The Sun.
London, England, 1845-12-26 00:00:00

NAVAL INTELLIGENCE.

PORTSMOUTH, DEC. 24.—Her Majesty's steamer
Lizard was stopped on Tuesday evening, in consequence
of orders sent to the Commander-in-Chief by the, electric
telegraph. She sailed last night to Falmouth, and will
have dispatches forwarded her at that port for the ad-
miral at the Brazils.

The Bittern, 16, is expected hourly from the eastward;
the crew are to be paid wages directly she arrives, and
the brig is then to proceed, without loss of time, to
the Island of Ascension, with dispatches and some
supernumeraries for Commodore Jones.
The Myrmidon, a new steam-vessel at Blackwall, is
ordered to be brought down to Woolwich and commis-
sioned. Men are to be entered for her in the St. Vincent.

The Daring, 16, is r. ported to be ready for sea by the
30th instant. She will be paid directly she gets to Spit-
head, and it is expected she will be ordered to North
America.

The detachment of Marines for the Carysfort, under
the command of First Lieutenant M'Callam, embarked
in her yesterday. A number of seamen have been en-
tered, and she will begin to fit and get ready :(lt
with all dijiateh.

The Rodney, 92, and Superb, 80, are fitting at Spit-
head. The riggitrz supplied to the Superb has been so
much worn and chafed, that it has been found necessary
to furnish her with new lower riegin. Both ships are
to be kept out of the harbour. They will be ready for
sea in a few days.

The Rattler screw-steamer is still in dock, to have
Woodcroft's propeller fitted, The Scourge mortar-
steamer is retarded in her fitting out by the bed for her

mortar.

The Admiralty have this day promoted Mr. Thomas
I3randreth, mate of the Excellent, to the rank of Lieute-
nant, in c,,n.equence of his having passed the best exa-
mination at the Naval College. The Admiralty have
also directed commissions in the Marine corps to be
made out fur the following three cadets in the Excellent,
who passed out on Monday, viz.—Mr. G. D. Tieasty,

son, progresses with ;her fittings for sea in the basin.
Her seamen, gunners, and marines, are expected to join
daily, the former from Portsmouth, and the latter from
Chatham. The following officers, in addition to those
already given, have been appointed to her :—Lieutenant
Thomas A. Aldridge, vice S. A. Austen, to Carysfort ;
Master, John G. Mugford, vice George Wilson, to Gla-
diator ; Surgeon, William Booth ; Purser, William
Drury ; Assistant-Surgeon, Augustus Slight.
The Viper brigantine, Lieutenant Edward Gray, has
her topmasts up, and is progressing rapidly with her
rigging, the few hands that she has entered being as-
sisted in the duty by the dockyard riggers. Mr. Nicholas
L. Dolling is appointed assistant-surgeon in charge.
The Fury steam sloop (building) will be launched on
Tuesday, the 30th instant, and in so forward a state, her
cabins being completely fitted and painted, as to be able
to be got ready for commission, if necessary, in a few
days. Two parties of hired shipwrights have been taken
off her and placed on the Horatio frigate, the plans for
her construction into a block ship with screw propeller
having now arrived.
The Drake navy lighter has arrived from Portsmouth
with stores, and the Goodwill has sailed with stores for
the same port.
Mr. Richard Grundy, master of the Rochester lighter,
has been appointed master of the Fortitude, fitted as a
coal depot for Chatham.
Mr. Campbell, boatswain of the Formidable, 84, re-
cently paid off here from the Mediterranean, has been
appointed foreman of the riggers at this dockyard, vice
Mr. John Young, superannuated on a pension of 42/.
per annum.

The Rev. J. Moore, M.A., has been appointed chap-
lain of the Trafalgar, 120, flag ship at this port.
The Birkenhead iron steam frigate, of 1,400 tons,
building by Mr. John Laird, at Birkenhead, is to be
launched on the same day as the Fury.

APPALLING SHIPWRECKS AND
LOSS OF LIFE.

