

MILITARY AND NAVAL ORGANISATION. 



eluding the Inflexible, Dreadno^lght, Devasta- 

 tion, Thunderer, and others. (2) Ten ships for 

 ocean warfare, but inferior in power to the first 

 class. Most iron-clads can be used as rams, 

 but in four of this class the ramming power 

 is a chief point. The Polyphemus is a unique 

 ship, meant for torpedo warfare, and is simply a 

 steel tube, deeply immersed, with no masts, and 

 with a powerful ram below and a torpedo-port 

 under it, for discharging Whitehead torpedoes. 

 (3) About twenty rigged ships for cruising (in- 

 cluding the Monarch, Hercules, Sultan, &c.), with 

 armour from 5 to 18 inches, and carrying from 9 

 to 1 6 guns (mostly from 12 to 18 ton guns). (4) 

 About twenty partly antiquated rigged cruisers, 

 with guns under 12 tons, and armour under 6-inch 

 thickness. The old Warrior and Black Prince 

 belong to this class. Their defects, as compared 

 with the preceding, are their unwieldy length, 

 'unhandiness,' and limited fighting power, ren- 

 dering them almost useless, save for the protec- 

 tion or destruction of merchant-ships. (5) Eleven 

 small iron-clads for coast defence thought now 

 to be too antiquated for much service in modern 

 naval warfare. Several swift unarmoured vessels 

 intended to play the part at sea of flying bat- 

 teries of artillery on land, have been added to 

 the navy, including the Inconstant, Shah, and 

 Raleigh. Swifter still are the steel despatch vessels. 

 Torpedo-boats are a recent addition to our naval 

 defences. This fleet is scattered in squadrons 

 all over the world, each squadron under a flag- 

 officer; and several squadrons are sometimes 

 united under an admiral or vice-admiral. 



PERSONNEL OF THE NAVY. 



Except in two instances of brief duration, when 

 a Lord High Admiral was appointed, the govern- 

 ment of the navy has, since 1688, been vested in 

 the Board of Admiralty, consisting of ' Lords 

 Commissioners for executing the Office of High 

 Admiral.' The First Lord and parliamentary Secre- 

 tary are members of the government, the former 

 being a cabinet minister. The other lords are 

 Senior Naval Lord, Third Lord, Junior Naval 

 Lord, and Civil Lord. Under them is the per- 

 manent administration and heads of depart- 

 ments, not changing with the government the 

 Controller, Directors-general of the medical and 

 engineering departments, Hydrographer, Superin- 

 tendent of contracts, stores, &c. The First Lord 

 has supreme authority. The Senior Naval Lord 

 directs the movements of the fleet, and is respon- 

 sible for its discipline. The Third Lord manages 

 the dockyards, and the Junior Lord has charge of 

 the victualling and transports. The officers are 

 Combatant and Civil. The former includes 

 admirals, vice-admirals, rear-admirals, and com- 

 modores, who are ' flag-officers,' and always com- 

 mand squadrons. A flag-officer derives his title 

 from bearing a small flag at the mast-head of his 

 ship. For the first three grades this is a St 

 George's Cross i.e. a red cross on a white ground. 

 An admiral bears it at the mainmast head, a vice- 

 admiral at the foremast head, and a rear-admiral 

 at the mizzen. Commodores hoist a broad pen- 

 nant. Commodore is only a temporary rank, 

 conferred on the senior captain present with a 

 squadron which is operating beyond the com- 

 mand of an admiral, vice-admiral, or rear-admiral, 



The next permanent grade to that of rear-admiral 

 is captain, who is the commander of an individual 

 ship (larger than a gun-vessel). He commissions 

 his ship by hoisting a pennant at the main. His 

 ship also bears the white or St George's ensign 

 at the peak, whenever it is desired to shew her 

 nationality. In vessels larger than frigates, the 

 captain has a commander under him, who is re- 

 sponsible for the condition of the ship and disci- 

 pline of the crew. In other vessels, this duty falls 

 to the first-lieutenant. Besides the first-lieutenant 

 there are other lieutenants, according to the size 

 of the ship, who command the watches in turn, 

 take charge of boat expeditions, &c. Junior to 

 the lieutenants are the sub-lieutenants, whose 

 duties are analogous to theirs. Naval cadets are 

 young gentlemen learning their profession. As 

 combatant officers, but specially devoted to navi- 

 gating the ships, are the ' Navigating Lieutenants.' 



The civil branch comprises the secretaries of 

 flag-officers, the medical officers, the engineers, 

 the chaplains, naval instructors and paymasters, 

 who have charge of the money, food, and clothing 

 stores on board. Throughout these ranks, up to 

 captain inclusive, promotion is entirely by selec- 

 tion or patronage. After captain, promotion is by 

 seniority, the senior captain, who as such has been 

 six years at sea in command of a ship, succeeding 

 to a vacancy among the rear-admirals. Examina- 

 tions have to be passed before appointment as a 

 naval cadet, sub-lieutenant, and lieutenant. There 

 never was any purchase of commissions in the 

 navy. As compared with the army, the denomina- 

 tions carry higher rank ; for instance, a captain 

 in the navy ranks with a colonel in the army, 

 a lieutenant of eight years' standing with a major 

 in the sister service. 



Intermediate between the commissioned officers 

 and the crew are the warrant officers, formerly 

 rather numerous, but now limited to the gunner, 

 boatswain, and carpenter, who all rise from before 

 the mast (which is the technical expression for 

 having been originally a common sailor). The 

 junior engineers are also, on first appointment, 

 warrant officers. The crew consists of petty 

 officers and seamen. 



The petty officers correspond to the non-com- 

 missioned officers in the army, and, besides certain 

 special offices in aid of discipline, are usually the 

 chief men in the several classes of work which the 

 crew are called upon to form. Such are the 

 gunner's mate, boatswain's mate, master-at-arms, 

 ship's schoolmaster, chief stoker, armourer, calker, 

 &c. The crew comprises able seamen, who are 

 practised navigators, ordinary seamen, and boys, 

 who are undergoing a paid apprenticeship to the 

 ocean. 



Terms of Sen-ice. 



The regimental system, which forms so remark- 

 able a feature in army organisation, has no exist- 

 ence in the navy. When a ship is wanted, the 

 Admiralty designates the officers who shall serve 

 in her ; the captain hoists his pennant, and his 

 crew is then made up of volunteers, who, either 

 by his reputation, or the nature of the service to 

 which the ship is destined, are desirous of forming 

 her complement. The men engage for the period 

 of the vessel's commission (three to five years), 

 during which they are under martial law, and 

 cannot be absent, except by permission, without 



