The Sun.
London, England, 1860-09-10 00:00:00

THE NA Fl'.

1 On Thursday afternoon the Lords of the Admi-
ralty proceeded in her Majesty's steamer Light-
ning and steamed round the whole of the Channel
Fleet ; all of which, together with the. blockship
Blenheim, 60, Capt. Tatham, manned yards in
splendid style, presenting a spectacle seldom seen
any where, much less in Milford Haven. Their
lordships then went en board the flagship Royal
Albert, 121, ard soon after left under a salute of
19 guns ?from the fleet. The result of the visit to
the Admiral was soon apparent by the signal being
made to "hoist in boats and prepare for sea." This,
followed by an order for all the fleet to be" hove
short" by four a.m. next morning, made it gene-
rally known throughout the fleet that Friday was
to be a day of exercise and evolutions before their
lordships, outside the haven. Accordingly, a little
after six o'clock a.m., on Friday, the order was
made to " weigh in succession" and " stand out to
sea," which they did in the following order, viz.:
—The Diadem, 32, Capt. James H. Cockburn ; the
Mersey, 40, Capt. Henry Caldwell, C. B. ; the Mars,
80, Capt. James N. Strange; the Algiers, 91, Capt.
George W. D O'Callaghan ; the Trafalgar, 91, Capt.
Edward S. Fanshawe ; the Aboukir, 91, Captain
Douglas Curry ; the Edgar, 91, Capt. James E.
Caton, flag-ship of Rear-Admiral Erskine; the
Centurion, 80, Capt. Henry D. Rogers; the Con-
queror, 101, Capt. Henry Broadhead; the Royal
Albert, 121, Capt. H. J. Lacon, flag-ship of Vioe-
Admiral Sir Chas. Fremantle, K.C.B. ; and the
Donegal, 101, Capt. Edward Sotheboy, C.B. In j
about one hour and a-half the whole were under
weigh, and steaming ont to sea. Shortly after 7
o'clock a.m,, the Osborne, with the Admiralty flag
at the main, slipped her moorings and went down
the haven, accompanied by the gunboat Violet and
her Majesty's ship Lightning, with the Earl of
Cawdor on board. The fleet were expected to re-
turn on Friday night, with the exception of some
few that will remain at sea for a few days, to go
through a series of practical experiments, both' by
day and night, with Mr. W. H. Ward's new system
of ocean telegraphic signals, to have a personal in-
spection of which was, we believe, the principal
object of the Lords of the Admiralty when they
ordered the present review.
Topgallant-masts were pointed on Saturday on
board the screw steam-sloop Curlew, 9, Comman-
der Shaw, at Devonport.
The screw steam coastguard ship Hogue' 60,
Capt. R. J. J. G. Macdonald, having received her
powder, got up steam in Plymouth Sound on Satur-
day, and proceeded to her station, Greenock.
The screw steam gun-vessel Torch, 5, left Ply-
mouth on Saturday for the Coast of Africa.
The screw steam-corvette Hornet, 17, left Ply-
mouth yesterday, Sunday, for the Cape of Good
Hope and the Red Sea.

Great progress is being made at Chatham Dock-
yard in the construction of the large line-of.battle
screw steamer Royal Oak, 91, building on No. 7
slip, which has been put in frame, and is to be
pushed forward with all despatch. Her dimensions
will be 245 feet in extreme length, 55 feet 4 inches
in breadth, and of 3,320 tons burden. A 4-gun screw
steamer, not named, has also just been commenced
on one of the adjoining slips, and is being put in
frame.

A curious return was made to the Captain Super-
intendent of Chatham Dockyard on Friday of the
number of workmen and others who were absent
from the establishment on the afternoon of that
day, from which it appeared that no less than 2,000
of the employes of the dockyard absented themselves
on the afternoon in question to attend the races on
Chatham lines, a number stated to be unprece-
dentedly large.
The following appointments were made on Satur-
day at the Admiralty :—Lieut. C. F. Ryder, to the
Agamemnon ' • Dr. John T. B. Torrance, assistant-
surgeon to the Impregnable, for Plymouth Hos-
pital ; John S. Dobbin, acting assistant-surgeon to
the Victory, for Haslar Hospital ; Dr. Thomas
Warde, acting assistant-surgeon, to the Exmouth ;
C, B. Hargrave, acting third-class assistant-engi-
neer, to the Firebrand ; and John King, second-
class assistant-engineer, to the Spiteful.