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UNAEMOUEBD

SHIPS.

SrOTTISWOODE AND

PRINTED BY NEW-STKEET SQUARE AND PARLIAMENT STREET

LONDON

CO.,

UNAEMOUEED SHIPS

BY

THOMAS BEASSEY,

M.P.

LONDON

LONGMANS, GEEEN, AND

1875.

CO.

UNAEMOUEED

SHIPS.

The duties and services, which vessels of war are required

to perform, are so

various in their nature that

it

is

altogether impossible that the same classes of ships can

be advantageously employed, both in

for the police of the seas.

line of battle

and

It will accordingly

be more

convenient, in discussing the shipbuilding policy of the

Navy,
classes.

to divide the

armoured from the unarmoured

proposed to consider

In the following pages

it

is

what types are best adapted

of war.
sail

for the protection of

com-

merce, and for maintaining our communications in time

These are duties for which speed, both under

and steam, and seaworthiness under every condition

of weather

in short, all

the qualities which tend to

are essential.
If
it is

make
to

a ship ubiquitous

desired

combine them with moderate tonnage, armour must

uuarmoured ships
indispensable.

be abandoned.

The construction of an armoured fleet does not make unarmoured ships the less necessary. The House
of

Commons was cautioned by Lord Clarence

Paget, in

moving the Naval Estimates in 1864, that it would be a mere deception of the public to pretend that the inB

Unarmoured

Ships.

crease of the armour-plated vessels

would lead

to

any
be a

diminution in the number of unarmoured ships.

The protection
difficult

of

commerce would

certainly

task for our

Navy

in the event of war.

The
Baron

ablest officers in the

French service have abandoned

the idea of contending, to use the words of

Grivel, with the '20,000 guns of our fighting Navy.'

Their aim would be to pursue the '50,000 merchant

ships
'

which are continually engaged in transporting the

wealth of England over the watery plain.

lieve that the
finite

They

be-

French

fleet

could carry on for an inde-

period a privateering war, and that the immediate

result

would be a

rise in

the rates of insurance and the

transfer of the great carrying business of the sea

from

British ships to foreign flags.

They assume

that the

great source of our national prosperity would thus be

destroyed, and that a state of commercial and financial
suffering

would

ensue, of
direct

which the sagacious and

far-

seeing

men who

the government of England

would soon grow weary.

The same
States.

policy

would be adopted by the United

hitherto declined to engage in a

They have

costly rivalry with the maritime

powers of the Old

ships, until lately

World, by constructing the armoured

regarded as indispensable to a
fleet

designed to engage

an enemy in

line of battle.

Their views as to the

kind of maritime operations they could undertake with

the greatest

prospect of success

appear to coincide

exactly with the plans propounded

by Baron

Grivel.

In the Congressional Globe report of the proceedings

fuiuc !

'

Protection of Commerce.
in the United States Congress

3
4,

of

December

1872,

the evidence

is

quoted, which had recently been given

the Committee of Congress

by Admiral Porter before

following question
at the
'

on the decline of commerce.

:

He had

been asked the

to say that
if,

I understand

you

commencement

of the late war,

we had had thu-ty

?

steamers like those running to

New York from Europe,

our entire Navy
I say that without

they would have been as

efficient as

He

replied

'

Twice
ships

as efficient.

hesitation.

The

we had

could catch nothing.

We
"

never had a vessel that could run

down

a blockade-

runner during the whole war, except the " Yanderbilt

and two

others.

Our

ironclads are only suitable for

harbour defence. In case of war with Great Britain or

France, our powers would be exerted in cutting up
their

commerce.

Great Britain could not stand a war

fleet

six

months with the

her
vessels.

of ships

we

could send out

after

branch, and that

They would break her up, root and kind of warfare would be more likely
than fighting with ironclads or

to bring about peace

heavy war

vessels.'

Assuming, therefore, that in the event of war our

The classes
best

commerce would be the

principal object of attack,

it is

important to consider what types or classes of ships are

the best adapted to protect our commerce, to keep

the protec-

cmnmerce.

open our communications with our foreign settlements,

and

to

convoy the supplies of food from abroad, which

are indispensably necessary to the sustenance of our

population.

For such a service we do not want large and

B 2

costly

4
ships.

Unarmoured

Ships.

The

class of vessels

required for the vedettes and

sentries of a fleet of line-of-battle ships, to

fleet

do

for the

what the cavalry does

for an

army, requires more

consideration than has yet been given to the subject.

The saihng
numerous
ters.

fleets

of olden times were attended by a

of corvettes, brigs, gunboats, and cutline has

flotilla

In the present day the screw ship of the

acquired the same mobility as the smallest and lightest

vessel
;

but, just as in military operations

on land, a

whole battalion should not be told

of a
sentry,

off to take the post

nor a regiment of cavalry to escort a

nor 130 pieces of cannon to convoy
to

solitary staff officer,

letter, so it

would be a culpable waste of power

and
costly

employ

powerful

ships

in

services

of

secondary importance.

A
exist

general concurrence of opinion can be

this question

shown

to
in

on

abroad and

at

home, and both

and out of Parliament.

In the debate on the Navy Esti'

mates of 1866, Mr. Hanbury Tracy said there was

prevalent impression throughout the Navy that
fiist

sea-

going cruisers and despatch boats were what

for the safety of our

we

v/anted

commerce.

The

cruising vessels

should be able to go thirteen to fourteen knots, while

the despatch vessels should have a speed of from fifteen
to sixteen knots.'

In the same debate Mr. Graves said

swift

that

'

we wanted

handy
at

vessels of

moderate

size,

capable of remaining at
vas,

sea twelve months under can-

and of steaming

a high rate of speed on an

purposes,
for

emergency.'

We

require for cruising

showing the British

flag in foreign ports in time of

Small Ships.
peace, and for protecting our
vessels

5
in time of war,

commerce

of the Alabama
'

'

class,
'

or of the far

more
tons,

for-

midable

class of the

'Amethyst type, of 1.900

350

horse-power, and 14 guns.

for 70,000/.
It is

Such

vessels

can be built

and must always be most valuable.

an engagement
but
does

admitted that the smaller cruisers must suc;

cumb

to larger vessels in

it

not follow that the smaller classes are incapable of

doing effective service.

'

The prospect of meeting a

'

Ealeigh

'

or

'

Inconstant

is

remote.

Vastum maris

aequor arandum.

A
by the
power

ship of small size

may have

fully repaid

her cost

destruction inflicted on an enemy's commerce,

before she meets with an adversary of overwhelming

;

and, even then, in an engagement between unfiring a fatal shot

armoured steamers, the chances of

For certain important

into the engine-room are about equal for either ship.

services,

and especially

for

why
ships

some

the purpose of securing the means of escape from a

more formidable
class of ships

iron clad

by
;

superior speed, a larger

may be

required

but if the same qualities

of speed can be obtained in the smaller ships, even

though they mount fewer guns, there

said in their favour.

is
'

much

to

be

The

'

Inconstant

is

necessarily

an expensive ship for the service she

perform.

is

intended to

The

original

cost

was 214,000/., with

repairs.
It

subsequent expenditure

of 20,000/. for

was
miral

in

consequence of the
that

representations of

Adto

Porter

the

proposal

of

subsidy

Unarmoured

Ships.

ocean-going merchant steamers was

Congress.

entertained

by-

But

if

the privateers, with

which we maylightly-

have to deal are mail steamers converted into

armed men-of-war,
at an

it

is

not necessary for

its

to build,
'

enormous
'

cost, special vessels,

such as the

Shah,'

or the

Ealeigh,' when,

as Captain

Waddilove has

we might employ the Cunard steamers, which would be much more efficient, for the same
pointed out,
service.

