901 



NAVY. 



NAVY. 



002 



present state. The extreme difficulties encountered by the latter 

 during an extraordinary period of total revision of the navy, lay in the 

 required alteration of ships which had been partly or totally built ; 

 the cutting of others to lengthen for the reception of screw-engines; 

 the various perplexing circumstances consequent upon failures or eyen 

 unexpected successes in the scientific experiments of all maritime 

 nations, required the energies and watchfulness of not merely the man 

 of science, but the ready tact and penetration of the accomplished 

 sailor and experienced and observant sea-officer. The exertions of 

 the directing head have been worthy the honours decreed by the 

 nation : while the apparently splendid line-of-battle ships of a neigh- 

 bouring nation, can scarcely fight their lower-deck guns in rough 

 weather, the British nation now possesses in her ro3*al navy the finest 

 sea boats and floating batteries in the world. 



We dwell thus upon the importance of these considerations because, 

 when the paddle-ship was first thought likely to supplant altogether the 

 Bailing-ship, there arose a sense of uneasiness and doubt of our safety 

 in the minds of those who were most intimate with the progress of 

 affairs, from the consideration that the strength of the old fleet lay 

 in its " broadsides," which, however, the introduction of the paddle 

 nearly paralysed. Hence it became necessary to increase the calibre of 

 the reduced number of guns which a paddle-ship could accommodate. 

 But this, again, demanded total readjustment of the framework of the 

 ship ; so that some, to be rendered effective as men-of-war, needed 

 alteration at one end, some at the other, to insure a proper amount of 

 buoyancy in compensation for novelties in the new distribution of 

 weight of metal, &c. 



The question of naval architecture for warlike purposes was one of 

 special anxiety in and about 1844. The continental threatenings of 

 the year 1839 had deeply impressed the country with a conviction of 

 insecurity, and the exertions of neighbouring nations stimulated an 

 unusual activity in our arsenals. In that year the sailing properties of 

 certain forms of hull were tested in the construction of five brigs, as 

 12 gun brigs, intended to compete with three of the 10-gun brigs of the 

 old model, namely, the Pantaloon, Waterwitch, and the old Cruiser. 



The new ones were as under, namely : 



Flying Fish 

 0prey . 

 Epiegle . 

 Mutinc . 

 Daring 



built by Sir W. Symonds. 

 Blake. 

 Chatfleld. 



the School of Naval Architecture. 

 "White, of Cowca. 



Only two other vessels of the gun-brig class were afterwards built, 

 these were the Mariner and the Kingfisher. From the above period we 

 may date an era memorable in the records of the English navy. 

 Various experiments then commenced became instrumental in forming 

 a fleet, such as the country delighted to hail with acclamation, as it 

 afterwards mustered at a grand naval review at Spithead in August, 

 1853. This was, however, but a splendid holiday display ; nor could 

 the many thousands who beheld that most imposing national spectacle 

 have suspected that before another year a naval armament of England 

 would be led by our Queen in person towards the Baltic, and that her 

 naval supremacy was once more to be put to the test of battle in a war 

 with Russia ; but, of the many thousands who waved and cheered this 

 gallant fleet from our shores, some will not forget the one deep senti- 

 ment of anxiety, when reminded, on reflection, that, from novelties of 

 armament and propulsion, naval war was then (as it would be now) an 



'inent. 



The fleet of 1 854 differed from those of former wars. It was not 

 composed of similar materials, either as regards men or ships. In 

 1851, not only were men wanted to man the fleet, but those who did 

 enter as able seamen were unaccustomed to the very improvements 

 which science had introduced. The work of an engineer in those days 

 could only, in the minds of so peculiar and isolated a race of beings as 

 British sailors, be viewed in the light of innovation. A new round of 

 duties seemed, in 1854, to have descended upon him, or to loom before 

 him. Instead of a splendid fleet of sailing-ships, with which he had, in 

 its details, become acquainted, and whose evolutions, depending upon 

 the smartness of the crews, used to be governed by one set of naval 

 rules, under which his experience had been matured, the fleets of the 

 Baltic and Black Sea were composed of three distinct and separately- 

 managed classes of vessels; where, moreover, the sailing-ships, his 

 farmer pride, took the lowest rank in point of efficiency, either in sailing 

 or warfare. 



In the Baltic fleet the screw squadron had 28 ships. 

 paddle S3 



sailing 4 



Total 



Si ships. 



In the Black Sea fleet the screw squadron had 10 ships. 

 paddle 18 



sailing 12 



Total 40 ships. 



In 1855, there were in the British navy 107 paddle-steamers, and 78 

 screws. 



