The Sun.
London, England, 1856-02-12 00:00:00

Naval and Military Intelligence.

The Colossus, screw, Si, Captain the Hon. Henry
Xeppel, C. 8., hauled alongside her hulk in Portsmouth
harbour yesterday to "paint shit?" a❑d receive her crew,
before dropping out to Spithead and joining the fleet
there.

The Harrier, 15, screw sloop, Commander Derriman,
left Portsmouth harbour yesterday and joined the fleet
at Spithead.

The Plover, 4, screw gun-boat, Lieutena.nt.Corn•
wander Stewart, went to the Motherbank yesterday,
with liberty men from the gun-boat flotilla.
The Pioneer, 6, bear screw despateli vessel, was taken
into dock yesterday to be fitted for commission.
The Lapwing, t;, new screw gun-vessel, was ,towed up
to Portsmouth from Cowes yesterday to be fitted for
commission.

The schooner John Willia►ns is embarking a number
of heavy mortars and guns of various sizes from the
Arsenal-wharf, at Woolwich, and will sail to-day for
Portsmouth.

The paddle-wheel steamer rite, for some time under
repair in Woolwich dockyar4 is now in a forward state,
and has received her en; inn gear. The repairs and
Alterations of the Princess Alice are likewise advancing
rapidly.
Yesterday two substav tially-built and finely-modelled
wooden gun-boats, the F .eacon and the Brave, of about
223 tons each, were lair ached from the building-yard of
Mr. John Laird, on th e border of the Great Float, at
Birkenhead. Both yes eels had their engines and boilers
on board, and their en, ,ranee into the water was greeted
with lou 1 cheers by at large assemblage of spectators.
The launches were v sry successful, the christening of
the Beacon being perf orramd by Mrs. Bevis, wife of Cap-
tain Bevis, R.N., lty agent at Liverpool ; and
that of the Brave by Mills '.Ag,ne4 Laird, daughter of the
builder. Two similar• vessels will be launched from Mr.
Laird's Liverpool yard melt week, besides which there
are two others nearly co mpleted, with engines, boilers,
and machinery on boar! Each of the boats will carry
two guns of heavy calif.e:.e, which may be worked at will
from any portion of Vie vessel. Mr. Laird is also
building, at his Birkenhi !ad and Liverpool yards, 15 iron
mortar-boats of 100 ton I measurerneet each, of a pre-
cisely 4irnilar descriptirax to the one recently constructed,
and already noticed i n 2'he Sue. Two of these are ex-
pected to be launched in 10 or 14 days, the rest to follow
in quick succession.
The second pier. , which was coinmeeced about three
months ago at f tie arsenal-wharf, Woolwich, will be
ready for service in about three weeks. This will con-
siderably augmn at the capabilities of landing and ship-
ping, and, as ye, eels of heavy tonnage will be enabled
to moor alougs;d e in any tide, the use of barges will be
superseded. A,l pacious platform branches off on either
side of the pier:, ,rovided with a double line of tramway,
and extends a, uuts icient length to almit the loading of
four ships arc the same time. Four cranes are to be
erected on Use platt 'nu, and are to be served by hydrau-
lic pressure., The apparatus for this purpose is in the
course of erectiow,> ender the supervision of Colonel
Beatson, commanding Royal Engineers. This will be
applied for the joint p,
the IIIiMONIIB ensues alot g the Arsen'n-poses of working the whole of
al-wharf aide.