The Sun.
London, England, 1859-10-18 00:00:00

MANNING THE NAVY.

Sir Charles. Napier presents his compliments to
the Editor of . The Sun, and requests he will have
the kindness to publish the enclosed letter.
Oct. 17.

To THE DUKE OF SOMERSET, FIRST LORD OF THE

ADMIRALTY.

Aly Lord,—As the country seems determined
that the navy should be in an efficient state, and
more popular than it has been, I beg to point out to
your grace what changes appear to me necessary
to accomplish that object ; and, having done so, I
shall then examine into the plan for the proposed
reserve.

When a sudden augmentation of the nary is re-
quired, and ships are commissioned, the marines,
bays, and officers are appointed, and part of the
petty officers and idlers arc obtained without much
difficulty. In this state the ship remains months,
having the most expensive part of her crew on
board. Thus we have two ships in commission,
one with a full crew on board waiting to be relieved,
and another, with perhaps a third of her crew, wait-
ing for men. This has been going on ever since
the peace of 1815; and although we have an Admi-
ralty costing upwards of £300,000 a-year, no
board has ever hit on a method of manning
the navy economically and expeditiously.
And if Parliament had not induced the

late Board of Admiralty to appoint a commission
of inquiry, we might have remained in the same
state for the next 20 years, seeing other nations
manning their fleets without difficulty, and this
great maritime country helpless, with material in
abundance, but the personnel to set that material in
motion not to be had. Surely there must be some-
thing wrong, but that something no Admiralty has
been able to discover.

It is admitted that when men are voted and en-
tered there is no difficulty in keeping up the num-
ber; the difficulty is to keep under the vote, but the
moment an emergency arrives and some thousands',
or indeed hundreds, are wanted, we ars all abroad.

This is not surprising, as the sailors are Cl
in the different trades, and they will not leave their
employment to enter the navy unless it is made
worth their while; and experience tells us we nave
never yet come up to their mark.
I do not say that improvements have not been
made, but our improvements have not kept pace
with the times; there are still many grievances,
and the Admiralty are slow in redressing them.
The greatest of all evils is the confinement men
are subject to on board a ship. It is true, when a
ship is fitting out there is no lack of leave, but the
moment she goes to Spithead, or to the Sound,
leave is stopped and drill begins, and the drill is
seldom carried on with judgment ; this disgusts the

men and deters others from entering.
Another cause of complaint is the discomfort of
the hulks when the ships are fitting out ; and there
is not the least necessity for this. I and others have
brought this under consideration over and over
again, but without effect. No ship ought to be com-
missioned till she is perfectly ready to receive men,
and discipline ought to begin the first day the pen-
nant is hoisted ; the men should be paid weekly,
moderate leave given, and officers and men made
as comfortable as if the ship had been six months in
commission.

Suppose, my lord, we required artificers for the
dockyard, and did not pay their wages for four or
five months. Do you think, my lord, they would
enter? Not a man of them; they would go to the

