An insular empire, like that of the united kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, which is so much indebted, and always must be, for that power, prosperity, and renown which she enjoys, to the glorious deeds of her navy, cannot but take a peculiar degree of interest in every thing that concerns it. This vast machine, indeed, has at all times been the pride and boast of Great Britain, the terror of its enemies, and the admiration of the world. It is under the impression of its vast importance that we have been induced to give, under their proper heads, such details of the civil and military branches of the naval departments as may afford, without entering into too minute details, a comprehensive sketch of this great national bulwark, of which it is now proposed to take a general view.
The term Navy is generally intended to express all ships of commerce as well as those of war, the mercantile as well as the military marine; but the observations contained in the present article are meant to relate only to the latter, excepting that, in speaking of the progressive enlargement of ships, and improvements in naval architecture, the remarks may sometimes equally apply to ships of commerce and of war.
NAVY composed of MATERIEL and PERSONNEL.
The composition of a navy may be considered under the two distinct heads into which it naturally divides itself, and under which the French generally distinguish an army, the matériel, and the personnel; the former embracing everything that appertains to the ships, their capacity, construction, armament, and equipment; the latter all that concerns the rank, the appointment, the various duties, &c. of the officers, seamen, and marines.
I.—MATERIEL OF THE NAVY.
It would occupy too large a space to give even a short sketch of the origin and the progress of naval architecture, from a bundle of branches, or the hollow trunk of a tree—the rude raft and the frail canoe—to the more perfect coracle, or the wicker-boats of the ancient Britons, covered with hides. For many centuries after the expulsion of the Romans from, or their abandonment of, the British Islands, very little progress appears to have been made by us in the art of navigation or ship building: the natives would appear, for many centuries afterwards, to have acted merely on the defensive against naval invasions.
"The whole of our naval history," say the commissioners for revising the civil affairs of the navy, "may be divided into three periods; the first comprehending all that preceded the reign of Henry VIII.; the second ending with the restoration of Charles II.; and the third coming down from the Restoration to the present day."
To what size, and to what extent, the amount of the English ships or vessels were carried, which supported so many contests with the invading Danes in the ninth century, our naval history has not preserved any record. We are told, however, that Alfred increased the size of his galleys, and that some of them were capable of rowing thirty pair of oars. These galleys were chiefly employed in clearing the Channel of the nests of pirates by which it was infested. It is also said, as a proof of his attention to naval matters, that, under his auspices, one Ochter undertook a voyage into the arctic regions, made a survey of the coasts of Lapland and Norway, and brought to Alfred an account of the mode pursued by the inhabitants of those countries to catch whales. It is, moreover, on record, that his two sons, Edward and Athelstan, fought many bloody actions with the Danes, in which several kings and chiefs were slain; and that Edgar had from three to five thousand ships, divided into three fleets, stationed on three several parts of the coast, with which, passing from one fleet or squadron to the other, he circumnavigated the island; that after this he called himself "Monarch of all Albion, and Sovereign over all the adjacent Isles." Some notion, however, may be formed of the size of the vessels which composed his fleets, from the imposition of a land-tax, which required certain proprietors to furnish a stout galley of three rows of oars, to protect the coast from the Danish pirates. The more effectually to check these marauders, and protect the coasts of the kingdom, William the Conqueror, in 1066, established the Cinque Ports, and gave them certain privileges, on condition of their furnishing fifty-two ships, with twenty-four men in each, for fifteen days, in cases of emergency. We should not, perhaps, be far amiss in dating the period of our naval architecture from the Conquest. "The Normans," says Sir Walter Raleigh, "grew better shipwrights than either the Danes or Saxons, and made the last conquest of this land; a land which can never be conquered whilst the kings thereof keep the dominion of the seas." But Raleigh does not describe what the ships were which the Normans taught us to build; nor can it now be known in what kind of vessels William transported his army across the Channel, or what was the description of the hundred large ships and fifty galleys of which the naval armament of Richard I. consisted on his expedition to the Holy Land. We are told, however, that having increased his fleet at Cyprus to two hundred and fifty ships and sixty galleys, he fell in with a ship belonging to the Saracens, of such an extraordinary size that she was defended by 1500 men, all of whom, with the exception of 200, Richard, after taking possession of her, ordered to be thrown overboard and drowned.
There can be no doubt that the nations of the Mediterranean, particularly the Genoese and Venetians, introduced many improvements as to the capacity and stability of their ships, in consequence of the crusades, and the demands for warlike stores and provisions which such vast and ill-provided armies necessarily created; but these improvements would seem not to have reached, or, at least, to have made but a tardy progress in Great Britain. King John, it is true, stoutly claimed for England the sovereignty of the sea, and decreed that all ships belonging to foreign nations, the masters of which should refuse to strike to the British flag, should be seized and deemed good and lawful prize. And this monarch is said to have fitted out no less than five hundred sail of ships, under the Earl of Salisbury, in the year 1213, against a fleet of three times that number, prepared by Philip of France for the invasion of England; of which the English took three hundred sail, and drove a hundred on shore, Philip being under the necessity of destroying the remainder, to prevent their falling also into the hands of the English. Of the kinds of ships of which his fleet consisted, some notion may be formed by the account that is related of an action fought in the following reign with the French, who, with eighty stout ships, threatened the coast of Kent. This fleet being discovered by Hubert de Burgh, governor of Dover Castle, he put to sea with forty English ships, and having got to Whatever the size and the armaments of our ships were, the empire of the sea was bravely maintained by the Edwards and the Henrys in many a gallant and glorious sea-fight with the fleets of France, against which they were generally opposed with inferior numbers. The temper of the times, and the public feeling, were strongly exemplified in the reign of Edward I. by the following circumstance: An English sailor was killed in a Norman port, in consequence of which a war commenced, and the two nations agreed to decide the dispute on a certain day, with the whole of their respective naval forces. The spot of battle was to be the middle of the Channel, marked out by anchoring there an empty ship. The two fleets met on the 14th April 1298; the English obtained the victory, and carried off above two hundred and fifty sail.
In an action with the French fleet off the harbour of Sluys, Edward III. is said to have slain 30,000 of the enemy, and to have taken two hundred great ships, "in one of which only, there were four hundred dead bodies." This is no doubt an exaggeration. The same monarch, at the siege of Calais, is stated to have blockaded that port with seven hundred and thirty sail, having on board 14,956 mariners; twenty-five only of which were of the royal navy, bearing four hundred and nineteen mariners, or about seventeen men each. In various other sea actions did this great sovereign nobly support the honour of the British flag. But though we then, and ever after, claimed the "dominion of the seas," that dominion, says Raleigh, "was never absolute until the time of Henry the Eighth." It was a maxim of this great statesman, that "whosoever commands the sea, commands the trade of the world; whosoever commands the trade, commands the riches of the world, and consequently the world itself."
The reign of Henry V., however, was most glorious in maintaining the naval superiority over the fleets of France. From a letter of this sovereign to his lord chancellor, dated 12th August 1417, discovered by Samuel Lysons among the records in the Tower, and of which the following is a copy, it would appear that there was something like an established royal navy in his reign, independently of the shipping furnished by the Cinque Ports and the merchants, for the king's own use, on occasion of any particular expedition. The letter appears to have been written nine days after the surrender of the castle of Touque in Normandy, from whence it is dated.
" Au reverend pere en Dieu l'Evesque de Duresme tre Chancelier d'Engleterre.
"Worshipful fader yn God We sende you closed within this letter a cedule conteyning the names of certein Maistres for our owne grete Shippes Carrakes Barges and Balyngers to the whiche Maistres We have granted annuites such as is appointed upon eche of hem in the same Cedule to take yerely of owre grante while that us lust at our Exchequer of Westm', at the termes of Michelmasse and Ester by even porcions. Wherefore We wol and charge yow that unto eche of the said Maistres ye do make under our grete seel being in yowre warde our letters patentes severales in due forme after th'effect and pourport of our said grante. Yeven under our signet atte our Castle of Touque the xij. day of August."
Extract from the Schedule contained in the preceding Letter.
vj. li. xijs. iiijd. La Grande Nief ap- vj. Mariners po' la pelle dont John William sauf garde deink est Maistre Hamult.
vj. li. xijs. iiijd. La Trinate Royale vj. Mariners. dont Steph' Thomas est Maistre vj. li. xijs. iiijd. La Holy Gost dont Jordan Brownyng est Maistre vj. li. xijs. iiijd. La Carrake appel- vj. Mariners. lee le Petre dont John Gerard est Maistre vj. li. xijs. iiijd. La Carrake appellee vj. Mariners. le Paul dont William Payne est Maistre vj. li. xijs. iiijd. La Carrak appelle le Andrewe dont John Thor- vj. Mariners. nyng est Maistre vj. li. xijs. iiijd. La Carrak appellee le Xpôtre dont Tendrell est Maistre vj. Mariners. vj. li. xijs. iiijd. La Carrak appellee le Marie dont William Rich- vj. Mariners. man est Maistre vj. li. xijs. iiijd. La Carrak appellee le Mario dont William Hethe vj. Mariners. est Maistre vj. li. xijs. iiijd. La Carrak appellee le George dont John Merah vj. Mariners. est Maistre
The remainder, to the masters of which pensions were thus granted, consist of seventeen "niefs, barges, and ballyners," some with three, and others two mariners only. But history informs us, that about this time Henry embarked an army of 25,000 men at Dover on board of 1500 sail of ships, two of which carried purple sails, embroidered with the arms of England and France; one styled the King's Chamber, the other his Saloon, as typical of his keeping his court at sea, which he considered as a part of his domains. Still we are left in the dark as to the real dimensions of his ships, and the nature of their armament; they were probably used only as transports for his army. It would appear, however, from a very curious poem, written in the early part of the reign of King Henry VI. that the navy of his predecessor was considerable, but that, by neglect, it was then reduced to the same state in which it had been during the preceding reigns. The poem here alluded to is entitled "The English Policie, exhorting all England to keep the Sea, and namely the Narrow Sea; showing what profit cometh thereof, and also what worship and salvation to England and to all Englishmen;" and is printed in the first volume of Hakluyt's Collection of Voyages. It was evidently written before the year 1438, when the Emperor Sigismund died, as appears by the following passage in the prologue:
For Sigismond, the great Emperour, Which yet resercheth, when he was in this land, With King Henry the Fift, Prince of Honour, Here muche glory and saluation, he found A subtilte land, which hath taken in hand To worre with France, and make mortalitie, And ever well kept round about the see.
The part of the poem which alludes to the navy of King Henry V. is entitled "Another incident of keeping the Sea, in the time of marvellous warriour and victorious Prince, King Henrie the Fift, and of his great Shippes."
The following are the most remarkable passages:
And if I should conclude all by the King Henrie the Fift, what was his purposing, Whan at Hampton he made the great drowned, Which passed other great ships of the Commons; The Trieste, the Grace de Dieu, the Holy Ghost, And other moe, which as nowe be lost. What hope ye was the Kings great intent Of tho shippes, and what in mind he meant: It was not els, but that he cast to be Lorde round about environ of the see. And if he had to this time lived here, He had been Prince named withouten pere! His great ships should have been put in peace, Unto the end that he most of in chief; For death it not but that he would have bee Lord and master about the round see: And kept it sure, to stoppe our enemies hence, And wonne us good, and wisely brought it thence, That no passage should be without danger, And his licence on see to move and sterre.
Shortly after the time when this poem must have been written, it appears from the parliament roll (20th Henry VI. 1442), that an armed naval force, consisting only of eight large ships, with smaller vessels to attend them, was to be collected from the ports of London, Bristol, Dartmouth, Hull, Newcastle, Wincleson, Plymouth, Falmouth, &c.; and, of course, the royal ships of 1417, the names of which are contained in the foregoing schedule, were then either gone to decay or dispersed. We are not to judge of the size of these ships from the few mariners appointed to each. These were merely the ship-keepers, or harbour-duty men, placed on permanent pay, to keep the ships in a condition fit for the sea when wanted.
It is very probable that, until our merchants engaged in the Mediterranean trade, and that the attention of the government was turned, in the reign of Henry VII. (about 1496), to imitate Portugal in making foreign discovery, under the skilful seaman Sebastian Cabot, very little was added to the capacity or the power of British ships of war. It is said, however, that on the accession of Henry VII. to the throne in 1485, he caused his marine, which had been neglected in the preceding reign, to be put into a condition to protect the coasts against all foreign invasions; and that, in the midst of profound peace, he always kept up a fleet ready to act. In his reign was built a ship called the Great Harry, the first on record that deserved the name of a ship of war; if it was not the first exclusively appropriated to the service of the state. This is the same ship which Camden has miscalled the Henry Grace de Dieu, and which was not built till twenty years afterwards, under the reign of Henry VIII. The Great Harry is stated to have cost L.14,000, and was burned by accident at Woolwich in the year 1553.
We now come to that period of our naval history in which England might be truly said to possess a military marine, and of which some curious details have been left us by that extraordinary man of business Mr Pepys, a commissioner of the navy, and afterwards secretary to Charles II., at a time when the king executed in person the office of lord high admiral, and also to James II. until his abdication. His minutes and miscellanies relative to the navy are contained in a great number of manuscript volumes, which are deposited in the Pepysian Library in Magdalene College, Cambridge. From these papers it appears, that in the thirteenth year of Henry VIII. the following were the names and the tonnage of the royal navy:
| Name | Tons | |-----------------------|------| | Henry Grace de Dieu | 1500 | | Gabriel Royal | 650 | | Mary Rose | 600 | | Barbara | 400 | | Mary George | 250 | | Henry Hampton | 120 | | The Great Galley | 800 | | Sovereign | 800 | | Catherine Fortaleza | 550 | | John Baptist | 400 | | Great Nicholas | 400 | | Mary James | 240 | | Great Bark | 250 | | Less Bark | 180 |
Add to these two row-barges of sixty tons each, making, in the whole, sixteen ships and vessels, measuring 7260 Matériel tons.
The Henry Grace de Dieu is stated in all other accounts, and with more probability, to have been only 1000 tons; the rule for ascertaining the measurement of ships being still vague, and liable to great error, was probably much more so at this early period. This ship was built in 1515, at Erith, in the river Thames, to replace the Regent, of the same tonnage, which was burned in August 1512, in action with the French fleet, when carrying the flag of the lord high admiral. There is a drawing in the Pepysian papers of the Henry Grace de Dieu, from which a print in the Archaeologia has been engraved, and of which a copy has been taken as a frontispiece to C. Derrick's Memoirs of the Rise and Progress of the Royal Navy. From these papers it appears that she carried fourteen guns on the lower deck, twelve on the main deck, eighteen on the quarter-deck and poop, eighteen on the lofty forecastle, and ten in her sternports, making altogether seventy-two guns. Her regular establishment of men is said to have consisted of 349 soldiers, 801 mariners, and fifty gunners, making altogether 700 men. Some idea may be formed of the awkwardness in manoeuvring ships built on her construction, or similar to her, when it is stated that, on the appearance of the French fleet at St Helens, the Great Harry, built in the former reign, and the first ship built with two decks, had nearly been sunk; and that the Mary Rose, of 600 tons, with 500 or 600 men on board, was actually sunk at Spithead, occasioned, as Raleigh informs us, "by a little sway in casting the ship about, her ports being within sixteen inches of the water." On this occasion the fleets cannonaded each other for two hours; and it is remarked as something extraordinary, that not less than three hundred cannon-shot were fired on both sides in the course of this action. From the prints above mentioned, which agree very closely with the curious painting of Henry crossing the Channel in his fleet to meet Francis on the Champ de Drap d'Or, near Calais, and now in the great room where the Society of Antiquaries hold their meetings in Somerset House, it is quite surprising how they could be trusted on the sea at all, their enormous poops and forecastles making them appear loiter and more awkward than the large Chinese junks, to which, indeed, they bear a strong resemblance. It is worth remarking that, in the year 1840, the position of the Mary Rose, near Spithead, was pointed out to that extraordinary diver Mr Deane, who went down several times, and brought up some beautiful pieces of brass ordnance, as perfect and as fine specimens as any we have at the present day.
Henry VIII. may justly be said to have laid the foundation of the British navy. He established the dock-yards at Deptford, Woolwich, and Portsmouth; he appointed certain commissioners to superintend the civil affairs of the navy, and settled the rank and pay of admirals, vice-admirals, and inferior officers; thus creating a national navy, and raising the officers to a separate and distinct profession. The great officers of the navy then were, the vice-admiral of England, the master of the ordnance, the surveyor of the marine causes, the treasurer, comptroller, general surveyor of the victualling, clerk of the ships, and clerk of the stores. Each of these officers had their particular duties, but they met together at their office on Tower Hill once a week, to consult, and make their reports to the lord high admiral. He also established the fraternity of the Trinity House, for the improvement of navigation and the encouragement of commerce; and built the castles of Deal, Walmer, Sandgate, Hurst Castle, &c., for the protection of his fleet and of the coast.
At the death of Henry VIII. in 1547, the royal navy consisted of about fifty ships and vessels of different sizes, the former from 1000 to 150 tons, and the latter down to Material twenty tons, making in the whole about 12,000 tons, and manned by about 8000 mariners, soldiers, gunners, &c. In the short reign of his son Edward, little alteration seems to have taken place in the state and condition of the royal navy. But the regulations which had been made in the reign of his father, for the civil government of naval affairs, were revised, arranged, and turned into ordinances, which form the basis of all the subsequent instructions given to the commissioners for the management of the civil affairs of the navy. In the reign of Mary the tonnage of the navy was reduced to about 7000 tons; but her lord high admiral nobly maintained the title assumed by England of Sovereign of the Seas, by compelling Philip of Spain to strike his flag that was flying at the main-topmast head, though on his way to England to marry Queen Mary, by firing a shot at the Spanish admiral. He also demanded that his whole fleet, consisting of 160 sail, should strike their colours and lower their top-sails, as an homage to the English flag, before he would permit his squadron to salute the Spanish monarch.
The reign of Elizabeth was the proudest period of our naval history, perhaps surpassed by none previously to the Revolution. She not only increased the numerical force of the regular navy, but established many wise regulations for its preservation, and for securing adequate supplies of timber and other naval stores. She placed her naval officers on a more respectable footing, and encouraged foreign trade and geographical discoveries, so that she acquired justly the title of the Restorer of Naval Power, and Sovereign of the Northern Seas. The greatest naval force that had at any previous period been called together was that which was assembled to oppose the Invincible Armada, and which, according to the notes of Mr Secretary Pepys, consisted of 176 ships, with 14,992 men; but these were not all "Shippes Royall," but were partly composed of the contributions of the Cinque Ports and others. The number actually belonging to the navy is variously stated, but they would appear to have been somewhere about forty sail of ships, manned with about 6000 men. At the end of her reign, however, the navy had greatly increased, the list in 1603 consisting of forty-two ships of various descriptions, amounting to 17,000 tons, and manned with 8346 men. Of these, two were of the burden of 1000 tons each, three of 900 tons, and ten from 600 to 800 tons.
James I. was not inattentive to his navy. He warmly patronised Mr Phineas Pett, the most able and scientific shipwright that this country ever boasted, and to whom we undoubtedly owe the first essential improvements in the form and construction of ships. The cumbersome topworks were first got rid of under his superintendence. "In my owne time," says Raleigh, "the shape of our English ships hath been greatly bettered; in extremity we carry our ordnance better than we were wont; we have added crosse pillars in our royall shippes, to strengthen them; we have given longer floors to our shippes than in older times," &c. The young Prince Henry was so fond of naval affairs, that Phineas Pett was ordered by the lord high admiral to build a vessel at Chatham in 1604, with all possible speed, for the young Prince Henry to disport himself in, above London Bridge; the length of her keel was twenty-eight feet, and her breadth twelve feet. In 1610 Pett laid down the largest ship that had hitherto been built. She was named the Prince Royal; her burden was 1400 tons, her keel 114 feet, and she was armed with sixty-four pieces of great ordnance, "being in all respects," says Stowe, "the greatest and goodliest ship that was ever built in England." He adds, "the great workmaster in building this ship was Mr Phineas Pett, gentleman, some time master of arts, of Emmanuel College, in Cambridge."
This excellent man, as appears from a manuscript account of his life in the British Museum, written by himself, was regarded by the shipwrights of the dock-yards, who had no science themselves, with an eye of jealousy; and a complaint was laid against him before the king, of ignorance in laying off a ship, and of a wasteful expenditure of timber and other matters. The king attended at Woolwich with his court, to inquire in person into the charges brought forward, and, after a painful investigation, pronounced in favour of Mr Pett. One of the charges was, that he had caused the wood to be cut across the grain; but the king observed, that, as it appeared to him, "it was not the wood, but those who had preferred the charges, that were cross-grained."
The state of the navy at the king's death is variously given by different writers; but on this subject the memoranda left by Mr Secretary Pepys are most likely to be correct. From them it appears that, in 1618, certain commissioners were appointed to examine into the state of the navy, and by their report it appears there were then only thirty-nine ships and vessels, whose tonnage amounted to 14,700 tons; but in 1624, on the same authority, the numbers had decreased to thirty-two or thirty-three ships and vessels, but the tonnage increased to about 19,400 tons. The commissioners had, in fact, recommended many of the small craft to be broken up or sold, and more ships of the higher rates to be kept up.
The navy was not neglected in the troublesome reign of Charles I. This unfortunate monarch added upwards of twenty sail to the list, generally of the smaller kind; but one of them, built by Pett, was of a description, both as to form and dimensions, far superior to any that had yet been launched. This ship was the celebrated Sovereign of the Seas, which was launched at Woolwich in 1637. The length of her keel was 128 feet, the main breadth forty-eight feet, and from stem to stern 232 feet. In the description of this ship by Thomas Heywood, she is said to have "bore five lanthorns, the biggest of which would hold ten persons upright; had three flush-decks, a forecastle, half-deck, quarter-deck, and round-house. Her lower tier had thirty ports for cannon and demi-cannon; middle tier, thirty for culverins and demi-culverins; third tier, twenty-six for other ordnance; forecastle, twelve; and two half-decks, thirteen or fourteen ports more within board, for murthering pieces; besides ten pieces of chace ordnance forward, and ten right aft, and many loop-holes in the cabins for musquet-shot. She had eleven anchors, one of 4400 pounds weight. She was of the burden of 1637 tons." It appears, however, that she was found, on trial, to be too high for a good serviceable ship in all weathers, and was therefore cut down to a deck less. After this she became an excellent ship, and was in almost all the great actions with the Dutch; she was rebuilt in 1684, when the name was changed to that of Royal Sovereign; and was about to be rebuilt a second time at Chatham in 1696, when she accidentally took fire, and was totally consumed. In this reign the ships of the navy were first classed, or divided into six rates, the first being from 100 to sixty guns, the second from fifty-four to thirty-six, &c.
