342 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1817. 



As there are no longer any re- 

 gular fire ships in the service, we 

 humbly propose that, whenever it 

 may become necessary to fit out 

 any vessels of this description, we 

 maybe authorized toussijjn to them 

 such complement of officers and 

 men, together with the pay of such 

 rates or class, as the size of the 

 vtssel employed, or the nature of 

 the particular service, may lender 

 expedient. 



We farther propose, that when 

 it shall be necessary to fit out troop 

 ships, we may be authorized to 

 assign to them such rates and com- 

 plements as may seem pioper. 



Bv these regulations, the forty- 

 seven varieties of complements, 

 now in use in the navy, will be re- 

 duced to twenty. 



Having thus submitted to your 

 Royal Highness our projjositions 

 for the rating and manning of his 

 Majesty's ships, it is next our duty to 

 state, that the vaT ieties in the rig- 

 ging and arming of shi|.s are at 

 least asgreatasin the complements ; 

 the iireguiarities and deviation 

 from establishment in regard to 

 the form, scantling, &c. of his 

 Majesty's ships, complained of in 

 174i, are now exceedingly in- 

 creased, and are of mucli nwre se- 

 rious injury to the service, both in 

 respect to convenience and eco- 

 nomy. 



It ia obvious that the extra ex- 

 pense »f providing masts, yards, 

 rigging, and stores of various di- 

 mensions, for ships of the ^"ame 

 actual force, nmst be veiy great ; 

 because, if n^t required for the 

 particular ship for which they 

 were originally prepared, thev are 

 either useles-, or nuist be altered 

 to fit some other ship at a great 

 loss of labour, time, and materials j 



and, in case of accidents or ur- 

 gency, this variety disables tl>e 

 ships from assisting each other : 

 and it requires that the naval ar- 

 senals, both at home and abioad, 

 should be furnished, at a very 

 great expiMise, with a much larger 

 assortment of these articles than 

 would be Ufcessary if they could 

 be made more generally applicable 

 to the probable wants of the whole 

 fleet ; this will be explained to 

 your Koyal Highness more forc- 

 ibly, by .statiiig that for the single 

 class of ships of the third rate, 

 called 74's, there were lately not 

 less than seven diHerent schemes 

 of masting and rigging; and that 

 a squadron n)ight be con.po.sed of 

 seven ves^^els of tliis force, wi ich 

 could not properly em])lt'y oi e 

 another s spare spars and sails, 

 and for each of which tlie dock- 

 yards m\i'5l necessaiily have their 

 individual gear. 



It is in this particular, above 

 all oihers that unif irmity woidd 

 be desirable ; but the experience 

 of what occurred immediately 

 after the establishment of 1^46, as 

 we have already sta'ed, and of all 

 subsequent times, Jrhows that it is 

 unfortunately unattainable: the 

 varieties of ships produced by suc- 

 cessive endeavours toimj)rove our 

 models, aid st 11 more the great 

 numlifis oF ships of a'l classes 

 v\hich have* been ca; turedfrom the 

 various enemies with whom we 

 have been at war, render any 

 scheme of perfect unifoiniity im- 

 practicaVile ; but this very import- 

 ant subject has not escaped oiu" 

 consideration. We have, in con- 

 junction with the Navy Board, 

 and wiih the assistance <if a com- 

 mittee of t-xperienced sea <.fficer9, 

 taken measures for pushii g this 



principle 



