The Sun.
London, England, 1860-12-21 00:00:00

THE NAVE

A letter dated Valetta, Dec. 15, says :—" Her
Majesty's frigate Melpomene, Capt. Ewart, which
arrived here on the 7th inst.-from Corfu, on her way
. to Alexandretta to relieve the Liffey at that port,
encountered a violent storm en the passage, and
sustained some severe damage in her spars and
rigging, which will detain her here for some days
to come for repairs. The Princes 3 Darinka, of
Montenegro, her daughter Olga, and her High-
ness's brother, Signor Kuekuich, and suite, who
arrived by this vessel, are still here. Her Highness
is on her way to Paris, on a visit to the Empress
of the French, at the express invitation of her
Imperial Majesty. It is stated that the Princess
will also visit the Queen of England be-
fore returning to her own country. It will be
remembered that Prince Danilo, husband to this
Princess, was barbarously assassinated at her side,
a few months ago. Her Majesty's frigate Am-
phion, Capt. Cochrane, now in port, is under orders
to proceed to Messina and Palermo, to relieve at
the latter place the line-of-battle ship Agamemnon,
which is to go to Naples, where by the last accounts
received this morning, the 9th inst., there were in
that port her Majesty's ship Hannibal (flag of
Rear-Admiral Mundy), the Renown, and the Queen.
Her Majesty's corvette Scylla, Captain Lambert,
leaves to-night or to-morrow morning, it is said, for
the Levant, touching at the Piraeus. Her Majesty's
gunboat, Boxer, Lieut. Gulliver, is under orders to
leave shortly for Marsala, where she is to be sta-
tioned during the winter. Her Majesty's gunboat,
Foxhound, Commander Alfred Mitchell, has come
in with despatches from the Commander-in-Chief
at Corfu, and will leave on return to that island
after the arrival of the overland mail from Mar-
seilles. Besides the vessels mentioned above as
being in Malta, we have in port the line-of-battle
ships Victor Emmanuel and Orion, the former of
which is being caulked, and having her defects
made good.

The flagship Royal Albert, 121, Capt. Henry
Lacon ; the Conqueror, 101, Capt. Edward S.
Sotheby, C. 8.; the Donegal, 101, Capt. Henry Broad-
head ; the Aboukir, 90, Capt. Douglas Curry ; and
the Emerald, 51, Capt. Arthur Cumming, which
left Lisbon on the 10th inst., entered Plymouth
Sound yesterday. They were under canvas until
Monday, when steam was got up, in order to arrive
by the time appointed. Fine weather was vxpe-

rienced until Wednesday evening, when a heavy
squall carried away the Emerald's mainyard close
off in the slings. The Centurion, 80, Capt. Henry
B. Rogers, C. 8., will remain up the Tagus until
the arrival from Gibraltar of the St. Jean D'Acre,
101, Capt. Thomas P. Thomson, which she will
supply with provisions, and then join the Channel
Squadron at Plymouth. The crews are all healthy.
The Trincomalee, 26, sailing frigate, attached to
the reserve at Chatham, is ordered to be brought up
from her moorings in the Medway and placed in
dock, where she is to be fitted as a training ship for
the Naval Coast Volunteers at the port of Sunder-
land. She is to have a complement of 26 officers
and gunners.
The Amethyst, 26, Capt. S. Greenfell, has been
entirely dismantled, and yesterday was placed under
the sheers to have her masts removed, preparatory
to being paid off.
The Cormorant, 5, screw despatch gunvessel,
proceeded yesterday from Chatham to her moorings
at Gillingham.
The Bulldog, 6, paddle, Commander H. F. Mail-
lop, refitting at Portsmouth, is ordered to take the
place of the Firebrand for Channel service.
The Eurydice, 26, sailing frigate, is ordered for
commission in the spring as a sea-going training
frigate for cadets. Her cruises will extend from 9 to
12 weeks each. Commander M. Lowther will
command her.
The screw steam troopship Himalaya, Captain
Seccombe, was appointed to leave Plymouth Sound
yesterday (Thursday) for Portsmouth.
Engineers have commenced operations on the
new redoubt at Mount Wise, Devonport. The plat-
form for the heavy ordnance is to be sunk several
feet.