_
merchant yards, where they are better treated.
The Admiralty never seems to know that when a
man goes on board a ship he has seldom a farthing in
his pocket, and perhaps not a rag to his back. Ile
is obliged to take up his bed and bedding from the
paymaster, clothe himself and fit out his mess.
That, thanks to the manning commission, is now
remedied, but he has not wherewithal to buy his
little comforts, but must go in debt to the bumboat
man, and pay 23 per cent. above the value, and
perhaps be cheated out of 25 per cent. more ; and
not till the ship is ready for sea does he receive
more than his monthly money, and sometimes not
that; and when he is paid what is called his two
months' advance, he liag perhaps four or five months'
due. All this time lae has been running in debt to
the bumboat man for himself, and, if married, for
his wife and family. It is true the seamen now
get a bounty, but that is only temporary, and given
because they were not to be had without it, and
even now it has been cried down in parliament by
some of the wise men who have hitherto ruled the
navy. Another grievance, which is, I believe,
about to be remedied, is the delay in paying the
allotments to seamen's wives, which ought to be
done immediately they enter, and not keep them in
poverty for months.
Some improvement has been made in the method
of clothing, but more is wanted. Why should riot
a captain be allowed to contract with a tailor to
supply his men? When an officer or a private gen-
tleman wants a coat he does not go to a iv
se ;
he is not obliged to hive his clothes pulled to pieces
and renewed, but a sailor is.
The men should be measured, and a contract
made in the presence of the signing officer of the
ship, and the clothes paid for by the paymaster,
and charged to the men if they have no money, or
paid by themselves if they choose, the Admiralty
taking care that a standard cloth is fixed. This
would put an end to all contract jobbery.
When the ship is ready for sea, drill, which is
absolutely necessary, commences, but that ought to
be conducted with judgment, and experienced men
ought not to be confounded with recruits. And ships
ought not to be sent to out•of-the•way places, and
leave stopped. Drill is always irksome, and as
much indulgence should be shown as possible.
Some captains have no idea of this, and are at
it morning, noon, and night, while both captain
and officers go on shore for their amusement,
and the men are kept on board, sometimes
seeing their wives rowing round the ship and not
allowed to come on board, a distant view of their
wives being the only matrimonial comfort allowed
them,„„
;'.ti a ship comes into port she should be paid
immediately, and leave given to the men to go on
shore to enjoy themselves, and not kept on board
till the ship is ready for sea, and then paid per-
haps the day before she sails, and in war time
very often on the day she sails.
When a ship arrives from a foreign station, and
is to be paid off, it would be much better to turn
her over to the Superintending Admiral, who
would unrig her and return her stores in' an or-
derly manner instead of getting rid of them in the
hurried, slovenly way that is too often the ease.
This is, I believe, at last discontinued, after hun-
dreds of representations having been made to the
Admiralty. If such a system were adopted, both
in fitting out and paying off, I verily belieVe
nearly one-half of the expense would be saved.
We have now a Channel Fleet, which we never
ought to be without ; and we have also a Mediter-
raneanyleet, and surely there can be no necessity
for keeping ships so long on one station. What
is to hinder one of the Channel ships sailing for
the Mediterranean, and one of .the Mediterranean'
ships sailing for England the same day, thus
giving the men an opportunity of seeing their
friends a little oftener? A merchant sailor is never
absent more than a year ; but a man-of-war's man
may be four or even five years from home at .a
time.
When a ship is in want of repairs she ought to
be returned to the Superintending Admiral, and
all hands be moved into another ship ready to
receive them, taking with them all the little com-
forts they have collected for the last five years, and
not sent about their business, with orders (if con-
tinuous service men) to join the flag-ship when
their leave is expired.
This would obviate the necessity of that want
of all system, paying a ship off -whey she is in a

~u~,y

Wat
gh state of discipline. Officers e Dui
then find themselves in a new s rihe,Wipline7\
the same, and leave in proper pr tlion should be -
.I_4t
-given, and what. officers it were cr- to change
(to make way for others) shoul 4raklu all y reA;ri.!dr-f;
Hewed. 0
I now come to Greenwich Hosp a re 4,'
garded by the public as a splendi veinent for,.
British seamen ; but jobbery is carried.%) a -0•catoo
length there. Last session I asked for a committee
of inquiry. The house, I think generally, adpiittcd
that it was required, but the Admiralty begged so
hard, and former First Lords, who had done nothing
to improve it, succeeded in persuading the house to
adjourn the appointment of a committee to another
session ; and perhaps your grace may order an in-
quiry, which, if a searching one, might be more
efficient than a committee of the House of Com-
mons.

