The Sun.
London, England, 1849-12-07 00:00:00

THE PAST AND PRESENT STATE OF
THE NAVY.

TO THE RIGHT HON. LORD JOHN RUSSELL.
My Lord,—Mr. Tierney said in the House of Com-
mons, " Give me a well-manned navy and a full Ex-
chequer, and I will defy the world."
Captain Rous said, A great part of the national
debt has been incurred in building ships and pulling
them to pieces."
I shall take these two observations for my text, and
examine whether they are correct or not.
When Loid Auckland came into office in 1847, he
got up a Channel squadron, consisting of five sail of the
line and as many steamers. This was done, I presume,
in consequence of the disagreement with France about
the Spanish marriages. Lisbon was the head-quarters
of that squadron, which varied from six to four sail of
tho line, as it became necessary to relieve the ships on
foreign stations. When the revolution broke out
in France in February, 1848, one threte decked
ship was sent to the Mediterranean, and one to
Madeira for the Qeeen Dowager, and two and a
frigate, with a proportion of steam-vessels, to Cork,
to be in readiness to check any revolutionary move-
ment in Ireland ; and I have reason to believe that
the facility with which the marines of that squadron
were moved from port to pert on the coast, with the im.
posing appearance of part of it in Queenstown and part
in Kingstown, very much tended to prevent an outbreak
in that country. After the failure of the great Chartist
movement in England things appeared to get more quiet
in Ireland, and the squadron was recalled to Spithead
in May. The Canopus was paid off ; the Prince Regent
took her place; and shortly after it was reinforced by
the Bellerophon, Blenhein, ss vend steam-vessels and cor-
vette e and in July we again sailed for Cork with /bur
sail of line, one frigate, one corvette, one screw cor-
vette, three brigs, and a steamer. The object of this
squadron was to try the qualities of the several vessels
previous to proceeding to their different stations, aA
well as to be at hand for unforeseen accidents. Ireland
became again disturbed, a rebellion was threatened, and
the squadron, as before, was distributed on various
parts of the coast. A very strong force of steamers was
collected at Kingstown, ready to move troops whither
they might be wanted. Owing to the energetic and
judicious arrangements of Lord Clarendon, the re-
bellion was put down, and the squadron proceeded
to sea to try the different vessels and practise evolutions,
so much required by all branches of the service, from the
ainairal downwards. Alter ten daye' cruise the squadron
returned to Queenstown, and finally to Spithead, the
rooefesselteeadnateortsheriermreasipneecdtivine station;ired
and a
Shortly corvettes
sataritonendrgbtl'itgisrseeßellerophon was ordered to the Me.

diterrelean, 13ienheim and Amplsion were laid up, and
the Powerful, which had been lying at Spithead, half
manned, for nearly a year, took Bellerophon's place.
The squadron, now composed of St. Vincent, Prince
Regent, Powerful, Orestt s, Rifleman, Plumper, Reynard.
and Stromboli, then sailed for Lisbon, where they ar-
rived after a very long and very boisterous passage on
the 4th of Jacuery. It was intended to cruize as far as
the Canary Islands, and return to Lisbon ; but a dis-
pute having arisen with the Emperor of Morocco, the
squadron, pined by the Harlequin, left Lisbon and went
to Gibraltar, where they staehored at night on th 27th of
January, and were joined by Sidon and Polyphemus.
I'he appearance there of the squadron, which was
reinforced by the Rodney and Vaeguird on their way
home, settled the Metocco question in a satisfactory
manner. The latter ships were ordered home, Regent
and Powerful to the Mediterranean, Orestes to the
Cape, and shortly after the squadron was broken up.
ordered home, and paid eIF. Seven thousand, men were
turned adrift as fast as possible; and two half-manned
ships—one at Portsmouth and one at Qieenstown—took
the place of the Channel squadron, which I believe was
as efficient as any squadron that ever swam the seas.
()leer; and men had utcame accustomed to- sail in line
and keep their Weitions in the night--so necessary for
the preservation of the ships—besides going through
evolutions which in time of peace they have tew oppor-
tunities of learning. The breekUag up of the squadron
was to please Mr. Cobden and his friends; and may I
ask what economy has it led to? Russia made an tie-
tab':
ry
evd
e—
treesotnwae halt-manned demand on
ships were
we
e became
steamers that were paid off have been brought forward,
and several' vessels of different descriptions been com-
missioned, e completed, a '
and had things turned out serious, we were
at the mercy of Russia, the 7,000 men that had been
turned adrift were nowhere to be found, and nothing left
but to fall back on the coast blockade.

