The Press.
London, England, 1854-04-15 00:00:00

APRIL 15, 1854

NOTES ON THE NAVY.

."THE RESULTS OF BRITISH
SEA-FIGHTS.
BEFORE proceeding with our notes on the fleets, it
will be desirable to glance at the distinctive results
of some of our great victories in the last war, as
much misapprehension exist on the nature of the

' Yo. ll.—'

difficulties which our nautical heroes had to over-

come in former times. England owes an enormous

portion of its political power to triumphs on the

ocean, and the extent of the perils of the country
in past periods has often been glozed over by the
fulsome pens of servile partisanship. Seldom was
England in grcater gloom—never was her deliver-
ance from danger more signal than in the mo-
mentous year " 1797." It wall, indeed, an awful
crisis. In France, Spain, and Holland, combined
naval preparations were actually carried on for the
invasion of England and Ireland. But our foes
w;thin were worse than our enemy abroad. Even
at the distance of thirteen years, the fatal political
effects of the dishonourable " Coalition" of Fox and
North were seriously felt. Parliamentary leaders
were not sustained by public confidence. The
Whigs of that day were unscrupulously ambitious,
and there were a party of waverers in that time,
dampers of the public spirit, in an Aberdeen fashion.
Civil war was waging in Ireland, and, worse than all,
there was a mutiny at the Nore. Taxes were ac-
cumulated, the Bank stopped payment, commerce
was paralysed, parliamentary action was unhinged,
and then it was that the fierce Directory of France,
raging with revolutionary frenzy, resolved to strike
a tremendous blow at Old England, and invade her
with seventy sail of the line, ready equipped for sea,
in the ports of the Texel, Brest, and Carthagena!
Terrible, indeed, was the crisis ; but let modern
Manchester, and pusillanimous Peelites, mark how
valiant actions restored our credit and preserved our
power. While Europe was in suspense, Lord Brid-
port was ordered to blockade Brest, Admiral Duncan
was sent to watch the Dutch, and Admiral Jervis was
told to look out for the Spanish fleet. Two famous
sea fights delivered our grandsires from the perils of
the hour. The names of St. Vincent and Camper•
down are immortal in British story.
1. The battle of St. Vincent was fought on the
14th of February, 1797, the English admiral having
fifteen sail-of the-line, while the Spanish admiral
(Cordova) had twenty-seven sail-of-the-line, besides
ten frigates. There are some discrepancies in the
accounts as to the actual numerical force engaged on
both sides; but all the narratives, Spanish and Eng-
lish, give a formidable superiority to the Spanish
meet. The Spaniards had La Safitissfma Trinidada
with 130 guns, they had six three-deckers carrying
112 guns each, two 80-gun ships, and eighteen 74's.
Against that apparently tremendous force the Eng-
lish fleet stood as follows:—
Gun-ship.

Admiral (b.) Sir John Jervis, RP.
Victory
„ George Grey.
{ Vice-Adm. (b.) Charles Thompson
i Britannia •• • • Captain Thomas Foley. •
Ilartleur { Vcispce-Aditain ;. (b.) t
ames he Wm. Waldegrt
Rear
scres.
aptitdru3o.l(inr.)l\rwVilinliam Parker.
Prince George
Blenheim • „ Thomas Lenox Frederick.
Namur
Captain
Goliath { oamptiat' ondopiAl Horatio osrvare
tt Nelson.iier
„ Sir tharies H. Knowles,. Bart.
Excellent .• • • „ Cuthbert Collingwood.
T 4 Orion
Colossus
„ Sir James Saumarez.
„ George Murray.
Egmont
„ John Sutton.
Culloden •• • •
„ Thomas Troubridge.
Urresietible
64 Diadem „ George Heury Towry.
The frigates, by the time some had joined and others
parted company, remained as follows •,--
G3B g.
un
Minerve Captain George Cockburn.
Lively
....
:82 1 Niger „ Edward James Foote.
Southampton „ James Macnamara.
t Ronne Limyr
1 en
~ Charles Lindsay.
73 Raven ........ „ William Prowse.
Cot. Fox .......... Lieutenant John Gibson.
The line of the Spaniards was loosely formed, and
by a skilful manoeuvre Jervis resolved to cut off the
outlying Spaniards, the result of which was that he
reduced his immediate adversaries to eighteen. The
Spanish admiral tried to wear his fleet and rejoin
his separated vessels ; but the tactics of Jervis and
the gallantry of his subordinates defeated the ob-
ject of Cordova, who was compelled to a close en-
gagement, in which he was signally defeated,
losing four of his large ships and an enormous num-
ber of his men. So decisive was this victory that