The public are not aware that when an Officer
goes into Greenwich Hospital he retains his half-
pay, and, if wounded, his pension ; but when a
sailor or marine goes there he loses his pension, and
if he happens to be wounded he loses that also. No
matter if he has lost both legs—aye, and both arms
-to boot—he gets no more indulgence than the man
who goes into Greenwich for his length of service,
viz., a shillirig a week tobacco money. A wounded
sailor ought certainly to preserve his pension for
wounds, and a simple pensioner should have six-
pence a day.
Were Greenwich Hospital got rid of, and the re-
venue given over to worn•out and wounded men,
they would have a handsome retirement, and live
at home with their,friends in happiness and com-
fort, instead of living in splendid misery at Green-
wich: A man applied to me some time ago for a
pension. The following was the red-tape reply of
the Admiralty ;—" You may attend at the Admi-
ralty-office, Somerset-house, if you think proper, cn
he first Thursday in any month, at 10 o'clock,
a.m., for examination as to your claim for this in-
dulgence ; but I am to add, that unless you are very
old, and altogether disabled (from wounds orhurts)
you will stand very little chance of admission.—
James Chapman, 22, Shure-street, Dundee."
Now, my lord, it was very easy for the Secretary
of the Admiralty to write such a letter. But where
was a worn-out old man to find money to convey
him to Somerset-house on the chanee of getting into
Greenwich Hospital? This I pointedont to the Ad-
miralty, and suggested he should be surveyed at Dun-
dee. This was not complied with, but I received
another letter, saying if he came to town he should be
admitted and taken care of at Rockingham House.
This was something better, but how he is to get to
town I do not know.
When men receive a rupture in the service they
only get gratuities of five or six pounds, and if they
cannot do a man's work they must go to the union ;
and yet we are told one of the great encourage-
ments to men to enter the navy is being taken care
of if disabled in the service.

