The Sun.
London, England, 1857-04-18 00:00:00

THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH.

The Agamemnon, which has been devoted to the
peaceful service of laying down a part of the Atlan-
tic submarine telegraph cable, is now undergoing
the necessary alterations at Portsmouth. Her ar-
mament of 90 guns is being removed, the bold
cleared, and her stowage room increased. She is to
be fitted with frigate's masts instead of her present
rig of a line-of battle ship. It will be remember. d
that this is the famous Agamemnon, the flagship
which took up such a daring and perilous pesiti.‘n
right in front of the united fleet before Sebastopol,
and earned such glory for her commander.- On the
other side of the Atlantic the Niagara is also under-
going preparations for the same object. She is the
largest screw-propeller in the world, not even ex-
cepting the famous Himalaya. Her length is 345
feet, beam 55 feet, and burthen 5,000 tons. Tne
Niagara is one of that fleet of swift and heavily-
metalled ships whose qualities have recently been
subjected to so searching an investigation. There
are already 1,100 miles of the Atlantic cable co►n-
pleted, and upwards of 2,000 miles of the gutta
pereha wire has passed through the machines of the
Cotta Percha Company. The total length of the
deep-sea portiou of the cable will be 2,500 miles. To
this at each end will be a.tached the shore portions,
each about 30.;miles long, and consisting of a very
strong and heavy cable calculated to resist &vessel's
_anchor or any casualty.

PEMBROKE DOCKYARD.—The greatest activitypre-
vails at this establishment, and no relaxation is
visible in the construction of the ships on the slips.
A magnificent ship-of-the-line, the Howe, pierced
for 121 guns, is making rapid progress. She will be
upwards of 4,000 tons burthen and 1,000-horse
power, and is to be the largest ship of her rating in
the navy. Another of the new class 91's, the Re.
venge, will soon be ready for launching. She is of
800-horse rower, and will rank with the Agamem-
non James Watt, and other first-rate models. She
will be succeeded by the Defiance, 91, also
_orderer).
The Windsor Castle is to be cut in two and length-
ened, after which she will make a good man-of-war.
Her but this will not be.
will is
6r
eleqlauni
take however,rank
with
consideratenew
our
alterationsnertinted . present
bSehfoe before rating
she
classfirst-rates. There are 4 first-class frigates build-
ing,
viz., Immortalite, Melpomene,
besides Aurora,the usual
bud.
Orlando—all pierced for 50 guns,
pivot-gun. The two first named were sailing
ships, but have been cut in two and considerably
lengthened, and instead of 60, as originally intended,
they will carry 50 heavy guns. The Aurora is
entirely new, and will have engines nominally of
40:-horse power .The Orlando is one of the new
monster frigates intended to match the large vomits
of this class built by the Americans. She will be
350 feet in her full length, and about 3,700 tone
burthen, and armed with 51. guns of large calibre.
Great exertions are used to push her on to comple-
tion. The smaller vessels are the Greyhound, 17,
screw-sloop, of about 900 tons, and the Garnet, 8,
about 600 tons. The whole of the above ships will
be fitted with the screw propeller, and in themselves
form a squadron of line-of-battle ships, frigates,
and sloops, of great size and weight of armament.
The greatest care and attention have been exhi-
bited in the modelling and construction of the new
ships, whilst those vessels which have been adapted
now so
o s o f
rapidly
better
shipsfrom
being ha-
to the screw show a marked superiority over the
old description of
nished, by the
the British navy.
cro3sdeul e
BEnattreA.—ller Majesty's screw-ship of the line
N Capt. R. Mundy, arrived at Bermuda
from ile,
the' West Indies on the 20th of February,
experienced severe gales in the Gulf of
having
ga and the coast of North America. The Nile
as
la h received orders to proceod forthwith to Eng.
nd, and will sail about the 11th of March, if re-
' fitted by that time.

The Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's have presented
the Rev. Lawford W. T. Dale 8.A., curate of St. P.
eras kson of one of the canon:), to the vicarage of Cis-
wick.