If the

Cunard steamers cannot

'

attain the ex-

treme speed of the

Ealeigh,' they can maintain a

speed of 14 knots for a

much

longer period

and

in

coal- carrying capacity they are infinitely superior.

Privateers

It is

uot probablc that privateering would be under-

bT of

large

taken by
^^

men

of large capital,

who would be
is

disposed

onnage.

spend Considerable sums on individual

that

ships.

The

more reasonable presumption

would be of moderate
size,

the privateers

of high but not extreme

speed, rarely exceeding 12 to 13 knots, and that they

would be formidable, not

so

much from

their

numThey

bers or their individual power, as from the exceed-

ing difficulty of intercepting and pursuing them.

would avoid probably the most- frequented

where alone the
six
'

tracks,

demanded by Sir Spencer Eobinson could be employed, while our comInconstants

'

merce would be imperilled in every other part of the

world.
To
protect

To swccp
bc
'

the scas in search of these wasps

to

it

would

numbers
Necessary
treme^^' speed.

csscutial
'

scud forth a numerous

fleet.

The

lucoustaut

could ucvcr vcuturc to usc

in search of

licr

extreme

spccd

whcu cruisiug

an enemy.

Her speed

"

The 'Inconstanf and 'Volage.'

when

cruising

would be about the same, and therefore

and,

her powers of ranging over the ocean would not ex-

ceed those of the 'Volage

'

;'

if

the speed of the

it is

Volage

'

is

adequate for the purpose,

obvious that
as

the protection of our

effective, if

commerce would be twdce

ships.

we had

double the number of

Assuming, however, that extreme speed is required,

Large
not
for high
''^^^^

by no means follows that large tonnage is a necessity, The fastest vessel in the navy, the yacht Osborne,' is The fastest ships in the a comparatively small ship.
it
'

merchant service are the steamers carrying the mails

between Holyhead and Kingstown, and the blockaderunners which, during the war of the secession, escaped
the United States cruisers
these are
ships of

by

their superior speed.

size,

All

moderate

when compared with

the

'

Inconstant.'
is

True

it is

that her measured mile

speed

such that she could escape from any ironclad

;

that has been built

rate, she

but unfortunately,

at

her extreme

can only carry a supply of coal for 2^ days'

steaming.

At

the comparatively slow

'

speed

of 10

knots an hour, the

Inconstant

'

can only carry coal for

a distance of 2,160 miles, and could not therefore cross

the Atlantic even at the moderate rate of 10 knots

from Liverpool to

New

York.

Whatever be the
unarmoured
10 knots.
speeds will

rate attained

on the measured

Thecruis^iiin^orex-

mile, in cruising in search of

vessels will

an enemy, the speed of

seldom be allowed to exceed

of coal at higher
full

k?ots^^

The great consumption

make

it

impossible to exert the

power

of the engines, except

when

giving chase to an enemy.

Unarmoured
if

Ships.

So again,

fleet

were despatched on the outbreak of

ships

war

to take

up a

position at sea, for the purpose of inif

tercepting the

commerce of an enemy, or

were

sent across the ocean to blockade an enemy's coast, the

speed Avould not be allowed on the voyage to exceed

10 knots.
I quote the following figures from Mr. Eeed's tables,

which show

clearly that the speeds attained

on

trial

can only be attempted on rare occasions, such as the

extreme emergency of

battle,
:

or

the pursuit of an

armed

ship of an

enemy

Too much
sometimes
sacrificed

to obtain

extreme
speed.

Extreme Speed most

costly,

9
in

on naval administraton can be quoted, concurred

the view of Lord Clarence Paget.

In the course of the

same debate, he

said that
if it

'

it

would be a great saving

efficient

of future expenditure

could be shown that

sea-going turret ships might be constructed on a

smaller scale, say 3,500 tons.'

much
for in

A
the

second

'

Inconstant

'

had been provided

;

programme of 1867-8
First Lord,
it
'

but,

on Mr. Corry beto build a

coming

was resolved instead

Volage.'

smaller corvette, the

told

Mr. Corry, as

we

are

by

Sir

Spencer Eobinson, believed that

this ship

might be multiplied without extravagant

her speed of 16-128 knots on a six hours'
rightly regarded as

cost,

while

trial trip

was

ample

for every purpose.

From

the

United States I

may

quote the high

Admiral

authority of Admiral Porter as an advocate of small

ships for the protection of

commerce.

In his report

of 1871-2, after calling attention to the progress of

the principal navies of Europe, he proposed to take

steps to
States
'

make good
in

the great deficiency of the United

navy

cruising vessels, not

Inconstants,' but

by constructing by building twelve wooden vessels

to be full-rigged ships, with

of not over 1,000 tons each, and six or eight similar

ships of iron.
fine

They were
up
and
all

sailing

models and good steam power, the pro;

pellers to trice

were

to be exactly alike.
Mr.
^^^^
^'

We

find our

own Naval

Constructors expressing

their entire concurrence in a policy of

moderate

di-

mensions.

Mr. Barnaby, in a paper read in 1874

before the Institution of Naval Architects, described


10

Unarmoured
'

Ships.
class,

the gunboats of the

Coquette

'

of 400 tons
'

and 60 horse-power, and the sloops of the

class,

Arab

'

600

tons,

and the

'

Darmg

'

class,

900

tons.

All

these vessels

had an average speed of 9^

to 10 knots.

He

pointed out that the relative cost of these several

types was as 4, 7i, and 9 respectively, and that they

were perfect^ adapted

to

for the various duties incidental

general foreign service.

to provide for

When, however,
in

it

be-

came necessary
13 knots

an increase of speed to
ships in-

the lowest speed admissible

tended to protect commerce and destroy privateers

the displacement must be doubled, the horse-power
trebled,

and the

cost of the vessels increased in the

9.
'

proportion of 21^ to

All this had actually been

class.

done in the

'

Magicienne
'

Now,

the question

he asked was

whether we were
of
the

justified in

going

beyond the
there

dimensions

" Magicienne,"

and

whether, in the " Eover " and " Bacchante "

classes,

had not been some

sacrifice of the just

balance

of good qualities, reckoning moderate cost as one of

them, in aiming at too high a speed?

difficult,'

It

is

always

he

said,

" to content one's self with a work-

ing speed, which,

we may be

satisfied, is

on the whole
ships of

the best, so long as a foreign power possesses

a similar class with higher speed.

people

There are always

who

are willing to insist

upon the enormous

of speed.'

superiority of

even a

slight excess

Mr.

