The Sun.
London, England, 1859-12-23 00:00:00

7HE NAVY.

The Rodney,. 91, line-of-battle ship, now in dock
at Chatham, undergoing the process of being al-
tered from a sailing ship to a screw steamer, has
received the first portion of her engines and ma- 1
chinery from Messrs. Maudslay and Co., and work-
men are now engaged in fitting it on board the ship.
The Charybdis, 21, screw corvette, fitting in the
steam basin at Chatham, will be undoeked to-
morrow, when she will join the steam reserve.
The screw steamship Edgar, 91, flag of Rear-
Admiral Erskine, left Plymouth on Wednesday for
Portland.
The screw steamship Nile, 90, Capt. Wilmot,
was towed by the Confiance and Zephyr on
Wednesday from Plymouth Sound into Hamoaze.
The attempt on Tuesday was postponed in conse-
quence of the heavy weather.
The invalids brought to Plymouth on Wednesday
by the Firebrand from Gibraltar were transferred
in the afternoon to the flagship Impregnable, in
Hamoaze. Mr. Straubenzee, midshipman, invalided
from the James Watt, came home in the Firebrand.
Mr. W. H. Ward, of Auburn, New York, whose
invention for day and nightsignals, termed the
" ocean marine telegraph, has been noticed on
various occasions as having obtained the favourable
consideration of the Lords of the Admiralty, at-
tended at the dockyard, Woolwich, oh Wednesday.
evening, and entered into a preliminary experi-
ment, in the presence of the Commodore-Superin-
tendent, the Hon. Sir James Drummond, C. 8.,
Aide-de-camp to her Majesty, attended by the re-
spective officers of the yard, for the trial of an im-
proved apparatus for the same purpose, and which,
it is presumed, will effectually supersede, with much
advantage to the service, the introduction of his
original invention. The new instrument differs
materially from the former one, and is secured by
a distinct patent. It posseses the means of working
the signals with much greater facility and prompti-
tude, and in its appearance resembles a hugh quad-
ruple lantern or semaphore, furnished with power-
ful reflectors, to be affixed to the mainmast or any
other elevated position on board ship; the former
method consisting of a fixed branch in the form of
a cross, bearinr, five reflecting lamps, the colours
being changed by the working of keys similar to the
notes of a piano. Each lantern in the present system
has its own working arrangements, without the dis-
advantage of the keys, an is arranged with cords
attached to a couple of levers, which lift the various
shades required to form the signals, add which
may be worked by any one standing on the deck.
With the aid of three of these lanterns, one above
the other, a complete code of signals is produced
for working the numerical system, and with four
the entire alphabet is designated, which com-
munications of any length and importance can be
transmitted with clearness and despatch from
ship to ship or land in sight of each other. One of
tie lanterns was on Wednesday night placed on
the gun-battery wall overlooking the river in
Woolwich Dockyard, which shone with peculiar
brilliancy, and was supposed to be visible at a dis-
tance of two or three miles with the naked eye—
the gaslights appearing far less distinctly. From
the construction of the lantern, which exhibits a
quadruple front, the signals are perceived from the
four points of the horizon. The improvement and
advantage of the new system were admitted by the
Commodore as exceedingly satisfactory, a report to
that effect having been forwarded to Lord Clarence
Paget.
tThe following appointments were made yesterday
at the Admiralty :—James Flanagan, surg., to the
Victory ; William H. Maunsell, master's-assist., to
the Ariadne ; Henry Payne, promoted to be acting
first class assist.-engineer in the Racoon ; John
Critchley, promoted to be acting second class assist.-
engineer in the Gannet; George Bull, to be acting
second class assist.-engineer for temporary service
in the Pitt; Francis Charles Master has been no-
minated to a naval cadetship.