The Sun.
London, England, 1832-09-24 00:00:00

NAVAL INTELLIGENCE.

(From the Hampshire Telegraph.)
PORTSMOUTH, SEPT. 22. —The Donegal with the flag of
Sir P. Malcolm, and Vernon and Castor frigates, arrived on
Tuesdiy. The Vice-Admiral has displayed great talent in
eliciting the various qualities of the respective ships, but a
true estimate of the value of ,their relativq constructions
cannot be fairly arrived at, es no two ships of the squadron
are of similar tonzinge and armament. The Vernon beats
the Castor on a wind by fore-reaching, but not by " eat-
ing her out of the wind ;" both ships are very stiff—ths
Vernon the most so ; but neither ship, under the mostia-
vourable circumstances, exceeded Si knots—a rate of sail-
ing which many frigates in our service will considerably
exceed. With the wind abaft the beam, .there is scarcely
a difference between them ; indeed, upon, the whole, 'we
are told the Castor, in that case, takes .the lead nf.all the
ships. The Snake, with the IVater Witch yacht, and
Princeof IVales revenue brig, beat the larger ships fon
a wind, but not in running free. The .Nimrod and Trin-
coa are entirely out of consideration, and the Donegal has
Inst her sailing qualities, hut she requires coppering The
ships ate still lying at Shithead waiting for .o;dersi

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
SlR—Have the kindness to insert the annexed in- The
San of to-morrow. . •

Your's obliged. .
W. HARRISON, Printer of the Hampshire Telegraph.
Hampshire Telegraph office, Portsmouth, Sept. 9.3, 1532.

" That the public should not be misled by a statement that
appears in the Hampshire Telegraph of this day's date,;re-
specting the sailing qualities of his Majesty's shipt Castor
and Vernon, and likewise in justice to Captain.Syrnonds, who
constructed the latter vessel, I thus publicly assert, th4at the
whole of the statement above alluded to, is a tissirt,of gross
falsehoods. In justice to the Editor of the' Hantpshire Tele-
graph, I have further to state, that on my calling upon him to
give up his informant, and to contradict in his next week's
Paper the false statement herebefore alluded to respecting the
sailing qualities of his Majesty's ships Castor and Vernon, he
not only--eonsented to contradict the report in his next week's
Paper, but put me in the way of contradicting it in the London
Papers; and further, in the most handsome manner, struck
oil sip hundred of his latest printed Papers, leaving out the
paragraph relating to the Castor and Vernon, to he distributed
by the post ; and I am sorry to add, he refused to give me up the
name of his informant, but it is to be hoped that this will meet
his eye.

" F. A. COLLIER, Capt. IT. 31. S. Vernon.
" Spitheati, September 44, 1832."

The Thunderer, 81 guns, is to he immt.diatoly commis.
sioned. The Hon. Captain Joceleyn Percy will conimanC
her.

The 2Etna surveying-ship, Captain Belcher, arrived at
Gibraltar on the 26th of August from Teneriffe.
'I he Larne, IS, (late Lightning), came into dock on.
Thursday to be repaired previous to her being
sioned.
The Blonde, 46. had her masts taken' in to-day, and
was laid up in ordinary, having undergone a thorough

repair.

The Satellite, 18, was commissioned' at Plyniouth oO
Wednesday by Commander Robert Smart.
The Neptune, 120, the largest ship in the British navy,
will he hunched from this dock yard, at about half-past
twelve o'clock, on Thursday next.
In Ha,bour—Victory, Royal George, Excellent, Con-
way, Seaflowrr, and Sylvia, cutters. • •
At Spithend—Donegal, Vernon, and Castor. •
PROMOTIONS AND APPOINTMENTS.-Commander Ro-
bert Smart, Lieutenant Wm. Russell Drummond, and Mr.
6. 11. Dal:Ls, Surgeon, are appointed to the Sitrlllte ;

Lieutenant Smith to the Tyne, vice GraVes'; Lient6nint
J. W. TornEnson, to the Britannia; Lieut. .JOl.l-1. James

