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 The screw-fleet of the navy 
 
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 olin O^ers 
 
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 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924030903441 
 
THE 
 
 SCREW-E 
 
 NAVY. 
 
 y 
 
 From the 
 
 ■COPELlfiDLIBH/iRI^-: 
 
 o 
 
 ^ H®t^AtrthrJbfi-33"^i^^ifl!U- 
 
 <>,• fy 
 .</■■' 
 
 _^ /5 "fOi^iii; niGHT^Hcts. (-5 \ ^ \, 
 
 SIR F. T. BARING, BART, M.P, 
 
 FIBST IX)BD OP THE ADMIRALTY. 
 
 E. P. HALSTED, Esq., Capt. R.N. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, & Co., STATIONERS'-HALL COURT, 
 
 AND A. VARNHAM, STRAND. 
 1850. 
 
INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS. 
 
 TO 
 
 THE RIGHT HON. SIR FRANCIS T. BARING, BART., M.P., 
 
 &c. kc. &c. 
 
 fiest lord of the admiralty. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 In submitting with grateful acknowledgment the 
 pages to which I am allowed the honour of prefixing your 
 name, may I be permitted very briefly to state the means and 
 the motives which I have had for writing them ? 
 
 The subject they treat of first received my attention while 
 commanding H.M.S. " Childers," when the "Archimedes" 
 made the first maritime voyage ever performed by the Screw, 
 and appeared at Portsmouth, in May, 1839, ai the launch of 
 H.M.S. " Queen." I then found Mr. Francis Pettit Smith, 
 the practical Inventor of Screw-propulsion, to be fully alive to 
 its peculiar adaptation for the Navy. The absence of all 
 impediment to the traditional full-armed broadside ; — ^the ship 
 herself a fully furnished and independent sailing-ship; — the 
 economy of using Sail-power, or Steam-power, at option; — 
 the employment of machinery entirely protected from shot. 
 These were all clearly explained to me to constitute the 
 merits of his Invention for Ships-of-War, dependent of course 
 upon the competent propelling powers which the instrument 
 itself might possess. 
 
 On returning from India in 1843, I renewed my attention to 
 
 a 2 
 
iv INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS. 
 
 the subject, which the Admiralty by that time had taken in 
 hand. The River performance of the " Rattler," in 1843 and 
 1844, gave fresh hopes of success ; and led to that course of 
 practical trials which was ordered to be made in the North Sea 
 between H.M. Ships " Rattler " and " Alecto " in the spring 
 of 1845, and at which 1 attended. These trials confirmed the 
 equal propelling power of the Screw and Paddle-wheel at 
 Sea; and the conviction of this result on the minds of the 
 Admiralty caused their Lordships to lay the foundation of 
 our present Screw Fleet, by ordering the construction of 
 ' Screw ships,' and conversion of ' Auxiliaries/ to the extent 
 of twenty-three vessels, towards the autumn of that year. 
 
 From this date I have considered the subject, in all its 
 bearings, worthy of an undivided attention ; and on closing a 
 course of two years' study on board H.M.S. " Excellent," 
 and at the Royal Naval College at Portsmouth, I removed in 
 the summer of 1846 to Woolwich, and for a further period of 
 fifteen months, then and since, have been an attendant at 
 almost every experiment or trial, there or elsewhere, which 
 could furnish any practical knowledge of the Principle or its 
 details. 
 
 I need scarcely observe how such a course of observation 
 has also included the privilege of frequent intercourse with 
 the several leading minds so earnestly directed to the same 
 subject. 
 
 During the winter of 1847-8 1 was engaged to supervise the 
 completion of machinery for H.M.S. " Dauntless," and the 
 construction of H.M. Ships "Simoom" and "Greenock," in 
 the Clyde ; — with instructions to submit to their Lordships such 
 suggestions as might tend to develop the powers of these ships, 
 
INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS. y 
 
 in both their steaming and sailing capacities. And in the 
 summer of the latter year I attended all the preliminary trials 
 of the first-named of these ships, and accompanied her from 
 the Clyde to Portsmouth, with the view to notice her qualities. 
 
 I may here express my sense of the confidence with which 
 yourself. Sir, and their Lordships were pleased to appoint 
 me, in concert with Captain Austin, C.B., to conduct the course 
 of trials between H.M. Ships "Basilisk" and "Niger," which 
 occupied the summer of last year. 
 
 I advert to these personal matters solely that they may 
 be permitted to account for whatever may seem unusual in 
 the form in which I have the honour to submit the subject- 
 matter of these pages. Because it is this long and connected 
 experience which has taught me to believe, that the progress 
 of Screw-propulsion, in connexion with the Navy, may be 
 assisted in its present stage by a careful re-exposition of its 
 Principles ; far more than by any mere record of its success. 
 This experience has enabled me to trace, how the time which 
 has elapsed, and how the changes which have occurred, since 
 first a Screw Fleet was laid down, have contributed to efface 
 the distinct nature of those advantages which the Screw was 
 intended to secure. It has led me to observe how the doubts 
 which have been raised by allegations against the speed of 
 the Screw, have disturbed our attention from the more solid 
 merits of full broadsides, and full sail-powers, which 
 were the special Objects of its adoption. And it has convinced 
 me that a strict care in providing for the complete attainment 
 of these special Objects is our true safeguard against the 
 error of mistaking a Screw for some modification of a Paddle- 
 wheel — an error which is sure to lead to some common mode 
 
vi INTHODUCTORY ADDKESS. 
 
 of providing for the operation of two distinct Mechanical Prin- 
 ciples, and which therefore can only tend to embarrass that 
 satisfactory progress which their Lordships are so anxiously 
 endeavouring to pursue. 
 
 It is for these reasons that I have been desii-ous to adopt the 
 most serviceable form in which I might present the details ot 
 this experience. And therefore I have decided. First; — to 
 define the distinctive advantages which the Screw was always 
 intended to secure. Next ; — to illustrate its perfect ability to 
 realize these advantages when duly provided for. Lastly; — 
 to prove that these advantages are alone consistent with the 
 Principle of Screw-propulsion itself, or with the extent to which 
 we have adopted it in the Navy. 
 
 By this mode of treating the subject I have allowed myself 
 to hope that I might strengthen that steady Confidence which 
 is so essential in conducting a comprehensive System of pro- 
 gress with success. And in thus seeking to promote confidence 
 in a Principle, which was adopted with the view to stamp upon 
 our whole Fleet a character of marked improvement, it has 
 been my wish to show an earnestness in some degree commen- 
 surate with the great responsibility of working out such an 
 undertaking — but an earnestness which cannot outweigh the 
 true respect with which 
 
 I have the honour to be. 
 Sir, 
 Your obliged and obedient servant, 
 
 EDWARD PELLEW HALSTED. 
 
 73, Strand, April 23, 1850. 
 
PREFATORY NOTICE. 
 
 In the following pages I have hoped to make it appear that I 
 am not urging the introduction of any new and specious 
 Invention ; but that I have written them with the sole view to 
 assist to its appointed end, an Invention very extensively 
 adopted long before they were commenced; and which has 
 seemed not unworthy of such assistance as it might receive 
 from them. 
 
 I have written under a conviction that we are living in 
 purely Transition-times; when new Powers are being placed 
 in our hands at once for the fulfilment of past purposes, and 
 the development of those which are new. And that with these 
 Powers is given us no alternative but to use them. Those who 
 do so, whether nationally or associately, soonest and most 
 consistently, will be the first to reap the advantages they are 
 destined to confer. And as we have launched the boldest on 
 this course of Naval advancement, so we may be the first to 
 reap the improvements it leads to ; — if we keep those im- 
 provements STEADILY IN VIEW. 
 
 I am quite aware that these pages may give rise to con- 
 troversy, for I have not known how to write them so as to 
 avoid its risk ; if I had I would have done so. But they have 
 not been written for any such purpose ; neither will they be 
 defended by me from any mere controversial attack. They 
 
viii PREFATORY NOTICE. 
 
 treat of a subject yet young, though of very great importance, 
 and which is yet in progress as I write about it. — ^A subject 
 which very deeply affects very extensive interests, besides those 
 of the Navy ; and which has naturally excited hitherto far more 
 jealousy than favour. I therefore forestall the charges sure to 
 be made against them ; by candidly admitting that they do 
 no doubt, notwithstanding every care, contain a full share of 
 errors. Errors of fact; — ^errors of figure; — errors of informa- 
 tion from others ; — errors of observation of my own. Still I 
 charge it upon the more impartial judgment of critics to say, 
 whether every point of importance which they illustrate, has 
 not been supported by such an amount of substantial truth, as 
 to leave that point unimpaired; and to prove that all error 
 has been involuntary. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTEE I. 
 On full-powekeid Scbew-Ships. 
 
 Part I.— The Screw-ship always intended to be a perfect Sailing-ship, ""^ 
 
 provided with a full-armed broadside .... 1 
 
 Part II.— The amount of provision made in the Screw Fleet for full 
 
 armed broadsides U 
 
 Part III.— The Principles of providing the Screw Fleet with full Sail- 
 power .......... 18 
 
 Part IV.— The necessity of observing the essential distinctions between 
 Paddle-propulsion and Screw-propulsion with respect to 
 Equipments 42 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 On Screw-Ships, as compabed with Acxiharies. 
 
 Part I.— The relative merits of Screw-propnlsion as applied with full 
 
 Steam-power or with limited Steam-power . . .46 
 
 Part II..— The importance of thus distinguishing between the characters 
 
 of Screw-Ships and Auxiliaries 68 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 On the pecdliar Kecommendations of the Screw for Mail Contract 
 
 Service 76 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 On the Forms of the Screw-Ships of the Navy. 
 
 Part I. — The Cause of the Defective Form of our Screw-Ships traced out 90 
 
 Part II. — The origin and the nature of " Steam armament " . . 99 
 
 Part III. — The restoration of our Screw-ships to an effective form 
 
 vindicated 109 
 
 Part IV.— An explanatory Illustration 121 
 
 CONCI.0SION 124 
 
 b 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 ON FULL-POWERED SCREW-SHIPS. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 THE SCREW-SHIP ALWAYS INTENDED TO BE A PERFECT SAILING- 
 SHIP PROVIDED WITH A PULL-ARMED BROADSIDE. 
 
 At a time when some diversity of opinion appears to exist as to 
 the best plan for eliciting the value of our Full-powered Screw 
 ships, it may perhaps assist towards a satisfactory decision, to 
 re-state the objects originally contemplated by the introduction 
 of the principle of Propulsion they are intended to develop ; 
 with the view, subsequently, to trace how far we are in co\irse 
 of realizing the objects; or how far, whether from necessity 
 or otherwise, they may have been deviated from, or lost sight 
 of, during the lengthened period required for the completion 
 of the Ships. 
 
 The chief motive, then, which determined the adoption of tlie The intended 
 SCREW for the War-steamers of the Navy, was to secure the ex- adopting the 
 tensive advantages it ofifered under the two important Heads of P'""='pi<' "<" 
 
 o ^ Screw-propul- 
 
 Efficiency and Economy. sion in the 
 
 Navy. 
 
 As regards superior Efficiency. — The Objects to be obtained 
 were two. 
 
 The first was; — ' to restore that complete broad- 
 
 ' SIDE ARMAMENT, WHICH EXPERIENCE HAD EVER SHOWN 
 , TO BE THE BEST ADAPTED FOR ALL THE EXIGENCIES OF 
 ' WARFARE.' 
 
 The second was ; — ' to render this complete armament 
 
 ' AT ALL TIMES AVAILABLE ; AND TO SECURE FOR THE SHIP 
 ' THE FULL CO-OPERATION OF STEAM-POWER, WHETHER IN 
 ' CLOSE OR DISTANT ACTION, BY SO DISPOSING HER MA- 
 
 B 
 
2 THE SCREW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 ' CHINERY AS TO AFFORD IT A PROTECTION AS EFFECTUAL AS 
 ' THAT OF THE MAGAZINE ITSELF.' 
 
 As regards superior Economy. — This Object was to be 
 obtained by the use of the same means which we had always 
 been attempting to employ for the same purpose in the Paddle- 
 steamer. That is ; the Full-powered Screw-ship was to be 
 equipped and worked as a Perfect Sailing-ship also ; and the 
 modes of employing the Full Sail-power to be supplied for 
 the purpose of thus working her were two. 
 
 The first was ; — ' THAT ALL General Service should be 
 ' effectively performed under sail alone.' 
 
 The second was; — ' that all Special Service should 
 
 ' BE effectively PERFORMED BY AIDING THE FuLL SaIL- 
 ' POWER WITH A LIMITED USE OF THE StEAM.' 
 
 The employment of the Full Steam-power, either combined 
 or not combined with the sails, as each case might require, 
 would thus be reserved for the performance of ' Exceptional 
 Services* alone. And the period of its use would be limited to 
 the bare duration of each case requiring it, by reverting to the 
 employment of either Sail-power, or Auxiliary Steam-power, as 
 soon as the demand for Full Steam-power ceased. 
 
 Directly connected with this intended equipment with a full 
 spread of canvas, two other advantages of high importance 
 were seen at the same time to be attained. 
 
 The first was ; — ' That this Full Sail-power would render 
 ' available the Services of the Screw-ship as a complete man- 
 • of-war at all times, independent of accidents to machinery, 
 ' or difficulties in obtaining a supply of fuel.' 
 
 The second was ; — ' That the constant use of this Full Sail- 
 ' power would relieve the Screw-ship from the defect of the 
 ' Paddle-steamer ; and would give her a position in the Navy as 
 ' an efficient school of discipline and instruction for men and 
 ' officers, IN practical Seamanship.' 
 
 Now in thus re-stating the Objects which were originally 
 
FULL-POWERED SCREW-SHIPS. 3 
 
 intended to be obtained by the substitution of the Screw for 
 the Paddle in the Steam-fleet of the Navy, it will be seen that 
 all reference to the question of improved speed has been 
 omitted ; and for this intentional omission I would wish it to 
 be observed that there are these two reasons. First; — be- Improvement 
 cause the Screw did not hold out the prospect of such supe- pected only as 
 riority in this important particular, as could justify for its sake ' 'jfe^erf im- 
 alone, so extensive a change, in so costly an arm of the national provement of 
 power as our Steam Navy. And next; — because so pre- 
 eminent were held to be the advantages I have specified, that 
 had it been necessary to purchase them at the sacrifice of 
 some per centage of speed, such price would at once have 
 been cheerfully paid. I must not, however, be supposed to 
 mean that the importance of high speed in every War- 
 steamer, was then more than now, either under-estimated or 
 overlooked. Still less can I admit that any sacrifice of it has 
 *" in anywise been made. The then matured conviction, — based 
 upon our earliest and continued experience, — that the one 
 Instrument would prove in this respect as effective as the 
 other, has been amply verified by results. And in addition to 
 this it was early and clearly seen, that the restoration of a com- 
 plete armament to the broadside would relieve the extremities 
 of the Ship from the great weight of guns which the necessities 
 of the Paddle had caused to be placed there, and which 
 operated as the great impediment to high speed in every armed 
 Steamer. The Constructor would thenceforth be left entirely 
 free to adopt those finer lines of 'entrance' and 'run,' from 
 which he had been hitherto debarred by the necessity of pro- 
 viding for the support of heavy armament in the extreme ends 
 of his ships. By this ability to improve his Forms, he would 
 be in a position to provide for increased speed, perhaps 
 even with reduced power. And therefore the adoption of the 
 Screw when it provided for the removal of the chief impedi- 
 ment by which the Constructor had hitherto been shackled, 
 
 b2 
 
4 THE SCREW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 did in fact provide also for obtaining improved speed, with 
 superior efficiency and economy combined.* 
 
 * As this statement of the equal Speed of the Screw and the Paddle is one 
 which may not meet with general acceptance, and may therefore need support, 
 I will request notice to the following List of the Light and Load-water speeds, 
 of the " Rattler," and of certain armed Paddle-steamers, of the " Rattler's " 
 power and upwards ; as ascertained by trials made before the ' measured 
 mile ' in Long Reach, and recorded at the Steam Factory at Woolwich. The 
 equality established by these results obtained in the River, being fully con- 
 firmed by the trials of the " Rattler " with the " Alecto," the " VesuTius," and 
 the " Polyphemus " at sea. It will be seen that the " Rattler's" load speed 
 exceeds the mean of the fifteen other load speeds quoted by 12- 5 per cent., not- 
 withstanding her smaller proportion of Power to tonnage. 
 
 REGISTERED SPEED IN KNOTS OF HER MAJESTY'S ARMED STEAMERS, AS 
 ASCERTAINED BEFORE THE " MEASURED MILE." 
 
 Name. 
 
 Tonnage 
 
 Nominal 
 Power. 
 
 Propor- 
 tion of 
 Tons per 
 Horse 
 Power. 
 
 At 
 
 Load 
 
 Draught. 
 
 At 
 
 Light 
 
 Draught. 
 
 As ascertained otherwise. 
 
 Alecto 
 
 800 
 
 200 
 
 4 
 
 7-698 
 
 
 
 Ardent . 
 
 
 801 
 
 200 
 
 4 
 
 8-947 
 
 
 
 Polyphemus 
 
 
 801 
 
 200 
 
 4 
 
 7-977 
 
 
 
 Prometheus * 
 
 
 T96 
 
 200 
 
 i 
 
 8-75 
 
 
 
 Medea . 
 
 
 835 
 
 320 
 
 3-8 
 
 8-471 
 
 
 
 Hydra. . 
 
 
 818 
 
 220 
 
 3-7 
 
 9-251 
 
 
 
 Phoenix . 
 
 
 809 
 
 220 
 
 3-7 
 
 7-810 
 
 
 
 Styx . . 
 
 
 1059 
 
 280 
 
 3-7 
 
 8- 
 
 
 
 Driver 
 
 
 1056 
 
 280 
 
 3-7 
 
 8-495 
 
 
 
 Geyser 
 
 
 1054 
 
 280 
 
 3-7 
 
 8-406 
 
 
 
 Vixen . . 
 
 
 1054 
 
 280 
 
 3-7 
 
 7-263 
 
 
 
 Cyclops . 
 
 
 1190 
 
 320 
 
 3-7 
 
 9-124 
 
 
 
 Eclair. . 
 
 
 1059 
 
 296 
 
 3-6 
 
 9-557 
 
 
 
 Cormorant 
 
 
 1057 
 
 300 
 
 3-5 
 
 9-112 
 
 
 
 Vesuvius . 
 
 
 970 
 
 280 
 
 3-4 
 
 9-540 
 
 
 
 Gorgon . 
 
 
 1111 
 
 320 
 
 3-4 
 
 
 9-646 
 
 
 Stromboli 
 
 
 967 
 
 280 
 
 3-4 
 
 .. 
 
 10-067 
 
 
 Firebrand 
 
 
 1190 
 
 410 
 
 2-9 
 
 
 10-163 
 
 
 Gladiator . 
 Devastation 
 
 
 1190 
 1058 
 
 430 
 400 
 
 2-7 
 2-6 
 
 
 10-003 
 
 12-5, by Massey's log, light. 
 
 Vulture . 
 
 
 1191 
 
 470 
 
 2'6 
 
 ., 
 
 10-545 
 
 
 Terrible . 
 Bull-dog . 
 Retribution 
 " Rattler " . 
 
 
 1847 
 
 1134 
 
 1641 
 
 888 
 
 800 
 600 
 800 
 200 
 
 2-3 
 2-2 
 2- 
 4-4 
 
 9-63&t 
 
 10-074t 
 
 10-9 by Massey's log. 
 10-4 by log, with jib set. 
 12 stated, when light. 
 
 • ■The Prometheus had tubular bo.lers, and the weights on her safety-valves were reduced 
 to 5 lbs. ner square inch, to enable the " Rattler " to contend with her more fairly, 
 t Loaded and ngged. J Loaded, but not rigged. 
 
FULL-POWERED SCREW-SHIPS. 5 
 
 It was, however, with respect to the armament that the most Full-armed 
 
 .., •T111-11 broadsides, tlie 
 
 important advantages were mtended. to be obtamed; and so chief object as 
 was it foreseen that to realize these advantages the greatest ^^^^^^ g^. 
 difficulties would have to be met. ciency. 
 
 It is true that at little expense or difficulty the change 
 alone in the mode of propulsion, would at once disencumber 
 the decks of the Screw-ship ; — relieve her of a vast weight of 
 top hamper both in hull and machinery ; — and remove from her 
 sides the incumbrances inseparable from the very nature of the 
 Paddle-wheel. It also at once provided the means of restor- 
 ing the battery to its accustomed power and completeness, and 
 replaced it in that legitimate position in the broadside, out of 
 which, — not by choice, but of necessity, — not with improve- 
 ment, but in every respect with loss, — it had by the Paddle- 
 wheel been driven. Nor was it of small advantage that thus 
 was a satisfactory solution seen at once, of all those per- 
 plexities, plans, and projects, which for years had occu- 
 pied the earnest yet futile endeavours of all concerned, to 
 give to the Paddle-steamer the character of a powerfully and 
 ettectively armed ship. It was also no small triumph that in 
 making this change in the Instrument of propulsion it was in 
 no way necessary to change the engines, or the various plans 
 of engines by which it could be driven; since, with but unim- 
 portant adaptations and additions of detail, the ' double cylinder- 
 engines of the "Rattler," and the 'oscillating cylinder' engines 
 of the " Phoenix," were found to do their work with perfect 
 efficiency; and so also without material change in form or 
 principle, every other Marine engine which had hitherto been 
 perfected for the Paddle, might, as far as regarded the instru- 
 ment itself, with equal effect be made to apply its effort to the 
 Screw. All these were points of undeniable importance which 
 were secured at once by the mere act of accepting the change 
 proposed, and that without any serious cost of labour or 
 expense. 
 