The fearful gales from the N.W. and N.E. that
have prevailed for the last week, have occasioned the
most distressing casualties off all parts of the coast.
Already intelligence has been received of the loss of
upwards of 30 coasting vessels, and many homeward-
bound foreign ones, with wealthy cargoes.
The gales commenced on the morning of Thursday
week, and continued up to Wednesday. In the
Channel their effects were truly frightful. At Bide-
ford, on Monday night, two vessels were totally lost
within sight of the shore, and both crews, with the
exception of one man, perished. One was a schooner,
or what is called a brigantine, named the Albion,
belonging to Brixhatn laden with iron. Her loss
took place on the Bramstone Sands, and when
discovered; she lay on her beam-ends, with her
masts gone, and the sea sweeping over her deck.
In a few hourse she broke up, and totally
disappeared. Another vessel, a large barque, also
was driven ashore, and but for the prompt arrival of
the life-boat, which took the crew off the rigging and
landed them, they would have met with a watery
grave. In the vicinity of the coast of St. Mumble's
Head, and Cardigan Bay, the casualties were of a
most fearful character, upwards olforty lives having,
it is supposed, perished on board one vessel. All the
information that has been received, which was from
the Coast Guard, who state that large fragments of a
large vessel, about 600 tons, were at daybreak, on
Friday morning, discovered by them washed upon
the beach a short distance from St. Mumble's Head,
and they had every reason to believe it to have been
the same vessel which they saw in the offing on the
previous evening attempting to run in for shelter.
There were between thirty and forty persons seen on
her deck at the time, and should she prove to be the
same, no doubt every soul has been lost.

Another wreck is known to have occurred near the
harbour during the same night. The general belief
is, that she foundered with all hands, and she is ex-
pected to be the Dora.
Further along the coast, the north of Cardigan, a
shocking sight was witnessed. At one o'clock on
Sunday afternoon, the wind blowing terrifically, the
Victory, fro n Penmaudre, struck on the bar in thirty
feet water. The crew ran up the rigging and lashed
themselves to the topmast, which was out of water,
where the poor fellows remained, with the sea beating
over them, for sixteen hours before the life-boat could
venture out to rescue them. When brought ashore
they were in a miserable state of suffering.
About five miles eastward of Cardigan harbour, a
fourth wreck occurred, viz., that of the Margaret and
Mary, of Aberystwith. It was discovered by one of
the Coast Guard on Monday morning, who perceiving
a mast-head protruding from a cave under a high
cliff, immediately proceeded to the spot and found it
to be a wreck. The master, Mr. Jones, was found
on the rocks dead, and also a seaman dreadfully
bruised; the rest of the crew were drowned. She
was from Drogheda, laden withli mestone.
A disastrous and total wre k took place on the
rocks in Cemaes Bay, on the north coast of Anglesey,
witnessed by more than two thousand persons, who
had been attracted by the heavy firing of the signal
guns of the unfortunate vessel. She was barque•
rigged, about 400 tons burden, and called the
Frankland, Captain E. C. Friend, master, laden with
hides, sugar, cotton, and other merchandise, and was
lost within a few hours' sail of her destination—

Liverpool—after a favourable passage from Bahia.
The particulars of the melancholy event will be found
in the subjoined statement of the commander. He
states—" The barque under my command arrived
from Bahia, off the above coast at two o'clock in the

morning of the 18th instant, with the wind S.W., or
off the shore, and a moderate breeze, the ship standing
along shore under all sail for the pilot station, when
the wind suddenly shifted, with a violent blast,
into the N.E. quarter, and the ship in con-
sequence became close on a lee shore, and, a
tremendous gale coming on instantly, the only
resource we had was to let go the anchors under the
lee of the Middle Mouse and cut away all the masts.
This was immediately done, and by the time the shin
held, her stern was only 50 yards from the rocks, with
a most dreadful sea breaking on them, and there
seemed not the slightest chance of any of our lives
being saved. The ship fortunately held on till day-
light, by which- time our guns and other signals of
distress attracted many persons to the cliff, some of
whom promptly came down on the rocks, at a great
risk, to aid us. After many ineffectual attempts to
get a line on shore, I was enabled to throw a hand
lead, attached to the log line, on to the shelf of a rock,
where Robert Griffith and Richard Owen, having

