The Sun.
London, England, 1861-01-25 00:00:00

THE NAVY.

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Rear-Ac' ,miral of the Blue Sir Baldwin W.
Walkers K.C.8., was expected at Devonport yes-
terday. His flagship, the Narcissus, 51, Captain
Itichar d H. Risk, will not be ready to sail for the
Cape of Good Hope as early as first expected.
Lies it. Pasley, son of Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas
PaEley, hasjoined the Narcissus.
Rear-Admiral Robert F. Stopford, Captain of the
Channel Fleet, was at Devonport yesterday, with
the intention of relinquishing the command to-day.
The crew of his flagship, the Royal Albert, 121,
Captain Henry J. Lacon, will be put down to-
day, when those who have not joined other
ships will it is said, be sent to the Prin-
cess Royal, 91, Captain Charles Fellowes, just
commissioned in Portsmouth. The paddle-wheel
steam-sloop Geyser, 6, Commander Jackson, went
yesterday from Plymouth Sound into Hamoaze to
receive the Royal Albert's Marines, and convey
them to their respective divisions.
A court-martial will be held on Monday next on

board the flagship Impregnable, 104, Capt. Lord
Frederick Kerr, in Hamoaze, for the trial of John
Carroll, stoker of the steam sloop Flying Fish, for
disobedience of orders, insubordination, &c.
The War Department screw steamer Lord Pan-
mure, H. S. Moore, master, having discharged
powder and war projectiles at Devonport, left on
Wednesday for Woolwich.
A letter received at Plymouth states that the
accident on board the screw steamship Nile, 90,
was occasioned by the bridle having foaled the
chain cable when weighinganchor. Both being of
iron neither would rend. There were 80 men at
the capstan bars, and they were ordered to "walk
back," To do this properly every man should
resist to the extent of his ability. No doubt on
board the Nile some held on but loosely, and the
remainder did not possess sufficient strength to
resist the reverse movement, in which they were
not aided by pauls. When once the capstan ob-
tained the mastery its retrogression became irresis-
tible ; some brave fellows exerted themselves in
vain, and possibly suffered the more for their strenu-
ous efforts to do their duty. Two of the bars in
flying out were knocked to pieces ; many men were
injured, two died immediately, and two others were
not expected to recover. Accidents of this kind
occur every now and then on board ship, and gene-
rally involve injury to the seamen, to whom a great
boon would be rendered if some system of pauling
was invented by which those who work a capstan
could be as well protected when going backward
as they are when going forward.
The shipwrights at Chatham Dockyard are busily
employed on board the Rattlesnake, 22, screw cor-
vette, building under No. 1 shed, in order that she
may be completed for launching during the present
year.

The Bombay, 81, in No. 4 dock at Chatham, has
had an addition made to her length, and a consider-
able portion of her stern removed, in order to adapt
her for a screw. She is expected to be completed
by March next. She has had her figure-head fixed
in its place. It is a fine bust of the North Ameri-
can Indian, surrounded with rattlesnakes, and has
been executed by Messrs. Hellyer, the Admiralty
carvers, at Southampton.
It is rumoured that notwithstanding the late
expensive repairs to the Princess Royal, 91, screiv,
at Portsmonth, she is unfit for active service.

The screw frigate Belvidera, 51, 600-horse power,
building on No. 4 slip, has been put in frame, and
the shipwrights have commenced preparations for
planking her.

The Isis, 44, in No. 2 dock, fitting for a coal
depot and storeship at Sierra Leone, is baying the
whole of her interior lined with sheet iron. She
is nearly completed, being coppered and rigged,
and is expected to be it to leave the dock in the
course of a fortnight.

The Arethusa, 51, in dock, being converted from
a sailing ship to a screw steamer, had a large num-
ber of shipwrights employed on her, in order that
she may be completed with all despatch.

An order was received yesterday at Portsmouth
dockyard from the Admiralty for the discharge of
the whole of the hired shipwrights and sawyers
with the greater portion of the remaining hired men
employed in the yard, by the end of March next.
The first batch will be discharged on the 23d of
February, so that every man will receive a month's
notice prior to his being discharged. Upwards of
1,000 men will be discharged from Portmouth yard
alone. Many of these men have served in the yard
for a considerable time—some of them for two or
three years, and the wholesale mode of discharging
them has created considerable surprise among them.
There may be no immediate pressure of work in
the dockyard just now, but there is a very consider-
able amount of work being sent into the yards of
private builders which, apparently, might have
been done in the Royal dockyards. The Vin-
dictive frigate may be referred to as an in-
stance, as she is about to proceed from Portsmouth
to Messrs. White's yard at Cowes, where the cost
of her conversion to a coal depot will not be much
less than £lO,OOO. The number of hired men fixed
to be employed in Portsmouth yard for the financial
year 1861 is only 346, being the number considered
sufficient to meet the requirements of the estab-
lished number of shipwrights, 900. The following
are the numbers of the different trades, &c., Com-
prised in the 346 hired men :_Spinners (ropery),
64 ; spinners' labourers, 24; houseboys, 31 ; sail-
makers, 12; coppersmiths, 31 ; coppersmiths' la_
bourers, 14; caulkers, 12; joiners, 12; sawmills,
8; smiths, 25; millwrights' shop, 16; painters,
12; plumbers and braziers, 3; wheelwrights, 3 ;
bloekmakers, 9 ; and labourers, 70.
A number of additional shipwrights have been
placed upon the Prince Regent, 90, and the Octavia,
51, both undergoing conversion from sailing to
screw vessels in Portsmouth dockyard. Eleven
gangs of shipwrights are now employed upon each
vess,al.

The Immortalite, M, screw, Captain G. Hancock,
yesterday received at Spithead, as part of her arma-
ment, three of Sir W. Armstrong's guns—one 100-
Pounders and two 40-pounders. Orders have also
been received at Portsmouth for shipping on board
her Majesty's ships Princess Royal, Edgar, Trafal-
gar, Mersey, and Diadem a similar number of the
same description. of weapon and calibre on board
each chip as on board the Immortalite. The 40-
pounders have been received at Portsmouth for the
purpose, but the 100-Pounders for the five remain-
ing vessels have not yet been received.
The Cossack, 21, screw steamer, Capt. Moorman,
will be placed in No. 1 dock at Portsmouth to-day
for examination and repairs. Captain Moorman is
on a month's leave.

The Euryalus, 51, screw, undeeks to-merrow
from No. 8 dock in Portsmouth yard, and the Royal
paddle yacht Victoria and Albert will afterwards
be placed in the same dock for overhaul and fitting
a set of new qak floats to her paddlewheels.
The Eurydice, sailing frigate, and Rolla, naval
apprentice brig, will be taken into the ship basin
at Portsmouth on the 28th. inst. The first-named
teasel will be commissioned by Commander M.
Lowther at the latter and of March next as a naval
cadet seagoing training ship.
The following appointments were made yester-
day at the Admiralty :--Hy. A. Moriarty, master,
to the Princess Royal; and Wm, Duirs, surgezm, to
the Princess Royal.