The Sun.
London, England, 1860-07-09 00:00:00

THE NAVY.

The Channel fleet sailed from the Downs on

Saturday, at noon, for• Plymouth.
Th.e operation of cu .tting in two a line-of-battle
ship took place at Cb
.atham Dockyard on Saturday
morning, the ♦essel thus operated upon being the
two-decker 84-gus, ship Bombay, which is now in
dock undergoircg the process of being converted
into a screw steamer. The vessel was built at

Bombay, thirty years ago, and sent to England, bui
after lying 'for a considerable time in ordinary at
Devonport, it was determined to send her to Chat-
ham to b.ave her altered to a screw steamer. The
entire vessel having been cut through, the opera-
tion of inalf-launching the stern portion the distance
to ba added to her length was commenced at eleven
O'clock, under the direction of Mr. 0. W. Lang,
waster shipwright, and the staff of the establish-
ment. The huge mass was moved slowly, by
means of hydraulic levers and blocks, at the rate
.of about one foot in three minutes, but owing to
some impediment which was met with the entire
operation was not completed until half-past twelve,
by which time the stern portion had been moved a
distance of 33 feet 9 inches, the length to be added
to the vessel. The operation was successfully
effected by Mr. Lang, without accident of any kind,
a number of scientific persons being present. The
ship will also be lengthened by the bow and stern,
and when completed will be a splendid vessel of
236 feet 6 inches in length. She is to carry 80
guns of large calibre. Her new stern is to be
elliptical. The whole of her timber is teak, and
as sound as the day she was built.
The screw steam frigate Emerald, 51, in Ply-
mouth Sound, landed on Friday the stores which
she brought from the West Indies.
The gunboat Violet was taken out of the covered
dock of the Devonport dockyard on Friday, and. the
victualling yard paddle-wheel steamer Thais was
placed in the covered dock.
The sailing corvette Havannah, 19, was taken in
tow on Thursday evening in Plymouth Sound by
the steam tugs Confiance and Iron Duke. The
latter tug will tow her to Cardiff, where she will
become a training ship for destitute boys.
The gunboat Nightingale is under examination
alongside the Devonport dockyard to ascertain her
condition.
The screw gun-vessel Viper will be ready for
being put out of commission about the 14th inst.
The sailing line-of-battle ship Indus, 78, at
Devonport, will b 3 commissioned on the 14th inst.
as guardship of the steam ordinary, vice Welling-
ton, 72, the crew of which will be transferred. The
Wellington is to be recommended as guardship of
the tailing ordinary.
The Royal Adelaide, 104, at Devonport, is to be
recommissioned on the 14th inst. as a depot and
training ship for boys.
The Rhadamanthus, paddle, Master Commander
Sturdee, sailed from Spithead for Woolwich, on
Saturday.

The Victoria and Albert, Royal paddle yacht,
Capt. the Hon. Joseph Denman, sailed from Ports-
mouth harbour yesterday, and took up her moor-
ings in Cowes Roads. The Duke of Newcastle em-
barked on board the Royal yacht prior to her leaving
Portsmouth harbour, and proceeded to Cowes on
board of her. The Sprightly, paddle tender, Master
Commander Allen, also proceeded to Cowes in the
wake of the Royal yacht, with servants and
luggage.

The Barracouta, 6, paddlewheel steam vessel, 200-
horse power, Commander W. Wood, has been taken
out of dry dock, in Sheerness yard, where she has
.ndergone a thorough examination as to her condi-
tion with the most satisfactory results ; she is now
being coaled, and will shortly be ready for sea.
The Cockatrice, a new gunboat, with steam en-
gines of 60-horse power, was brought up to Wool-
wich on Saturday, from Newcastle-on-Tyne, to be
fitted for service. The Snipe, built at Millwall, a
third of the new class of screw steam gun vessels,
to ce.rry five Armstrong guns, has also been brought
to Woolwich for fitting oat.

Her Majesty's War Department steamer Lord
Panmure, H. T. Moore, commander, returned to
Woolwich Arsenal on Saturday, having delivered
at the Tower the remnant of the stores saved from
the ship Havering, stranded in Plymouth Sound,
c onsisting of 1,000 cases and 400 hhds. of porter and
ale, 500 bales of rugs and blankets, &c. In conse-
'quenee of the accumulating demand for the ready
supply of equipment to the regular army and the
volunteers, and the consequent necessity for addi-
tional storehouses, the Lords of the Treasury have
entered into arrangements for the purchase of a
spot of waste ground in North Woolwich for the
erection of a magazine, to deposit stores of the
above-named description, the Tower vaults to be
reserved for the housing of arms and equipments
only.

The crew of the screw steamship St. George, 91,
Capt. the Hon. Francis Egerton, at Plymouth, were
inspected on Saturday by Capt. Jerningham, of the
gunnery-ship Cambridge. Nine labourers belong-
ing to the Master Attendant's departments in the
Devonport dockyard volunteered for the St. George
last week.

The remains of the late Captain-Superintendent
Rundle Burges Watson, C. 8., were yesterday
removed from the official residence in Sheerness
dockyard to her Majesty's ship Myrtle, Master
Commander Bourcliier, for conveyance to Teign-
mouth. The body was attended from the resi-
dence to the wharf by the naval and military officers
connected with Sheerness, the procession passing
through a file of the workmen of the yard, amount-
ing to about 1,600 men. The pall was carried by
Capt. Schomberg, her Majesty's ship Cumberland;
Capt. Goldsmith, her Majesty's ship Wellesley ;
Commander Lloyd, her Majesty's ship Cumberland;
and Commander Aldrich, her Majesty's ship For-
midable.

The followir.g appointments were made on Satur-
day at the Admiralty :—W. A. Houghton, 3d class
assist.-engineer to the Cumberland for service in
the Adder ; Archd. King, acting 3d class assist.-
engineer to the Torch ; and John Purdie, acting 3d
class assist.-engineer to the Greyhound.