Barnaby

believed
in

'there was
respect,

a great

tendency to

exaggeration

that
that

and that a maritime

war would show

working speeds of over 12 to

''Rover'

and

'Bacchante.'
to

11

13 knots would be found

dearly bought.'

have been "generally too

greater credit on the This wise caution reflects the ^ judgment of Mi\ Barnaby because there is a natural
.

Tendency
to ex-

tendency, from a naval architects point oi view, to

aggerate ^^^ value of speed.

exaggerate the importance attaching to speed.

Of the

many
be

qualities

which a man-of-war ought

is

to possess,

speed under steam

the

first

in order of time,

which can

distinctly ascertained.

Seaworthiness, on the other

cruise.

hand, can only be tested in a long

of thousands of pounds

Hundreds
in

may have been sunk

some

Colossus of

the deep

but the waste of the public

money

on ships not capable of rendering services to

is

the country proportionate to their cost,

forgotten or

ignored, while the widest publicity will certainly be

given to any successful

mile.

trial

of speed at the measured

The
tons and
chante,'
Avere

'

Eover,'

having

displacement

of

3,494
'

'Rover'
chante/

700 nominal horse-power, and the

of 3,910 tons and

Bac-

the

same horse-power,
mile
the

designed in
of 15
'

1872
In

to

have a measured

speed
cienne

knots.
'

passing from
cost,

'Magi-

to

the

Eover,' the

as

stated in Mr.

Barnaby 's paper, was increased from

44 in the case of the
'
'

21-| to 40,

and

to

Bacchante.'

The
'

cost of

the
60.

Ealeigh

'

was

as

50,

and that of the

Shah 'as
the
'

do not desire to condemn or

'

criticise

Bac-

chante

class,

but I venture to hope that we

shall not,

except under the most urgent necessity, go beyond the

'

Eover

'

in

the unarmoured classes.

We

can build

12
three

Unarmoured
'Eovefs' for the
In
cost

Ships.

of
the

two

ships

of the
laid

'Shah' type.

discussing
Sir

propositions

down by Mr. Barnaby.

armoured
success

Spencer Eobinson did,

indeed, assert that a speed of 16', knots in

vessels of the British
seas,

some unour
in

navy

is

essential to

upon the

and an absolute necessity

order to prevent the commerce of the country from

being destroyed.
that necessity can

But, as Lord Lauderdale truly said,

only arise

where the privateers

If their speed does not

which threaten our trade with destruction have themselves a speed of

16 i knots.

exceed 13 knots, and no vessels available for privateering at present exist that can cruise at anything like
so high a rate,

14 knots

for

we may be satisfied with a speed of By avoiding the too our own cruisers.

prevalent idea that every man-of-war must be able to

steam at an extreme rate of speed, we

for

the

same expenditure
of vessels.

to

build

may be able much larger

number
Mr. Chiiders

In his speech of 1869, Mr. Childers enumerated

among
class,

the

vessels of the navy, efficient for the pro-

tection of

commerce, twelve corvettes of the 'Blanche'

Druid
with the same speed
with a speed of

with a speed of 13 knots, and carrying 6^-ton

'
'

guns, two of the

class,

and armament,
.1

twelve gun-vessels

knots and with 6^-ton guns,

and seventeen new

and
of
fleet consisted

composite gunboats, with a speed of 10 knots

6i-ton guns.

The

total

unarmoured

66

vessels, all

of whicli were put forward, and rightly

Speed of Cruisers.
so, as

13

capable of performing valuable service, although

not endowed with the quality of extreme speed.

If the
sole

object

were

to

pursue the ordinary

1
r>

vessels of the

merchant
;

service, a speed of

12 knots

Fifteen knots the

extreme
quired.

would
to

suffice

but

it

may be

important, as calculated
effect,

produce a certain moral

to

interrupt
It will

the

regular postal service of an enemy.

be ad-

mitted that the fastest mail steamer does not exceed

14

to

15 knots in smooth water.

all

M. Dislere accorda somewhat higher

the extreme speed

ingly suggests that

we want
15^ knots

is

speed, and that 15 to

is

necessary for ships designed to protect or to intercept

commerce.

'

We

should,'

he says,

'

if

we wish

to

keep

wdthin moderate dimensions, be satisfied with the speed

strictly necessary to disturb

an enemy's commerce.
cruisers

task of capturing the

armed

of the

The enemy
'

would devolve on a few, a very few

speed, such as the " Inconstant
"

ships of

extreme

or the " Duquesne."

The opinion

of Mr.

Goschen may be claimed

in

^^
Goschen.

support of a policy of building smaller ships than those

belonging to the 'Bacchante'

class.

In moving the Navy

Estimates in 1872, he said that the Admiralty intended

'

to increase the

number of the most useful

class of ships
class.

that they

had

at that time, those of the

"Amethyst "

Besides that, they proposed to

corvettes of the

commence two covered "Active" and"Volage" class, large

going 15 knots
;

unarmoured
class

cruisers,

for that

was a

they thought they could increase with great ad-

vantage.

They proposed

also to

complete within the

year the frigates "Blonde," since re-named the "Shah,"

14
;

Unarnioured Ships.
to lay

and " Ealeigh " but they did not propose

down any

new

frigates.

Neither France, Eussia, nor Prussia were

it

building any frigates, and

appeared that the time of

these large vessels, once a most useful class,

had passed
in-

away.'

It is

much

to

be regretted that the policy

dicated in this wisely conceived

programme was not

'

more

closely followed.

The

'

Bacchante

class,

subse-

quently introduced, represents an increase, as compared

with the 'Active,' of 1,000 tons of load displacement,

an advance in the cost of the hull from 80,000/. for the

'

Active

'

to 110,000/. for the

'

Bacchante,' and in the

cost of the engines

from 39,000/. to 72,000/.

;

There
and,
if

is

therefore a total additional cost of 63,000/.

'

the

Active

'

and

'

Yolage

'

were of adequate power, our

to that type instead

expenditure would have produced a more advantageous

result,

had we confined ourselves

of incurring a greater expenditure on larger vessels.

Mr. Goschen's proposals for 1872 also included a

corvette of the
'

Blanche' class of 6 guns, 1,753 tons dis-

placement, and 350 horse -power, and five sloops of the

'Einaldo' class, of 7 guns, 951 tons, and

200 horsevessels to
'

power.

It is not quite clear

what were the

'

which Mr. Goschen referred

a type.
If

in quoting the
'

Einaldo as
class, it will

he alluded to the

Magicienne

'

have been shown already that they were much more

powerful than the
The 'Shan*

'

Einaldo.'

The

disproportionate cost of high speed was con-

Shah.'

spicuously illustrated in the comparison

drawn by Mr.
'

Barnaby between the Shannon

'

'

and the

Shah.'

The

relative displacement

was 5,000 tons

in the armoured.

