The Sun.
London, England, 1861-12-21 00:00:00

2HE NAVY.

The gunboats in the second-class reserve at Ports;
mouth are ordered to fit out immediately, to take
the place of the boats in the first class, ordered for
commission for foreign service.
The Sutlej, 51, screw, the Pandora, 6, screw, and
the Volcano, 6, paddle (floating factory), at Ports-
mouth, are ordered to complete their armament for
immediate commission. The Sutlej will take on
board one 100 pounder Armstrong, and six 40 poun-
ders as part of her armament.

The Shannon, 51, screw, ready for commission at
Portsmouth,will receive two 12 pounder Armstrongs,
in addition to her complement already on board.
She is expected to be commissioned every hour.
The Lyra, 7, screw, Commander Alexander, put
into Portland Roads, from stress of weather, on
Thursday afternoon. She left the Cape of Good
:Hope on the 20th of October, St. Helena Nov.
4, and Ascension November 12. An excellent
passage was made to lat. 45 N., long. 15 W.,
when a heavy gale of wind was met with from the
S.W., in which she lost her quarter boats. She was
off the Isle of Wight on the night of Wednesday
last, but a strong N.E. gale prevented her reaching
Spithead. She bore up for Portland, where she has
anchored until the weather moderates sufficiently to
allow her to proceed to Spithead.
Admiralty orders have been received at Chatham
for a trial to be made at that establishment of a
new plan submitted to the Admiralty, the inven-
tion of Mr. Daft, for coppering iron ships by sepa-
-1 rating the copper from the iron by means of vul-
canized indiarubber sheets, with fastenings of
ebonite. A trial of the invention is to be made on
the bottom of one of the iron mortar floats used as
a lighter at Chatham.

The Reindeer, 17, 200 horse power, building at
Chatham, has had nearly the whole of the hands
removed from her in order to complete the various
ships fitting for commission at that port. Admi-
ralty orders have been received for sufficient space
to be provided on board for 103 cases of powder,
140 70-pounder shells, 100 50-pounder shells, and
140 32-pounder shells, together with five boxes of
the 12-pounder diaphragm shells. Her solid shot
will consist of 980 32-pounders, 60 40-pounders,
and 50 70-pounders. _ _ _

Yesterday, Rear-Admiral the Hon. Sir F. W
Grey, K.C.8., one of the Lords of the Admiralty,
accompanied by Rear-Admiral Robinson, Controller
of the Navy, visited Chatham dockyard for the pur-
pose of inspecting the progress made in the frigate
Achilles, 50, building, and the iron steamer De-
fence, 22, Capt. Powell, C. 8., fitting in the third
dock. His Lordship, accompanied by the Control-
ler-General, Capt. Superintendent Fanshawe, and
Mr. Lang, master shipbuilder, went over the De-
fence, the interior of which they minutely inspected,
and on board which they were engaged for some
time. In consequence of the magnitude of the work
still to be accomplished on board the Defence, the
period of her completion is now deferred from the 2d
to the 16th January, by which date it is expected she
will be able to leave the dock, although it is very
doubtful whether she will be completed by the latter
date, Sir F. W. Grey also inspected the Galatea,
26, the Pylades, 21—the latter in dock—and the
other vessels fitting for commission, and urged
their completion as rapidly as possible. Before
quitting the dockyard his lordship and Admiral
Robinson inspected the Achilles, which is progres-
sing as fast as circumstances will merit, a number
of the large ribs on each side being already fixed.
Sir F. W. Grey left the dockyard just before dusk,
and returned to the Admiralty.
The screw steam frigate Emerald, 51, Captain
Arthur Cumming, continues in Plymouth Sound
ready for sea. She will probably be detained un-
til Monday or Tuesday.

The new screw steam frigate Orlando, 51, Capt.
Francis Scott, C.B , having been completed for sea
service, went yesterday morning from Hamoaze
into Plymouth Sound. Her crew (600) consists
chiefly of trained men from the Impregnable, Cam
bridge, Indus, and Royal Adelaide. She has on
board an Armstrong gun for the Liffey, 51, ordered
from the Mediterranean to the North American
station. The Orlando is supplied with provisions
for eight months.

The following appointments were made yesterday
at the Admiralty :

Chief Engineer—F. W. Sutton (A) transferred from
the Fisgard to the Cumberland, as additional, for service
in the Vixen,

Assistant-Engineers—W. R. Henry, confirmed 2cl class,
to the Philemel ; J. C. Saunders, to the Forte ; H. D. Gar-
wood, to the seven; A. Rindroarsh, to the 'Urgent; R,