A Ilen, to he Supernumerary Lieutenant of the Igis ; Air. J

R. Reid, to he Suraeon of the Wolf, vice Booth ; Mr.
James Underwood, Master of the Curlew, to the' Un.
daunted, vice Cansd,ll; Lieut. Geo. Mends,-of the Jaseur,
and Lieut. John B. Driffield, of the Undaunted, have ex-
changed ; Mr. Hankin, Meter, to the Magniicent, vice
King ; Lieuta. Robert Forbes and John M. Greer, to the
out-pension of Greenwich Hospital; Mr. Bromley, late
Surgeon of the D .negal, is appointed to the charge of the
Surrey convict-ship, destined for Hohart'Town; Lieu'.
C. 3loss, to the Coast Guard Station at Sittingbourne ;
Mr. Henry Tracy, to be Assistant. Surgeon bf the Donegal,
vice Duncan, at sick quarters; Mr. Adams 'is appointed
Clerk to the Adadne ; and Mr. Anderson; Clerk to the
Winchester.—Royal Mariner', Second Lieutenants John
Land, George Watson, and Henry George Milford, are
promoted to the rank of First Lieutenant., • •
Lieut. Wright, of the Hope packet, will he appointed to
the Hermes steam-vessel on the arrival of the Hope.
(From the Portsmouth Herald of Sunday.)
The Neptune, 120 guns, will he launchtel from this Dock-
yard on Thursday next, at twelve o'clock. This ship is
one of the largest ever built in En4land;her length, on the
pun deck, being 205 feet 7 inches, extreme breidth 54 feet
7 inches, depth in hold 24 feet, burtlien`iinotrta 2,700.
She was intended to carry on her gun deck thirty-two 32-
pounders of 64 cwt. ; on the middle deck, thirty-four 32.
pounders of 56 cwt. ; on the upper deck-s-thirty-four 32-
pounders of 47 cwt. ; but we understand that this esta-
blishment of guns, as to weight, has been,Akered, in con-•
sequence of the result of some experiments .naade in the
Caledonia; the 64 cwt. guns on the gun deck-are to he
exchanged for 56 cwt. ; the 66 cwt. guns on the middle
deck, to 47 cwt. ; and the 47 cwt. guns on the. upper
deck, to 8-feet 24-pounders, bored out, to 32-pounders
The Neptune is built on the lines of the Caledonia, which
was constructed in 1794 at Plymouth, by Mr. Roharts,
Master Shipwright at that Yard, Sir William Rule being
then Surveyor of the Navy. Site was not, however,
launched till 1808- The Neptune has one foot more breadth
of beam than the Caledonia, for the purpose_of euabling
her to carry heavier guns. It was imagined, by increas-
ing the weight of her guns, that she wonki be enabled to
Are with greater precision, and to. hear d;luble shot, and
for this purpose it was, that the Caledonia, and Nelson
were doubled ; the former by increasing the, siie of the
timbers, and the latter by having an additional 6.inch
planking on each side, outside the bottom;-. We do not
altogether approve of the system of doubling, as it adds
very much to the weight, and we object more particularly
to it in the above cases, as the ships went; at the time of
tt,e alteration, undergoing a thorough repair, and they
alight then have been breadthened at very little increased
espesse. Yet, looking at the result of the experiment
made On the Caledonia, we cannot agree with the remarks
rimently made in some of the leading public journals,
exhigh, in noticing the alterations made in that ship, have
mated, that her good qualities, which were so manifest in
tine last war, have been injured. On' the contrary we
find that in 1814, when in active service-,' the height or
her midship port was 4 feet eight inches, while, in the
experimental cruise of last year, it was 5 fret 3 inches,
so that there is evidently one improvement4m that point.
It was our intention to have given here. soma. brief ac-
count of the progressive alterations and increase-in the
dimensions of our first rates for the last l6.o.years, hut
want of room compels us to postpone the insertion of that
interesting article until next week.
Panmonows, APPOINTMENTS, &c.—Capt. the Right.
Hon. Lord John Hay is appointed to his Majesty's ship
Castor, vice Grant.—Cam. H. F. Greville is promoted to
Ow rank of C.ptain.—Capt. Blackwood is appointed to his
I,alajesty'e ship Lightning.—Lieut. J. Caultield is promoted
to the rank of Commander.—Messrs. T. Rodney, J. Can-
Poo, and J. Orlebar, are promoted to the rank ,of•Lieute-•
nant,--Lieut. G. S. Haswell is appointed to the Sussex
Coast Guatil Service.—Lieut. J. L. N. Seally is appointed
to his Majesty's ship Tyne.—Lieut. C. Notrlngton is ap-
pointed to command the Speedwell, schooner, vice Warren
promoted.—Lieut. T. Montagu is appointed to his Ma-
asty's ship NV itachester,—Mr. Assistant-Surgeon,
Ps appointed to his Majesty's ship Ariatine..--Mr. il. D.
tilte.g is appointed an Assistant-Surgeon in the Royal Navy,
to do ditty at Haslar Hospital, vice Ilair4,appointed to his
Majesty's ship Britannia.—Lieut. H. Smith is appointed
to his Majesty's ship Tyne.—Mr. C. 1195ermott is ap-
pointed Purser of his Majesty's ship Satellite.--:Mr. J.
budge, Mate, is appointed to his Majesty's ship Britannia.
—Mr. E. Hankin is appointed Master of his Majesty's
ship Magnificent, receiving ship at Jamaica —Mr. D.
Coakleyti3unner of the Revenge, has been ifivOided home
ft oen Lisbon, and placed on the cherque at this poit.—Mr.
H. Crusoe, late Carpenter of the Tweed, isaqmointed to
the Lynx, sloop (building), vice Masters, whois. ordered
to be borne on the checque.—Mr. R. Marshall is appointed
Surgeon of the Sheerness Ordinary, vice Hall.z-a-Mr. J.
Carpenter, of the Howe at Sheerness, is appqiatert to su•
perintend the water tanks at Plymouth.
The following Midshipmen passed theie'Vi'a'rnination in
navigation last week, at the Royal Naval College, viz
Mr. C. W. Church, of his Majesty's steamer Colombia ;
Mr. T.. 11. Stewart, of his Majesty's cutter Seriflower ;
61essrs. W. White Pridhain, and Charles Deke Aclasel,
both of his Majesty's ship Seringapatam ; Mr. J C. Bar-
clay, late of his Majesty's. ship Asia ; Mr. N. De Courcey
B!ennerhasset, of his Majesty's slip Lighiating ;41r. Jas.
Adams, late of his Majesty', ship Alert; Mr. C: F. New-
land, late of his Majesty's ship Maidstone, and-Mr. Edw.
Meadows Noble, of his Majesty's ship Victory.
The late A4tniral Thomas Drury, whO died at 'Bruges
on the sth inst. of apoplexy, had been nearly sixty years
in the service, in the early part of which he had the good
fortune to capture a Dutch brig of war, after a most un-
equal and seven- conflict, for which he was made Corm
mtander. He subtetplently commanded the Myrmidon, of