6 THE SCREW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 The necessity But this change was both proposed and accepted with the 
 tem of ma- intention that the armament of our future Steam Fleet should 
 "rder?' rende ^'^ rendered by its means completely effective no less than 
 the broadside powerful, and the limited instances in which as yet the Steamer 
 effective. had been engaged in action had sufficed to establish the fact, 
 
 that, however powerful and complete her battery in itself 
 might be, its Services must in most cases be of limited avail 
 so long as her machinery remained fatally exposed. It was 
 therefore determined to complete the many advantages already 
 obtained, and to provide for the Screw-ship a plan of engine 
 which should be protected from injury by shot with the same 
 security as that enjoyed by the Screw itself; and it was this 
 determination which was foreseen to involve a contest with 
 difficulties, second only in importance to the attainment of the 
 object itself for the sake of which they were to be encountered. 
 That which is technically termed a ' Screw-engine,' that 
 is, an engine, all the parts of which are protected from shot 
 by a low position beneath the water-line, such as in various 
 forms it has now been produced for the Screw-ships of the 
 Navy, ones its origin to the determination to effect this great 
 Object of Security ; and that not the less so, because it was seen 
 that it would greatly assist the intended means for rendering 
 economical the General services of the Screw-ship, by its ten- 
 dency to increase her stability when under Full Sail-power, 
 from the low position of its weight. 
 
 Great difficul- In producing this ' Screw-engine ' for the sole purpose there- 
 ties in produc- , « », . . tvt n 
 
 iug the present lore ot ettecting a most important Naval object, it has been 
 crew-engme. fg^jjj]^ requisite relatively to re-arrange even the elements of 
 which the mechanical power of the Steam-engine itself is com- 
 posed. — As a Marine Engine, it has been found necessary to 
 re-model, and re-learn, the very alphabet of the well-known 
 proportions and details of all which preceded it. — It has caused 
 to be set aside and replaced, plans, patterns, and patents alike. 
 — It has put masters and men to work again upon initiatory 
 
FULL-POWERED SCREW-SHIPS. 7 
 
 labours mental and physical, with past principles, more than 
 past practice for their guide. — And it has consigned to the risks 
 of a fresh struggle upon a new field, the maintenance of hard- 
 earned and long -established reputations. 
 
 As in England alone could a revolution of this nature have The means 
 been expected to issue in a successful and speedy result, so was meeting those 
 it seen that even in England this result could be expected to 'I'^culties. 
 issue under the operation of but one plan of proceeding alone. 
 And our undoubted possession at this moment of even a choice 
 of engines by which the important object of Security is fully 
 obtained, has been brought about, — not, — by committing the 
 success of a great principle to the risks of an isolated experi- 
 ment, or to the chance imperfection of some novel detail ; but 
 by employing the only reasonable and adequate means by 
 which the attainment of an object of such difficulty could be 
 hoped for, namely, by enlisting the energy and talent of the 
 country in furtherance of the attempt. This could only be 
 effected by issuing Contracts which should fairly remunerate 
 for the anxieties, difficulties, and expenses, inevitably to be 
 incurred, and by issuing these contracts to all; — under feel- 
 ings of confidence which have not been misplaced, that the 
 success of so large a stride in advance could yet with safety be 
 relied on, when thus appealing both to the public and the pro- 
 fessional spirit of the chief Engineering Firms of the kingdom 
 for a general and emulative effijrt from each. And if the The success of 
 wisdom and soundness of the course thus pursued could be 
 supposed to need any support beyond that of its actual success ; 
 that support would be seen in the fact, that each of the nine 
 chief Firms by whom these contracts were accepted has enter- 
 tained a separate view of the best mode of fulfilling the conditions 
 required in them, and has illustrated that view by supplying us 
 with a plan of engine distinctively its own.* 
 
 ' The parties by whom these contracts were taken are, Messrs. Bolton and 
 Watt, Maudslay and Field, Robert Napier, Seaward, Miller, Penn, Fairbairu, 
 
8 THE SCREW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 It was not, then, for the purpose of providing protection to 
 the machinery of a ship equipped with no more than the in- 
 complete armament of the Paddle-steamer, that difficulties and 
 labours such as have here been pointed to were encountered 
 and overcome. But the only, yet amply sufficient object ever 
 contemplated, was ' to render effective for every exigency of 
 warfare' that complete and essentially broadside battery, 
 which by a simple act of adoption we now at once were able 
 to re-establish upon the disencumbered deck of the Screw-ship ; 
 and which with ceaseless but fruitless toil, we had for years been 
 labouring to plant upon the main and upper decks of the Paddle- 
 steamer also. 
 Full Sail- Again, — As complete Efficiency in every point connected 
 
 cSobject with the armament was thus to be obtained only at commen- 
 as regards surate expense : so with equal willingness was an actual price to 
 
 increased ^ ' ^ ^ ^ - 
 
 Economy. be paid down, as the condition of perfecting the means of work- 
 
 ing the Screw -ship with complete Economy. 
 
 We have seen that the mere change of Instrument at once 
 relieved the ship of the incumbrance of great top hamper, 
 while the ' Screw-engine ' removed the weights of machinery 
 and propeller to the most favourable position for Stability 
 below. The extent of the impeding surface when sailing, was 
 also so much less in the new than in the old Instrument of pro- 
 pulsion, that without material difficulty or expense the Screw- 
 ship could obviously claim superiority in Sailing-speed over 
 the Paddle-steamer under equal powers of canvass, and even 
 when equipped only upon this incomplete standard, she might 
 pretend in some instances to take that modest position among 
 
 Scott, and Sir John Eennie ; and that the term ' revolution ' may not seem to 
 have been unadvisedly used, each and all of the eminent engineers now named 
 can testify that, whether as regards the selection by them respectively, of the 
 principle of driving by ' gearing,' or the principle of driving ' direct ;' — whether 
 as regards the engines, or the boilers ; — whether as regards themselves, their 
 foremen, their workmen, or their tools ; — General Principles alone guided the 
 construction of the various plans of Engine supplied by them ; and in every case 
 General Principles themselves required to be modified and re-arranged. 
 
rULL-POWERED SCREW-SHIPS. 9 
 
 the slower classes of the Navy as an effective Sailing-ship, from 
 which her predecessor had with great loss to her general effi- 
 ciency been necessarily excluded, and which she had been so 
 long struggling against the disabling effects of her heavy in- 
 cumbrances to attain. 
 
 Though great advantages in respect to the Economy of the The necessity 
 
 1 • 1 , • 1 /. 1 • J- ''" removing 
 
 ocrew-ship were thus to be derived from the mere adoption ot the Screw, in 
 the change of Instrument, yet in this particular that change fu^ saU-pow-' 
 was alsp proposed and accepted with the intention that it should ^" completely 
 secure that full measure of the General and Economical employ- 
 ment of Steam, which could alone be derived from ' equipping 
 and working the Full-powered Screw-ship as a Perfect Sailing- 
 ship also.' And to effect this primary object completely, would 
 evidently require the removal of the amount of impediment to 
 speed which the surface of the Screw still continued to present 
 when under sail alone. 
 
 This removal therefore it was determined to effect, and to 
 the determination thus to prepare for realizing the complete 
 Economy of the Screw- ship is to be assigned the origin of the 
 present 'Trunk and Lifting-gear;' by means of which the 
 Screw can at any time be raised entirely out of the water, and 
 which also supplies the collateral advantage of enabling the 
 Screw to be examined whenever it may be necessary to do so. 
 
 In the various forms of completion in which this ' Trunk Difficulties in 
 and Lifting-gear' are now presented in our several Screw- fhiTremOTlL 
 ships, a further task of no mean difficulty and anxiety has been 
 imposed upon Constructor and Engineer alike. The accounts 
 of both will testify that no mean expense has here also been 
 incurred ; and it is my desire to lay stress on this expenditure 
 of money, — and anxiety, — and talent, — and labour, — and 
 difficulty, — because together they constitute the price which 
 has been paid, — not, — for that mere modified improvement in 
 Sailing-speed which limits its success to the establishment of 
 bare superiority over manifest incapacity. But it has been 
 
10 THE SCREW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 paid for the sole purpose of eliciting that positively high 
 Sail-speed which the fine and unencumbered Forms of these 
 Screw-ships have ever shovi^n that they possess ; — the Economy 
 arising from the almost constant employment of which Sail- 
 speed being alone relied on to justify the heavy expenses 
 incurred expressly to obtain it ; because from that Economy 
 alone was it expected that those expenses could ever be repaid. 
 Great expenses Thus have been identified those chief objects, upon its 
 paring for evident powers to secure which^ both the original proposers and 
 Effic^ncv and Original acceptors of the Screw were content to base the propriety 
 Economy. and the defence of its adoption. In thus glancing at the dif- 
 ficulties which that adoption was seen to involve, and at the 
 means which alone could be depended upon in order to remove 
 them, it has been my intention to show. First, — that improve- 
 ments in every respect coextensive with such exertions of talent 
 and expenditure were always looked to both to justify and 
 reward them. And next, — that in every item of that ex- 
 penditure and those exertions may be clearly traced the deter- 
 mination to realize the complete possession of all those 'exten- 
 ' sive advantages offered by the Screw under the two important 
 'Heads of Efficiency and Economy.' 
 
FULL-POWERED SCREW-SHIPS. 11 
 
 PAET II. 
 
 THE AMOUNT OP PROVISION MADE IN THE SCEEW-PLEET FOR 
 PULL-ARMED BROADSIDES. 
 
 Having thus pointed to the motives, intentions, and labours, 
 concerned in the original adoption of that great change under 
 review, I next proceed to notice the steps in course of progress 
 for the further completion of the Screw-ship ; and it is my 
 wish to do so in a manner consistent with due respect for the 
 Authority entrusted with the success of a System, designed to 
 effect so total an alteration and improvement in the Powers, 
 Practice, Principles, and Services of our Steam-fleet. Both in 
 what has been already stated, as in what I now propose to add, 
 a sense of the consideration to which so great a responsibility is 
 justly entitled, has dictated a desire to remove, — and not to 
 aggravate, — any embarrassments which a subject so extensive, 
 so new, and so untried, may naturally be supposed to give rise 
 to ; and this desire I have thought would best be accomplished, 
 by respectfully indicating that course of procedure which seems 
 alone capable of consistently connecting the past with the pre- 
 sent and the future, and thus leading to an early and satisfac- 
 tory result. 
 
 It is henceforth assumed therefore, that the Objects now The completion 
 shown to have been originally contemplated, will continue still "bjecto"'* 
 to stimulate our advance ; and this assumed intention I have assumed to be 
 
 still intended. 
 
 adopted with the greater confidence, because it would be diflS- 
 cult to replace these objects with others of equal National 
 advantage, or more in accordance with feelings of Professional 
 improvement. The further means of realizing them, however, 
 should be reflected on with all that caution and prudence 
 which is evidently demanded, while yet there continue to exist 
 great difficulties in the way of their attainment, which must 
 
12 
 
 THE SCREW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 The special 
 
 offered by the 
 Screw-frigate 
 for a powerful 
 upper-deck 
 battery. 
 
 Both Screw- 
 frigates capable 
 of receiving a 
 full broadside 
 of guns. 
 
 The want of 
 providing for a 
 full store of 
 coals in both 
 the " Terma- 
 gant " and 
 "Dauntless," 
 
 be met, and may be aggravated ; and while yet there is ample 
 room, notwithstanding all that has been done, if not for actual 
 failure, at least for present disappointment, and delayed 
 success. 
 
 Beginning then with the paramount Object of superior EflS- 
 ciency as involved in the complete arming of the Screw-ship, 
 it is satisfactory to recognise that valuable fruit has never- 
 theless been gathered from our past, although unsuccessful 
 efforts, to equip effectively in this particular r.he Paddle- 
 steamer ; and that on the clear and uninterrupted deck of the 
 Screw-frigate has been found perhaps the most powerful 
 position afloat for the use of the Shell gun, with its improved 
 precision, lightness, and admirable mounting. The 'extreme 
 training,' which when effectively provided for may here be 
 given to it, together with its clearance from all obstruction of 
 the rigging, may enable it with small assistance from the helm 
 to be made in the Screw-ship a perfect chase-gun, while still 
 maintaining its position in the broadside; and the complete 
 co-operation with the guns of the main deck up to the angle 
 of their ' extreme training ' which may thus be secured for the 
 entire upper-deck battery, is an advantage enjoyed by few, if 
 any ships at present in the Navy, and must be found specially 
 valuable in the well-appointed Screw-frigate when contending 
 with Sailing-ships only, and realizing all the advantages of her 
 Steam-power for the purpose of taking and maintaining a 
 favourable position in action. 
 
 Both on the main and upper decks of the two Screw-frigates, 
 the preparation for the armament itself j its freedom from all 
 obstruction of machinery ; together with full security to every 
 part of the engine below, — is capable of being complete. 
 
 But though our two Screw-frigates thus enable us to attain 
 the great objects originally sought for and comprised under 
 the head of Efficiency, yet it cannot be allowed to escape 
 observation, with the view to future improvement, that in 
 
FULL-POWERED SCREW-SHIPS. jg 
 
 connexion with this very success is to be seen what must be 
 considered as an oversight in both their original designs. A 
 complete battery has of course demanded a corresponding hold- 
 space for provisions for the competent crew to work it. Com- 
 plete protection to the machinery has at the same time 
 demanded unusual room to be surrendered for the boilers 
 below, in order that they may compensate in length, for 
 their want of water-capacity in height, and compliance with 
 these demands has pre-occupied a large portion of the space 
 intended for fuel. It may be fair subject of regret that Constitutes an 
 the "Termagant" and "Da\mtless" are thus left with room remedied in 
 for only 350, out of the 500 tons of fuel they were originally f"*"™. <=»"- 
 
 J J ^ J structiona. 
 
 intended to carry, and our Constructors in their next designs 
 for frigates of this description may well be warned by the 
 deficiency in these ; but even in respect to this deficiency regret 
 need be by no means unmingled. The amount of Displacement 
 to be disposed of in consequence of a smaller stowage of fuel than 
 was contemplated, may be made to increase the power and extent 
 of their armaments. And when provided with their intended Full 
 Sail-powers, and realizing all the economy of fuel to be derived 
 from the ahnost constant use of canvass, whatever " Steamers " 
 of a fleet might on demand be found short of fuel, neither of 
 the two Screw-frigates ought to be found in that position.* 
 
 In these two ships there may certainly be seen a more unin- But both 
 terrupted plan of deck in the one case than in the other; and a i^ their "fspec- 
 further difference of two feet in the vertical height of the ^^^ ^^^^^^g, 
 respective centres of machinery, seems to indicate that both the objects of 
 protection to the engines, and stability to the ship, have been Efficiency, 
 more carefully provided for in the " Dauntless " than in the 
 
 * As it would appear to have been decided that ships of iron are unsuitable 
 for the purposes of war, I have been unable to include in these remarks the four 
 large Screw-frigates constructed of that material, and which it is underst(tod 
 are to be employed as Troop-ships only. 
 
14 
 
 THE SCREW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 The Screw- 
 corvettes not 
 prepared for a 
 full broadside 
 of guns. 
 
 But their 
 engines fulfil 
 the object of 
 being in 
 security below. 
 
 " Termagant. " In both of them, however, the original 
 Objects comprehending superior Efficiency are capable of being 
 absolutely obtained, and their respective Forms and their 
 respective Engines, whenever tested, can alone decide the palm 
 of merit between them. 
 
 It would be well if equal satisfaction could with equal 
 honesty be expressed of the Screw-corvettes. But both Construc- 
 tor and Engineer in the case of these vessels would seem to 
 have been led away into a rivalry for superior speed at any 
 sacrifice, rather than to have had regard to the higher object 
 of an improvement in the essential powers of a ship of war ; 
 and we look in vain for the well-arranged and powerful broad- 
 side of the First-class Sailing-Corvette, supported perhaps 
 by the Shell-gun ' before all/ such as these large ships might 
 well have been expected to present. The embarrassments of 
 unnecessarily-sized hatchways are here seen to inflict evils almost 
 as extensive as the encumbrance of the Paddles themselves. 
 They seem in some instances as if intended to perpetuate on the 
 deck, the obstructions which had been removed from the side ; 
 and they have imposed in almost every Screw-corvette, an 
 armament scarcely more complete whether in power or position 
 than that of the Paddle-steamer of equal size. 
 
 The various plans of engines in these Ships do all indeed 
 fulfil more or less perfectly the condition of protection from 
 shot; but it is to be feared that expensive re-arrangement 
 of their decks may yet be necessary, ere the batteries them- 
 selves which the engines carry into action can be made worthy 
 of the labour and talent which have been bestowed in order to 
 render their services available in all circumstances of warfare. 
 And we may yet be compelled to look to future ships of this 
 class wherein to realise with completeness the advantages which 
 the Screw was expressly intended to secure for them ; — the chief 
 objects and designs of which would seem from the very com- 
 mencement of the present Screw-corvettes to have been over- 
 
FULL-POWEEED SCREW-SHIPS. 15 
 
 looked and violated, and to circumstances in direct connexion 
 with which violation may be traced the disappointment they 
 have already occasioned, and the increased expenditure which 
 they yet may require. 
 
 In making these remarks, it is my wish to state only that 
 which observation and reflection have led me to believe correct. 
 I do so under feelings of regret, but by no means with the 
 assumption to impute blame. It is neither my purpose nor my 
 province to censure, and were it either, it would be difficult 
 not to see that there are considerations quite numerous and 
 weighty enough to prohibit it. 
 
 It will be at once seen that the distinct character of the two The objects 
 classes of ships would of itself keep the intention of a complete Efficiency 
 battery more constantly in view in the Frigate, than in the th* dra^eto" 
 Corvette. And it is well known that the lengthened period which increased 
 has been required to advance these ships even to their present 
 stage of completion, has been characterized throughout by little 
 short of a mania for increased speed in all things, and almost 
 above all things, and Steamers of every sort have been by no 
 means exempt from the infection. Large and expensive, 
 although necessary alterations have also been made in all the 
 Screw-ships during the period of their construction, having this 
 end alone in view. And a further though unintentional support 
 to this general bias may yet have been given, by actually 
 pitting the two principles of the Screw and the Paddle — illus- 
 trated respectively by the " Niger" and " Basilisk," — to con- 
 tend for superiority in this very quality of Speed, under 
 provisions made expressly for the contest; of the same Con- 
 structor, the same powers, and the same forms, on both sides. 
 Thus has a combination of influences tended to mislead the 
 mind into an erroneous, but still into a consistent belief, that 
 the attainment of this predominant desire of the day must 
 necessarily have been the great object intended by this new 
 mode pf Propulsion also» to the exclusion of the less prominent 
 
16 THE SCREW- FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 though infinitely higher intention of constituting the future 
 Screw-ship a full armed, and fully equipped Sailing-ship also. 
 The assumed Nor is this all which maybe seen of combined influences, 
 
 ovmTght.""'' circumstances, and times, all tending to divert the mind from 
 a clear view of the original and real intentions contemplated 
 by the extensive change which was being introduced. For it 
 did chance that the period of the full adoption of the Screw 
 fell in, as if on purpose to illustrate that peculiarity in the 
 Constitution itself of the government of the Navy, under the 
 operation of which, all the difficulties and responsibilities of 
 successfully bringing to issue a very extensive and important 
 project, comprehending the application of untried Powers, 
 Principles, and Practice, were to be fixed upon parties who 
 had nothing to do with introducing it ; nay, who might enter- 
 tain very grave and substantial doubts as to the wisdom and 
 propriety of its ever having been introduced at all. And to 
 minds suddenly subjected to all the natural anxieties arising 
 from a situation of such responsibility ; — which could previously 
 have possessed no special means of knowledge on the subject 
 of the Screw ; — ^which could be expected to have devoted to it 
 no exclusive time or attention ; — and the current duties of 
 whose new positions demanded the full occupation of every 
 moment, for labours requiring more of decision, than of length- 
 ened study and reflection ; — to minds thus circumstanced there 
 were not wanting at the time in question sound reasons why 
 such doubts should reasonably find admittance. Great mis- 
 apprehensions as well as misrepresentations were then in many 
 quarters, and for many reasons, very rife about the Screw. 
 Its advocates were few and powerless, its opponents were 
 many and influential ; with all the prestige on their side of 
 past Steam-experience and success. Its powers, principles, 
 and pretensions, were therefore in course of being both ex- 
 tensively and boldly challenged; and precisely at the advent 
 to power of the Board of Admiralty who were to inherit 
 
FULL-POWERED SCREW-SHIPS. 17 
 
 the responsibility of its future success, its patrons on the one 
 side, and its opponents on the other, were found engaged 
 in earnest controversy on its merits and performances. That 
 the arguments of the opponents were not without their share 
 of influence may reasonably be inferred from the issue of a 
 Circular proposing to the various Engineers concerned, a 
 suspension of all contracts then under completion for the Screw. 
 And thus may be seen a chain of influences and incidents quite 
 sufficient to account most naturally for original Objects being 
 overlooked, while it forbids the imputation of blame to any, 
 although the inevitable oversight arising from such circum- 
 stances may as naturally give rise to feelings of regret. 
 Indeed, instead of any such imputation being chargeable any- 
 where for any such result, may it not rather be a subject of 
 general congratulation to all concerned in carrying out an 
 undertaking requiring so much of mature reflection ; commenced 
 and prosecuted as it has been under auspices so untoward ; that 
 a greater departure from First Principles has not rendered our 
 return to them still more difficult and expensive? * 
 
 * Since the foregoing pages -were penned considerable advance has been made 
 towards completing the broadside force of some of the Screw-corvettes, but as 
 yet none of them present a battery at all proportionate to either their great 
 size or great cost. It would seem, on the other hand, that the " Termagant " 
 is not capable of receiving her armament as a frigate of 28 guns, while the 
 " Dauntless" is capable of having hers materially increased. 
 
18 
 
 THE SCREW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 PAET III. 
 
 The success of 
 the Screw-ship 
 dependent on 
 her Economy ; 
 and her Eco- 
 nomy depen- 
 dent on her 
 equipment 
 with Full 
 Sail-powers. 
 
 THE PRINCIPLES OP PROVIPING THE SCREW-FLEET WITH 
 FULL SAIL-POWER. 
 
