The Sun.
London, England, 1860-06-04 00:00:00

THE NAVY.

The difficult operation of cutting in two a large
50-gun frigate and half launching the portion of
the vessel cut away was performed in a very suc-
cessful manner at Chatham dockyard on Saturday,
the frigate thus operated upon being the Arethusa,
two-decker, in No. 2 dock, which is about being
converted into a screw steamer. The Arethusa
is one of the old class of frigates, built several
years ago, but the Lords of the Admiralty having
decided on converting her and several other vessels
of the same description into screws, she was brought
up from the ordinary at Devonport to Chatham
dockyard to undergo the requisite alterations to
adapt her for a screw steamship. In order thus to
convert her an addition of nearly 60 feet has to be
made in her length amidships, which necessitated
the operation of cutting her in half and removing
the separated portions of the vessel the required
distance. The frigate having been cut asunder, the
difficult task of removing the stern portion was com-
menced at 10 o'clock on Saturday morning, in the
presence of a number of spectators, notwithstanding
the heavy rain which fell, several of the officers of
the Royal Engineers being also present. A power-
ful hydraulic machine having started the immense
mass to be moved, the united efforts of numerous
blocks and capstans worked by several gangs of
labourers, were brought to bear on the vessel, which
slowly moved down the ways prepared for it at the
rate of about a foot per minute, until the ponderous
body had been dragged 58ft. Bin., the length to be
added to the vessel, when the operation was com-
pleted, and the stern portion shored up and secured
in its place. The entire operation, which lasted up-
wards of an hour, was most successfully performed
under the superintendence of Mr. 0. W. Lang, the
master shipwright, without accident of any descrip-
tion, or so much as a breakage of any of the tackle.
The Arethusa is to be completed with all despatch.
The Russian corvette Medved has sailed from the
Motherbank for the Baltic.
The Harrier, 17, sere w corvette, has been brought
down Portsmouth Harbour, and will be placed in
dock for overhaul and repairs.
Capt. Sir F. L. M'Clintock, commanding her
Majesty's ship Bulldog, has been elected an hon.
member of the Royal Victoria Yacht Club by the
committee, as a mark of their high appreciation of
his gallant and successful mission in search of the
Franklin expedition.
The water will be admitted into the ship basin
at Portsmouth to-day, and the vessels which have
been under repair in the docks removed, and others
placed in dock for that purpose.
The screw steamship Hero, 91, Capt. G. H. Sey-
mour, steamed from Hamoaze, Devonport, on Fri-
day, into the Channel, to try her machinery, and
returned to Hamoaze the same day.
The screw steamship St. George, 91, was taken
from her moorings in Hamoaze, Devonport, on
Friday, and placed in Keyham dock to be cleaned
and valves overhauled.
Rear-Admiral Sir T. S. Pasley, Superintendent
of the Devonport Dockyard, struck his flag at sun-
set on Friday on board the Royal Adelaide, 104,
Capt. W. J. Williams, and has gone on 10 days'
leave of absence. The duties of the dockyard will
be performed by Commander J. Brown, and those
of the ordinary by Capt. Williams.
The paddlewheel steam storeship Dee, 4, Master
Commander T. C. Pullen, from Portsmouth, arrived
in Plymouth Sound on Saturday, with boilers for
the screw steam troopship Perseverance, and was
taken into Keyham basin in the afternoon.
The following appointments were made on Satur-
day at the Admiralty :—Lieut. Thomas W. Simeon
and Lieut. Alexander R. B. Carter, to the Bull-
dog; H. R. Kelly, midshipman, to the Grey-
hound ; N. 0. Roberts, assist.-surgeon, confirmed
in the Retribution ; James Farrelly, assist.-surgeon,
to the Monarch ; Samuel Grose, assist.-surgeon, to
the Cadmus ; Joseph Halpin, assist.-surgeon, to the
Edgar ; Win. L. Bennett and Frederick C. H.
Fetch, master's assistants, to the Bulldog; Henry
A. Scrivener, clerk, to the Bulldog; Francis A.
Martin, assist: clerk, to the Formidable ; Francis
T. Russell, acting third-class assist.-engineer, to
the Himalaya, as supernumerary.