The Sun.
London, England, 1860-12-24 00:00:00

TILE NAVY.

The Retrilbution,
'2B, paddle, Commodore It. E.
Edgell, was, paid off on Saturday at Ports-
mouth in a mane cr highly creditable both to offi-
cers and. men. Ciood conduct medals and gratuities
of each were given to three of her'crew—Jas.
Gmnt, boatswain's mate, 24 years' service ; Richd.
Lee, captain of the forecastle, 24 years' service ; and
Robert Gould, quartermaster, of 21 years' service.
'The Retribution's crew were a body of men such as
are seldom seen together in one ship, Many of her
A.B.'s left England as boys. The appearance of the
men at the pay table sustained the character they
had hitherto borne in the ship, for, although an
extra degree of liberty had been allowed them dur-
ing the process of clearing cut and returning stores
not a single man appeared to be the worse for
liquor; all -wereclean, smart, and respectable. Some
of the men received large sums—as much as £lOO
and £ll2O each, and „f 1,600 was remitted by the men
from the pay-table to their homes. The ship was
commissioned Aug. 24, 1856, by Capt. C. Barker,
since which period she has sailed and steamed up-
-wards of 70,000 miles, and gone round the world.
She commenced her cruise by taking supernume-
raries to Malta. She ultimately sailed from Ply-
mouth on March 16, 1857, touching at Rio Janeiro,
and putting into Falkland Islands to repair the
rudder, which had become damaged in a gale of
wind after leaving Rio, passing through the Straits
of Magellan, and arriving at Valparaiso on the 3d
of July, 1857. During the next nine months she
cruised along the coasts of Psru and Chili, protect-
ing British property and watching the movements
of the revolutionary frigate Apurimac. She next
received orders to proceed to China. She called at
Honolulu, and arrived at Hongkong June 12, 1858.
She accompanied Lord Elgin to Jeddo, and transfer-
red the yacht presented by her Majesty to the Em-
peror of Japan, calling on the way at Nagasaki and
Simoda. The treaty being signed, she returned to
Shanghai, and thence proceeded to Yang-tee-Xiang,
having to engage the rebels at Nankin in passing.
She conveyed Lord Elgin 450 miles up the river,
when, owing to the shallowness of the stream, his
Lordship left the Retribution and went on board
the Furious, which conveyed him about 250
miles further on, to Hungchow. She returned to
Shanghai from this navigation in unknown
waters, the greater part of which was marked
by the ship's keel on the sands and mild of the river,
reaching Hongkong on the 26th of January, 1859,
when Capt. Baker was invalided home, and sue •
seeded in the command by Capt. Peter Cracroft,
who was also superseded on the 27th of April fol-
lowing by Commodore Harry E. Edgell, C. 8., who
commanded her till hauling down her pendant on
Saturday. During Commodore Edgell's command
he has recovered upwards of £6,000 from the wreck
of the Ava, near Trincomalee. Since then the

Retribution has accompanied the vessels laying
down the submarine telegraph cable from karra-
chee to Aden, ♦ia Muscat and the Looria Mooria
Islands. She sailed from Aden Feb. 29, 1160, and
arrived at Bombay March 20, where the ship wes
placed in dock and underwent very extensive re-
pairs to enable her to reach England. She sailed
from Trincomalee for England Sept.ls, and arrived
at Portsmouth Dec. 9 in a terribly disabled state,
and fortunately for perhaps the safety of all on
board fine weather had been experienced the
greater part of the passage. During the whole
period of her commission she has lost four officers
and 23 men by death, and five officers and 76 men
have been invalided.
The Spitfire, 6, paddle, Commander Wilson,
arrived at Spithead yesterday from Sheerness, and
after landing supernumeraries paid off from her
Majesty's ship Amethyst proceeded on to Devon-
port on a like mission.
The crew of the screw steam gunvessel Lynx, 4,
Commander Berkeley, were paid off on Saturday
alongside the dockyard at Devonport.
The screw steamship Aboukir, 90, Capt. Douglas
Curry, and the screw steam frigate Emerald, 51,
Capt. Arthur Cumming, went on Saturday after-
noon from Plymouth Sound into Hamoaze.
The naval transport Diligence, from Woolwich,
with stores, arrived in Plymouth Sound on Friday
evening, and on Saturday morßing was towed into
Ramos se.
The Himalaya, screw steamship, Capt. J. sec-
combe, has steamed into Portsmouth harbour from
Spithead, and will embark troops from that port
for conveyance to Malta and Gibraltar on the 27th
inst.