In 1642 the management of the navy was taken out of the king's hands, and in 1648 Prince Rupert carried away twenty-five ships, none of which ever returned; and such, indeed, was the reduced state of the navy, that at the beginning of Cromwell's usurped government, he had only fourteen ships of war of two decks, and some of these carried only forty guns; but, under the careful management of very able men, in different commissions which he appointed, such vigorous measures were pursued, that, in five years, though engaged within that time in war with the greatest naval power in Europe, the fleet was increased to 150 sail, of which more than a third part had two decks, and many of which were captured from the Dutch, and Material upwards of 20,000 seamen were employed in the navy.
Our military marine was, indeed, raised by Cromwell to a height which it had never before reached; but from which it soon declined under the short and feeble administration of his son.
Though Cromwell found the navy divided into six rates or classes, it was under his government that these ratings were defined and established in the manner nearly in which they now are; and it may also be remarked, that, under his government, the first frigate, called the Constant Warwick, was built in England. "She was built," says Mr Pepys, "in 1649, by Mr Peter Pett (son of Phineas), for a privateer for the Earl of Warwick, and was sold by him to the state. Mr Pett took his model of this ship from a French frigate which he had seen in the Thames."
During the first period of our naval history, we know nothing of the nature of the armament of the ships. From the time of Edward III., they might have been armed with cannon, but no mention is made of this being the case. According to Lord Herbert, brass ordnance were first cast in England in the year 1535. They had various names, such as cannon, demi-cannon, culverins, demi-culverins, sakers, myonions, falcons, falconets, &c. What the calibre of each of these was is not accurately known, but the cannon is supposed to have been about sixty-pounders, the demi-cannon thirty-two, the culverin eighteen, falcon two, myonion four, saker five, &c. Many of these pieces, of different calibres, were mounted on the same deck, which must have occasioned great confusion in action in finding for each its proper shot.
On the restoration of Charles II., the Duke of York was immediately appointed lord high admiral, and by his advice a committee was named to consider a plan, proposed by himself, for the future regulation of the affairs of the navy, at which the duke himself presided. By the advice and able assistance of Mr Pepys, great progress was speedily made in the reparation and increase of the fleet. The duke remained lord high admiral till 1673, when, in consequence of the test required by parliament, to which he could not submit, he resigned, and that office was in part put in commission, and the rest retained by the king. Prince Rupert was put at the head of this commission, and Mr Pepys appointed secretary to the king in all naval affairs, and of the admiralty; and by his able and judicious management there were in sea-pay, in the year 1679, and in excellent condition, seventy-six ships of the line, all furnished with stores for six months, eight fire-ships, besides a numerous train of ketches, snacks, yachts, &c. with more than 12,000 seamen; and also thirty new ships building, and a good supply of stores in the dockyards. But this flourishing condition of the navy did not last long. In consequence of the dissipation of the king, and his pecuniary difficulties, he neglected the navy on account of the expenses; the duke was sent abroad, and Mr Pepys to the Tower. A new set of commissioners were appointed, without experience, ability, or industry; and the consequence was, as stated by the commissioners of revision, that "all the wise regulations formed during the administration of the Duke of York were neglected; and such supineness and waste appear to have prevailed, that, at the end of not more than five years, when he was recalled to the office of lord high admiral, only twenty-two ships, none larger than a fourth rate, with two fire-ships, were at sea; those in harbour were quite unfit for service; even the thirty new ships which he had left building had been suffered to fall into a state of great decay, and hardly any stores were found to remain in the dockyards."
The first act on the duke's return was the re-appointment of Mr Pepys as secretary of the admiralty. Finding the present commissioners unequal to the duties required of them, he recommended others. Sir Anthony Deane, the most experienced of the shipbuilders then in England, was joined with the new commissioners. To him, it has been said, we owe the first essential improvement in the form and qualities of ships of the line, having taken the model of the Superbe, a French ship of seventy-four guns, which anchored at Spithead, and from which he built the Harwich in 1664. Others, however, are of opinion that no improvement had at this time been made on the model of the Sovereign of the Seas after she was cut down. The new commissioners undertook, in three years, to complete the repair of the fleet, and furnish the dock-yards with a proper supply of stores, on an estimate of £400,000 a year, to be issued in weekly payments; and in two years and a half they finished their task, to the satisfaction of the king and the whole nation; the number of ships repaired and under repair being 108 sail of the line, besides a considerable number of vessels of smaller size. The same year the king abdicated the throne, at which time the list of the navy amounted to 173 sail, containing 101,892 tons, carrying 6930 guns, and 42,000 seamen.
The naval regulations were wisely left unaltered at the Revolution, and the business of the admiralty continued to be carried on chiefly, for some time, under the immediate direction of King William, by Mr Pepys, till the arrival of Admiral Herbert and Captain Russell from the fleet, into whose hands, he says, "he silently let it fall." Upon the general principles of that system, thus established with his aid by the Duke of York, the civil government of our navy has ever since been carried on.
In the second year of King William (1690), no less than thirty ships were ordered to be built, of sixty, seventy, and eighty guns each; and in 1697 the king, in his speech to parliament, stated that the naval force of the kingdom was increased to nearly double what he found it at his accession. It was now partly composed of various classes of French ships which had been captured in the course of the war, amounting in number to more than sixty, and in guns to 2300; the losses by storms and captures on our side being about half the tonnage and half the guns we had acquired. At the commencement of this reign, the navy, as we have stated, consisted of 173 ships, measuring 101,892 tons; at his death, it had been extended to 272 ships, measuring 159,020 tons, being an increase of ninety-nine ships and 57,128 tons, or more than one half both in number and in tonnage.
The accession of Queen Anne was immediately followed by a war with France and Spain, and in the second year of her reign she had the misfortune of losing a vast number of her ships, by one of the most tremendous storms that was ever known; but every energy was used to repair this national calamity. In an address of the House of Lords, in March 1707, it is declared as "a most undoubted maxim, that the honour, security, and wealth of this kingdom does depend upon the protection and encouragement of trade, and the improving and right encouraging its naval strength......therefore we do in the most earnest manner beseech your majesty, that the sea affairs may always be your first and most peculiar care." In the course of this war were taken or destroyed about fifty ships of war, mounting 3000 cannon; and we lost about half the number. At the death of the queen, in 1714, the list of the navy was reduced in number to 247 ships, measuring 167,219 tons, being an increase in tonnage of 8199 tons.
George I. left the navy pretty nearly in the same state in which he found it. At his death, in 1727, the list consisted of 253 ships, measuring 170,862 tons, being a decrease in number of fourteen, but an increase in tonnage of 3643 tons.
George II. was engaged in a war with Spain in 1739, in consequence of which the size of our ships of the line Matériel ordered to be built was considerably increased. In 1744, France declared against us; but on the restoration of peace in 1748, it was found that our naval strength had prodigiously increased. Our loss had been little or nothing, whilst we had taken and destroyed, of the French twenty, and of the Spanish fifteen sail of the line, besides smaller vessels. The war with France of 1755 added considerably to the list, so that, at the king's decease, in 1760, it consisted of 412 ships, measuring 321,104 tons.
In the short war of 1762, George III. added no less than twenty sail of the line to our navy. At the conclusion of the American war in 1782, the list of the navy was increased to 600 sail; and at the signing of the preliminaries in 1783 it amounted to 617 sail, measuring upwards of 500,000 tons; being an increase of 185 ships and 157,000 tons and upwards since the year 1762. At the peace of Amiens the list of the fleet amounted to upwards of 700 sail, of which 144 were of the line. The number taken from the enemy, or destroyed, amounted nearly to 600, of which ninety were of the line, including fifty-gun ships, and upwards of two hundred were frigates; and our loss amounted to about sixty, of which six were of the line and twelve frigates.
The recommencement and long continuance of the revolutionary war, and the glorious successes of our naval actions; the protection required for our extended commerce, of which, in fact, we might be said to enjoy a monopoly, and for the security of our numerous colonies; contributed to raise the British navy to a magnitude to which the accumulated navies of the whole world bore but a small proportion. From 1808 to 1813, there were seldom less than from 100 to 106 sail of the line in commission, and from 130 to 160 frigates, and upwards of 200 sloops, besides bombs, gun-brigs, cutters, schooners, &c. amounting in the whole to about 500 sail of effective ships and vessels; to which may be added 500 more in the ordinary, and as prison, hospital, and receiving ships; making at least 1000 pendants, and measuring from 800,000 to 900,000 tons.
The commissioners appointed to inquire into the state and condition of the woods, forests, and land revenues of the crown, state, in their report to parliament, in the year 1792, that, "at the accession of his majesty (Geo. III.) to the throne, the tonnage of the royal navy was 321,104 tons, and at the end of the year 1788 it had risen to no less than 413,467 tons." In 1808 it had amounted to the enormous extent of 800,000 tons, having nearly doubled itself in twenty years.
It must not, however, be supposed that the effective navy consisted of more than half this amount of tonnage. Since the conclusion of the war with France, it would appear that at least one-half of the number of ships then in existence had been sold or broken up as unfit for service; and as, by the list of the navy at the beginning of the year 1821, the number of ships and vessels of every description, in commission, in ordinary, building, repairing, and ordered to be built, had been reduced to 609 sail, we may take the greatest extent of the tonnage at 500,000 tons; but the greater part, if not the whole, of this tonnage was efficient, and in a state of progressive efficiency.
According to the printed list of the 1st January 1821, the 609 sail of ships and vessels appear to be as under:
| Rates | Length of Gun-deck | Length of Keel | Extreme Breadth | Depth of Hold | Tons | |-------|-------------------|---------------|----------------|--------------|-----| | 1st | 205 ft. | 170 ft. | 53 ft. | 23 ft. | 2617 | | 2nd | 203 ft. | 172 ft. | 54 ft. | 23 ft. | 2747 |
The armament of the Caledonia was as follows:—On the gun-deck she carried 32 guns, 32-pounders; middle-deck 34 24-pounders, upper-deck 34 24-pounders, carronades; quarter-deck 10 32-pounders, and 6 12-pounders, carronades; forecastle, 2 32-pounders, and 2 12-pounders, carronades.
At the commencement of the third period, we have a somewhat more precise account of the armament of our ships of war. On the 16th of May 1677, a committee of the Navy Board, Ordnance, and certain naval officers, recommended to his Majesty the following scheme for arming and manning the thirty new ships of the line ordered to be built by act of Parliament.
| Guns | 1st Rates | 2d Rates | 3d Rates | |------|-----------|----------|---------| | Cannon (supposed 42 pres.) | No. 25 | ... | ... | | Demi-cannon (32 pres.) | ... | 26 | 26 | | Culverina (18 pres.) | ... | 26 | 26 | | Twelve-pounders | ... | ... | 26 | | Sakers, upper-deck | ... | 26 | 26 | | " Forecastle | ... | ... | 4 | | " Quarter-deck | ... | 12 | 10 | | Three-pounders | ... | 2 | 2 | | Total | 100 | 90 | 70 |
For the 1st rate, 780 men For the 2d do., 660 do. For the 3d do., 470 do.
The rates of ships immediately after the revolution were reduced, the first being turned to second-rates, the second- And that the complements of men be established as Matfriel under:
| Rates | Complement | |-------|------------| | 1st rates | 900 — 850 or 800 men | | 2nd | 700 or 650 | | 3rd | 650 or 600 | | 4th | 450 or 350 | | 5th | 300 or 280 | | 6th | 175 — 145 or 125 |
Of sloops, the complements established according to their size were to consist of 135, 125, 95, or 75 men; of brigs (not sloops), cutters, schooners, and bombs, 60 or 50 men.
Thus at that time stood the rating and manning of the navy; but it is now as follows, viz:
**PRESENT RATING OF THE NAVY.**
**Classes and Denominations of His Majesty's Ships.**
1. Rated ships, that is to say, ships registered on the list of the royal navy, under one of the six following rates:
- **First-rates**, to comprise all ships carrying 110 guns and upwards, or whose complements consist of 950 men or more. - **Second-rates**, to comprise one of her Majesty's yachts, and all ships carrying under 110 guns, and not less than 80 guns, or whose complements are under 950, and not less than 720 men. - **Third-rates**, to comprise her Majesty's other yachts, and all such vessels as may bear the flag or pennant of any admiral, superintendent, or captain superintendent of one of her Majesty's dockyards; and all ships carrying under 80 guns, and not less than 70; or whose complements are under 720, and not less than 600 men. - **Fourth-rates**, to comprise all ships carrying under 70 guns, and not less than 50, or whose complements are under 600, and not less than 440 men. - **Fifth-rates**, to comprise all ships under 50 guns, and not less than 30; or whose complements are under 440, and not less than 300 men; and - **Sixth-rates**, to consist of all other ships bearing a captain.
2. **Sloops**, to comprise bomb-ships and all other vessels commanded by commanders.
3. All other ships commanded by lieutenants, and having complements of not less than 60 men.
Smaller ships not claimed as above, to have such smaller complements as the lords commissioners of the Admiralty may from time to time direct.
The following is the present complement of ships:
| Steam-vessels | Sailing-vessels | |---------------|-----------------| | Men. | Men. | | 1st rates | 1050 to 1130 | 970 | | 2nd | 750 | 930 | | 3rd | 600 | 620 | | 4th | 475 | 590 | | 5th | 300 | 350 | | 6th | 180 | 260 | | Sloops | 100 | 165 | | Smaller vessels | 36 | 90 |
It is of the utmost importance, with a view to convenience and economy, that the size and dimensions of the several rates should be kept as nearly as possible equal, in order that one description of stores may be applicable to every ship of the same rate. To this end the commissioners of naval revision have recommended, "that the ships of each class or rate should be constructed, in every particular, according to the form of the best ship in the same class in our navy; of the same length, breadth, and depth; the masts of the same dimensions, and placed in the same parts of the ship, with the same form and size of the sails." A complete classification of masts, yards, and sails, has since been established.
The nine line-of-battle ships previously alluded to as "the largest the world could produce," are now far exceeded by the screw steam-ships recently built, and in course of construction,—viz., the Victoria, and Howe, each of 121 guns and 1000 horse-power; the Royal Sovereign, Prince of Wales, and Marlborough, each of 131 guns and 800 horse-power; and the Duke of Wellington, of 131 guns and 700 horse-power. Besides these, we have the Matériel. Royal Albert, 121 guns, 500 horse-power; the Trafalgar, 120 guns; the Donegal, 101 guns, 800 horse-power; the Revenge, 91 guns, 800 horse-power; the St Jean d'Acre, 101 guns, 600 horse-power; the James Watt, Agamemnon, and Orion, each of 91 guns and 600 horse-power; the Princess Royal, 91 guns, 400 horse-power; the Shannon steam frigate, 51 guns, 600 horse-power; the Terrible (paddle), 21 guns, 800 horse-power; the Doris, 32 guns, 800 horse-power; and many other screw ships (including the Mersey and Orlando, both of the largest class frigates with an armament of 40 and 50 guns respectively). The large line-of-battle ships, however, are generally considered ill adapted for the ordinary purposes of war, and will probably be discontinued. The rapid increase of steam-ships in the Royal Navy has of late years been surprising, and probably ere long there will be no other class of ships or vessels afloat. Indeed this is nearly the case now. Steam corvettes and steam gun-boats supply the place of all the smaller class of vessels. There are at present 160 gun-boats on the list of the Royal Navy, of 20, 40, 60, and 80 horse-power.
Improvements in Construction.
If we look back to the days of Elizabeth, when the chain-jump, the capstan, the striking of the top-masts, the studding-sails, top-gallant-sails, sprit-sails, &c., were first introduced into the navy, one can scarcely conceive how they contrived to keep the sea for any length of time; but these improvements, important as they were, are trifling when compared with those aids and conveniences which have gradually been introduced since her reign, and which a ship of war now enjoys. When Sir Anthony Deane, in 1664, raised the lower ports of a two-decker four and a half feet out of the water, which had before been scarcely three feet, and made a ship of this class to stow six months' provisions instead of three, it was justly considered as a most important improvement; not less so, when the breadth of a ship of this class was carried to 45 feet. "The builders of England," says Pepys, "before 1673, had not well considered that breadth only will make a stiff ship." It must be confessed, however, that, as far as the form of a ship's bottom depends on scientific principles, we have copied our best models from the French, sometimes with capricious variations, which more frequently turned out to be an injurious alteration than an improvement.
The first essential alteration in the form of our ships of the line was taken from the Superbe, a French ship of seventy-four guns, which anchored at Spithead, on the model of which, as already stated, the Harwich was built by Sir Anthony Deane in 1674; since which time we have constantly been copying from French models, improving or spoiling, as chance might determine. "Where we have built exactly after the form of the best of the French ships that we have taken," say the commissioners of naval revision, "thus adding our dexterity in building to their knowledge in theory, the ships, it is generally allowed, have proved the best in our navy; but whenever our builders have been so far misled by their little attainments in the science of naval architecture as to depart from the model before them in any material degree, and attempt improvements, the true principles on which ships ought to be constructed (being imperfectly known to them) have been mistaken or counteracted, and the alterations, according to the information given to us, have in many cases done harm."
Whilst, therefore, they add, "our rivals in naval power were employing men of the greatest talents and most extensive acquirements to call in the aid of science for improving the construction of ships, we have contented ourselves with groping on in the dark in quest of such discoveries as chance might bring in our way."
Upon these grounds, and by the recommendation of the commissioners, a school for a superior class of shipwright Matériel apprentices was established in Portsmouth dockyard. It consisted of twenty-five young men of liberal education, whose mornings were passed in the study of mathematics and mechanics, and in their application to naval architecture, and the remainder of the day under the master shipwright in the mould-loft, and in all the various kinds of manual labour connected with ship-building, as well as in the management and conversion of timber, so as to make them, at the same time, fully acquainted with all the duties in detail of a practical shipwright. After producing more officers than could be provided for, it was deemed expedient to break up the establishment.
If, however, we had hitherto been inferior to the French in the scientific principles of ship-building, in the constructive part we left them behind beyond all comparison; and notwithstanding the narrow prejudices which have been more remarkably adhered to among shipwrights than among almost any other class of artizans, various alterations and improvements have from time to time been introduced into the mechanical part of naval architecture, which have added to the strength, the stability, the comfort, and convenience of our ships of war, and rendered them, in every point of view, superior to those of any other nation. The application of iron where wood was formerly used, and of copper for iron, has added considerably to the durability of ships; and the sheathing of their bottoms with copper, to their celerity, giving them at the same time a protection against the worm and those marine insects which were wont to adhere to them; yet it is remarkable how strong the prejudice was against this practice before it obtained a due degree of credit. In the fleet of Sir Edward Hughes in India there was but one coppered ship, and Rodney's squadron in the West Indies had but four that were coppered in the year 1782; but these were enough so completely to establish their superiority over the others with wooden sheathing, that in the year 1782 the whole British navy was coppered.
But the greatest of all improvements in the construction of ships of war, as tending to their strength and durability, is the system of diagonal bracing, first introduced by Mr (afterwards Sir Robert) Seppings, surveyor of the navy, and now universally adopted in all ships of the line and frigates,—a system that may be said to have established a new era in naval architecture. Of all large machines destined to undergo severe shocks, a ship is perhaps the least skilfully and artificially contrived. Her several parts are put together on a principle so much opposed to that which constitutes strength, that if a ship on the old construction should be put upon wheels, and drawn over a rough pavement, the action of a day would shake her in pieces; but being destined to move in an element that closes upon her, and presses her equally on all sides, she is prevented from falling in pieces outwards, and her beams and decks preserve her from tumbling inwards. Whoever has observed a ship in frame, as it is called, on the stocks—that is, with only her timbers erected—must be forcibly reminded of the skeleton of some large quadruped, as of a horse or ox, laid on its back; the keel resembling the backbone, and the curved timbers the ribs, which is, in fact, the name by which they sometimes go. These ribs, issuing at right angles from the keel, consist, in a seventy-four gun ship, of about 800 different pieces, the space between each rib seldom exceeding five inches. These ribs are covered with a skin or planks of different thicknesses within and without, also at right angles to the ribs, and fixed to them by means of wooden pins or tree-nails. In the inside three or four tiers of beams cross the skeleton from side to side, at right angles to both planks and ribs. These beams support the decks. At right angles to the beams are pieces of wood called earlings, and at right angles to these pieces called ledges, and upon these the planks of the deck are laid in a direction at right angles to the beams, and parallel to the planking of the sides. From this sketch it will be perceived that all the parts of a ship are either parallel or at right angles to each other. The ribs form a right angle with the keel, the planks inside and out are at right angles to the ribs, the beams at right angles to these, the carlings to the beams, the ledges to the carlings, and the planks of the decks to the ledges, the beams, and the ribs.
Now, it is well known to every common carpenter that this disposition of materials is the weakest that can be adopted. Thus, if five pieces of wood be pinned together in the shape of a parallelogram, it will require but little force to move them from the rectangular to the oblique or rhomboidal shape. But place a cross-bar, as in the figure Z, as carpenters are accustomed to do on a common gate, and it is no longer moveable on the points of fastening.
The strongest proof of a ship's partaking of this weakness in the old construction is afforded by her being first launched into the water, when it is invariably found that the two extremities, being less water-borne than the middle, drop, and give to the ship a convex curvature upwards, an effect which, from its resemblance to the shape of a hog's back, is usually called hogging. In very weak or old ships this effect may be discovered in all the port-holes of the upper-deck, by their having taken the shape of lozenges, declining different ways from the centre of the ship to each extremity.
To obviate this great defect, Seppings tried the experiment of applying to the ribs or timbers of the ship, from one extremity to the other, and from the orlop-deck downwards to the kelson, that well-known principle in carpentry, called trussing; being, in fact, a series of diagonal braces disposing themselves into triangles, the sides of which give to each other a mutual support and counteraction. These triangles were firmly bolted to the frame; and in order to give a continuity of strength to the whole machine, and leave no possible room for play, he filled the spaces between the frames with old-seasoned timber cut into the shape of wedges; but afterwards with a prepared cement, thus rendering the lower part of the ship or floor one solid complete mass, possessing the strength and firmness of a rock; but a few years have proved that this cement has injured the timber.
The same principle of trussing is carried from the gun-deck upwards, from whence, between every port, is introduced a diagonal brace, which completely prevents the tendency of ships to stretch, or draw asunder their upper works. The decks, too, are made subservient to the more firmly securing of the beams to the sides of the ship, by the planks being laid diagonally in contrary directions, from the midships to the sides, and at an angle of forty-five degrees with the beams, and at right angles with the ledges.
In frigates and smaller vessels, iron plates, lying at an angle of forty-five degrees with the direction of the trusses, are substituted for the diagonal frame of wood in ships of the line.
By this mode of construction, the ceiling or internal planking is wholly dispensed with, and a very considerable saving of the finest oak timber thereby effected; and, what is more important, those receptacles of filth and vermin between the timbers, which were before closed up by the planking, are entirely got rid of. This is not the least important part of the improvement, either as it concerns the soundness of the ship or the health of the crew. It is stated that a ship which had been three years in India, on being laid open, exhibited a mass of filth, mixed up with dead rats, mice, cockroaches, and other vermin, which was taken out in casks, not unlike in appearance the oil-cake with which certain animals are fed; that the stench was abominable, and the timbers with which it was in contact rotten. No such filth can find a lodgment in ships of war as they are now built.
