1 Memoirs of the Rise and Progress of the Royal Navy. By Charles Derrick, Esq. of the Navy Office. 4to. pp. 320, price 1 11s 6d. Black, Parry, and Kingsbury. 1806. WB conceive that Mr. Derrick's treatise follows, with great propriety, the Report made by the Committee of the House of Commons: for, though that be a performance which from its nature speaks authoritatively, yet we have every reason to believe that equal confidence will not be misplaced in the accounts with which we are favoured by this gentleman. Mr. D. is not so much of an antiquary as to include the time of the great Alfred in his enquiries concerning the naval strength of Britain; neither does he advert to the time of the conquest, or to that of the crusades: yet we suspect that the shipping necessary to convey our valiant enthusiasts to the Levant in the latter of these periods, must have occasioned very busy times among our builders; and that the science of navigation must have been diffused, on this occasion, among a greater number of mariners than before. The performance of distant voyages is the mean of perfection to maritime skill; and the Holy Land was as distant as voyages then could be extended to; neither America nor the East Indies being discovered. The adoption of those ponderous weapons of war, cannon, was another event which tended to perfect the art of ship building, inasmuch as the strength of timber necessary to bear the weight of these engines, and the shock incident to their discharge, differed greatly from whatever had hitherto been thought on. It may even be doubted whether those immense vessels of which we read in antiquity, wherein were temples, parks, and gardens, could have long supported the effect of broadside firing; though it is readily confessed that some of the ancients must have been very well versed in marine architecture, since their ships had the same oceans and the same accidents to contend against, as those of the present day have: though possibly not for so long a time together without coming into port. The raising of the masts, were this only in question, effectually distinguishes the modern vessels from the ancient, since the body is strained in proportion to the height of the mast; and the depth of the ship under water is required to correspond with the elevation of her upper works; and to compensate the power of the wind on the immense expanse of sail which they carry. The merchant navy of England was formerly hired by the king for the purposes of war; and while the manner of fighting was by bows and arrows, &c. these vessels might answer that purpose: but, when' the vast weight of cannon and stores was introduced, these vessels were no longer adequate to the service; and the necessity of building stronger and more capacious ships became evident to every maritime power. The Cinque ports were bound to supply the king with 57 ships, containing 21 men and a boy in each ship, during 15 days, at their own expence; if kept longer they were paid by the king. What the size and power of these vessels were, may easily be inferred from their complement of hands. As this is the first opportunity we have had of giving any information respecting the British navy, we presume that a view of its strength at different periods, will not only prove interesting at present, but may be useful by way of reference hereafter this we shall attempt in a concise manner. Henry VII., 1485.-Built the Great Harry, cost £14,000. This was properly speaking the first ship of the Royal Navy. Burnt by accident, 1554. Henry VIII, 1509.-The Regent, the largest ship in the navy, was of 1000 tons. Burnt in fight, August 1512.-This King fixed the wages of scamen at 5s. per month. Queen Elizabeth raised it to 10s. In 1521 the navy contained 45 ships.-In 1545 it contained 100 ships. Laws made for planting and preserving timber.. Dock-yards founded at Deptford, Woolwich, and Portsmouth; also the Trinity House. At the King's death in 1547, tonnage of the whole navy, 12,455. Edward VI. 1548 Mary. Vessels. Tonnage. Guns. Men. 1553 Elizabeth, 1558. 24 7110 6570 6279 We have composed the foregoing table from various particulars mentioned by Mr. D. because we are desirous of impressing on the minds of our readers the gradual progress of this important branch We are far of our national defence. from attributing perpetuity or perfection to human efforts of any kind, nor can we adopt the proud language of ignorance; yet we point with cheerfulness to these augmented means of protection which Providence has happily placed within our power, and which Providence, we hope, will protect and prosper with its continued blessing. We remark further that the royal navy has kept pace in its increase and strength with the general increase of our trade; and that our knowledge and skill in navigation has, upon the whole, encreased also. We make our distant voyages to much greater certainty, in much shorter time, and with much less waste of life, than heretofore. The comfort of our mariners, the cure of their distempers, the preservation of