The Sun.
London, England, 1844-12-31 00:00:00

NAVAL INTELLIGENCE.

I MALTA, DFc. 18.—The French steamer from the
Levant, due here on the 14th instant, has not yet n3eue
her appearance. The mails will be closed this evening
1 for the continent by the Pericles, which will leave t°-
morrow morning. having waited the prescribed time.
The European mail by the French steamer, via lqaPleg'
&c., from Marseilles, due yesterday, has also beep'
delayed.
The Neapolitan mail of the 12th did not come in, thid3
i Mongibello having fouled a vessel from the Levant, an
is ordered to perform a long quarantine at Oita
Vecchia.
The Alecto, with the India mails, duly arrived hereon
the 15th. She bad a very rough passage • but the re-
port of her being damaged was untrue. 'The Oriente,'
put to sea on that night.
A court-martial sit on the 9th and 10th inst., on hosrid:
of her Majesty's ship Formidable, to try James Niel°
son, boatswain of the Snake, on charges of quarrelling
and fighting. Sir Lucius Curtis presided, with CePtains
Rich, of the Formidable, and Lie) d C. Paget, of the
Aigle ; Commanders Carpenter, of the Geyser, and Ca thethe
non, of the Orestes, as members. Mr. Milner. 0.
Geyser, ooffioiat,•d as Judge- Advocate.
This t 'ewe woe ordered by the Baird of Admiralty
on application from a Mr. Streathfield, father ofssn
"e
whe was formerly a midshipman or Loatil. r'
feclewing, are the facts of the ease which may be re-
lied 1111 :
Some months age Mr. Nichol, on being unwell, fir
into the cabin of the surgeon of the ship
some medmine. Finding him labouring under iwia
serious indisposition, the surgeon asked him e
" take a glass," which he accepted. Mr. Smith-
field was present, and made some very fil:le'''.
went remarks as to the right that Nicholson had to be,
in the cabin ; replies w, re given and a wordy
ensued, Nicholson winding up by saying to Streathfie. „
"Your father's a soldier, but you're six feet of bad staff.
The next morning Streathfield, smarting under the ill•
salt he had received, and which he had brought on WS
self, told the prisoner he had insulted him and want
al<
to fight. Prisoner refusing him, the midshipman grin'
him several times, whereupon a fight ensued. On i7it
coming to the ears of the officer on duty he waa,Fb,
under arrest, and a court of inquiry was held, whit
though it exonerated the prisoner from the blame ofeo'
mencing the quarrel, resulted in his being sent out ofw
ship and in the middy leaving the service.
The case having been proved against the prisoner, he
was sentenced to be severely reprimanded, and to be Put
at the bottom of the list for twelve menthe. A,,ct
Excellent testimonials of character and good oon"-ils
were produced, and Capt. Devereux, of the Snaketser
giving evidence, said, " I never had a better clan tate,
my command, and nothing would give me more plettelo-
than to have him on board again."
Her. Majesty's steamer Heels returned to port en tile:,
Ilth inst. She did not bring Lady Hardinge, fcr,test
Ladyship having been on board, suffered so severely
she pit back, and defers her departure till another
sion. The Hecla left us yesterday for Alexandria, h 8 1 of
on board Mr. Hardinge, son of the Governor-GenOrs
India, and some other passengers.
The Formidable arrived here on the 7th instant. focia°Pl
Naples, whither she had been sent with the 1,...30
steamer, in compliment to his Royal Highness the V"
d'Aumale, on his recent marriage.
which A mnst extraordinary circumstance occurred weee
eiso
created much surprise and disappointment on board r.
Duke had sent invitations to the Captain of the ,4
midable and his officers for the wedding ceremony, ariv,
seats were reserved. The captain did not give theoip
vitations, and, consequently, not an officer of tbeeist
walpresent. Those of the Heels attended. An nos
inquiry took place through our Ambassador, wad "the
all I can learn, the only explanation was, that besso.
captain, had forgotten them. The French AD" 00
sador gave a splendid ball, and every offieer.tej
board, including even the midshipmen, was in/slier
personally and separately, a thing, perhaps, peed
heard of. Nothing could equal the attention Fate
by the Neapolitans to the British. The navy of ee.
former gave a splendid dinner to the officers of the limo
ship, which was prepared by the King's cooks, on.oo,
service of gold sent from the palace for the ocel‘a.,,nl.
The English officers re•urned the compliment. Du`—te
the stay of the Formidable the Tondo was opeev",„4,
them, San Carlo for two nights. and every public Prtisj)
Carriages also were at their command, and the 13%ia0
uniform was a passport to every kindness and atter"
that could be shown. 114
Her Majesty's ship the Tyne; from Beyrout,
here on the 4th inst., and is now performing queran-co
The French steamer the Rainier left port on the 1"
inst. for Toulon ; she did not carry a mail. isleislei ,
The Acheron left pert on the same day for the lon
•
n.
On the 16th the Snake left the harbour fur To
Caeliari, and Genoa, taking mails. of
The Ariadne yacht returned to port on the eveningAs
the 14th. and having rep nted that she had tallen in vo.7t:
a Greek brig, with loss of rudder, the Admiral sent 57,
the Acheron to look for her and tow her in, which
accomplished. The vessel was called Aglaia.
The barque Susan has put back from her PassD
to Alexandria, at a distance of 250 miles frnuisst• the
She sprang a leak and made so much water t",:down
pumps would not keep her clear. On being booed fish,
she was discovered to have been pierced by a swor .ider
a portion of whose spear was taken' ut by a ship'hul
of this place, 9 for
Her Majesty's steamer Volcano, with dispatche
the Admiral, arrived here yesterday from Englod dispatches
Gibraltar.
The Sydenham has returned from Athens and: is Per
forming quarantine.
The Medea is ordered home from Corfu.
The Geyser will be reported ready fur sea on the l'st
of January.
In Port.—French—Steamers Perieles and Mentor, he°
under orders for sea.
English—The Formidable, the Ceylon, ship-
the Orestes, the Tyne, and the Beacon surveYidiliseto
Steamers—Geyser, Sydenham, Volcano, 103
Scotia, trading steamer.
Gibraltar,
On Foreign Service—Bonetta, surveying • ee dee ;
Scout and Flamer ; Pirmus, Belvidera ;
Smyrna, Warspite ; Constantinople, Devastation. . real'
En route to different Ports—Polyphemus, to Gib ;
tar ; Hecla, to Alexandria ; Virago, to Constantinopk
Snake, to Tunis, Cagliari, and Genoa. . beets
The Racehorse, 18, Commander Hay, hall-„s. her
docked and had her copper cleaned, embarked
marines on Tuesday.
The Seagull, 6, is ordered to be fitted for PnelCe
service, tennis
In Harbour—The Caledonia, Sari Josef, A'".o,
Superb, Actaeon, Firebrand, Racehorse, Acorn, re Fly.,
Cruiser, Ranger, Daring, Espiegle, Mutine, OspreY,elooe
ing Fish, Waterwitch, ...Pantaloon, Sylph, Snipe, st,
fiance, Adventure transport, and Rochester, Cila3-
Devon, Tortoise, and Hamoaze lighters.
In the Sound—The Dordrecht, Dutch Store-Sbir!
wind bound.

