The Sun.
London, England, 1861-04-18 00:00:00

THE NAVY.

The Duke of Somerset will hold a levee this after•
noon at the Admiralty.

By a file of the Bermuda Royal Gazette, received
at Plymouth, we learn that the Delta, from Halifax,
with his Excellency Col. St. George Ord, R.E., the
newly appointed Governor, and his secretary, Mr.
H. F. Plow, Col. Munro, 39th Regiment, and
family, and Lieut. Hore, 39th Regiment„ arrived
at the island on the 14th ult. The paddle steam
sloop Spiteful, 6, Commander W. C. F. Wilson,
from Plymouth and Madeira, arrived on the 13th.
She was followed on the 16th by the screw steam
corvette Desperate, Commander J. F;Ross. The
Desperate unfortunately got among the rocks to
the westward of the island during thick weather.
She was, however, soon got off, without sustaining
much injury. The steam gunboat Jasper, Com-
mander W. Pym, which arrived from Santa Cruz on
the 7th of March, was expected to sail shortly for
Eu gland.

When the Princess Royal, 91, returned from her
experimental trip outside Plymouth breakwater on
Tuesday, and grounded on the Winter shoal in the
Sound, as reported by telegraph in The Sun of yes-
terday, there was a merchant brigantine at anchor
on the south-cast of the red buoy which marks the
shoal. It is now stated that the Princess Royal
should have kept to the westward under the stern
of the brigantine, to pass between the red buoy of
the Winter and the white buoy of the Asia shoal,
which is close to St. Nicholas Island. Instead of
pursuing tkis course, she went to the eastward of
and ahead of the brigantine, as if she were going
directly into Catwater. Her helm was then put hard
a-starboard, and an attempt made- to hoist the jib,
the wind being from the eastward ; this attempt,
however, failed. In consequence of the smartness of
the breeze the jih fouled the back ropes or jibs guys,
and the sail could only be hoisted half-way, and thus
prevented the head of the ship from paying off. By
this time she was right before the wind, and, having
steam up and a tug attached to her starboard
quarter, she ran right upon the shoal, her bow
rising, according to the estimate of different
spectators, from one to four feet above the line
of floatation, and pointing a little to the northward
of west. The tug at the moment of striking car-
ried away the towing ropes with a crash, and was
sent with considerable force right ahead of the ship.
This occurred at about three o'clock. Every pre-
caution appears to have been adopted at once ; top-
gallant masts were struck, the flying jibboom sent
in, and a boat to take soundings was placed under
the bow. A pinnace from the screw steamship
Donegal, 101, Capt. Henry Broadhead, inside the
breakwater, arrived promptly with an anchor,
which was dropped astern of the Princess Royal,
made fast, and hove as taut as possible to prevent
the action of the tide flowing into Hamoaze, which,
however, caught her starboard quarter and cast her
bow about north-west. This movement was after-
wards counteracted by her own steam power, and
her stern was brought end on to the wind to reduce
the risk of injury to her fore foot. The steam
tenders Avon, Confiance, Pike, and Zephyr were
soon in attendance, and shortly after four o'clock
three of them were fastened to her quarters, and
assisted the efforts of the ship's engines to back her
off. All the crew then mustered on the quarter-
deck, and towards five o'clock, steam having been
kept up unceasingly, she was floated into deep
water, and was taken up Hamoaze. While on the
rock some pieces of her false keel came up along-
side. Fortunately, the tide was low when she
grounded, and although the wind was strong there
eras little or no sea in the Sound, and the weather
was very fine. The Winter shoal is one-third of a
mile to the eastward of Drake's Island, and about
half a mile from Plymouth Citadel. The Princess
Royal draws 23 feet 1 inch forward, and 23 feet
6 inches. aft. There was about 19 feet of water
where she struck. Commander Thompson, the
Queen's Harbour-master, is absent on leave. The
Princess Royal was in charge of Mr. Graham,
master of the flagship Impregnable, and Mr. Hoyle,
pilot, and master of the cutter Tavy, stationed in
the Sound. At the present moment several ships
of war are in the Admiralty anchorage ground, and
the other parts of the Sound are crowded with
merchant vessels, notwithstanding which it is pro-
posed to subtract some of the most valuable por-
tions for the erection of a fort, the foundation of
which alone will require about four acres.
The Henry Fernie, hired sailing transport, pre-
paring to receive troops for Auckland, New Zealand,
at Portsmouth, was yesterday officially inspected
by the Government authorities, and was so highly
commended by them that she deserves some special
mention. The ship is the property of Messrs. Fernie
Brother[, of Liverpool ; St. John's-built, of 1,549
55-100 tons' register, and, if we except her short
run home to Liverpool from St. John's, is now about
to commence her first voyage. She is fitted aloft
with double top-sail yards and with wire-standing
rigging on deck. She is fitted " Boston fashion ;"
her aft deck-house, in which is sleeping accommo-
dation for 21 Acers (military), with main saloon,
Src., are all fitted 17ith every convenience and even
luxury that can be exl;_ected on board ship. Before
the mainmast are the ship's officers' cabins, cook-
houses, &c., and Dr. Normandy's patent
distilling
apparatus, by which every 20 hours 800 gallons of
the eea-water the ship floats in is transforoied into
aber
in purer
eaantdinmstoarneopeole, pleasant drinking
on shore.inkingwiae evie
atzthattneane

