The Sun.
London, England, 1859-12-17 00:00:00

THE FRENCH NAVY.

A very interesting paper, from the pen of M Rey-
baud, in the new number of the Revue des Deux
Mondes, published this day, contains some details
as to the manning and officering of the French navy,
which are not less interesting from the fact of the
apprehensions of a collision with our " powerful"
ally having temporarily subsided. From this paper
I find that the French navy, exclusive of midship-
men (aspirants), comprises 1,563 officers to wit :
33 Flag officers (admirals, vice-admirals, rear-admirals).
110 Post captains (capitaines de vaisseau).
220 Commanders (capitaines de fregate).
650 Lieutenants.
550 Mates (enseignes).

1563
This list suggests to the Revue the following re-
flections
Our real effective strength of officers is, there-
fore, 1,563, agginst about 5,000 borne on the books
of the British Admiralty. The difference is great,
and the inferiority of our position obvious—but it
is still more perceptible on tracing the distribution
of that body of officers on board the fleet in case of
a general armament. It is evident that in the case
of a war it would be necessary to fit out, at the out-
set, all the steamers capable, first, of sustaining the
enemy's fire ; secondly, of chasing as cruisers mer-
chantmen belonging to the nation we are at war
with ; thirdly, of carrying stores, ammunition, and
troops to our colonies, or to accompany as trans-
ports a war fleet, with a view to an expedition
or a landing ; fourthly, of defending commercial
harbours, or the more important military harbours
unprovided with batteries and fixed defences. It
would, moreover, be necessary to arm en flute the
few sailing ships we have left, and which in this
form might be very useful when amalgamated with
a transport a piece, towing them when necessary.
For frigates and large sailing corvettes, essentially
fast sailers, their destination is marked out before-
hand ; they should proceed to distant seas, where
coaling is impossible, and inflict on the enemy's
commerce injuries it could not escape. Out of our
27 sailing frigates, 20 are admirably adapted for
this kind of service ; and all our corvettes are also
well fitted for it. The advantage of such a fleet is,
the case with which it can be fitted out. Every
ship of those two classes once afloat may be consi-
dered as prepared for sea. The guns and stores are
all ready for use in the dockyards, and our sailing
cruisers might have a good offing before the enemy
could despatch any steamers to intercept them. The
sailing vessels below the rank of corvettes would
not be included in an armament of this description.
As regards the steam fleet, it would also be neces-
sary to make a selection. For the paddle steamers
no vessels should be taken below corvettes, though
first-class despatch boats (avisos) would be useful
as transports. For flotilla ships, the floating bat-
teries, iron-cased, and plain gunboats, very useful
for the defence of the coasts and the entrance of
navigable rivers, should be taken into account.
The three natural divisions of a complete arma-
ment are, therefore, the following :—War fleet,
transports, and sailing cruisers. Besides the ships
required for these services, we should still have-
1. The training ship at Brest, where midshipmen are
instructed. 2. The gunnery ship, which turns out
first-rate seamen and gunners. 3. The ecole des
mousses (ship-boys' school) at Brest, whence the
cadres of petty and warrant officers are recruited.
4. The flotilla stationed in the rivers of Senegal,
which in case of a war it would be advisable to
strengthen rather than diminish."
—1 he writer, on the above data, constructs a tabular
statement, showing the distribution of officers on
board the fleet in case of a war, and also showing the
strength of a fitet necessary for such a service .

'
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P-4 -4..

1,

e,

WAR STEAM FLEET.
33 line-of-battle ships (screw)
7 iron-plated vessels (screw)
16 frigates (screw)
5 corvettes (screw)
5 first-class advice boats (screw)
11 second-class advice boats (screw)
9 corvettes (paddle)
31 iron-plated gun-boats (screw)
TRANSPORT FLEET.
9 sailing line-of-battle ships
29 screw transports
19 paddle •wheel frigates
SAILING CRUISERS.

20 frigates
11 corvettes, first-class
Staff of officers commanding in chief or
second in command—
Chiefs of the
I taff or aides-de. camp
n the Ports.
Direction of the port and workshops in
the five great military ports
Divisions of crews of the fleet

Aides-de-camp to the maritime prefects
(port admirals)
Officers of the school lina-of-battle ship
Officers of the gunnery line-of-battle
ship and of the sailors' school
Officers of the naval school vessel
Governors and commandants in the
colonies

1732

Personnel strictly necessary for the
service during war
Present number

Remaining disposable

This number strikes M. Reybaud as insufficient,
and he advocates its increase ; but he deprecates
making it equal to our own. " The English," he
says, " have more than 100 flag officers ; we have
but 33, of which barely 20 are fit for active service.
The English have 358 post captains ; we have but
110 ; and other ranks in the same proportion. It
would be a folly to attempt to raise our number of
officers to the level of theirs."
What he suggests as a reasonable increase is to
provide a sufficient number of officers for war pur-
poses, together with a suitabla reserve.
As for the crews, M. Louis Reybaud sets down
69,560 as a suitable number to man efficiently the
fleet sketched in the above table. Adding a reserve
of 10,000 men—this would require a naval force of,
in round numbers, 80,000 men. Such a force, he
says, the country could easily provide. M. Rey-
baud then enters into various interesting details as
to the training and drill of the crews, and thinks
that with careful management and judicious in-
crease in the body of officers, the present comple-
ment of the navy would be sufficient to man and
officer efficiently the 150 war steamers promised for
the year 1871.

ROYAL ENGLISH OPERA.—We regret to state
that owing to the very sudden indisposition of Miss Louisa
Pyne the opera of the " Rose of Castille," announced for
last night at the Royal English Opera, Covent Garden, was
brought to a premature conclusion. The cause of Miss
Pyne s illness was stated to be violent hysteria brought on
by over exerCon. Tt was, however, hoped she would
shortly be able to resume her duties. Much sympathy ,vas
evinced throughout the house on Mr. Harrison making the
circumstance known.