The British Navy Book Part 17

CHAPTER XV

The Manning of a Ship

"We're sober men and true, And quite devoid of fe-ar.

In all the Royal N.

There are none so smart as we are.

When the wind whistles free O'er the bright blue sea We stand to our guns all da-ay; When at anchor we ride By the starboard side, We've plenty of time for play."

--_H.M.S. "Pinafore"._ W. S. Gilbert.

AT the beginning of our naval story we found our fleets composed of rowing-vessels, fought and commanded by soldiers. Then came a time--the viking period--when fighting-ships were manned and fought by warriors who were emphatically "soldiers and sailors too". In battle their dragons and long-serpents relied mainly on their oars, but the sail began to take a much more important position than before, and the oars were not pulled by slaves but by the crew proper, all of whom were fighters. In the period that followed, the sail--in northern waters at any rate--continued to grow in importance, till in the biggest ships it entirely ousted the oars.

Then arose the professional sailor. Ships carried but a few sails, so that comparatively few men were required to handle them, and the fighting-men on board and the commanders of ships and squadrons were once more soldiers. When the fully rigged ship arrived--in Tudor times--the sailor element naturally was considerably increased, and, the heavy gun making its appearance on shipboard at about the same time, the "gunners" seem to have been taken from that cla.s.s rather than from the soldiers, who formed about half the ship's company. But in the royal ships the supreme command was always in the hands of a military officer, till the successes gained by the privately-equipped ships commanded by men like Drake and Frobisher introduced a new type of distinctly naval officer. But he did not supersede the military ship-commander much before the time of William III. Up to that time ships seem to have had sometimes a soldier, like Blake, in command and sometimes a sailor, like Sir George Rooke and others.

The latter is a good example of what may be called the transition period, because he, like Sir Cloudesley Shovel and many other sea-commanders, had a commission in the Duke of York and Albany's Maritime Regiment, inst.i.tuted in 1664 and generally accepted as being the ancestor of the present corps of Royal Marines. But it seems possible that there must have been an idea underlying the inst.i.tution of this regiment of sea-soldiers that has never been explained. The key to it may perhaps be found in the oft-repeated reference to marine regiments at this period as "nurseries for the fleet". The idea did not work, as the men trained as soldiers did not volunteer to become sailors to an appreciable extent; but in my own opinion there was more in the idea than this. It must be remembered that at this time there was a great controversy as to the most suitable officers to command our war-ships. The "gentleman captains", who were in many cases soldiers, but often merely courtiers, clung tenaciously to their position, and the Court influence at their back enabled them to stand their ground. But at the same time the claims of the real sailors--the "tarpawlins", as they were called--who were neither soldiers nor gentlemen, were being more and more recognized by the public, and grew stronger and stronger. And they certainly had a very strong case. They could themselves sail, navigate, and fight their ships, while the other cla.s.s had to have "masters" to do everything but the fighting for them.

It seems possible that the intention of those responsible for the raising of the "Maritime Regiment", the men of which were indifferently referred to as "marines" or as "mariners", was not only to provide the nucleus of a disciplined personnel, but to produce a corps of officers who, while retaining a military status, would yet be professional seamen. It was an experiment, but not on a sufficiently comprehensive scale, to transform the ill-paid, ill-treated, and ill-fed seamen of the day into a loyal, contented and disciplined body, or to supply a sufficient number of "gentleman-tarpawlins" to command our ships and fleets. A large number of these officers did do so, but quite as many continued to serve as soldiers, some afloat in command of marines, and many others in the army.

As time went on, things adjusted themselves, and before the eighteenth century had progressed very far the sailor came into his own. The "days of oak and hemp" were at their zenith. Our men-of-war were commanded by officers who were thorough seamen, able to handle their ships under sail themselves, though masters who were navigation experts still remained.

Their crews were composed of two distinct cla.s.ses--seamen and marines.[74] The former were, as before, still recruited for the commission only, while the latter were enlisted for a fixed period of service.[75] The best seamen, nevertheless, made a regular profession of the navy, going from one ship to another as they were paid off and commissioned. If they made an occasional trip to sea in a merchantman or privateer between whiles, that by no means impaired their professional ability, and the "prime seamen" of those days were the finest sailors in history. Unfortunately their number, for various reasons, was somewhat limited, and a ship's company, especially if she or her commander bore a bad name afloat, had to be completed by all kinds of people. Even the marines, regularly enlisted men as they were, were by no means always of the same calibre.

