mr. Secretary Uaig and
Mrs.,Haig, Flag-Lieutenants Cochran and Aplin, &c.
The Prince Regent, 92, Captain W. F. Martin, at
Spithead, is ordered to change her armament for
heavier metal ; she is ordered all 8-inch guns (88
pounders) on the lower deck, of 6.ltwt. each; long
32-pounders, of 56 cwt. each, on the main deck;
•
and long a2's, of 42 cwt. each, on the
.quarter-deck
and forecastle, which terrific batteries,, it is expected,
she will carry and be enabled to use with ease ; but
with this increased armament she ought to have an
increased crew ; 1,000 men would not be one man
too many for such a ship.
The Orestes, 18, and Sappho, 16, at this port,
advanced for the pendants, are ordered to be masted,
rigged, and prepared for the reception of officers and
men immediately.
The Kingfisher, 12, Commander Harvey, will sail
hence on the 29th for Plymouth to be paid advance,
whence she will sail on the let of November for the
coast of Africa with the mail.
Commander Graham Ogle, of the Victory, has been
discharged that ship, the Admiralty intending to abo-
lish the appointment of commanders to harbour flag-
ships.

The Driver steam-sloop, Commander C. R. John-
son, received orders to-day to proceed with provisions
and water to relieve the wind-bound vessels in the
Chops of the Channel. She is directed to sight Scilly
every other day during her cruise, which is to be re-
gulated as to length by the wind. On that becoming
westerly, she is to return to this port, calling at Ply-
mouth. It is highly creditable to Commander John-
son's diligence that his steam was up in an hour after
the orders arrived, and that he sailed in the course of
the afternoon.
The Stromboli steam sloop, Commander Lord
A. W. Beauclerk, Was taken into the steam•basin
to -day.
The Dockyard Revision Board, comprising Cap-
tain Milne, Mr. Ward, M.P., Colonel Irvine, and Cap •
tain Sir Baldwin Walker, of the Admiralty; Mr.
Bromley, of the Audit-office ; Captain Ellice, of the
Steam Department, &c., held their sittings at the
office of Rear-Admiral Superintendent Prescott, C. 8.,
in this dockyard; they berth, however, on board the
Admiralty yacht, Black Eagle, in the harbour, and are
so desirous of economy both in their own persons and
appetites and those of others that they will not accept
an invitation to dinner even at the Commander-in-
Chief's mansion..

The Urgent steam-vessel, Lieu tenant Commander
A. M y
Diann, was undocked to-day, and the Rifleman
screw steam-schooner, Lieutenant-Commander
-Cmmander So IR.
Crafton, was docked in her room.
The Reynard screw steam-sloop, Commander. Peter
Cracroft, was taken into the old basin this afternoon.
In port and fitting—Victory, 22, flag-ship; Illus-
trious, 10, ordinary flag-ship ; Excellent, gunnery
exercise-ship; Victoria and Albert, Royal Yacht ;
Blenheim, steam guard-ship; and Rolla, exercise-
brig for apprentices; Stromboli, Reynard, Rifleman,
Urgent, Black Eagle, Fairy, Fire Queen, Echo, and
Myrtle steamers; Fanny and Portsmouth, Admiral's
yachts.
In dock—Princess Charlotte, 104 ' • Collingwood,
80 ; Pembroke, 72 ; Flying Fish, 12 ; Malabar, coal-
depot ; and Rifleman steamer.
In the old basin—Dauntless,Reynard, and. Plum-
per, steamers, and Defence, convict-hulk.
In the steam-basin—Ajax, Retribution, Centaur,
Stromboli, Salamander, Phoenix, Cormorant, Fairy,
Otter, and Jackal steamers.
At Spithead—St. Vincent, 120 ; Prince Regent,
92; Powerful, 84; and Java, freight-ship.
Wind, N.N.E. ; strong breezes and squally weather,
with rain.
It is reported that during the ensuirig *fortnight
some small relief will he afforded to the suffering
thousands of starving, good seamen, in our ports, by
the commissioning of one or two ships.
The Powerful, 84, Captain the Hon. R. S. Dundas,
C. 8., as-we anticipated on Monday last, has been
ordered to have her defects made good, and to fill up
the number of her crew from 490 to 750 officers and
men, her full war complement. She is also to take
on board all her sea stores, and to ship four months'
provisions.
The Canopus, 84, at Devonport, is ordered to be
completed as an advanced ship.-
The Wellesley, 72, Captain Goldsmith, with
the
flag of Vice-Admiral the Earl of Dundonald, with
the Scourge steam-sloop, Commander Wingrove,
were at Halifax on the sth inst.

RUSSIAN FLEET IN THE BLACK SEA.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE MORNING LIERALD.
Sir,—ln your paper of yesterday I observed a
paragraph under the head of Naples, dated the 27th
September, in which it was stated that—
" A courier from the Russian embassy in London
brought a:note.from Baron Brunnow to Lord Palmer-
ston
declaring that any intervention by France and
England in the affairs of Sicily would be considered
by Russia as a declaration of war.
If this statement be true it will behove those mem •
bers of the Cabinet who are urging on the Admiralty
the reduction of our navy to bear in mind that Russia
has twenty sail of the line and fifteen large frigates in
the Black Sea, all perfectly equipped and ready for
active service ; which force might, through the in-
trigues of Russian diplomacy, be in the Mediterranean