The Sun.
London, England, 1839-02-27 00:00:00

15,459,3:4 I 261,863

5,197,511 4,960,911

148,921
,4,811,990

i❑ a reduced state, the first thing to be done is to full
man the ships with the men who can be procured, they
would tlmn be efficient ; but how is the Navy to be
suddenly increased and fitted out,—will Sir John Bar-
row be able to do it expeditiously with men pressed
against their will? The difficulty of getting men at the
present moment is great, and circumstances may arise
(if they have not already .arisen), to render it ne-
cessary to suddenly increase the fleet ; but the same cir-
cumstances may not authorise impressmnt. What
then is to be done ?

I shall state a case to show the advantage of manning
the ships in the manner I have proposed. I will sup-
pose the Powerful, with a full crew of 700 men, 625 of
whom are officers and seamen. It is required to arm a
second $4-gun ship—one watch (the half of the ships
company, including officers) would be immediately dis-
charged into the new ship. This would give each ship
312 Officers, seamen, and boys
Embark . 150 Marines

Complete the 11 Officers
- 14 Midshipmen, &c.
- 18 First-class boys, always to be had.
8 Ditto
- 117 Landsmen

680 being the crew at present allowed,
the Powerful might go to sea immediately, and if sent on
a foreign station could take out Marines to be exchanged
for seamen with the first ship she falls in with ; the new
ship would follow her within a month, and would pro,
bably in that time be complete with ordinary seamen.
If the whole Navy was put on the same system a
fleet could be equipped both expeditiously and efficiently,
whereas at present we can do neither the one nor
the other, and from the weak complement
allowed the ships the duty is not carried on
in the smart way it ought to be in a man of-
war, the men take no pride in their ships, and the
officers are brought up with idle and slovenly habits,
and are ashamed to try manoeuvres with full-manned
ships of foreign nations.

This happened not long ago to a Commander-in-
Chief, laying alongside a French Admiral, in a full-
manned frigate, he in a weak manned line-of-battle
ship, I believe, without lower deck guns.
Sir John Barrow says—Let Parliament vote 50,000
men, if necessary, and the Admiralty would find no
difficulty in sending thirty sail of the line to see in
addition to the twenty-one in commission, for which
additional thirty masts, sails, yards, and every article of
gear are ready.

Where and how is he to get m?n to man thirty sail
of the line at once, when it is with the greatest diffi-
culty we can fit out and man one at a time, which Sir
John Barrow knows as well as I do ?

Relative to the masts and yards, there is no want
of them ; gear of every description is ready
for the demonstration ships, I believe, thirteen in
in number, and the gear could be completed for the re.-
maining seventeen before they could be got ready. If
men came forward voluntarily, the demonstration ships
would certainly be ready for sea within the month, but
they would not be fit to go into action under three. If
men did not come forward, but were pressed, they could
not get to sea under two mocths, and the other seven-
teen would require double the time. In my opinion,
that is not a state this country ought to be left in Ili
long as the (Hogged) fleet of Russia is allowed to craiza
every summer in the Baltic.

The last charge, that, from the reduced state of
stores irk the dockyards, and of shipwrights, a fleet, as
war would require, could not be sent to sea. I believe
there •• is • not one word of truth in this charge. I
have taken - a good deal of pains •to inquire
into the situation of both Portsmouth and Sheerness,
dock yards, and I have no reason to suppose there is
any deficiency of stores, and were it necessary to fit
Out a large fleet the shipwrights could be very easily
increased. It is seamen we want laid up in store, men-
of-war seamen. Stores can be bought, and shipwrights
entered, but men-of-war seamen can neither be bought
rtor entered.

Having now disposed, to the best of my ability, of
the charges against the Admiralty, I shall again bring
forward mine against the various Governments who have
ruled this country for some years past, and, by Sir John
Barrow's own showing, will prove the danger we have
been, and still are in.

Speaking of Russia, Sir John says, " This power is
undoubtedly the least of all others to be trusted, be-
cause peace or war is in that nation actually the prero-
gative of one man ; it is not, however, because she has
two large fleets that she makes herself an ob-
ject of jealousy to England ; but it is her
warlike indications in keeping them constantly manned,
and, as we are told, provisioned for four months, ready,
at a moment's notice, to put to sea ; it is this state of
naval preparation, enabling her to commence hostilities
at once, that should keep us on our guard against a
surprise. She has neither colonies nor commerce to
protect ; is it not, then, a fair question to be asked by
Austria, France,or England, for what purpose is a naval
armament, in such a state, kept on foot? It may be
against England or Turkey, or both. In either case it
behoves us to be prepared ; for if Nicholas be, as he is
represented, ambitious, restless, vindictive, and un-
forgiving, and wholly independent of the opinion of his
subjects, he can never want a pretext for going to war."
Read this, Sir, attentively, and then look at Sir John
Barrow's tables, and you will see Russia has in commis-
sion 40 sail of the line concentrated in two fleets, and
we have 21 scattered over the world, all weakly manned.
Is this, Sir, being on our guard against a surprise ? I
have shown that last summer we only had three three-
deckers in this country, with 250 men each, and three
two-deckers weakly manned ; and I have stated (and I
believe no experienced officer will contradict me), that
under the' most favourable circumstances we could not
collect the demonstration ships at the Nore under a
month, and that they would not be fit to go into action
with so superior a fleet under three.
Sir John goes on to say there must be discussions, ne-
gotiations, manifestoes, previous to actual war, as cus-
tomary amongst civilised nations.

Wf;at guarantee does Sir John give the country
that thde discussions, negotiations, and manifestoes,
may not be carrit•d on, supported by a Russian
fleet, anchored at the mouth of the Thames ?
Surely that would not be contrary to the law
of nations. How are we to prevent the Autocrat doing
so if he pleases, the moment the Baltic is open, and are
we to calculate that he would prolong negotiations till
we were prepared, which could not be under three
months, as I have before stated?

I will, however, suppose that the Board of Admiralty
by waving their hand, could collect the demonstration
ships at the Nore, full manned; they would only amount
to thirteen, making, with the three flag ships, sixteen sail
of the line; and I will ask Sir John Barrow, if there is
an Admiral in the British service who would with that
force hastily brought together, venture to attack the
Russian fleet of twenty-seven sail of the line and twenty
frigates ? Lord St. Vincent, with fifteen sail of the
Hoe, attacked twenty-seven Spaniards, his fleet was
in a high state of discipline ; but the Spaniards
cannot be compared with the Russians ; and Lord St.
Vincent, after taking four sail of the line, did not renew
the action. I therefore must again repeat what I have
before advanced, that either Russia must reduce her
commissioned fleet to ten sail of the line, or the Govern-
ment will not be justified in keeping less than that num-
ber fully manned in this country during the time the Bal-
tic is open, and that may be done at very little expense.
Let the flag ships be manned, and kept as depots to
fit out and man ships put in commission fur the reliefs—
a much cheaper method than the present one—because
each line-of-battle ship fitting out pays and victuals
nearly 400 men for three months before she is ready to
proceed to sea.
Let the four ships who have charge of the ordinary
be made efficient, and let them relieve the ships in
foreign stations in their turn, after fitting out another
to take their duties. Restore the coast blockade, and
station a ship in the Downs, one in Yarmouth Roads,
and another in Leith Roads.
This will give you a permanent and useful force in
England of ten sail of the line, costing not one sixpence
more than the present inefficient. system ; for whether
the coast blockade is paid by the Treasury or the Ad-
miralty, is quite the same to John Bull.
Parliament is now sitting—if more money is wanted,
let the Admiralty state their opinions in both Houses ;