 I NOW close the review of the present equipment of our Screw 
 Fleet, under that division of the subject in which I have treated 
 of its progress towards attaining the two great Objects ori- 
 ginally comprised under the head of Efficiency. As 
 regards the one of these objects, that of a complete broadside 
 armament, I have shown the preparation for its complete 
 attainment in the Screw-frigate, and I have pointed to the 
 presumed causes of the want of preparation for its attainment 
 in the Screw-corvette ; as regards the other of these objects, 
 that of full security to the Machinery in time of action, I have 
 shown its complete attainment in both Frigate and Corvette alike. 
 I now proceed to consider the circumstances of our Screw 
 Fleet, as regards its future progress to success, and under this 
 division of the subject I must treat of the yet unattempted com- 
 pletion of the Objects originally comprised under the head of 
 Economy. I am aware that future success must decide upon 
 the substantial value of the very Principle itself of the Screw ; 
 I am aware that on proof or failure of its practical economy 
 its success must be judged to stand or to fall ; and I am 
 equally aware that effectively to apply the only means by which 
 this proof of its ' practical economy ' can be given, will involve 
 a contest with difficulties, moral and physical, ranking second 
 to none which have yet been met and overcome. I therefore 
 enter upon this portion of the subject with diffidence and 
 caution, but neither with doubt nor fear, and still closely ad- 
 hering to original objects in all their integrity. In defining 
 those 'original objects ' it was stated that the means to be 
 
FULL-POWERED SCREW-SHIPS. 19 
 
 employed for realizing Economy in all the Services of the Screw- 
 Fleet was to equip and to work the Full Powered Screw-ship, 
 as a Perfect Sailing-ship also; and since every portion of 
 success in an undertaking upon which so much depends has 
 yet to be reaped, the following examination of the principles of 
 applying Full Sail-power to the Screw-ship is chiefly directed : 
 — First, — to define the extent to which any past Sailing-expe- 
 rience can or cannot be safely trusted to, to guide us to our 
 end : — And next,-«-to fix attention to those ' special causes ' 
 which so strongly enforce the necessity, that the Full Sail- 
 power to be supplied to the Screw-ship shoidd be suitable — as 
 well as sufficient. 
 
 Any examination for such purposes, to be useful must be An examina- 
 complete, and must include all known or discoverable diffi- ^'"^(.'"{"ieg of 
 culties. And difficulties there will be seen to be, which are makmg the 
 
 Sotew-snip a 
 
 not slight, and which cannot be evaded. They present per- Perfect Sailing- 
 plexities in Form; — anomalies in Dimension; — peculiarities of 
 Service, — such as are to be neither seen in, nor expected from 
 any other Class of vessels ever yet proposed for ' perfect ' 
 Sailing-ships. They bar all avenue to any hope of carrying 
 Success by storm, and promise to yield it otdy to the slower 
 but surer process of a close and patient investigation into the 
 Principles of applying Sail-power in our best known and most 
 successful cases, in order that we may so mould those principles, 
 that with reason and confidence they may be expected to 
 yield a similar result, from a similar application of them to the 
 peculiar case of the Screw- ship also. 
 
 That there may be no mistake then as to what is here in- a definition of 
 tended by a Pkrfect Sailtng-ship, I now define the term iJ'perfe™ Sail- 
 as here applied, practically to mean this ;— ' That for the '^"^'j^^j'^'^^^^ 
 ' execution of any Service demanding no more than the speed Screw-ehip. 
 • of the best Classes of our Sailing-ships ; an Admiral, with 
 ' both a Frigate and a Screw-frigate alike at his disposal, 
 ' should be able indifferently to select whichever it might be 
 
 c2 
 
20 
 
 THE SCREW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 The sailing 
 experience of 
 (he Paddle- 
 steamer inap- 
 plicable to the 
 case of the 
 Screw-ship. 
 
 ' desirable to employ, with assurance that, as far as regards 
 ' speed under sail alone, such Service would be performed 
 ' with equal effect and celerity by either.' 
 
 And further ; — ' That as regards Services involving her 
 ' double capacity, the Screw-frigate should be in every respect 
 ' eligible for selection to accompany under sail only an expe- 
 ' dition of the fastest Sailing-ships to a destination however 
 ' distant, with assurance of her arriving in company on the 
 ' scene of action bringing to the aid of* her Consorts her 
 ' unimpaired powers as a Steamer.' 
 
 No standard of requirements short of these could vindicate 
 its claim to the title of — perfect. No lower standard could 
 justify the talent, money, and labour which we have expressly 
 expended in order to attain to this one alone ; because none 
 lower could be expected to offer either return or reward com- 
 mensurate wifh such expenditure. And although perhaps in 
 terms so specific it may not originally have been found neces- 
 sary to define it, yet even the Paddle, could it have caught a 
 glimpse of success, must have stayed its efforts at the attain- 
 ment of no standard short of this; while as regards the Screw, 
 ever since the day of building the '' Archimedes" it was 
 always proposed and intended that whatever speed under can- 
 vass had as yet been accomplished by the Sailing-ship, should 
 be required, — because evidently to be expected, — from tlie 
 fine form and sailing proportions of the Screw-ship also when 
 equipped with equal Sail-powers. 
 
 Having thus fixed the intended standard of sailing-merit for 
 the Screw-ship, we will at once examine what assistance in 
 attaining to it we may expect from the past years of sailing 
 experience afforded by her sister of the Paddle. And for this 
 purpose it is important to observe, that from the days of the 
 " Medea" down to those of the "Terrible," there has been 
 one long continuous struggle ; — one constant exertion of every 
 effort which practical talent and professional experiepee could 
 
PULL-POWEKED SCREW-SHIPS. 21 
 
 command, in order to render ' perfect' the sailing of the Paddle- 
 steamer, with the very same object of rendering perfect her 
 economy also. Nor has she at any time been stinted in her 
 suppUes of materials and means. They have been throughout 
 most liberal, if not lavish. In most cases every new com- 
 mission has been commenced by fresh efforts — carried out with 
 improved means, — increased hope, — renewed energy. And 
 early disappointment, in not a few instances, has only given 
 occasion to repeat the attempt within the period of the same 
 command; in testimony alike to the value of success so justly 
 entertained by Authorities ashore, and to the zealous co-opera- 
 tion with which they have been supported by Officers afloat. 
 
 And all this with what result ? 
 
 Relatively, no doubt, with great improvement to individual Inability to 
 vessels among these Steamers as a class ; yet even this improve- Paddle-steamer 
 ment is unattended to this day by the establishment of any fixed ^ Sailmg-slnp. 
 and well-defined System of Sail-power appropriate for them 
 generally ; in the amount of which can be seen satisfactory 
 promise of speed ; or in the mode of which can be traced the 
 principles of permanence. But as regards the attainment to 
 any standard of positive sailing-merit however moderate as 
 ships of war, the extent of the failure in the Paddle-steamer is 
 only more clearly illustrated by the extent of the means which 
 have been employed for her success. 
 
 Should the fastest of them be now selected to start on equal 
 terms, in variable weather, and under canvass alone, in com- 
 pany with a good sailer from any class of ship in the Navy, 
 it is not too much to say that in a voyage made under such 
 conditions from Falmouth to Gibraltar, the Paddle-steamer 
 would justly deem her work not ill performed by finding her- 
 self preceded at the ' Rock' by 48 hours only. 
 
 Cause then her side like that of the Screw-ship to be relieved 
 from every obstruction whatever connected with her Steam pro- 
 pulsion. — 
 
22 
 
 THE SCREW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 Causes of that 
 inability. 
 
 Conditions of 
 the Screw-ship 
 and Paddle- 
 steamer under 
 canvass essen- 
 tially distinct. 
 
 The sailing 
 experience of 
 the Paddle- 
 steamer only 
 mischievous as 
 applied to the 
 Screw-ship. 
 
 It matters not; for there remain in full operation all the 
 causes of her instability still ; totally debarring her from the 
 employment of that amount of Sail-power which is requisite in 
 order to drive her bulk and its resistances with speed. 
 
 Remove then her top-weights of hull and machinery and 
 give to them the same favourable position for affording stability 
 when under a Full Spread of canvass which they occupy in the 
 Screw-ship. 
 
 It matters not still; for were it practicable to do so, it could 
 serve only to improve her average speed, by improving one 
 of its — separate, — not combined sources, and so long as the 
 Paddle-wheel continues to be the instrument of her Steam pro- 
 pulsion, so long must she be incapable of employing Sail-power 
 effectively and constantly for every general use. For such 
 removal and such improved stability, were they possible, and 
 were they accompanied with an equipment with full Sail-power, 
 could only still serve to expose that essential distinction between 
 the Paddle-steamer and the Screw-ship which for all general 
 circumstances admits of this definition ; — 
 
 ' That whereas the one will sail best without her Paddles, 
 ' and paddle best without her Sails ; — the other will screw the 
 ' fastest with her Sails, and sail the fastest with her Screw.' 
 
 The distinction in short, which must ever continue to exist 
 between two recipients of like powers; which powers in the 
 one case are capable of complete co-operation at all times for 
 the duty to be required, while in the other they are with slight 
 exception antagonistic alone. 
 
 These things are not advanced with the intention either un- 
 justly to depreciate the one, or unduly to exalt the other. But if 
 they be substantially true, and if they go to prove by the evidence 
 alike of sound principle and long practice, that the Paddle- 
 steamer cannot lay claim to a standard of any positive sailing- 
 merit whatever; then that proof may fairly be advanced as 
 sufficient cause for declining her assistance as in any degree 
 
FULL-POWERED SCREW-SHIPS, 23 
 
 serviceable for the Screw-ship, which can lay claim to take a 
 very high one. That proof may fairly be advanced when it is 
 intended to show that the Paddle-steamer must be regarded in 
 ' positive sailing matters ' as of not the least authority ; and 
 when it is intended to warn that her influence in such counsels 
 must therefore embarrass, but can never be expected to aid 
 them. Her experience might be useful for reducing a higher 
 standard to approach her own ; but it should never be appealed 
 to for establishing one so much above her powers. The reverse 
 of such proceeding would be by far the sounder course in the 
 present instance to pursue. It seems reasonable to conceive that 
 in striving to perfect an appropriate System for the Screw-ship, 
 it may be found that we are establishing one of modified benefit 
 for the Paddle-steamer also ; but I have felt it very important to 
 show, that in having recourse to the imperfect equipments and 
 experience of our Paddle-steamers in order to frame from them 
 an effective Sail establishment for our Screw-Fleet, we are at 
 once betraying the weakness of the one, and very injuriously 
 underrating the powers of the other. 
 
 Reason and necessity then combine to bid us look for our Tlie sailing 
 model to the already perfected Sailing-ship ; presenting as thJsailing-" 
 she does the standard we desire to reach ; and showing as j^^ndard o'"*^ 
 she does the same disencumbered side and full spread of reference for 
 
 11 rt> • p 1 • 1 1 o the Screw-sliip. 
 
 canvass, for an equally eiiective use oi which the ocrew- 
 ship has been so expensively prepared. And though there 
 may be some misgiving at the difference in Stability of Form 
 which is apparent in the two descriptions of vessels ; yet there 
 are advantages to be seen upon the side of the Screw-ship, — 
 in length, — in disposition of weights, — in draft of water, — all 
 tending to compensate the comparative deficiency in the stabihty 
 of her proportions, and which advantages, when added to the 
 possession of finer lines and greater delicacy of form, afford 
 ample encouragement to hope that the Screw-ship, when sup- 
 plied with equal proportions of Sail-power, will be found a 
 
24 
 
 THE SCREW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 But the differ- 
 ence in dimen- 
 sions of the 
 Sailing-ship 
 and Screw-ship 
 must require a 
 difference in 
 the mode of 
 applying their 
 Sail-power. 
 
 This diiference 
 of dimensions 
 illustrated by 
 the case of the 
 '■ Dauntless." 
 
 An examina- 
 tion into the 
 
 successful competitor for equal speed with the fastest of our 
 Sailing-ships. 
 
 With our course thus taken then, the next step may be to 
 select that Class of our fast Sailing-ships which seems to pre- 
 sent the greatest similarity in general features, and may there- 
 fore be expected to supply the Screw-ship in her Sail-equip- 
 ment with the most appropriate aid for the details of a Rigging 
 Establishment. And at this preliminary and very obvious 
 stage in our progress, the dimensions which have been neces- 
 sarily imposed upon the Screw-ship in her capacity as a 
 Steamer, force themselves so prominently into notice that a 
 comparative examination of them is evidently the very first 
 proceeding to be adopted before any further advance towards 
 our object can be made. 
 
 In conducting such a comparison, I shall select with the 
 view to its clearer illustration, a particular case ; — a case to 
 which this comparative examination has actually been applied ; 
 and which, as being that of our completest Screw-frigate, is one 
 also which will best afford data for other classes of the same de- 
 scription. The "Dauntless" then may be seen to possess 
 a length between the perpendiculars of 210 feet, or rather more 
 than that of the larger Three-decker. A load displacement of 
 2,432 tons, or equal to that of the present largest class Fifty-gun 
 frigate. An extreme breadth of 39 feet 8 inches, or similar to 
 that of our new class Twenty-sixes. And an area of immersed 
 midship section amounting to 542 feet, or identical nearly with 
 that of the frigate of Thirty-six -guns. Results it will at once 
 be allowed of such a nature as to render hopeless the expect- 
 ation that the Rigging Establishments of any one of these 
 classes of ships, or even of all of them put together, could be 
 made to furnish appropriate details of Sail-equipment for 
 dimensions so anomalous. 
 
 Here then is the first barrier, and it may require some 
 consideration to overcome it. It enforces first and inevitably. 
 
FtlLL-POWERED SCREW-SHIPS. 25 
 
 that the Screw-ship in her Sail-equipment must be dealt with on Principles of 
 her own Merits alofle. And next it points to a patient research pow/r'in the' ' 
 into the past principles of applying Sail-power instead of o7our Sair''" 
 an unsound and hasty resort to any of the defined forms in which fleet thus 
 
 , . , T p T becomes 
 
 hitherto we have applied it, as the only safe mode of grappling requisite. 
 
 with dimensions so dissimilar from any which have ever yet 
 
 been included in our Sailing-fleets. 
 
 In prosecuting such a research, therefore, we will proceed to This examina- 
 examine as the first witnesses these very ships themselves ; that 
 is, the Three-deckers, — the Fifty,— the Thirty-six, — the Twenty- 
 six-gun frigates, — and all other classes and descriptions of 
 our Sailing-fleet, — with all their various dimensions; — at all 
 their various demands ; — for all their various services, cir- 
 cumstances, and situations. — We will inquire of all these how 
 THEY have found that the principles of Sail-power could with 
 such perfect effect be made applicable to each of them ? And 
 if we can succeed in finding a general basis upon which these 
 principles have hitherto been so variously yet effectively ap- 
 plied ; then we need not be discouraged by the diflSculties of the 
 present case, but, on the contrary, the same basis will evidently 
 afford the safest guidance for so applying them, that with the 
 same perfect effect they may be made to suit the circumstances 
 of the Screw-ship also, however anomalous and peculiar in her 
 dimensions, duties, and forms. 
 
 It will be necessary that the points involved in an inquiry of 
 this nature should be considered a little in full. 
 
 From the Three-decker then, to the jolly-boat inclusive, we 
 are presented with all the well-known varieties of Sailing Form 
 ran<^ed in those distinct and long established Classes, with which 
 we are all familiar. And whence, we will ask, has arisen the 
 necessity for all this variety and modification of Form, instead 
 of adopting the obviously simpler system of perfecting one com- 
 mon type for all ? Solely, — because in framing the equipments 
 of each new description of ship as the necessities of various times 
 
26 THE SCREW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 have called them forth; the characters assigned to, and the 
 duties required from them, have demanded 'and have received 
 their due share of consideration by fixing the mode and the extent 
 of their Sail-power, in proportion to their several resistances and 
 stability. Solely — because of the obvious necessity of thus sup- 
 plying eifectively, in order to work successfully, each different 
 description of ship within the sphere of its own character and 
 duties upon its own Merits alone. And therefore under the 
 conditions of this necessity no common type could be found, 
 nor could be expected to be made, — appropriate, — for all Classes 
 and Services alike. 
 Sufficiency In the fixed and definite Sailing Forms therefore which 
 
 " r" rSnce '° ^® daily see around us and to which we are so well accus- 
 ant! Appro- toraed, we also see universal witness borne to a fundamental 
 
 priateness with 
 
 respect to Principle in the application of Sail-power, which has ever ruled 
 
 are the basis of i" our Navy; which has stamped with its mark all that we 
 all effective recognise as stable and permanent in it ; and which has ever 
 
 application ot ® ^ ' 
 
 Sail-power. been that, ' of appointing to each description of Ship in reference 
 ' to the merits of her peculiar character and intended Service, 
 ' a sufficient and appropriate equipment.' And all these various 
 Sailing Forms are fixed, — are definite, — are stable, — and we 
 recognise and quote them as such, only so far as in accordance 
 with the conditions of this Principle, time and trial have proved 
 them to be sufficient and appropriate. 
 
 And negative proof of the binding necessity of these condi- 
 tions is as clearly to be drawn from the present day ; as positive 
 proof from the past. For in the constant changes of plan, 
 arrangement, and extent of Sail-power, before remarked on, as 
 those to which the Paddle-steamer is yet subject, there is the 
 clearest evidence that men's minds will not allow that any Sail- 
 system which has been as yet applied to her, is entitled by the 
 warrant of extended experience to the permanent indorsement of 
 ' Sufficient and Appropriate.' And therefore while changes and 
 alterations are yet in progress we are clearly required to believe 
 
FULL-POWERED SCREW-SHIPS. 27 
 
 that they can only originate from the as yet unfulfilled neces- 
 sities of the Principle pointed out. 
 
 Having thus ascertained this general basis of application. No Sail-equip- 
 we may now proceed to inquire — But how reconcile this ™eoomr"er- 
 necessity for constantly varying Forms, according to constantly manent until 
 varying demands, with the fixed and acknowledged advantages "sufficient" 
 of classification ? Simply, and easily ; and precisely so because prfate."^^™' 
 classification itself is but a higher operation of the very same 
 Principle. The division of various Classes into their well- 
 known features of — Square-rigged, and — Fore-and-Aft-rigged ; 
 the modifications of either Form — and the combinations of 
 both ; — these all constitute and continue integral members of 
 their respective groups, and they there realize all the advan- 
 tages of Simplicityj Economy, and Order, solely in virtue of 
 that final stage in the completion of the very Principle above 
 stated called Classification. For ' Classification,' wherever 
 sound and permanent and producing its legitimate fruits, has 
 been based, and only can have been based, on the prior state 
 and condition of — Appropriateness. 
 
 First must be fixed the distinctive characters and duties to be No Sail-equip- 
 assigned to each description of ship in fulfilment of the demands ™^5*ffied"until 
 which have called her forth.— Her Merits must be defined, tl""' P"'^^'^ *" 
 
 be permanent. 
 
 Next must come the appointment of sufficient and appropriate 
 Powers for the development of those Merits. Then, and not 
 till then, may the operation of Classifying those Powers com- 
 mence ; because then, — and not till then, — can such Powers, 
 in whatever form or extent they may have been demanded, 
 assume a fixed and definite character. Classification presup- 
 poses the assortment together of things similar, not dissi- 
 milar. She must reject that which is subjected even to dissimi- 
 larity because the integrity of her operations must be disturbed 
 by it. And there can be no guarantee for the essential condition 
 of similarity ; but there is every guarantee for the opposite con- 
 dition of dissimilarity, while that which is ' Appropriate ' is as 
 
28 THE SCREW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 yet only in process of being sought for; while as yet it is undis- 
 covered, — unproved, — and undefined, and therefore while 
 as yet a state of things exists in which changes and altera- 
 tions are inevitable. While yet this incomplete stage of organ- 
 ization is in progress, to attempt to impose Classification upon 
 it is to violate the very order and harmony of things. It is 
 to deceive ourselves ; and to injure that which it is desired to 
 benefit. It is to increase disappointment; and in reality to 
 postpone the completion of that to which it affixes the imma- 
 ture stamp of a specious but spurious finish. Classification to 
 be useful, sound, and permanent, can only be based on that 
 which itself is also permanent; and that only can be permanent 
 which is also appropriate ; and that only be appropriate which 
 has strict regard to the Merits of the special case of its applica- 
 tion, — to the character and services it is intended to develop. 
 And to expect that the legitimate results of Classification can 
 arise from its forced application ere these its natural founda- 
 tions have been securely laid, is not simply to commit the error 
 of misplacing the consequent and antecedent ; but it is to 
 commit an error which in its effects can only produce Confusion 
 and Waste, out of what has been provided for Economy and 
 Order. For it is to expect that the advantages and stability of 
 a sound System of organization can arise, where the Capital of 
 the structure has been mistaken and substituted for the Base. 
 The necessity ^^ these days then, when in the progress and advance of the 
 th^eWn- times there has been called forth a totally new description of 
 ciples in Ship, uniting to the increased Efficiency of modern powers, all 
 
 appointing the , „ , . . 1 
 
 Sail-equipment the Economy to be derived from retainmg the use of the old — 
 ships. What is it proposed that we should do, more than ever has 
 
 been done in such cases, when we enforce the necessity of 
 inquiring into the character, forms, proportions, and services 
 assigned to such Ships, for the purpose of framing their Sail- 
 equipment with reference alone to these their Merits ? And 
 if on this inquiry it be seen that in all these respects, as 
 
FULL-POWERED SCREW-SHIPS. 29 
 
 well as in their combined powers^ these Screw-ships exhibit 
 peculiarities exclusively their own, will it therefore be unusual, 
 or if unusual, improper or unwise to examine the more closely 
 into the Principles of applying Sail-power in the instances in 
 which they are most successfully and completely applied, and 
 where they offer the most important features of resemblance, in 
 order that with equal success, these Principles may be made to 
 suit the case of this new description of Ship also? It is evident 
 that all past custom, all sound experience, and it might be 
 added sound sense, require of us to follow in no other course. 
 And as I think it quite possible that we have deviated from this 
 established mode of procedure — that we have attempted to force 
 plans upon the Paddle-steamer, which have not had this strict 
 regard to her Merits ; — the principles of which have not been 
 sufficiently studied ; — and have not been appropriately applied : 
 — and that to deviations of this nature may be traced much of 
 the failure as yet attending the endeavour to provide her with a 
 fixed and definite Sail system. So, with this warning and this 
 encouragement from the past, and with renewed confidence in 
 the soundness of actbg in the present instance on the Principle 
 traced out, I now proceed with the further stages of that exa- 
 mination from which I have thus been led to digress. 
 
