w ? NAVY. 



war; a lew yean subsequent to the peace ; andin!839: alsothe nara 

 foree of other countries possessing a navy, in 1839 : 



NAVY. oo 



1 the Restoration there does not appear to have been any 

 precise division into classes, nor have we any account of the armament 

 of ships. At that time certain ships were ordered to be built to carry 

 the following : 



lit Rate. 2nd Rate. 3rd Rate. 



Description of Cans. 780 men. 800 men. 470 men. 

 42-poundrn . 26 



Culverlns- 18-poundfrt . 

 Dtmlculverioi = 12-ponnders 

 Saken = 6.pounderi . . 



Foncutle ... 



Quartcr-dfck ... 



3. pounders ... 



TuUl number of (tun . 



28 







28 



4 



12 

 2 



100 



16 

 26 



26 



10 



2 



90 



26 

 26 



4 



10 

 4 



70 



There wan, however, no uniformity preserved ; and in 1745 a com- 

 mittee wai appointed, which recommended certain changes in the 

 rating and arming, which however were not adhered to any more than 

 the former systems. At the peace the Board of Admiralty repr. 

 this to the Prince Regent in a memorial, and a system wan adopted ; 

 but the introduction of ships of much larger tonnage and wholly 

 different armament has rendered the classification obsolete. The 

 classification now in use ix as follows : 



1. Pint Ka(a, to comprise all ships carrying 110 guna and upwards) 

 or the complements of which consist of 1000 men or more. 



1 1 - 



indCOgnnx 

 SO sad M cot . 

 ss to SO mas . 



Holland had 104 gun-boats; Denmark, 7 ; Sweden, 337. 



Second Kate*, to comprise one of her Majesty's yachts, and all ships 

 carrying under 110 guns and more than 80 guns, or the comple- 

 ments of which are under 1000 and not less than 800 men. 



Thini Kate*, to comprise her Majesty's other yachts, and all such 

 vessels as may bear the flag or pendant of any admiral superin- 

 tendent or captain superintendent of one of her Majesty's dock- 

 yards; ami all ships carrying 80 and not less than 60 guns, or the 

 complements of which are under 800 and more than 000 men. 



Fmrih Katrt, to comprise all frigate-built ships of which the comple- 

 ments are 000 and not lees than 410 men. 



Fifth Kata, to comprise all ships the complements of which are 400 

 and not less than 300 men. 



Sirth Kata, to consist of all other ships bearing a captain. 



2. Sloops: 



To comprise all vessels commanded by commanders. 



3. All other ships commanded by lieutenants, and having complements 



of not less than 60 men. 



Smaller vessels, not claused as above, to have such, smaller comple- 

 ments as the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty may from time to 

 time direct. 



In 1839 it will be teen that England was in reality no longer able to 

 meet a sudden emergency. The public voice aided the discernment 

 and energy of Government, and a change was resolved on. Prosperity 

 had proved dangerous narcotic. The question of war or peace had 

 been considered as one of mere national income and expenditure, rather 

 than one of vital importance, as involving our defence and Hal. 

 prevalent feeling that a pruning necessity had arisen led the Govern- 

 ment to arm and man a few ships, until they grew into a Channel 

 squadron ; and Spithead once more showed to a new generation some 

 results of naval preparation. Then for a time the rulers of England 

 were, from public encouragement, more free to enter upon a wider 

 course, which soon told upon the resources pre-eminently possessed by 

 this country. New requirements of science resulted in immense 

 changes in the form, nod* uf arming, and propulsion of nhi|-of-war. 



At this period the Vernon frigate was stated in triumph to be larger 



In 173tb*foarUurateioiitwo*e(kslbraHpaTtorUMUnofbattl(-. 



than a first-rate of the year 1745; the said Vernon being of the 

 measurement of 2080 tons. But so great has been the advance of 

 naval architecture as a science, as compared with preceding years, that 

 in 1860 we find the said Vernon, of 51 guns, lying in the Medway, a 

 mere pigmy in comparison with other fri^tes, one of which, the 

 Galatea, of 26 guns, is of the burden uf :'.Joj tons. 



It is really difficult in a subject of such vast range as that of our 

 navy to select judiciously, or to reject advisedly, details condui 

 our purpose. During the last fifteen years the question of naval 

 strength has been growing into huge dimensions, as nourished by the 

 rtirriiiK activity of our rulers, consequent upon the immense changes 

 which various causes have produced. Among these causes steam has 

 so deeply influenced all naval matters, that the navy of 1 860 cannot 

 easily be compared with that of any previous period ; nor is it easy to 

 convey an accurate notion of the extent of such change* within the 

 proper limits of an article in a Cyclopaedia. The very lines of demar- 

 cation between long familiar terms have been absorbed and <>l>|ii 

 As an instance, the words corvette, or frigate, or sloop, or brig, &c., 

 give now no positive idea of the powers of hi| described by these 

 terms. The lines of construction, tin- proportions of the extre- 

 mities, the description of .iiin.-iinent, as consisting of solid or hollow 

 shot, or as round or cylindrical, pointed, curved, or truncated, 

 investigation of all these matters in naval warfare, tending towards 

 greater weight of metal in guns, in order to facilitate longer ranges in 

 projectiles, such ranges still further depending for accuracy u|>n the 

 peculiar shape of the gun-chamber or bore, whether as circular or 

 hexagonal, Ac., or as grooved or rifled, all these, we say, throw upon 

 the naval architect a demand for change in the forms of vessels, and 

 mass of considerations, of which his predecessors had little or no 

 experience. 



To enter upon the various stages of improvement induced by 

 individual talent would be foreign to our object : it ia enough to 

 remark that the names of Seppings, Hayes, Syuionds, and others, and 

 especially of the distinguished officer Hit B. VV. Walker, late the 

 Kurveyor of the navy, but who now fills the newly created office of 

 comptroller of the navy, will be remembered with respect by pos- 

 terity, aa having each in his own method promoted, with national 

 advantage, the subject of ship-building for warlike purposes to its 



