The Sun.
London, England, 1859-04-25 00:00:00

THE NAVY.

Ibis- reported in naval circles at Portsmouth that
the Channel fleet have put to sea under sealed
orders—it is said for the Adriatic.
The Urgent screw steam troopship will embark
at Portsmouth, to-morrow, the first division of the
15th Regiment for Alderney, and on her return will
convey the remainder of the regiment to Jersey.
The Asia sailing line-of-battle ship will, it is said,
become the' steam reserve guardship in ordinary at
Portsmouth, in lieu of the Hannibal, ordered for
sea Service.
The Mersey, 40, screw steam frigate, Captain H.
Caldwell, C. 8., returned to Spithead from the
Channel on Saturday. evening. Sir Baldwin Walker
landed from the ship the same evening and pro-
ceeded by mail train to London.
A telegr3m has been received by the naval autho-
rities at Portsmouth, directing all vessels in the
second class si,eam reserve at Portsmouth to receive
on board their heavy weights immediately, such as
their cables,. guncarriages, &c.; also requesting to
be furnished with Nie number of stokers available
for service in the first and second class steam re •

serve.
The Doris,. 32, screw' steam frigate, Captain E.
Heathcote, will steam into Portsmouth harbour
from Spithead this day. The diameter of her
screw will be lengthened from 18 to 20 feet,
for her next trial, which will take place on the 26th
inst. In our notice in The Stot of Saturday of the
unfortunate collision with a smock in Stokes Bay
on the occasion of the Doris running the measured
mile on Thursday last we stated that a boy jumped
overboard and was drowned. We should have
stated that the crew of the smack,. consisting of
two men and a boy, jumped overboard; that the
men were not seen afterwards, butt the boy was
picked up and taken on board the Doris, where he
soon afterwards died.
The Lords of the Admiralty have given directions
for the Channel fleet to be supplied with Rears
cone signals, and preparations are being made
accordingly in the Devonport Dockyard. Redrs
mode has been practised in Plymouth Harbour fol.' 1
the last six months. It is cheap, simple, and very
rapid, and is also adapted for use by the steam
whistle of a gunboat, or by a bugle, bell, &c., in
case of fog. Under recent directions from ort-
Admiral Sir B. Reynolds, K.C.8., the system has
also been carried out at night, by lights, and can
then be worked more rapidly than by day. On
Thursday night, in the presence of the Port-Admiral
and a large party, some experiments were made
from the battery at Mount Wise, for testing the
use of Robson's patent signal lights and dischargers
in conjunction with Redl's code. Robson's lights
are of three colours—red, blue, and green, and like
rockets which exhibit the same colours, are very
intense and distinct. Communication was quickly
obtained with the flagship Impregnable, lying off
Mount Edgecumbe, and the gunnery ship Cam-
bridge, in Hamoaze. The rockets throw out a ball
of fire, which floats in the air some time after the
discharge, and with the lights greatly increase the
usefulness and rapidity of the cone signals. Rob-
son's inventions have been long adopted by the
Trinity Board and the mercantile marine.

The iron screw steamship Calcutta, Captain F.
Blackmore,- belonging to the European and Ame-
rican Steamship Company, arrived at Plymouth
on Saturday afternoon. She left Calcutta on
the 2d of February, arrived at Madras on the
6th of February, left on the 7th, arrived at the
Cape on the 13th of March, left on the 16th,
arrived at Vincent's on the 9th of April, and sailed
thence on the 10th. The Calcutta has 159 invalids
of various regiments, 6 women, and 15 children,
under command of Captain Provost, of the 23d re-
giment, and in medical charge of Dr. Taylor, of the
Calcutta. She has also 27 adult passengers, 17
children, and 10 servants from Calcutta, and 6
adults, 5 children, and 3 servants from the Cape of
Good Hope. Two deaths occurred on the voyage—
viz., one soldier and a child. The Calcutta ex-
changed signals February 10, lat 7 27 N., long. 82
52 E., with the British ship Blue Rock, standing to
the north. March 9, lat. 31 41 S., long 32 58 E.,
the barque Charles Walton, from Borneo for Lon-
don. March 19, lat. 28 58 S., long. 28 E., passed
the Hanoverian barque Stadtminster, from Moul-
mein for Falmouth. March 24, lat. 19 20 S., long.
5 13 W., passed the French ship Madras, for Eno.-
land ; and April. 21, lat. 44 55 N., long. 9 33 W.,"
exchanged colours with the English brig Canter-
bury, standing to the southward. The Calcutta
had fine weather until reaching the Bay of Biscay,
when she experienced strong winds from the south-
ward. She left Plymouth Sound yesterday morn-
ing for Southampton.
Her Majesty's steam-transport Dee, Master Com-
mander Thomas Pullen, laden with steam machinery
sailed from Woolwich on Saturday for Portsmouth.
The Dee is the only service ship at present of that
class, and only arrived on the previous Saturday.
The following appointments were made on Satur-
day at the Admiralty ; Licut Godfrey Taylor and
Lieut. Thomas H. Greer, to the Minotaur; Lieut.
W. I'. F. Jackson, Lieut. George V. Phillips, Lieut.
W. J. H. Grubbe, Lieut. C. D. Lucas, and the Hon.
H. Baillie Hamilton, to the Cressy; Lieut. Charles
T. W. Ce-dat and Lieut. William F. Gregory, to
the Asia ; Lieut. Arthur Wing, Lieut. H. J. Challis,
Lieut. G. A. W. Welch, and Lieut. G. W. Strong,
to the Hannibal ; Lieut. John Burgess and Lieut.
H. T. Gammell, to the Wellington; Lieut. C. A.
V. P. Robinson, Lieut. G. L. Sulivan, Lieut. Wil-
liam Spratt, and Lieut. G. Y. R. Rattray, to the
Exmouth.