It has been a subject of discussion amongst ship-builders, whether tree-nails or metallic fastenings are to be preferred. The objection to iron bolts is their rapid corrosion, from the gallic acid of the wood, the sea-water, and perhaps by a combination of both; in consequence of which the fibres of the wood around them become injured, the bolts wear away, the water oozes through, and the whole fabric is shaken and disarranged. This corrosion of iron fastenings was most remarkable when the practice of sheathing ships with copper became general, and when iron nails were made use of to fix it; for, by the contact of the two metals in the sea-water a galvanic action took place, and both were immediately corroded. Mixed metal nails are now used for this purpose; and copper bolts are universally employed below the line of flotation, though it is found that in these also oxidation takes place to a certain degree, and causes partial leaks. Various mixtures of metals have been tried, but all of them are considered as liable to greater objections than pure copper. It would appear, then, that tree-nails, if properly made, well seasoned, and driven tight, are the least objectionable, being seldom found to occasion leaks, or to injure the plank or timbers through which they pass. This species of fastening has at all times been used by all the maritime nations of Europe. The Dutch were in the habit of importing them from Ireland, it being supposed that the oak grown in that country was tougher and stronger than any which could be procured on the Continent, and in all respects best adapted for the purpose. "Under all circumstances," says Mr Knowles, "it appears that the present method of fastening ships generally with tough, well-seasoned tree-nails, with their ends split, and caulked after being driven, and securing the buts of each plank with copper bolts well clenched, is liable to fewer objections, and more conducive to the durability of the timber, than any other which has been tried or proposed to be established."
Rounding the form of the bow in ships of the line is considered by nautical men as of great utility and importance. The plan was first proposed by Seppings in 1807, ships of the line, and has since been generally adopted. The removal of the head railing, and the continuing of the rounded form, give not only great additional strength to the ship, but also much more comfort and convenience to the crew, and security in that part of the ship when in action.
The scarcity of compass or crooked timber was, for some time, attended with serious injury to those ships of war while on the stocks, into which it was considered necessary to be introduced. The difficulty with which it was procured, the length of time which a ship sometimes remained on the stocks waiting for a few pieces of compass timber, the green wood, when found, being immediately added to the seasoned timber in other parts of the frame, gave to the ship different periods of durability; though, in the long run, the seasoned parts became affected by the green wood with which they were in contact, and a premature decay of the whole fabric was the consequence. Seppings, therefore, proposed a plan in 1806, which, by uniting short timbers according to a method called scarfing, enabled him to obtain every species of compass-form that could be required from straight timber. Since that period, the whole frame of a ship can be prepared at once, without waiting for particular pieces, and thus every part of it can be made to undergo an equal degree of seasoning. By the same ingenious and indefatigable surveyor of the navy, a plan was proposed and adopted in the year 1813, by which ships of the line were built with timber hitherto considered as applicable only to the building of frigates, and that which had been deemed only fit for inferior uses was appropriated to principal purposes. The Talavera was the first ship built on this principle, and the expense of her hull is stated to have been about £1,000 less than that of the Black Prince, a ship of similar dimensions built upon the old principle. The method by which the timbers were united was found, on trial of the Talavera with the Black Prince, whilst in frame, to give so much additional strength to the former, that it furnished the groundwork of the present mode of framing the British navy, by the introduction of the same union of materials in the application of the large as was practised in that of the small timber, and from which both strength and economy have been united.
The building of the Talavera, and the great strength of her frame, led to the practice of putting together the frames of ships of the line from timbers of reduced lengths, and dispensing altogether with the chocks used for uniting their extremities, or, as they are technically called, their heads and heels. These chocks are of the form of an obtuse wedge, as A, and they are used to unite the two pieces of timber, as B and C, by firmly bolting the piece A to the two timbers B and C.
It generally happened, however, that in the operation of thus fixing this chock its two extremities split, and the surfaces of the chock and timbers not being in perfect contact, the moisture and the air were admitted, and occasioned, as they always do, the dry rot to a greater degree in those parts of the ship than in most others; and as there were from 400 to 500 of these chocks in a 74-gun ship, it will readily be conceived what mischief was done to the whole fabric, if the greatest care was not taken by the workmen to prevent their splitting, and to bring their surfaces immediately into contact. It is obvious, also, that a great deal of timber must have been cut to waste in making these chocks; and, in fact, they consumed timber in each ship, when it was at a high price, to the value of from £1,500 to £2,000, besides a considerable expense in workmanship; and when the ship came to be repaired, not one chock in six was found to be in a fit state to be used again. It is not easy to conceive how this practice of uniting the timbers of a ship's frame came to be introduced so generally into the British navy, more especially as it is unknown in any other nation. It was probably first adopted to preserve the length of some particular timber, one of the ends of which being defective, the unsound part may have been cut away in the manner represented, and the sound chock introduced to fill up the vacancy. But it is quite surprising how a practice should have become general which creates a waste of timber, an increase of workmanship, and sows the seeds of premature decay. To obviate these disadvantages, Sir Robert Seppings brought the butt ends of the timbers together thus—
and kept them together by means of a round dowal or coal, as C, just as the fellies of a carriage-wheel are fastened together. He justly observes, that the simplicity of the workmanship, the economy in the conversion of timber, and the greater strength and durability, although of considerable moment, are of but trifling importance when compared with the advantage of rendering timber generally more applicable to the frames of ships which had heretofore but been partially so.
Another great improvement in the construction of ships of war, introduced by Seppings, is the round stern, which, however unsightly it may at first appear, from our being accustomed to view the square stern, with its grotesque carved Round work, is even in appearance more consistent with the termination of the sweeping lines of a ship's bottom than the cutting them off abruptly with a square stern. But the additional strength which is thus given to a ship in that part which was hitherto the weakest, is alone sufficient to recommend the adoption of the plan in our ships of war, particularly in those of the larger classes. The advantages gained by circular stems are thus enumerated by Sir Robert Seppings:
1. They give additional strength to the whole fabric of a ship. 2. They afford additional force in point of defence. 3. They admit of the guns being run out in a similar way to those in the sides. 4. From the circular form, and mode of carrying up the timbers, an additional protection against shot is obtained if the ship should be raked. 5. The stern being equally strong as the bow, no serious injury can accrue in the event of the ship being pooped; and the ship may be moored, if so required, by the stern. 6. A ship will sail better upon a wind, from the removal of the projections of the quarter galleries. 7. Ships of the line have now a stern-walk, protected by a veranda, and so contrived that the officers can walk all round, can observe the set of the sails, and the fleet in all directions. 8. The compass-timber heretofore expended for transoms is replaced with straight timber, and worked nearly to a right angle, which affords a considerable saving in the consumption of timber. 9. The counter being done away by the circular stern, the danger from boats being caught under it is obviated.
In fact, the circular stern possesses many other advantages not necessary to be enumerated in this place.
Another important improvement in the interior construction of ships has been the substitution of iron in lieu of the clumsy wooden knees for the support of the decks.
Sir William Symonds, who was many years surveyor of the navy, and who greatly improved the build of ships of all classes, assisted by Mr Edie, was the first to reduce to a system and classify the masts and yards, the advantage of which cannot be overrated.
In the same way the armament of a ship is now brought more into a system, and it is no longer necessary to alter the fittings of the ports to allow of elevating and depressing the guns. These, and many other similar systematic arrangements—simple enough, it must be admitted—are of very recent introduction into the service.
The names of Oliver Lang, his son Oliver W. Lang, (who has built the fastest steam-vessels afloat), Fincham, and Roberts, master-shipwrights of the several yards, are also closely connected with various important improvements in ship-building in the Royal Navy.
Improvements in the Preservation of the Navy.
Not only is the new mode of construction highly favourable to the duration of ships, but the ravages of the disease which is known by the name of the dry rot, occasioned principally by the hurry in which ships were built in the course of the French war, and the unseasoned state of the timber made use of (see Dry Rot), led to such measures as tend most effectually to the preservation of the fleet.
In the first place, various modes were put in practice for preserving and seasoning the timber, and for protecting it from the vicissitudes of the weather. The oak and fir of dry rot Canada, which had been introduced to a great extent into our dockyards during the time the Baltic was shut against this country, are now excluded; these woods having been found not only to possess little durability, but to be so friendly to the growth of fungi that they communicated the baneful disease to all other descriptions of timber with which they came in contact. The practice of building ships under cover, introduced into our dockyards in the course of the said war, and carried to an extent so as to have roofed over almost every dock and slip in all the yards, has been preventive of the progress of dry rot. (See Dockyards.)
A ship now placed in ordinary, whether new or newly repaired, is carefully housed over, so that no rain can reach her lower decks; several streaks of planks are removed from her sides and decks to admit a thorough draft of air, which is sent down by wind-sails, and which pervades every part of the ship; and these, with the addition of two small airing-stoves, in which a few cinders are burned, render her perfectly dry and comfortable on all the decks and store-rooms. All the shingle ballast is removed out of the hold, which is thoroughly cleaned and re-stowed with iron ballast. The former practice of mooring two ships together, by which the two sides next to each other, deprived of the sun and a free circulation of air, were generally found to be decayed, is discontinued. The lower masts are left standing, and their tops housed over; the gun-carriages and several of the stores are left on board; and such, in short, is the state of a ship in ordinary, that she may be fitted in all respects for proceeding to sea in half the usual time. "The ships," says Mr Knowles, "are frequently pumped to clear them of bilge-water, and cleanliness in every respect is attended to; the lower decks are rubbed with dry stones, commonly called holly-stones, and with sand, the use of water upon them being strictly forbidden." But that which most of all is likely to insure the preservation of the fleet whilst in the state of ordinary, is the recent regulation which places the ordinary under the immediate superintendence of a captain at each port, with other commissioned officers under his orders, who take care that the warrant-officers and ship-keepers attend to the proper airing, ventilating, and keeping clean and dry their respective ships.
A practice had been introduced into the dockyards of steeping oak timber in salt water for several months, and then stacking it till it became perfectly dry, which is said to have entirely put a stop to the progress of dry rot where it had already commenced, and to have acted as a preventive to that disease. Some doubts, however, were entertained on this point, and the practice has been discontinued. The Americans seem to place little confidence in the good effects which are said to have been experienced from the immersion of timber. Rodgers, the commissioner of their navy, stated in an official report addressed to the secretary, that "experiments have been made to arrest the dry rot in ships, by sinking them for months in salt water, but without success. The texture of the wood was found to be essentially injured by being thus water-soaked, and it became more subject to this disease than before it was sunk. The ships were also injured in their fastenings, and the atmosphere within them was kept in a constant state of humidity, whence, among other ill effects, proceeded injury to provisions and stores, and sickness to the crews." The truth is, the American timber, with the single exception, perhaps, of the live-oak, is remarkably subject to dry rot, of which, during the war with France, we had fatal experience. Mr Rodgers, however, accounts for the condition in which the oak and pine were received in England from Canada by their immersion in water. "The Canada timber," he observes, "is brought down the St Lawrence in large rafts, continues months in water, and in that saturated state is landed and exposed to frost; every attempt to season it under cover is unavailing; its pores never close again, and when used as ship-timber dry rot ensues, which, when once commenced, can never be arrested but by taking out all the pieces in any degree affected." The Russians, he says, are so fully aware of the injurious effects of soaking ship-timber in water, that it is brought from great distances down the rivers in rafts instead of rafts. The Russian ships, however, with all this precaution, are not remarkable for durability. The ships built at Antwerp by the French were in a state of rottenness before they were launched; but whether this was owing to the bad quality of the timber of the German forests, or to its being water-soaked in rafting down the Rhine, remains doubtful. But we can have no doubt that porous timber is injured by moisture, though the solid British oak may be improved by the dissolution of its sap juices, to the fermentation of which the disease known by name of dry rot may perhaps be chiefly owing. "Water," says Lescalier, a French writer of considerable merit on the subject, "seems to be favourable to the decomposition of the sap of timber when immersed; but it substitutes in its place another kind of moisture not less destructive, of which the timber, though afterwards exposed to the air, will not easily get rid; besides, it weakens and destroys the grain of the wood." "The best means," he adds, "of preserving timber, appears to be that of keeping it in well-constructed and airy sheds, in a vertical position, so that the moisture which remains in the interior of the logs, by running along the fibres of the wood, may be enabled to issue from the lower extremity. Timber thus kept dry, under shelter, will preserve itself for ages." Mr Knowles, secretary to the committee of surveyors of his Majesty's navy, in his treatise on the Means of Preserving the British Navy, is led to conclude, from a variety of experiments, "that timber is better seasoned when kept for two years and a half under cover, than when placed for six months in water, and then for two years in the air, protected from the rain and sun; that it loses more in seasoning by having been, during the six months of immersion, alternately wet and dry, than the whole time under water; and that the loss in moisture is greater in all cases in a given time when the butt ends are placed downwards." And he adds, as a general principle, "that no timber should be brought into use in this country until it has been felled at least three years." Sir William Burnett, many years physician of the navy, produced a solution for the preservation of timber and canvas, which has been found in many cases efficacious.
Next to the system of diagonal braces, the roofing thrown by roofing over them whilst building and in ordinary may be considered as the greatest of all improvements for the preservation of the navy. The utility of it is so obvious, that it is quite extraordinary such a practice should not have been earlier adopted; more especially as at Venice, at Carliscon, and at Cronstadt, ships of war had long been built, repaired, and protected under covered roofs. It was strongly recommended to the English ship-builders sixty or seventy years ago, but without effect; and had it not been for the extraordinary ravages of the dry rot in the unseasoned timber-built ships of the navy, we should still have been without roofs to our docks and slips.
If the dockyards were of sufficient capacity, there can be no doubt that the efficient plan to accomplish their durability would be that of keeping them on the slip, when built, under cover. A large frigate, the Worcester, remained on the slip and under cover for six or seven years, and there was not a flaw in her of any kind. It was stated by Mr Strange, when examined by the commissioners for land revenue, that in the year 1790 there were twenty-two ships of the line under roofs in the port of Venice, some of which had remained in that situation fifty-nine years. Since, however, it is utterly impracticable to keep our navy on slips or in dry docks, the next important consideration is, how best to preserve them afloat in a state of ordinary. Various expedients have been at different times resorted to in order to prevent the premature decay of ships laid up in this state during peace. The two great requisites for their preserva- Navy.
Material. tion are ventilation and cleanliness. To promote the former, wind-sails were in general use; though, if not attended to, so as to oppose the open part to the quarter from whence the wind blows, or if the weather be calm, they are of little benefit. Pneumatic machines of various kinds, as pumps and bellows, have been applied to force out the foul air, and introduce atmospherical air into the lower parts of a ship's hold. Heated air from stoves, placed in various parts of the ship, and conducted through tubes, was thought at one time to be efficacious in the preservation of the navy; but experience soon showed that the heat thus circulated was so far objectionable, as it tended to encourage the growth of fungus where there was any moisture lodged, and in the timber which had not been thoroughly seasoned. Perhaps no better means can be suggested than those we have described to be in practice,—namely, to keep them clean, to admit as much dry air as possible, and to exclude all moisture.
Finally, if we take into consideration the numerous improvements which a war, unparalleled in its duration, had been the means of introducing into the material of the navy, whether it regards the economy of its application, the construction of the ships, or their mode of preservation, we may safely say, that at no former period was this country in possession of such a navy as after the close of the war with France, in respect of the number, size, and good condition of the ships which compose a fleet superior to those of the whole world besides; and it is gratifying to find that, with all the enormous consumption of the military and mercantile navy, it does not appear that the naval resources of Great Britain were at that time at all impaired. The present state of the navy, at the close of another great war, in which its resources were in some respects severely tried, is no less satisfactory.
Naval Resources.
It is of essential importance that the supply of stores for the use of the fleet should not only be adequate to the demand, but that a sufficient stock should be kept on hand to answer any sudden emergency. This is the more necessary with regard to those species of stores which are derived from foreign nations.
The principal articles of consumption required for building and equipping a fleet are,—hemp, canvas, pitch, tar, iron, copper, and timber. All these articles might unquestionably be produced in sufficient quantities in the united kingdom and her colonies, if necessity absolutely required it. Hemp, for instance, might be grown to any extent in Great Britain and Ireland, were not the land more advantageously employed in raising other articles of consumption, and if it could not be cheaper imported from Russia. In the East Indies, the Sumn hemp (inferior, it is true, to Russian hemp) might be procured to any extent; and other plants, both there and at home, might be substituted for the making of cordage and canvas. For pitch and tar recourse might be had to the pitch-lake on the island of Trinidad, and the coal-tar, of which an inexhaustible supply may be had at home. The lake is about four miles in circumference, and many feet in depth, of solid pitch; and it is stated that, when mixed with oil or tallow, it is rendered fit for all the purposes to which pitch and tar are usually applied. It has the advantage of securing ships' bottoms against the attack of the worm, which is very active in the neighbouring gulf of Para; and it does not corrode iron. The coal-tar of home manufacture, from some prejudice or other, was refused a fair trial till very lately, and it is now deemed not inferior for many purposes to the common tar. For painting or tarring over woodwork of every kind, it is said to stand exposure to the weather even better than the common tar; and it is used for injecting, in large quantities, between the timbers of ships, as a preservative from the dry rot; its powerful smell having also the good effect of driving rats and other vermin out of the ships in which it is employed.
In the two important articles of copper and iron, our own copper and resources may be considered as inexhaustible. Formerly iron, it was deemed indispensable that certain articles should be made of Swedish iron; but of late years our own has been manufactured in every respect equally good; and the extensive application of this metal in bridges, barges, dock-gates, roofs, rafters, floors, &c., has been equally progressive in most naval purposes. Iron knees, and other modes of binding the beams to the side timbers of ships, are now substituted for those large and crooked pieces of timber, as already stated, which were once deemed absolutely necessary. Our cables, rigging, buoys, and tanks for holding water, are also now of iron. A few steam-vessels have also been constructed of iron; but from experiments made by firing at them, they have been found wholly unsuited for purposes of war, the shot passing through their side, and leaving frightful rents, which, if struck between wind and water, would speedily cause them to fill and sink. It is therefore assumed that they will be discontinued in the Royal Navy.
But the most important article of demand for the use of timber, the navy is timber, principally oak, concerning the supply of which from our own territories different opinions have been entertained. A deficiency in other articles may readily be supplied. A failure in the importation of hemp, for instance, in any one year, might be remedied the next, by an extended cultivation of that article; but it requires a whole century to repair any defalcation of oak timber, and to render us independent of other nations. Nor has the subject been sufficiently elucidated, so as to form a just opinion, by the several committees of the House of Commons, the evidence produced being almost always loose, and generally contradictory. The committee of 1771, which was directed to inquire into the state of oak timber throughout the kingdom, either from a disagreement of opinion, or defect of evidence, or a wish to avoid giving alarm, prayed the House to discharge that part of its order which required them to report their opinion. The Commissioners of Woods and Forests, however, in their report laid before Parliament in 1792, appeared to establish the fact of an alarming scarcity of oak timber in general, but more particularly of large naval timber, both in the royal forests and on private estates. And if such was really the fact in 1792, it will readily be conceived what the state of timber fit for naval purposes must have been at the conclusion of the revolutionary war, when the amount of private shipping had increased from 1,300,000 tons to 2,500,000 tons, or nearly doubled; that of the East India Company, in the same period, from 79,900 tons to 115,000 tons; and that of the navy from 400,000 to 800,000 tons; to say nothing of the vast consumption of oak timber in all kinds of mill-work and other machinery; in the barrack and ordnance departments; in mines, collieries, and agriculture; in docks and dock-gates; in piers, locks, and sluices; in boats, barges, lighters, bridges, and a great many other purposes to which this timber is applied. From these and many other causes, the diminution of oak timber was infinitely greater than the commissioners had calculated upon, and yet they recommended that 100,000 acres belonging to the crown should be set apart and planted for the future supply of the navy. A bill to this effect, relating to the New Forest, passed the Commons, but was thrown out by the Lords.
On the departments of the surveyor-general of the land Report of revenue and the surveyor-general of the woods and forests the Com- being united, the board of commissioners made their first missioners report, which was printed, by order of the House of Com- Revenue mmons, in June 1812. In this report, it is stated that, taking respecting the tonnage of the navy in 1806 at 776,087 tons, it would require, at one load and a half to a ton, 1,164,085 loads to build such a navy; and supposing the average duration of Materiel. A ship to be fourteen years, the annual quantity of timber required would be 83,149 loads, exclusive of repairs, which they calculate would be about 27,000 loads, making in the whole about 110,000 loads; of which, however, the commissioners reckon, may be furnished 21,341 loads as the annual average of prizes; and of the remaining 88,659 loads, they think it not unreasonable to calculate on 28,659 from other sources than British oak. "This," they observe, "leaves 60,000 loads of such oak as the quantity which would be sufficient annually to support, at its present unexampled magnitude, the whole British navy, including ships of war of all sorts, but which may be taken as equivalent together to 20 74-gun ships, each of which, one with another, contains about 2000 tons, or would require, at the rate of a load and a half to the ton, 3000 loads, making just 60,000 loads for 20 such ships."
Now it has been supposed that not more than forty oak trees can stand on an acre of ground, so as to grow to a full size, fit for ships of the line, or to contain each a load and a half of timber; 50 acres, therefore, would be required to produce a sufficient quantity of timber to build a 74-gun ship, and 1000 acres for 20 such ships; and as the oak requires at least 100 years to arrive at maturity, 100,000 acres would be required to keep up a successive supply for maintaining a navy of 700,000 or 800,000 tons. The commissioners further observe, that as there are 20,000,000 acres of waste lands in the kingdom, a two-hundredth part set aside for planting would at once furnish the whole quantity wanted for the use of the navy.
This calculation, we suspect, is overrated by about one-half. In the first place, it supposes a state of perpetual war, during which the tonnage of the whole navy is considered as more than double of what it is in time of peace; and in the second place, it reckons the average duration of the navy at fourteen years only, which, from the improvements that have taken place in the construction and preservation of ships of war, with the resources of teak ships, built in India, we should not hesitate in assuming at an average of twice that number of years; and if so, the quantity of oak required for the navy will be nothing like that which the commissioners have stated. This, we think, will appear from a statement made (apparently on good authority) in the midst of the war, when the ships of the line built in merchants' yards were falling to decay after a service of five or six years.