'

'Sha7inon' and 'Shah.'

as

15
ship.

compared with 5,400 tons

in the

unarmoured

But the horse-power of the ironclad was 3,500, while that of the unarmoured ship was raised to 7,500, the
enormous increase being required in order to gain 3 Both ships were constructed knots additional speed.
to carry 12i-ton

guns

but in the case of the

'

Shannon

the hull and machinery and the two 18-ton bow guns

are protected by 9 -inch armour.

Compared
'

therefore

with the

fast

unarmoured

ships, the

Shannon,' in the
the advantages

opinion of Mr. Barnaby, will have

of a
the
first-class ironclad,
'

all

and would be as unassailable as

'

Hercules
'

'

or the
'

Sultan.*

It

is

not pretended
'

that the
dra,'

Shannon

would compare with the

Shannons
'

Alexan-

but then two

'

'

can be built for the cost

of one

Alexandra.'
M.Disiere.

Passing on to the most recent expressions of professional opinion

on

this subject,

may
'

refer to the

principles so forcibly advocated

by M.

Dislere in his

able

work,

'

La Marine
limited,

Croisiere.'

The
it

displace-

ment must be

both

because

is

desirable
it is

to avoid building

unhandy

ships,

and because

necessary to distribute the strength of the navy, so

that all
hulls,
its

resources

may not be
less

concentrated in a few

exposed, the large no

than the small, to the

various dangers of navigation and naval combat.

We

must therefore give a due proportion to the various

elements, which all combine to

make

the cruiser the

distant representative of the national power.

No

one

of these elements must be sacrificed to another, which

the fashion of the day represents as of primary neces-

16
sity, sucli for

Unarmoured
example
as

Ships,

armour protection or extreme

that

speed.'

M.
cruisers

Dislere

suggests
vessels
as

'

the

most serviceable

would be

armed with two or four 64addition of a smaller

pounder guns, with

calibre, as
it

many guns in

would be possible to place on the upper deck.

knots.

The maximum speed would be 15

loss of a ship of that size

The
tons.
'

dis-

placement should certainly not exceed 2,900

The
"

would not be such a

serious

catastrophe as the loss of a vessel like the " Inconstant

or " Duquesne," costing a quarter of a million sterling

and the

services performed, so long as the cruisers

were

restricted within their appropriate sphere,

would be

much
Admiral

the same whether the vessel w^ere a small corvette

or a large frigate of extreme speed.'

The

bcst type

of cruiser, according to

Admiral
speed

Touchard, should be a wooden

ship, of greater

than the majority of the foreign ironclads,

more handy

under canvas, and costing one- third or one-fourth of

the price of the larger ship.
cost of

That

is

to say, for the

an ironclad cruiser with a covered battery,

ships, their

you would have three or four wooden

guns

mounted en

barbette,

of higher speed, and far better

adapted than any ironclad for long and distant cruises

in time of war.
The
NaA^.^"

The Germans have not attempted

vessels of the
'

to

introduce

Ealeigh

'

type into their Navy.

'

They
Freya,'

have three new corvettes, the

Ariadne,' the

'

and the

'

Louise,'

of 1,258 tons and 350 horse-power;

and they have one larger vessel of the same dimensions

Belative Strength of
as

Unarmoured
the
'

Ships.

17
of

the

'

Magicienne

'

class,

Thusnelda,'

1,846 tons and 800 horse-power.

The smaller

vessels

are armed with five 200-ponnder guns.

Their arma-

ment
with a

therefore

is

relatively powerful
to

but they are

too few in

number

engage in aggressive warfare

first-rate

maritime power.

Our

strenfyth in

unarmoured

cruisers

is still

in ex- Ourreiative

cess of that of

any other naval power.

For every 1,000

strength

tons of merchant shipping our fleet of cruisers contains armoured

32

tons, while the proportion

which the tonnage of the

merin

armoured

cruisers bears to every 1,000 tons of

is

chant shipping
the

in the
tons.

French Navy 14

tons,

and

German Navy 4

According to the Marine Verordmmgs-Blatt, the

German Navy does

merce
of

not aspire to be the rival of the

French, or to give absolute protection to

in time of war.
Little has

German comin point

been done,

fact, to

protect
'

German commerce. The old frigates,

'

such as the
a purpose.

Hertha

and

'

Medusa,' are useless for such

No

originality has yet

been exhibited
navy.

in

naval architecture for the

German

It has been

thought
tried

sufficient to repeat tlie types

which we have

and found

successful,

and to be guided by the

counsel of that able naval architect, Mr. Eeed, whose

resignation of his office at the Admiralty

was a public
The large
Americiin
frigates.

misfortune.

While the naval powers of central Europe have shown no inclination to enter into competition with
England
in the construction of

more powerful

cruisers

than our own, the United States have made constant

18
efforts to surpass

Unarmoured

Ships.

the Navies of other maritime nations

in the speed, dimensions,

and armament of

their cruis-

ing ships.

In 1855 they made a great stride in advance of

anything which had been done before, by building the
'

Colorado

'

and the

'

Merrimac,' ships of 4,600 tons,

which, however, failed to attain a speed of more than

9'5 knots.

The

'

Niagara,' from the

designs of the

celebrated shipbuilder, George Steers,

came

next.

The

dimensions were increased in this case to 5,475 tons,

and the maximum speed attained was 12 knots.

The English Admiralty followed in the same line by

building the
tea,'
'

Doris,'

'

Orlando,'

'

Mersey,' and

'

Gala-

vessels without

a rival in any European Navy.

The

great advance in the size of the

modern
the

frigates is

sufficiently

proved by the

fact

that

'Emerald,'

though of moderate dimensions when compared with

several frigates built in the later days of

wooden The
'

ships,

was a ship of 2,913

rald
Fast

tons, or 31 tons larger

'

than Nel-

son's famous three-decker, the

'

Victory.'

Emere-

attained a speed of 13 knots.

111

or about the year 1860,

some steamers of

Serdiant"
service.

markablc speed were introduced into the merchant

scrvicc.

The

'

Connaught

'

and three

sister

vessels

were constructed

for the mail service

between Holy'

head and Kingstown.

for six

The

'

Connaught maintained,
Persia

months consecutively, an average speed of 15-45

knots.

Among

ocean steamers, the

'

'

acquired

a just

celebrity.

On one

of her

transatlantic trips

this vessel

maintained an average speed of 12*31 knots

throughout the voyage.

''

Large American Frigates.

During the war
witli the Secessionists,

19

some

fast

corvettes were ordered for the United States Navy, the

Confederate

cruisers,

tliough

inferior

in

armament,

having been found superior in speed to the ships of the United States Navy.
vessels of 3,200 tons
'

In order to obtain liigher speeds

were laid down.

'

Of

these, the
'

Guerriere

'

steamed 12 knots, but the

result in the case of the

Odaho was
'

failure,

and the

Wampanoag
sources.
dis'inconordered

must be hereafter described from Americau

quieted

Meanwhile, the English Admiralty had become

by the
the

reports,

which had been circulated

corvettes,

re-

la ting to

new American

and in 1865
'

they ]3roposed to build seven ships of the

class.