lashed a rope to themselves, succeeded in reaching it
with a boot-hook and line. I must here mention the
gallant conduct of a youth named Owen Highland,
who, seeing the line foul of a projecting rock, watchei
the receding of the sea, and rushed out, at the risk of
his life, to clear it, when a tremendous sea broke many
feet over him, but, on its passing off, we and the
people on the cliff were happy to see he had clung to
the -rock, and, watching his opportunity, he reached
st
eh
ae
os hv
eo
rr
teo,
ka nd
him,
i ma bed
and,
althoughu p h te cliffhe rendered
beforeanother
usu,
service, his intrepid conduct cannot be too much
praised. The line was afterwards blown clear, and
by it another one and a hawser were sent on shore, arid
carried up to the cliffs, by which means the crew were,
one by one, hauled up in safety, one of the cables
having previously parted, and the vessel being within
a few feet of the rocks, in peril of being instantly
dashed to pieces whenever the one should part, which
event took place about two hours after, and in less
than five minutes the ship was shivered to atoms
against the cliffs, killing a large Newfoundland dog anal
other animals I had on board." It will be seen that the
vessel is a perfect loss, and the unfortunate crew lost
everything they possessed, with the exception of the
clothes they had on. It is reported that tha amount
of the loss of the ship and cargo will exceed 20,000/.
Along the same coast, off Pwllheli, Aberystwith,
and Portwllaen, a number of other casualties hap-
pened. At the latter port, a boat, marked " Three
Brothers," of Liverpool, was washed up on the
beach, as also several timbers and a piece of a
vessel's figure head. It is feared that they be-
longed to vessels lost during the storm. The ship
Rob the Ranter, from Glasgow, put in for shelter on
Sunday, having been struck by a tremendous sea the
day before, which swept the decks of their boats,
bulwarks, &c., and carried overboard two seamen,
named Neil and INPEachern, belonging to Islay, and
Christopher Growley, a native of Belfast, both of
whom were drowned. The collier lost on Friday
last, near I3owcastle, is supposed to have been from
Bideford. Her unhappy crew acted bravely to save
her, but the situation they brought her up in (cer-
tainly the only chance they had of preserving her),
and in such a gale and sea, it was utterly impossible
to rescue her from destruction, and at ten o'clock at
night her cables snapped, and she was carried among
the rocks, where she soon became a wreck. The
coast guard, under tne direction of Mr. Annis, the
chief officer at the station at Bowcastle, rendered

every assistance, which, unfortunately, was much

Mr. Henry Adair, and Mr. H. W. Mawbey. These
gentlemen fill up all the vacancies at present in the corps
for Second Lieutenants.
SHEERNESS, DEC. 23.—The Bittern, 16, Commander
Thomas Ilope, completed the adjustment of her com-
passes on Friday evening, and was to have sailed for
Portsmouth on Saturday, but, owing to the continued
northerly gales since that day, she has been unable to
leave the harbour. Vice-Admiral Sir Edward King,
the Commander-in-Chief, inspected and mustered her
yesterday, and as there is nothing. now to detain her
she will sail for Spithead directly the weather moderates.
The Calypso, 20, a new corvette of the Surveyor's,
was commissioned at Chatham on Thursday, by Lieu-
tenant Thomas L. Gaussen, for Captain Henry J.
Wurth (1840), who arrived the following day, and took
up his commission. The following officers beve also
been appointed to her .—Lieutenant, H. B. Everest ;
Master, Robert Knox ; Surgeon, James L. Donnet ;
Paymaster and Purser, Cornelius Dealey ; Second Mas-
ter, Henry A. Martin ; Boatswain, Wm. Lawrence ;
Carpenter, James May.
The Wildfire steam tender has been taken into basin
to have her defects made good. When being hauled in
her figurehead and cutwater were unfortunately carried
away, which will have to be replaced. The Fearless
steamer has arrived from Chatham in the meantime to
take her place.
The Samson steam frigate, Captain Thomas Hender-