"Assuming 400,000 tons as the amount of tonnage to be kept in commission, and the average duration of a ship of war at the moderate period of twelve and a half years, there would be required an annual supply of tonnage, to preserve the navy in an effective state, of 32,000 tons; and as a load and a half of timber is employed for every ton, the annual demand will be 48,000 loads. The building of a 74-gun ship consumes about 2000 oak trees, or 3000 loads of timber; so that 48,000 loads will build eight sail of the line and sixteen frigates. Allowing one-fourth part more for casualties, the annual consumption will be about 60,000 loads, or 40,000 full-grown trees, of which thirty-five will stand upon an acre of ground. The quantity of timber, therefore, necessary for the construction of a 74-gun ship will occupy fifty-seven acres of land, and the annual demand will be the produce of 1140 acres. Allowing only ninety years for the oak to arrive at perfection, there ought to be now standing 102,600 acres of oak plantations, and an annual felling and planting, in perpetual rotation, of 1140 acres, to meet the consumption of the navy alone. Large as this may seem, it is little more than twenty-one acres for each county in England and Wales, which is not equal to the belt which surrounds the park and pleasure-grounds of many estates."
The above calculation proceeds upon the principle that every acre is covered with trees fit for naval purposes, or that it contains thirty-five trees, with a load and a half of timber in each. It may be doubted, however, if on the average of plantations we shall find more than one-tenth of that number on an acre; and as the same writer endeavours to show that the quantity of oak timber consumed in the navy is only about one-tenth part of the whole consumption of the country, instead of 102,600 acres being sufficient for a perpetual supply, there would be required some ten or twelve millions of acres, in plantations similar to those at present existing, to supply the demand for oak timber. Whether such a quantity exists or not, the fact is certain, that before the conclusion of the long war, a scarcity began to be felt, especially of the larger kind of timber, fit for building ships of the line; and so great was this scarcity, that if Sir Robert Seppings had not contrived the means of substituting straight timber for those of a certain form and dimension, before considered as indispensable, the building of new ships must have entirely ceased.
If, however, the growth of oak for ship-timber was greatly diminished during the war, so as to threaten an alarming scarcity, there is little doubt that, from the increased attention paid by individuals to their young plantations, and the great extension of those plantations, as well as from the measure of allotting off portions of the royal forests to those who had claims on them, and inclosing the remainder for the use of the public, this country will, in future times, be fully adequate to the production of oak timber equal to the demand for the naval and mercantile marine. It will require, however, large and successive plantations, on account of the slow growth of the oak. But there is another tree, of late years very generally planted on rising grounds, which bids fair to become an object of great national importance, as furnishing the best, and perhaps the only substitute for oak timber. We mean the larch, which thrives well and grows rapidly in bad soils and exposed situations, the timber larch for which has been found to be durable, and, from several shipbuilding experiments, not inferior in strength, toughness, and elasticity to oak. So rapid is its growth, that the Duke of Atholl received twelve guineas for a single larch fifty years old; the timber was valued at two shillings a foot. A larch of seventy years' growth produces timber fit for all naval purposes, and may be considered as equal in size to an oak of double that age. The dimensions of a larch tree cut down at Blair Atholl in 1817, and then seventy-nine years of age, were as follows, viz.:—Stem, 82 feet; top, 20 feet; total height, 102 feet; girth at the ground, 12 feet; at 19 feet, 8 feet 3 inches; and at 57 feet, 4 feet 10 inches; solid contents, 262·8 cubic feet. Another larch, growing at Dunkeld, measured, in the year 1819, when it was eighty years old, and in full vigour, as follows, viz.:—Height of stem, 75 feet; top, 14 feet; total height, 90 feet; at 1 foot from the ground, 17 feet 8 inches in girth; at 10 feet, 10 feet 4 inches; and at 70 feet, 3 feet 2 inches; its contents, 300 cubic feet, or six loads. For all kinds of mill-work, as wheels, axle-trees, &c., the utility of the large larch wood is unquestionable; and the thinnings are excellent for palings, rails, and hurdles. The value of its application for naval purposes has been put to the test of experiment; two frigates of 28 guns, one built entirely of larch from the Duke of Atholl's plantations, the other of Riga fir (which was considered inferior only to oak), having been intended to go through the same service, precisely in the same parts of the world, in order to ascertain their comparative durability. What was the result of the experiment we are not aware, beyond the fact that the Atholl, which was one of the frigates, is still a good, sound ship, in commission at Greenock, though built, we believe, some forty years ago.
In addition to our resources of naval timber at home, we Indian have wisely availed ourselves of those which India affords for teak-building ships of war at Bombay, of teak, a wood far superior in every respect to oak, and many times more durable, not II.—PERSONNEL OF THE NAVY.
The personnel of the navy is composed of two different bodies of men, the seamen and the marines, each of whom have their appropriate officers.
The officers of the navy are divided into two distinct branches—the military and the civil. The military, or executive branch, consists of flag-officers, commodores, captains, commanders, lieutenants, masters of the fleet, mates, second masters, midshipmen, masters' assistants, naval cadets, gunners, boatswains, carpenters.
Flag-officers are divided into three ranks, and each rank into three squadrons, distinguished by the colours red, white, and blue: as admiral of the red, white, or blue; vice-admiral of the red, white, or blue; rear-admiral of the red, white, or blue: the admiral wearing his colour at the main, the vice-admiral at the fore, and the rear-admiral at the mizen mast head. There is also an admiral of the fleet, who, if in command, would carry the union flag at the main.
There are, besides, flag-officers on reserved half-pay, divided into three ranks, to which they rise by seniority; and superannuated rear-admirals, enjoying the rank and pay of a rear-admiral, but incapable of rising to a higher rank on the list, which is considered a grievance. The rank of commodore is temporary: he is generally an old captain, and is distinguished by wearing a broad pennant. He ranks next to the junior rear-admiral, and above all captains, except where the captain of the fleet shall be a captain who, in that situation, takes rank next to the junior rear-admiral.
The commissioned officers of the navy take rank with those of the army as follows:
| Navy | Army | |---------------------------|--------------------------| | Admiral of the fleet | Field-Marshal | | Admiral | General | | Vice-admiral | Lieutenant-General | | Rear-admiral | Major-General | | Commodore (1st and 2nd class) | Brigadier-General | | Captain of three years | Colonel | | Captain under ditto | Lieutenant-Colonel | | Commander | Major | | Lieutenant | Captain | | Master | Lieutenant | | Second Master | Ensign | | Midshipmen | |
And all officers of the same rank command according to the priority of their commissions, or, having commissions of the same date, according to the order in which they stand on the list of the officers of the navy; except in the case of lieutenants of flag-ships, who take precedence according as the flag-officer shall think fit to appoint them.
The civil branch consists of the director-general of the medical department of the navy (who ranks with a brigadier-general), medical inspectors of hospitals and fleets, and deputy-medical inspectors (who rank with lieutenants-colonels and majors), chaplains, secretaries to commanders-in-chief and commodores of first class, surgeons, paymasters (formerly pursers), assistant surgeons, assistant paymasters, naval instructors, clerks, clerks' assistants, inspectors of machinery, chief engineers, and assistant engineers of 1st, 2d, and 3d class.
The warrant-officers of the navy may be compared with the non-commissioned officers of the army. They take rank as follows, viz.:—Gunner, boatswain, carpenter.
The petty officers are very numerous; they consist of chief petty officer, and 1st and 2d class working petty officers. Their names or ratings will be seen in the table of the establishment of the ratings and pay in the several classes of ships of war.
By the Queen's order in Council, the following regulations are established for the promotion of commissioned officers Personnel of the navy. Midshipmen are required to serve five years on board some of Her Majesty's ships, three years and six months of which they must have been rated as midshipmen, promotion to render them eligible to the rank and situation of lieutenant; and they must be nineteen years of age. They enter the navy between the age of thirteen and fifteen as naval cadets, in which rank they are required to serve eighteen months, the first three of which in a training ship; and at the end of the five years they are rated mates, and so continue till promoted. There are several intermediate examinations required to be passed by them.
No lieutenant can be promoted to the rank of commander until he has been on the list of lieutenants during two years, and has served that period at sea; and no commander to the rank of captain until he has been on the list, and has served at sea one year. Captains become admirals in succession according to their seniority on the list, provided they shall have commanded four years in a rated ship during war, or six years during peace, or five years in war and peace combined.
No person can be appointed to serve as master of one of Her Majesty's ships who shall not have served as second master; and no person can be appointed as second master until he has passed such examination as may from time to time be directed.
No person can be appointed gunner unless he shall have served seven years, one of which as gunner's mate or other petty officer, or seaman gunner, on board one or more of Her Majesty's ships; and he must produce certificates of his good conduct, and undergo the necessary examination.
No person can be appointed boatswain unless he shall have served seven years,—one complete year with the rating, and actually doing the duty of a petty officer in Her Majesty's navy; and he must produce certificates of good conduct, and undergo the necessary examination.
No person can be appointed carpenter unless he shall have served an apprenticeship to a shipwright, and been six months a carpenter's mate or calker, or twelve months with the rating of carpenter, on board one or more of Her Majesty's ships.
No person can be appointed chaplain to one of Her Majesty's ships until he has received priest's orders; but he may be appointed to act whilst in deacon's orders.
No person can be appointed paymaster unless he shall have been rated, and have discharged the duties of a captain's clerk for three complete years; or two years as captain's clerk, and one year clerk to a secretary of a flag-officer; and been employed in the office of the secretary to a flag-officer for one other year; and shall produce good certificates, and find such security for the honest and faithful discharge of his duty as shall be required.
No person can be appointed surgeon to one of Her Majesty's ships until he has discharged the duties of assistant-surgeon for three years, one of which at sea; and all persons applying for the situation of assistant-surgeon must undergo an examination touching their qualifications before the medical director-general of the navy.
The Royal Marines, recently made light infantry, consist of four great divisions; the first stationed at Chatham, the lines, second at Portsmouth, the third at Plymouth, and the fourth at Woolwich. They are composed of 104 companies besides fourteen companies of Royal Marine artillery, whose head-quarters are at Portsmouth. The first division has twenty-five companies, the second twenty-seven companies, the third twenty-seven companies, and the fourth twenty-five companies. The officers of Royal Marines take rank with the officers of the line in the army.
The deputy adjutant-general, who is a major-general, and the assistant adjutant-general, who is a lieutenant-colonel in the corps, are resident in London; and to each Personnel of the divisions is attached a colonel-commandant and a colonel and second commandant, a proper number of lieutenant-colonels, captains, and subaltern officers. Whilst on shore the marines are subject to the same regulations as the army; but when embarked they are liable to the naval articles of war, and to the Marine Mutiny Act.
Each division has two or more adjutants; two quartermasters, who are all first lieutenants; a paymaster, who is a captain in the corps; and barrackmaster, also a captain; and to each division is a deputy-inspector of hospitals, or staff-surgeon and two assistant-surgeons. There is also a retired list of officers, who, in consideration of wounds, infirmities, and long and meritorious services, are permitted to receive their full pay, and also a reserved half-pay list.
The commissions of officers of every rank in the marine corps are signed by the sovereign; but all commissions of officers of the navy are signed by two or more of the lords commissioners of the Admiralty. But the marines, whether ashore or afloat, are, as well as the officers of the navy, under the immediate direction and control of the lords commissioners of the Admiralty. All the appointments of commissioned and warrant officers to ships are made exclusively by the lords of the Admiralty, or made subject to their confirmation, unless in cases of the death or dismissal of officers by sentence of court-martial on foreign stations, when the admiral commanding has the power to fill up the vacancies. And the duties of each rank are pointed out in a code of instructions emanating from that board, and sanctioned by the sovereign's order in Council.
The civil powers and duties of the Lord High Admiral, or lords commissioners of the Admiralty, are treated of under the article ADMIRAL. Their military powers are more extensive and important. By their orders all ships are built, repaired, fitted for sea, or laid up in ordinary, broken up, or sold; put in commission or out of commission, armed, stored, and provisioned; and employed on the home or foreign stations, or on voyages of discovery. All appointments or removals of commission and warrant officers are made by them, and all instructions issued for the guidance of their commanders; all promotion in the several ranks emanates from them; all honours bestowed for brilliant services, and all pensions, gratuities, and superannuations for wounds, infirmities, and long services, are granted on their recommendation. All returns from the fleet are sent to the Board of Admiralty, and everything that relates to the discipline and good order of every ship. All orders for the payment of naval monies are issued to the accountant-general of the navy by the lords commissioners of the Admiralty; and the annual estimate of the expenses of the navy is prepared by them, and laid before Parliament for its sanction. All new inventions and experiments are tried by their orders before being introduced into the service; all draughts of ships must be approved by them; all repairs, alterations, and improvements in the dockyards, and all new buildings of every description, must be submitted for their decision before they are undertaken.
All flag-officers, commanders-in-chief, are considered as responsible for the conduct of the fleet or squadron under their command. They are bound to keep them in perfect condition for service; to exercise them frequently in forming orders of sailing and lines of battle, and in performing all such evolutions as may occur in the presence of an enemy; to direct the commanders of squadrons and divisions to inspect the state of each ship under their command; to see that the established rules for good order, discipline, and cleanliness, are observed; and occasionally to inquire into these and other matters themselves. They are required to correspond with the secretary of the Admiralty, and report to him all their proceedings.
If a commander-in-chief should be killed in battle, his flag is to be continued flying, and intelligence conveyed, by signal or otherwise, to the next in command, who is immediately to repair on board, leaving his own flag (if a flag-officer) flying, and direct the operations of the fleet until the battle be ended, or the enemy out of sight.
Every flag-officer serving in a fleet, but not commanding it, is required to superintend all the ships of the squadron or division placed under his orders; to see that their crews are properly disciplined; that all orders are punctually attended to; that the stores, provisions, and water, are kept as complete as circumstances will admit; that the seamen and marines are frequently exercised; and that every precaution is taken for preserving the health of their crews; for all which he is responsible to the commander-in-chief. When at sea, he is to take care that every ship in his division preserve her station, in whatever line or order of sailing the fleet may be formed; and in battle he is to observe attentively the conduct of every ship near him, whether of the squadron or division under his immediate command or not; and at the end of the battle he is to report it to the commander-in-chief, in order that commendation or censure may be passed, as the case may appear to merit; and be is empowered to send an officer to supersede any captain who may misbehave in battle, or whose ship is evidently avoiding the engagement. If any flag-officer be killed in battle, his flag is to be kept flying, and signals to be repeated, in the same manner as if he were still alive, until the battle shall be ended; but the death of a flag-officer, or his being rendered incapable of attending to his duty, is to be conveyed as expeditiously as possible to the commander-in-chief.
The captain of the fleet is a temporary rank, where a Captain of the fleet. commander-in-chief has ten or more ships of the line under his command; it may be compared with that of adjutant-general in the army. He may either be a flag-officer, or one of the senior captains; in the former case, he takes his rank with the flag-officers of the fleet; in the latter, he ranks next to the junior rear-admiral, and is entitled to the pay and compensation of a rear-admiral. All orders of the commander-in-chief are issued through him, all returns of the fleet are made through him to the commander-in-chief; and he keeps a journal of the proceedings of the fleet, which he transmits every three months to the Admiralty. He is appointed and can be removed from his situation only by the lords commissioners of the Admiralty.
A commodore is a temporary rank, and of two kinds; Commodore, the one having a captain under him in the same ship, and dore, the other without a captain. The former has the rank, pay, and allowances of a rear-admiral, the latter such additional pay as the lords of the Admiralty may direct. They both carry distinguishing pennants.
When a captain is appointed to command a ship of war, Captain, he commissions the ship by hoisting his pennant; and if fresh out of the dock, and from the hands of the dockyard officers, he proceeds immediately to prepare her for sea, by demanding her stores, provisions, guns, and ammunition, from the respective departments, according to her establishment. He enters such men as may volunteer and be fit for the service (in time of peace), or who may be sent to him from some rendezvous for raising men; and he gives them the several ratings of petty officers, leading seamen, able seamen, ordinary, or landsmen, as their apparent qualifications may entitle them to. If he be appointed to succeed the captain of a ship already in commission, he passes a receipt to the said captain for the ship's books, papers, and stores, and becomes responsible and accountable for the whole of the remaining stores and provisions; and, to enable him to keep the ship's accounts, he is allowed one or more clerks or clerks' assistants.
The duty of the captain of a ship, with regard to the several books and accounts, pay-books, entry, musters, dis- Personnel charges, &c., is regulated by various acts of Parliament; but the state of the internal discipline, the order, regularity, cleanliness, and the health of the crews, will depend mainly on himself and his officers. In all these respects the general printed orders for his guidance, contained in the present edition of the Queen's regulations and Admiralty instructions, prepared by Sir George Cockburn (aided by Mr Barrow), and issued to the fleet in 1844, are particularly precise and minute. And, for the information of the ship's company, he is directed to cause the articles of war, and abstracts of all acts of Parliament for the encouragement of seamen, and all such orders and regulations for discipline as may be established, to be hung up in some public part of the ship, to which the men may at all times have access. He is also to direct that they be read to the ship's company, all the officers being present, once at least in every month. In every ship where there is a chaplain, he is desired to be particularly careful that the attention and respect due to his sacred office be shown to him by all the officers and men, and that divine service be performed, and a sermon preached, every Sunday. He is not authorized to inflict any corporal punishment on any commissioned or warrant officer, but he may place them under arrest, and suspend any officer who shall misbehave, until an opportunity shall offer of trying such officer by a court-martial. He is enjoined to be very careful not to suffer the inferior officers or men to be treated with cruelty and oppression by their superiors. He alone is to order punishment to be inflicted, which he is never to do without sufficient cause, nor ever with greater severity than the offence may really deserve, nor until twenty-four hours after the crime has been committed, which must be specified in the warrant ordering the punishment; and all the officers and the whole ship's company are to be present at every punishment, which must be inserted in the log-book, and an abstract at the end of every quarter made out and sent to the Admiralty; a regulation which has been attended with infinite benefit to the strict and just discipline of the naval service. The greatest number of lashes he can inflict is 48. The total abolition of flogging, so often advocated, can never, in the opinion of any officer, be advantageously carried into effect; but it would seem desirable to reduce the number of lashes to 24, considering the extreme severity of the punishment and pain inflicted, which often renders the man totally unfit for duty for some days. The disgrace attending the punishment is more likely to deter others than the pain inflicted. In a few well-regulated ships corporal punishments are quite unknown during the whole period of their commission. It was never found necessary in any ship employed in the Arctic squadron, owing to the great regularity observed on board, to daily prayers being read, and to there being little or no drunkenness. With a view to checking the flogging in the navy, a return is annually called for by Parliament, and a column inserted showing the number of lashes sentenced, and the numbers inflicted, together with the highest number of lashes given in any one case, and the lowest, together with a sum total.
The lieutenants take the watch by turns, and are at such times intrusted, in the absence of the captain, with the command of the ship. The one on duty is to inform the captain of all occurrences which take place during his watch; as strange sails that may be in sight, signals from other ships in company, change of wind, &c. He is to see that the ship be properly steered, the log hove, and the course and distance entered on the log-board; and, in short, he is to see that the whole of the duties of the ship are carried on with the same punctuality as if the captain himself were present. In the absence of the captain, the senior lieutenant is responsible for everything done on board.
The master receives his orders from the captain or any of the lieutenants. His more immediate duties are those of stowing the ship's hold, and of attending to her sailing personnel qualities; of receiving and placing the provisions in the ship, so as most conveniently to come at those which may be wanted. He is to take care that the cables are properly coiled in the tiers. The keys of the spirit-room are in his custody, and he is directed to intrust them only to the master's assistants. He has the charge of the store-rooms of the warrant-officers, which he is ordered frequently to visit; in short, the whole of the ship's provisions, water, fuel, and stores of every description, are under the superintendence of the master; and he is also intrusted, under the command of the captain, with the charge of navigating the ship, bringing her to anchor, ascertaining the latitude and longitude of her place at sea, surveying harbours, and making such nautical remarks and observations as may be useful and interesting to navigation in general. He keeps the ship's log-book and remark-book. For distinguished conduct masters are eligible for promotion to the rank of lieutenant; but few would accept it, except with a certain prospect of rising to the higher grades, of which there are instances.
The warrant-officers are charged with the duty of receiving on board from the dockyards, and examining, the various stores of their respective departments, and keeping an account of the expenditure of them.
The gunner has the charge of the ship's artillery and of the powder magazine. He is to see that the locks and carriages are kept in good order, and that the powder is preserved from damp; he is frequently to examine the musketry and small arms, and to see that they are kept clean and fit for service; and, in preparing for battle, it is his duty to take care that all the quarters are supplied with everything necessary for the service of the guns, and, during the action, that there be no want of ammunition served out. He is frequently to exercise the men at the guns, and to see that they perform this part of their duty with correctness, explaining and enforcing the necessity of their pointing the guns before they fire them, spunging them well, and close-stopping the touch-hole immediately after firing. The armourer and his mates are under the immediate orders of the gunner in everything that relates to the great guns and small arms.
The boatswain is charged with the duty of receiving and examining all the stores belonging to his department, consisting chiefly of the ropes and rigging, the latter of which he is ordered to inspect daily, in order that any part of it chafed or likely to give way may be repaired without loss of time. He is always required to be on deck at such times as all hands are employed; he is bound to see that the men, when called, move quickly upon deck, and when there, that they perform their duty with alacrity, and without noise or confusion. The sailmaker and the ropemaker are under his immediate orders.
The carpenter, when appointed to a ship, is carefully to inspect the state of the masts and the yards, whether in the dockyard or on board of the ship, to see that they are perfectly sound and in good order. He is to examine every part of the ship's hull, magazine, store-rooms, and cabins. He is every day when at sea carefully to examine into the state of the masts and yards, and to report to the officer of the watch if any appear to be sprung, or in any way defective. He is to see that the ports are secure and properly lined, and that the pumps are kept in good order, as also the boats, ladders, and gratings. The caulkier is placed under his immediate orders, and he is to see that the former performs his duty in a workmanlike manner, in stopping immediately any leaks that may be discovered.
The engineer, when first appointed to a steam-vessel, carefully examines the engines, paddles (or screw), and the boilers, and reports to the commanding officer any defects he discovers. He takes charge of all the engineers' stores and tools, and keeps account of receipts and expenditure. Personnel. He is never to quit the engine-room during his watch, and visits it frequently at all times day and night. The leading stoker and stokers are under his immediate control.
Paymaster. The paymaster (formerly purser) has the charge of all the ship's provisions, and of the serving them out for the use of the crew. His charge is, therefore, of a most important matter; and, accordingly, he must not only produce good certificates of his conduct whilst serving in the capacity of clerk, but must also find two sureties for the due discharge of his trust, who are required to give bond in a penal sum, according to the rate or class of ship to which he may be appointed.
The regulations and instructions for his guidance are minutely detailed in the general printed instructions, with all the various forms established for the keeping of his accounts with the accountant-general and comptroller of victualling, to whom he is immediately responsible. To assist him in the performance of his arduous duties, he is allowed to employ the clerk, with the sanction of the captain, who is responsible for the strict performance of the duties of all the officers under his orders, and acts, as it were, as a check on the paymaster in many parts of his duty, regarding the slop-books, muster-books, &c. He has also a steward under his immediate orders.
The duties of the medical inspectors of hospitals and fleets, the surgeon of a ship and his assistants, the secretary to the commander-in-chief, the chaplain, the naval instructor, and inspectors of machinery afloat, are too obvious to require any specification.