The Turkish question is now settled, the Baltic
frozen, tied we are safe ; but, my Lord, let me ask your
Lordship where we should have been had the Emperor
of Russia persisted in his unjustifiable demands? Ilia
Black-Sca fleet would have been in the Golden Horn
before ours could have been in the Dardanelles; and
when there we had not steamers to tow them to Con-
stantinople. This is not all; the Russian fleet iu the
Baltic, of from 20 to 30 sail of the line, might have ap-
peared on our coast and dictstcd to us what terms they
pleased with regard to Turkey; we were powerless, and
must have submitted—or, where would have been our
trade? where would ha►e been our funds ? and even, I
may ask, where would have been the capital of Great
Britain? Had they thought proper to have played a
more prudent game, they might have sent their fleet to
the Mediterranean, where they would have found
friendly ports, and satisfied themselves with the settle-
ment of the Turkish question. Had our Channel bquadron
been kept up—and had the three flsg ships been
efficient ships, as they ought to be—they would soon
have been manned, formed the nucleus of a squadron,
and kept Russia in check till our fleet was ready. And
here I may ask for what reason are the three flag ships
ineficient? That system was once tried before, and
given up as improper, and now we are trying it spin.
These ships should be constantly ready, and in the event
of emergency the admirals and their staff turned over to
three other ships to get them ready, and captains, offi-
cers, and men appointed to those they had left. So much,
my Lord, for the first part of my text. I think I have
shown we have anyJaing but a well-manned navy. I now
come to the second.
On the Ist of January, 1815, the list of our navy was
as follows:
Three-docked ships --

... 22

Two-decked ships

... 1:,9

50 44-gun ships, on two decks ... 26
Frigates of 30 guns and upwards ... 162
Ditto under 30 guns . ... 50
Ships and vessels under 20 guns ... 328
Showing a total of 747 ships of all descriptions, not in-
cluding ships building, store ships, receiving shipr, &c.
I shall now see what has become of them. Of the 22
three-decked ships there remain four fit for sea, two for
harbour service, one seamen's hospital ship, and one
gunnery ship. All the rest have disappeared, and two
prison and hospital ships besides. Whether they ware
all worn cut or made away with to be replaced by larger
ships I am not prepared to say. Six were built between
1765 and 1788, four between 1793 and 1800, and nine
between 1801 and 1814; they have been replaced by nine
ships of 120 guns, one of 116 guns, and three of 104.
After the long experience we had during the war the
country had a right to expect that the three-decked ships
built since should have been perfect, particularly as we
bad one ship, the Caledonia, allowed by all hands to be
faultless; but the Admiralty of the dey thought other-
wise; at an expense of 92,000/. she was converted into
a ship which sails badly, and carries her ports lower than
before. Lord Exmouth asked as a favour that she might
not be spoilt, in vain.
Britannia is said to be after Caledonia before she was
altered ; but that cannot be, us she is very crank;
Howe and St. Vincent, by the Surveyor of the Navy,
very crank ; Nelson, Neptune, Royal George, Royal
William, and St. George, are said to be after the
Caledonia, and I hope they arc ; but if they are like the
Prince Regent, which was likened to the Caledonia, but
so crank that she was cut down, it is not saying much
for them ; Trafelgar and Waterloo after Caledonia, en.
larged—the former is a good ship, but does not sail, the
latter I suppose will be like her; Camperdo ma wits built
after Impregnable, and is good for nothing as a three-
decker
; Peincess Charlotte and Royal Adelaide after
the lines of Victory—the former is a good ship, though
small ; the latter I know nothing about ; all the ships
of three decks that have Leen yet tried arty very little
for the acquirements of those who built them. We
shall now see what the new system has produced.
The Queen is certainly a good ship ; I have tried her
in tine weather, and I never saw a three-decker
equal to her. She went through several alterations it
is true, but I speak of her as I found her. In
light winds and the sails clewed up with a moderate
swell, the St. Vincent, by clinometer, rolled 60 times
in the hour, 12 deg. to leeward and 4 deg. to windward;
the Queen 201 rolls, 14 deg. to leeward, 11 deg. to wind-
ward; the Canopus 278 rolls, 15 deg. to leeward, 9 deg.
to windward; Albion 4SO rolls, 15 deg. to leeward, 10
deg. to windward. I must, however, observe that the
St. Vincent is a particularly easy ship, and Sir Baldwin
Walker, a much b tier judge, says in bad weather the
(been is perfect. Royal Frederick, Victoria, Prince of
Wales, Royal Sovereign, Windsor Castle, and Marl-
borough are, I believe, built after the Queen, and I hope
they aro so, as in general our attempts at improvement
have turned out failures, and certainly the Admiralty
took an odd manner to get information, for when a com-
mittee of reference was appointed, the instructions were
as follow:—" In the event of any nautical difference of
opinion between the Surveycr and the committee thus
constituted, the report of the Surveyor is to be re-
ferred to the committee, and that of the committee
to the Surveyor; who are to state, after having duly
weighed the arguments iu favour of their respective
views, whether or not they still adhere to their
respective opinione." I wond:r whether the Surveyor
ever attended to such en absurd instruction; I should
think not; and the committee of reference has been
abolished. Tee San Joseph is now brok, n up; she was
a good ship, but being a foreigner was never copied.
The Royal Albert, by Mr. Laing, is larger than the
Qeetn, and there I hepe we intend to stop, for unless
we can produce a larger class of men they Rev, r will be
able to furl the courses. If more two decked ships are
required, we had much bent r cut down our bad three-
deckers, and replace them with nee; ships. Prince
11-gent ryas worthless as a three-d.cl,er, but makes a
pewtra-u1 90-enn Slip. This is certainly en expetetve
ins es of getting good two-decked ships, by first budd-
ing theta up as three•dcekers and cutting then down;