Inconstant

In France some vessels were proposed for a simibut of

lar service,

much more moderate

tons,

dimensions.

The

'

Chateau Eenard,' of 1,900

is

and a speed of

14 knots,

an example of the type adopted.

that our

The event proved

they had
of the

naval

administrators

had been most unnecessarily alarmed by the reports

received
of the
anticipated
It

performances
stated
in
Board of

new American
that

corvettes.

was

the report of the

in

Board of Steam Machinery Afloat

cost

1869,

the
;

of

the

'Wampanoag' was
750 tons

chin^y/^"
^^^^'

315,000 dollars

that she could carry only

of coal, of which 200 tons were stowed on the berth deck,

and that

this

supply was

barely enough

for

Owing to the acute shape of these vessels not a single gun could be used on her gundeck in giving chase to an enemy ahead, and even the use of the stern guns was essentially hamfour days' steaming at full speed.
c 2

20

Unarmoured

Ships.

pered by want of room. They declared that no wooden vessel of war of such great length and small proportionate depth, however well put together, could

endure rough seas without evincing a palpable want of

longitudinal rigidity.

They complained

also of the slow-

ness in turning.

The engines and

line,

coal represented 84

per cent, of

all

the weight the hull could

accommodate
cent,

below the water

left for

and thus but 16 per and

was

masts,

sails,

cables, ordnance,

provisions.

They

said 'that the "

fast.

Wampanoag" had undoubtedly

proved very

For twenty-four consecutive hours

her average speed was 16*95 knots, while her maxispeed was 17f knots but at this extreme rate her consumption of coal was 175 tons a day and she
; ;

mum

could only carry fuel enough to steam 950 miles.

quality of high velocity

The
had

was thus about

all

that

been really established

vessel of war.
nificant.
sufficient.

as to

her merits as an

efficient

The weight of her battery was

insig-

Her accommodation for provisions was inHer accommodation for chain cables was
on board were altogether too

also inadequate, as those

short for a vessel of her length to be

moored with conher

venience.

Her accommodation
and in warm

for

crew was
Look-

strikingly confined,

climates, with steam

up, she would have been almost uninhabitable.

ing upon her as a whole, and especially in the light

of a naval vessel for general naval purposes,
it

seemed

impossible to resist the conclusion that she

was a sad

and

signal failure,

and utterly

unfit to

be retained in

the service, and that she would therefore prove a happy

'

The 'Wampanoag'

21

riddance upon any terms that would requite the vahie

of her convertible inaterials.'

The Americans

finally

decided on making considerable reductions in the engine power of this class, and abandoned completely
the intention of giving
originally contemplated.

them the extraordinary speed

Four
boilers

were removed,
10 knots

and these
an hour.

vessels can

now steam

at the rate of

Officers

who, in the excess of their zeal

for

the

efficiency of their

own

service

seem disposed

to require

that every ship built for the British

Navy should be

without a rival in every quality, which can contribute

to

the efficiency of a
this

sliip

of war, should carefully

of the
'

consider
scare.

short history

Wampanoag
state of

We
alarmed
cruisers,

have seen

how

the

House of Commons was

American

at the threatened superiority of the

^^^l^f
^^^l'

and how they accepted without question the

of the
'

proposal to build the extravagant ships

constant
'

In-

class.

Let us turn once more to America,

and

see

what were the opinions entertained by the

as to the state of their

Americans themselves

Navy.

The Board

of Steam Machinery Afloat carefully refleet,

viewed the condition of their

only to be equalled
tual

and with a candour

so habi-

by the self-condemnation

in

this
tliat

country, they, in their report of 1870,

'

observed
witness

it

was mortifying and humiliating

trash that
vessels,

to

the

amount of naval

had been
was

turned out, and of which the Navy, as to

to a large extent composed.'

'

22
Admiral
Porter,
'

Unarmoured

Ships.

Again, in his report of 1871, Admiral Porter said

1871.

Our naval

vessels

have in but very few instances

8

developed

high

speed,

knots

being

the

general

average, while only a few ships liave attained a speed

of 12 knots.

In the French and British Navies, on

the other hand, 14 and 15 knots are almost invariably

attained in the iron

and wooden

vessels built within

the past four years.'

Great
cost of
'

It

was a needless alarm which led

'

to the con-

Kaleigh

struction of the
'

Inconstant,' the

'

Blonde,'

and the
far

class.

Ealeigh,' which, whatever their merits,

were

more

costly than

any

vessels previously designed solely for

engaging small unarmoured cruisers or for destroying

defenceless merchantmen.

The

original estimate for the

;

'

Shah was
'

in

round
'

figures, 200,000/.

the estimate for the

'

Ealeigh

was

180,000/.

How

far the estimate for this latter vessel

it

has exceeded the sum originally contemplated,

I fear, be painful for the dockyards of

will,

Chatham and
class

Portsmouth
Position of
boilers.

to reveal.

One
boilers.

serious

defect

in the

'

Ealeigh
the

'

arises

from the exposed

It

situation

of

machinery and
tlie

has not been possible to place

latter

as completely below the water-hne

and

under the

protection of the coal-bunkers, as in the

frigates.

wooden screw
serious

The comparatively exposed

in the
is

position of the

machinery
that steam

new

vessels

is

the

more

now
pro-

used at the high pressure ordinarily main-

tained
jectile

in

the

modern compound
boiler,

engines.
is

striking the

when steam

carried at

The most recent Programme.

a pressure of not
less

23

than

60

lbs.,

would cause a
of giving
possible

most destructive explosion.

to

The importance
as

machinery as much
in
'

protection

was

illustrated

the

recent action between the French

'

cruiser the
'

Bouvet

and the Prussian despatch boat

Indies.

Meteor,' in the

West

Having rammed the

injury on
'

'

Meteor,'

and

inflicted

considerable
'

his

antagonist, the captain of the

to his

Bouvet

was unable
and he

follow

up the advantage he had gained; because

shot,

machinery had been disabled by a

to

was accordingly compelled

sail.

return into port under

The most recent programme of the English Admiralty embraces three classes of unarmoured cruisers.

Lastpro-

At

the head of the

list,

in the first class, are the

'

In-

constant' and

the 'Shah,' of 5,700

tons and

1,000

horse-power, and

the

'

Raleigh,' of

4,700 tons and

800 horse-power.

The French, not without

regret, are slowly follow-

ing us in the construction of large unarmoured ships.

In 1871 the designs of M. Lebelin de Dionne were

approved
it

for the

'

Duquesne,' of 5,400 tons and

Dislere

as

was

stated

by M.

of

1,800 horse-power.

This ship was to have an estimated speed of 17 knots.

The

vessel

is

now

being built, though very slowly, at

the
'

L'Orient.
projected.

sister ship,

Tourville,' has also

been
'

The armament proposed The

latter,

for

the

.Du-

quesne

'

is

composed of twenty 14 c/m. guns and seven

which are the
largest guns

16 c/m. guns.

admitted into the French unarmoured cruisers, weigh

24
4
tons 18*5 cwt.