Midshipmen and naval cadets. The midshipmen are considered as the principal petty officers, but have no specific duties assigned to them. In the smaller vessels, some of the senior ones are intrusted with the watch; they attend parties of men sent on shore; pass the word of command on board, and see that the orders of their superiors are carried into effect; in short, are exercised in all the duties of their profession, so as, after five years' service (eighteen months as cadet, and three years and six months as midshipman), to qualify them to become lieutenants; and are then rated mates, provided they have passed the requisite examination, and are nineteen years of age.
Marines. Every ship, according to her class, has a certain number of marines as part of her complement. They are commanded by a captain or brevet-major, in from first to fourth rates inclusive, with three or two subalterns under them, and an established number of non-commissioned officers; but the party on board fifth rates and under is commanded by a subaltern, and in small vessels by a sergeant or corporal.
All marine officers, of whatsoever rank, when embarked, are to obey the orders of the captain or the commanding officer of the watch. The marines are exercised by their officers in the use of their arms; they are employed as sentinels, and in all other duties on board of which they are capable, with the exception of going aloft. The officer commanding has the charge of the arms, accoutrements, and drums; and he is to inspect, weekly at least, the state of the clothing of his party. The marines are in every respect treated as part of the ship's company.
The long continuance of the revolutionary war necessarily created a prodigious increase of the commissioned officers of the navy. Their numbers in the five following years of peace were—
| Year | Admirals | Vice-admirals | Rear-admirals | Captains | Commanders | Lieutenants | |------|----------|---------------|--------------|---------|------------|-------------| | 1793 | 11 | 45 | 70 | 63 | 43 | 63 | | 1803 | 19 | 36 | 73 | 59 | 59 | 59 | | 1813 | 19 | 51 | 77 | 68 | 68 | 63 | | 1821 | 444 | 666 | 824 | 828 | 755 | | | 1831 | 160 | 410 | 762 | 776 | 823 | |
In the year 1857 there were on the active list of the personnel, navy 371 captains, 530 commanders, 1123 lieutenants; and on the retired and reserved list 129 captains, 243 commanders with rank of captain (besides 113 commanders on reserved half-pay), 254 lieutenants with rank of retired commanders (besides 618 on reserved half-pay). The total number of captains was therefore 743; commanders, 897; lieutenants, 1740; being a diminution of considerably upwards of 1000 officers of the foregoing ranks, as compared with the list in 1836.
The warrant-officers have increased from the average of about 400 in 1793 and 700 in 1821, to upwards of 1000 in 1857. They are divided into two classes,—viz., those who are fit for sea service, and those who are fit for harbour duty. The latter consist of about 150 gunners, boatswains, and carpenters. The total number of officers of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines in 1857 was upwards of 7300, excluding mates and midshipmen, clerks, warrant-officers, and engineers. These may be computed at 3000; making a grand total of 10,300 officers of all ranks.
The number of seamen and marines voted in 1792 was 16,000 (but never reduced to that number); in 1822 it was 21,000; in 1836, 32,000; 1840–1, 35,165; 1850–1, 39,000; 1853–4, 45,500; and in 1854–5, 48,000. The greatest number of seamen and marines voted in any one year during the French war was 150,000, and during the war with Russia, 76,000.
All officers of the navy wear a uniform, which is established in pursuance of the pleasure of the sovereign. It consists of blue cloth, with white collars and cuffs to the coats, and various embroidery and epaulets. The epaulets of the officers of the civil branch of the service are embroidered in gold and silver. The full dress, with cocked hats, is worn, on state occasions and at courts-martial, by all naval officers. The first naval uniform (blue and white) was established in 1748. The identical patterns then issued may now be seen in the United Service Institution. They were obtained a few years since from Plymouth, where they had been carefully preserved. In the reign of William IV., the facings were for a short time changed to red. The last alteration of the uniform was in 1856. The petty officers, seamen, and boys also wear certain regulated articles of dress; the former with marks of distinction on the left sleeve of their jackets. The seamen, too, wear good-conduct badges.
The crew of a ship of war consists of leading seamen, ship's able seamen, ordinary seamen, landsmen, leading stokers, company stokers, coal-trimmers, boys, and marines. The landsmen, boys, and marines, are always entered voluntarily, the latter in the same manner as soldiers, by enlisting into the corps, the two former at some rendezvous or on board particular ships. A supply of boys for the navy is also regularly sent from the Asylum at Greenwich and the Marine Society. Able and ordinary seamen also very commonly volunteer to serve during the war, and always in time of peace; but the high wages given by the merchant ships to seamen in time of war hold out such encouragement as to induce them to give the preference to that service, though in all other respects their treatment is far superior on board a Queen's ship, having better provisions, being subject to much less fatigue and exposure to the weather, well taken care of in sickness, and being entitled to pensions after twenty-one years' service, or when disabled. Indeed, the excellent regulations now rigidly adhered to on board H.M.'s ships, and the attention that is paid to the health and comfort of the crew, have overcome much of that reluctance which formerly was felt to the service of a ship of war.
The state of health on board of a Queen's ship is, generally speaking, not exceeded in the most favoured spot on shore; the crew, and that horrible disease, the sea-scurvy, may now be considered as unknown in the British navy, since the universal Personnel introduction of lemon juice, or the citric acid, without an ample supply of which no ship is permitted to sail on a foreign voyage. It appears to have been known as a remedy for the scurvy, far superior to all others, two hundred years ago, but seems to have been utterly neglected, till Dr Lind, more than a hundred years afterwards, revived and stated clearly its singular powers. In 1600 Commodore Lancaster sailed from England with three other ships on the 2d of April, and arrived in Saldanha Bay on the 1st of August. The commodore's crew, having each had three table-spoonfuls of lemon juice every morning, arrived there in perfect health; whereas the other ships were so sickly, that they were unmanageable for want of hands. We have all felt the commiseration and horror which the perusal of the narrative of Anson's voyage produces. His ship, the Centurion, left England with 400 men, of whom 200 were surviving on his arrival at Juan Fernandez, and of these eight only were capable of duty, from scurvy. Yet even this horrible catastrophe seems to have failed in rousing the nation to have recourse to a remedy so certain and efficacious. Cook was well supplied with vinegar and other acids, and found the good effects of them; but the first general supply of lemon juice to the navy was established only in the year 1795, in consequence of a trial which had been made of it the preceding year in the Suffolk, of 74 guns. This ship left England, and arrived at Madras in September, without touching at any land. With every man's grog there were daily mixed two-thirds of a liquid ounce of lemon juice and two ounces of sugar. She lost not a man; and though the disease made its appearance in a few, an increased dose of lemon juice immediately removed it. Thus the Suffolk, after a voyage of 162 days, arrived without losing a man, or having a man sick of the scurvy; whereas the Centurion, in 143 days from the last place of her refreshment, lost half of her crew, whilst the other half were so feeble and emaciated as to be utterly helpless. Many instances not less remarkable might be mentioned.
The abundant supply of lime juice to the squadrons employed on Arctic service was the means of averting this dreadful malady, very few cases having occurred, except in the Investigator (Sir Robert M'Cleure), after being four years in the ice. The issue of preserved meats and vegetables to all ships in the Royal Navy has also doubtless tended to the health of the crews.
From the official returns collected by Sir Gilbert Blane, M. Dupin, a French author well versed in naval subjects, has drawn out the following table, which exhibits at one view the progressive diminution of sickness, death, and desertion in the British navy, calculated on 100,000 men:
| Years | Sick sent to Hospital | Deaths | Desertions | |-------|----------------------|--------|------------| | 1779 | 40,815 | 2654 | 1424 | | 1782 | 31,617 | 2092 | 903 | | 1794 | 25,027 | 1164 | 662 | | 1804 | 11,978 | 1606 | 214 | | 1813 | 9,335 | 698 | 10 |
Hence it would appear, that the diminution of sickness and of deaths has been in the proportion of 4 to 1 nearly between the years 1799 and 1813. The diminution of desertions from the hospital in the same period is not the less remarkable; and it affords, at the same time, the strongest proof of the progressive amelioration of the condition of seamen on board British ships of war. Indeed, whether on board of ship, or in any of those noble institutions the naval hospitals, which are established at all the principal ports at home, and in the colonies abroad, the attention which is paid to the sick sailor is above all praise.
The following returns, of more recent date, show the advance of medical science in this department:
| Years | Sick sent to Hospital | Deaths | Desertions | |-------|----------------------|--------|------------| | 1820 | 3,564 | 362 | 2 | | 1830 | 3,137 | 187 | 2 | | 1840 | 6,589 | 225 | 1 | | 1850 | 9,743 | 309 | | | 1855 | 11,748 | 384 | 2 |
No wonder that 214 men should have run away from the doctors in 1804, when upwards of 1600 died in hospital out of 11,978. In 1855, out of the same number, there were only 384 deaths and 2 deserters. Can anything show more strongly the wonderful progress made in the medical department of the Royal Navy of late years?
The speedy manning of the fleet, on the first breaking Manning out of a war, is one of the most important objects that the fleet can devolve on the naval administration, as on it alone must depend the safety of our commerce and our colonies. This has been felt at all times; and accordingly a variety of schemes have been brought forward for this purpose, but all of them have heretofore failed of success, except the compulsory mode of raising men, under the authority of press-warrants, issued by the lords commissioners of the Admiralty, by virtue of the Queen's order in Council, renewed from year to year. On the occasion of the late war with Russia, however, the fleet was manned, for the first time, without recourse to impressment. There likewise issues, on the breaking out of a war, a proclamation from the sovereign, recalling all British seamen out of the service of foreign princes or states; and commanders of all ships of war are directed to search foreign vessels for such seamen.
The impressment of seafaring men, however anomalous Impress- under a free constitution like that of Great Britain, is de- fensible on state necessity, until it can be shown that the fleet, on an emergency, is capable of being manned without resorting to that measure. In consequence of some doubts being raised on the legality of the subject in the year 1676, when the affairs of the Admiralty were managed immediately under the direction of the King and the great officers of state, a discussion was held on this point, when it was decided by the judges and crown-lawyers, that the King had an indefeasible right to the services of his subjects when the state required them, and that the power of impressing seamen was indispensably inherent in the crown, without which the trade and safety of the nation could not be secured. The first instance of impressing men in Ireland seems to have been in the year 1678, when the lieutenant received directions from the Privy Council to raise 1000 seamen for the fleet. In 1690 the lords-justices of Ireland were directed to assist the officers of the navy in impressing men in that kingdom. In 1697 a register was taken of all the seafaring men in Ireland, which amounted to 4424 men, of whom it is noted 2654 were Catholics. On several occasions, during Queen Anne's reign, the lords-justices of Ireland received directions to raise men to serve in the fleet.
In Scotland the mode of raising men by impressment was unknown before the Union; but in various instances the Council of Scotland was directed to raise volunteers for the fleet, each man to have 40s. as bounty.
In 1706 an experiment was tried for the speedy manning of the fleet, by virtue of an act of Parliament, which required the civil magistrates of all the counties to make diligent search for all seafaring men, and 20s. were allowed to the constables for each man taken up; the seamen to have pay from the day of delivery to the naval officers stationed to receive them; and if they deserted after that, they were to be considered as guilty of felony. By the same act, insolvent debtors, fit for the service, and Personnel willing to enter it, were released, provided the debt did not exceed £30; and no seaman in the fleet was to be arrested for any debt not exceeding £20. The whole proceeding under this act incurred a very heavy expense, and totally failed.
In the same year, the Queen referred to the Prince of Denmark, then lord high admiral, an address from the House of Lords, relating to the three following points:—1st, The most effectual means for manning the fleet; 2d, The encouragement and increase of the number of seamen; 3d, The restoring and preserving the discipline of the navy. His Royal Highness submitted these points to such of the flag-officers and other commanders as could be assembled, who made a report, of which the substance was to the following effect:—1st, To cause a general register to be kept of all seafaring men in England and Ireland, for which they presented the draft of a bill; 2d, That all marines qualified to act as seamen should be discharged from the army, the officers to have levy money and the men's clothing returned; 3d, That not fewer than 20,000 seamen should be kept in employ in time of peace. But they observe, that as to restoring and preserving the discipline of the navy, no particular defect being specified, they could pronounce no opinion on that head.
Discipline. The discipline of the navy, or the government of Her Majesty's ships, vessels, and forces by sea, is regulated by the act 22d Geo. II., usually known by the name of the Articles of War. By this act, the lords commissioners of the Admiralty are empowered to order courts-martial for all offences mentioned therein, and committed by any person in and belonging to the fleet and in full pay; and also to delegate the same power to admirals commanding in chief on foreign stations, which power also may devolve on his successor in case of death or recall, provided that no commander-in-chief of any fleet or squadron, or detachment thereof, consisting of more than five ships, shall preside at any court-martial in foreign parts, the officer next in command being ordered to preside thereat.
By this act no court-martial can consist of more than thirteen or of less than five persons, to be composed of such flag-officers, captains, or commanders, then and there present, as are next in seniority to the officer who presides at the court-martial. And when there are but three officers of the rank of captains, the president is to call in as many commanders under that rank as will make up five in all.
Courts-martial. This code of laws for the government of the fleet consists of thirty-six articles, of which nine award the punishment of death, and eleven death or such other punishment as the court-martial shall deem the offence to deserve. Those which incur the former penalty are,—the holding illegal correspondence with an enemy; cowardice or neglect of duty in time of action; not pursuing the enemy; desertion to the enemy; making mutinous assemblies; striking a superior officer; burning magazines, vessels, &c., not belonging to an enemy; murder; sodomy. The penalty of death for cowardice, or other neglect of duty, in time of action (art. 12), and of not pursuing the enemy (art. 13), was, by the 19th George III., so far mitigated as to authorize the court-martial "to pronounce sentence of death, or to inflict such other punishment as the nature and degree of the offence shall be found to deserve." Under these articles thus mitigated, Admiral Byng would probably not have been condemned to death. The other eleven articles, which leave the punishment to the discretion of the court, are,—not preparing for fight, or not encouraging the men in time of action; suppression of any letter or message sent from an enemy; spies delivering letters, &c., from an enemy; relieving an enemy; disobedience of orders in time of action; discouraging the men on various pretences; not taking care of and defending ships under convoy; quarrelling with and disobeying a superior officer in the execution of his office; wilfully neglecting the steering of ships; sleeping on watch, and forsaking his station; robbery. The remaining sixteen articles incur the penalty of dismissal from the service or from the ship, degradation of rank, or such other punishment as the court may judge the nature and degree of the offence to deserve.
The discipline of the navy is also maintained, and greatly depends upon the strict carrying out, on the part of the regular commanding officers, and the observance by all others, of the regulations and instructions issued from time to time by the lords of the Admiralty, under sanction of the Queen in Council, for the government of Her Majesty's forces at sea.
The first regular code of printed instructions would appear to be that known as the Duke of York's Sailing and Fighting Instructions, bearing date about 1660, which formed the basis of all the subsequent ones. There have been various editions from time to time; but by far the most comprehensive, while at the same time clear and as concise as the nature of the work would admit, is that now in use, which was prepared, as we have said, in 1844, with great skill and labour, by Admiral Sir George Cockburn, than whom there never was an officer before nor since so intimately acquainted with all the duties and professional details of the service, or more anxious for its welfare. In the compilation of this important and laborious work, known as the Queen's Regulations and Admiralty Instructions, he was assisted by Mr Barrow. Fourteen years have now elapsed, and it is quite time,—but unhappily Sir George Cockburn is no more,—that there should be a new edition brought out, embodying all the new orders and regulations, and consequent alterations and additions. There are upwards of 300 printed circulars alone, we believe, which have been subsequently issued, independently of written orders.
Much, however, of the internal discipline of a ship of war depends upon the captain, who, being empowered to punish the men for minor offences, according to the usage of the service, courts-martial on seamen are rarely found necessary to be resorted to in well-regulated ships. In 1853 a more uniform system, defining the nature and duration of minor punishments, was promulgated by the Board of Admiralty. The principal circumstance which formerly militated against the perfect good order of the crew, was the great allowance of grog served out daily to the men, as established by order in Council, and which frequently led to drunkenness, and this again to insubordination. Perhaps half the punishments in the navy were, and still are, for this offence, which it requires the utmost vigilance and precautions on the part of the officers to prevent; but since the recent report of the committee of flag officers, which assembled in 1850, upon the question of the issue of spirits to the Royal Navy, and the diminution of the supply to one-half the quantity, viz., from one gill to half a gill daily, with compensation-payment in money for the remainder,—the non-issue of raw spirits (the allowance of which is now mixed with three times its quantity of water), the stoppage of it altogether to boys of second class, and the issue of it at the discretion of the captain to boys of first class,—consequent upon the report of the committee,—there has been less drunkenness in the navy and less necessity for punishment. Great credit is mainly due to Admiral Sir James Deans Dundas, for his anxiety and humane exertions in endeavouring to suppress the punishment in the fleet, in which he has thus so happily succeeded.
The greatest desire has been evinced by many boards of Admiralty, of late years (more particularly those of Sir James Graham, the Earls of Minto, Haddington, and Auckland, and of Sir Francis Baring), to improve all branches of the service, and to render the Royal Navy as attractive as possible both to officers and men. One of the most material improvements is the attention which has been paid to the education both of boys and men. Seamen's libraries have been established on a large scale, and boys' schools; and rated ships Personnel have all got chaplains, naval instructors, and seamen's school-master appointed to them. Why sloops and small vessels should be without one or the other it is not easy to comprehend. One thing, however, yet remains to be carried out, viz., daily prayers on board every ship in the service. They are read in a few well-regulated men-of-war on some stations, and were never omitted in any one of the ships engaged in the Arctic squadron. It is not too much to say, that owing principally to this, and to there being little or no opportunity for drunkenness, no corporal punishment was ever inflicted. The practice of daily prayers on board men-of-war is of ancient date, and the omission comparatively modern. In all the earlier editions of the regulations, till that of 1810, an order for daily service will be found.
In other respects the discipline of a well-organized ship of war is perfect; and to this discipline M. Dupin, a French writer of great sagacity, mainly ascribes the brilliant successes of the British navy, and to the want of it the ruin of that of France. "We have already cited," says he, "as a model, the management of the matériel of the English ships. In the preservation of this matériel, in the stowing it away, in the arrangement of whatever may be necessary either for manoeuvres or for action, the most perfect regularity is observed. At the same time, what becoming austerity is maintained by the commanding officer; what obedience amongst the subalterns; and, in a space so limited, considering the number of men on board, and the multiplicity of movements they have to make in obeying so many different orders, what imposing silence! It is the calmness of strength, the presiding influence of wisdom. In the midst of the most complicated operations, and even in the heat and transport of battle, one hears only the words of command, pronounced and repeated from rank to rank, with a measured tone and perfect sang froid. No unseasonable advices, no murmurs, no tumult. The commanders meditate in silence; the word is given, and the men act without either speaking or thinking." This is remarkably so in the day of battle. Every officer and man knows precisely his place, and the duty he has to perform, on that day. By the general printed instructions, the captains of Her Majesty's ships are required to accustom the men to assemble at their proper quarters, to exercise them at the great guns, to teach them to point, fire, &c., under all circumstances of sea and weather. Indeed, it is well known that the preservation of the high character of the British navy essentially depends on the proper training of the seamen to the expert management of the guns, so as to be duly prepared in the day of battle, the issue of which so mainly depends on the cool, steady, and regular manner in which the ship's ordinance is loaded, pointed, and fired. Practice in these respects is much more necessary on board ships than on shore, as it can never happen that the ship is entirely steady, and has most frequently a rolling or pitching motion, for which allowances must be made, and which can only be made with effect by long practice.
Since 1830, when the Excellent was first established, much attention has been paid to the practice of gunnery in the Royal Navy; and all mates have to pass an examination on board that ship, which is stationed at Portsmouth for the practice of gunnery, where officers and men are instructed. They, too, pass examinations, and are appointed gunnery lieutenants and mates in the several sea-going ships; and the men are appointed seaman-gunners—a rating of comparatively recent date. The training of seamen for landing in brigades with field-pieces has lately been adopted with great success.
If the management of the great guns of a ship of war is more difficult than the artillery of a fort, so likewise are naval tactics more difficult than those of an army; inasmuch as there is more difficulty and less dependence in placing and directing the movements of an inanimate than an animate machine; although the recent introduction of auxiliary steam-engines in all the line-of-battle ships and frigates, and in many of the corvettes and sloops, has placed them under greater control. The general principles, however, are the same; the object of both being that of bringing the greatest possible force to bear on that point which is likely to produce the greatest possible injury to the enemy. With this view, as well as to keep a fleet together in compact order, so that straggling ships may not be cut off by the enemy, it has been found necessary to preserve a certain order of sailing, whether out of sight of an enemy or in his presence; and such an order as, according to the state of the wind and weather, and the point of bearing of the enemy's fleet, may most conveniently and expeditiously be changed into such a line of battle as the commander-in-chief may deem it most expedient to adopt in the attack to be made on his opponent. In order to do this, it is obvious that every individual captain must be able to know, under all circumstances, what the ship he commands will be able to do, in order to preserve her station in the fleet; for it is with ships as with horses, no two perhaps performing the same evolution with the same tightness of rein, or the same pressure of sail or steam. This shows the absolute necessity of a commander-in-chief frequently exercising his fleet in naval tactics, and to observe how such and such a ship will behave under a certain quantity of canvas and steam-power, and to assign her station in the line where she may appear calculated to act with the greatest efficiency. To facilitate these movements, the admirals commanding squadrons are considered as responsible for the movement of the ships in their respective divisions. They are to see that each captain strictly obeys the general order; and if any one is perceived to neglect his duty, whether belonging to his proper division or not, if in action, he has the power to send immediately another officer to suspend him. And in order that no confusion may arise, if, in time of battle, the admiral commanding in chief, or any of the admirals commanding squadrons, should be killed, his or their flags remain flying till the battle is decided. If the commander-in-chief be killed or severely wounded, a private signal is made to the second in command; or if a junior admiral be killed or wounded, the commander-in-chief is also acquainted by signal.
Since the introduction of steam, the system of naval tactics has undergone a great change, and some well-planned, tried, well-tried scheme of naval steam tactics is yet a desideratum. Admiral Moorsom was the first to turn attention to this subject. Happily no two steam fleets have hitherto been engaged in action, or brought into hostile collision; neither has there been any separate action with single steam-ships.