 Looking then in furtherance of our purpose to the Six- and- The "suffi- 
 twenty-gun ship and the Three-decker, it will at once be seen gaa-power 
 that while neither of them as a class supplies the highest ^j^^^J^'P^^'^' '" 
 standard of sailing-merit, the dimensions of the one are as much ascertaiued in 
 too large for useful analogy, as those of the other are too '^Banntlesa:'^ 
 small. A similarity of Displacement offers again the only point 
 in common with the Fifty-gun frigate. But in the case of the 
 Thirty-six-gun frigate we not only have the very standard of 
 sailing-merit it is desired to attain, but in addition to an 
 approximate armament, and an approximate crew, we have 
 also a close identity in the Area of immersed midship Section ; 
 the very measure of Direct Resistance, and therefore the most 
 
30 THE SCREW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 important element for consideration in all cases of comparative 
 speed. 
 
 Accepting then the assistance here offered we find that expe- 
 rience has taught, that the requisite proportion of Sail-power 
 for the production of the high speed of this class of ship is 
 37 square feet of canvass to every surface-foot of this ' immersed 
 midship Section;' and adopting the same rule therefore for the 
 Area of the section of the " Dauntless," we at once get the 
 definite spread of 20,054 feet of Sail as that which will be 
 requisite in order to place her on an equality in this regard 
 with the Sailing Frigate. 
 
 The disparity in Displacement, or Measure of Mass in the 
 two cases, will next present its share of difficulty ; forcing con- 
 sideration to the necessity that the Sail-power of the Screw- 
 frigate must be subjected to the unequal burthen of setting in 
 motion and preserving the speed of a Ship 538 tons larger than 
 that which the Sail-power of the Frigate has to exert its effort 
 upon. An addition of 1000 feet to the canvass of the Screw- 
 frigate will perhaps enable her to meet the large disparity in 
 this element of ' Displacement,' and it may then be assumed 
 until disproven by actual trial, that the finer lines of the Screw- 
 frigate, together with the ability from the distance between 
 her masts frequently to apply the aid of her gaff-sails, will 
 compensate for the superior proportions of Power to Mass 
 which a comparison with the Frigate still shows her to possess. 
 The sufficient canvass for the " Dauntless" is thus seen to 
 amount to not less than 21,054 feet. 
 The difficulty ^"^ it may be asked ; admitting all this to be a correct process 
 of applying the ^f practical and sound induction, how are we to expect that this 
 power appro- ' sufficient ' Sail-power is to be carried with due regard to 
 and met. the effective working of her guns, by a ship whose Stability of 
 
 Form exhibits nearly 7 feet less beam than the class of 
 Thirty-six Gun Frigates with which we are comparing her, 
 and which carry 19,761 feet only? 
 
FULL-POWERED SCREW-SHIPS. 31 
 
 The difficulty here presented is without doubt a most 
 serious one, and involves the whole case of the success of the 
 Screw, for the consequences of yielding to it are self-evident. 
 In such case the intention, together with the advantages of 
 constituting the Screw-ship a Perfect Sailing-ship also, must 
 be abandoned ; and all the past labour and past expense of 
 preparing her for Perfect Sail-power must be sacrificed for the 
 attainment of a mere improvement in Sailing-speed ; and 
 therefore a mere improvement in Economy; and therefore a 
 mere improvement in the general use and employment of Steam 
 through her means ; and to another and a future generation 
 we must be content to bequeath the task of perfecting that of 
 which we laid the foundation only, but possessed not the 
 ability or the perseverance to complete. 
 
 The discouragement of any such abandonment however need 
 in no wise be contemplated ; for the ' sufficient ' Sail-power thus 
 shown to be requisite for the " Dauntless " may yet be rigidly 
 adhered to, and not one foot of its extent need be sacrificed, in 
 solving upon a basis equally as sound and satisfactory as before 
 the harder question perhaps, of applying it • appropriately.' 
 
 It would not accord with the intentions of this paper to in- xhe "suffi- 
 trude into it the tedium and detail of calculations. Suffice it, "«"'" ^*'l- 
 
 ' power with 
 
 that to arrive at such solution it was requisite to analyse the respect to 
 
 Resistance 
 
 action of the Motive-power as well as the Stability in their applied "ap- 
 elementary forms, such as they could be shown comparatively wiXres^ect 
 to exist in an actually known and proven case on the one hand, '° Stability m 
 and a carefully and appropriately projected one on the other, parative cases 
 
 ,.1 T , -x, ,-1 of the "Daunt 
 
 and for such process no higher standard with which to com- less" and 
 pare the " Dauntless" could be hoped for, than that supplied *'"* 
 by the "Thetis." The conclusions arrived at gave satisfactory 
 conviction to all who kindly aided in making the comparison, 
 that the proportions of our Screw-ships present the means of 
 balancing the Inclination of their sails, against their Stability, 
 upon principles which ensure their being able to carry with no 
 
32 
 
 THE SCREW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 A general 
 definition of 
 the mode of 
 applying full 
 Sail-power in 
 both Screw- 
 fleet and Sail- 
 ing-fleet upon 
 the same 
 Principles. 
 
 more than the Frigate's inclination^ the same proportion of Sail- 
 power to Resistances which produces the Frigate's speed ; and 
 the principle deduced may be stated thus : — 
 
 " That the ' Moment of Inclination ' of the canvass 
 " petermined as Sufficient, in pkoportion to the 
 " Direct Resistance and Displacement ; is capable of 
 
 " BEING ADJUSTED IN THE ScREW-SHIP TO THE ' MEASURE 
 
 " OF Stability,' calculated from the Cubes of the 
 " Ordinates of the load-watee line ; so THAT they 
 " shall bear to each other the same proportions, which 
 " by means of the same process these elements are 
 
 ' SEEN TO BEAR RELATIVELY IN THE CASE OF THOSE SaIL- 
 " ING-SHIPS, WHOSE SERVICES IT MAY BE MOST DESIRABLE 
 " THAT THOSE OF THE ScREW-SHIP SHOULD RESEMBLE OB 
 " SUPERSEDE."* 
 
 For the purpose of practically working out a defined System 
 
 * The foUoTring are the data of the actual comparison instituted between the 
 " Thetis " and the " Dauntless," and may serve to illustrate the definition I 
 have here endeavoured to state : — 
 
 The plan of Sail-equipment for the Screw-ship was of course projected upon 
 the principles above advanced, and in doing so, advantage was taken of her 
 greater length, in order to reduce the ' Moment of Inclination ' of her can- 
 vass until it approached to within one-fifth of the same proportion to her 
 ' Measure of Stability ' as these two were seen to bear to each other in the 
 case of the " Thetis ;" and which practically would have amounted to this : 
 that under such circumstances of wind and weather as would give to the 
 ' ' Thetis " an inclination of 5°, the " Dauntless " similarly circumstanced, would 
 have had an inclination of 6°. 
 
 This approach of the two elements to the same relative proportions, was 
 considered quite close enough in the case of this particular comparison, 
 because this mode of examination has reference only to the ' Stability of 
 Form ;' and there are other elements of Stability besides this, which were 
 seen to be very largely in favour of the Screw-frigate, and which therefore 
 claimed consideration. Thus for instance, — 
 
 The disposition of the whole weights of the machinery amounting to above 
 400 tons, is such as to bring the centre of gravity of this mass very low down. 
 
 There is a difference of nearly two feet in favour of the Screw-ship in the dis- 
 position of the weights of the Main and Upper Decks, with all their armaments. 
 
 A difference of rather more than two feet also in her favour in the relative 
 draughts of water. 
 
 And in addition to these, the plan of Sail-equipment was also projected upon 
 
 principles 
 
FULL-POWERED SCBEW-SHIPS. 
 
 33 
 
 thus based upon known laws, and deduced from long experience, 
 the Screw-ship offers every facility in her length; and to take 
 
 principles which would give a much lighter system of spars and rigging aloft to 
 the Screw-ship than to the Frigate, in order to meet the necessary requirement 
 imposed upon her of having often to strike them. So that there were ample 
 means of compensation for the deiioiency in the comparative proportions of the 
 ' Inclination ' and ' Stability,' and ample assurance that the amount of canvass 
 determined as ' SuflBcient ' for the " Dauntless," would be carried as appropriately 
 with respect to inclination in her case, as in that of the " Thetis." 
 
 The comparative ' Measures of Stability ' are estimated for an indefinitely 
 small angle of inclination, by using the cubes of the Ordinates of the Load- 
 water lines and applying to them the Formula used in calculating the Areas of 
 these curves, which is a method of approximation sufficiently close for every 
 purpose of comparison. And the drawings used did not include the outer 
 plankings in either case, but in both its thickness is the same. 
 
 Comparative Data. 
 
 H.M.S. 
 "Thotia." 
 
 H.M.S. 
 ' Dauntlesa." 
 
 Length, extreme, upan the load-water line 
 
 Breadth, extreme ... 
 
 Area of load-water line ... 
 
 " Measure of Stability," estimated as above 
 
 Area of sails ; including courses, topsails, top-gallant sails, jib, 1 
 fore-topmast stay sail, and spanker j 
 
 " Moment of Inclination " of sails ... ... 
 
 "Centre of Eifort" above load-water line 
 
 « Centre of Effort " before centre of load- water line 
 
 Immersed area of midship section, or " Measure of Direct Re-") 
 sistance " j 
 
 Immersed area of ship longitudinally, or " Measure of Lateral ■> 
 Resistance " j 
 
 Load Displacement, or " Measure of Mass " 
 
 Area of sail, per foot, of immersed section, or Proportion oCi 
 Power to Resistance J 
 
 Area of sail per ton of Displacement, or Proportion of Power ) 
 to Mass J 
 
 Height of midship Maindeck port-sill above water 
 
 Mean load draught of water 
 
 Feet. 
 16*-5 
 
 45-2 
 
 6292 -2 
 
 1390024'2 
 
 Square Feet, 
 19761 
 
 1398845-3 
 Feet. 
 70-78 
 
 Square Feet. 
 533 
 
 Tons. 
 1894 
 
 Square Feet. 
 37-07 
 
 10-43 
 
 Feet. 
 
 8 
 
 In. 
 3 
 
 Feet. 
 206-5 
 33-4 
 6717 
 1062852-6 
 
 Square Feet. 
 21041 
 
 1276950-3 
 Feet. 
 60-68 
 
 8-56 
 
 Square Feet. 
 510 
 
 Tons. 
 
 2432 
 
 Square Feet. 
 
 8-65 
 
 Feet. In. 
 
 6 6 
 
 The statement for the calcnlation, according to the terms of the definition, 
 would therefore stand thus — 
 
 " Moment of Inclination " . The Measure of Sta- . . " Moment of Inclination " . 
 of Sails in " Thetis " . bility in "Thets" . . of Sails in " Dauntless " . 
 
 the result going to show the difference of proportion in the elements in the 
 two cases to be favourable or unfavourable, according as x is greater or less 
 than the ascertained value of the " Dauntless's " ' Measure of Stability.' 
 
 D 
 
34 THE SCREW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 advantage of this length, in order to give to her canvass a low, 
 instead of a lofty " Centre of Effort," is a proposition which 
 should rather meet with the approval of the seaman than 
 otherwise ; although in carrying it into effect it may be 
 necessary to adopt proportions and forms, which like those of 
 the Ship herself, differ from anything to which his eye has 
 been hitherto familiar. 
 The diiference Those shorter proportions of length to breadth, which obtain 
 
 of dimensions n i 
 
 in the Screw- in the case of the more ordinary Sailing-ship, have compelled 
 ?ng-shi'p thus " ^^^ ^°^ Want of longitudinal room to carry the amount of sail 
 admit of the required for her Speed, not low, but loftily : and the increased 
 
 application of ^ r ' ^ ' 
 full Sail-poHrer ' Moment of Inclination' thus produced is in her case counter- 
 Principles, mo- acted by the increased 'Measure of Stability' derived from a 
 dified to meet pj-oportional breadth of beam, supphed at and about the water- 
 
 Iheir respective Jr r ' rr 
 
 cases. line for this very purpose, the ' Area of Direct Resistance' 
 
 being kept at a low figure by the fineness of the underform. 
 Now the Screw-ship in order to carry her machinery low, is 
 necessarily constructed with a fulness, instead of a fineness, of 
 underform ; but if we also compel her to carry her canvass 
 loftily, we shall then require the increased beam also which is 
 necessary to resist its inclining pressure, and in such case it 
 is clear that we must enlarge the ' Area of Direct Resistance' 
 to such an extent as to render the attainment of high speed 
 in the Screw-ship hopeless. In her case however the con- 
 ditions of such a necessity do not exist. The room which in 
 the shorter Sailing-ship cannot be found, is presented to us in 
 the greater proportionate length of the Screw-ship to enable 
 her to carry her canvass, — not loftily, — but low ; and she thus 
 possesses the ability to have the 'Moment of Inclination' of 
 her sails reduced, until her reduced breadth of form is enabled 
 to resist its inclining pressure with the same ' StabiUty ' as that 
 of the Sailing-ship. 
 
 Nothing new then, nothing but that which has the stamp of 
 practice and experience is to be seen in the Principles of apply- 
 
FULL-POWERED SCREW-SHIPS. 35 
 
 ing Sail-power appropriately and sufficiently, which have been 
 here advanced as those which can alone guide our eiforts to 
 ' perfect ' the sailing of the Screw-ship with safety, con- 
 fidence, and success. They are the same which in all past 
 times have in similar cases been acted on, and their modification, 
 to suit the circumstances of the peculiar description of Ships 
 now under consideration, should follow as a matter of course, 
 with the demand of the times which has called them forth. It is 
 equally within the sphere of the legitimate action of these prin- 
 ciples that in the present times the mode of Sail should, in the 
 Screw-ship, be made to meet the character of a full but narrow 
 form of body which the engines have imposed on her ; as, that 
 in past times the Sailing-ship should have received a fine but 
 wide form of body in order to resist the inclination imposed by 
 the manner in which she must carry her amount of Sail. The 
 two operations though different in mode are alike in principle. 
 In both, the common object is to employ the ' Sufficient Sail- 
 Power' which high speed demands, and in both there is the 
 common necessity to limit the inconveniences of that ' Incli- 
 nation ' with which every application of Sail-power is necessarily 
 attended. 
 
 We next proceed to another stage in illustrating the necessi- An appropriate 
 ties imposed by the distinctive character of our Screw-ships ; ^r th^s!:^^-' 
 and turninff from the further consideration of their pecuUar sMp necessary 
 
 ° _ * with respect to 
 
 Dimensions, I shall endeavour to show the necessity for an her peculiar 
 appropriate equipment, with respect to their peculiar Services as her peculiar 
 also. Let us, then, suppose the " Dauntless" to be supplied <J"ne"8">"«- 
 with the same proportional spread of canvass as the " Thetis ;" 
 its Centre of Effort reduced with due regard to her narrower 
 beam, but in other respects her Equipment exhibiting the 
 features presented by all other square-rigged ships. 
 
 The question then arises : how far m such mode of Equip- 
 ment is such a ship suitably provided for the efficient perform- 
 ance of the Services she pretends and is sent forth to execute? 
 
36 THE SCREW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 How far is she 'suitably' rigged for ihe rapid transition in 
 foul weather as in fair, from Perfect Sailing-ship to Full- 
 powered Screw-ship, and steam duties finished, back to Per- 
 fect Saihng-ship again? It is hoped that no lengthened 
 reflection will here be required in order to stamp a still 
 stronger impression, that consistently with a due regard to her 
 double capacity, the Screw-ship cannot without vialation of 
 her intended design, without certain disappointment, and cer- 
 tain expense, — be forced into analogy of detail with either the 
 Steamer or the Sailer which has preceded her, the Powers 
 of both of which she is provided with, and the Services of both 
 of which she is intended combinedly to fulfil : — an impression, 
 in short, that she must be ' suitably' provided with reference 
 to her own Merits alone as the only means to her being suc- 
 cessfully worked. For one or other of these two conclusions 
 must force itself on every practical mind, on seeing as above 
 supposed, such a mode of ordinary preparation made for the 
 execution of Services so unusual. Namely, that when signalled 
 in^bad weather to employ the Full Steam-power of her engines 
 alone, the Screw-ship thus equipped either will not be stripped 
 of those heavy yards, top-masts, and rigging, to the manifest 
 obstruction of her powers as a Steamer; or else she will be 
 stripped of them when so called on and be then re-rigged with 
 them again ; but certainly by an amount of labour which has 
 been hitherto unknown in the Navy as a System. Either 
 alternative being sufficient to realize disappointment and to mar 
 success; and both being attributable to no inability either in 
 the Ship or in the Principle she develops to fulfil the Services 
 assigned, further than is concerned in the ' unsuitableness ' of 
 the Sail equipment provided for their performance. 
 On account of I do not here presume to submit any definite Plan bv which 
 
 both require- •' 
 
 ments a low a dilemma at once so obvious and perplexing may be escaped. 
 Kflo*r't"'i3'' I ^° "Ot feel myself called upon to do so, nor is this the place 
 herS.*^"' to do it if I were. But as this part of the subject, as well as 
 
FULL-POWERED SCREW-SHIPS. 37 
 
 those which have been before noticed, has received for an equal 
 period an equal share of study and consideration, I may be 
 allowed again to express a matured conviction, that an effective 
 remedy may be found which shall sacrifice no portion what- 
 ever of the 'Sufficient Sail-power' of the Ship; — which may 
 be made to fall into ready concert with the demand which, 
 upon other grounds, has been made for a low ' Centre of 
 Effort. ' for the canvass ; — and which in operation shall consist 
 in rendering as light as practicable all which will have to come 
 down from aloft; by throwing the burthen of duty on that 
 which may remain more undisturbed below. But any plan 
 whatever which proposes to meet this and other diflSculties, if 
 it is to be satisfactory or permanent, must present the features 
 of a System matured for its work; such as may upon trial 
 be expected to be fit to perform it; with a moral confidence 
 that Success will amply reconcile and justify any dissimilarity 
 it may present to the ordinary Sailing Forms by which more 
 ordinary Services have been hitherto effected. 
 
 I have thus set forth the difficulties which I have seen in The difficulties 
 
 1 r 1 • /-vi ■ .> 1 T-i -1 °^ investing tlie 
 
 the way ot workmg out the great Ubject 01 the Hiconomical and Screw-ship 
 therefore General application of Steam in the Navy which the po^ersllfforth 
 Screw was originally intended to realize : such as these difficulties ^"l^'y *<"■ *^ 
 
 _ purpose of 
 
 must also have presented themselves to any other mind, which showing that 
 
 with equal means had also given equal time to their study and met. 
 
 examination. I have specially defined, and specially analysed 
 
 them ; not with the view of submitting them as discourage- 
 
 mentSj nor with the intention of exaggerating their importance, 
 
 still less under any motive of a personal nature. But my object 
 
 has been to exhibit them in what I believe to be their true extent 
 
 and bearings, in order that in the day of trial they may be found 
 
 to present no unknown hindrances, and excite no unsound fears. 
 
 I could not thus study and analyse them without equally doing so 
 
 by the remedies by which they might be met ; and I could not 
 
 make the exposition of the one, unaccompanied by the statement 
 
38 THE SCREW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 of what I conceived to be the other. No doubt there may be 
 room for sounder and more efficient remedies yet to be pointed 
 out, and the preparation of any one of our Screw-ships for the 
 thorough and practical testing of all the combined advan- 
 tages they were designed to realise, is yet incomplete, and the 
 day for doing so appears yet distant. But it is precisely 
 because the day of trial is thus entirely future, I here take 
 occasion to state, that a period of now four years constantly, 
 and as far as possible, practically devoted to the consideration 
 of the subject in all its bearings, has suflBced to impress me 
 with strong convictions that unless these Screw-ships be sent to 
 work out clear and definite Objects, after being suitably equipped 
 upon some clear and definite System; — a system based upon 
 known laws ;— expressly framed to meet the peculiar discrepan- 
 cies which have here been pointed out, and admitting of such 
 modifications as experience will certainly show to be requisite : — 
 unless some such course be adopted for bringing to issue so 
 extensive an experiment as our Screw-Fleet, then, indeed, under 
 the impression of these strong convictions I must here submit, 
 that any measure of success which individuals among them 
 may meet with will evidently be attributable, — and in these 
 days it will not fail to be attributed, — to the results of happy 
 accident and not to the effective operation of a matured and 
 well-adjusted plan. For without such plan there is imminent 
 hazard that the majority of them will not only miss the 
 objects they were specially meant to secure ; but will even 
 realise a further continuance of the vexatious Disappoint- 
 ments, Alterations, and Expenses, they were specially meant to 
 remove. And such plan whatever it may be, in order to ^ive 
 confidence to all concerned in working it out, must bear stamped 
 upon it in legible characters, that it combines the essential 
 qualities of being sufficient and appropriate for its purpose. 
 The limited I* ^^Y ^^^^ superfluous to suppose that motives to Economy 
 
 P?ovfded iljlll "=*" require extraneous support in days such as these: when. 
 
FULL-POWERED SCREW- SHIPS. 39 
 
 in order to reduce to the lowest figure compatible with her our first 
 Services, the expenses of the Steamer which ' whenever she further'necea* 
 ' gets up her anchor, must also get up her steam,' — we have ?ity ff ^"■}^}^- 
 
 ° ' ' or ' jng the original 
 
 grouped these vessels into central positions where security and intention of 
 
 IT 111 ■ 1 /■ 1 • making them 
 
 repairs can best be commanded, there to await orders tor their Perfeci Sailing- 
 Services and where they get up neither anchor nor steam until '^^^' 
 those orders arrive. Yet in the opening part of this paper, it 
 was thought requisite to notice the attainment of two advantages 
 of high importance which would give additional value to the 
 Economy of working the ' Full-powered Screw-ship as a Per- 
 fect Sailing-ship also:' and now in the concluding part, a still 
 more important consideration, enforceing a still stronger neces- 
 sity for fulfilling this original object, forbids yet more peremp- 
 torily an omission of its notice. Involving as it seems to do 
 almost inevitably, that our ability to work our present Screw- 
 Fleet with Efficiency or Economy in any capacity whatever, 
 will depend on its equipment with the originally intended Full 
 Sail-powers. 
 