their health, are much better understood and attended to. We incline also to think, whatever a few instances may indicate to the contrary, that the mass of loyalty, and honour, as well as of knowledge, in our navy, is at least equal to what it has been at any time. We subjoin a few notices, extracted, as to their substance, from the work before us; but we recommend those who feel themselves interested in the subject, to have recourse to the volume itself; and we venture to predict that it will be referred to for many years to come, as a work of authority and merit. Mr. Derrick has derived essential advantages from the papers of Mr. Pepys, the greatest promoter of ship building of his time. He was secretary to Charles II. from 1673 to 1679, and from 1684 to 1685, during which periods the King executed the office of Lord High Admiral; also to James II. till his abdication. vious to 1673 he was a commissioner of the navy. The preservation of the papers of such able and well informed persons, is an invaluable service to posterity. Pre In 1616 a proclamation was issued forbidding English subjects to export or jmport goods in any but English bottoms. In consequence of this restriction English shipping increased not only in number portant question, on which the following article mny be consulted. In 1545, it was remarked, as extraordinary, that the French and English fleets had fired not less than 300 cannon shot, in an engagement of two hours! It is therefore evident, that few cannon were carried by any one ship and indeed, we believe, that originally the number was only two, placed in a castle in the forepart of the ship; whence the name of "forecastle" is still retained, though the guns are removed. These guns also were of small dimensions; and probably, at first fixed, to prevent their recoil; as we know they were, on land. When the accidents to which their aim was liable, in consequence of the motion of the ship, &c. are considered, we may safely infer that the slaughter they produced could not be very great. The ordnance was afterwards augmented in number, by the admission of pieces of various descriptions and calibres: which stood without assortment on the same deck. Woolwich dock was at first capable of constructing only one large ship: in 1583 it was proposed to render it capable of containing two "Royal Ships: " i. e. vessels of 200 tons and upwards. The Shipwright's Hall did anciently superintend the plans and construction of ships for the royal navy and licence the workmen. The unhappy dispute between Charles I. and his people was fanned into a flame, on occasion of his demanding ship money, or enforcing a tax, by virtue of the Royal Prerogative: but, Mr. D. is of opinion that this money was faithfully applied, to the great honour and advantage of the nation: by which a formidable fleet of 60 sail was equipped: supposed to be the greatest England had ever known. In 1634 this tax produced above£200,000. -In 1640 it was voted illegal. The successes of the English against the Dutch in 1653 were owing to the superior size than was necessary to "support it with materials." The navy had cost £400,000 per ann. In 1638 timber was 15s. per ton; nearly double its price in the early part of James's reign in 1664 it was from £2 to £2. 15s. 6d. per load, delivered. The French navy in 1681 consisted of 179 vessels, of all sorts, carrying 7080 guns, exclusive of 30 galleys. In the year 1744 or 1745, a general complaint was made of the ships in his Majesty's navy, that their scantlings were not so large and strong as they should be, that they did not carry their guns a proper height above the water, (like those of other nations) that they were very crank, and heeled too much in blowing weather, and that they did not carry so great a weight of metal as the ships of the enemy, whose batteries were said to be always open. In consequence of this, the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty gave direc tions to the flag officers, the surveyor of the navy, and the master shipwrights of the dock yards, to consult together, and lay before them a scheme of dimensions and scantlings, and also a draught for a ship of each class; and from these several draughts and schemes their lordships, in 1745, settled the dimen sions of a ship of each class. pp. 136, 137. Mr. D. remarks that it does not seem to have been duly attended to after the end of the war in 1762, not only that ships of equal rates were of greater dimensions than formerly, but that the proportion of large vessels was greater: whence he infers that the number of artificers retained in the dock yards was much less than it should have been; and that they ought to have worked more extra. The very same sentiments, as have been expressed by the Committee of the H. of Commons in the foregoing report. In 1784, the Navy Board ordered a greater proportion [of stores than had been customary to be kept on board vessels in ordinary and established general magazines with greater variety of stores, in each of the dock yards, and at other naval