The silent method of communicating what is going on Code of is the perfection of naval tactics; indeed it is very difficult naval sig- to conceive how our ancestors contrived to manage a fleet nal without a code of signals. For great and important occasions, the exhibition of a flag or flags, in some particular part of the ship, might be generally understood to imply that the fleet should anchor, or tack, or form the order of sailing in two lines, or the line of battle, or some other great movement. The hoisting of a cask at the yard-arm might be understood to imply a want of water; or a hatchet, of wood; or an empty bag, of bread; and the table-cloth was a very significant invitation to dinner; but they had no means of interchanging freely their wants or intentions, or of conveying detailed intelligence. Even so late as the American war there was no established code of signals in the navy. "If an admiral," says Dr Beaton in his able Memoirs, "cannot command all the necessary movements of his ships by signal in the day of battle, he is not upon a footing with an enemy who possesses that advantage; and, even with better ships and better men, and more expe- Personnel, rienced commanders; he may be foiled in his expectations of victory, if not defeated, from his want of means to direct and perform the necessary evolutions of his fleet." "In no flight," he adds, "was the insufficiency of the present system of naval signals more conspicuous than in this (Keppel's unfortunate action); and it is to be hoped that if ever a new code be adopted for the use of the Royal Navy, it may be so clear and comprehensive, that such fatal errors as those which have been pointed out will in future be prevented." This, we may now say, has been accomplished on a plan of Sir Home Popham, which (together with Maryatt's) has rendered signals by flags as nearly perfect as they probably ever will be. Boat signals are also of the utmost importance; and the navy is indebted to Captain Wilmot for an admirable code which has recently been introduced by him, and is now in general use.
The encouragement afforded by government to every branch of science connected with the navy, and navigation in general, has been carried much farther by England than by any other European nation, and has produced the happiest results for commercial enterprise, by determining with accuracy the precise position of ships, by shortening long voyages, and by the discovery of new lands and unexplored regions. The name of Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort, who was for many years hydrographer of the Admiralty, and has recently departed this life, will ever hold a prominent position in the naval annals of England as one who, in his generation, rendered the utmost service, not only to his profession, but to the navy and marine of all nations, by the extreme care and accuracy with which the numerous charts published under his immediate superintendence have been issued to the world, embracing elaborate surveys in all parts of the globe. From the commencement of the eighteenth century, when a national reward was first offered to the man of science, or the artist, who should discover a method sufficiently exact to determine the longitude of a ship's place at sea, to the present time, the improvements in the construction and division of all kinds of instruments for measuring angles, in the calculations of lunar and other tables, and, above all, in the manufacture and adjustments of chronometers, have continued in gradual progression, and may now be considered as having arrived at such a degree of perfection, more especially the chronometers, that the discovery of the longitude can scarcely be said to remain a desideratum. We may form an idea what the progress in the improvement of chronometers has been, when a reward was offered by Parliament in the year 1814, to the first who should determine the longitude at sea within a degree; and in 1820, three chronometers, after remaining in the arctic regions for 18 months, returned to England without altering their rates more than a few seconds of time.
The officers of the Royal Navy are now much more generally versed in the sciences than they were in former years. In fact, it is now necessary for a young man to be well acquainted with a certain portion of mathematical and astronomical knowledge to enable him to pass an examination, without which he cannot be qualified for the commission of a lieutenant. Lord Auckland, desirous of encouraging a taste for scientific pursuits, caused a valuable scientific manual to be drawn up in the year 1847, and issued to the fleet. The examinations also of the several warrant-officers, and their qualifications for their respective stations, are more strictly attended to than formerly.
The encouragement given to the navy from its first regular establishment has marked it as a favourite service among the minds of the public. The sea-pay, the half-pay, and other emoluments, have generally been superior to those enjoyed by the army, but subject to great fluctuations in every reign, and to frequent changes in the same reign.
The following table will exhibit, at one view, the complete war establishment of officers and non-commissioned officers, seamen, and marines, on board every class of Her Majesty's ships, with the rate of pay now granted to each, as established by order in Council:
**Full Pay of the Royal Navy.**
| FLAG OFFICERS AND THEIR RETINUE. | YEAR | MONTH OF 31 DAYS | DAY | |----------------------------------|------|-----------------|-----| | Admiral of the Fleet | 2190 | 0 | 186 | | Admiral | 1825 | 0 | 155 | | Vice-Admiral | 1360 | 0 | 124 | | Rear-Admiral | 1095 | 0 | 93 | | Commodore of the First Class | | | | | Table Money to all the above, in addition, when Commanding in Chief, and while their Flag is flying within the limits of their Station | 1025 | 0 | 93 | | Captain of the Fleet | 365 | 0 | 31 | | Commodore of the Second Class, if Commanding in Chief | 182 | 10 | 15 | | Flag-Lieutenant | | | | | Master of the Fleet | | | | | Secretary | | | | | Clerk to the Secretary | | | | | Coxswain | | | | | Cook | | | | | Domestic | | | | | Secretary's Servant | | | |
| COMMISSION OFFICERS. | |----------------------| | Captains of the Fleet | 1095 | 0 | 93 | | 1st Class, To the first 70, when employed | 701 | 2 | 59 | | 2nd Class, To the next 100, when employed | 574 | 17 | 48 | | 3rd Class, To all other Captains, when employed, below the first 170 | 450 | 3 | 38 | | Commander | 301 | 2 | 25 | ### COMMISSION OFFICERS—CONTINUED.
| Year | Month of 31 Days | Day | |------|------------------|-----| | Lt. s. d. | Lt. s. d. | Lt. s. d. | | In Command of any Ship or Tender other than those on the Packet or Surveying Establishment | 209 15 0 | 17 1 0 | 0 11 0 | | Senior of a sea-going rated Ship | 182 10 0 | 15 10 0 | 0 10 0 | | Ditto of a Flag Ship at the Home Ports | 355 0 0 | 31 0 0 | 1 0 0 | | Ditto of a rated Surveying Vessel, if he receive no additional Pay as Assistant Surveyor | 328 10 0 | 27 18 0 | 0 18 0 | | Ditto of a Troop Ship | 273 15 0 | 23 5 0 | 0 15 0 | | All others | 73 0 0 | 6 4 0 | 0 4 0 | | Of the Fleet | 48 13 4 | 4 2 8 | 0 2 8 | | 1st and 2d (if 20 Years' Service, &c.) | 38 0 5 | 3 4 7 | 0 2 1 | | (if 15 Years' Service, &c.) | 219 0 0 | 18 12 0 | 0 12 0 | | Store Allowance when in Charge | 200 15 0 | 17 1 0 | 0 11 0 | | 4th, 5th, and 6th Rates | 182 10 0 | 15 10 0 | 0 10 0 | | Sloops, &c. | 200 15 0 | 17 1 0 | 0 11 0 | | (If 10 Years' Service, &c.) | 182 10 0 | 15 10 0 | 0 10 0 | | (If 6 Years' Service, &c.) | 200 15 0 | 17 1 0 | 0 11 0 | | (Less than 6 Years' Service) | 182 10 0 | 15 10 0 | 0 10 0 | | Above 10 Years' Service Afloat | 161 4 2 | 13 13 10 | 0 8 10 | | Under 10 | 135 17 6 | 11 12 6 | 0 7 6 | | Above 10 Years' Service as Naval Instructor | 115 11 8 | 9 16 4 | 0 6 4 | | Ditto, in addition if acting as Naval Instructor | 104 18 9 | 8 15 3 | 0 5 9 | | Under 3 | 95 18 3 | 8 2 9 | 0 5 3 | | Tuition allowance for each young Gentleman Instructed | 4 0 0 | 0 8 0 | 0 3 0 | | Medical Inspector of Hospitals | 765 10 0 | 65 2 0 | 2 2 0 | | (Above 5 Years' Service as such) | 574 17 6 | 48 16 6 | 1 11 6 | | and Fleets | 355 0 0 | 31 0 0 | 1 0 0 | | Deputy Medical Inspector of Hospitals and Fleets | 323 10 0 | 27 18 0 | 0 18 0 | | With such further allowance when employed in Hospitals on Shore, as their Lordships may think proper. |
| If employed on the 1st July 1840, or on the completion of 3 Years' Service from January 1838. | 255 10 0 | 21 14 0 | 0 14 0 | | Of an Hospital Ship | 219 0 0 | 18 12 0 | 0 12 0 | | Above 20 Years' Full Pay Service, including Service as Assistant Surgeon | 200 15 0 | 17 1 0 | 0 11 0 | | Above 10 Years' ditto | 323 10 0 | 27 18 0 | 0 18 0 | | If unemployed on the 1st July 1840, until the completion of 3 Years' Service from January 1838. | 255 10 0 | 21 14 0 | 0 14 0 | | Above 20 Years' Full Pay Service, including 3 Years' service only as Assistant Surgeon | 200 15 0 | 17 1 0 | 0 11 0 | | Above 10 Years' ditto | 255 10 0 | 21 14 0 | 0 14 0 | | Under 6 | 182 10 0 | 15 10 0 | 0 10 0 | | 1st Class, 60 in number | 600 14 7 | 51 0 5 | 1 12 11 | | 2d Class, 60 | 474 10 0 | 40 6 0 | 1 6 0 | | 2d Class, 80 | 349 15 10 | 29 14 2 | 0 19 2 | | 4th Class, 130 | 249 8 4 | 21 3 8 | 0 13 8 | | Assistant Paymaster in Charge | 155 2 6 | 13 3 0 | 0 8 0 | | Assistant Paymaster, 1st Class | 127 15 0 | 10 17 0 | 0 7 0 | | 2d Class | 91 5 0 | 7 15 0 | 0 5 0 | | Clerk | 73 0 0 | 6 4 0 | 0 4 0 | | Assistant Clerk | 45 12 6 | 3 17 6 | 0 2 6 | | Mate | 66 18 4 | 5 13 8 | 0 3 8 | | (In Ships in which no Surgeon is borne) | 184 0 5 | 15 12 7 | 0 10 1 | | Above 10 Years' Full Pay Service | 165 15 0 | 14 1 7 | 0 9 1 | | Under 10 | 174 17 11 | 14 17 1 | 0 9 7 | | In Ships in which a Surgeon is borne. | 156 12 11 | 16 6 1 | 0 8 7 | | Above 10 | 147 10 5 | 12 10 7 | 0 8 1 | | Under 3 | 91 0 5 | 7 15 0 | 0 5 0 | | Second Master | 73 0 0 | 6 4 0 | 0 4 0 | | If not qualified for Master, but above 4 Years' Full Pay Service. | 66 18 4 | 5 13 8 | 0 3 8 | | Store allowance when in Charge | 27 7 6 | 2 6 6 | 0 1 6 | | If in ships bearing a Master, and from his absence or other cause, the stores should be placed under charge of a Second Master, the same store allowance is to be made to the latter as regulated for the former; or where a Second Master is otherwise shall have charge of the stores in a tender, the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty will decide, according to the circumstances of the case, whether any or what portion of the store allowance shall be granted to such officer. |
### SUBORDINATE AND WARRANT OFFICERS.
| Above 10 Years' Service on Full Pay as such | 182 10 6 | 15 10 0 | 0 10 0 | | Naval Instructor | 155 2 6 | 13 3 6 | 0 8 6 | | Under 3 | 136 17 6 | 11 12 6 | 0 7 6 | | Tuition allowance for each young Gentleman Instructed | 127 15 0 | 10 17 6 | 0 7 0 | | Midshipman | 5 0 0 | 0 8 5 | 0 0 3 | | In all Rates | 31 18 9 | 2 14 3 | 0 1 9 | ### Table of Pay of Petty Officers, Seamen, and Boys, in the Royal Navy.
| Rating | New Rate of Pay for Continuous Service Men, in all Rates | |--------|--------------------------------------------------------| | | 31 Days | Year | 31 Days | Year | 31 Days | Year | 31 Days | Year | | Chief Petty Officers | | | | | | | | | Master at Arms | 3 9 9 41 17 0 | 3 2 0 35 10 0 | | | | | | | Chief Gunner's Mate | | | | | | | | | Chief Boatswain's Mate | | | | | | | | | Chief Captain of the Forecastle | | | | | | | | | Admiral's Coxswain | | | | | | | | | Chief Quarter Master | | | | | | | | | Chief Carpenter's Mate | | | | | | | | | Ship's Steward | | | | | | | | | 1st Rates | 0 3 65 6 | 100 7 6 | | | | | | | 2nd Rates | 0 3 5 0 | 91 5 0 | | | | | | | 3rd Rates | 0 2 64 6 | 82 2 6 | | | | | | | 4th Rates | 0 2 64 0 | 73 0 0 | | | | | | | 5th Rates | 0 2 63 6 | 63 17 6 | | | | | | | 6th Rates | 0 2 63 0 | 56 5 5 | | | | | | | Sloops, &c., with a complement of less than 10 men and upwards | 0 2 60 8 2 | 43 13 4 | 2 11 830 8 4 | | | | | | Smaller vessels | 0 2 60 4 | 42 11 8 | 2 9 128 17 11 | | | | | | 1st Class Working Petty Officers | | | | | | | | | Ship's Corporal | 0 2 67 7 6 | 9 128 17 11 | | | | | | | Gunner's Mate | | | | | | | | | Boatswain's Mate | | | | | | | | | Captain's Coxswain | | | | | | | | | Captain of the Forecastle | | | | | | | | | Quarter-Master | | | | | | | | | Captain of the Main-Top | | | | | | | | | Captain of the Fore-Top | | | | | | | | | Captain of the Afterguard | | | | | | | | | Captain of the Hold | | | | | | | | | Leading Seaman | 2 14 331 18 9 | | | | | | | | Shipwright | 2 16 1033 9 2 | | | | | | | | Keeper of the Store-Room | | | | | | | | | Second Captain of the Hold | | | | | | | | | Painter | | | | | | | | | Sailmaker's Crew | 2 11 830 8 4 | | | | | | | | Blacksmith's Mate | | | | | | | | | Armourer's Crew | | | | | | | | | Carpenter's Crew | | | | | | | | | Cooper's Crew | | | | | | | | | Stoker and Coal Trimmer | 3 2 0 35 10 0 | | | | | | | | Able Seaman | 2 9 128 17 11 | | | | | | | ### Table of Pay of Petty Officers, Seamen, and Boys, in the Royal Navy—Continued.
| RATING | NEW RATE OF PAY FOR CONTINUOUS SERVICE MEN, IN ALL RATES | |--------|--------------------------------------------------------| | SICK BERTH ATTENDANT | L. s. d. 2 6 6 | | HANDMAN | L. s. d. 1 3 7 | | TAILOR | L. s. d. 1 8 5 | | BUTCHER | L. s. d. 1 9 6 | | SECOND HEAD KEEPER | L. s. d. 1 10 7 | | FLAG OFFICER'S AND SUPERINTENDENT'S DOMESTIC | L. s. d. 1 11 8 | | CAPTAIN'S STEWARD | L. s. d. 1 12 9 | | CAPTAIN'S COOK | L. s. d. 1 13 10 | | WARD, OR CABIN-ROOM STEWARD | L. s. d. 1 14 11 | | WARD, OR CABIN-ROOM COOK | L. s. d. 1 15 12 | | SECRETARY'S SERVANT | L. s. d. 1 16 13 |
Seamen Gunners to receive 1d. a day in the 2nd Class, and 2½d. a day in the 1st Class, in addition to all other pay of their ratings.
Divers to receive 1d. a day in addition to all other pay of their ratings.
Men with these ratings (*) who have a complete set of tools, to receive 2½d. a day for tool money, in addition to all other pay of their ratings.
Men with these ratings (*) who have a complete set of tools, to receive 2½d. a day for tool money, in addition to all other pay of their ratings.
Seaman's Cookmaster, Ship's Steward, Ship's Cook, Sick Berth Attendant, Servants, Maidens, Bandmen, Butchers, Barbers, Tailors, Ship Steward's Assistant, Cook's Mate, Keepers, and Ship Steward's Boy, are not to be entered for continuous service.
### Rate of Full Pay, Half Pay, and Retirement of Medical Officers serving in Hospitals, &c.
| FULL PAY | PER DIEM | |----------|----------| | MEDICAL INSPECTOR OF HOSPITALS | L. s. d. | | ON FIRST APPOINTMENT | 1 13 0 | | AFTER 5 YEARS' SERVICE | 2 2 0 | | DEPUTY MED. INSPECT. OF HOSPITALS, ON APPOINTMENT | 1 7 6 |
| FULL PAY | PER DIEM | |----------|----------| | SURGEONS OF HOSPITALS | L. s. d. | | ON APPOINTMENT WITH LESS THAN 20 YEARS' SERVICE | 0 16 6 | | ABOVE 20 YEARS' SERVICE | 1 0 6 |
### Scale of Retirement for Inspectors, Deputy-Inspectors, &c., on the principle of allowing all Service to count in claims for Retirement, as recommended by the Naval and Military Commission.
| ACTIVE SERVICE | RETIREMENT | |----------------|------------| | PER DIEM | PER ANNUM | | INSPECTORS, FROM DATE OF PROMOTION TO THE RANK (UNLESS ENTITLED TO A HIGHER RATE BY PREVIOUS SERVICE) | L. s. d. | | AFTER 20 YEARS' SERVICE, INCLUDING 3 YEARS AS INSPECTOR OF HOSPITALS | 1 16 7 | | AFTER 25 YEARS' SERVICE | 1 4 3 | | AFTER 30 | 1 7 0 | | AFTER 35 | 1 9 8 | | AFTER 40 | 1 12 6 |
| ACTIVE SERVICE | RETIREMENT | |----------------|------------| | PER DIEM | PER ANNUM | | DEPUTY-INSPECTORS, FROM DATE OF PROMOTION TO THE RANK (UNLESS ENTITLED TO A HIGHER RATE BY PREVIOUS SERVICE) | L. s. d. | | AFTER 20 YEARS' SERVICE, INCLUDING 3 YEARS AS DEPUTY-INSPECTOR | 1 16 7 | | AFTER 25 YEARS' SERVICE | 1 4 3 | | AFTER 30 | 1 7 0 | | AFTER 35 | 1 9 8 | | AFTER 40 | 1 12 6 |
### Pay of Royal Marines.
| RANKS, &c. | YEAR | MONTH OF 31 DAYS | DAY | |------------|------|------------------|-----| | FIRST COLONEL-COMMANDANT | L. s. d. | 702 12 6 | 59 13 6 | | SECOND DO. | L. s. d. | 365 0 0 | 31 0 0 | | LIEUTENANT-COLONEL | L. s. d. | 310 5 0 | 26 7 0 | | CAPTAIN, HAVING HIGHER RANK BY BREVE | L. s. d. | 241 11 6 | 21 11 6 | | CAPTAIN | L. s. d. | 211 7 11 | 17 19 1 | | FIRST LIEUTENANT | L. s. d. | 156 17 6 | 11 12 6 | | ADJUTANT (IN ADDITION TO HIS PAY AS FIRST LIEUTENANT) | L. s. d. | 118 12 6 | 10 1 6 | | QUARTERMASTER DO. DO. | L. s. d. | 85 3 4 | 7 4 8 | | SECOND LIEUTENANT | L. s. d. | 95 15 3 | 8 2 9 | | CADET | L. s. d. | 65 18 4 | 5 13 8 | | SERJEANT-MAJOR | L. s. d. | 54 15 0 | 4 13 0 | | COLOUR-SERJEANT | L. s. d. | 42 11 8 | 3 12 4 | | QUARTERMASTER'S SERJEANT | L. s. d. | 45 12 5 | 3 17 6 | | SERJEANT | L. s. d. | 33 9 2 | 2 16 10 | | CORPORAL | L. s. d. | 27 7 6 | 2 6 6 | | FIFER OR DRUMMER | L. s. d. | 24 6 8 | 2 1 4 | | PRIVATE | L. s. d. | 20 18 22 | 1 15 6 | | GOOD CONDUCT OR BADGE PAY | L. s. d. | 21 5 10 | 1 16 2 | | GRATUITIES TO SERJEANTS AND CORPORALS. (SEE PETTY OFFICERS.) | L. s. d. | 18 5 0 | 1 11 0 | Though the navy, as we have seen, was put upon a regular establishment under the reign of Henry VIII., neither officers nor seamen received any pay or emolument in time of peace until the reign of Charles II., when in 1668 certain allowances were made to flag-officers and their captains out of the L200,000 a year voted for the whole naval service; and in 1674 certain other allowances were granted, by order in Council, to captains who had commanded ships of the first and second rates, and to the second captains to flag-officers, on the ground, as assigned in the preamble, that they had undergone the brunt of the war, without sharing in the incident advantages of it, as prizes, convoys, and such like, which the commanders of the smaller classes of ships had enjoyed. But the first regular establishment of half-pay for all flag-officers, captains, first-lieutenants, and masters, was by King William, in the year 1693, provided they had served a year in their respective qualities, or had been in a general engagement with the enemy. A regularly-established half-pay was further sanctioned by an order in Council of Queen Anne in 1700, the conditions of which were, that no officer should enjoy the benefit thereof who had absented himself without permission of the Lord High Admiral or lords commissioners of the Admiralty, or who had been dismissed for any misdemeanor, or by court-martial, or who had not behaved himself to the satisfaction of the Lord High Admiral, or who should have leisure to go out of his Majesty's dominions, if employed in the merchant service or otherwise, or who enjoyed the benefit of any public employment. Since the above period the rate of half-pay to the several officers of the navy has undergone various modifications. At present it stands thus:
### Rates of Half-Pay at present established for the Navy and Marines.
#### FLAG OFFICERS.
| Rank | Per Annum | Per Diem | |-----------------------------|-----------|----------| | Admirals of the Fleet | L1149 15 0| L3 3 0 | | Admirals | 766 10 0 | 2 2 0 | | Vice-Admirals | 593 2 0 | 1 12 6 | | Rear-Admirals | 456 5 0 | 1 5 0 | | Flag Officers on reserved half-pay | 456 5 0 | 1 5 0 | | Retired Rear-Admirals (under order in Council of 1846) | 456 5 0 | 1 5 0 |
#### CAPTAINS.
| Rank | Per Annum | Per Diem | |-----------------------------|-----------|----------| | To each of the first 70 as they stand on the active list of officers in seniority | L204 12 6 | L0 14 6 | | To each of the next 100 | 228 2 6 | 0 12 6 | | To the rest | 191 12 6 | 0 10 6 | | Retiring (under order in Council of 1846) | 365 0 0 | 1 0 0 | | Do. do. | 191 12 6 | 0 10 6 | | *Retired Captain of 1840, and Aug. 1851.* | 191 12 6 | 0 10 6 | | Reserved half-pay (order in Council, 25th June 1851) | 191 12 6 | 0 10 6 |
#### COMMANDERS.
| Rank | Per Annum | Per Diem | |-----------------------------|-----------|----------| | To each of the first 150 in seniority on the active and reserved lists combined | L182 10 0 | L0 10 0 | | To the remainder | 155 2 6 | 0 8 6 |
#### Lieutenants.
| Rank | Per Annum | Per Diem | |-----------------------------|-----------|----------| | To each of the first 300 on the list in seniority on the active and reserved lists combined | L127 15 0 | L0 7 0 | | To each of the next 700 do. do. | 109 10 0 | 0 6 0 | | To the remainder | 91 5 0 | 0 5 0 |
#### ROYAL MARINES.
| Rank | Per Annum | Per Diem | |-----------------------------|-----------|----------| | Colonels | L204 12 6 | L0 14 6 | | Lieutenant-Colonels | 204 15 0 | 0 11 0 | | Captains | 127 15 0 | 0 7 0 | | First Lieutenants of 7 years' standing | 82 2 6 | 0 4 6 | | The rest | 73 0 0 | 0 4 0 | | Second Lieutenants | 54 15 0 | 0 3 0 |
#### Masters.
| Rank | Per Annum | Per Diem | |-----------------------------|-----------|----------| | Above 20 years' service in the rank of Master, if qualified for 1st and 2d rates | L237 5 0 | L0 13 0 | | Above 15 years' service in the rank of Master, if qualified for 1st and 2d rates | 182 10 0 | 0 10 0 | | Above 10 years' service in the rank of Master | 146 0 0 | 0 8 0 | | Above 5 do. do. | 109 10 0 | 0 6 0 | | Under 5 do. do. | 91 5 0 | 0 5 0 |
#### Inspectors of Machinery Afloat and Chief Engineers.
| Rank | Per Annum | Per Diem | |-----------------------------|-----------|----------| | Above 20 years' service as Inspectors and Chief Engineers, or as Chief Engineers, if qualified for 1st or 2d rates | L237 5 0 | L0 13 0 | | Above 15 years' service as Inspectors and Chief Engineers, or as Chief Engineers, if qualified for 1st or 2d rates | 182 10 0 | 0 10 0 | | Above 10 years' service as Inspectors and Chief Engineers, or as Chief Engineers, if qualified for 1st or 2d rates | 146 0 0 | 0 8 0 | | Above 5 years' service as Inspectors and Chief Engineers, or as Chief Engineers | 109 10 0 | 0 6 0 | | Under 5 years' service as Inspectors and Chief Engineers, or as Chief Engineers | 91 5 0 | 0 5 0 | NAVY.