 I have already pointed to the want of fuel-space which the 
 unusual length of boiler and unusual size of holds had occa- 
 sioned in the two Frigates ; and to this class it was at one time 
 considered that this defect in providing for their requirements 
 was confined. This is not however the case, and the proportion 
 of one-third less fuel than that carried by the ordinary Steamer, 
 to which the stowage of the " Dauntless" is limited, may be 
 taken to represent approximately the smaller proportion capable 
 of being carried also by the Ships of the whole Screw Fleet. 
 In such case therefore, if the Screw-ship is supplied with only 
 such a spread of sail as will give her a speed just superior to 
 the Paddle-si eamer and yet leave her far behind the Sailing- 
 ship, it is clear that she will at once be deprived of her most 
 general and extensive source of economical employment, that 
 namely, of being able to execute all Sail-service at a standard 
 of the highest Sailing-speed. It is clear, if she be thus only 
 
40 
 
 THE SCREW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 The practical 
 value of the 
 Screw-ship 
 with complete 
 or incomplete 
 Sail-power 
 illustrated in 
 the case of the 
 " Dauntless." 
 
 partially supplied, that the Sail-speed of the Sailing-ship can 
 only be reached by her by expending a part of her fijel in aid 
 of her sails ; and it is as clear still further that Steam-speed 
 itself can be accomplished by her only at the cost of a full ex- 
 penditure. And thus while her engines, like those of her Paddle 
 sister, must be put into requisition for every service beyond that 
 of mere cruizing, a store of fuel one-third less than the average 
 carried by the Paddle-steamer, — as shown by the returns — of 
 twenty-one of our larger Paddle-vessels, must reduce the com- 
 parative value of her Services in nearly a like proportion ; 
 perhaps, with an inconsiderable saving in expense. And if 
 this should prove to be the case, then we are threatened yet 
 more certainly vs ith a question for the ' Return ' of all the 
 Labour, Expense, and Risk, incurred by so total a change as 
 the one we are reviewing. Since instead of possessing in their 
 intended integrity the separate powers of the Steamer and the 
 Sailing-ship combined ; the Screw-ship if unprovided with her 
 Full Sail-power will clearly be compelled to combine both 
 Steam and Sail, in order to enable her to attain to the ordinary 
 speed of the Sailing-ship on the one hand ; or to work with the 
 ordinary duration of the Paddle-steamer on the other. 
 
 But if this result does arise, it will again be imputable to no 
 unforeseen deficiency in the Principle of the Screw itself, — to no 
 miscalculation, — to no over-estimate of its Powers. On the 
 contrary, it will arise solely because those Powers have been 
 insufficiently estimated, and deficiently worked out; and the 
 extent of disappointment it will occasion will be in proportion 
 as the original intention of providing the Screw-ship with Full 
 Sail-powers is deviated from, and overlooked. 
 
 Let us trace back our steps then to the fulfilment of this 
 ' original Object,' and let us view the same case as it would 
 then be presented, taking the same instance for illustrating it. 
 Let us again suppose the " Dauntless " to be supplied with the 
 same proportional amount of Motive-power in her canvass as 
 
FULL-POWERED SCREW-SHIPS. 41 
 
 is possessed by the " Thetis," and in such case the challenge 
 may be boldly offered, that on no grounds whatever can the 
 closest inspection of their respective elements of speed be seen to 
 support an opinion that the rate of the " Dauntless" under sail 
 only should be less than that of the " Thetis." And if such 
 inspection be found to give evident promise of the speed in both 
 cases being equal, then, for the execution of every General 
 service at a standard of the highest Sailing-speed, no fuel 
 whatever will be used in the Screw-frigate. To raise this 
 standard of the highest Naval Sail-speed to the average of the 
 highest Naval Steam-speed, a very limited expense of power, 
 and therefore of fuel, will be requisite. Even for the execution 
 of those ' Exceptional Services ' requiring the employment of 
 ' Full Steam Power' the expenditure will only equal that of an 
 equally powered Paddle-steamer during the time of using it, 
 while the frequency and the duration of those ' Exceptional 
 Services ' will be more limited than they are in her case, and 
 Economy will be effected in this item also. Thus the 250 tons 
 of fuel, which, when she was 'jury-rigged,' would not have suf- 
 ficed the other day to have brought the " Dauntless " (in her 
 original form) from Greenock to the Nore, would, with her 
 ' Full-Sail Power ' (presuming her to have undergone effective 
 alteration), be a store sufficient to take her a voyage of any 
 length, the circumstances of which might require the aid for 
 20 days of Auxiliary Steam-power, in order to enable her to 
 accompUsh it throughout, at the highest average of Naval 
 Steam Speed. 
 
42 THE SCREW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 PAET IV. 
 
 THE NECESSITY OF OBSERVING THE ESSENTIAL DISTINCTIONS BE- 
 TWEEN FADDLE PBOPULSION AND SCREW PROPULSION WITH 
 RESPECT TO EQUIPMENTS. 
 
 More than twenty years have now elapsed since we commenced 
 the struggle to render the Services of our Steam-ships, General, 
 Efficient, and Economical; and though during that period great 
 relative improvement has been made in them, and much valuable 
 duty has been performed, yet to Positive success we have scarcely 
 made approach. No wonder then, that after efforts so earnest 
 and so extended, both those who have made,, and those who have 
 observed them, should feel a strong conviction on their minds 
 that the attainment to Positive success is hopeless; — that to com- 
 bine in one Ship with perfect harmony and perfect usefulness for 
 every Service, the complete powers of Steam, Sail, and Arma- 
 ment, cannot be done. Boys have first been educated in these 
 convictions and their subsequent experience as men has con- 
 firmed them, and so long as the influence of these convictions 
 is exercised within the legitimate sphere of the experience which 
 produced them, they are entitled to every respect. Strong 
 convictions however, which have been thus acquired within 
 one sphere of experience, whenever it may be proposed to adopt 
 them for another, should always at first be regarded with watch- 
 fulness in their new field of operation. But whenever it may 
 be proposed to force their influence upon a case the reverse of 
 that which legitimately gave them birth, wisdom and prudence 
 alike demand that they should be at once opposed. That 
 which Reason cheerfully assents to as the guidance of a sound 
 judgment in the one case, she is equally compelled to reject as 
 threatening the results of a mischievous prejudice in the other. 
 And in the instance under consideration there exists just cause 
 
FULL-POWERED SCEEW-SHIPS. 43 
 
 for Watchfulness at least, if not for Opposition. There is an 
 obvious, and important link, seeming — but in most respects 
 only seeming, — to connect in one chain of Experience the 
 knowledge which has been acquired in the working of a former 
 Principle, with that which has yet to be acquired in the working 
 of the Principle which is destined to supersede it. Nevermind 
 that in Size, — Form, — Proportions, — Position, — and all but 
 Elementary principles, — the engine for the Screw, has, in order 
 to effect our purposes, been made to differ in toto from the 
 engine for the Paddle. There it lies ; confessedly and unde- 
 niably an 'Engine' still; and, as I believe, — very unfortunately 
 so, — the ship that carries it is still to be called a ' Steamer ;' — 
 and is therefore subjected to all those unfavourable and dis- 
 couraging influences and convictions, which former Experience 
 has ever associated with that word. 
 
 To expose then, the main results of former Experience, as 
 regards uniting the Efficiency of a ' Full broadside Armament ;' 
 with the Economy of constantly using 'Full Sail-power;' with 
 the view to control within its own limits ihat portion of this 
 ' Experience ' which can only be prejudicial beyond them : — to 
 show that the Screw-ship presents in every feature distinctive 
 conditions of her own which forbid her being identified with any- 
 thing constructed before her : — to show that in her case, as in 
 that of every other new description of ship, the classification of 
 her Sail- Powers and armament can only take place when found 
 sufficient and appropriate for the development of her distinctive 
 Merits ; and therefore that the constituents of those Merits, — her 
 character, position, duties, require to be distinctly defined : — 
 thus in short to establish a sound basis no less for her defence, 
 than for the fulfilment in their integrity of the high and peculiar 
 Services of which she is capable — ^This has been the special, 
 perhaps excusable Object, of the originally unintended length 
 of this Chapter. An Object quickened by a sense of necessity. 
 By observing that Mischief has already begun ; — that it now 
 
44 THE SCREW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 produces Perplexity, and threatens soon to bring in Confusion. 
 For even in the two Screw-frigates the Paddle-steamer has 
 been allowed to impose largely on the Screw-fleet the incom- 
 pleteness of her own Armament : she is still engaged in re- 
 ducing to her own standard the Equipment of its Sails. 
 
 Is it then proposed, it will be asked, that all our past Steam- 
 experience must go for nothing ? 
 
 Most certainly not. For in many most important points 
 respecting the management of both ships and machinery that 
 Experience is truly valuable; and in no degree whatever can 
 any change be justifiable as regards the great Objects we are 
 endeavouring to obtain. These remain now as they always 
 have been — the same, — and we should as gratefully accept from 
 the past whatever may assist in securing them, as we should 
 firmly reject whatever cannot; but as regards the means by 
 which we now propose to arrive at these Objects, almost all our 
 Experience has yet to be formed. Had ' Former Steam- 
 Experience ' ever led to the hope of realising for Naval pur- 
 poses a Steam-ship Completely armed for every exigency of 
 warfare ; Effective in all the varying circumstances of General 
 service ; and in all her services Economical ; then would no 
 room have been found for even the proposal of superseding the 
 Paddle by the Screw. But it is precisely because we have proved 
 by an effort of more than twenty years' duration that the Paddle 
 is not an instrument with which to accomplish such results, 
 that we now adopt the more effective means of securing them 
 which is ofiFered in the Screw; and it is as essential to Success 
 to keep in mind that the Objects aimed at are in both cases 
 identical, as it is to remember that we are employing a totally 
 different Agency with which to obtain them. 
 
 With the further completion of that Agency we have every 
 encouragement and inducement to proceed. Great difficulties 
 have been overcome in preparing to complete the advantages 
 it holds out ; great expense and labour have been already 
 
FULL-POWERED SCREW-SHIPS. 45 
 
 incurred in overcoming those difficulties ; and that stage of pro- 
 gress has now been reached in which professionally the more 
 Naval share of the work will have to be undertaken. Skilfully 
 has the Engineer accomplished his important portion of the 
 task; and well has the Constructor made provision for re- 
 moving all impediment of the Screw-surface when under can- 
 vass only, as the task which his profession specially required 
 of him to undertake. 
 
 But the Ships which have been thus prepared in the Factory 
 and the Dockyard have yet to receive their appointed equip- 
 ments in order to be perfected and proved upon the Ocean. And 
 with example to follow, and encouragement to proceed, shall 
 their extent of equipment alone be imperfect? Shall we now 
 yield before Professional difficulties so long and so far less hope- 
 fully contended with under the greater discouragements of a 
 former System ; or shall we bring to bear on them less ability, 
 perseverance, or devotion now than then ? The reward of 
 success is no mean one ; for it is a success which will stamp 
 with the date of its attainment, an era in Naval progress. 
 But let the completion of the means by which that success may 
 be secured be well and maturely considered. — ■ 
 
 We see that the armament can be made to resume its wonted 
 power, position, and completeness. 
 
 We see that the engine in full security below, is able to carry 
 it through all the risks of action with every expected advantage. 
 
 That the efficiency may thus be indeed Complete. 
 
 But that ECONOMY which alone can bring this Complete 
 Efficiency into useful and General employment in all the 
 services of the Navy, — remains as yet undeveloped. Yet as 
 truly is it within our grasp, — and will be realized in that day, 
 when with a ' sufficient and appropriate sail-equipment,' 
 we elicit the high Sailing-speed now lying dormant in the fine 
 Form and Proportions of the Full-armed and Full-powered 
 Screw-ship. 
 
46 THE SCREW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 ON SCREW-SHIPS AS COMPARED WITH AUXILIARIES. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 THE RELATIVE MERITS OF SCREW-PROPULSION AS APPLIED WITH 
 FULL STEAM-POWER OR WITH LIMITED STEAM-POWER. 
 
 Sail-power the The preceding pages have been devoted to an exclusive con- 
 
 " rule," and gideration of the Screw-ship as invested with Full Steam- 
 Steam-power r 
 the " excep- power, and a separate and closer investigation has been be- 
 
 employment of stowed upon that part of the subject, under the impression that 
 a Screw-fleet, t]^^ ^j^-gf difficulties which have yet to be encountered before 
 the principle of Screw-propulsion can be perfected as a general 
 System for the armed Steam-Fleet of the Navy, will be found 
 in the practical working of the Screw-ship in her double capa- 
 city as a Perfect Sailing-ship also. Such anticipations how- 
 ever must not be understood as having reference in any way to 
 her machinery. It is true, indeed, that future Experience 
 must decide for us the superiority between engines which drive 
 by ' gearing,' and engines which drive ' direct ;' and when 
 this question of principle shall have been determined, the same 
 tribunal will again have to decide between the various plans 
 which illustrate that system to which the palm of superiority 
 may have to be awarded. But although we must thus be 
 prepared for those improvements which a more extended and 
 watchful practice will be sure to suggest, yet the really great 
 difficulty of constructing an entirely new class of Marine Engine, 
 equally as powerful for propulsion as the old ones and working 
 in a position of Security from all the risks of action, must be 
 considered as completely met and overcome. 
 
 Not in such terms, however, may we speak of the difficulties 
 
SCREW-SHIPS AND AUXILIARIES. 47 
 
 and anomalies which have been shown to exist with respect to 
 the Sail-equipment of the Screw-ship ; no experience of any value 
 or extent can as yet be appealed to for the solution of these, and 
 yet they possess an importance far beyond their own, because 
 upon their successful solution, depends our ability to realize the 
 full value of whatever else has been already accomplished. 
 
 The whole question of Economy resolves itself into our being 
 able usefully to employ Sail- power as — 'the rule,' and resort to 
 Steam-power as — ' the exception ;' and whatever may be the 
 improved Efficiency in armament secured by the adoption of the 
 Screw, Economy alone will determine whether it can or cannot 
 supply an improved System for the more General and extended 
 employment of Steam in Naval services. In giving promi- 
 nence then to that portion of these pages in which these diffi- 
 culties and anomalies came most naturally under notice, and 
 in endeavouring to point out both the necessity and the means 
 of conquering instead of yielding to them ; it was my object to 
 convey to others the convictions I am led to entertain strongly 
 myself, viz., that the practical value of a Screw-Fleet is to 
 be worked out of its ' canvass,' rather than out of its ' coals,' 
 and that the justification of the great change we are introducing, 
 must be shown in the ' practical economy ' which will result from 
 taking full advantage of that peculiar property of eflFecting a 
 perfect co-operation between the powers of Steam and Sail, 
 which the Screw of all other known propellers alone possesses. 
 
 In continued accordance with these convictions I now proceed The character 
 
 . , _ , . . , . of the Screw- 
 
 to examme the case of the Screw-ship in her capacity as an ship and the 
 
 Auxiliary also ; but in order that we may more clearly deter- ex"^iS by 
 
 mine and compare the value of the services to be demanded of ""* ""'le-" 
 
 her under this more limited employment of her Steam-powers, 
 
 I shall first endeavour to define and establish the character, 
 
 powers, and duties of the Auxiliary herself; that is, of the Ship 
 
 the Steam-power of which is only sufficient to enable her 
 
 • effectively to perform every Special service by bringing to 
 
 ' the aid of her Full Sail-powers a limited use of Steam.' 
 
48 
 
 THE SCREW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 The discovery 
 of a perfect 
 combination 
 between Steam 
 and Sails in 
 Screw Pro- 
 pulsion. 
 
 This part of the subject then may perhaps be appropriately 
 commenced by observing, that to one common origin must be 
 assigned the practical existence of Screw-ship and Auxiliary 
 alike, namely, to the extended and successful performances 
 carried out on our own and the neighbouring Coasts and Seas, 
 in the years 1839 and 1840 in the "Archimedes." For it was 
 the experience of the real practical working of the Screw first 
 obtained during these performances, which elicited the fact, 
 that, unlike the Paddle-wheel, the Screw when at work as 
 a propeller — 
 
 ' CotTLD NOT BE OVERRUN BY ANY SPEED PRODUCIBLE 
 ' ON THE SHIP BY THE EFFORT OF HER CANVASS ; AND THAT 
 • A PERFECT CO-OPEKATION BETWEEN THE POWERS OF SAIL 
 ' AND STEAM COULD BE EFFECTED IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES 
 ' AND IN ANY DESIRED DEGREE, WITHOUT ANY DETERIORA- 
 ' TION TO THE SEPARATE AND COMPLETE EFFORT OF EITHER.'* 
 
 * The first voyage ever made across the sea by means of the Screw was per- 
 formed from Plymouth to Oporto and back, in August 1840 by the "Archi- 
 medes," just subsequent to her circumnavigation of Great Britain. The distance 
 between the two ports is 6.50 miles, and was accomplished, out, in 68 • 5 hours, or 
 at an average speed of 9-48 knots. It had been previously ascertained that the 
 utmost speed of the " Archimedes " under steam only was 8 • 02 knots ; and 9 
 knots her utmost speed under sail alone ; but upon this occasion the combined 
 effect of both powers in full operation enabled her to attain at times an ex- 
 treme speed of 1 1 • 5 knots, the engines when at this speed increasing their revo- 
 lutions from 25 up to 26-5 only, and the advance of the Screw through the water 
 being nearly half a knot less than that of the Ship. 
 
 In a similar case which lately came under my own observation, the Ship 
 under the fiill effort of both powers was found to be running 1 "25 knots faster 
 than the advance of the Screw, yet while keeping all sail set, and alternately 
 applying the full or the expansive power only of the Steam, the variations in 
 the revolutions of the engines and the speed of the ship, were quite sensible 
 and corresponding. At one time when it became necessary to bring the ship 
 head to wind against a very strong breeze and heavy sea, with her fore-and- 
 aft sails not lowered but the booms lashed amidships only, the revolutions of 
 the engines fell off to 59. When before the same breeze, they again averaged 
 68 ; so that the effect of these extreme circumstances upon the machinery was 
 to vary its working power about one-seventh only, an amount which shows 
 that as regards the re-aetionary effect of tlie Screw upon the machinery, it 
 may be considered practically, as admitting in all circumstances of the equable 
 working of its engine. 
 
SCREW-SHIPS AND AUXILIARIES. 49 
 
 This discovery not only revealed the true source of that 
 economy which could be made to result from the General 
 employment of the Screw as a Full-powered Steam-agent, but 
 it also at once determined the practicability of employing 
 limited Steam-power as an Auxiliary agent in the case of Ships 
 already built; and accordingly, when further proof had been 
 shown of the full efficiency of the Instrument itself as a pro- 
 peller, it was at once proposed to make this limited application 
 of its powers in such Ships of the Navy of appropriate forms 
 as it might be thought desirable to equip with it ; the intention 
 being that such application should in no way interfere with their 
 position in those respective Classes of the Sailing Fleet to which 
 they might already belong. 
 
 The discovery then first made, has been confirmed by sub- renders the 
 
 . . _ ,.,..«. . normal coiidi. 
 
 sequent experience to an extent which justifies its assumption tion of both 
 as an acknowledged Principle, and in adopting it as such on ^'^^^-'''.'P^ . 
 the present occasion, I shall go on to consider the case of the that of perfect 
 Full and the Partially-powered Screw-ship in their respective 
 capacities as Auxiliaries under the assumption that both of 
 them have been provided with complete and appropriate Sail- 
 power ; and I take this mode of treating the subject the more 
 readily, not only because it more truthfully coincides with 
 original views and intentions ; — but also because I believe that 
 it will simplify and facilitate the solution of all questions having 
 regard to the powers and services of our Screw-Fleet, to con- 
 sider that the primary and normal condition of all its several 
 members is that of complete Sailing-ships, and that the further 
 conditions and appointments furnished to them respectively as 
 Steamers are therefore to be looked upon in the light of addi- 
 tions made to this normal state, and supplied to them, — not for 
 general use, — but for the purpose of enabling them to execute 
 ' Special services,' or ' Exceptional services :' according as they 
 may have been provided respectively with ' Full Steam-power' 
 or with ' Auxihary Steam-power' only. 
 
50 
 
 THE SCREW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 Complete Sail- 
 power essential 
 to tile chaiacter 
 of the Auxi- 
 liary. 
 
 The conse- 
 quences of 
 incomplete 
 Sail-power 
 examined in 
 the case of the 
 '• Plumper," 
 
 With this view of the subject the cases of the two frigates, 
 " Amphion" and "Arrogant;" the one adapted to the Screw, 
 the other buih for it; will be seen fully to agree. Both are 
 true Auxiliaries; that is, the Steam-power is a 5OT^-_/i(fe addition 
 to the already complete Sail-power ; and both powers can at 
 all times be effectively used whether separately or together 
 without detracting from the complete effort of either. And 
 the fulfilment of the condition here set forth appears to be 
 essential in order to constitute the true character of every 
 Auxiliary. First, — it seems to be demanded even by the mean- 
 ing of the term itself; since if it were necessary to diminish 
 Sail-power, as a necessary preliminary in order to supply Steam- 
 power, the addition of the latter would be more in the character 
 of compensation for a loss, than in that of a true auxiliary 
 assistance ; and the amount of improvement actually effected 
 would be limited to the diflference between the power which 
 was given with the one hand, over and above that which was 
 taken away with the other. And next, — the very fact of our 
 possessing ships which have the ability to put forth this full 
 co-operation of separate yet Complete powers, seems to require 
 of us that we should make due use of it ; for the economy and 
 advantage of all such vessels over any others must certainly 
 be based upon the extent with which they are able to employ 
 so peculiar a combination of powers ; since the Services to be 
 rendered by its means must constitute the only mode of repay- 
 ment to which we can look for the extra expenses of their double 
 equipment ; and hence complete repayment can only there be 
 expected where the powers which are to make it are themselves 
 complete. 
 