According to our apparently interminable national practice, we always began our wars shorthanded in this as well as in every other militant service, and recruits had on these occasions to be sent on board in the rawest stages of their training. Yet, in spite of all these drawbacks, look at the victories our navy won in those glorious days! Good, bad, or indifferent, sailor or marine, the men were all true Britons when the time came to "strike home" for King and Country, just as their gallant descendants have proved themselves in the Great European War. As the nineteenth century progressed, and our navy had no big wars on hand, the seaman element by no means deteriorated. The professional sailor was forthcoming in sufficient numbers to man our navy in peace-time or in minor operations, and there was no necessity to send untrained marines afloat. Steam had made its appearance, but it was far from superseding sail-power. The executive were still sailors, heart and soul, and had no hankering after soldiering and drill ash.o.r.e. All the same, the sailing-masters were still retained, and seemed to be indispensable.

Admiral John Moresby, in his interesting work ent.i.tled _Two Admirals_, which relates his own and his father's naval experiences from 1786 to 1877, gives the following account of the naval officers of 1847:--

"The officers, with few exceptions, were content to be practical seamen only. They had nothing whatever to do with the navigation of the ship or the rating of the chronometers. That was entirely in the hands of the master, and no other had any real experience or responsibility in the matter. I may instance the case of a captain whose ship was at Spithead.

He was ordered by signal to go to the a.s.sistance of a ship on sh.o.r.e at the back of the Isle of Wight. In reply he hoisted the signal of 'Inability: the master is on sh.o.r.e.' 'Are the other officers on board?'

he was asked. He answered 'Yes,' and to the repeated order, 'Proceed immediately,' he again hoisted 'Inability', and remained entrenched in his determination until a pilot was sent to his a.s.sistance."

If a "practical seaman" was so dependent on his master as this he would not appear to have been much of an improvement on the soldier-captains of earlier times. It seems a most extraordinary position, and it is almost as extraordinary that now, when sailoring proper is a thing of the past, we may be quite certain that no captain in His Majesty's service would hesitate to get under way on receipt of an order to go to the a.s.sistance of a ship in distress, whether the navigating officer was on board or not. But, probably on account of the long period of peace which had followed after Waterloo, neither our navy nor army was in such a high state of efficiency as it had been earlier in the century or is at the present minute. The Crimean War broke like a thunder-clap on our peace-organized forces. We know what terrible times our gallant soldiers went through before Sebastopol on account of deficiency of commissariat, equipment, and every other aid to efficiency which ought to have been in readiness, but which, in fact, had no existence. We commissioned a fine fleet for the Baltic, but it practically effected nothing, and we had the greatest difficulty in manning it.

"Public opinion", writes Admiral Moresby, "resented the revival of the press-gang; therefore the only alternative was the offer of a large bounty, and by this means the ships were filled with counter-jumpers and riff-raff of all sorts, and rarely a sailor amongst them. What this meant only those who had to do the necessary slave-driving can tell....

In the _Driver_ ... we may have had twenty seamen as a nucleus. The rest were long-sh.o.r.e fellows, and when Admiral Berkley came on board and told us that the Russians were at sea, and probably in a few days we should be in action, there was a strong dash of anxiety in our satisfaction."

So short were we of men that I have been told by an officer who served in that fleet that had it not been for the coast-guardsmen and marines it would never have been ready for sea. "On board the _St. Jean d'Acre_," said this officer, "we had a splendid crew, thanks to the popularity of Harry Keppel: the work of fitting out from a mere hulk was done by the Royal Marines with a small number of seamen-gunners from the _Excellent_ and some boys. The officers at Portsmouth and other places raised men _who would not join until the hard work was over_." But good arose out of this evil, which was so patent that it could not be overlooked by anyone. The usefulness of the seamen-gunners and Royal Marines pointed the way to a remedy. The marines were a permanent force; the seamen-gunners were on the spot and under naval discipline. It was determined to inst.i.tute an equally permanent establishment of bluejackets. The creation of this force was the most momentous and beneficial step ever taken by the Admiralty, and to it we owe the magnificent body of trained seamen who have done such yeoman service to the country during the war. Where should we have been without it?