Unarm oured
;

Ships,
is

their calibre

6*48 inches

their

battering- charge

is

10 '5

lbs.

and the service-charge

lbs.,

11

lbs.

the projectile for the former weighing 99

and

for the latter 69*5 lbs.

The second
sented by the
this
alus,'

class cruisers of
'

our Navy are repre'

Eover

'

and the
'

Bacchante
'

'

and
Bac-

class

includes the
'

Boadicea
'

and

the

'

Eury'

the

Active

'

and the
their
'

Volage.'

The

chante'

and the 'Boadicea' are ships of 3,910 tons

original
'

and 700 horse-power,

being 170,000/.
are of

estimated

cost

The

Euryalus

and the 'Eover'

3,450 tons and 700 horse-power, and their

estimated cost was 160,000/.

original

The 'Active'

and the 'Volage' are of 3,180 tons and 600 horsepower, their original estimated cost being 126,000/.

The speed of

this class

is

15 knots.

The corresponding

class in
is

of the French Admiralty

programme Durepresented by the

the latest
'

quay Trouin,' of 3,200 tons and 875 horse-power.

The estimated speed

It

of the French ships

stated that the

is

16 knots.

should, however, be

estimates of
trials in

speed and the reported results of actual

the

French Navy must not be unreservedly accepted.

In

armament
our own.
intended

the French ships are decidedly inferior to

The armament
to

of the

'

Duquay Trouin
ships

'

is

consist

of one

16 c/m., or 64-pounder,
will

and eight 14 c/m. guns, while our own

carr}^ sixteen
'

64-pounders and two

'

7-incli guns.

The

Duquay Trouin

is

the only vessel of the class actually

in progress in the

French dockyards.

'

English and French Cruisers.

25

For the third

Admiralty we

class cruisers

adopted by the English

'

may take,

as a typical vessel, the

Magihorse-

cienne,' of 1,800 tons

displacement and

350

power.
thyst,'

This class includes the 'Encounter,'

'Ame-

and

'

Modeste.'

These ships steam 13 knots,

officers,

and have been highly approved by the

have commanded them.

who

The

typical vessel of the corresponding type in the

is

Erench Navy

the

'

Eigault de Genouilly,' the only

in progress.

ship of her class

now

This vessel

is

of

1,643 tons and 453 horse-power.

Here, again, the

French ship has an alleged advantage in point of

speed, estimated

by her constructors

at

15 knots,

while there

is

a considerable inferiority in the pro-

posed armament of eight 14 c/m. guns when compared with the fourteen 64-pounders of the
cienne
'

'

Magi-

class.
'

Both the

Duquesne

'

and the

'

Duquay Trouin
The

are to be capable of carrying coal sufficient to steam a

distance of 5,000

miles at 10 knots an hour.

inferiority in speed,

second

class

shows an

and a yet

more

considerable inferiority in

armament

but for the

give,

services for

which these ships are designed they

in the opinion of

M.

Dislere,

who

agrees in this regard

with Mr. Barnaby, a more satisfactory result than the

larger ships, in proportion to the expenditure incurred.

in
to

The experience of the war America is enough to show

be maintained on a long
is

against the Confederates por a

that,

when

a blockade

is

I^ui^e?ous

line of coast, or,

where the

gggg^tiai

Navy

called

upon

to furnish ships to

go in pursuit of

26
privateers

Unarmoured
or
cruisers,

Ships.
in

few perhaps

number, but
In

roaming
not

at large

over the ocean, individual power will

for

compensate

insufficiency
in the

of

numbers.

January 1865, there were

United States Navy

671 ships

in commission, the greater

number

of which

were

employed
States.
strictly

in

blockading

the

coasts

of

the

Southern

Doubtless the blockade might have

been more

maintained by a smaller number of

But, as the most powerful vessel

more

efficient sliips.

has not the property of ubiquity, there must be a limit,

beyond which increased power and speed cannot adequately compensate for loss of numbers.
Armament

A fcw

obscrvatious

may

here be

made on

the sub-

ject of guns.

Ever since the introduction of steam,

sacrificed

armament has been

more and more

to speed,

reliance being placed on the superior calibre of the guns,

as a compensation for the reduction in their

number.

The increase
with
the

of calibre

is,

however, attended of necessity

many

serious disadvantages.

The

fire is

slower,

number
is

of guns

is

much
is

reduced, perfect accuracy

of aim cannot be insured; and, where the

shots
limited, there
loss
less

number
hitting
fails to

of

chance of

an

enemy, and greater

effect.

whenever a shot

take

The

policy

laid

down
is

in the report
as true to-day as

of the
it

French Commission of 1824

fifty

was

years ago.

The power of a

ship cannot be deterin a single

mined by the weight of metal discharged

broadside.
It

would be more correct

to say that the

power

is

directly proportionate to the weight of metal

fired in a given period of time.

which can be

For

Armament.
these

27

reasons

the

Commissioners

condemned

very

heavy guns

for cruisers.

At

the present day the un-

armoured

cruiser does not require guns of a sufficient

calibre to penetrate armour-plating.

For such a pur;

pose 12-inch guns would be necessary

the special

whereas, for
is suffi-

work

of a cruiser, the 64-pounder

ciently powerful,

and, at short distances, will

all

even

penetrate the armour of protected ironclads.

but the most strongly-

The

better opinion

would therefore seem

to

be that

entertained

by Captain Waddilove.
'

He

thinks the

guns of the

Inconstant

'

are too heavy for the

is

mere

destruction of commerce, while the vessel

too un-

protected to cope with ironclads.

Childers
the

The

authority of Mr.

may be

cited

on the same

side.

In moving

Navy Estimates in 1869,

after adverting to the

armato the
'

ment of 12i-ton guns which had been given

'

Inconstant,' he proceeded to speak of the

'

Active and

'

Volage.'

They

carried only 6i-ton guns, but that he

all services

considered as a calibre quite sufficient for

connected with the destruction of commerce.

The

best

armament

for a cruiser should consist of

calibre,

two guns of very heavy

guns of a calibre not
possible to carry.

In

many additional exceeding 64 pounds as it maybe the French Navy none of the guns
with as

moimted

in cruising vessels

exceed the 64-pounder.

The English gun-vessels have generally carried a more powerful artillery than the French vessels of
similar tonnage.

This advantage
vessels of the
'

is still
'

maintained in
'

the

more recent

Avon and

Bittern

'

28
class.

Unarmoured
Gunboats of from 500

Ships.
to

700

tons, powerfully
11

armed and capable of attaining a speed of

foreign cruisers or privateers like the
interroga-

knots, are

well fitted for the protection of commerce, or to attack

'

Alabama.'
professional

Haviug giveu a general summary of

opiuiou ou
sions, at
tliis

Captain

subjcct, I cau best express the conclu-

A.

w.

which I have arrived, by quoting the two

following questions, propounded

by Captain Hood, with

Captain

the replies of Captain Waddilove.