 But the simplest mode of exemplifying its necessary fulfil- 
 ment is to examine the consequences arising in a supposed 
 case in which this condition is not complied with. Let us take 
 then as an instance in order to illustrate this side of the ques- 
 tion,— say, the " Plumper," and adopt the view that such vessels 
 
SCREW-SHIPS AND AUXILIARIES. 51 
 
 are intended to supplant in our Navy the services of its present 
 various classes of Brigs, with which. On all points of efficiency 
 as regards armament, they may be taken to stand upon a footing 
 of perfect equality. But in making the " Plumper" an Aux- 
 iliary, and in providing her with a 60 Horse Power engine, we 
 will suppose that it had been requisite to reduce her Sail-power 
 to such an extent that it was not sufficient to enable her to 
 attain to the same Sail-speed as the brig, save by the employ- 
 ment of, say, 20 Horse Power in aid of her sails. In such case 
 it is clear that all ' General services,' that is, services performed 
 strictly under sail alone, must be executed by her at a lower 
 standard of effective speed than that of the class she would be 
 intended to supplant, and, as far as related to these services, we 
 should be substituting therefore an inferior for a superior Class 
 of vessel. On the other hand, if she is obliged to employ the 
 aid of Steam in order to attain that Sail-speed which the brig 
 possesses without any such costly assistance ; then it is clear, 
 that as regards the performance of Sail-services at an equal 
 standard of Sail-speed on both sides, we should be substituting 
 a more expensive for a cheaper Class of vessel. And it is clear, 
 still further, that although provided with engines of 60 Horse 
 Power, yet the amount really available for the performance 
 of any services whatever beyond those which could be accom- 
 plished by the Brig would be reduced to 40 Horse Power 
 only : but still the extra services performed by this effective 
 fraction only of her machinery, would be all we should get as 
 an equivalent for the cost and expenses of providing and work- 
 ing the whole power. And without following the consequences 
 of our supposition any further, it is evident that the true charac- 
 ter and true value of all Classes of Auxiliaries, must depend 
 upon maintaining their Sail-powers complete and enabling there 
 under sail alone at least to equal the Sailing-speed of the Classes 
 they may be intended to supersede. 
 
 E 2 
 
52 THE SCREW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 While Equal Sail-speed is thus necessary on the one hand in 
 order to avoid failure^ superior Sail-speed must, on the other, 
 proportionally enhance success. Nor does there exist any cause 
 whatever why the Sail equipments of the ships should be ap- 
 pointed with any other or lower aim ; since, whether their after 
 holds contain an equal weight of ' stores ' or of ' Steam-engine,' 
 cannot possibly affect either the Sail-powers or the sailing qua- 
 lities of any ship in any other way, save that in the latter case it 
 will add to her stability. On the other hand, every improve- 
 ment in the Sailing-speed of such ships must be attended with 
 improved efficiency and economy combined ; it must render the 
 use of the Steam less frequent, and when used more effective, 
 and as we proceed to supplant the older classes of the Navy 
 by calling forth more extensively this new description of Ship, 
 we shall do well to elicit from them that higher Sail-speed 
 which their finer forms assure us they possess. In accordance 
 with the Principles defined in former pages of this work, the 
 simplest and most obvious course by which to accomplish this 
 object, would seem to be that of supplying the new ship with 
 the same proportion of Motive power to Resistances as is pos- 
 sessed by the one she supersedes; and when this object is 
 accomplished, there seems little room to doubt of an ample 
 reward from gradually filling all the more active classes of 
 the Navy with Screw-Auxiliaries.* 
 
 The amount of From this view of the necessary completeness of the Sail- 
 Steam-power in p n A •!• • 1 ' -I 1 
 Auxiliaries power ot all Auxiliaries, let us turn to consider the proportion 
 
 rmderth^m °^ Steam-power, which from the character of the services to be 
 iudependeiit of demanded of them we may expect them to require. And 
 
 Steam assist- —^ 1 
 
 aiice from * fhe following comparative data, of the " Plumper " and the " Mutine," 
 
 both of -ffhich are built from the designs of the same Constructor, will illustrate 
 the application of the Principles adverted to in the case of the Auxiliary, as they 
 were illustrated before as applying to the case of the Screw-ship. With this 
 difference however ; that the instance of the " Dauntless " shows a case of its 
 application as it ought to be; while that of the " Plumper " shows its application 
 to a case as it is. 
 
 Comparative 
 
 otliers. 
 
SCREW-SHIPS AND AUXILIARIES. 
 
 53 
 
 here again, First experience, when it recognised the practi- 
 cability of employing a limited Steam agency in aid of the 
 
 Comparative Data. 
 
 H.M.S. 
 "Mutine." 
 
 H.M.S. 
 '* Plumper." 
 
 Length, extreme, upon load-water line 
 
 Breadth, extreme 
 
 Area of load -water line 
 
 * Measure of Stability,* estimated as before .... 
 
 Area of Sails, including as before 
 
 * Moment of Inclination ' of sails 
 
 * Centre of Etfort' above load-water line 
 
 Area of Midship section, or ' Direct Resistance ',' . 
 Area of Ship longitudinally, or 'Lateral Resistance ' 
 
 Load Displacement, or * Mass' 
 
 Area of Sail, per foot of section, or Proportion of Power to") 
 Reaistance 5 
 
 Area of Sail per ton of Displacement, or Proportion of Power to 1 
 Mass 5 
 
 Height of midship Port-sill above water 
 
 Mean load draught of water . • 
 
 Feet. 
 
 102 
 
 31-4 
 
 Square Feet. 
 
 2520-9 
 
 83621 '8 
 
 Square Feet. 
 
 10031 
 
 463432-2 
 
 Feet. 
 
 46-2 
 
 Square Feet. 
 
 249 
 
 1367-8 
 
 Tons. 
 
 500-5 
 
 Square Feet. 
 
 40-28 
 
 20- 
 
 Feet. In. 
 
 4 10 
 
 13 5 
 
 Feet. 
 
 140 
 
 27 
 
 Square Feet. 
 
 2935 3 
 
 74740- 4 
 
 Square Feet. 
 
 8549 
 
 376156 
 
 Feet. 
 
 44 
 
 Square Feet. 
 
 239-9 
 
 1708 
 
 647-6 
 Square Feet. 
 
 35-63 
 
 13-2 
 
 Feet. In. 
 
 6 8 
 
 12 21 
 
 With these data for calculating the proportions of ' Stability ' to ' Inclination' in 
 the two cases it appears, that the Stability of the " Plumper " is one-tenth 
 greater than that of the "Mutine;" or practically that when the " Plumper" 
 was heeling 10°, the " Mutine" would be heeling 11°. But it also appears that 
 the " Plumper" requires an area of 9663 square feet of sail, or an addition of 
 1114 feet in order to place her on equal terms with the " Mutine," as regards 
 the relative proportions of ' Power to Resistance ;' and if this addition be made 
 without increasing the vertical height of the Centre of Effort ; that is, if it be 
 added to her low, and not to her lofty sails, the proportions of ' Stability ' to 
 ' Inclination ' would in both cases be alike. 
 
 In the case of this comparison also there Is a great disparity in Displacements 
 amounting to no less than 147-1 tons ; and the fact that the " Plumper " is thus 
 nearly one-third larger than the " Mutine," seems to demand a yet further addi- 
 tion to her Sail-powers. If 367 feet be added on this account, making 10,000 
 feet in all, and raising the proportion of 13 feet per ton, up to 15 feet per ton, 
 against the 20 feet per ton of displacement in " Mutine," then, a reduction of 2 
 feet in the vertical position of the Centre of Effort of Sails in " Plumper " would 
 be necessary, in order to maintain the same proportions of ' Stability ' and 
 ' Inclination ' in the two cases, but if no such reduction be effected, then the 
 10,000 feet of canvass will show a proportional difference of 'Stability' in 
 favour of the Brig of one-seventh, or, where the " Mutine " was heeling 7°, the 
 " Plumper " would be heeling 8°. 
 
 This seems a difference of no great moment perhaps, even if fully realized, 
 since in all cases of action, a reduction of sail aloft would be more than com- 
 
54 THE SCEEW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 Sails ; suggested at the same time that the requisite propor- 
 tion of Steam-power for ships thus furnished, should be that 
 which would render them independent in circumstances in 
 which they might otherwise require assistance for themselves, 
 without its being sufficient to enable them to furnish thai assist- 
 ance to others which Full Steam-power can alone afford. In 
 short that its extent should be fixed by reference to their own 
 wants alone ; and assuming this to be still a sound and prac- 
 tical principle generally, then the nature of the services in 
 which it is to be expected that the Auxiliary of the Navy will 
 chiefly be employed appears to afford the best indication for the 
 requisite amount of her Steam-power. Coasting operations, 
 and all defensive and protective Services, seem specially appro- 
 priate to the duplicate powers of all such vessels, and the chief 
 obstacles to be encountered in their execution will be the 
 tidal and river streams of channels, coasts, and harbours. The 
 strength of these will of course differ in different countries and 
 circumstances, but a Steam-speed of less than eight knots can 
 hardly be expected to enable ships destined for general and 
 foreign employment successfully to meet those they may have 
 to contend with. The almost invariable accompaniment of 
 such currents with strong and sudden eddies renders a full 
 command of steerage power essential to safety ; and when 
 struggling against such circumstances it should be borne in 
 mind, that a ship is forcing her asceut up an incline, and has to 
 
 pensated for by the effort of an engine below. But this instance of comparison 
 seems to require a closer approach in the relative proportions of the Elements 
 in the two cases, than was necessary in that of " Thetis "' with " Dauntless ■" 
 since in this there is a difference of 1 foot 10 inches in the respective heights of 
 deck with all the attendant weights, against the Auxiliary, and the position of 
 her machinery is not so low by 1.5 inches as by referring to the drawing of her 
 midship section it seems that it might have been. So that the difference of 
 1 ft. 4^ in. in draught of water in favour of the " Plumper" may be taken as 
 requisite to counterbalance the disadvantage of the greater height of her deck, 
 leaving the ' Stability of Form,' as ascertained by the calculation, more unaided 
 in her case than it is in that of the " Dauntless." 
 
SCREW-SHIPS AND AUXILIARIES. 55 
 
 contend with a certain amount of the Force of Gravitation in 
 addition to the velocity of the stream.* 
 
 Thus the requisite Steam-power seems reduced to a question in well-formed 
 of requisite speed, and this again, as we attempt to define it into ofThorse-power 
 actual proportions of Horse Power to tonnage, resolves itself into *" ^^"y ? ^"'^ , 
 
 ^ ^ ® may be deemed 
 
 a question of Form, the effects of which have been found to vary sufficient. 
 from the very remarkable case of the "Adonis," in which a pro- 
 portion of one Horse Power to every 1 1 • 3 tons of measure- 
 ment, gave when tested, a Steam-speed of 9 '38 knots per 
 hour; down to the case of the "Ajax," in which a proportion 
 of one Horse Power to every 3' 9 tons gave a Steam-speed of 
 6-45 knots only; in the latter case no adaptation in the Form 
 of the ship being provided for the mode of propulsion em- 
 ployed, while in the former case the ship was carefully built 
 for it. And although variations in speed due to differences in 
 Form must always be expected to occur, and even imfavour- 
 ably so in instances in which it may still be very desirable to 
 adapt the Screw into ships not originally designed for it ; yet 
 sufficient experience already warrants the expectation that 
 whenever the Screw is used in an appropriate Form of 
 
 * The circumstances attending the trial of Her Majesty's Ship " Ajax," in 
 December last, will serve Ho illustrate both these points. On her return into 
 Portsmouth harbour, after having had her speed tested before the ' measured 
 mile ' in Stokes Bay, the revolutions of the engines of this Ship^vere permitted to 
 fall from their maximum of 41 down to 37, and although assisted by a Steam- 
 tug, and with a fair but light wind, the ship was unable to stem the spring ebb- 
 tide, but continued going astern for a period of about half-an-hour during 
 which the steam was rising to its full strength. The " Ajax," therefore, 
 when fully stored, armed, and rigged, could not without assistance be expected 
 to force her passage to sea against the strength of a spring tide and a fresh 
 breeze blowing into Portsmouth harbour ; however urgently her services as a 
 Steam Guard-ship might be required outside. 
 
 Again, the falling off of the four revolutions of the engines should have re- 
 duced the speed of the " Ajax" from 6 '45 to 5-82 knots, and from the known 
 rate of tide at the entrance of the harbour, this would have sufficed with the 
 assistance which she otherwise received to enable her to stem it, had she not 
 been contending also with the gravitation due to the inclined surface of the 
 water. 
 
56 THE SCREW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 vessel whether casually found or especially provided for it, a 
 proportion of one Horse Power to every eight tons of measure- 
 ment will give an approximate Steam-speed of eight knots. 
 
 As I here close the more theoretical view of the character of 
 the Auxiliary, we will now examine shortly in what respects the 
 case of the Screw-ship in this same capacity also can be seen 
 to differ from it; and in order to do so the more concisely in 
 this and in all subsequent comparisons of the same nature, I 
 shall adopt the above proportion of one Horse Power to every 
 eight tons as the practical standard for the Auxiliary ; and the 
 proportion of one Horse Power to every two-and-a-half tons 
 as that for the Screw-ship. 
 
 As a first point of comparison, then, it will be observed, that 
 whether provided with the larger or the smaller of these pro- 
 portions of Power, the machinery in both classes of Ship is 
 alike placed in a position to aflFord its aid with perfect security 
 in time of action; and that it is alike unobstructive to the free 
 use of that complete broadside battery with which both classes 
 alike are capable of being armed. 
 
 Next, — we have throughout assumed that the Screw -ship and 
 Auxiliary are equally furnished with a full and appropriate 
 Sail-equipment as the normal condition of both alike. 
 
 And lastly,^in order that this Sail-power may have its full 
 effect according to their respective forms, both classes have 
 been equally provided with the means for removing the Screw 
 out of water whenever under canvass alone. 
 
 From this complete similarity in all the important features 
 of their equipment it therefore follows, that both classes in due 
 proportion to the power of their respective armaments and 
 crews, can be alike prepared to fulfil the original intention of — 
 ' effectively performing every General service under sail alone.' 
 In due proportion to the merits of their respective Forms, both 
 can be alike prepared for—' effectively performing every Special 
 service, by bringing to the aid of Full Sail-power a limited use 
 
SCREW-SHIPS AND AUXILIARIES. 57 
 
 of Steam,' which limited amount it is clear may in both cases 
 be applied in the same proportion. And the differences 
 between the two classes therefore up to the point of com- 
 parison we have here arrived at will stand thus. 
 
 That in addition to the proportion of one Horse Power to The difference 
 every eight tons of measurement furnished to the Auxiliary to Sciew-ship and 
 enable her to execute ' Special services ' only ; there has been -'^"^'^fy 
 furnished to the Screw-ship a further proportion of one Horse *« foregoing 
 
 -^ views* 
 
 Power to every two and a half tons, as a reserve with which to 
 enable her to execute ' Exceptional services ' also. And as 
 the effective performance of these Services must require in her 
 case a frequent transition from Perfect Sailing-ship to Perfect 
 Steamer, and back to Perfect Sailing-ship again, so her Sail- 
 equipment must exhibit an arrangement intended to facilitate 
 such transitions, and may therefore be expected to be different 
 in mode — not in amount, — from that of the Auxiliary. If 
 indeed it be not hereafter the case that Auxiliaries, when pur- 
 posely built for Screw-propulsion, shall be seen so much to 
 resemble the Screw-ship in their proportions, that a common 
 mode of Sail-equipment may perhaps be found the most 
 effective plan for both. 
 
 I now proceed to show what further differences than those Further practi- 
 thus pointed out may be expected to present themselves, '^ ' erences 
 as we turn from the theoretical to take a more practical view 
 of the respective services of these two new and important classes 
 of Ship ; but as the records of the Navy supply as yet no data 
 of sufficient extent to enable us to define the practical value of 
 the Auxiliary by their means, the sister Mercantile Service has 
 been had recourse to ; and I beg to express my obligations to 
 James Laming, Esq., for his kindness in furnishing me with an 
 accurate return of the Services of the Auxiliary vessels of the 
 Company of which he is the Managing Director, for the entire 
 year 1847; out of which vessels I shall select for the pur- 
 poses of this present illustration, the two which are fuinished 
 
58 
 
 THE SCREW- FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 illustrated by 
 a comparison 
 between the 
 Merchant 
 Auxiliary 
 
 with the assumed standard proportion of Auxiliary Steam- 
 power. 
 
 From these returns then I find that the " Lord John 
 Russell" and " Sir Robert Peel" of 320 tons and 40 Horse 
 Power engines each ; built of suitable forms^ for general trade, 
 from similar lines, and with similar engines ; performed to- 
 gether 89 voyages durbg the above year between London and 
 the ports of Holland, crossing the North Sea with full cargoes, 
 and making good their passages in every state of weather with- 
 out accident or delay. The actual distance thus made good 
 was 45,548 miles ; and the practical result of this instance of 
 the well-applied combination of Sail and Steam, gives an average 
 Speed throughout the year of 8*25 knots per hour; which has 
 been found closely to agree with the speed of these two vessels 
 under Steam only, as ascertained when first built and tested in 
 smooth water, before the 'measured mile ' in Long Reach. 
 
 Now perhaps the simplest way of comparing the ability 
 of the Screw-ship when using only the auxiliary proportion 
 of her Steam-power, to equal this high result of actual 
 Auxiliary performance, is to suppose that these very same 
 two vessels, during the very year, and therefore under the very 
 circumstances in which they realized it, had themselves been 
 using the auxiliary proportion of 40 Horse Power out of Full- 
 powered engines amounting to 1 28 Horse Power, with which, 
 in accordance to the assumed standard proportions, we will 
 suppose them to have been furnished. No doubt such a sup- 
 position would be a disastrous one for the merchant, since the 
 unemployed amount of power, besides its original cost, would 
 have been occupying the space of profitable cargo. But as 
 regards the actual result in average speed; what difference 
 have we the warrant of experience for saying should have been 
 shown at the year's end, between the real case and the supposed 
 one? — One, and one only: namely, that the same 'average 
 Speed' must have been produced in the supposed case as in the 
 
" Dauntless.' 
 
 SCREW-SHIPS AND AUXILIARIES. 59 
 
 real one, but that it would have been attended in the sup- 
 posed case with less expenditure of fuel, than in the real one, 
 and this reduction in expenditure of fuel would have been just 
 in proportion as the Expansive action of Steam can be more 
 economically developed in engines of 128 Horse Power, than 
 it can in engines of 40 Horse Power only, all other circum- 
 stances being alike. 
 
 In order to apply then the data and its deduction thus fur- and H.M.S. 
 nished by the Auxiliary of the Merchant Service to the case of 
 the Screw-ship of the Navy, let us take again for its illustra- 
 tion the instance of the '' Dauntless ;" and examine the grounds 
 upon which we may or may not expect an equally high result to 
 be realized from that ship when working as an Auxiliary only, 
 and therefore when employing only the auxiliary proportion of 
 182 Horse Power, out of the full-powered machinery of 580 
 Horse Power with which she is furnished. 
 
 The first point of comparison then will be with respect to 
 Form ; and whenever the " Dauntless " shall be as effectively 
 altered in this important respect as all her other sister Screw- 
 ships already have been, we have no reason whatever to think 
 that her Form will prove in any degree less suitable for Screw 
 propulsion, than those of the merchant vessels with which we 
 are now comparing her ; and therefore under an equally pro- 
 portioned application of Steam-power we have no reason what- 
 ever to expect any other than an equally favourable result in 
 both cases. The next point will be as regards the amount of 
 Sail-power, and here, as well as in the means of handling it, 
 the advantage will clearly be on the side of the Frigate, and a 
 more effective Sail-speed must be expected from the larger than 
 the smaller Ship especially in all Ocean work. If therefore this 
 comparison into the practical and relative working of the Auxi- 
 liary and the Screw-ship be admitted as sound, then it follows, 
 that from the employment in Auxiliary proportion of the com- 
 bined powers of Sail and Steam in the two classes respectively. 
 
60 
 
 THE SCREW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 The result of 
 8ucb compari- 
 son shows the 
 Screw-ship to 
 be equally effi- 
 cient and more 
 economical in 
 her Auxiliary 
 Services than 
 the Auxiliary 
 herself; both 
 being equally 
 equipped in all 
 but Steam- 
 power. 
 
 we have a right to look for an equal 'average Speed' from 
 equally suitable forms, whether they be those of Screw-ship or 
 of Auxiliary; but that from the Screw-ship, we have the further 
 right to expect that this equal Speed will be produced by a 
 smaller expenditure of fuel. 
 
 To what extent this latter expectation may be realized, can 
 alone be determined by actual experience in each individual 
 case, according as its circumstances and the mode of manage- 
 ment may vary ; but in order to afford some practical data for 
 an approximate estimate I may here observe, that if the 
 hourly expenditure of fuel used by the " Dauntless" when 
 under Full Steam-power on her passage to Portsmouth, be 
 reduced by one-fifth as the saving to be effected when using her 
 steam expansively, then an expenditure of 12 tons per day may 
 be stated as the probable consumption required for her auxiliary 
 proportion of 182 Horse Power; and in such case the 250 
 tons taken on board in the Clyde would have been a supply 
 for her use as an auxiliary as before stated, for 20 days. 
 And the 350 tons she is calculated to stow, would, by the 
 same estimate, become fuel for 28 days' auxiliary use ; and it 
 might therefore be considered as sufficient to take the " Daunt- 
 less" from Portsmouth to Calcutta direct at the highest average 
 of Naval Steam-speed, provided that no demand were made 
 for the employment of her Full Steam-power during the pas- 
 sage. 
 