Steam, then, had in 1854 established its claims to the attention of 

 our naval administration as a powerful auxiliary at sea. A few paddle- 

 steamers only haiattended the Channel fleet of 1845. But, as that 

 fleet passed outside the Nab Light, a long low corvette, of some 700 or 

 800 tons, was propelled by a force which showed the Rattler to have 

 attained a speed exceeding that of all other vessels present. In her 

 the screw had achieved a triumph ; had taken unquestionable prece- 

 dence over the paddle-wheel, and had established a means of propulsion 

 that was soon to effect a mighty change in the naval forces of Great 

 Britain. The apathy, real or otherwise, which might seem to have 

 attached to the British naval executive through a long peace, and up to 

 1845, certainly from that year decreased. In 1845 alone, no less than 

 23 screw-steamers were added to the British fleet, and formed the 

 nucleus of the enormous change to which our attention must be called 

 before our dismissal of that branch of investigation which refers to 

 what the naval force has been. 



In 1845, as we thus notice, the Rattler was the forerunner of great 

 changes in the mode of propulsion of our ships-of-war. The paddle- 

 steamers had before that been but partially substituted for the sailing- 

 ship. The exposure of a vessel's sides, and the machinery of the 

 paddle, to the damaging effect of an enemy's shot; the position of 

 her engines, even as questionably protected ' by her coal-bunkers ; 

 the probable destruction of her paddles early in an action ; the 

 nature of the crew, sufficient only for a mere steamer ; the great 

 diminution in the possible armament of a ship in which so much 

 space was required for paddles, and the consequent interference 

 with that which in naval fights had hitherto worked such destruction 

 in our enemies' ships, namely, the broadside ; together with the 

 necessity for arming according to greatly altered lines in the con- 

 struction of ships destined for steam navigation, these were serious 

 considerations for an Admiralty Board. They perplexed the question 

 of the precise form of a ship to such an extent, that while the public 

 were speculating on the general improvements which it was not diffi- 

 cult to foresee must spring from such a combination of novel circum- 

 stances, enough was on the hands of the executive to have paralysed 

 a body less ably supported. The change from a sailing fleet to one 

 of mechanical propulsion, whatever might be the particular mode in 

 which such propulsion was to be effected, was one of those gigantic 

 movements that had much more influence upon the security of the 

 country than would appear to common observation. The anxiety and 

 occasional fears of statesmen who felt the vital tendency of passing 

 events, the driving of our best sailors from the service, the enormous 

 sums necessary for experiments, these, and other weighty considera- 

 tions, increased the high responsibilities of the Board of Admiralty ; 

 and it would be unjust to estimate the value to the country of this or 

 that board for the administration of naval affairs on account of failures 

 or expenditure, or on account of delays, which were possibly the result 

 of no want of energy at the time. 



While England was thus investigating the question of naval arma- 

 ment, other countries were also vigorously presenting the whole matter 

 to scrutiny and reform. There could be no question as to the recent 

 inferiority of England as regards her defence by sea. Such then was 

 the opportunity for rival nations to push forward their developments. 

 Indeed, no sooner had the war with Russia terminated than all the 

 resources of that country were given to the renewal of her ships, and 

 the recovery of a fleet. Her emissaries were soon to be found in every 

 sea-port in England, and no novelty in science which promised advan- 

 tage in future warfare, or even in the fitting of ships, was neglected by 

 Russian naval officers. It was no uncommon sight for Russian steamers, 

 built as well in the Thames as elsewhere, to proceed to sea with fittings 

 upon new principles, so new, that the English ship-owners even had 

 not yet been made acquainted with their existence. It is questionable 

 whether we have any correct notion of the rapid strides thus made by 

 Russia in rebuilding her navy, although certain lists of ships are before 

 the world. The public occasionally had their attention drawn to the 

 movements of other nations, and many disparaging comparisons have 

 taunted our English executive ; but, with all things in a state of 

 change, such have been merely inducements in the Lords of the 

 Admiralty to drive forward their experiments. But who can tell the 

 probably enormous sums saved to the country by the cautious and, 

 under circumstances without parallel in history, prudent hesitations 

 which such changes seem now to have justified ! The expenditure of 

 vast capital would naturally, to a commercial people like the English, 

 appear suspicious where positive and immediate benefit was not plainly 

 discernible. 



Whether the weakness which appeared to infest our sea-service, and 

 the openly avowed discrepancies which were said to exist in the recent 

 working of naval affairs, influenced a neighbouring nation, and, as on 

 former occasions, cherished in her the hope of a future predominance, or 

 not, certain it is that not only in the ships of the French navy, but in 

 their arsenals, every preparation has been made for a desperate struggle 

 on the ocean. Tne same difficulties which steam had introduced 

 into our navy, must also have pervaded theirs ; but it is significant 

 that, notwithstanding the costly experiments made by this country, 

 France should have recently possessed a fleet equal to, if not greater 

 than our own, and one as perfect in all the scientific improvements of 

 the period. Nor were the above the only serious causes of anxiety in 

 the minds of the most experienced naval statesmen : for paddle ships 



