THE BRITISH NAVY.*
Sia THOMAS BEASSEY has done good service to the Naval pro- fession, and to all connoisseurs in the art of shipbuilding for purposes of war, by the publication of his great work, entitled, The British Navy. It may fairly be called a great work, for it embraces within its scope not only a history of the growth of the British Ironclad Navy, but careful descriptions of individual ships, showing their respective faults, peculiarities, and improvements. And notwithstanding the title, so far is the book from being confined to the British Navy, that it gives us full accounts of the more interesting and formidable of those foreign ships upon the existence of which our Admiralty authorities mast keep so jealous an eye, and to outnumber and outweigh which is the constant duty of our Constructors. Elaborate tables at the end of the first volume enable the inquirer to ascertain at a glance the tonnage, speed, armament, and thick- ness of armour of every ironclad ship, British and foreign ; and there are interesting plans of several of the most important ships, which show very distinctly which are the parts protected • The British Navy: its Strength, Resources, and Administration. By sir. Thomas Brassey, K.C.B., M.P., M.A. London : Longmans, Glean, and Co. by armour-plating, and the thickness of iron used for the purpose. To laymen, these plans are particularly instructive, for the public at large has generally but the haziest notions of the manner in which armour-plating is laid on a vessel ; and it is probable that most landsmen, when informed that the 'Inflexible,' for instance, is protected by twenty-four inches of armour, imagine that the sides of the ship from the keel upwards are wholly composed of iron of that thick- ness. The controversy which raged over the 'Inflexible' while she was under construction is forgotten by the public, and it will probably surprise many who look at these plans when they realise how large a proportion of the mighty ship is left without any impenetrable armour. We speak thus of "the public" advisedly, because the book, far from appealing to the professional eye alone, is essentially one of general interest, and will be of the greatest service to that perhaps not inconsiderable class which takes an interest in Naval affairs, and would like to take more, but is hindered by the technicality -of much that is written on the subject of Naval architecture.
We are grateful to Sir Thomas Brassey for the plates with which the book is liberally supplied. An examination of these will do much to convince those whose opportunities of seeing ships are infrequent, that grievous injustice has been done to some very noble specimens of architecture by the indis- criminate use of hard names. If enough dirt be thrown, some of it is sure to stick ; and the insulting appellations of "tin box" or "iron kettle" which heralded the intro- duction of ironclad ships, have persuaded many people to believe that an armoured vessel must of necessity be ugly. Some vessels there are, certainly, which are ugly enough, and no defence need be attempted of the beauty of the Glatton,' for instance, as she appears in the book before us. But if we cannot admit the outward attractions of a turret-ship, it is impossible to deny that many of the broadside ironclads are of singularly handsome appearance, and belie the justice of the invidious comparisons often so sweepingly drawn between the ' wooden walls" of old and the iron bulwarks of to-day. 'To the French belonged the distinction of producing the first ironclad, which was La Gloire,' commenced at Toulon in 1858. England, though at first somewhat disposed to scoff, soon perceived the necessity for following suit, and though later in the field, had by 1865 no less than thirty ironclads. So early as 1862, Sir E. J. Reed, then Chief Constructor, introduced the cellular system, which is presumed to be the greatest safeguard against the sudden sinking of a ship, in case of its striking a rock or being attacked by a torpedo. The unfortunate 'Captain' was among the earliest of our turret-ships, and it was her loss which decided the Admiralty to abandon the system of full-rigged turret-ships, in favour of the mastless monsters which now con- stitute the most important item in our Naval strength. In the Shannon,' we begin to see signs of a reduction in the extent of heavy armour-plating, the protection being confined to an iron belt along the water-line, and this not extending to within sixty feet of the stem. The same principle was followed in the 'Nelson' and Northampton ;' and the highest expression of the concentration of armour has been reached in the' Inflexible,' of which all but the central citadel is left without the protection of iron-plating.