stations also. Since this determination, the time necessary for equip of the English vessels of which Kingping ships on emergency, has been greatly Charles had set the example in building the Sovereign of the Seas on a large scale. In the time of the Commonwealth, the scarcity of British timber, began to be felt in Charles the Second's time, the navy was suddenly discovered to be in a very defective state; and all the timber that England was supposed to be capable of furnishing, was estimated at not more reduced and three or four months accomplish what was formerly, the labour of almost two years. About the year 1793, two very material improvements in ship-building were introduced into the navy-one was, the lengthening the ships very considerably; (in 1796, the Prince, then of 90 guns, was taken into a dock at Portsmouth, and lengthened 17 feet) the other, the giving those of 44, and down to the large class of 32 guns, inclusive, four, instead of three inch bottoms; the former was to make them sail better, at least that was a principal object; the other was to make the ships bear the ground better, in case of striking, and also to give them additional strength, and make them more durable. And at, or since that period, there is scarcely a class of ships or vessels in the service; the plan of whose construction has not been very much improved, as is well known to all professional persons. p. 201, We have mentioned sundry improvements in the construction of shipping, which have been adopted in the English dock yards; the proportions, scantlings, and arrangements of our vessels, have been repeatedly copied from the French. In 1672, Charles II. directed sundry ships to be built on the models of French ships which he had seen at Spithead. The first frigate in the British navy was built after a French model, which Mr. Pett, the builder, 1649, had seen in the Thames. The French were the first to build two deckers; also 80 gun ships; and they introduced various ingeniousimprovements On the other band, the English were the first to copperbottom their vessels: and after this practice had been adopted in the French navy, their shipwrights were astonished at the durability of the English copper; while their own was vermiculated, and corroded in" a manner resembling lace work," in a much shorter time. The English were the first also to use copper bolts instead of iron ones to bind the parts together. Experience having proved that there was no certain way of preventing the bolt from rusting, under the sheathing of copper which being for a time unsuspected, because unseen, endangered the very existence of our shipping, till copper bolts were employed. What further improvements remain to be adopted, have been in some degree noticed in our introductory article. We hope that they will not long continue to be desiderata. The navy is a popular branch of the public service, and we decidedly agree, as every true Briton must, with the principles adopted by the parliament in an address to Queen Anne, 1707. "It is a most undoubted inaxim, that the honour, security, and wealth of this kingdom does depend upon the protection and encouragement of trade, and the improving and right managing its naval strength. Other nations, who were formerly great and power We take this opportunity of mentioning with applause, a work published in Sweden in 1800, with the inspection of which we have been favoured. We believe the copy we have seen to be the only one in England. It is entitled, Forsok till en Theoretisk Afhandling att gifwa at Linie Skepp, &c-An Essay on the theoretical Construction of Line of Battle Ships, and ships of war in general, including frigates, &c. by Vice-Admiral F. H. af Chapman. Knt. of various orders, &c. &c. The mathematical principles adopted in this work appear to have been diligently studied; and skillfully applied. We believe that we have no publication by the officers of our dock yards, which properly associates with this: though we are aware of Stalkart's and Charnock's valuable works. Admiral Chapman has endeavoured to reduce every thing to the simplest principles and has frankly acknowledged the obligation which the theory of ship-building is under, to the ingenious and learned mathematicians of France. : Collection of Interesting and Important Reports and Papers on the Navigation and Trade of Great Britain, Ireland, and the British Colonies in the WestIndies and America. Printed by order of the Society of Ship Owners of Great Britain. pp. 154. Appendix pp. ccxcvii. Price 14s. Stockdale, &c. London, 1807. THE Society of Ship Owners is a body of men, who, as individuals, have vested their capital in a species of property, which is very important to our mercantile interest as a nation. They are mostly men of wealth, and of information; they are therefore alive to every occurrence which has the appearance of which they are concerned. The public injuring that department of adventure in circumstances of the times in which we live, are very unfavourable to the direct operations of commerce; and