Messrs. Eastlake, the Admiralty solicitors at Ply-
mouth, have given notice to the proprietors of
houses and lands in Durnford-street and Barrack-
street, Stonehouse, of the intention of the Govern-
ment to obtain Parliamentary powers to purchase.
The addition to the Marine barracks will give
accommodation for 1,000 Marines.
The crew of the screw steam gunvessel Lynx, 4,
Lieut. and Commander Henry Berkely, at Devon-
port, will probably be paid off to-morrow (Satur-
day).

The screw steam frigate Narcissus, 51, at Ply-
mouth, was appointed to be put in commission
yesterday (Thursday), and to have a crew of 540
men. The screw steam gunvessel Penguin, 5, is
to be put in commission as tender to the Narcissus.
The following naval cadets passed out of her
Majesty's ship Britannia, Capt. Robert Harris, on
the 19th inst., for seagoing ships :—E. C. Jeffreys,
(Admiralty prize for mathematics and navigation);
A. W. Gilbert (prize private for voluntary study) ;
Hon. C. Cadogan, M. J. Harrison, C. G. Hough
(seamanship prize) ; T. A. Watkins, H. A. Little-
dale, E. Payne, P. Francis (French and drawing
prize); A. H. Campbell, B. W. Walker, J. H.
Corfe, G L. Poe, C. T. Mandeville, R. F. Ward,
A. D. Shafto, F. H. Haygarth, J. R. Callender,
E. S. Wade, F. W. Passy, T. A. Fraser, J. R. Aylen,
H. W. Hill, C. C. Drury, J. W. Ranking, J. L.
Crawley, E. W. Burt, H. M. Taylor.
The Duke of Somerset has promoted Messrs.
I C. R. Forrest, C. S. Woodruffe, D. D. Yonge,
H. H. Edwards, James W. Dennistoun, B. E.
Cochrane, Francis L. Wood, and W. H. St. Clair
to be lieutenants. The four last-mentioned have
been promoted in accordance with a special recom-
mendation from Capt. Hewlett for the excellent
examination passed by them at the Royal Naval
College.
The following appointments were made yester-
day at the Admiralty :—George Larken, second
master to the Philomel ; W. W. Warwick, pay-
master, to the Narcissus ; William Phillips, clerk,
to the Narcissus ; Arthur Hodson, assistant-clerk,
to the Hero; Benjamin Urwick and Henry G.
Herbert, assistant-clerks, to the Victory ; Charles J.
Curgenven, assistant-clerk, to the Narcissus;
Francis H. C. Whiddon, assistant-clerk, to the
Impregnable ; James A. Perkins, assistant-clerk, to
the Formidable ; Henry Bullmore, assistant-clerk,
to the Ariadne ; William D. Pearce, assistant-clerk,
to the Britannia ; John Watts, assistant-clerk, to
the Fisgard ; and Francis W. Sims, assistant-
clerk, to the Diadem.
The naval court-martial which assembled on
board H.M.S. Victory in Portsmouth harbour on
Tuesday last for the trial of Commander Power and
Mr. M'Farlane, the commander and master of
H.M.S. Perseverance, wrecked on a reef of rocks
off the north-west port of Mayo, Cape Verde, con-
cluded their sittings yesterday. The evidence for
the prosecution closed on Wednesday evening. and
the defence of the prisoners was appointed to take
place yesterday morning. The Court opened at
10 a.m., and the written defence of Commander
Power, which was first taken, was read by the
chaplain of the ship. The document was some-
what lengthy. In it Capt. Power recapitulated
and reviewed several points of the evidence. He
referred to the rules and regulations of the ship,
together with his own special orders in the event
of the ship being at any time in a position of doubt
or difficulty, and to the reason the watch was in-
trusted to a warrant officer, a man who had always
conducted himself extremely well, and who had
been appointed to the ship for this special duty by
the Admiralty, in compliance with an application
to that effect from him. The rate of speed the ship
was going at the time she went ashore was well
known, and had been accurately calculated, and
the loss of the ship could only be accounted for by
the strong current existing, of which but little was
known, and which was afterwards found to be
always extremely variable and irregular in its
movements. The compasses were tried at St. Vin-
cent's by cross-bearings. The deep-sea and hand-
leads were not used, owing to the bold nature of
the coast, as they would no sooner speak of danger
than the ship would be upon it. Mr. M'Farlane,
the master, had always displayed the greatest zeal
and caution in his duties. In conclusion. Comman-
der Power stated the conduct of all, officers and men,
in landing the troops, and throughout the whole of
the operations consequent on the loss of the ship,
was everything that could be wished for. He had
served 24 years at sea, six of which had been as
commander. At the time of the occurrence he was
suffering from illness, and had suffered much since.
He concluded by leaving his case in the hands of
the Court, and called no witnesses. Mr. M'Farlane
read his defence to the Court, which, like Com-
mander Power's, was very lengthy, and reviewed
the evidence given by the witnesses at some length.
He respectfully submitted that the course the ship
steered on the occasion of her loss was such 'as
without any set would have carried her 11
miles to the north of Mayo, and 16 miles to the
southward of the Laton Rocks, and that he should
not have been justified in steering a more northerly
course on account of those rocks, and the chances
of a northerly current. He had no reason to antici-
pate a set of currents to the southward, having on
former occasions experienced the contrary; the
sailing directions were also silent on the subject.
From
From the assumed position of the ship at 11 p.m.,
eieecitfin tghe ship
and the rate of steaming, it was not presumed that
she was so near the land,
annodt,
ex pectin
within 12 miles at daylight,
had been steered direct for, the land, she ought at
daylight to have been 12 miles distant. The master
of the bark Kingfisher, the master of the schooner
(a coasting vessel) which conveyed Some of the
troops to St. Vincent's,earndgtuheese navalcaptainfn
ofe teheerpoarltl
of Porto Prays, a Portuguese
stated in their testimony, which had been laid before
the Court, that the currents in the vicinity of Mayo
were exceedingly variable in their strength and
irregular in their set. Two foreign men-of-war
had been recently lost (within
two years) near the
same spot as the Perseverance, but no details had
been published. Two days after the wreck it was
byats thenliebark Kingfisher's anchoring that the
esetting
in a contrary direction to
what it did on the day of the wreck, and strongly.
proved rrent was
Star observations were frequently taken, but In
those latitudes were of little use, owing to the hazy
state of the horizon. In conclusion, Mr. M'Farlane
said that he three days after the wreck navigated a
bark to the river Gambia with troops, without the
aid of charts or directions ; that on his arrival at
Sierra Leone he was struck (town with fever, and
had suffered severely ; in fact, he had only come out
of Hasler Hospital to answer the present charge.
Cert
ificates of the highest possible character for
qualities as an officer,
a navigator, and a pilot
were then handed in by Mr. M'Farlane to the
Court from numerous officers. Commander M'Kil-
lop, commanding her Majesty's ship Bulldog, per-
sonally attended the Court, and testified to his
knowledge of Mr. M`Farlano's ability and caution