Hood asked

a question No. 2,388 in the blue-book of the Committee

on Naval Designs

'

Looking

solely to the protection

of our commerce, and seeing that the " Inconstant,"

of 4,006 tons, steams 16 i knots at the measured mile,

and the "Yolage," of 2,300

tons, steams

Ib^ knots,

would

it

be more advisable to have a certain number

of "Inconstants,"or double the

^^Pjlj!"
love,

number of ''Volages?'"
:

He

is

answered by Captain Waddilove

if

'

Taking the

question of Admiral Elliott,

teers of great speed,

E.N.

you are
I

to capture priva-

you must have something

that will

equal or surpass them in speed.

the

think that double

number

of " Volages "

would be a better provision

half the

for the protection of our

commerce than

number

of " Inconstants."
'

'

Do

not you think that a vessel of 2,300 tons,

possessing the

power of steaming 15 knots, has ample

?
'

speed for the protection of our commerce

question the answer was
:

To

this

'

I should think she probably

has

but

if
it

the enemy's vessel were faster than that,

of course
Keed^i/p
^^
'^^

would be

insufficient.'

propcr to add that Mr. Eeed expressed a

'

'

Mr. Reed's View.

different opinion before the

29

same Committee.

He

con-

sidered that the moral

better sustained in

power of the country would be war time by a more limited number

of extremely fast ships.

He

thought that our commerce

'

should be protected by vessels both of the

Inconstant
'

and the

'

Volas^e

'

classes,

and that the

'

Volacre

miixht

meet with
that that

vessels

which could get away from her, and

effect.

would have a demoralising

Up

to the

present time, however, no such vessels have been built,

either for the fighting or the mercantile Navies of

any

foreign power.

The
tion.

necessity for extreme speed

is

a relative ques-

General
^^

It

depends upon the resources of the enemy in

tyi^re"^"'^^^

vessels possessing that quality,

which

it is

always most

expensive to secure. In the actual state of naval power

abroad, the most serviceable vessel for the protection
of

commerce would seem

to

be a ship not exceeding

'

in

any case the dimensions of the

vessels of that class

Yolage

'

though some
effi-

might possibly be made more

cient for service in

European waters, or even

in the

North Atlantic,

if

their spars

were reduced, and

their

steam power and coal-carrying capacity, and perhaps

their

armament, were proportionately increased.

their Committee
for ships of

The Committee on Designs, while expressing

belief that the
'

Inconstant' class was calculated to perservice,

form very valuable

suggested a subdivision,
sail

the one class, to possess the

stant,' whilst

power of the Incon'

the other might have increased speed, say

18 knots

at the

measured mile, with a considerably

coal.

reduced spread of canvas and a larger supply of

30

Unarmoured
class

Ships.
useful in distant

The former
^^^ ^^^^

would be the more

seas, the latter

would be the more valuable nearer home,

gramme
1875-G.

of

Estimates for the present year provision has

been made for building 10,359 tons weight of hull of

armoured
ships.

ships,

and 3,453 tons only of unarmoured

with

Of the

latter there are of iron corvettes

covered battery 1,452 tons, of which the ships of the

'Bacchante'
'

class represents

960

tons,

and those of the

cor-

Euryalus

'

type 491 tons.

'

Of small composite
class there are to

vettes of the

Magicienne

'

be built

551

tons.

Of composite
'

sloops there are to be built

'

1,050 tons, of which the Cormorant

class,

of four guns,
apj^roxi-

900 horse-power, and 642

weight of hull

tons, represents

mately one-half of the proposed tonnage.

is

The

ton

not the same thing as a ton of dis-

placement, but for the purpose of comparison the

of calculation adopted in the Estimates
is

mode

satisfactory.

No

exception can be taken to the programme in

regard to the proportions the proposed additions to

the various classes of ships bear to one another.
considering the state of other Navies as to
ships, the
'

But,

unarmoured
of the
type.

next vessel to be laid

'

down should be
Boadicea
is,
'

Magicienne

rather than the

'

'

The
and
the

cost of the

Bacchante

'

for the hull 109,200/.

for the engines 72,000/., or a total of 181,200/.

it

Hence
'

will

be seen that we can build

'

five ships of
'

Magicienne

tj^pe for

two of the

'

Bacchante type

and seeing
'

that, for the protection of

'

commerce, the

Magicienne
is

class are

adequate in power and speed,

ships of the

it

good policy to build

smaller rather


Torpedo
Vessels.

31

than of the hirger type, the latter being unnecessarily powerful for the work they have to do.

We require,
-^

in ^ sfreater
'

numbers than we have them

^ ^

o^^i'

require'

now, ships of the

Yolage

'

and

'

Magicienne

types, or

ments.

of that smaller class of 1,000 tons,

recommended by
I gladly

Admiral Porter for the United States Navy.

acknowledge the
Admiralty
of
all

efforts that
;

have been made by the

but what we want most

in this direction

are vessels of any special class that

we should

not

be

likely, in

an emergency, to obtain from the merI

chant service.

would
our

particularly urge, therefore,

the construction of a greater

number

of torpedo vessels.
this direction.

The Vesuvius
'

'

is

first

experiment in

She
she

may
is

or

may not

be satisfactory.

Considering that
it is

the pioneer of an untried class,

presumable

that defects will be discovered

in future vessels.
It is

which can be remedied

the duty of the Admiralty to

proceed without delay to increase the number of these

vessels,

and

to

improve their

efficiency.

The Americans have

vessel, of

recently launched a torpedo

is

which the following description

given in a
:

recent

number of the Army and Navy Journal The 'Alarm' draws 10 feet forward and 10 feet The length of keel is 170 feet, including the aft. The beam is 28 feet, and she carries five days' ram. coal. Her armament consists of one 15-inch gun on the bow, to be replaced by a 20-inch smooth bore or
a

12 -inch

rifle.

She will carry four Gatling guns

as

on each
as

side,

and
to

many more may be mounted

parties.

necessary

defend her from boarding

32

Vnarmoured

Ships.

The guns were

cellently.

fired during the trip

and worked exgo to

Her arrangements
the
pilot-house,

for firing the torpedoes all

signals
is

and a system of

used to

order the different spars to be run out,

are out, they are in the
pilot-house as ready.

and when they

to

same way reported

the

Thus the whole operation of

torpedoes and battery
is

working the
done by

ship,

engines,

the captain in the pilot-house.

The

spars are

twelve inches in diameter, and

metal.

made

of the best gun-

They

are run in

and out by steam.

feet

The

side
side,

spars extend seventeen

and a half

from the

the boAV spar twenty-four feet

ahead of the ram.

The

ram extends
eight feet
is

fifteen feet

forward under water, and for

solid iron.

The gun and bows

are pro-

tected

by four inches of plating. It is intended to put on three inches more, and the displacement is so calcuThe spars will stand a fire of fifty and one lated.
hinidred pounds of dynamite, being equal to several
times that weight of gunpowder.
sist of five officers

Her crew

will con-

and sixty men.

'

The
14,000/.

'

Vesuvius

was

built at

an estimated cost of
therefore be multi-

Vessels of this class

may

plied without extravagant outlay.

ally
11

Mr. Goschen origin-

proposed to build a torpedo vessel of 540 tons and

this,

knots speed, and

he said, would not be a costly be built for 30,000/.

far

ship.