 In the absence therefore as yet of any extended and real 
 experience by which to establish the relative characters and 
 services of the Screw-ship and Auxiliary of the Navy, it has 
 been thought right that the most extensive and ably-worked 
 system of experience afforded by the Merchant Service should 
 be appealed to ; and if the reasoning based upon the facts which 
 it supplies be at all valid, then, while waiting for actual experi- 
 ment to decide to the contrary, it must be allowed to prove that 
 even in I he exercise of her Auxiliary powers only, the Services of 
 
SCREW-SHIPS AND AUXILIARIES. 61 
 
 the Screw-ship must be regarded as being equally Efficient, and 
 yet more Economical than those of the Auxiliary herself. 
 
 Throughout these pages the duties to be executed by the The limited uae 
 several members of our Screw- Fleet in their respective capa- both Screw- 
 cities as Auxiliaries, have been designated as ' Special services,' itarierdprUe 
 in order to distinguish them from those duties requiring Full of giving the 
 
 . same " mean 
 
 oteam-power on the one hand, and those requiring Sail-power rate" as is now 
 alone on the other ; and it has been more than once put forth pull-powered 
 that we may expect these ' Special services ' to be performed in ^^'^'i''- 
 
 •1 i^ r r steamers. 
 
 all cases of the fair application of conjoint Steam and Sail, at 
 the highest average of our present Naval Steam-speed. 
 
 Now it is willingly admitted, that as an agent of comnmni- 
 cation across the Ocean, a ship of whatsoever description is 
 within the sphere of her operation essentially a Locomotive ; 
 and therefore that like every other agent to which the term 
 applies, the main proof of her comparative value is that which 
 is supplied by ascertaining her ' average Speed,' or the mean 
 rate at which she performs her work, which ' average Speed ' 
 becomes therefore the comparative standard for the ' Duty of 
 the Ship.' It will be objected therefore that to speak of 
 ' Special services ' being performed at the highest average of 
 Naval Steam-speed, is equivalent to saying that the Screw-ship 
 when using her Full Sail-power assisted with only a limited 
 use of Steam, can be expected to realize the same ' mean rate,' 
 or exhibit the same ' Duty of Ship,' as our present Full-pow- 
 ered Paddle-steamers now do. And this, as applied to Services 
 sufficiently extended to furnish in both cases a truthful average, 
 is in reality what I have meant to put forth. 
 
 But as this position may perhaps be considered to require This position 
 some support, I shall now adduce, with the view to substan- '"PP"'* • 
 tiate it, a few of the highest ' average Speeds ' of Full-powered 
 Paddle-steamers which have been as yet accomplished on the 
 Ocean, in order that they may be compared with the perform- 
 ances of the Auxiliary vessels I have above quoted; these 
 
62 THE SCREW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 performances being assumed as the standard, which I have 
 endeavoured to show may reasonably be looked for in all cases 
 in which an equal proportion of power to tonnage, is equally 
 well applied, to equally suitable forms. 
 
 By the kindness of Mr. Cunard, I have been furnished with 
 the performances of the two fastest of his first line of mail 
 packets from Liverpool to Halifax for a period of two complete 
 years; and I find that in 1846 and 1847, the " Cambria" and 
 " Hibernia" made together 44 voyages out and home, running 
 over a distance of 112,400 miles, and showing a mean rate 
 or ' Duty of Ship ' of 9' 16 knots per hour. These are vessels 
 of 1353 tons, and 510 Horse Power, or with a proportion of 
 one Horse Power to every 2*65 tons. 
 
 By the kindness of Captain Chappell, R.N., I have been 
 furnished with the Ocean performances of the ships of the Royal 
 Mail Company from Southampton to Bermuda, Barbadoes, 
 and St. Thomas's, for the year 1848, and I find that the several 
 ships of the Company employed on these lines, have together 
 run over a distance out and home of 146,383 miles, and show 
 a mean rate or ' Duty of Ship ' of 765 knots per hour. 
 These are vessels of 1 300 tons and 400 Horse Power, or with 
 a proportion of one Horse Power to every 3-25 tons. 
 
 Of armed vessels, the " Terrible" has been selected for com- 
 parison, because she is the most powerfully equipped Paddle- 
 steamer in the Navy, whether in Guns, Engines, or Sails ; and 
 after carefully rejecting all distances performed when towing, 
 when cruizing, or when disabled in machinery, I find from 
 the Special reports of the "Terrible,'' that she performed in 
 1846, 1847, and 1848, a distance of 15,731 miles, and shows 
 for this period a mean rate or ' Duty of Ship ' of 6-83 knots per 
 hour. This is a vessel of 1847 tons and 800 Horse Power, or 
 with a proportion of one Horse Power to every 2-31 tons. But 
 it must be observed with regard to the armed Steamer, that 
 unlike the sister ship in Mail employ, she is required for the 
 
SCREW-SHIPS AND AUXILIARIES. 63 
 
 sake of economy to use her canvass whenever possible, and of 
 the whole distance completed by the "Terrible/' 6,277 miles, 
 or 40 per cent, of it was performed under sail alone.* 
 
 Now, we have seen that the two Auxiliary vessels which 
 have been quoted as standards performed 89 voyages in the 
 year 1847, making good a distance of 45,548 miles, and show- 
 ing a mean rate or ' Duty of Ship,' of 825 knots per hour. 
 
 * The following analysis of the concise special reports of the performances 
 of the " Terrible," seems to corroborate the view that the fullest amount of 
 canvass which can be supplied to any Paddle-steamer, can never be expected 
 to co-operate with the Steam-power, so as to produce an improved speed in her 
 general employment. But that the economy of fuel to be derived from a 
 frequent use of the sails will always be attended with a proportional reduction 
 in the mean rate, or ' Duty of the Ship.' In other words, that improved 
 economy derived from the general use of canvass in the Paddle-steamer, will 
 always be realized at the expense of reducing her efSciency. 
 
 The first Report relates to services performed on our own coasts and in the 
 Mediterranean, between the months of March and October, 1846 ; and deduct- 
 ing all performances which do not give the fair speed of the ship it supplies a 
 distance of 5725 miles, and shows a ' Duty of Ship' of 9-07 knots per hour. 
 351 miles, or 5-92 per cent, of this distance, was performed under sail only, and 
 the ' duty* of each ton of coals for the period during which the engines were at 
 work, was 4*.35 miles. 
 
 The second Report relates to a passage from Lisbon to Loando and back 
 again, made in July and October, 1847. Making the same deduction as before, 
 it supplies a distance of 7975 miles, and shows a ' Duty of Ship' of 5 '68 
 knots per hour. 4748 miles, or 59*53 per cent, of this distance was performed 
 under sail only ; and the ' duty ' of each ton of coals was 4 • 69 miles. 
 
 The third Report relates to services in 'the Mediterranean, extending from 
 January to October, 1848, after receiving an increased establishment of masts 
 and yards. It supplies a distance of 1834 miles, and shows a 'Duty of Ship' 
 of 7*08 knots per hour. 1178 miles, or 64* 23 per cent, of this distance was 
 performed under sail only ; and the ' duty ' of each ton of coals was 5-34 miles. 
 
 All these Reports go to show the Sail-power to have been always used in the 
 " Terrible," separately from, not in combination with the Steam ; and in cal- 
 culating the 'duty' of each ton of coals, or in other words, the 'Duty of the 
 Engines,' I have of course excluded the distances performed when the engines 
 were not at worki But with the view to ascertain the saving in coals, corre- 
 sponding to the reduction of speed, if we divide the several distances run, by the 
 total fuel consumed in each period of running them, we shall then get — 
 For the First Report . . 4-68 miles per ton. 
 For the Second Report . 11-7 ditto. 
 For the Third Report . . 14'48 ditto. 
 And for the whole distance 7 • 53 ditto. 
 
64 THE SCREW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 These are vessels of 320 tons, and 40 Horse Power, or with a 
 proportion of one Horse Power to every 8 tons. And in cor- 
 roboration of this result I will add, that in the same year, in the 
 same trade, and belonging to the same owners, the " City of 
 London," and " City of Rotterdam," performed together 86 
 voyages, making good a distance of 35,432 miles, and showing 
 a mean rate or ' Duty of Ship,' of 7'9 knots per hour. These 
 are vessels of 270 tons and 30 Horse Power, or with a pro- 
 portion of one Horse Power to every 9 tons. 
 
 Granting therefore, that this ' Duty ' of the Auxiliaries 
 represents the ' Duty ' which may fairly be expected under 
 equally fair circumstances from the ' Special services ' of the 
 Screw-fleet, then the comparison here made goes to substantiate 
 the position put forth thus — 
 
 Firstly. — In the case of the two fleetest of the older Ships of 
 the Cunard line, there is a difference against the ' Duty ' of 
 these ' Special services ' amounting to 1 1 '03 per cent.* 
 
 Secondly.— In the case of the Royal Mail Ships there is a 
 diflference in favour of these ' Special services ' amounting to 
 7'84 per cent. 
 
 And Thirdly. — In the case of the " Terrible " there is a dif- 
 ference in favour of these 'Special services' amounting to 
 20'64 per cent. This Ship having been selected for the causes 
 before assigned as being at least a fair exponent for the average 
 ' Duty' of our present Naval War Steamers. 
 
 In thus bringing the performances of these Auxiliary vessels 
 into comparison with those of different classes of Full-powered 
 Paddle-steamers, it seems right to state, that the results of a 
 voyage just performed by the " Sir Robert Peel " from Liver- 
 
 * The mean speed of the Auxiliaries is calculated upon the actual distances 
 between the Custom-houses of London and the respective ports of Holland as 
 completed in so many voyages, and it does not include the traverse of the ves- 
 sels which is very considerable, since the course across sea is that of a Sailing- 
 ship throughout, especially with adverse winds ; and an allowance of one knot 
 in nine on this account would raise their mean speed up to that of the Cunard 
 ships. 
 
SCEEW-SHIPS AND AUXILIARIES. 65 
 
 pool to Constantinople and back to London, show her mean 
 rate to have been reduced from 8-25 to 7 " 05 knots per hour 
 upon the whole distance of 6200 miles ; and this result would 
 seem to indicate that when employed in ocean work, the average 
 speed realized in the North Sea cannot as a standard be ab- 
 solutely maintained, or at least not by vessels of so small a 
 size. This ocean voyage, however, is a first, and a winter one, 
 and has already suggested the means of much improvement ; 
 but taking the result of it as it here stands, it shows a practical 
 equality with the results shown even in the latest and most 
 favourable of the three reports of the "Terrible," and compared 
 with the general average of that ship it exhibits a difference 
 which still amounts to 2 • 78 per cent, in favour of the Auxiliary : 
 and even this comparison must therefore still go to support 
 the position I have put forth, viz., that the 'Special services' 
 of our Screw Fleets that is, services performed by its several 
 members, whether Screw-ship or Auxiliary, when assisting 
 their Full Sail-power with a limited use of Steam, may be ex- 
 pected to be performed at the highest average of our present 
 Naval Steam-speed. 
 
 But if the ' mean rate,' or ' Duty of Ship,' shows thus Both Sorew- 
 
 r» • 1 ■ ) ships and 
 
 favourably for the relative Efficiency of these ' Special services. Auxiliaries 
 even yet more strongly does the distance carried by each ton ^{i^^ ste'am- 
 of coals, or the 'Duty of the Engines,' testify to a superior power far more 
 
 ' •' . . economical 
 
 Economy. Limiting the comparison on this point to the case than the pre- 
 
 sent Paddle- 
 
 of the "Terrible," the 'Duty' of her engines for the whole steamer. 
 distance — steamed, — amounts to 4-54 miles per ton, while in 
 the two standard Auxiliaries it amounts to 29 miles per ton ; 
 and again this is corroborated by a 'Duty' of 29*87 miles 
 per ton in the case of the two smaller vessels quoted. So that 
 we have a difference in 'Duty of Engines' in favour of these 
 ' special services ' amounting to no less than 538 per cent, as 
 compared with the results produced in the "Terrible;" and 
 if we allow the ' Duty ' to be taken for the distance — sailed, — 
 
 F 
 
66 THE SCREW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 as well as steamed, — as shown in the note with respect even to 
 the "Terrible's" third and most favourable report, the differ- 
 ence will still amount to upwards of 100 per cent, in favour of 
 the economy of the Auxiliary application of Steam Power.* 
 
 Nor is it with the Paddle-steamer alone that a favourable 
 comparison in efficiency and economy may thus be instituted; 
 but I may here add, that the performances which I have 
 thus assumed as an approximate standard of Auxiliary speed, 
 have been carefully compared with those of several fast- 
 sailing Schooners belonging to the same Company, and for 
 many years employed in the same trade, between the same 
 ports; and that this comparison shows that the number of 
 voyages made by the Auxiliaries has been as 4 to 1 to the num- 
 ber of those made by the Sailing-vessels in the same time, and 
 moreover that the current expenses per ton per voyage of 
 working the two different descriptions of vessel, were — reduced 
 — in the case of the Auxiliaries, in the proportion of 16 to 25. 
 The advantage It would be beside the purpose to speculate here upon any 
 ally employing particular mode or sphere of employment by which advantages 
 and'Auxi'liaries ^^^^ realized by private energy, may with like management 
 in all but the gjj^j j„ jjjjg eases be made available for the Public Service ; 
 
 larger Classes 
 
 of the Navy. but if results even approximating to these shall be found gene- 
 rally attendant upon well-applied and well-worked instances 
 of the principle of Screw propulsion ; and if the experiment 
 now being carried out in the " Arrogant," be found to show 
 still further, that as regards most superior advantages in time 
 of action, the 50-gun Frigate which has Sail-power alone, can 
 stand no chance before the 50-gun Frigate which has Steam- 
 power also ; then may we reasonably expect that a further and 
 well matured development of this Principle, so as gradually to 
 
 * It may be well to observe, with reference to this high economy of the Aux- 
 iliary application of Steam through the Screvr, that although not at all times 
 carrying sail, yet that the engines of the vessels quoted are always at work, 
 under every circumstance of weather, throughout the entire voyage, and at 
 their Full power. 
 
SCREW-SHIPS AND AUXILIARIES. 67 
 
 furnish the more active classes of our Fleet with an extended 
 reinforcement of Screw-ships and Auxiliaries, must be attended 
 with absolute improvement both in the efficiency and economy 
 of the whole General Services of the Navy. But specially does 
 this seem to be the appointed mode of supplying Steam-aid to 
 our squadrons employed on Foreign Stations ; and in con- 
 templating the extension of such advantages it is a matter of no 
 mean satisfaction to know, that so long as adherence to its true 
 and original principles is faithfully observed, it may be carried 
 out however largely, without fear of detracting, in any degree, 
 from the high character in practical Seamanship of either our 
 Officers or our Men. 
 
68 
 
 THE SCREW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 The superior 
 sphere of Ser- 
 vices capable 
 of being per- 
 formed by the 
 Screw-ship 
 
 THE IMPORTANCE OP THUS DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN THE 
 CHARACTERS OF SCREW-SHIPS AND AUXILIARIES. 
 
 I HAVE thus endeavoured to trace out and define the cha- 
 racteristics which the Auxiliary may be expected to assume 
 in the ranks of the Navy, and to ascertain as far as practicable 
 from actual experience the nature of the Services to be expected 
 from her ; and while assigning to these Services no more, I 
 believe, than their true value, it has also been my hope and 
 intention to establish in their just estimation the true position, 
 powers, and expected Services, of the Screw-ship also. No doubt 
 that of these two modes of employing Steam-power through 
 the agency of the Screw, the more limited one admits of a more 
 general and therefore a more useful development whether in the 
 service of the Merchant or the Crown ; and no doubt as we pro- 
 ceed to strengthen the ranks of the Navy with Auxiliaries, and 
 thereby increase the number of ships rendered independent of 
 the necessity of seeking Steam-aid from others when in diffi- 
 cult circumstances, that so the necessary number of our Screw- 
 ships may be expected in a limited proportion to decrease. 
 But the time cannot now, if ever be contemplated, when all 
 demand for those Services which Full Steam-power alone can 
 execute shall cease ; and so long as the contingencies inseparable 
 from the active duties of our Fleets shall compel them to look 
 for the aid of Steam, so long must our Fleets comprise within 
 their ranks Ships furnished with the sufficient Steam-power to 
 enable them to afford it. 
 
 The towing of heavy line-of-battle ships into action, or out 
 of action, with fleets, or against fortresses : the assistance 
 which must be afforded to those which from time to time may 
 
SCREW-SHIPS AND AUXILIARIES. 69 
 
 be disabled or endangered by the accidents of war or weather : 
 the taking of large convoys, or the conveying of heavy trans- 
 ports into port, or out of port, through channels, or up rivers, 
 during operations of critical emergency, or in the struggle 
 against adverse winds and tides — These, and numerous other 
 essential Services unnecessary to specify are such as cannot 
 be undertaken by the Auxiliary ; it must suffice for her that 
 when she finds herself in such circumstances, she is also found 
 provided with an amount of Steam-power which will make 
 her independent of the necessity of seeking aid upon her own 
 account. It is the Screw-ship with her Full-powered engines 
 furnished to her for the express purpose of enabling her to meet 
 such demands, which in these cases of emergency can alone be 
 relied on to afford material assistance to others ; and while 
 endeavouring to estabhsh therefore the full merits of the 
 Auxiliary, it has also been my desire to show that in the powers 
 of the Screw-ship to perform for us a yet higher order of Ser- 
 vices, we must recognize her fair claim to a yet higher share of 
 consideration. 
 
 In recapitulating what those Powers and Services may be 
 expected to be, I will again repeat with respect to the arma- 
 ment of these vessels. First; — that now that we have been 
 enabled to remove from the broadside and extremities likewise 
 every impediment connected with machinery in time of action ; 
 and now that the engine itself has been placed in a position of 
 perfect security below ; there no longer exists any reason what- 
 ever why the effective armed force of the Screw-ship should not 
 be made to equal that of any Class of single-decked Ship, 
 whether Auxiliary or Sailing-ship only, the Services of which 
 she may be intended ordinarily to execute. Provided always that 
 such power of armament be of course calculated for in the ori- 
 ginal plan of her design, and therefore that it be not allowed 
 to interfere with the requisite displacement which must also be 
 provided for the weights attendant on Full-powered machinery. 
 
70 THE SCREW-PLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 Wherever in the future construction of these ships such neces- 
 sary conditions are maturely fulfilled we may always expect 
 to find the Screw-ship a vessel of great lengthy and this great 
 length it has been before observed, offers in the case of the 
 Screw-Frigate a clear extent of platform upon her upper 
 deck, superior to that of either Sailing-ship or Auxiliary for 
 the effective working of a powerful Shell-gun battery. 
 
 Next ;— with respect to Sail-power, we have seen that her true 
 normal condition requires in this particular a complete and inde- 
 pendent equipment ; and possessing as she does a Form superior 
 to that of any present Class of Sailing-ship, it may reasonably 
 be expected that, when thus equipped, all her Sail-services will be 
 performed at the highest standard of our present Sailing-speed. 
 
 Next ; — with respect to the use of only a limited proportion 
 of her Steam-power, we have substantiated her claim to be able 
 to employ it with a result equal in efiBciency and superior in 
 economy to that which is expected from the Auxiliary herself. 
 And, as respects the employment of her Full Steam-power ; since 
 the use of only its Auxiliary proportion will enable her, like the 
 Auxiliary herself, to execute all 'Special services' at the highest 
 average of our present Steam-speed; so the overplus must be 
 regarded as the reserve to be called forth to meet the demands 
 of ' Exceptional services ' alone ; and her eflBcient performance 
 of the heavy duties which were above pointed out as comprised 
 under this term, must' be taken as full repayment for the 
 expenses of providing the necessary machinery with which 
 effectually to accomplish them.* 
 
 * This view of a supposed division of the Full Steam-powers of the Screw- 
 ship, by using only an Auxiliaiy proportion for ' Special services,' and reserving 
 the whole amount for those which have been distinguished as ' Exceptional ones ;' 
 when it is taken in conjunction with a peculiarity in the practical working of 
 the Screw itself, may perhaps be made to indicate in some degree the amount of 
 power which the larger classes of these ships may require ; and seems to justify 
 an expectation that it may not be necessary to furnish them with the same high 
 amount of Steam-power which the Paddle-steamer now requires for such heavy 
 work. For instance, the 800 Horse Power engines of the " Terrible " may be 
 
SCREW-SHIPS AND AUXILIARIES. 71 
 
 If therefore, this is no more than a just summary of the constitutes her 
 
 ,1 1 /» r* -1 ^ 11 • < 1 the most valn- 
 
 expected powers and pertormances or the iully-appointed able means of 
 Screw-ship, it then would perhaps be difficult to contemplate ^^*P''"8 
 
 ' r r r Steam-power 
 
 any mode of applying the aid of Steam in furtherance of to Naval pur- 
 the general Services of the Navy, more effectual in itself or 
 more capable of economical employment than that which she 
 is seen to present; and in making a close examination of 
 her case as compared with that of the Auxiliary, I have ex- 
 pressly desired to establish her claim to that just estimation 
 which there has seemed to be a disposition to withhold from 
 her. For the opinion has been widely circulated, and largely 
 received ; that although truly valuable as an Auxiliary, the 
 Screw is unable to maintain its pretensions as an useful agent 
 when employed with Full Steam-power. 
 
 It is not necessary to inquire whether the spread of this opi- The supposed 
 
 , , 11. . • • (. 1- p • 1 ■ ■ iiileriority of 
 
 nion has or has not had its origm m reelings or misapprehension the Screw-ship 
 and mistrust only ; nor whether it can or cannot be identified '" ' „^c.,.^^I=' 
 as a link in that course of opposition, which however natural in *"'"'- 
 itself, has nevertheless throughout all the past stages of this 
 invention, very greatly retarded in one way or other the public 
 recognition of its practical value. — A course of opposition which 
 
 taken as not at all too large for the effectual performance of the duties which 
 have been specified above ; because when towing, or contending with heavy 
 weather, or employed in any other services which impose increased resistance 
 on the paddle-wheels ; these, react- again upon the engine, and have the effect of 
 materially reducing its revolutions and therefore of reducing its power in the 
 same proportion. But the Screw when employed in like circumistances, is 
 found to be affected by them in a very small degree only, and therefore the 
 reduction of the power of the engine by the reactionary effect of the pro- 
 peller is also very slight. So that, when employed in like circumstances 
 of severe work, the evidence of the ' Indicator ' might be expected to show 
 that the 580 Horse Power engines of the " Dauntless " are capable of putting 
 forth an effort, equal or nearly so to the 800 Horse Power engines of the 
 " Terrible ;" and if this be found to be the case, then the " Dauntless's " 
 amotmt of power would give an indication of the maximum size of engine 
 required in the largest Screw-ship, in order to enable her to perform with the 
 same efficiency as the " Terrible," all the heavy duties for wliich it would 
 have been provided. 
 