PROMOTIONS. e
Lieutenant—J. V. Williams (1840), late first of til
Nimrod, to the rank of Commander.
Mates—J. F. Tottenham, for gallant conduct ;
W. Amphlett. of the Excellent, to the rank of Lieutelp.
Second Masters —lt. S. Rundle (1837), J. L. 1, of
ki
nson (1842), J. E. Petley (1839), to the ran'
Masters.
Clerks—F. Gransmore (1839) and W. P. O'Brieli
(1829), to the rank of Paymaster and Purser.
APPOINTMENTS.
Vice-Admirals Sir Francis W. Austen, .
(1838), to tho chief command on the West Ind' 11-`lalle;.,
North American station, vice Sir Charles Adam, IL 9.his
period of service expired ; Sir Francis will hoist sir
flag (white at the fore) on board the Vindictive, 50' fj,e
William Parker, G.C.8., to the chief command infitlo
Mediterranean, vice Sir E. W. C. R. Owen; Sir he
will hoist his flag (blue at the fore) on board
Monarch, 84.
Commanders—W. F. Austen, to the Vindictive'
Simpson (1840), to the Rolla.
Lieutenants—H. Eden, 1837, from the Eagle to
mand the Locust ; W. F. B irnett, 1838, to the Ear
vice Rio) ; L. P. Bartell, 1840, to the Amazon ; f
BraDeh :utui 11. M. I')lden, to the Lily ; L. B. Mtlei‘ii,
non, 1842. to the Superb ; W. J. A. Heath, additierjcb
to the ; C. M'Kenzle, 1799, to t_ireenno,
Hospital ; W. Amohlc tt. to the Actaeon ; C. J. W11"-,si
to the Excellent; H. Austen (to i e flag to Vice- Aoe'j,
Sir F. W. Austen, his father), to the Vindictive' 0,
Stephen, 1815. reappointed to the Raven cutter
Morris, 1823, re-appointed to the Skylark ;
Cooper, 1841, to the Flying Fish. AO;
Masters—G. Moore, 1844, to the Daring, vice St.-- f.
J. 11,berts, 1813, additional, to the Royal Sovereige;the
A. Niblett, 1842, to the Fantome_; R. S. Rundle Of
Comas; J. L. Wilkinson, to the Devastation ; and' d'
Petley, to the Styx. R D.
Surgeons—J. Vaughan, 1841, to the Fantome; '0;
Mason, to the Actaeon ; W. H. Baynes, to the Persia 1,
J. Steill, to the Lily ; J. Atchison, to the Ranger ;
B. Chambers, to the Rattler , H. H. Hammond, to
Racehorse.
Paymasters and Pursers—J. Marten, to the Cool:,
J. W. Maddock, to the Persian ; F. Mundy, to
Rattler, vice Tait ; C. J. J. Brown, to the Ranger;
Ricketts, to the Waterwitch.
Assistant-Surgeons—C. Tait, 1837, James Efellf.:
and C. Crandell, to the Superb ; W. WDermott, 00;
1840, to the Actaeon ;J. Acton, to the Persian ; 17,
land, to the Racehorse • J. Irwin, to the Lily ;
Cook, to the Ocean ; Hayward, to the Locust ;0* ov,
Anderson (acting), to the Persian ; G. G SiraPsthe
(acting), to the Fantome '• P. Wolridge (acting), t° ;
Cruizer, vice Tait ; J. Wade (b), to Hasler Hospltto
J. D. Cronnin, to the Rattler; C. G. A. M'Culloch, t°
Acorn ; J. Forbes (d), to the Comus.
Second Masters—R. Walker, to the Firebrand, vice
Thomas, to the Superb ; C. Grigg. to the Locust. cu.
Mates—A. M`Naghten and F. W. Smith, to the Jibe
perb • F. B. Quin, to the Osprey ; C. Cerjat•
Firebrand. c 1.0
Clerks—C. Lyne (in charge), to the Locust ;S. d ;
Wright, to the Rattler ; J. Retallick, to the Firebrsnst,
H. B. Retallick, to the Amazon ; J. Jones, to the
Vincent, vice Lyne ; J. Burlace, to the Port Admit*/ ir
office, Portsmouth.
Naval Instructor—T. Eastman (1836), to the SuPe