Imagine the disasters which would have befallen us if, as at the outbreak of the Crimean War, we had had to hunt up crews for our fleet after the 4th of August, 1914! As it was, everything went "on wheels", as the saying is. The Grand Fleet was ready and other ships were put into commission without the least delay or hitch in the smooth running of our mobilization for war. Reserves were so plentiful that a residuum of both bluejackets and marines was available as the nucleus of the Royal Naval Division, which was soon recruited up to a high figure.

It is not too much to say that the end of the Crimean War saw the beginning of our modern naval forces, with the exception of the Royal Marines, who had been in existence as a naval force under the Admiralty ever since 1755, and the later inst.i.tuted Royal Naval Reserve, Royal Fleet Reserve, and Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. It may be noted, in pa.s.sing, that the first-mentioned reserve consists of men in the merchant service, who, seamen by profession, receive a training in gunnery and other matters connected with naval warfare, and are paid an annual retaining-fee, which renders them liable to be called up for service when required.

The Royal Fleet Reserve consists of both bluejackets and marines, who, having served for twelve years on the active list, are permitted to transfer to this force. They receive a small daily rate of pay, and have to undergo a short revision of their drills annually. The last-mentioned reserve has been in existence on and off under one name or other for a considerable number of years. In 1861 Captain Vernon of the 4th Cinque Ports Artillery Volunteers at Hastings inst.i.tuted a so-called "marine company" in his regiment, which wore a semi-naval uniform and was drilled at naval guns. From this small beginning grew in time the Royal Naval Artillery Volunteers, first formed in 1873, which a.s.sumed considerable proportions and had branches at every important seaport.

This corps was eventually abolished because the naval authorities did not quite see how men who in very many cases had at most but "a bowing acquaintance" with Father Neptune could well be utilized afloat. This decision was a great blow to its members, who were very proud of their voluntary duties, and after a time the Admiralty was strongly pressed by those interested in the movement to resuscitate it. Hence the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve was created.[76]

The bluejacket of the present day is better termed a seaman than a sailor, since sails are non-existent in the navy except in boats.[77]

Besides, his official rating is seaman--ordinary seaman, able seaman, &c. Some writers in journals dealing with naval matters have coined the, to me, objectionable-sounding name of "fleetman". This may answer for a comprehensive term, including seamen, marines, and stokers, writers and other auxiliary branches of the service, but they might all be equally well cla.s.sed together as seamen or mariners, since there is little if any difference nowadays between the time each branch spends afloat.

There are big naval barracks now at our ports as well as marine barracks, and bluejackets often spend there as much time as, or more time than the marine does in his barracks.

The outstanding difference between the ship's company of to-day and of past centuries is that it is composed entirely of trained men. There are no "landsmen" and odds and ends of humanity pitchforked on board to complete the number of the company. Seamen, marines, and stokers all are specially instructed in their own line of business before they appear on board a ship in commission. The same holds good in the case of their officers. No more boys of nineteen are appointed captains on account of family connections; no more are officers of marines appointed from line regiments or even from the cavalry, as they were in days gone by. It is only fair to say that we must go back a long way to find cases of this sort, for as regards its officers the navy has been a permanent profession for centuries, though its seamanhood was not in the same position before the middle of the last century.

What our naval officers and men are to-day in their work and duties is best demonstrated by a glance at the crew of a modern man-of-war in commission. First and foremost, of course, is the captain, not infrequently referred to by those under his command as the "skipper", "the Old Man", or sometimes as the "Owner". His rule may be termed a benevolent despotism. He can no longer be the tyrant that he occasionally was "in the days of wood and hemp", and has no desire to be anything of the kind. He is far too much of a gentleman and a good fellow. But there can be little limitation to his monarchy or the machine would not work. He lives somewhat apart from his subjects, having his meals in lonely state, and only occasionally comes into the ward-room, in which most of the ship's commissioned officers live and move and have their being. The sub-lieutenant's, midshipmen's, junior engineer officers', a.s.sistant paymasters', and clerks' mess is known as the gun-room. In the old days what is now the ward-room was called the gun-room, and what is now the gun-room, the midshipmen's berth. It is probable that this enforced seclusion is one of the worst trials of the captain's greatness, since he has spent the whole of his previous service afloat in the _camaraderie_ and good-fellowship of the ward-room and gun-room. At sea he pa.s.ses a great portion of his time on the bridge, and in most ships has a special sea-cabin in its close proximity. He is the supreme court of justice on board, and as he can dispense punishment up to ninety days' imprisonment with hard labour "off his own bat", it must be a pretty bad case, or one in which an officer is concerned, that he has to send before a court martial.

