The Sun.
London, England, 1861-06-15 00:00:00

THE NA Pi,.

A vacancy has occurred among the Naval Aides-
de-Camp to the Queen by the promotion of Capt.
James John Stopford, who has obtained flag rank
by the death of Vice-Admiral the Hon. Richard
Saunders Dundas, K.C.B.
A letter received from an officer belonging to her
Majesty's ship Bacchante, 51, screw, dated Van-
couver's Island, April 21, says,---" We hear that
bs strange not gmo ete rumourshtehaßta
icahy
Bacchante,
nr flyingete,ana b
reached
h have been
bu t in e
eo nn
highly y
iogfh Englandltyh
esme
urela-
tivews,eadsthat Capt. M'Kenzie had been thrown overboard
by the crew. These canards have not the slightest
foundation. Our captain is a man thoroughly re-
spected by all on board the Bacchante, and not the
slightest symptom of discontent has ever been
shown. We arrived here on the 2d, ten hours after
the arrival of the Tartar, 20, screw, Capt. Hayes."
Letters received from Hong Hong, dated April
29th, state that the Imperieuse, 51, screw, was pre-
paring to hoist Admiral Sir James. Hope's flag on
his arrival at Hong Kong from the north. The
Chesapeake, 51, screw, was refitting, and was un-
der orders to sail for England with Rear-Admiral
Jones. The Pearl, 20, screw, was ordered to Can-
ton as senior officer's ship there. The Simoom screw
troopship was under orders to proceed immediately
from Hon gKong to Penangand Madras with the 21st
Madras Native Infantry, and was expected to return
to Hong Kong and convey thence to England the
60th Rifles. The Sphinx sailed for the north on the
19th, with troops and military stores forTien-tsin.
The Urgent was hourly expected at Ho, „ K
her way to Calcutta, with the Punjabee Rte .
on board. Sir James Hope was expected to arrive
about the middle of May. The gunboats were kept
continually on the, move, looking after pirates, The
comprised the Itnperiense, 51,
screw, the Chesapeake, 51,•sere*,—the Sirnootn screw
troopship, tenders Coromandel and Cowper, and
gunboats Weazel, Firm, Snap, and Insolent. The
Simoom was to tow the iron steamers Thor and
Touze to Singapore, where they are to remain for
the use of the Governor of the colony.
The Marlborough, 131, screw, Capt. W. H.
Stewart, C. 8., is carrying out her refit alongside
the sheer jetty of the dockyard. She will be ready
for sea about the 3d proximo. The Marlborough's
complement of Armstrong guns consist of two
100-pounders and eight 40-pounders. The
Euryalus, 51, screw, in the first-class reserve at the
same port, will ship one of the 100-pounder Arm-
strongs on Monday. She has, in addition, two
40-pounders ordered for shipment. The Duke
of Wellington, 131, screw, has one 100-pounder
and eight 40-pounders set aside for ship-
ment on board of her ; but this order may probably
be cancelled in favour of the Royal Sovereign, 131,
screw, as it is expected that the latter vessel will
be substituted for the former in consequence of the
age of the Duke's boilers. The Shannon, 51, screw,
has her complement of Armstrong guns fixed at
one 100-pounder and two 40-pounders. Each ship
supplied with Armstrongs is also supplied with sets
of facing tools to suit the calibres of the guns on
board.

A letter from the squadron at Beyrout, dated
May 10, says :—The Renwn was then about to
proceed with the Ambassador to Constantinople.
The Hannibal would have gone, had her engines
been in order. The French had three ships in
Beyrout Bay, and were expecting six line-of-battle
ships. The Turks had one ship of the line and two
frigates. The 6,000 Imperial troops in the town
were appointed to evacuate in June, but the prepa-
rations for that movement did not appear very
active. There was a possibility that half the crews
of the Hannibal and the other ships might have to
land. By the treaty concluded after the termina-
tion of the Crimean war no vessel carrying over
six guns was allowed to pass the Bosphorus; now
ships belonging to nearly every nation, and of
much stronger armament, go up and down freely.
The apprentices' brig Nautilus, 6, Lieutenant B.
Grant, from Portsmouth, arrived on Thursday
evening at Plymouth with the men for the Nile
and Challenger, who will take passage in the
Ariadne, 26, Capt. Vansittart, to North America.
The Diadem, 32, screw, Captain J. H. Cockburn,
has unmoored ship at Spithead, and will sail to-day
to join the Portsmouth division of the Channel
fleet, now on their way to Leith.
The Rattlesnake, 21, which has been built in No.
1 shed, for a screw steam corvette of 400-horse
power, is ordered to be ready for launching on the
9th of next month.

The Shannon, 51, screw, chief engineer Austen
in charge, was yesterday placed in the new No. 10
dock at Portsmouth for examination, and to repair
defects prior to her being commissioned.
One of the iron caissons has been placed in No. 6
dock at Portsmouth for examination. The sides
present a singular appearance; the starboard side
comparatively clean, while the port side has been
covered with oysters and all description of shell
fish, and the iron facing considerably corroded and
looking as though it had been under water for
nearly half a century. The convicts have been
employed to get out the iron pig ballast.
A number of workmen are now employed in lay-
ing the keel of the iron-cased steam vessel Caledonia
at Woolwich Dockyard, and as the greater portico'
of her timber work had been prepared it is expected
that she will progress rapidly.
The following ships have been taken up by the
War Department to load with war stores from
Woolwich Arsenal for stations abroad, viz.:—the
Queen, the Persian, the Marathon, the James, the
Reward, the Eliza, the Conqueror, the Harvest
Queen, the Merchantman, the steamer Britannia,
the. Lord Londesborough, the Index, the Eva, the
Dora, and the Constance. The steamer Britannia
and the sailing ship Persian will ship 20 cupolas for
supplying liquid iron for the guns at Gibraltar and
Malta.

The following appointments were made yester-
day at the Admiralty :—William Morgan, pay-
master, to the Pembroke; Mr. William Waterfield,
Ist class assistant engineer, to the Indus, for
charge of the machinery of the Spider ; John N.
Nugent has been nominated to a naval cadetship.