The Press.
London, England, 1853-08-27 00:00:00

TUE IU NAVY.

The AUgemeine Zeituny contains an interesting
description, derived evidently from authentic sources,
of the present condition of the Russian fleet, the
system of discipline observed among her sailors, and
the influence which Russia is thus entitled to exert
among the maritime powers of the world. Com
mencing with a detail of the ports and harbours
belonging to her, the &Unity remarks that the only
seaboard she possesses, that on the shores of the
Polar Sea, is blocked up with ice for eight months
of the twelve ; and her great harbours open only into
basins with outlets at the Sound and the Bosphorus,
to which other powers hold the key. In the ease of
Russia, therefore, a stategetical system of ports,
such as England and France can boast, is utterly out
of the question. Turning, then, to the navy itself,
as reckoned by numbers, materiel, and men, the
Zeituny proceeds:—
- -

"For shipbuilding Russia has thebestmaterials that can
be found. Her forests supply her with oaks which are
equal to the oaks of Canada of which the British ships are
built ; but of late years so great has been the waste that
the forests of Central Russia are unequal to the demand
of the navy, and the Russians have been compelled to
take their wood from the forests of the North. This
wood is naturally wet, and they never give it time for
proper seasoning. Consequently, it is soon wormeaten
anal rotten. It is generally said that a Russian vessel lasts
bat twapthirds of the time which an English ship itt
pected to last. The sails and ropes in the Russian navy
are excellent. Russian hemp is quite as fatuous as Russian
tar and Russian leather. The guns are all that can Is•
desired. The vessels are very orderly and clean; they
show to this day that Peter took Ins first lessons in
Holland. The fittings of the cabins are splendid in the
extreme, according to the manners and customs of the
Russian aristocracy. The. Russian captains and tublike's
are not by any means bluff, bearish old tars of the Drake,
Tromp, or Itnyter stamp. Slippets4 they are and
wrapped up in morning-gowns, anal gat up in the most
splendid style of ease; they 101 l on soft sofas of purple
eelvet, reading French novels, air they sit at the piano by
the hour, playing Eits,lea par 7topia. The fact is, the
Russian naval officers care verb• little for the profession ;
not that they are ignorant—the nautical academies at
Oranienhaum, Petersburg, Cronstadt, I ►dessa, anal Nico-
lajeu pnn•ide all sorts of theoretical knowledge—but for
all that, it's not in the grain; and in case of a war it will
be shown that the Russian vessels are badly officered.
Very much the Mule may be said of the crews. The Ruts-
sums are not fond of salt water. The majority of the
sailors cantle from the interior: they are inveterate land
rats, and never saw the sea until they were enlisted in
the navy.
" With the soldier, present courage is partly derived from
the reminiseetwes of a glorious past. The. Russian marines
and sailors have no past to think of. They stand in their
high boots and stiff coats in the exact position prescribed
by the rules and regulations of their service, so that their
feet form an angle of 45 deg., anal this position it is their
pri.le and their glory to preserve on the spars, at the pnmj►s,
and at the guns. The rules and regulations of the service
alone determine the movements of the Russian sailor; he
will, in the very teeth of danger. go on winding up his
anetor, while an Englishman would have cut his cable,
wor.e ship, and put on every rag of novas. The guns alone
are quickly seized and cleverly handled, but the matneuvring
generally is by far slower than the mameuvrea of the
British fleet. The shortness of the ships neskee it difficult
to turn them, and the signalling is far from being perfect.
The ships are clumsy. the planks are thick, and remind
one of the wooden walls of the Armada.