seven boats, four of which are fitted withKynaston's
patent disengaging hooks. In addition to the com-
monly
fitted ships' pumps, she is also fitted with Win-
stanley and Kelly's patent syphon pumps, which,
by the aid 'of 10 men, easily discharge 12,000 gal-
lons of water in an hour. They can also be con-
verted either into a fire-engine, or, instead of
throwing water out of the ship, can throw it in
with equal rapidity. The main troop deck is
170 ft. long from the forecastle partition to its
after part ; 36ft. in width, and 7ft. in height
from the deck to the under part of the upper
deck beams. The women's-quarters at the after part
of the deck contain sleeping accommodation for
41, and their admirable ventilation was warmly com•
mended by the inspecting officers. Indeed, perhaps
no ship ever presented a better specimen of a model
troop deck than does the-main deck of the Henry
Fernie. The ventilation is admirable throughout.
Admiralty pattern windsails throw an immense
volume of air down the hatchways, while air shafts
land patent ventilators of all kinds keep her decks
swept by a constant current of fresh air, and to assist
even this amount of ventilation when necessary
patent ventilating machines for extracting the foul
air from between decks, and pumping down a supply
of fresh, are stationed down below. On the main
deck there are 44 messes, with berths for swinging
the hammocks of 437 men. The leiNver deck has a
less portion devoted to the use of the troops, owing
to the number she takes out being less than she
could accommodate. It is partitioned off at 90 feet
length, has 32 mess tables-30 for men of ten each,
and two for women of 10 each, and has the neces-
sary hammock accommodation for the men. This,
like the main deck, is well-lighted, as well-venti-
lated, and of equal height from deck to beam. At
the close of the inspection of the fittings of the ship
the officers, medical and naval, who officially sur-
veyed her declared that, in their opinion, she was
the most perfect troopship that had, within their
knowledge, ever been surveyed at Portsmouth. The
ship was fitted out at Liverpool under the superinten-
dence of Commander Leycester, R.N., Admiralty
agent at that port. The ship will embark her troops
this morning, and will then proceed to Queenstown,
where she will take in the remainder before finally
sailing for New Zealand. A powerful steamtug, which
towed the ship to Portsmouth from Liverpool, is
detained by Mr. Fernie at the former port, and will
tow the ship to Queenstown should the winds prove
at all adverse. The following are the principal
dimensions of this fine vessel :—Length between
perpendiculars, 200 feet ; breadth to outside
plank, 39ft. lin. ; depth from tonnage deck to ceil-
ing at midships, 20ft. Sin. ; depth from upper deck
to ceiling at midships, 27ft. gin. The Henry
Fernie, like most merchant clipper vessels, has not
an ounce of superfluous weight outside her stem,
and this with the bold spring of her decks forward
must render her a very easy ship in a seaway.
The Melbourne, screw, hospital ship, Captain
Henry B. Benson, landed her military invalids
alongside Portsmouth yard yesterday morning,
whence they were conveyed to the railway station
and left by train for Chatham at 9 a.m. The Mel-
bourne's antecedents as a steam transport have not
been of the highest quality, but her services in
China, her passage home, and the state in which
she arrived at Spithead, all reflect the highest
credit on her energetic commander. She was fitted
out in January, 1850, on the plan of. Dr. Mapleton,
the Inspector-General of Hospitals. Since she was
opened as a hospital in the north of China, on the
20th of July last, she has had upwards of 400
patients on board. After the final attack on the
Peiho forts she received 60 sick and wounded on
board in one batch. The ship's main deck consti-
tuted the hospital, and presented a free communi-
cation fore and aft. The ventilation was spoken
of by the medical officers on board as being exceed-
ingly good, the side scuttles of the ship, as in the
Mauritius, greatly aiding the ventilation through
the hatchways and deck bonnets. The ship, from
the period of her departure from England until her
return, has been in medical charge of Staff-Surg.
H. C. Martin, of whose care and kindness the in-
valids who came home in her spoke in terms of
high praise. The ship returns fittings and stores,
and pays out of the service.
The Stork gunboat, tender to the Excellent gun-
nery ship, at Portsmouth, 'yesterday steamed
out of harbour and practised with her heavy
breech-loading guns outside the Warner Light.
The old Excellent, Portsmouth gunnery ship, has
had her copper stripped off, and will be broken up
in No. 9 dock, at Portsmouth. This ship was built
at Portsmouth in 1810, after the Victory, and was
named the Boyne, which name was changed to Ex-
cellent on her being the gunnery ship, as has now
been done by the present gunnery ship—the late
Queen Charlotte.