It is natural to turn to that portion of the book in which the author compares the strength of our own and other Naval Powers. He devotes an elaborate and interesting chapter to this subject, in which he compares, not only the ships of the various Powers, but their guns, arsenals, dockyards, and personneL Sir Thomas Brassey divides the armoured vessels into four groups, the first two of which, taken together, com- prise sea-going ships with armour of seven inches and upwards. 'Of these, Great Britain possesses twenty-six, carrying forty- eight heavy, rifled guns. Taking the same two groups, we find that France and Germany together could produce thirty-three ships, with forty-three heavy guns ; France and Italy, thirty ships, with fifty-three guns ; and Germany and Austria, twelve ships, with ten guns. To appreciate these figures, we should make the further comparison of the interests to be protected by our own and foreign Navies respectively. Leaving the defence of our coasts for the moment out of sight, let us see what defence is necessary for our Mercantile Marine, the existence and safety of which are essential, not only to our commerce, but to our means of subsistence. The tonnage of English trading steamers alone, in 1877-78, was 3,465,000 tons ;
while that of the United States, France, Germany, Russia, and Italy combined amounted to only 1,387,000 tons. Nor must our Colonial shipping be forgotten, and this in 1876 exceeded the whole mercantile marine of France, Germany, and Italy. In view of these facts, it becomes the duty, not only of the authorities, but of the public, to consider whether the British Fleet is sufficiently preponderant at sea, especially in the all- important factor of numbers, to be able to cope with any probable coalition of foreign Navies. No doubt, it is satisfactory to reflect that in the 'Inflexible' we have a ship whose power is greater than that of any individual vessel which could be brought against it, for it may be questioned whether the monster turret-ships of Italy, despite their great size, are more efficient ; but the 'In- flexible' cannot be in two places at once, and what if, while the ' Inflexible ' were absent in pursuit of a Duilio,' a Dandolo were to appear off our coasts P Theoretically, we should have no ship able to approach within range of her, and no gun afloat able to inflict any fatal blow. Our turret-ships 'Dreadnought' and Thunderer ' might heroically hurl themselves into the breach, but theoretically they would be pierced through and through by the 100-ton guns of the invader, and in sinking would carry down with them large ships' companies, and the results of an enormous outlay of money. Of course, this is an extreme sup- position, for shots do not always hit the mark ; and their effect, even if well directed, depends greatly upon the angle at which they strike. Moreover, the two smaller ships might conceivably by adroit manceuvring and skilful use of the ram or torpedo turn the tables on the stranger. But the fact remains, that in theory, and possibly in practice, the enemy's big ship could play havoc at its leisure, because the only vessel in our possession which was a match for it was not on the scene. And now let us imagine the 'Inflexible' replaced by the thirteen or more gun- boats of the Alpha,' 'Beta' ' class, which some authorities tell us could be produced for a corresponding sum of money. It is, perhaps, not extravagant to assume that three of these terrible little craft might be forthcoming on the appearance of our imaginary hostile turret-ship. Each of them would be armed with a gun able, like the guns of the 'Inflexible,' to pierce the enemy's plates; each would present a comparatively small target, and be of comparatively insignificant value if lost ; while the advantages to be gained from good seamanship and skilful use of the torpedo and ram would be increased threefold. We do not mean to imply that Sir Thomas Brassey advocates the substitution of small vessels for large ones. He enters into no such controversial matter in the book before us, though he quotes many authorities on the subject ; but the question is one of growing import- ance, and the reader who has followed the descriptions in these volumes will be in a position to form an opinion on the matter for himself. It is curious to think how important it must be in Naval warfare to determine the identity of an enemy's ship met with at sea. Whereas, in the olden time, an English frigate was prepared and anxious to attack almost any force which might fall in its way, it will presumably be the duty of the commander of the future to use every effort to learn the name of his antagonist, and then refer to his books to ascer- tain her armour and armament, before deciding whether to engage. While, however, the commanders of large vessels must thus consider their ships as "machines," and coldly appraise the fighting value of the hostile "machines " they may encounter, it may be consolatory to those who believe that England's chief Naval superiority lies in her men, to reflect that the increasing use of torpedo-boats and torpedoes will assuredly involve those " cutting-out " expeditions and hand-to-band combats in which skill and audacity will have their full weight.
Sir Thomas Brassey has certainly spared no pains to collect information, and the book is full of opinions from all kinds of authorities, British and foreign, extracts from newspapers, and selections from speeches. It is instructive to note how much has been culled from foreign works of a similar nature, making it clear that our neighbours, if possessing smaller fleets than ourselves, are at least thoroughly acquainted with our resources.
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