The Sun.
London, England, 1860-12-11 00:00:00

IHR NAVY.

The members of the Royal Commission appointed
to investigate the management and economy of the
Royal dockyards, comprising Lord Gifford, Sir H.
Willoughby, M.P., Rear-Admiral Robinson, Mr.
R. Dalglish, M.P., with Mr. Price, R.N., as secre-
tary, arrived yesterday at Dent's George Hotel,
Portsmouth. In the afternoon they visited the
dockyard and after transacting business at the
office of the Admiral Superintendent they inspected
several parts of the yard attended by the heads of
departments.
The Retribution, 28, paddle, Commodore Harry
E. Edgell, C. 8., yesterday disembarked her inva-
lids, military and naval, and discharged her powder
and shell. She will go into Portsmouth harbour
from Spithead this morning to dismantle, and be
put out of commission.
The St. George, 91, screw, Capt. Hon. F. Egerton,
and the Desperate, 9, screw, Commander Ross, both
at Portland, are daily engaged in exercising their
crews aloft, and at target practice. They are
reported to be well manned.
The screw steam gun vessel Lynx, Lieut.-Com-
manding Henry Berkeley, from Sierra Leone the
24th October, and Fayal the 30th November, arrived
in Plymouth Sound yesterday morning. She has
experienced very heavy weather on the whole pas-
sage, and since leaving Fayal has had a succession
of strong westerly gales; during the last seven days
her sails have been blown away and boats stove in.
The Lynx spoke, October the 30th, lat. 9.44 N.,
long. 17.27 W., the brigantine Menta, from London
for Sierra Leone, with Government stores ;
November the 26th, lat. 35.43 N., long. 23.22
W., the Dutch brig, Christian Lewis, from Batavia
for Amsterdam, 92 days out. She left at Fayal
the Scotch brig Reaper, of Dundee, homeward
bound, 93 days from Benin, in distress; the cap-
tain, steward, and one seaman having died at sea
from scurvy ; the rest of the crew, with the excep-
tion of two seamen, were unable to do duty, being
affected with the same disorder. The Lynx was
commissioned on the 12th November, 1857, and
has been engaged principally in Dr. Livingstone's
expedition. During her commission she has lost
11 seamen and 3 officers—viz., Mr. Geo. Walker,
Assist.-Paymaster, of dysentery, at Sierra Leone,
in March, 1858 ; Mr. Jones, assist.-engineer, at
Mauritius, in June, 1859 ; and Mr. Miller, assist.-
engineer, on the passage home. She is in a very
leaky condition, and makes a foot of water every
hour, and her boilers are in a very bad condition.
It is expected that she will go into Hamoaze, and
her crew will be paid off.
The paddlewheel steamsloop Geyser, 6, Com-

wander G. M. Jackson, from Portsmouth, arrived
in Plymouth Sound yesterday. She will go into
Hamoaze to have her defects made good.
The following appointments were made yesterday
at the Admiralty :—W. M'K. A. Cotton has been
nominated to a naval cadetship; M. T. West, surg.,
to the Fisgard ; J. Forbes (I)), surg., to the Jason ;
G. B. Hill, surg., to the Osborne ; S. Matthews, of
the Magicienne, W. Dark, of the Bullfinch, J. Mar-
wood, of the Hero, and J. A. Lodge, of the Terrible,
have been promoted to the rank of first-class assist.-
engineers ; W. H. Jenkins, of the Buzzard, and E.
Lewis, of the Plumper, have been promoted to the
rank of acting first-class assist.-engineers.