The Sun.
London, England, 1867-03-28 00:00:00

Naval and Military Intelligence.

VALETTA, March 23.—The squadron of heavy
ships, consisting of the Victoria, 102 (flagship) ;
Prince Consort, 35 ; Arethusa, 35 ; Royal Oak, 35 ;
and Ocean, 21 (three of them ironclads), under the
personal command of Lord C. Paget, hove in sight on
the morning of the 20th inst., and, after communicat-
ing with the Palace Signal Tower got up steam, and
resumed their moorings in the Grand Harbour.
The Admiral did not take the squadron to Sicily, as
was the original intention, but confined his cruise to
sailing off and on in the Malta Channel, not exceed-
ing a distance of 30 miles from this island, and
exercising the crews in great gun and other practice.
Her Majesty's ship Endymion, 35, screw frigate,
Capt. C. Wake, arrived here on the night of the 19th
inst. from Alexandria, Beyrout, and Cyprus, having
left the first-named place on the Bth ult. She reports
having had head winds the whole time, and she per-
formed the entire voyage under sail. Commander
Butler, who has been appointed to this ship, and
who has been awaiting in the Hibernia the arrival
of the Endymion, joined her on the 20th inst.
Letters from the Pincus announce the arrival there
on the 7th inst. of the Caradoc, despatch vessel,
Lieut.-Commander E. H. Wilkinson, on her wayto
Constantinople. This vessel, which took up the
Bishop of Gibraltar to Greece, had a very rough
passage, and had to put into Xyli Bay for 24 hours,
having had her bow ports carried away on the night
of the 3d inst., and she took in so much water as to
render constant use of the pumps necessary. The
Bishop of Gibraltar returned last night in the En-
terprise, 4, Commander Bosanquet, from Patras,
Zante, and Argostoli, which last place she left on
the 20th inst. While at Argostoli, the surgeon, Dr.
Thompson, visited the sick who were suffering from
wounds caused by the earthquake. Authentic ac-
counts have been received here from Syria to the
9th of March, when all was quiet. It is most pro-
bable the Megaera, screw troopship, Capt. Simpson,
will get away the day after to-morrow, the 25th inst.
She will call at Plymouth and Portsmouth, en route
to the Thames, and will take with her a number of
naval and military time-expired men and invalids.
The Assurance, 4, Commander W. H. Pym, which,
it has already been announced, has received orders
to proceed to the West Coast of Africa, is to leave
to-day for that unenviable station. First Lieut.
L. Malet, of this vessel, having been invalided,
will proceed to England, and Lieut. Powlett, of the
Arethusa, has been appointed to succeed him. Lieut.
Macnamara, of the Assurance, has been permitted
to exchange with Lieut. Pulley, of the Arethusa.
Mr. Stocker, Second Master of the Royal Oak, has
been appointed Acting Master to the Racer, vice
Mr. Spry, invalided. Sub-Lieut. Aitchison, of the
Endymion, and Sub-Lieut. Gamier, of the Galatea,
lately promoted, have been appointed additional to
the Victoria, for disposal. Lieut. Aitchison has
since been appointed by the Commander-in-Chief to
the Arethusa. The English yacht-schooner Marcia
(Mr. R. B. Sheridan, owner), left port on Monday,
18th inst., for Syracuse, and put back the same day.
The two "Martin's patent self-canting anchors,"
of 52 cwt. each, supplied to the Admiralty for her
Majesty's ship Pallas, which a few days since sus-
tained under the hydraulic machine at Portsmouth
dockyard a testing strain equal to that given to an
ordinary Admiralty pattern anchor of 95 cwt. with-
out exhibiting the slightest permanent deflection,
have since been removed to the smithery of the
yard and submitted there to the severest possible
form of " fire" proof, with results equally satisfac-
tory to those which attended their hydraulic tests.
The arms were taken out of the shanks, placed in
separate fires, and heated to a low red heat. Taken
from the fires, each section of the anchors which
had been subjected to the greatest strain was scraped,
filed over, and sprinkled with water, and then most
scrupulously examined by the master smith and his
assistants to ascertain whether there existed any
sign of weakness, or cracks, flaw, or defect of any
kind in the metal. Not the least imperfection of
any kind could be detected, and the anchors were
then declared accepted for service.
Admiral Sir T. Sabine Pulley, K.C.8., the Port-
Admiral and Naval Commander-in- Chief at Ports-
mouth, embarked yesterday morning on board the
steam yacht Fire Queen, Staff Commander Paul,
and proceeded to Spithead, where he inspected the
armoured frigate Royal Alfred, 18 guns, 800 horse
power, Capt. F. A. Herbert, about to sail for Hali-
fax with Vice-Admiral Sir George Rodney Mundy,
K.C.8., the newly-appointed Commander-in-Chief
of her Majesty's ships in North American and West
Indian waters. The Royal Alfred was to have left
Spithead immediately after her inspection for a 48
hours' cruise and trial of her 12-ton guns, south of
the Isle of Wight, but this has been deferred by the
discovery of the fracture of a large number of her
boiler tubes. The workmen of the steam factory at
Portsmouth yard are employed on board the ship at
Spithead repairing the damage. The date of the
sailing of the Royal Alfred for Halifax will most
probably be about the 6th proximo.
The Rodney, 78, sailed from Spithead for the
Channel and Plymouth Sound yesterday afternoon.
The Rodney will make a stay of some days in the
Sound before finally sailing from England for her
station. In the meantime it is hoped that the fresh
air of the Channel will effectually clear out the
sickness which has been prevailing on board of her
previous to her arrival in the Sound.
The armoured iron frigate Bellerophon, Capt. E.
Tatham, has left Spithead for St. Helen's Roads
anchorage, preparatory to a cruise in the Channel
for trials of her 12-ton guns, with their iron car-
riages and slides.
The armoured iron frigate Warrior, 32, 1,025 horse
power, is ordered for commission at Portsmouth. It
is understood Capt. Lord Gilford will be intrusted
with the command of this famous frigate.

Her Majesty's screw troop ship Himalaya, Capt.
S. B. Piers, was appointed to sail from Spithead at
10 p.m. yesterday for the Channel Islands, Queens-
town, Gibraltar, the Cape of Good Hope, and the
Mauritius. She steamed out of the harbour to Spit-
head, where she anchored until the appointed time
for sailing for the Channel Islands.
Instructions have been received at Chatham
Dockyard from the Admiralty to sell the fine
unarmoured screw frigate Chesapeake, 35, 2,377
tons, 400 horse power, attached to the third di-
vision of the Steam Reserve. She has accordingly
been surveyed by the officials connected with the
Master Shipwright's staffand a report as to her value
has been forwarded to the Admiralty. The engines
and machinery, which have been but little used,
have been taken out and removed into the steam
factory, where they are undergoing a thorough over-
haul and repair, in readiness for being fitted on
board another steamer. The Chesapeake was one of
the last of the 50 gun sailing frigates converted into
screw steamers, but since her alteration she has seen
but little service. Although in pretty good repair
she is unadapted for the present state of naval war-
fare, and instead of allowing her any longer to en-
cumber the entrance to Chatham harbour, the Ad-,