The Sun.
London, England, 1847-01-25 00:00:00

(From the Hampshire Independent.)
- There cannot be more ?convincing prodfs of rthe Bete
.rioration of our naval officers in point of professional
'..fficiency than has been furnished by recent events. At
a-time when our navy numbered fully three times as
hfiny vessels, and we maintained four times as many in
'Commission as we do at present, so many accidents never
occurred within such a short spsce of time as have hap-
pen, d during the last three we, ks, excepting from stress
of weather, which in none of the late cases has been
even the-remote cause. There cannot be the shadow of
a doubt that had Capt. Onslow possessed the judgment
necessary for the commander of a British man- of-war.
the Daphne would never have gone on shore,, even al-
though the pilot had been, as it is' said he was, in a
state of inebriety, because he (the Captair) would have
,een the impropiiety of getting a ship under way after
sunset on the eve of a dark night, to best out through
a long and narrow channel, with shoals on each side.
There cannot be a question that if the most
'common prudence bad _ been used on board: the
Hyacinth, either in keeping a good, look out prior
to her falling in with the Wanderer, or in endea-
iOuilng by seamanlike man'ceuvres to avoid collision
when the:danger became aPparent, th onsequences of
that disaster would have either been wM-y obviated, or
so materially lessened, that neither vessel would have
sustained more than temporary injury, and the Hyacinth
might' have proceeded toAheerness without detention, or.
putting -her crew to tgr inconvenience and expense 1_
going to their friends by land from this port. It /11
equally obvious that the wreck (for a total wreck it will
be) of the Sphynx steam sloop in Freshwater Bay, Isle
of Wight, has been the result of a gross neglect of the
most. csointnon precautions which the possession of a very
small modicum- of seamanship would have readily sug
gested. "ThWad, one of the most essential and unerring
guides in thick weather, appears to have been totally for-
gotten; and the speed was altogether much too great-, con-
sidering the supposed position of the vessel, and the at-
mospheric obscurity. All these circumstances combine to
form a mass of evidence conclusive as to the fact which
we have frequently before adverted to, of the lamentable
want ofprofessional experience in our present race ofnaval
officers, and prove the positive necessity ()Nome alteration
being speedily made in the mode of instructing them,
so as to insure their possessing at least a tolerable de-
gree of knowledge of nautical matters, enough to en-
able them to conduct the vessels intrusted to their
charge with safety to them and their crews. That such
is not the case at present we know, even independent
of the recent proofs, and the causes are obvious to every
person competent to form a judgment on the subject.
Our midshipmen and mates are too much of gentlemen
—too fond of gaudy uniforms and white gloves—too
wwe r
o e
areeye-witnesses
o st uhpa
tp o supposed
ed
ship,
to
andsomebe
hmuch attached to shore going amusements—and have
too little exercise at sea during their probationary term
of service, to learn their profession. We ourselves
the nautical acquirements of the mates of the Excellent,
h
ttehyi the elite gentlemen were rowing for amusement inone of the
boats reaprsersfoinre of
themeano Navy.efea that Thesevery
ospeeimen of
essential part of a seaman's knowledge would have
disgraced a crew of raw jollies. As it happened they
did not drift out of the harbour, which we devoutly
prayed they might,!seeing it would probably have proved
oeneficial to them as a lesson of practical utility.
They were not preserved from this by their own ex-
ertions, but by the labour and skill of two stout boys
who, luckily for them, chanced to be with them, and by
tracking the boat along the beach at Blockhouse, which
they had not sense enough to do, saved them from the
fate of Gay's " Bear in a boat." It may be objected,
that officers are not required to perform this service, but
to direct others; but how can any man tell what lie may
be called upon to perform ? and how can any officer
properly direct others to do that of which he is himself
profoundly ignorant ? What would these gentlemen
themselves say of a military officer who did not know
how to handle a musket? The mates of the Excellent
were at this same period so thoroughly ignorant of sig-
nals, that if one were made to the ship, and the signal
man chanced to be out of the way, they were compelled
to consult the table of flags in the book, before they
could decide upon what symbol each flag denoted !
%Ve have no doubt that they were as profoundly
ignorant of all other points of their profession, except the
comparatively useless ones of theoretic gunnery and the
minutice of nautical astronomy. At the same time we
have every reason to believe—having seen divers of them
clad in scarlet hunting frocks and white leathers— they
were quite adepts in that exercise. These are the men
who are selected par excellence (oh I excellent !) to com-
mand our ships and fleets, and who bid fair to lose them.
We trust the late disasters will impress a useful lesson un
the minds of the Lords of the Admiralty, and that they
will see the necessity of making these, young gentlemen
learn the practical duties of their profession, aid by
keeping our ships more at see, give to all hands a better
opportunity of acquiring knowledge, and keeping them-
selves in exercise, for assuredly the time is not far ars-
tact when they will be called on to put all they do know
into practice, and it will not do for the enemy to find
then., as he would now, unready.