The Sun.
London, England, 1845-06-30 00:00:00

NAVAL INTELLIGENCE.,

PORTSMOUTH, JUNE 29.—The scene of Monday last at Spithead
was repeated by the experimental squadron on Thursday, but with-
out the presence of the royal and illustrious personages who on the
former day attended ; the result, however, as regards the evolu.
tions performed, was more satisfactory, the various crews having
followed the respective evolutions made by the flag ship with a
much greater degree of alacrity than on Monday; in one respect,
however, the result was the same—the Trafalgar was again uni-
versally first in obeying the signal made. This is consequent
upon the additional efficiency of the crew of 'hat ship over every
other ship of the squadron, the same men having been in three

line-of-battle ships (first rate) successively, without being paid off,
namely—the Camperdown, Queen, and Trafalgar, whereas the
majority of the crews of the other members of the squadron are
either volunteers or very " ordinary" seamen, except those of the
Albion, who has, If not the most efficient crew of seamen, cer.
tainly the finest body of men on board of any ship in the service.
Those who so industriously endeavour to preach up the efficient
state of the navy, will not relish the fact that the Queen, 110,
at the time she left Chatham with 700 men upon her books
had not 30 of that number rated as able seamen 1 The Vulture,
first-class steam-frigate, came up to Spithead about the same time
with only five able seamen upon her books, and left the anchorage
no better off. With such a comparative scarcity of able seamen on
board the squadron how is it possible the ships can be well
manoeuvred at sea, when they have so much ado to lictrorin ere.
ditably at anchor and in smooth water ? A large slumber of the
crews c.' the various ships now at Spithead are men drawn from our
dockyards, " general service" men, 1. e. men of no service at all
as seamen, being, for the most part, unaccustomed to " working"
a ship. Commanders of ships have got into a had habit of looking
for tine men instead of goon sailors ; they forget that'it was the
small or moderate-sized man that worked and fought so well during
the ;ast war. A fine looking, broad-set fellow, six feet high, will
now be seized with avidity by the captain of a ship fitting out,
whereas the thorough practical seaman of five feet six or seven will
be rejected; instances of this occur daily, not only at this,
but at all our ports and rendezvous, and as long as such

- -
.•
placarding the wa'is with hugs announcements at the
of the navy, and it were better far to save the public mope)
so fruitlessly expended in printing. Admiral S'r Ch Ades
Rowley has tried a more likely expedient for raising seamen
by exhibiting a notice at the dockyard.g,ates, inviting such semen
as have recently been paid off from her Majesty's ships, or who
are about to be paid off, and who may wish to enter tor any ship
of the expel imental squadron, to apply on board his flag ship, the
Victory, where they will be received and entered, and be allowed
six weeks leave of ebsence, their pay and time going on, and re.
taming their present ratings. This is a good bait, and may, per.
haps, take, but we doubt it.
The eighth anniversary of her Majesty's coronation was kept
here
.yesterday in the usual manner. A general holiday was given
at all the Government works. The ships at Spithead were gaily
decorated with flags as were those in harbour, and royal salutes
were fired at noon by the fleet and garrison.
A Swedish corvette of 20 guns came up to Spithead this morn_
ping from the westward, and saluted the garrison, the commander.
in.chief, and the rear.admiral commanding the experimental squid-
ron, which was returned by the platform, the Victory, and the St.
Vincent, each returning 13 guns, from which circumstance it is
believed she had some distinguished personage on board, but no
communication having been made with the shore we are unable to
furnish more. At four o'clock a schooner came up and paid the
same compliment.
By letters from Ascension to the:lsth of April, we are informed
of a dreadful catastrophe having happened to the Brazilian sl.ter,
captured by the Wasp, on board of which Mr. Harmer, the mid-
shipman, and 10 men of the Wasp, in charge, were murdered by
the prisoners, who then took posiessim nt the prize, but which
was retaken by the Star, 6, Commander Dunlop, when Lieutenant
Wilson was put aboard to take her to Sierra Leone. It appears
that ten days after Lieut. Wilson took charge of the recaptured
pt ize and parted company with the Star, he was caught in a h y
squall and capsized about ~ou ini!es off Cope Three Points Lieut.
Wilson, with two Kroomen, and some of the pirates who were re.
taken in the schooner, and five seamen succeeded in cutAing away
some spars and making a raft, which they finished just before the
schooner settled down and foundered. They did not save any
provisions fit tar consumption, and only a quantity of water,
which being soon exhausted, the Kr-omen commenced drinking
the salt water, which killed them both The quartermaster and
the pirates also died from the same cause, the quartermas er having
previously become raving mad. Twenty days after they left the
schooner, and, being still upon the raft, they fortunately fell in
with the Cygnet, 6, Commander Layton, to windward of Whvdah,
and when taken off the raft by the Cygnet's boat, the survivors
presented a mos thorrilying spectacle, being literally a mass of pu-
trifying sores. Commander Layton, with much prudence, sent
the poor fellows on board the Wasp for conveyance here (AscensioW,
where they arrived quite recovered on the 22d.

The Penelope, 22, steam.frigate, Commodore Jones, arrived at
Ascension from St. Helena on the 24th of April with a supply :.f
water for the Island.

The Heroine, 6, Lieut.-Commander Foote, is on her way from
the coast of Africa to England, with the pirates who massacred
dr. Harmer and ten men of the Wasp, whilst in charge of a
Brazilian slave schooner, for trial. Lieutenant R. D. Stupart, of
the Wasp, comes home in the Heroine, as chief witness against
the pirates.

The Firebrand, 8, steam frigate, Captain Hope, left Rio for
Monte Video on the 2.2.ci of April, with Mr. Gore Ouse:ey, her
Majesty's Consul, on board.

The Scylla, 16, Commander Sharpe, was at Bermuda, all well,
on the :24th inst., at which date the Vindictive, 50, Captain Sey-
mour, flag of Vice- Admiral Sir Francis Austen, Commander in-
Chief, was also there, daily expecting to sail for tialitax all well
on board.

The Eurydice, 26, Captain Elliott, sailed from Vera Cruz on the
20th ult., with dispatches for the Commander-in-Chief.
The Fox, 42, Commodore Sir H. Blackwood, Bart., arrived at
Trincomalee from Bombay on the 22d of April, at which cats the
Serpent, 16, Commander Nevin, and the Alligator, 26, troop snip,
Master-Commander King, were also at Trincomalee.
The Winchester, 50, Captain Eden, flip of Ilear-Admit,l the
Hon. Jocelyn Perc.,-; was at Sheen's Bay, Cape of Good on
the 2d of April, at which date the Mutine, 12, Commander Craw.
ford, was also there. The Winchester was about taking a short
cruize.