but as we have made blunders we had better acknow-
ledge them.
I now come to the two decked ships; they have
been cut up without mercy. At the end of the war we
had 159 ships of two detles, not including those on
the stocks ; 23 prison ships, receiving ships, powd
magazines, &c. .Of the 159 four have been turned
wsti
hunitirt
Anson,phonsoe without
bat
di
übbetetuoic: steamers,
ianatconvict
ships, 1
lazarettos,
cut
receiving
e et
io y frigates,ng
ships, ;le
.8,
and 111 have disappearedesl.eB,a;
except2a scosting
foosi
tialtogether,ioonwnge:_.BBT,7hs6oe2arlitn.e:deatdluoa
turned
t two-deckedeat
dhb e;pn rbtio oi
built
ships have been broken up, cut down, or converted,
in 1815, costing 86,0491., was broken up in 1841. The
convict ship in 1843. The Vindictive, built in 1813,
costing 81,540/., was cut down in :1832, and was then
put out of sight on the upper part of the harbour for
ten years, because Mr. Blake, who cut her down, con-
trived to get six guns ahead, in a line with the keel, which
no other builder had thought of. Sho has been at sea
two commissions, has been highly spoken of, and is now
ready for a third. Since 1815 we have launched 49 two-
decked ships. The Minotaur, costing 76,6621., has been
converted into a convict ship without being at sea;
so has the Black Princ, ; and the Defence, costing,
I suppose, as much. Two which have been at sea
have been turned into store ships and coal
depots; one into a trooper, and one burnt ; two of them
were only built in 1819; there now remain 40. Of the
war two-decked ships which have disappeared, seven
were built between 1765 and 1780, 20 between 1783
and 1793, six between 1796 and 1800, and 31 between
1800 and 1814. Of the immense number of ships taken
from the enemy during the war, the Canopus and Im-
placable alone remain. 22 convict ships—receiving
ships—have disappeared also. It is not possible that all
these ships should have been worn out. The Canopus,
taken in 1797, and the Implacable, in 1805, are still in
existence ; what year they were built in I do not know,
but as 11 have been converted into frigates it is pre-
sumable that others were fit for the came purpose. We
know that the Tremendous was sentenced at Wool-
wich to be broken up, but was saved, became a fri-
gate, has been to the Pacific, and is now ready
for sea. We have now, in addition to the war line-of-
battle ships, two decked ships of various builds. Sir
Robert Seppings introduced the 92 gunned ships,
on two decks, the same tonnage as the largo three-
deckers. Of that class we have three. The Rodney is
the only one tried; she is a fine warlike ship but is not a
very superior sailer. The late Surveyor launched two
93-gun ships and nine 80's; there are various opinions
about them; in smooth water I believe they sail well
when not overloaded; but when deep under a head sea
they lose much of their sailing oualitiee, and if the
reports laid before Partiansent be true they roll terrifi-
cally. But without giving any opinion of them, one
thing is quite certain—if they are bad ships there are too
many built and budding; if they are goud ships, why
have they beea discontinued? That a set was made
against the late Surveyor is most true, whether just cr
not I cannot sly; and we all kuow how difficult it is to
g,l et the truth. My own opinion is that we plunged
into a new system with too much precipitation, and have
abandoned it without being certain we have adopted a
better. 'Tae present plan, I believe, is to give more
length, re duce the breadth, arid flatten the floors of the
late Surveyor's ships that are not too far advanced; and
I do trust they will try one before they go headlong into
this new system.
No shipbuilder of the old school has as yet produced
anything remarkable as a line o' beetle ship, and it is
singular that the best two-decked ships we have for all
purposes are those built after the Canopus, which ship
Sir George Cockburn very properly brought forward
and saved from destruction. 'The 70-gunned ships that
take the place of the 74 have not been tried. There are two
of them, and we seem to have quite forgotten that there
aro such seas as the North Sea and Baltic, where small
ships en two and three decks, with a light draught
of water, aro indispensable. There are also many
places where the like qualification is necessary; and
I well recollect that during the siege of Cadiz we
were obliged to look up all our old 64's, with a light
draught of water, so that they might lay clear of the
enemy's shells. Another thing we seem to have for-
gotten, that all the work of the war was done by the
74's, and that the large ships did not stand the block-
ade so well as the small ones. I shall be told, no doubt,
that our 74's aro not fit to go into the line, as other na-
tions have increast d the size and calibre of their ships.
That is quite true, but there was no necessity for letting
them go to decay and breaking them up. Some have
been turned into 50-gun frigates, and we are now build-
ing frigates of 60-guns. Had the upper-deck guns and
poops been removed from the small 74's, as was done
with the Elephant—which, by the bye, was broken up
afterwards without being at sea—they would have made
very good 60 gun frigates till they were worn out.
Then, and not till then, should we have built frigates of
that magnitude, if it was found they were good ships
at sea.

