LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.
THE ENGINEERING BRANCH OF THE NAVY.
[To ras EDITOR OF 773i "SPECTATOR."
Silt,—" We are rapidly drifting towards the serious position of a steam Navy minus engineer officers." "For five years (1910-1915) not a single engineer officer will have been added to the Royal Navy. Meanwhile a steady wastage is going on. This year twenty-three engineer-commanders are due to retire in the normal course." These grave statements are not made by persons outside the naval service or unacquainted with the facts; they are contained in an appeal (" The Royal Navy, Engineering Department : Memo. re Necessary Im- provements," issued by the Royal Naval Artificer-Engineers' and Engine-room Artificers' Benevolent Fund, Ferndale Road, Devonport) for increase of pay, pension, and oppor- tunities for promotion made by the Royal Naval artificer- engineers and engine-room artificers, a body of men upon whose efficient performance of duty depends to a large extent the good working and maintenance of the great masses of complicated machinery required for the pro- pulsion and fighting power of our warships. Hitherto this class has been chiefly recruited from amongst the skilled mechanics and artisans employed in the great marine- engineering works of the United Kingdom, the Admiralty in this respect drawing upon the same sources as are entirely relied upon by shipowners for the supply of engineers to the mercantile marine, including those of the great passenger steamships, in which the power and complexity of the machinery are equal to those found in the largest and swiftest warships. In the Royal Navy, however, it has been considered necessary to place over the engine-room artificers specially trained officers whose professional education has included
the acquisition of both scientific and practical knowledge of engineering, so that the artificers have been placed in a relatively subordinate position and employed on engine- driving and in the repairs of machinery—duties of consider- able importance even when performed under the supervision of engineer officers. From the ranks of the artificers, in recent years, a new class of " artificer engineers " has been obtained ; and in many of the smaller classes of vessels in the Royal Navy these men alone are in charge of the machinery, no specially trained engineer officers being appointed.
The main point made in the appeal of the artificers is that the shortage of engineer officers "imposes heavily increased work and responsibility upon the artificer class," and the argument seems to be sound enough. Probably the preparation of the appeal was undertaken with a view to informing Parliament and the press, and so securing assist- ance which might influence the Admiralty favourably when considering the specific requests made therein. In regard to this side of the subject it is enough to say that, from the outsider's point of view, the artificers appear to have made out a case for consideration; and the Admiralty can hardly fail to do justice to that case, recognizing, as they must, the value and importance attaching to duties performed by artificers. There is, however, a much larger and more important aspect of the subject. If the statements made in the passage quoted from the appeal are correct, then the Engineer Branch of the Royal Navy has been allowed to drift into a most unsatisfactory condition, at a time when the power and complexity of the machinery installed in our war- ships have been enormously increased. Since the Dreadnought era began (1905) the power of the propelling machinery of British battleships and cruisers has been practically doubled; heavy guns and the machinery for working them have been increased in number and power ; while in other directions the work and responsibility of the engineers have become greater. If it is true, therefore, that while responsibilities and duties have grown, such a serious wastage of specially trained engineer officers has been allowed to take place, and that until 1915 not a single engineer officer will be added to the Royal Navy under existing regulations, then obviously no time should be lost in taking steps to secure improved conditions. Much has been said and written of late about the "present scarcity of lieutenants," but on the engineering side there must be no less cause for anxiety and for prompt action.
It would appear probable that the main cause of the unsatis- factory position at present existing is to be found in a lack of prevision on the part of those responsible for carrying through radical changes in the entry and training of officers to whom it is proposed to entrust in future the principal responsibility for the machinery of His Majesty's ships. Lord Selborne initiated these changes in 1902, when common entry and common training, up to a certain stage, was introduced for all naval officers. This arrangement involved the abolition of the special entry and training for engineer officers which had previously existed; but in Lord Selborne's memorandum it was provided that, at a certain stage of their training, those young officers who were to specialize in engineering should he detached from executive duties and should undergo a thorough professional training before undertaking responsibilities in the engine-room departments of ships of the Royal Navy. A few years later a further step was decided upon, as many persons thought, after inadequate inquiry. The creation of a special class of engineer officers as proposed in Lord Selborne's memo- randum was practically abandoned, so far as service in the fleet was concerned. Whatever may prove to be the consequences of this momentous change, it now appears certain that adequate provision was not made for maintaining and retaining a sufficient number of engineer officers of the earlier type during the period of transition from the system existing prior to 1902, and the full development of the new system decided upon in 1905. The Naval Engineering College at Devonport was closed in 1910; its experienced staff of teachers was dispersed. Recently steps have been taken to reopen the college, and to create a staff for the instruction of the first batch of the officers to he trained in engineering up to the standard contemplated in the new scheme. According to the statement made in the appeal none of these young officers will have graduated from the college and taken up their duties afloat until two years have passed. In the
interval wastage will proceed amongst experienced engineers trained under the old system—men who have been proved to be in every way qualified for the responsible duties entrusted to them. All this will happen at a critical period in the history of the Navy. There should be no delay on the part of the Admiralty in dealing with the matter ; and Mr. Churchill will be well advised if he takes the opportunity afforded by the presentation of the Navy Estimates to reassure the public mind, or to remove any misapprehensions which may have been created by the statements made in the
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