I bs
ce
rcv
carried
nowia.
iand
ddc oiomfu
the
elmdyo lordnot ameliorationsdu
believek e,
there
havete.hr
ee
would
projectedb e a recommendedre-
serve,
great difficulty in forming it.
It seems now understood we are always to have a
Channel fleet, and if any attempt is urido by the
House of Commons to destroy it, I hope we shall
have a Prime Minister who has virtue enough to
resign his place, and independence to tell the
House of Commons that without a fleet he will not be
responsible for the safety of the country; and if wo
have not a Minister capable of so doing, I trust we
shall have an Admiralty who will not serve under
such a Minister. Depend upon it, my lord duke, it
will never come to that. No House of Commons
would ever think of reducing the navy contrary to
the opinion of the Government, and the country
would never allow the House of Commons to do
anything of the sort. Well, I shall suppose we
have a Channel fleet of 10 sail of the line ; and, for
the sake of clearness, they should be manned with
800 officers, men, and boys, and 200 marines. All
the blue-jackets ought to be able seamen. In time
of peace only 100 marines should be embarked, and
their number filled up by A.B's. I don't mean to
reduce
increasedt h e
the
and marines,
squiteeap
orthet contrary,to n
sg
a riisth. ey shouldgarrisoned
b by
be
them.
rn
the
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e oofi
anothern 'spv
lsaehrt
ship ready
re e
aTwdhyaitsctho
wouldsh oul
received
givebte d
us
se s -
an
had
ald
at
once 20 sail of the line, manned with 650 men each.
The officers, boys, and idlers (which are easily ob-
tained) would amount to 150 more.
To complete them we are obliged at present to
fall back on the coast-guard and coast volunteers.
The first being drafted would endanger the revenue ;
and the second would be comparatively useless,
as they are not obliged to go more than 100
leagues from the land ; besides destroying your fleet
for the defence of the coast, "all of which should
be efficient ships," and never touched till the last
extremity. It is to obviate this that we are now
searching for a reserve of disciplined seamen to the
extent of 30,000 men.
On 111,3 first breaking out of war we must not
suppose that 20 sail of line and 10 sail of the
coast ships, which can only be considered sea-militia,
would be sufficient for the home stations and to rein-
force our squadrons abroad ; it is for that purpose
that the 30,000 men arc required, and that the
marines should garrison our seaports.
We have now in all our ports ships quite ready to
orderedntr eemeirbes seeer
rmt
vwo
eo
o:niuow,ilanidind itejhwin the event of war the necessary
ior
uimmediatelyrespective
all to
be
se
iciaoi
tim) commissioned, ecodiul ,
it (
171 and
ought to be told off beforehand ; in addition to the
reserve the marines should be embarked, and the
moment the crews get on board, they should find the
captain and the officers ready to recievo them, the
hammocks slung, the mess utensils on the table, and
their dinner conked. The next step to be taken is to
call out the militia, to replace the marines in the
seaport towns ; they would have ample time to be
disciplined, protected by the fleet, and thus in ono
month the country would be armed to the teeth, and
ready to fight any two nations that thought proper
to attack us.
1 now come to the most difficult part, that is, the
formation of the reserve : that is purely a money
question ; so, if the money is forthcoming, the diffi-
culty vanishes. If the country will not give the
money we must remain as we are, open to attack and
insult by nations better prepared than ourselves ;
and if we meet with a disaster it will not be so easily
recovered as many people imagine.
Parliament has voted £lOO,OOO to form this
reserve. It is proposed to give each man £5.
For this he must be ready at all calls. He must
serve 28 days each year, and must know all his
drills. During this time he will receive the same
pay, provisions, and the same privileges as seamen
serving. Now, my lord, to make this reserve effi-
cient, they must give up all trades except the
coasting trade. Now, a sailor in the prime of life
does not like to be thus restricted. He is fond of
wandering all over the world ; and if he is not in the
prime of life, he is not fit for the reserve. Your
grace will find that £5 is not a sufficient induce-
ment for a good seaman to take up such a line. It
appears to me the formation of the reserve must be
begun with men who have served ten years in
actual service. At present those men are entitled
to a pension; that should be abolished, and they
should only be entitled. to enter the reserve.
They should be designated the Queen's Naval
Guards; and they should be exempt from corpo-
ral punishment when serving; they should be
men of exemplary conduct, and after having been
ten years in the reserve they should receive a
good pension, but subjected to be called upon, if
fit, and wanted, and then designated the OH
Guard, and receive, as they do now, both pay
and pension. They should be; eligible to civil situ-
ations, and care should be taken to employ them
if fit. If artificers, they should be preferred to
others to serve in the dockyards, which is never
thought of; on the contrary, the dockyard officers
are generally s(rainst them. This ought not to be.
Now, my lord,b comes the question, what pay
is sufficient to induce men to join the reserve?
Five pounds will certainly not do. We must be
careful not to risk a failure, and we ought to
make searching inquiries among the men them-
selves what, in their estimation, would be suffi-
cient encouragement to induce them to adopt the
coasting trade, so as to be at hand at all calls.
Whatever is thought just must be given. There
is no help for it, for neither the sailor nor the
country will stand compulsion.
The ballot will be fair, but the ballot would
not furnish trained men. It would he easy to
register all the 'long-shore men, and draw them
for the naval service ; but, as I have already said,
that would not get you trained seamen—it would
only get you coast volunteers, which you have
already.
In 18-11' I brought a bill into Parliament for regis-
tering the•seamen, and authorising the Queen to
call them out by classes, beginning with those just
out of their apprenticeship. This bill provided that
skinasters and owners should be obliged to dis-
Mtge' men coming under the proclamation, and to
tfio.:e men a bounty should be given. That was cer-
tainly a mild compulsion, but still it was compulsion,
and the House of Commons would not entertain it ;
and the Admiralty shortly afterwards gave up the
registration tickets, and left us just where we were
in 1815. So many improvements have taken place
in all the navies of the world, that this system, or
rather no system, will not now do ; and if we are to
be preserved from danger and insult, no time should
be lost in doing what the House of Commons and
l countrylord,
byo that sayin expect. I s
England r:
halleoneluedxetuchtriss
grace's obe-
ralty will do its duty.--I remain jiiAs
NAPIER.
dient servant, tlheteteAr,dimniy
o_
18, Albemarle-street, London, c. 14.