The Sun.
London, England, 1867-09-26 00:00:00

Naval and Military Intelligence.

Lieut. Le Feuvre, Ist battalion 16th, is under
orders to join the depot at Colchester on the 10th
prox.

H.R.H. the Commander-in-Chief has approved
the annexed arrangements :—Lieut. Peckitt, Blth
Regiment, to join the depot, vice Lieut. Murray,
promoted, who will join the service companies; and
Lieut. Sir E. Waller to proceed from the depot to
the service companies. In accordance with Horse
Guards orders Capt. Whitlock and 150 men of the
depot 83d Regiment are held in readiness to embark
for Gibraltar about the 10th prox.

Yesterday an order was received at the head-
quarters of the Royal Engineer establishment, Chat-
ham, directing the following parties of non-commis-
sioned officers and sappers to be held in readiness
for embarkation with the expeditionary force about
to be despatched to Abyssinia, viz., 1 sergeant and
24 rank and file of Royal Engineer telegraphists, 1
sergeant and 6 photographers, and 10 non-commis-
sioned officers and sappers of Royal Engineer Train.
The officers selected to accompany the party of Royal
Engineers are Lieut. J. L. Morgan and Lieut. A. R.
Puzey. The detachment is held in readiness to
leave Chatham at an hour's notice.
The 15th Hussars will arrive in the eastern dis-
trict as follows : —Head-quarters and one squadron,
consisting of 9 officers, 55 men, and 82 horses, at
Norwich, on the Ist of October; one squadron of 4
officers, 105 men, and 107 horses, at Ipswich, on
the 28th inst. ; dismounted parties, 5 officers, 112
men, 20 women, and 41 children, at Norwich, on

the 30th inst. ; and 13 men, 12 women, and 20
children, at Ipswich, on the 27th inst.
The completion of the unarmoured wooden screw
vessels built at Chatham dockyard has enabled the
officials at that establishment to place an additional
number of mechanics and shipwrights on the iron
armour-plated ship Hercules, 12, 5,226 tons, 1,200
horse power (nominal), in order that she may be in
readiness for leaving the dock early in the ensuing
year. The armour-plating along her central battery
is completed, with the exception of a tier of the
8-inch plates, which are now undergoing the plan-
, iug, slotting, and boring processes. The thickness
of armour-plating at the water-line is 9in., followed
by plates of 6in. in thickness, and one belt of 8-inch
plates protecting the central main deck battery.
The Hercules is constructed with indented sides, to
enable her broadside guns to be fired either ahead
or astern, nearly in a line with the vessel's keel ;
while by the adoption of the turn-table (the inven-
tion of Capt. It. Scott) the advantages gained by
working guns from port to port are as nearly as
possible equivalent to those of the turret principle
without its admitted defects. The mechanics con-
nected with the engineer department are now engaged
in fitting the machinery to be used for moving the
large 18-ton guns to and from the bow and quarter
ports of the Hercules's central battery. From the
circumstance of the French Government being
now engaged in the construction of two large iron-
clads at Toulon dockyard, each of which is to carry,
in addition to a central battery armament of eight
guns, similar to the central battery of the Hercules,
four heavy guns on the upper deck, the proposal to
place P. few heavy gnu on the upper deck of the