- -
in his duties as master of a ship, and that he should
feel great pleasure in taking Mr. M'Farlane as his
master in any future vessel he might have the
honour to command. The Court then closed to
consider their finding, and remained in delibera-
tion above four hours. On re-opening, the sentence,.
was read by the Deputy Judge Advocate, award'
ing a severe reprimand to Commander Power, and
the loss of one year's rank. Also severely repri-
manding. Mr. M'Farlane, with the loss of three,
years' rank, accompanied' by the observations, that
there was no evidence of currents to account for
the loss of the ship, nor to account for her being
16 miles out of her course; that precautions were
not taken where currents were known to exist in
running between the islands; nor were sounding°
taken with the deep-sea or hand lead-lines.
Neither was the master on deck, as he ought t°
have been, when the watch was left in charge of A
warrant officer. The conduct of the remainedl
officers and crew after the grounding of the veseen,,
was deserving of special mention from the Court.
Commander Power's conduct also on the vessel_
stranding, and the coolness and decision of hie
measures in getting the women and children, with
the troops, on shore, and providing for their
safety, were deserving all praise.
The manufacture of the 100-pounder Armstrong
guns, intended for naval service, is now making
rapid progress at the Royal gun factories, Wool
with. Six of that species were yesterday success;
fully tested at the Arsenal butt, and were pealed
for service. The new principle introduced by 0_,;."
William Armstrong for the purpose of affording ad':
lionalstrength to th e breech and chamber throughout'
namely, of forging that segment entire, and therel
admitting the metallic fibres horizontally, is
pronounced an undoubted improvement, es th
failures, which were of frequent occurrence at fl;
mer trials, occasioned by the weakness in the three;
of the screw, the bursting of the breech, and
separation of the segments or opening of the ere-
vices, appear to be totally remedied. The whole,6
of the heavy guns, it is stated, will in future u
manufactured according to that principle. Seita,e.
25-pounders are likewise to be manufactured for
ship service, a sample of which has been inspected
and approved by the Board of Admiralty.