MEDICAL OFFICERS.
Personnel.
Medical Inspectors of Hospitals and Fleets L.319 7 6 L.0 17 6 After 3 years' service as such 382 5 0 1 0 Physicians—After 10 years' service... 382 5 0 1 0 Under that time 3 years 373 15 0 0 15 0 Deputy Medical Inspectors of Hospitals and Fleets from date of promotion, unless entitled to a higher rate by previous service 273 15 0 0 15 0 After 7 years' service as such 319 7 6 0 17 6
SURGEONS.
Surgeons L.91 5 0 L.0 5 0 Above 6 years' service 109 10 0 0 6 0 " 10 " 127 15 0 0 7 0 " 15 " 145 0 0 8 0 " 20 " 182 10 0 0 10 0 " 25 " (with leave to retire) 237 5 0 0 13 0 " 30 " da. 273 15 0 0 15 0
ASSISTANT-SURGEONS.
Assistant-Surgeons L.36 10 0 L.0 2 0 Above 3 years' service 54 15 0 0 3 0 " 10 " 82 5 0 0 5 0 " 20 " 91 5 0 0 5 0 Departors 91 5 0 0 5 0
All medical officers below the rank of deputy medical inspector who may hereafter be appointed to hospitals, and who may be superseded or retire therefrom, shall, according to their respective ranks, receive the rate of half-pay to which they may be entitled according to length of service, all time included.
PAYMASTERS.
On the retired list L.155 2 6 L.0 8 6 To each of the first 100 127 15 0 0 7 0 To each of the next 200 109 10 0 0 6 0 To the remainder 91 5 0 0 5 0
Such Paymasters as shall serve three years under the new system will receive half-pay at the following rates:
If with 12 years' service as a Paymaster, 3 of which in a 1st or 2nd rate L.101 12 6 L.0 10 6 If with 6 years' service as Paymaster, 3 of which in a 3rd or 4th rate 164 5 0 0 9 0 If with 6 years' service as Paymaster, 3 of which in a 5th or 6th rate 136 17 6 0 7 6 If with 3 years' service as Paymaster 102 40 0 0 20 0 To the remainder 91 5 0 0 5 0
RATES OF PENSION TO BE GRANTED TO INSPECTORS OF MACHINERY AFOAT, AND TO ENGINEERS OF THE ROYAL NAVY.
(Under Her Majesty's Order in Council of 13th June 1853.)
To an inspector of machinery afloat, provided he shall have served upwards of five years in that rank, a pension of from L100 to L180 per annum.
If an inspector of machinery afloat be found unfit prior to completing five years' service in that rank, the time so served shall be added to his service as chief engineer, and he shall be pensioned on the scale for chief engineers.
To a chief engineer, having served twelve years as a chief engineer, and being in the first class, a pension of L110 to L130 per annum; having served ten years as a chief engineer, and being in the first or second class, a pension of from L85 to L100 per annum; having served five years as an engineer in the Royal Navy, three of which as a chief engineer, a pension of from L75 to L90 per annum.
If a chief engineer be found unfit prior to completing three years in that rank, the time so served shall be added to his service as assistant-engineer, and he shall be pensioned on the scale for an assistant-engineer.
To an assistant-engineer, having served as such twenty years in the Royal Navy, and being in the first class, a pension of from L65 to L75 per annum; having served as such ten years in the Royal Navy, and being in the first or second class, a pension of from L50 to L60 per annum; having served as such three years in the Royal Navy, a pension of from L40 to L50 per annum.
The time served by assistant-engineers as engineers on the old establishment shall be reckoned as if the same had been served as assistant-engineers.
CHAPLAINS.
After 8 years' service at sea L.91 5 0 L.0 5 0 After 10 " master New Regulations 91 5 0 0 5 0 For each year's longer service than 8 at sea, 6d. per diem additional till it reach 182 10 0 0 10 0
CHAPLAINS AND NAVAL INSTRUCTORS.
After 15 years' service, one half of the highest rate of half-pay of naval instructors, in addition to the half-pay to which they may be entitled as chaplains.
NAVAL INSTRUCTORS.
After their first entry L.36 10 0 L.0 2 0 After 3 years' service on full pay 54 15 0 0 3 0 " 10 " 82 2 6 0 4 6 " 15 " 91 5 0 0 5 0 " 20 " 137 15 0 0 7 0
(Payable Quarterly)
SECRETARIES.
Per Annum Per Diem Personnel.
After 12 years' actual service as Secretaries L.219 0 0 L.0 12 0
MATES.
2s. 6d. a day, or L45, 12s. 6d. per annum, after three years' actual sea service as mates, and when unable to obtain employment in Her Majesty's service, provided their conduct during service shall have been satisfactory, and provided they do not decline or avoid service when called upon.
The lords commissioners of the Admiralty are empowered to allow any mate to retire from the service, with a pension of 2s. 6d. a day, after ten years' actual service, during ten years of which he must have held the rating of mate.
SECOND MASTERS.
2s. 6d. a day, or L45, 12s. 6d. per annum, after three years' sea service as second masters, provided they cannot obtain employment in the navy, and do not decline or avoid service when it is offered to them.
The period of actual sea service may be extended in the case of officers who shall have been invalided for sickness or injuries caused by their service, and which shall render them permanently disqualified for further employment.
In no case will half-pay be allowed to second masters unless the conduct of the officer whilst serving shall have been in all respects satisfactory.
ASSISTANT PAYMASTERS—as Mate.
The boatswains, gunners, and carpenters of the navy have pensions or superannuations, in lieu of half-pay, according to the following scale, formed on a consideration of the total length of service as warrant officers, with the length of service in commission.
By proclamation, bearing date 9th March 1854, the following regulations were adopted for the distribution of money prize money, viz.—
The flag-officer or officers shall have one-twentieth part of the whole net proceeds arising from prizes captured from the enemy by any of the ships or vessels under his or their command, and of the rewards conferred for the same, according to the following conditions and modifications, save and except as hereinafter provided and directed; that is to say—
When there is but one flag-officer he shall have the entire one-twentieth part; when two flag-officers shall be sharing together, the chief shall have two-thirds, and the other flag-officer shall have the remaining one-third of the one-twentieth part; and when there shall be more than two flag-officers, the chief shall have one-half of the said one-twentieth part, and the remaining half shall be equally divided among the junior flag-officers; commodores of the first class and captains of the fleet to share as flag-officers: Provided always, That no flag-officer, unless actually on board any ship or vessels of war, and at the actual taking, sinking, burning, or otherwise destroying any ship or ships of war, privateer or privateers, belonging to the enemy, shall share in the distribution of any head money or bounty money granted as a reward for taking, sinking, burning, or otherwise destroying any such ship or vessel of the enemy.
No flag-officer commanding in anyport in the United Kingdom shall share in the proceeds of any prize captured from the enemy by any ship or vessel which shall sail from or leave such port by order of the Lord High Admiral, or of the commissioners for executing the office of Lord High Admiral.
When ships or vessels under the command of several flag-officers belonging to separate stations shall be joint captors, each flag-officer shall receive a proportion of the one-twentieth part, according to the number of officers and men present under the command of each such flag-officer; and when any ship or vessel under orders from the Lord High Admiral, or from the commissioners for executing the office of Lord High Admiral, are joint captors with other ships or With reference to flag-officers it is to be noted:
That when an inferior flag-officer is sent to reinforce a superior officer on any station, the superior flag-officer shall not share in any prize taken by the inferior flag-officer before he has arrived within the limits of that station, unless the inferior officer shall have received some order directly from, and shall be acting in execution of, some order issued by, such superior flag-officer.
No chief flag-officer quitting any station, except upon some definite urgent service, and with the intention of returning to the station as soon as such service is performed, shall share in any prize taken by H.M.'s ships or vessels left behind after he has passed the limits of the station, or after he has surrendered the command to another flag-officer appointed by the Admiralty to command in chief upon such station.
An inferior flag-officer quitting any station (except when detached by orders from his commander-in-chief upon a special service, accompanied with orders to return to such station as soon as the service has been performed) shall have no share in prizes taken by the ships and vessels remaining on the station after he has passed the limits thereof.
In like manner flag-officers remaining on such station shall not share in the prizes taken by such inferior officer, or by ships or vessels under his immediate command, after he has quitted the limits of the station, except he has been detached as aforesaid.
A commander-in-chief or other flag-officer belonging to any station shall not share in any prize or prizes taken out of the limits of that station by any ship or vessel under the command of a flag-officer of any other station, or under orders from the commissioners of the Admiralty, unless such commander-in-chief or flag-officer is expressly authorized by the said commissioners to take the command of that station in which the prize or prizes is or are taken, and shall actually have taken upon him such command.
Every commodore having a captain under him shall be deemed a flag-officer with respect to the twentieth part of prizes taken, whether he be commanding in chief or serving under command.
The first captain to the admiral and commander-in-chief of the fleet, and also the first captain to any flag-officer appointed to command a fleet of ten ships of the line or upwards, shall be deemed to be a flag-officer for the purpose of sharing in prize, and shall be entitled to share therein as the junior flag-officer of such fleet.
Any officer on board any ships of war at the time of capturing any prize or prizes who shall have more commissions than one, shall be entitled only to share in such prize or prizes according to the share allotted to him by the above-mentioned distribution, in respect to his superior commission or office.
And with reference to other officers it is to be noted,
That a captain, commander, or other commanding officer of a ship or vessel, shall be deemed to be under the command of a flag when he shall have received some order from, or be acting in the execution of some order issued by, a flag-officer, whether he be or be not within the limits of the station of such flag-officer; and in the event of his being directed to join a flag-officer on any station, he shall be deemed to be under the command of such flag-officer from the time when he arrives within the limits of the station, which circumstance is always to be carefully noted in the log-book; and it shall be considered that he continues under the flag-officer of such station until he shall have received some order directly from, or be acting in the execution of some order issued by some other flag-officer, duly authorized, or by the Lord High Admiral, or the commissioners for executing the office of Lord High Admiral.
The captain, commander, lieutenant commanding, master commanding, or any other officer duly commanding, any ship, sloop, or vessel of war, singly taking any prize from the enemy,—that is to say, the officer actually in command at the time,—shall have one-eighth of the remainder, or if there is no flag, one-eighth of the entire net proceeds; except that, if the single capturing ship be a rated ship, having a commander under the captain, the commander shall take a portion of the one-eighth part, as if he were commander of a sloop, according to the proportion hereinafter set forth; and if more than one commanding officer of the same rank of command shall be entitled to share as joint captors, the one-eighth shall be equally divided between them; but when captains, commanders, lieutenants commanding, and masters commanding, respectively, H.M.'s ships and vessels of war, and commanders under captains in rated ships, shall share together, in whatever variety of combination, the one-eighth shall be so divided into parts for a graduated apportionment as to provide for each captain receiving six parts, each commander of a sloop, or commander under a captain in a rated ship, three parts, and each lieutenant commanding, or master commanding, or other officer actually commanding, a small vessel of war, two parts; commodores of the second class, and field-officers of marines, or of land forces serving as marines, doing duty as field officers, above the rank of major, to share as captains; and field officers of marines, or of land forces serving as marines, and doing duty in the rank of major, to share as commanders of sloops.
After provision shall thus have been made for the flag share (if any), and for the portion of the commanding officer or officers, and others as above specified, the remainder of the net proceeds shall be distributed in ten classes, so that each officer, man, and boy, composing the rest of the complements of H.M.'s ships, sloops, and vessels of war, and actually on board at the time of any such capture, and every person present and assisting, shall receive shares, or a share, according to his class, as set forth in the following scale:
First Class.—Master of the fleet, inspector of steam machinery afloat, when embarked with a fleet, medical inspector, or deputy medical inspector, when embarked with a fleet, forty-five shares each.
Second Class.—Senior lieutenant of a rated ship, not bearing a commander under the captain, secretary to the admiral of the fleet, or admiral commanding in chief, thirty-five shares each.
Third Class.—Sea lieutenant, master, captain of marines, of marine artillery, or of land forces doing duty as marines, whether having higher brevet rank or not, secretary to an admiral or to a commodore of the first class not commanding in chief, chief engineer, twenty-eight shares each.
Fourth Class.—Lieutenant or quarter-master of marines, lieutenant of marine artillery, lieutenant, quartermaster, or ensign of land forces doing duty as marines, secretary to a commodore of the second class, chaplain, surgeon, paymaster, naval instructor, mate, assistant-surgeon, second master, assistant-paymaster in charge, assistant-engineer, gunner, boatswain, carpenter, eighteen shares each.
Fifth Class.—Midshipman, master's assistant, pilot, clerk (not passed), master-at-arms, chief gunner's mate, chief boatswain's mate, chief carpenter's mate, chief captain of the forecastle, admiral's coxswain, chief quartermaster, seaman's schoolmaster, ship's steward, ship's cook, ten shares each.
Sixth Class.—Naval cadet, clerk's assistant, captain's coxswain, ship's corporal, quartermaster, gunner's mate, boatswain's mate, captain of the forecastle, captain of the after-guard, captain of the hold, captain of the maintop, captain of the foretop, coxswain of the launch, sailmaker, ropemaker, calker, leading stoker, blacksmith, sergeant of marines, of marine artillery, or of land forces doing duty as marines, nine shares each.
Seventh Class.—Captain of the mast, captain of the Personnel, mizen-top, yeoman of the signals, coxswain of the barge, coxswain of the pinnace, coxswain of the cutter, second captain of the forecastle, second captain of the maintop, second captain of the foretop, second captain of the afterguard, sailmaker's mate, caulker's mate, musician, cooper, armourer, corporal of marines or land forces doing duty as marines, bombardier of marine artillery, head krooman, six shares each.
Eighth Class.—Leading seaman, shipwright, second captain of the hold, able seaman, carpenter's crew, sailmaker's crew, cooper's crew, armourer's crew, yeoman of the store-rooms, steward's assistant, ordinary seaman, blacksmith's mate, private and fifer of marines, or of land forces doing duty as marines, gunner of marine artillery, painter, stoker, coal trimmer, second head krooman, sick-berth attendant, landsman, tailor, butcher, three shares each.
Ninth Class.—Cook's mate, ship's steward's boy, admiral's domestic, superintendent's domestic, admiral's steward and cook, captain's steward and cook, ward-room and gun-room steward and cook, subordinate officer's steward and cook, commander's servant, secretary's servant; second class ordinary seaman, assistant stoker, barber, boy of the first class, first and second class krooman, supernumeraries, except as hereinafter provided, persons borne merely as passengers, and not declining to render assistance on occasion of capture, two shares each.
Tenth Class.—Boy below the first class, one share.
All supernumeraries holding ranks in the service above the ranks or ratings specified in the fifth class, who have been ordered to do duty in any of H.M.'s ships or vessels by the Lord High Admiral, or by the commissioners for executing the office of Lord High Admiral, by the senior officer of the fleet or squadron; or, if none senior, then by the captain or commanding officer of the capturing ship or vessel, if not by special authority employed in higher capacities, shall share according to the rank which they respectively hold in the service; but in all cases to qualify them for so sharing, and not merely as supernumeraries in the ninth class, due notation of their being thus respectively ordered to do duty must have been made on the muster-books.
With respect to supernumeraries of ratings in the service below the denominations of those specified in the fourth class, who, at full victuals, are engaged in the ordinary duties of the ship, they shall share according to their ratings.
When any capture is made from the enemy, the captains or commanding officers of H.M.'s ships or vessels of war making the same shall transmit, or cause to be transmitted, as soon as may be, to the secretary of the Admiralty a true and perfect list of all the officers, seamen, marines, soldiers, and others, who were actually on board on the occasion, accompanied by a separate list, containing the names of those belonging to the crew who were absent on duty or otherwise at the time, specifying the cause of such absence, each list to contain the quality of the service of each person.
Conveyance of Treasure.—Scale of Rates.
| For Crown Treasure | For Treasure belonging to other Parties | |-------------------|--------------------------------------| | Peace and War | Gold or Jewels | Silver | | Between any two ports, the navigable distance between which shall not exceed six hundred leagues | 1 | 1 | 1 | | Between any two ports, the navigable distance between which shall exceed six hundred leagues, and shall be less than two thousand leagues | 1 | 1 | 1 | | For any distance of two thousand leagues and upwards | 1 | 1 | 2 |
The above rates are payable clear of all deduction whatsoever; and it is to be stipulated in the bill of lading that the captains and commanding officers of H.M.'s ships and vessels shall not be liable to any expenses attending the shipment of such treasure, or other articles, until the same shall be safe alongside of their respective ships or vessels, and that their liability shall cease from the moment they shall have landed the treasure at the port to which the ships carrying the treasure shall be destined.
Another great encouragement for young men to enter the naval service arises from the honours bestowed by the sovereign for any brilliant exploit. Thus, in consequence of the skill and bravery which were exhibited in the great and glorious action of the 1st of June 1794, his Majesty was graciously pleased to confer on Earl Howe the order of the garter; Admirals Graves and Sir Alexander Hood were made barons of the kingdom of Ireland; and Rear-admirals Bowyer, Gardner, and Pasley, together with Sir Roger Curtis, captain of the Queen Charlotte, were created baronets. Gold medals and chains were also distributed to such admirals, and gold medals to such captains, as were particularized in Lord Howe's despatches. The first lieutenants of each ship were promoted to the rank of commanders; and pensions of £1,000 per annum were granted to Rear-admirals Bowyer and Pasley, in consideration of the loss of limbs.
For the action of the 14th of February 1797, Lord St Vincent was advanced to the dignity of an earl, and a pension was granted to him of £3,000 a-year; Vice-admirals Thompson and Parker were created baronets; Commodore Nelson received the order of the bath, and Captain Calder of the Victory the honour of knighthood; and gold medals were distributed to the admirals and captains.
For the action of the 11th of October 1797, Admiral Duncan was created a viscount, with a pension of £2,000 a-year; Vice-admiral Onslow was made a baronet; and Captain Fairfax had the honour of knighthood. Gold medals were also distributed to the admirals and captains.
For the action of the 1st of August 1798, his Majesty was pleased to testify his sense of the importance of this brilliant achievement by raising Sir Horatio Nelson to the dignity of the peerage, by the title of Baron Nelson of the Nile, and by directing medals to be distributed to the captains. The first lieutenant of the Majestic was made a captain, and the first lieutenants of the other ships were promoted to the rank of commanders; and for the attack of the Danish fleet at Copenhagen, Lord Nelson was raised to the dignity of a viscount, and the order of the bath was conferred on Admiral Graves.
For the ever memorable action of Trafalgar, in which Lord Nelson fell in the arms of victory, his Majesty was pleased to confer upon his brother the rank of earl, with a pension of £5,000 a-year, and the sum of £120,000 was voted by Parliament for the purchase of an estate to be annexed to the title; Admiral Collingwood was raised to the dignity of baron, Lord Northesk was honoured with the order of the bath, and Captain Hardy was created a baronet; the captains received medals, five lieutenants were made captains, and twenty-four commanders; twenty-two midshipmen were made lieutenants, and the senior captain of marines was made brevet-major.
By this last act of Lord Nelson's life was annihilated the only remaining hope of the combined navies of France and Spain, and a blow given to the naval power of the enemies of Great Britain, which they never recovered during the remainder of the war.
In the secondary victories of Sir John Warren, Sir John Duckworth, Sir Robert Calder, Sir Richard Strachan, Lord Gambier, and Lord Exmouth, and even for brilliant actions of single ships, appropriate distinctions have never been with- Exclusive of peerages and baronetcies, the honours bestowed for gallant conduct in the naval service at present consist of six knights grand crosses of the military Order of the Bath, thirty-three knights commanders, and 114 companions of the Bath. In addition to these, there are of the civil Order of the Bath one cross, two knights commanders, and three companions.
Medals have also been granted of late years by the Queen for various naval services, and distributed alike to the officers, seamen, and marines. These consist of the war medal for actions in ships and boats from 1793 to 1815; the medal for Algiers, Navarino, Acre, and Syria; the Burmese, China, and Kafir medal; and, lastly, the medal for services performed in the Arctic seas, which have greatly added to the renown of the British navy, have led to vast discoveries in that interesting portion of the globe, solving the problem of the N.W. passage, which for three centuries engaged the attention of the maritime nations of Europe, and rendering illustrious the names of many officers. Conspicuous among these in our naval annals will ever stand the names of Franklin, Parry, Ross, Collinson, and M'Cleare, while those of Scoresby and Penny will be scarcely less conspicuous in the mercantile marine. The institution of the Order of Valour will be another incentive to the officers and men of the Royal Navy in the performance of heroic deeds in their country's service. There are at present twenty-five officers, seamen, and marines, recipients of the Victoria Cross. In addition to the foregoing there are many officers and seamen authorized to wear foreign orders—the Legion of Honour, the Royal Hanoverian Guelphic Order, the orders of St Michael, St George, the Tower and Sword, Redeemer of Greece, the Medjedjic, &c.
Amongst the honours bestowed by the sovereign upon officers of the navy and Royal Marines is the appointment of aides-de-camp to the Queen. Of these there are twelve: one of them, the first and principal, is an admiral, ten are captains, and two colonels of marines.