The mainmast of the screw steamship Royal
Albert, 121, at Devonport, is decayed. Her sails
were sent to the Devonport dockpard on Satur-
day. The crew are paid down, and granted 21
days' abseice on leave. It is probable the crews
of the Centurion, Donegal, Aboukir, and the Eme-
rald will also be paid down, and that they will be
provided with passages to the home ports.
The repairs of the acre*, steamship St. George,
90, Capt. the Hon. Francis Egerton, at Devonport,
were completed on Saturday.
The repairs of the screw steamship Hero, 91.
Commodore George Henry Seymour, at Devonport,
will be concluded about the let of February next.
Mr. Taylor, second master of the paddlewheel
steamsloop Geyser, 6, Commander George M. Jack-
son, in Hamoaze, from some cause unknown, fell
into the water from that ship at 2 o'clock on Friday
morning, and was carried away by the tide, which
was running strongly at the time. The deceased
was 24 years of age, a native of Chatham, and much
beloved by his shipmates, officers and men.
John Fleming, private, Royal Marine;,, belong-
ing to the St. George, at Plymouth, was tried

court-martial on Friday, on board cho Impregnable,
in Homoaze, for striking Charles Bacon, lance cor-
poral, his superior officer, P.na sentenced to be re-
duced to the second cla-,s, and to receive 36 lashes.

. •
Her Majesty's ship Amethyst, 26, Capt. Sidney
Grenfell, which was paid off at Chatham on Satur-
day, has seen much service in nearly every part of
the globe. Bhe was commissioned at Plymouth in
the summer of 1856 by Captain Grenfell for a four
years' cruise, and proceeded in the first instance to
Halifax and the West Indies, where she was
attached for a short time to the squadron under the
command of Vice-Admiral Sir A. Fanshawe, X.C.B.
After remaining at that station for a brief period
she proceeded to Rio de Janeiro, and afterwards to
the Cape of Good Hope, from which she was ordered
to proceed to Singapore and the East Indies. On
thebreaking out of hostilities in China in 1357-58
the Amethyst was ordered to Hong-kong, and sub-
sequently to Canton river. During the Chinese war
the
which Amethyst took an active part in the operations
ensued, more particularly in the battles of
Fatehan Ling-tiog, in both of which the crew of
the vessel played a distinguished part, which the Ad-
Iniralty acknowledgedbygranting each of the officers
and 11-.2n one month's pay, After the termination
of the blockade of Canton and the suspension of hos-
tilities in China, the Amethyst proceeded to Aus-
tralia, where
she remained a short time, and after-
wards sailed for Valparaiso, for the purpose of pro-
tecting British interests during the insurrection in
that country, remaining at that port and Callao
several months. Os the arrival of the intelligence
of hostilities having commenced in Mexico the
Amethyst was ordered to the Mexican coast in
order
to render assistance to the British residents. on the
-vessel reaching San Blas the insurrection was then
raging, and it was decided to form a naval brigade
to protect British rights. A portion of the crew of
the Amethyst, as well as that of her
Majesty s screw
corvette Pylades, 21, Capt. M. de Courcey, which
was then on the coast, together with the marines
from both vessels, were landed, and placed under
the command of Lieut. C. H. Stirling, of the Ame-
thyst, and Lieat J. C. Purvis, of the Pylades. Two
of the ship's 32-pounders were landed and two other
guns, and with these the naval brigade were en-
abled to effect some important operations. The naval
brigade afterwards proceeded up the country as far
as Guaymas, where the blue-jackets and marines
were emplay-cd in protecting the residence of the
British Consul. During the period the Amethyst
was at San Blas she shipped a considerable quantity
of specie belonging to the English, estimated at two
millions of dollars, which was subsequently trans-
ferred to the Pylades. She afterwards took on ,
board upwards of one million dollars more, which
she conveyed. to Panama. From the Mexican coast 0