Such a

vessel could certainly

Even supposing

that

we went

so

as

to

expend

40,000/. on her construction, this

cost of the despatch boats of the

would be about the

'

Lively

'

and

'

Vigi-

Our Merchant Navy,

lant
'

33

class,

we

at

one time built so rapidly, and which

the use of the submarine torpedo,
fired

made no
Properly

addition to the fighting strength of the JSTavy.

fitted for

which can now be

fatal

from the broadside with such

precision, with a speed of not less than

as
it
is

15 knots,

and with such powers of turning

give to larger ships,
times, with the most

impossible to

who

that reads the signs of the

fore-

modest gifts of judgment and

thought,

can doubt that a squadron of ten torpedo

steamers would be a more important addition to the

navy than a

colossal

'

Inflexible,'

which a

single shot

from any one of the proposed torpedo

destroy in an instant
?

vessels

would

I need not further press the

cessive expenditure

argument against exships.

on individual

would only

refer in conclusion to the report of the

Committee on

Designs and to their emphatic declaration that 'In

every description of unarmoured ships, the smallest

dimensions, consistent with the attainment of the requisite speed, should

be adopted.'
of

Hitherto
treated as
if

the protection

commerce has been

on ships
built
this

OurMerService.

we were

entirely dependent

expressly for war.

But the maritime resources of

country are not confined to the Eoyal Navy.

Splendid
inevitably,

and powerful

as

our ships

may

be,

we must

in time of peace,

be deficient in point of numbers.

For the tremendous exigencies of war, the fleet might be supplemented and expanded, so as to acquire undisputed ascendency, by equipping and arming our ocean
mail steamers.

34

Unarmoured

Ships.

The

resources of our mercantile marine are highly

appreciated by naval administrators even in countries

where the ocean steam

development
is,'

service has not attained to the

this country.
'

it

lias

reached in

There
his

says the Secretary of the United States Navy, in

'

report of 1869,

another element of defence in time of

danger, perhaps as effective as any other, available to

wise and liberal statesmanship

Such means
lines

would be
steamers

at

hand

if

we had

of ocean-going

estabhshed.

There are now running from

New

York, Boston, and Baltimore to Europe, over 60

powerful screw steamers, any of which could be quickly

converted into an
capable of carrying
for
efficient
full sail

and powerful ship of war,

power, and keeping the sea

any length of time.

Had

our mercantile marine

possessed such hues at the breaking out of the late war,

we might have
armed, and

quickly closed every Southern port.

comparatively small force of this kind, appropriately

let loose

on the ocean, under the command

of bold and intelhgent officers, would be a dangerous

foe to the

commerce of any country.

seas
vessels,

Our own

ships

were substantially driven from the

roughly equipped

by two or three
power
to

much

inferior in

those of which I have spoken.'

It is a just subject for regret that, while

we

stand

committed to large subsidies for the postal

service, the

owners of these great lines of steamers are under no

absolute engagement to place their ships at the disposal
of the

Government, in the event of war,

at a certain

fixed rate of charge.

The Crimean war showed the

'

Progress of Shipping.

35
the ocean steam

enormous value of the large

navigation companies.

fleets of

The

subsidies granted for the

will,

conveyance of

letters

during peace
beforehand,
fleet

provided
for

we
the

make proper

bargains

secure

Government an invaluable
ports in time of war.

of cruisers and trans-

The following

figures are taken

from the tables

showing the progress of merchant shipping, issued

the Board of Trade, for 1874. of our position in this respect the other naval powers.

by

They prove

the strength
all

by comparison with

The aggregate tonnage of the merchant navy of the

British

Empire

in

1874 was 7,213,000 tons; while

and

that of the United States, excluding river steamers

home

trade,

was 1,410,000

tons,

and that of France,

1872 was,

1,677,000 tons.

The tonnage added

States,

to the register in

for

the United Kingdom, 471,518 tons; for the

United

209,052 tons; and for France 87,000

tons.

The

steam tonnage of the British Empire, in 1872,

;

was 1,640,639 tons

that of the United States (oversea

trade) 177,666 tons,

and that of France 177,462

tons.

Of

steamers, there were built in the United

Kingdom,
in 1872,

in 1872,

416,000

tons.

The merchant navy

which 2,090, of 165,178

of North

Germany,

comprised a total of 5,082 ships, of 1,308,988 tons, of

tons,

and 29,139 horse-power,

were steamers.

The Eussian merchant

D 2

service

was composed

of

36

Unarmoured

Ships.

2,514 ships, of 259,773 tons, including 189 steamers,

of 13,152 horse-power.
If

we were engaged

in war,

and the resources of

our shipbuilding yards were ajDplied exclusively to the

construction of fighting vessels,

we

should in twelve
fleet.

months be able

to create

an overwhelming

At

the Elswick Works, 1,500

men

are employed in

making

guns for every foreign government.

In

this establish-

ment the
wich, and

British
all its

Government

possesses another

Wool-

resources would of course be entirely

at the disposal of this country in the event of war.

In marine steam machinery

of the maritime nations.
'

we

stand at the head

All the recent improvereport

of

ments,' said Admiral Porter, in his

'

1870,

were made on the Clyde and the Mersey, where giant

taking place
in

strides are

the construction of ma-

chinery for war and for the merchant service.'

The magnitude of our mercantile marine may be illustrated by pointing to a few of the most important The Cunard Company alone have 49 oceanlines.
going steamships, of 90,000 tons and 15,000 horse-

power, far exceeding the entire

fleet

of the

German

Empire.

In Glasgow alone, Messrs. Henderson Bro-

thers, of the

Anchor Line, give employment

their

to 30,000

persons.

They build and equip

own

ships.

The
fitting
;

United States have seven regularly established naval

yards
;

but only four of these are capable of

out more than two or three vessels at a time

and

in the seven navy yards there are but three dry docks,

so that, in this most important feature, the entire re-

Securiiy of

Our

Position.

o7

sources of the United States

Navy

are inferior to those

of Messrs. Laird Brothers.

These

facts

ought to remove the

faintest

shadow of

apprehension from the most timid and anxious minds.

The mercantile marine

strength.

is

an

essential

element of naval

No

fighting

navy has ever been maintained

without the support of a busy maritime commerce.

Lord Bolingbroke has

truly said

'

By

trade

and

commerce we grow a
by
their

rich

and powerful people, and

impotent.

decay

we grow poor and

so

As

trade

and commerce enrich,

they fortify our country.

fortresses,

The

sea

is

our barrier, ships are our

and the
fiu-nish

mariners that trade and commerce alone can

are the garrisons to defend them.

Like other amplii-

bious animals,

we must come
is

occasionally on shore
it,

but the water

like

more properly our element, and on

find our greatest security, so

them, as

we

we

exert

our greatest

force.'

tOXDOX rniXTED B-? SPOTTISWOODB A>-D CO., >'EW-STKEET SQUAUE AXD rARLIAJIEXT STKEET
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