Her Majesty's troopship Megrera, Commander
Henderson, having again returned from Gibraltar
with the 2d division of the sth brigade, Garrison
Artillery, arrived at Woolwich yesterday at 2 p.m.,
from Plymouth.
The War Department transport Baltic arrived
alongside the gun wharf at Chatham yesterday, and
commenced unloading the shell and other Govern-
ment stores brought from Woolwich. During the
day she landed 800 of the elongated 40 pound shells
for the Armstrong guns, all of which arrived packed
in wooden cases, as well as a large number of car-
riages for the 68 pounder and other guns, from the
factory at Woolwich, together with other naval and
military stores.
Yesterday the steam floating battery Thunderbolt,
16, 200 horse power, fitting at Chatham, for the
Thames, commenced shipping her water tanks,
which arrived from Deptford in the Government
transport Elizabeth. The steam floating battery
Etna, 16, which is also fitting at Chatham for ser-
vice near the entrance to the Thames, had three
large anchors, each of 46 cwt., put on board yester-
day, together with other stores. As soon as the
large iron cables have been put on board from
Sheerness dockyard the Etna will be ready to pro-
ceed to her station in the Thames, but the Thunder-
bolt will not be ready to steam out of Chatham har-
bour for several days. Both batteries have shipped
800 solid 68 pounder shot from the gun wharf, and
as soon as they are ready to leave the harbour they
will drop down to the magazine at Upper Castle,
where they will take in their live shells and powder.
The moorings for the two batteries are being laid
down in close proximity to the batteries at Coal-
house Point and Shornmeade, where they are to be
stationed during the time those forts are being re-
constructed.

The line-of-battle ship Bombay, 81, converting at
Chatham dockyard from a sailing vessel to a screw
steamer, and now nearly completed, is or dered to
be furnished with the following powerful arma-
ment, viz..--14 68-pounders, each of 65 cwt.; 24
guns each of 56 cwt., and 91 feet in length ; 30 of
50 cwt. each, and 9 feet in length, 12 of 42 cwt.
each, and 8 feet in length, and 1 68-pounder swivel
gun of 95 cwt., and 10 feet in length.
The iron mail-clad steam frigate Resistance, 22,
recently constructed for the Government by Messrs.
Westwood, Bailie, and Campbell, is to have her
armament supplied from Chatham, consisting of
four of the 40-pounder Armstrong guns, and 18 68-
pounders each of 95 cwt., and 10 feet in length.
The following appointments were made yester-
day at the Admiralty :—Adolphus Andrews, third-
class assistant-engineer to the Fisgard, as super-
numerary; Thomas Udall, third-class assistant-
engineer to the Wye; the Rev. Thomas Davis,
chaplain, to the Cornwallis; the Rev. David
Carson, chaplain to the Pembroke ; Charles G.
Burney, paymaster, advanced to second class;
John M. Sweetman, paymaster, advanced to third
class ; W. E. Kelly, paymaster to the Royal Ade-
laide, iu lieu of a clerk; Henry T. Reed, paymaster
to the Hornet ; Thomas H. Stote, paymaster to the
Dauntless, in lieu of a clerk; John H. Mooney,
assistant-paymaster to the Ajax, and John Hasler,
assistant-paymaster to the Impregnable.

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