The 50-gun ships and 44's on two decks, 26 in number,
are all gone. We persisted in building these ships
many years after the youngest boy in the navy knew
they were useless. The last. I think, was the Isis, and
she was converted into a frigate: I blame those who
continued to build them at a great expense, and I think
those who got rid of them would have shown more
judgment had they converted them into receiving-ships,
coal depots, &c., instead of many tolerable two-decked
ships. The greatest slaughter of all was the frigates,
from 30 guns and upwards. At the end of the war we
had 162, besides store and receiving ships. The large
frigates were thought perfection till the American war
proved they were totally incapable of contending with
the large American frigate.?; but notwithstanding that,
and the number we had on hand, I find by a Parlia-
mentary return dated the 24th of April, 1846, since the
year 1815 we built no less than 45 from 42 to 46 guns,
only 13 of which have been to Se 3.
I shall first examine what has become of the war
frigates, and afterwards what has become of the 42 and
46-gun frigates built since 1815. It appears by the
Ntwy List, published by authority, and also by other
official documents, that all the 162 frigates have disap-
peared, except 7 fit for sea ; 3 have been cut down to
corvettes and 1 turned into a screw-steamer; 25 have
been turned into coal depi s, receiving ships, and laza-
rettos; 2 into troop ships. and 125 have disappeared
altogether. Of those built since 1815, 12 have been
turned into dere): and coal hulks; 4 cut down to cor-
vettes; 3 into screw-steamers; 1 paddle-steamer ; 1
burnt; 1 lost. 23 remain as frigates. Several of the
12 del-.7ns have never been at sea. The Arnphion, a
screw vessel, had her bows altered twice, at an ex-
pense of 6 928/., and was two or three years in the
hands of the engineer, and I don't know if she is ready
yet. Tho Horatio has had her stern fitted for a screw
in an extraordinary manner, but has not yet been
tried; nor have the other three. Twenty-two out of
the 45 built since 1815 remain as frigates; generally
speaking, the 42 and 46-gun frigates were good ships.
' Six frigates of 32 guns, 12 pounders, built is the war,
were useless. I commanded two of them; they were
very crank, and could neither fight nor run away. Of
these cut down without being at sea, the Amez ,n, built
in 1821, cost 42 920/., was cut down in 1844 ; the
Dmialus, in 1826, cost 35,009/., cut down in 1344;
Brilliant, built in 1814, cost 49,8031; Thames, built in
1823, cost 37,051/.; Bacchus, in 1817, cost 34,6911., and
Ilebe, in 1826, cost 32,4841, were turned into huls.
In addition to these, the Ttincowalee and Amphitrite,
costing, I suppose, as much as the others, were cut
down to corvettes, and the latter had her bow lengthened,
without doing her any good. Tigris and Statira, on the
stocks, well advanced, were pulled to pieces, and their
materials converted to other purposes.
The line• of batt:e ships and frigates built since 1815,
and broken up, cut down, and converted without being
at sea, cost 619,700/, and I dare say the cutting down.
converting, &c., did not cost less than 200,000/, if I
may judge by the expense of cutting down and repairing
the Dublin, which amounted to 52,839/. I think it was
after the first commission an attt mpt was made to break
her up, and an estimate of the repairs necessary was
s,ut in, amounting to 40,0001. This rather alarmed
their Lordships ; they or tort cl her to be re-surveyed,
the estimate was reduced to 10,0001., and it actually cos:
8,937/. 15e. 10d. The expense of building the Amphi-
trite and Trincomalee I have no return of, but I sup
pose it could not be less than 73,0001., besides the cutting
dowa and lengthening. We have now on the " Navy
List," four frigates of 60 guns building, 27 frigates of
50 guns, including those cut down ; 10 building; 38
from 30 to 46 guns; one building—all, I believe, good
ships, though few in comparison with what we had at
the end of the war.