speculation of every kind meets with difficulties, which were the world at peace, would never be felt, if thought on. Britain is sensible of this embarrassment, the more, because of the immense magnitude of her concerns, and the prodigious capital, engaged by her merchants, in adventure, with design to open new channels of trade, as well as in maintaining those old channels, which the spirit of our predecessors had provided for succeeding generations. Among such a multiplicity of interests it is impossible that all should go on prosperously, when the scourge of war is visiting the nation; and those which in time of peace are the most advantageous, are in time of war, exposed to the greatest perils. We have in a foregoing article stated the proclamation which laid the foundation for our famous navigation act. The effect of that proclamation, was, to increase considerably the shipping and trade of the kingdom; which advantage the navigation act confirmed and established. But these were not the first efforts to place English vessels on a par, at least, with those of other nations: nor has this nation been wanting in spirited efforts to repell the aggressions of foreigners when directed against our commercial marine. We learn from a report of the privy council to his Majesty (Jan. 28, 1791) that, In the year 1593, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, the State of Venice, (which was then one of the first maritime powers of Europe,) made a distinction to the disadvantage of English ships in the duties on merchandize imported into, or exported from, the Venetian territories: Queen Elizabeth, in a charter she at that time gave to the Turkey company, forbade, for the twelve duryears ing which the said charter was to continue, the importation into England of currants, or the wine of Candia in Venetian ships, upon forfeiture of the said ships and their cargoes, unless the State of Venice should think fit to abolish the distinction before mentioned to the disadvantage of the ships of England:-And r the year 1660, when the government of France imposed a duty of 50 sols per ton, payable in the ports of that kingdom, upon the shipping of all foreign nations, including therein the shipping of Great Britain, the legislature of this country, by the 12th Cha. 2 ch. 18. immediately imposed, by way of retaliation, a duty of 5s. per ton on all vessels belonging to the subjects of France, which should trade to the ports of this kingdom, and enacted, that this duty should continue to be collected as long as the duty of 50 sols per ton, or any part thereof, should be charg ed on British ships trading to the ports of France, and three months longer. When the first treaty was made with America, as an independent state, some wished to retaliate on the Americans, who had laid extra duties on British ships visiting their ports; but the good sense of the council preferred more lenient measures. The Americans, however, had no right to expect to enjoy the privileges of British subjects, after they had ceased to be British subjects; and therefore their trade to the British colonies was not permitted without some restrictions. The since con. vulsed state of Europe threw into the hands of the Americans many and great advantages, of which they were not backward to avail themselves. By preserving their neutrality, their vessels afforded veniences of intercourse in various ways: and individuals of the Belligerent powers, took advantage of the security claimed by the American flag, to pursue that traffic which they otherwise must have abandoned. From hence have lately arisen two causes of complaint. The Americans insisted that their flag should protect goods of every kind, those of the enemy to either of the Belligerent powers, hoped to convey in safety French pronot excepted: and by this principle they perty from the colonies of that nation to France. As this claim on the part of America was foreseen by the council, we shall insert their opinion. con If, in the course of this negociation, it should be proposed to treat on maritime regulations, the committee are of opinion, that the government of Great Britain may consent to insert in a commercial treaty with the United States, all the articles of maritime law which have of late been inserted in our commercial treaties with other foreign powers; except that any article allowing the ships of the United States to protect the property of the enemics of Great Britain in time of war, should on no account be admitted: --it would be more dangerous to concede this privilege to the ships of the United States, than to those of any other foreign country: from their situation the ships of these States would be able to cover the whole trade of France and Spain with their islands and colonies in America and the West-Indies, whenever Great Britain shall be engaged in a war with either of those powers; and the navy of Great Britain would, in such case, be deprived of the means of distressing the enemy, by destroying his 'commerce, and thereby diminishing his resources. |