This should be remembered when, as is sometimes the case, comparisons are drawn in the Press between the numbers of courts martial in the naval and military services, or between those held on the men of the navy and on those of the marines. A naval court martial is a very big affair, only resorted to on rare occasions, while in the army, besides the general court martial, which may be ranked with the naval court, there are district and even regimental courts martial, the latter very small affairs, composed of three junior officers, which deal with offences which in the navy would probably be settled off-hand, if not by the commander, at any rate by the captain. When marines are serving ash.o.r.e in their barracks they come under army rules, so that the proportion of courts martial held on a given number of marines must always be expected to be greater than in the case of a similar number of bluejackets or stokers. No comparison as to good conduct or otherwise can therefore be inst.i.tuted along these lines.

The captain of a ship, being in supreme command, exercises a general supervision over his ship and all that it contains, and is, of course, directly responsible to the admiral under whom he is serving and to the Admiralty for its condition both as to material and personnel. But the second in command--the "commander"--addressed by the courtesy t.i.tle of "captain" also--may be regarded as the managing man. He lives, or rather has his meals, in the ward-room. As to where he actually _lives_, it may be said to be everywhere on board except in his own cabin. He is perhaps the hardest-worked man in the ship. Up at daylight, he is engaged in running the whole show till he goes the rounds at 9 p.m. to see that everything and everybody is properly settled down for the night. He draws up a regular daily and weekly routine, which he personally sees is regularly carried out. He "tells off" the "hands" for this, that, and the other duties, and sees that everyone is at his proper station at "general quarters" for action, fire quarters, collision stations, and many another "evolution". He holds a daily court of justice, and either deals with the defaulters who have been "shoved in the rattle", i.e. put in his report, himself, or in more serious cases pa.s.ses them on to the higher court--the captain. In most ships there is yet a minor court, held by the senior officer of marines on his own men. His powers are yet more limited, and if after investigation he finds that they will not admit a sufficient punishment for an offence, he takes the offender before the commander. In some ships he is empowered by the captain to bring such cases directly to him.

In spite of the commander's hard work, he has little to grumble at, nor, I believe, does he ever do so, except in the ordinary conversational way we all do at times, when we "let off steam". For he knows that, unless he is very unfortunate in his "skipper", he has his promotion in his own hands. He is showing what he is made of, and once he succeeds in negotiating the big jump to captain's rank he is a.s.sured of going right on to admiral, even if he is not fortunate enough to "hoist his flag" in command of a squadron or fleet. He has the relative rank of a lieutenant-colonel in the army, and is almost invariably a much younger man, probably from thirty to thirty-five years of age, and can take and bear the strain of his position.

After the commander the lieutenants. Of these in a battleship three or four are lieutenant-commanders, and five or six lieutenants. The senior of these is known as the first lieutenant, or, less officially, as "No.

1". In smaller ships they are, of course, fewer. One of these will be the gunnery lieutenant, another navigating lieutenant, and a third torpedo lieutenant. The remainder are cla.s.sed as watch-keepers, in which duty they are now a.s.sisted when in harbour by the officers of marines belonging to the ship. As everyone knows, the day and night on board ship are divided into periods of four hours, known as "watches", except for the "dog watches" of two hours apiece. They run as follows:--

NAME. TIME. BELLS.

