The Sun.
London, England, 1860-03-19 00:00:00

2HE NA Yl'.

Her Majesty's gunboat Plover, constructed to re-
place the gunboat of that name sunk at the mouth
of the Peiho, steamed down to Chatham from Wool-
wich on Saturday. Mr. Rigby, of the firm of
Messrs. Napier and f Glasgow, who supplied
the engines, and Mr. Co.,Dinnen, from the department
of the Surveyor-General of the Navy, were on
board to report on the efficiency of the engines-
She is to be coppered and fitted for sea at Chatham.
The Admiralty have forwarded orders to Chatham
dockyard for the following vessels now building at
that establishment to be brought forward for
launching during the present year—viz., the Atlas,
91, line•of-battle screw steamer; the Undaunted,
51, large frigate ; and the Orpheus, 22, screw cor-
vette. All three of these ships are in a very for-
ward state, several hundred hands being employed
on each of them. As soon as they are launched,
three of the six line-of-battle and other ships just
ordered to be built at Chatham dockyard will be
laid down on the same slips—viz., the Pitt, 91 ; the
Pomona, 51 ; and the Menai, 22, screw steamers.
The floating battery Trusty, 14, guns, which was
so severely handled on the recent occasion of the
experiments made on herat Shoeburyness with the
Armstrong guns, is being thoroughly repaired at
Chatham by a large number of shipwrights. The
whole of the thick wrought-iron plates with which
ship is encased, which were shattered and injured
by the effects of the shot, are to be replaced by new
ones, and these are now being forged at the smithery
under the superintendence of Mr. Catsell, the
master blacksmith at Chatham. As soon as the
defects have been made good and the battery corn-
pleted some further experiments are to be made
against the Trusty with the long range Whitworth
guns.

Another of the Arctic discovery ships, the North
Star, has just been broken up at Chatham dockyard
by the shipwrights hired for that purpose. Orders
have been given that the men engaged are not to
be discharged, but are to be employed in the ser-
vice of the yard.
The Castor, 36, fitting for a training ship for the
Naval Coast Volunteers, is ordered to proceed from
Chatham to Greenhithe on the 31st inst., to be
stationed in the river Thames.
The Ariadne, 26, screw, Capt. E. W. Vansittart,
sailed from Spithead at an early hour on Saturday
for Cork, and thcn cc on a short crui.-e.
The Argus, coastguard screw steamer, arrived at
Portsmouth yesterday from the westward.
The Megcera, iron screw troopship, Commander
James Hunt, went out of Portsmouth harbour on
Saturday to Spithead to test her machinery. She
afterwards returned to the harbour to receive her
masts and complete her outfit for sea service.
The
.gumnery lieutenants on board the different
ships in Portsmouth harbour are undergoing a
course of instruction in the working of the Arm-
strong gun on board her Majesty's ship Excellent,
Capt. R. S. Hewlett, C. 8., the gunnery ship of the
p art.

- Yesterday being the anniversary of the birthday
of her Royal Highness the Princess Louisa, at noon
a Royal salute was fired from her Majesty's ship
Victory, flagship of the Commander-in-Chief, at
Portsmouth, in honour of the occasion.
The naval apprentice brig Nautilus, 6, Lieut. W.
B. Grant commanding, is ordered to be docked in
No. 1 dock at Devonport dockyard, prior to her re-
moval into the Sound.
The paddlewheel surveying vessel Porcupine, 3,
Capt. Otter, and the gunboat Redwing, were taken
out of No. 2 dock, at Keyham steamyard, Ply-
mouth ; on Friday, the pay-yacht Plymouth and
the gunboat Procris were placed in it. The Por-
cupine is in Keyham basin receiving coal.
The steam corvette Mutine, 17, sailed from Ply-
mouth under canvas on Saturday for Valparaiso.
The sloop Arachne, 18, Commander J. E. Mont-
gomerie, six weeks from Barbadoes, arrived on
Saturday evening in Plymouth Sound, and saluted
the flag of Port-Admiral Sir B. Reynolds, K.C.B.
Steam was got up on Friday on board the screw
steamship Espoir, 5, and her machinery was tried
alongside the jetty in Keyham basin. Another
trial will be made to-morrow.
The paddlewheel steam vessel Advice, N. Ray-
mond, secund master, commanding, left Plymouth
on Saturday for Queenstown.
The gunboat Lark went outside Plymouth Break-
water on Saturday to try her machinery, and re-
tuaned to Hamoaze.

The following appointments were made on Satur-
day at the Admiralty :—Ambrose J. U. Breton,
master additional, to the Blenheim ; James Ryley,
chief engineer, to the Megmra ; John Davenport,
acting first-class assistant-engineer, for temporary
service in the Megmra ; Thomas Gissing, second-
class assistant-engineer, to the Megmra ; George
M‘Lcod, acting third-class assistant-engineer, to the
Megfera ; William A. Stewart, acting third-class
assistant-engineer, to the Asia, for temporary
charge of the machinery of the Snapper.