Good-service pensions are also awarded to a certain number of flag-officers, captains, and field-officers of marines. These are selected according to their standing, length and nature of services, a statement of which is given, in each case, in the annual naval estimates presented to Parliament. There are at present seven flag-officers and twenty-one captains of the Royal Navy, and three field-officers of the Marines, in receipt of the good-service pension.
The provision which is made for officers, in the event of losing a limb, or being so severely wounded in the service that the prejudice to the habit of body is equal to the loss of a limb, is another encouragement for entering the naval service. There are at present 173 officers to whom pensions for wounds have been granted.
For an admiral, from L300 to L700 per annum.
A captain, wounds... 250 0; loss of a limb, L300 0 Commander... 150 0;... 200 0 Lieutenant... 91 5;... 91 5 Marine officers the same as in the army.
A provision is likewise made for the widows of the commission and warrant officers of the royal navy, and voted annually on the navy estimates. The pensions are allowed according to the annexed scale, being similar, in most cases, to the widows of officers in the army of corresponding ranks. The latter are also provided for by an annual vote of Parliament.
Rules and Orders for granting Pensions to the Widows of Commission and Warrant Officers of the Royal Navy.
Art. 1.—Widows of commission and warrant officers of the Royal Navy may be allowed pensions as heretofore directed, and subject to the following restrictions, provided they shall appear to the lords commissioners of the Admiralty to be proper and deserving objects of the public bounty, and not left in wealthy circumstances.
Art. 2.—The rates of pensions shall be as follows, viz.:
| Rank of Officer | Widow's Ordinary Pension | Special Pension in lieu of Ordinary Pension | |----------------|-------------------------|------------------------------------------| | Flag officers | 120 | According to circumstances | | Captains retired under O.C. 1846 | 110 | ... | | Captains of 3 years standing and upwards | 90 | 200 | 150 | | Captains under 3 years standing | 80 | 200 | 140 | | Captains retired under O.C. 1840 | 75 | ... | ... | | Commanders | 70 | 120 | 100 | | Commanders retired under O.C. of 1846 | 60 | ... | ... | | Commanders retired under O.C. of 1816 | 60 | ... | ... | | Commanders retired under O.C. of 1830 | 50 | ... | ... | | Lieutenants | 50 | 80 | 65 | | Masters of the fleet | 60 | 90 | 80 | | Masters | 50 | 80 | 65 | | Mates | 60 | 50 | ... | | Second Masters | 60 | 50 | ... | | Gunners warranted prior to 1830 | 25 | ... | ... | | Gunners not warranted prior to 1830 | ... | ... | ... | | Boatswains warranted prior to 1830 | 25 | ... | ... | | Boatswains not warranted prior to 1830 | ... | ... | ... | | Carpenters warranted prior to 1830 | 25 | ... | ... | | Carpenters not warranted prior to 1830 | ... | ... | ... | | Masters of naval vessels warranted prior to 1830 | 25 | ... | ... | | Masters of naval vessels not warranted prior to 1830 | ... | ... | ... |
ROYAL MARINES,
General officers | 120 | According to circumstances | Colonels | 90 | 200 | 150 | Lieutenant-colonels | 80 | 200 | 140 | Majors | 70 | 120 | 100 | Captains | 50 | 80 | 65 | 1st Lieutenants | 40 | 60 | 50 | 2nd Lieutenants | 35 | 50 | 40 |
CIVIL BRANCH,
Medical inspectors of hospitals and fleets | 80 | 200 | 140 | Secretaries to commanders-in-chief | 70 | 120 | 100 | Deputy inspectors of hospitals and fleets | ... | ... | ... | Paymasters-in-chief | 60 | 90 | 80 | Inspectors of machinery abattoir | ... | ... | ... | Chaplains | ... | ... | ... | Secretaries to junior flag-officers | 50 | 80 | 65 | Surgeons | ... | ... | ... | Paymasters | ... | ... | ... | Naval instructors | ... | ... | ... | Chief engineers | 40 | 65 | 50 | Assistant-surgeons | 35 | 50 | 30 | Assistant-engineers | ... | ... | ... |
* If the officer was killed in action, or died within six months of wounds received in action. * If the officer was deemed, or suffered other violent death in an immediate act of duty, or if it shall be proved to the satisfaction of the lords commissioners of the Admiralty that he has died from the effects of any injury or disease caused by extraordinary exposure or exertion on service within six months after his being first certified to be ill. PENSIONS TO THE MOTHERS AND SISTERS OF OFFICERS KILLED IN ACTION.
Mothers.—Where an officer is killed in action, and leaves no widow nor legitimate child, but leaves a mother who is a widow in distressed circumstances, and who was dependent upon him, the mother shall receive a pension equal to the ordinary rate of widow's pension attached to the rank which her son held at the time of his death; but if such mother shall herself be in receipt of a pension as a widow, she shall have no other provision of any kind from the public, in that case no allowance will be made to her on account of her son, unless she gives up the other pension or allowance; and the pension given to a mother on account of her son will be forfeited on re-marriage.
Sisters.—The allowance made to the sisters of officers is not to exceed that which would be given to a mother, and will not be given in any case unless the officer shall have fallen in action, or shall die of wounds received in action, within six months after being wounded, and shall have left no widow, legitimate child, nor mother, nor unless the sister shall be an orphan, having no surviving brother, and shall have been dependent for support upon the officer killed. Every pension so granted will cease when the person receiving it shall marry, or be otherwise sufficiently provided for.
The widows of boatswains, gunners, and carpenters of the royal navy, and masters of naval vessels appointed prior to the 30th of June 1830, will, if otherwise qualified, be entitled to a pension of L25. Widows of warrant-officers, and the widows of engineers who shall have been warranted subsequently to the 30th June 1830, are not entitled to pensions unless their husbands shall have suffered a violent death, and provided they shall be otherwise entitled to the same, in which case the following pensions will be allowed:
Art. 1.—To the widow of a gunner, boatswain, carpenter, or engineer, whose husband shall have been killed in action, a pension of L25 a year.
Art. 2.—To the widow of any of the above-named warrant-officers, whose husband shall have been drowned on duty, or suffered a violent death in an immediate act of duty, a pension of L30 a year.
Art. 3.—The pensions of all widows shall commence on the first day of the month following that in which their husbands died, provided application be made by the widow within twelve months from the same, otherwise from the time only of such application; and all applications for pensions must be addressed to the Secretary of the Admiralty.
Art. 4.—The widows of officers (except chaplains) who shall have married after the 31st of December 1830, are only entitled to the pensions of their respective classes in the event of their husbands having been on the list of commission or warrant officers, or on the list of naval instructors, ten complete years, except the husband be killed in action, or lose his life in the execution of the service.
Art. 5.—No widow shall receive a pension as a chaplain's widow, unless her husband shall have been in priest's orders, nor unless his name was on the list at the time of his death, nor unless she shall have been married during, or prior to, her husband's service in the navy, and unless her husband shall have served three years on full pay subsequent to their marriage, and shall have served the length of time to entitle him to his half-pay.
Art. 6.—No widow shall be entitled to the pension who has not been married twelve months to the officer by whom she claims the same, unless the said officer was killed or drowned in the sea service; but the lords commissioners of the Admiralty may grant the pension, in such cases as they think proper, when officers die before the expiration of twelve months from the time of their marriage.
Art. 7.—If any officer shall marry after the age of sixty years, his widow shall not be entitled to receive the pension; or, if being capable of service, he should, at his own solicitation, be excused from it, being at the time warned that his widow would thereby forfeit the pension.
Art. 8.—The above pensions shall not be received by any widow together with any other pension from the government.
Art. 9.—Widows who shall have re-married after the 31st December 1830 shall forfeit their pensions.
Art. 10.—Widows of officers who shall have re-married prior to the 31st of December 1830 shall be paid to themselves, and their receipts shall, notwithstanding their coverture, be deemed a sufficient discharge for the payment of their pension.
Besides these pensions, there has been established a Compassionate Fund, for the relief of such widows and orphan children as may appear to be proper objects of compassion. The sums annually required are voted by Parliament, and at present are limited to L16,000 a year. One of the greatest benefits that could be conferred upon the Royal Navy would be to double the vote for the Compassionate Fund, which is quite inadequate for the object intended, and admits of very little compassion being shown to the orphan children of officers who have faithfully served their country.
Pensions to petty officers and seamen are granted by the Board of Admiralty for wounds, infirmities, and length of service; and the sum required for this purpose is voted annually on the navy estimates.
In addition, however, to the pensions granted for wounds, and the pensions and compassionate allowances secured to the widows and children of officers, there are happily other provisions made for them by charitable institutions—for instance,
Naval Knights of Windsor; formerly called Poor Knights, Naval—There is an asylum afforded at Windsor, by the will of Knights of the late Samuel Travers, Esq., for seven "superannuated ex-Windsor disabled lieutenants of English men-of-war, who are to be single men, without children, inclined to lead a virtuous, studious, and devout life; and to be removed if they give occasion for scandal." One of these, the senior officer, is appointed governor of the institution.
Queen Adelaide's College at Penge was established by Queen her late Majesty for the widows of twelve officers of the Adelaide's ranks of lieutenant, master, surgeon, and paymaster. Each College widow is allowed L30 per annum, with coals and candles. The nominations are in the gift of the First Lord of the Admiralty.
The Royal Naval Benevolent Society, established in the Royal 1739, it affords relief to officers (being subscribers) of Naval Be- and above ward-room rank, and to their widows and families benevol- lies under misfortune and distress. The scale of subscrip- Society, tion entitling to relief is so small that all officers would do well to support it. The following is the scale, viz.:—Flag- officers—annual, 1, 2, and 3 guineas; lie, L20. Captains, commanders, inspectors of hospitals and fleets, and secre- taries—annual, 10s. 6d.; lie, L10. Chief engineers— annual, 6s.; lie, L6. Ward-room officers (including assi- stant surgeons who are entitled to ward-room rank, and naval instructors)—annual, 5s.; lie, L5. It appears by the report that many cases have occurred where the widows, orphans, or other relatives entitled, have received hundreds of pounds for the husband's subscription of as many shillings. Thus, the sister of a deceased captain, for four years' subscription of L1, 1s., received for his L4, as the sum of L530. The orphans of a master, for six years' subscrip- tion of 6s., received for his L1, 10s. the sum of L182, 8s. A lieutenant, with eight children, for twenty years' sub- scription of 5s., received prior to his death L170; and sub- sequently his widow the sum of L88; and many other similar cases might be mentioned.
Queen Adelaide's Naval Fund.—This fund was estab- lished in 1850 for the relief of the orphan daughters of Adelaide's officers of the Royal Navy and Marines. The dividends Naval arising from donations and subscriptions are entirely appro- Fund. priated to the relief of orphans, who are assisted by pecu- niary grants bestowed at the discretion of the committee, and available either for the education of the young, the maintenance of the aged, or the casual assistance of those in temporary difficulty.
The Royal Naval School at New Cross, Kent, incor- porated by Act of Parliament 1840, has been established a Naval quarter of a century. The annual charge for board and school, education of the sons of naval and marine officers of ward- room rank is L30, some are admitted at L25, a limited number gratuitously, and at L16 a year, according to the necessitous circumstances of the parents, a preference being given to orphans of those who may have fallen in the service of the country. A limited number of pupils, not being sons of naval or marine officers, are admitted on payment of L50 per annum. Several young officers who were educated at this school distinguished themselves in the late war with Russia, and particularly so in the recent Arctic expeditions in search of Sir John Franklin and the crews of H.M. ships Erebus and Terror.
The Royal Naval Female School, formerly at Richmond, and now St Margaret's, Isleworth, was established in 1840, for the purpose of bestowing upon the daughters of necessitous naval and marine officers, of and above the rank of ward-room officers, a good, virtuous, and religious education at the lowest possible cost. It owes its origin to the late Admiral Sir Thomas Williams, G.C.B., who invested L.1000 in trust; and by an additional contribution of L.100 per annum for seven years, arranged payments of the rents for that period. The Patriotic Fund made last year (1857) a grant of L.5000 to the institution. There are now 87 daughters of officers in the school; of these 26 are received at the annual payment of L.40; 56 (all daughters of necessitous officers) are boarded and educated at the entire cost to the parents or guardians of L.12 per annum; and 5 are nominees of the Patriotic Fund, whose fathers died during the late war with Russia, the establishment defraying the larger amount of actual cost through the means of voluntary contributions. Of the number of pupils on the reduced scale of payment, 5 have lost both parents, and 35 others have lost their fathers.
Neither are there wanting charitable institutions for the orphan children of seamen and marines at the several ports; and the recent establishment of sailors' homes for men-of-war's men and merchant seamen, at most of the ports throughout the United Kingdom, is one of the greatest boons that could have been conferred. It is impossible to speak too highly of those zealous and humane officers through whose exertions they have been established, more especially the late Captain Robert Elliot, who devoted the whole of his time and private resources on the first sailors' home that was opened in Wells Street, London; and the present Captain William H. Hall, C.B., who has been most indefatigable at every port in the kingdom. The late Sir Edward Parry was another zealous supporter of the sailors' homes, and of all institutions which had for their object the eternal as well as the temporal welfare of the British seaman. To his illustrious name must be added those of Admiral Bowles, the late Sir Francis Beaufort, the Hon. F. Munde, of Captain Gambier, and of many other well-known officers, who have also zealously devoted themselves to the object.
These various institutions are now countenanced, and in some cases aided, by the government, by whom annual grants are made both to the orphan schools and sailors' homes. It would be well if these grants were made upon a more liberal scale.
The establishment of Greenwich Hospital embraces much more extensive objects than any of the foregoing. The first idea of this noble institution,—the glory and ornament of the kingdom, which it is to be hoped that the restless spirit of innovation will leave untouched,—has been ascribed, with every appearance of justice, to Mary, the consort of William III. Being desirous that our gallant seamen, worn down by age or infirmities, as well as suffering from wounds, should not be left destitute, she made a grant, jointly with King William, of the palace of Greenwich, and of certain lands adjoining, to be appropriated to this purpose, in order, as stated in the king's commission, to "the making some competent provision, that seamen who, by age, wounds, or other accidents, shall become disabled for further service at sea, and shall not be in a condition to maintain themselves comfortably, may not fall under hardships and miseries, but may be supported at the public charge, and that the children of such disabled seamen, and also the widows and children of such seamen as shall happen to be slain in sea service, may, in some reasonable manner, be provided for and educated."
In 1695 the committee appointed to examine and report on the premises recommended an additional wing to King Charles's building, which being approved by the king, Sir Christopher Wren undertook to superintend the new erections without any pay or reward. Since that time various additions and improvements have been made to this magnificent pile of building, which was completed, very nearly as it now appears, in the year 1778.
The king granted L.2000 a year towards the carrying on, perfecting, and endowing of this hospital. The great officers of state and wealthy individuals also subscribed liberally to the undertaking. It was at the same time enacted by Parliament, that a deduction of sixpence per man per month should be made out of the wages of all mariners for the use of the hospital; and power was given to the Lord High Admiral to appoint commissioners for receiving the said duty, whose office is situated on Tower Hill. These deductions no longer exist, and the establishment has been broken up. In 1699 his Majesty contributed the sum of L.19,500, being fines laid by the House of Lords on certain merchants convicted of smuggling. In 1705 Queen Anne assigned to the use of the hospital the effects of Kid the pirate, amounting to upwards of L.6000. In 1707 Robert Osbaldiston, Esq., devised by will half of his estate, which was valued at L.20,000. In the same year Anthony Bowyer gave the reversion of a considerable estate for the use of the hospital. By several statutes the forfeited and unclaimed shares of prize-money were given to the hospital, and various grants from time to time continued to be made by Parliament. But the most substantial grant was that made by the Commons of the rents and profits of the forfeited estates of the Earl of Derwentwater, amounting at that time to about L.5000 a year, and at present to the gross rental of L.60,000, of which, after payment of all expenses for improvements, repairs, collections, and incumbrances, the annual receipt may be estimated at from L.30,000 to L.40,000.
At present the permanent revenues of the hospital consist of the following heads:
1. The duties arising from the North and South Foreland lighthouses. 2. The rents and profits of the Derwentwater estates, including the lead mines. 3. Rents of the market of Greenwich, and of certain houses there and in London. 4. Interest of money invested in the public funds. 5. Forfeited and unclaimed shares of prize-money. 6. Fines for various offences.
It is evident that the funds of the establishment must vary considerably in times of war and peace; being lowest in the latter period, when the demands are heaviest upon it, especially for a certain number of years after the close of a war.
The rental of the estates belonging to the hospital in the counties of Northumberland, Cumberland, and Durham, rose from L.23,000, in 1805, to L.43,000, in 1816. The present gross rental of these estates and the lead mines, as above stated, amounts to about L.60,000; the North and South Foreland lights to L.7000; and the interest of funded property to L.50,000; making, with other contingencies, an annual revenue of about L.150,000, the whole of which is expended on the household establishment, the clothing, maintenance, and allowances to pensioners and other attendants, with repairs, taxes, and contingencies.
The establishment of this noble institution consists of a military and civil department. In the former there is an establishment-governor, who is a flag-officer in the navy, lieutenant-governor, who is also a flag-officer, four captains, four commanders, eight lieutenants, and two masters; two chaplains, two physicians, five surgeons, and two dispensers—all resident within the hospital. In the latter there are Personnel five civil commissioners, two of whom are naval officers; a secretary and his assistant, a cashier, steward, clerk of the check, each of whom has his chief clerk; an architect, and two inspectors of works, with their clerk. The number of in-pensioners is about 3000, and the number of nurses 180, all of whom must be the widows of seamen of the navy, and under the age of forty-five years at the time of admission.
Under the naval administration of Earl Grey the following officers were added to the out-pensions of Greenwich Hospital, to be selected by the Admiralty according to their respective claims on the service:
| Officers | Per Year | |------------------|----------| | 10 Captains | £150 | | 15 Commanders | £90 | | 50 Lieutenants | £60 |
In addition to their half-pay.
The out-pensions to seamen were first established in the year 1763, by act of 3d Geo. III., c. 16, in consequence of which 1400 out-pensioners were appointed at £7 per annum each, after undergoing an examination at the Admiralty as to their claims.
At the close of the long revolutionary war the applications became so numerous, and the claims of the seamen who had been wounded or worn out in the service so strongly grounded in humanity and justice, that it became necessary to adopt a scale of pensions, and to establish certain rules and regulations, by which seamen of Her Majesty's fleet and Royal Marines should be remunerated for wounds or hurts, debility, and length of service. The following are the present regulations:
**For Wounds, Hurts, or Debility.**
Every seaman, landman, boy, or royal marine, wounded or hurt in Her Majesty's service, is entitled to a pension proportioned to his wounds or hurts, of not less than sixpence a day, and not more than one shilling and sixpence or two shillings a day. For sickness or debility, after seven years' service, and under special circumstances before that period, of not less than fivepence a day, nor more than tenpence, according as he may appear capable of assisting himself. Beyond fourteen, and less than twenty-one years' service, not less than threepence, nor more than one shilling and three pence. And after twenty-one years' service, one shilling and sixpence a day. But the rates are altered from time to time.
All the above-mentioned pensions may be forfeited by misconduct, by desertion, and by sentence of a court-martial; also by neglecting or omitting to attend at such port or place, and at such time, as shall, in time of war or in prospect of a war, be appointed for the assembling of the pensioners, by the lords commissioners of the Admiralty.
In 1853 a committee of naval officers was appointed to consider the whole subject of manning the navy and granting pensions to seamen. Upon their recommendation, all boys entering the navy are now required to engage for ten years' continuous service, from the age of eighteen, and are allowed to count time for pension from that age, instead of from the age of twenty, as heretofore. All men volunteering for ten years' continuous service are also allowed pensions after twenty years' service, instead of twenty-one. In order to insure a certain number of trained seamen, in the event of an armament, in addition to those borne on the peace establishment, seamen who have served ten years continuously in the navy, reckoning from the age of eighteen, are eligible, at the discretion of the Board of Admiralty, to be granted pensions of 6d. a day each, and men with fifteen years' service, pensions of eightpence a day each,—both classes being liable to give further service, if called upon, in the event of an armament. All men and boys, upon entering the service for the first time, and who may be granted pensions for twenty or twenty-one years' service, are held liable, under the pension stipulation, to give further service, if required, to meet the exigencies of an armament or of war.
To the noble institution of Greenwich Hospital is appended an asylum for the maintenance and education of the children of officers and seamen of the royal naval service.
The Naval Asylum was originally instituted by the Patriotic Fund and private subscriptions, and afterwards established at Greenwich, by warrant under the king's sign-manual, dated in January 1818, appointing the lords commissioners of the Admiralty to be commissioners and governors, who, with twenty-four directors, were to superintend and manage the same. The object was, the maintenance and education of a certain number of orphans and other children of the non-commissioned officers, seamen, and marines of the Royal Navy. As it was manifest, however, that this establishment, so contiguous to the hospital of Greenwich, could be managed without inconvenience by the commissioners and directors of that hospital, under a more effective and economical system, His Majesty was pleased, by his warrant of January 1821, to annul the former warrant, and to vest the superintendence and internal management of the said asylum in the commissioners and governors of Greenwich Hospital.
The two schools of Greenwich Hospital and the Naval Asylum, and the funds thereof, are now therefore incorporated. The internal management is confided to the board of directors, and one of the captains of the hospital is intrusted with the general superintendence. The schools consist of the Nautical School and of the Upper and Lower School. A chaplain, and proper schoolmasters, matron, and inferior assistants, with moderate salaries, reside in the building. The number of children maintained and educated in the institution are—
| School | Number | |-----------------|--------| | Boys' Upper School | 400 | | Lower School | 400 | | Total | 800 |
The Upper School is divided into two classes. 100 are the sons of commissioned and ward-room warrant-officers of the Royal Navy and Marines; and 300 are the sons of officers of the above or inferior rank, and of private seamen or marines of the navy, and of officers and seamen of the merchant service. The whole 400 are subject to the same regulations as to education, diet, clothing, discipline, and destination. None are admitted unless they can read fluently, write small text, and perform the first three rules of arithmetic. They must be free from infirmity of every description. The age of admission is from ten to eleven; and at fifteen, or sooner if qualified, the whole are sent to sea, either in the navy or merchant service, or are otherwise disposed of. Presentations by the directors in rotation.
The boys of the Lower School are the children of warrant and petty officers and seamen of the naval service, and non-commissioned officers and privates of the Royal Marines, admitted by the board of directors, giving a preference to orphans. The age of admission is from nine to eleven years inclusive; but none are retained beyond the age of fifteen. The boys are sent into the navy or merchant service, if situations can be provided for them; if not, they are to be taken away by their parents or guardians at the age of fifteen.
Thus all the classes of officers, seamen, and marines, who have faithfully served in the navy, are provided for by the state; and the children of such as may be in indigent circumstances receive an education at the public expense, suited to their condition in life.
The total expense of the navy, including every branch of the service, civil and military, for one whole year, about