Middle watch ... Midnight to 4 a.m. ... 8 to 8 Morning watch ... 4 a.m. to 8 a.m. ... 8 to 8 Forenoon watch ... 8 a.m. to noon ... 8 to 8 Afternoon watch ... noon to 4 p.m. ... 8 to 8 1st Dog watch ... 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. ... 8 to 4 2nd Dog watch ... 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. ... 4 to 8 First watch ... 8 p.m. to midnight ... 8 to 8

The bell is struck, generally by the marine sentry posted nearest to it, or the corporal of the gangway, every half-hour, after reporting the time to the officer of the watch, and being instructed to "make it so".

Thus at 8.30 in the morning he strikes it once, at 9 twice--two strokes quickly following each other; at 9.30 three times--two quick strokes, an interval, and a single stroke--and so on up to eight bells struck in a succession of double strokes. There is also "little one bell", a gentle stroke five minutes after midnight for the watch to "fall in". The dog watches have stood from time immemorial, in order to change the men of the night watches every twenty-four hours. Otherwise the same men would always be keeping the same watches. Some men would always be on at night and others in the daytime. By dividing the 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. watches into two halves--the "first" and "second" dog watches--the rotation is changed, so that men come on watch at fresh periods. There is said to be a tradition that the origin of the word "dog" is "dodge", and that they were originally known as "dodge watches", the reason being obvious. But I should be sorry to vouch for the accuracy of this statement.

The officer of the watch is practically in command of the ship for the time being. He has to deal with any sudden emergency himself; there may very probably be no time to refer to the captain, even if it is advisable to do so. He keeps his watch on the fore-bridge, and sees that the quartermaster at the wheel keeps the ship upon her proper course. He takes observations from time to time, and is entirely responsible--under the captain--for the safety of the ship and all on board. All sorts of reports have to be made to him from time to time, and he makes or sends any necessary reports to the captain.

The lieutenants have charge of their "divisions", which may be said to correspond to the companies of a regiment; have to inspect them at morning and evening parades, known respectively as "divisions" and "evening quarters", and are responsible for their men's clothing being uniform and kept up to the regulation quant.i.ties. They have many other incidental duties, such as boarding ships coming into harbour as "officer of the guard", going ash.o.r.e in charge of men for drill, musketry, and other miscellaneous work of which s.p.a.ce precludes the merest mention.

The gunnery lieutenant is, of course, responsible for the guns and gunnery of the ship, which includes the musketry and infantry drill of the seamen and stokers. The torpedo lieutenant, as his name implies, has charge of the torpedoes and their tubes and the mining gear, and it is his business to see that they are all kept in proper working order and in instant readiness for action. In addition, he has entire charge of the electric lighting and wireless telegraphy.

The navigating lieutenant has taken the place of the old "master", but is not, as he was, outside the executive line. His duty is to lay off the course for the ship, take her position at various times during the day by "shooting the sun" with his s.e.xtant, keep the chronometers wound up, and take general charge of the navigation of the ship. Following the order taken in the Navy List of the officers of a ship, we come to that very important personage the engineer commander. In some sort he occupies a similar position to the old sailing-masters in the days when ships were commanded by soldiers. The ship couldn't get along without the special engineering knowledge of this officer and his understudies any more than William the Conqueror could have got across Channel without Stephen FitzErard, his sailing-master.

We may note, in pa.s.sing, that to this day the executive ranks of the navy always call themselves the "military branch". They are, of course, the "militant" branch, though in one sense no one on board a ship in action can help being a militant too.

The engineering branch, at any rate, stands as good a chance of casualties as even the executive or marine portions of the ship's complement, and it is perhaps partly for this reason that its officers have recently been allowed to wear the much-prized executive "curl" of gold lace on their sleeves. The engineer commander has charge of all the engines on board, the number of which runs to several dozen, for besides the big main engines for propelling the ship there are smaller engines for almost every conceivable purpose. There are engines to work the steering-gear, the winches and hoists, the dynamos to produce electric light, for the magazine refrigerating machinery, and many others, to say nothing of those in the steamboats belonging to the ship. He and the carpenter are also responsible for the hull of the ship, the expenditure and replenishment of coal and oil, and goodness knows how many other things! To a.s.sist him in all this ma.s.s of work and responsibility he has two or three engineer lieutenants and a number of artificer engineers, engine-room artificers, mechanicians, chief stokers, and, in a big ship, hundreds of stokers.