Of frigates from 20 to 30 guns we had, in 1815, 50,
many of which ought never to have been built. Six, I
believe, mounted 22 carronades; one of them and a cor-
vette were taken by an American frigate; they sailed too
badly to escape, and their shot could not reach their
opp nent. They were much worse than the old 28,
such as the Hinde, which ship might have been copied
if it was thought necessary to build such small frigates;
but the opinion then, as is now, that no frigate-built
ship should be under 30 guns. The ship-sloops of 16
guns, but nominally 22, were converted into frigates by
Mr. Yorke 'd Admiralty--which class of vessels was
persisted in long after all practical men thought them
useless. They have now all disappeared except the
Perseus receiviTz-ship in the river.
Nevertheless 24 ships of 28 guns, commonly called
" donkeys," were built after the war; one has been cut
down to a corvette, and answered much better, the rest
have all disappeared tut 10; and six converted into stole
and receiving ships, and a new class of 28-gun frigates,
pierced for 30 guns, were brought forward
h but muchy the hie
Surveyor, much superior to the donkeys,'
inferior, I think, to the old ships from 42 to 46 guns, the
isappeat ed as I have already
greater part of which have d
shown.

Some of "donkeys" were built by amateurs, but
were not much better. Two of them—the Challangtr
and Tyne—were so crank that Lad they engaged esch
other with a press of sail the shot of the weather
ship would have gem under the keel of the lee one, and
the shpt of the ke ship over the trucks of the weather
one. Of ;TKOs order 20 guns there were no less then
328. The best class of these vessels were the 18-gun
brigs; we used to think them perfection, but the Admi-
ralty of the day thought otherwise, and built a set of
corvettes longer than the brigs. They were soon dis-
cr.rded es being btu] vcs,,els and unsafe. Lord Spencer's
Admiralty built a %%hole lot of flit and useless gun brigs
and named them after his Lordship's houadv. They