the Amethyst returned to England, after a cruise s
extending over nearly five years. During the time
she has been in commission the Amethyst has sailed
over a distance of nearly 250,000 miles, or consider-
ably more than any other vessel now in commission.
Only a few of the officers who left England in
the vessel return with her. The crew during
the time she has been absent from England have
been generally healthy, only five mea having
died from sickness, and one from the effects of
an accident—falling down the main hatch-
way. The ship's company have been generally
well conducted, and corporal punishment has been
exceedingly rare on board. One of the crew, Chas.
Hills, an able seaman, during the time the Ame-
thyst was at Guaymas, had his arm blown off and
his other arm shattered by the accidental bursting
of a gun on firing a salute. On the vessel being
paid off on Saturday the ship's company were
called aft by Capt. Grenfell, who briefly addressed
them, and expressed the satisfaction he had expe-
rienced in commanding for so long a period such a
generally well-conducted body of men. In taking
leaving of them he wished them every happiness
and prosperity, and trusted they would enjoy them-
selves during the present festive season. He then
presented a silver medal, which, together with the
gratuity, had been awarded by the Lords of the
Admiralty to Geo. Rimmington, boatswain's mate,
for long service and good conduct. Out of the 230
blue-jackets who composes the crew of the Ame-
thyst about one-half are continuous service men,and
these have been granted eight weeks' ran ashore,
after which they will join one of the guardships at
either of the naval ports. Those of the crew Who
belonged to the west of England embarked on board
the Spiteful, 6, paddlewheel steamer, which was
waiting alongside the Amethyst, and will be eon-
veyed round to Plymouth, where they will be landed.
The following appointments were made on Sa-
turday at the Admiralty :—Lieut. Wm. Codrington
and Lieut. Claude E. Buckle, to the Narcissus; W.
F. Boughey, mate, to the Aboukir; Henry T. Chan-
trey, mate confirmed in the Donegal ; Wm. Gill,
chief engineer, to the Narcissus; Charles Tucker,
chief engineer, to the Indus, for service in the
Forte; John Marwood, first-class assist.-engineer,
to the Philomel; Thomas A. Clarke, first-class
assistant-engineer, to the Indus, for charge of the
Precris ; William H. Stell, promoted to the rank
of first-class assistant-engineer, and appointed to
the Narcissus ; George Tidcombe, second-class
assist.-engineer, to the Narcissus, for service in the
Penguin; William H. Gill, second-class assistant-
engineer, to the Indus, to take charge of the Shel-
drake ; William H. Croxall, acting second-class
assistant-engineer, to the Philomel; Joseph Kay,
third-class assistant-engineer, to the Narcissus;
William H. Nicholson, third-class assistant-engi-
neer to the Narcissus, for service in the Penguin ;
Joseph C. Gray, thirdeclass assistant-engineer, to
the Donegal; William P. Guyer and William Giles,
third-elass assistant-engineers, to the Narcissus ;
Isaac Hall, acting third-class assistant-engineer, to
the Cumberland, as supernumerary ; J. Clinkskill,
acting third-class assistant-engineer, to the Eme-
rald; Samuel George Hill, acting third-class assis-
tant-engineer, to the Philomel ; James Torkington,
acting third-class assistant-engineer, to the Hero;
William T. Barry, acting third-class assistant-en-
gineer to the Narcissus ; Ebenezer Bennet, acting
third-class assistant-engineer, to the Bulldog;
Edward Hinvest, second master, to the Edgar ;
Guido Harris, second master to the Narcissus ;
John Cruickshank, assistant-surgeon, to the Philo-
mel ; Robert E. Fisher, acting assistant-surgeon,
to the Aboukir; W. L. Harrison and William P.
Haynes, master's assistants to the Narcissus; Regi-
nald T. Carlyon, master's assistant to the Philomel;
Edward S. Chapp, master's assistant, to the Im-
mortalite ; Richard G. Roe, master's assistant, to
the Narcissus for the Penguin; William Cousens
and William J. Symons, master's assistants, to the
Impregnable for the Nautilus ; Ralph A. Ramsay
and George D. Moody, master's assistants, to the
Nile; Richard H. Hunter, master's assistant, to
the Emerald; and Geerge H. Steele, master's as-
sistant to the Sanspareil.