[Ill.u.s.tration: UNIFORMS OF THE ROYAL MARINES

Gunner, R.M.A. Colour-Sergeant, R.M.L.I. Major, R.M.A.]

The duty of senior engineer lieutenant is no sinecure either, since he occupies much the same position in regard to his chief as the commander does to the captain of the ship. The remaining engineer lieutenants keep watch down in the engine-room in the same way as the other lieutenants do on deck.

Still following the order of the Navy List, we come to the officers of marines. In the old days there were, perhaps, five or six of these in a line-of-battleship, but the biggest "Dreadnought" of to-day never carries more than two, unless, perhaps, there is another one attached to the admiral's staff--supposing it to be a flagship--for special duties in connection with the Intelligence Department, &c. Generally in a flagship there is a major and a subaltern. Of the two, one, probably, will be a marine artilleryman. Other big ships will have a captain and a subaltern, and in smaller ones a captain or subaltern alone. Their duties are considerably more onerous than they used to be, since they are wisely made of much more use in the general work of the ship, instead of being relegated to the unsatisfactory role of being "lookers on at life".

The major is, of course, responsible for the conduct, drill, and military efficiency of his detachment, which may number about 100 men, but he has, in addition, to inspect those of other ships in the squadron or fleet from time to time, and to command and drill the marines of the fleet when landed together for drill or tactical instruction. He or the captain of marines in another ship has charge also of the gunnery of his men, who are told off to man some of the guns in the ship, and may very possibly be himself stationed in one of the control-positions in time of action. He also commands the detachment when drawn up as a guard of honour to receive the admiral or any distinguished visitor who is ent.i.tled to this mark of distinction. His subaltern a.s.sists him generally with the detachment, visits the sentries from time to time during the night and day, keeps his turn of watch in harbour and of officer of the guard, drills and looks after the marine guns, and not infrequently acts as a.s.sistant gunnery or torpedo officer. All this is very different from the old days, when the captain or major of marines was popularly supposed to spend his time on the stern lockers practising the flute, and when on arrival in harbour it was considered to be a near thing as to whether he or the "killick"[78] touched the ground first.

The Church takes the next place, in the shape of the chaplain, generally a great acquisition to the mess. The "padre" or "sky pilot" requires to be a man of considerable tact, and generally speaking he is. He has to be on more or less friendly terms with everyone fore and aft, or he would find it difficult to carry out his spiritual duties effectively.

On the other hand, I may fairly say that it is his own fault if, in this respect, he is not met more than half-way both by his messmates in the ward-room and by the "lower deck".[79] He reads prayers at divisions or morning parade, visits the sick-bay and cells, superintends the instruction given by the ship's schoolmaster, and, of course, carries out divine service on Sundays. Sometimes he occupies the post of naval instructor in addition to his strictly clerical duties, and in that capacity instructs the midshipmen in various more or less scientific subjects, such as applied mathematics and navigation, &c., and generally musters his pupils on deck with their s.e.xtants at noon to take their observations and work out the exact position of the ship. He and the paymaster often look after the men's savings-bank, and make themselves useful in other small matters connected with the interior domestic economy of the ship and her ward-room mess.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Photo. Cribb, Southsea_

THE 13.5-INCH GUN: SOME IDEA OF ITS LENGTH

Thirteen midshipmen seated upon this monster naval gun seem to emphasize its length. Sixteen of our super-Dreadnoughts each carry eight or ten 13.5-inch guns. They settled the fate of the _Blucher_ in the Dogger Bank fight, and sent the other German ships back to port shattered and on fire.]

The fleet surgeon, with one or two surgeons, has entire charge of the health of both officers and men. His special domain is the "sick-bay", generally situated forward, so that the sick get the freshest air, and he is a.s.sisted in his duties by a staff of sick-berth stewards and sick-berth attendants. He is an autocrat in his way, as not even the captain can traverse his decisions as to health or disease. He makes a daily report of the officers and men on the sick-list to the captain, and arranges that one of his surgeons is always at hand in case of accidents. In action he and his staff and what extra a.s.sistants can be spared arrange a place down below the armoured deck where they can do what is possible for the wounded that are pa.s.sed down to them. But in these days, when guns are closed up in separate turrets and casemates, it is not too easy a business to arrange for the transport of these poor fellows.