72 THE SCKEW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 began with a bold denial of the powers of the Screw altogether ; 
 which then stated that it must render the ship unmanageable, 
 because it would not back her astern ;— which then maintained 
 that it must destroy her steerage power ; — which then asserted 
 its incompetency to enable her to contend with heavy weather; 
 — which then alleged its ruinous expense ; — which then dis- 
 covered a supposed inability to employ the Expansive action of 
 steam ; — and which it may be, is now engaged in applauding 
 its Auxiliary use, in order the more effectually to condemn its 
 Full-powered application ; forgetful that such a position is 
 capable of self-refutation ; and not seeing that it actually is 
 refuted by the fact, that in several cases in which it is thus 
 approved of as a supposed Auxiliary application, it is in reality 
 being employed with a proportion of power larger than that of 
 many Full-powered Steamers even in the Navy. But whether 
 the opinion in question has originated only in misrepresentation, 
 or in misapprehension, its adoption appears to be very extensive : 
 and as its practical effects if developed must prove very perplex- 
 ing if not disastrous, it has been thought quite important enough 
 to warrant the attempt to overthrow it, and quite consistent 
 with the nature of this work to show that it is totally unsup- 
 ported by any single recorded fact. But in dealing with it I 
 have been studious to confirm that sounder portion which awards 
 to the Auxiliary no more than her just merit, and only to 
 controvert that erroneous portion of it, which, as it directly 
 denies the value of the Screw when employed with Full Steam- 
 power, must, if ever acted upon, have gone to deprive us of 
 the yet higher order of Services which it has been my object 
 to prove that the Screw-ship is so well adapted to render. 
 The supposed Again, the power of usefully combining the action of Steam 
 Screw-'ship'^to''* '^"'^ ^^'1 '® °'"^^" ^° '^e heard adverted to as if it were a pecu- 
 employ Sail- Harity possessed by the Auxiliary alone, and as if it constituted 
 
 power as eflect- ... J ' 
 
 ively as the the distinction between herself and the Screw-ship ; which in 
 
 Auxiliary an- , . . . .^ , , 
 
 other serious such cases IS identifaed as it were with the Paddle-steamer, 
 
 error. 
 
SCREW-SHIPS AND AUXILIARIES. 73 
 
 and like her is considered as being dependent upon her ma- 
 chinery alone for the performance of all duties except perhaps 
 that of cruising. Now the essential and distinguishing error of 
 this view or opinion of the subject consists in its entire oversight 
 of the fact, that the great practical vabie of the Screw has always 
 been, and still continues to be based on its peculiar ability to 
 effect a perfect co-operation with the Sails in all circumstances 
 of employment and in any required degree ; whatever may he the 
 amount of Steam-power with which the Ship is furnished. And 
 as the practical eflFect also of this error, if acted on, must realize 
 great disappointment and must specially mar the Services of 
 our present Screw Fleet, provided as all its members are with a 
 very insufficient store of fuel to bear the stress of work which this 
 error contemplates for their machinery ; so to remove the mis- 
 apprehension which this opinion embodies has also been an object 
 throughout the comparison here instituted between the two classes 
 of Screw-vessels. And which 1 now close by adverting to 
 two circumstances, strongly substantiating and confirming the 
 position put forth in these pages ; namely, that the Normal 
 condition of both Screw-ships and Auxiliaries alike, was always 
 intended, and must still be considered to be, that of ' Perfect 
 Sailing-ships.' 
 
 Prior to the , days of the " Archimedes," the Screw as a refuted by all 
 propeller was unrecognized as a practical invention, every pre- p^ien°ce"^f*''" 
 vious endeavour to apply it to the general uses of Navigation Screw Propul- 
 having only failed in showing it to be practicable for such 
 purpose, and the period of the performances of that ship there- 
 fore, must be allowed to fix the date of its practical origin. 
 Now the directions given to the Constructor who designed this 
 First ship which successfully developed the real powers and 
 properties of the Screw were, that all intention to employ a 
 Steam-engine in her should be left out of consideration, and that 
 in Form and Proportions she should be designed as if for a 
 Sailing-ship only, — but one which was intended to realize the 
 
74 THE SCREW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 highest Sailing-speed. On this original view of the mode of 
 employing the agency of the Screw the " Archimedes " was 
 accordingly built, rigged^ and continuously worked, and the 
 only alteration suggested in her original Sail-equipment by 
 her practical performances at sea was, that as a 'complete 
 ' Sailing-ship ' her spread of canvass might be advantageously 
 increased. Now the "Archimedes" was not an Auxiliary, 
 except in so far as every ship may strictly be said to be so 
 which possesses an equipment of separate but complete powers 
 capable of unimpaired co-operation ; but in the accepted 
 meaning of the term as here used, the " Archimedes " being a 
 vessel of 240 tons and 80 Horse Power, or with a proportion of 
 one Horse Power to every 3 tons, — was a Full-powered Screw- 
 ship. Nor was the original view of the true normal condition 
 of the Screw-ship which was thus taken by the practical 
 Inventor of the Instrument itself, and which was so successfully 
 realized by him in the performances of the " Archimedes " in 
 1839 and 1840, limited to himself alone; for the "Archi- 
 medes " was the property, not, of an individual, but of a Com - 
 pany, and this original view was held alike by all the other 
 parties who thus share in the merit of assisting to develop the 
 Invention, and the estimate of its value as entertained by all 
 the leading members of the Company always was and still is 
 based upon the very grounds I have set forth. 
 
 Thus there is now before me the copy of a memorial pre- 
 sented in January, 1846, to Sir Robert Peel, then the Prime 
 Minister, on the part of this Company, and the prayer of the 
 application is for the grant of certain public moneys to be 
 given to the applicants, to be shared in certain agreed pro- 
 portions by them and by four other gentlemen who together 
 with the Inventor were more or less interested in Screw-pro- 
 pulsion, in compensation for the common surrender to Go- 
 vernment of their respective patent rights to sundry forms 
 of the Screw-propeller, this proposed surrender being made 
 
SCREW-SmPS AND AUXILIARIES. 75 
 
 with the view to its being thenceforth thrown open to the gene- 
 ral Services of the country without restriction. This apphcation 
 was made after long and expensive litigations had failed to 
 establish an exclusive right in any of the patentees interested in 
 its presentation, and the amount of remuneration sought for 
 was based upon an estimate made from the Official returns of 
 the Steam Navy, which showed that the annual expenses of 
 working 10,000 Horse Power machinery with the Paddle, 
 amounted to 250,000?. This was accompanied by another 
 estimate which showed that the working of 10,000 Horse Power 
 machinery with the Screw, would effect a saving on those 
 annual expenses to the amount 125,000?., or to the extent of 
 one-half; the alleged grounds for such saving being, ' that as 
 ' the Screw Steamers would be Fully-rigged Sailing ships, every 
 ' General service would be effectually performed by them under 
 ' sail alone.' 
 
76 
 
 MAIL CONTRACT SERVICE. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 ON THE PECULIAR RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE 
 SCREW FOR MAIL CONTRACT SERVICE, 
 
 A reasonable 
 and an unrea- 
 sonable oppo- 
 sition to pro- 
 posed " Im- 
 provement," 
 
 Towards the close of the last Chapter I permitted myself to 
 specify the several charges of inability from which the Screw has 
 had to defend itself from time to time since its introduction 
 into the Navy ; and I took occasion to express regret that this 
 mode of meeting a proposed Improvement should have had the 
 natural effect of creating mistrust with respect to it, and pre- 
 venting its distinctive merits from being seen and studied more 
 generally than they have been. There is no doubt that to this 
 mode of expressing continued disfavour, we are justified in im- 
 puting that delay in reaping the advantages which the con- 
 struction of a Screw- Fleet in 1845 had been expected and 
 intended to secure. But it must not be supposed that in point- 
 ing out such circumstances of regret I have intended to convey, 
 that a want of observing the essential and practical distinctions 
 between the Screw and the Paddle-wheel has been in any de- 
 gree limited to the Navy. On the contrary, I am fully aware 
 that unfavourable influences and discouragements have been 
 employed against Screw propulsion, just as importunately from 
 without our ranks, as they have ever been from within them. 
 And with at least an equal effect in producing generally a mis- 
 trust, and in preventing generally a realization of the objects of 
 advantage, which nevertheless, the Screw is able, and is still 
 destined to confer. And this I feel that I can afford to say 
 without in the slightest degree assuming thereby to cast blame 
 any where ; because all this may be seen to have a common 
 
MAIL CONTRACT SERVICE. 77 
 
 origin, in a common difficulty, to control within due bounds 
 certain common feelings in us all. Wherever a proposal may 
 be made for effecting changes in established interests, or in pro- 
 fessional convictions and practices — never mind with however 
 clear a proof of improvement to some — there jealousy and 
 opposition, to a greater or less degree, will always be sure to be 
 alarmed in others ; and the more extensive the changes, and the 
 larger the interests involved, the more certainly mere alarm will, 
 in due time, become a struggle. Nor, when controlled within due 
 limits, can we even wish that it should be otherwise, for jealousy 
 and opposition in such cases have a very legitimate and very 
 important sphere of exercise. They are our safeguard against 
 imposture or empiricism. And they constitute the chief security 
 that whatever changes are indeed effected, especially in so 
 close-packed a social fabric as ours, shall be effected by the 
 operation of improved Principles alone. 
 
 But whenever improved Principles may have fairly established 
 their claim to consideration, by the test of sufficient and prac- 
 tical proof of their value ; then, a legitimate opposition will at 
 once give place to a wise encouragement : for any persistence in 
 opposition, after such proof shall have been fairly given, may 
 always be expected to entail, sooner or later, a self-inflicted 
 punishment. To what extent the embarrassments, and delayed 
 advantages, which have attended the progress of Screw propul- 
 sion in the Navy, may constitute our share of this self-infliction, 
 I will not presume to define ; because I prefer to rejoice in the 
 general feeling that the time has come when duty and interest alike 
 require us to study the encouragement and full development of 
 those distinctive advantages, which the adoption of the Screw 
 holds out. Beyond our ranks, however, a further warning 
 seems yet to be needed before the change from opposition to 
 encouragement shall be permitted to set in. For whenever we signs of unrea- 
 see instances of failure in a new Principle laboriously sought gi'^on.^"''^'^ 
 out, and enlarged on, and instances of success as anxiously dis- 
 
78 MAIL CONTRACT SERVICE. 
 
 paraged and kept out of sight — Whenever we see the necessary 
 conditions for the success of a Principle violated^ and the neces- 
 sary failure resulting from that violation, quoted as a charge 
 against the Principle itself — Then be sure that we see, not 
 the operations of reasonable opposition, so much as the results 
 of unreasonable hostility ; and it will be equally strange and 
 fortunate if such a case do not, sooner or later, insure the 
 reward of trouble. Let us see for a probable instance of these 
 effects, which it may be not uninteresting to watch. 
 Charges made In a periodical Report to the Shareholders of the Penin- 
 sular and Ori- sular and Oriental, published by the Directors of that Company 
 agairis^Screw'' ^^0"* ^ twelvemonth since, there was seen a statement that they 
 Propulsion. had been invited by the Board of Admiralty to tender for a line 
 of Mail communication between Singapore and the Australian 
 Colonies, to be carried out by vessels of Auxiliary Steam-power 
 with the Screw ; but that they had declined the invitation to 
 tender upon these terms, ' being convinced that such means of 
 ' executing the Service must be deficient in point of punctuality 
 ' of arrival, and consequently of little or no value to the important 
 ' Colonies of Australia.' 
 
 This was, no doubt, a very severe charge to be brought by 
 such an Authority against that which proposed to be a ' Principle 
 ' of improvement ' in steam navigation ; and, if true, it must effec- 
 tually exclude the said Principle, from all fitness for employ- 
 ment in one of the most important services for which steam 
 navigation is available. But from whatever practical source 
 the Directors of the Peninsular and Oriental may have derived 
 their ' convictions ;' it is quite clear that those 'convictions' could 
 not have been shared in by the Admiralty when making such 
 an invitation. And it is equally clear that they did not share 
 in them, after their invitation had thus been made and declined ; 
 because in their turn, the Admiralty declined an offer frbm the 
 Peninsular and Oriental to carry out the proposed Service with 
 Paddle- vessels ; and then they turned in another direction to 
 
MAIL CONTRACT SERVICE. 79 
 
 seek for the means of introducing the economy of the Screw- 
 vessel, into the Mail Contract Service; and this time with 
 better success. 
 
 The Brazil line of Mail communication is the only one of Screw Propul- 
 
 .1 ..,.,. ,. 1 ■ , r~i • • 1 sion adopted 
 
 the origmal saiung lines, to which Steam navigation has not for the Brazil 
 been as yet extended ; and this line it was determined by their ty^the Royar 
 Lordships to surrender into private hands, and make it the Mail Company. 
 means of introducing the Screw Auxiliary into this branch of 
 the Public Service. Accordingly, after the negotiations with 
 the Peninsular and Oriental had failed, in the month of Novem- 
 ber, 1848, tenders were invited for a Brazil Mail Contract to 
 be carried out with Screw Auxiliaries. And in February, 1849, 
 the contract to perform this Service, with these means, was 
 awarded to anothei^ great Company, — the Royal Mail Com- 
 pany ; which thereupon undertook, and which is now engaged, to 
 work out a Mail Service to the Brazils upon a public grant of 
 2s. 9d. per mile, as a remunerative allowance when employing 
 Auxiliary Screw vessels ; whereas it requires 12s. 6d. per mile 
 as a remunerative allowance, to enable this same Company to 
 work out a Mail Service to the West Indies, when employing 
 full-powered Paddle-vessels. It being presumed that an equal 
 ' mean rate ' upon both these lines of Service, and equal ' punc- 
 ' tuality of arrival ' is sufficiently guaranteed for, by the terms 
 of both Contracts, as a matter of course. 
 
 Now, all this seems significant enough to merit these few 
 passing words of explanation. 
 
 In making the original invitation to the Peninsular and The Peninsular 
 Oriental Company, towards the close of 1848, the Admiralty prefer the" 
 had based their ' convictions ' of the value and economy of intro- 1"'"™ "V-''* 
 ducing the Auxiliary Screw vessel into Mail employ, upon the pool against the 
 
 (.1A-T IP 'uccessofthe 
 
 steady and uninterrupted success of the Auxiliary vessels of Screw in Lon- 
 Mr. Laming ; the performances of which I have quoted in the ™ ' 
 last Chapter ; and the progress of which their Lordships had 
 closely watched for a period of more than two years. But side 
 
80 
 
 MAIL CONTRACT SERVICE. 
 
 which may be 
 explained by 
 the difference 
 of mileage re- 
 quired under 
 Screw Propul- 
 sion as com- 
 pared with 
 Paddle Pro- 
 pulsion. 
 
 by side with the well-ordered experience upon which the Ad- 
 miralty thus based their ' convictions ;' there occurred elsewhere 
 an experience the very reverse, on the results of which the 
 Directors of the Peninsular and Oriental preferred to base 
 theirs. Fanciful Screws and fanciful engines^ in disregard of 
 experience acquired elsewhere ; — a misapprehension of the merits 
 of the Principle itself ^ — and misarrangement, and mismanage- 
 ment, in working those merits out — All these, combined with au 
 over amount of local self-confidence, had contributed to make 
 the Port of Liverpool as remarkable for the failure of the Screw, 
 as the Port of London is remarkable for its success; and an 
 invitation which the Admiralty were induced to make upon the 
 successes of the Thames, was rejected by the Directors of the 
 Peninsular and Oriental in consequence of. the failures of the 
 Mersey. Whether wisely or otherwise, time will tell ; but the 
 rejection itself held good, solely, because there was no other Com- 
 pany of sufficient experience and energy to compete in the direc- 
 tion prescribed, for the offered Service which they thus declined. 
 Such, however, was not the case with respect to the Brazil 
 line of Mail Service ; in this instance the Screw Steam Ship- 
 ping Company which owned the Auxiliary vessels, whose per- 
 formances I have quoted, were close and anxious competitors 
 with the Royal Mail Company for the Contract. They offered 
 the experience of two years and a half of undeviating success as 
 a guarantee for the perfect efficiency of the Screw Auxiliary to 
 execute the Service. They undertook, on the strength of that 
 experience, to ensure the same ' mean rate ' at 3*. Ad. per mile, 
 which the Royal Mail Company on their main line could only 
 undertake to perform for 12*. 6d. per mile. And these offers 
 were only not accepted, and have only not been worked out, 
 because the Royal Mail Company itself undertook to perform 
 the same Service at 2*. 9d. per mile. And the Contract thus 
 awarded them on these terms, is held by them at this time ; 
 although I am not aware, as I write, of the extent of pre- 
 
MAIL CONTRACT SERVICE. 81 
 
 paration made by them for fulfilling an engagement which they 
 cannot but be deeply interested in doing, since it must enable 
 them to acquire experience in the management of that, which, 
 if it be indeed a ' Principle of Improvement ' in Steam Navi- 
 gation, must of course contribute materially to the permanence 
 of their Company. But, as I have said before, all these cir- 
 cumstances do appear to be significant ; — they indicate a de- 
 termination on the part of their Lordships to introduce the 
 Principle of Screw propulsion as the future means to work out 
 all competent lines of Mail Communication; and in such 
 determination it is easy to see that their Lordships have every 
 inducement to proceed. There is the inducement of a mileage 
 at least two-thirds less than that now required; there is the 
 inducement of an increasing confidence and experience in th« 
 perfect efficiency of the Screw to effect such Service. And 
 there is the inducement supplied by the following considerations, 
 of a wider and more permanent nature still. 
 
 It is an axiom in Steam-Navigation that the Principle of Paddle-propul- 
 
 . sion incapable 
 
 Paddle-propulsion is a Principle incapable of self-support, of self-support. 
 Paddle-steamers in short voyages or coasting trips, in which qujnt expense, 
 large stores of fuel are not required, are found able to reserve 
 a sufficient space for cargo, the freight of which may realize 
 a profitable return for expenses. But ocean voyages with 
 Paddle-vessels are necessarily deprived of this first reqiiisite 
 of profitable remuneration ; and that under conditions which I 
 have before alluded to, as constituting an inherent defect as 
 regards economy in the Principle itself. In the first Part 
 of this book I stated, in somewhat axiomatic form, that as a 
 general rule, the Paddle vessel " will sail the fastest without her 
 Paddles, and paddle the fastest without her Sails ;" (except when 
 employed as a mere steadiment ;) and in support of this state- 
 ment I adverted to the several Special Reports of the " Terrible," 
 in order to prove, by graduated results, that the employment of 
 even the fullest sail-power, in assistance of the fullest steam- 
 
82 MAIL CONTRACT SERVICE. 
 
 power, however it might improve economy, would only decrease 
 speed. And now I may further confirm this proof by the uni- 
 versal practice, and acknowledged necessity, that, in order to 
 ensure a steady " mean rate " of speed from the Paddle-steamer 
 on the ocean, it is requisite to provide a sufficient amount of 
 steam-power to enable her to perform every part of her voyage, 
 whether head to wind against adverse gales; or whether run- 
 ning before fair ones ; under steam alone. Thus, the unavoidable 
 results of an inherent condition, impose the requirement of very 
 large engines, to be kept constantly at work. And this require- 
 ment can alone be met by providing very large ships ; capable of 
 carrying the very large cargoes of coal, required for the constant 
 consumption, of gigantic machinery. Then, the very large cost, 
 and very large current expenses, involved by these requirements, 
 can alone be borne by very large Companies. And very large 
 Companies, even, can alone bear these large expenses, when 
 supported by very large payments out of the Public'purse. More- 
 over, an expediting of the preliminaries of commerce; and not 
 an expediting of the great bulk of general objects of which com- 
 merce itself consists, is, under these circumstances, all which the 
 Paddle-steamer can effect upon the Ocean; and that under the 
 same inexorable conditions as before; viz., because the requisite 
 cargo of coals is too large, to admit of anything but a minimum 
 cargo of goods. Orders are rapidly exchanged ; and the state 
 of markets made known ; but the practical reply to those 
 orders, made by supplying the markets themselves with the 
 general goods required, remains, in all but a limited extent, 
 in the same state as before the Paddle system. Sailing-ships 
 must !5till carry general cargoes ; — Steam will not pay. 
 Screw-propul- But under the same axiomatic form I also stated in my 
 self-support, first Part the very reverse condition inherent in the prin- 
 ciple of Screw-propulsion ; viz., that the Screw-vessel 'sails the 
 ' fastest with the aid of the Screw, and screws the fastest with 
 ' the aid of her Sails ;' and it is this inherent distinction between 
 
 and its cODse- 
 quent economy 
 
MAIL CONTRACT SERVICE. 83 
 
 the two principles, which gives rise to the fact that what 
 the Paddle cannot do, the Screw can. — It is this reverse con- 
 dition, which enables the Screw-vessel to convey every bale of 
 goods from our wharves to its destination at Steam-speed ; and 
 at a profitable freight. She is able to do so because, in her case, 
 it is not requisite to provide ' a sufficient amount of Steam- 
 ' power to enable her to perform every part of her voyage, 
 ' whether head to wind against adverse gales ; or whether running 
 ' before fair ones ; under Steam alone.' Sails can, and do co- 
 operate, and combine at all times ; so that she is not required 
 to go ' head to wind ' at all ; and the power of canvass does not, 
 as in the Paddle-vessel, go to decrease speed, but it goes to 
 increase it ; :.nd a limited amount of Steam-power, thus combined 
 with the Sails ; unite to produce the same 'mean rate' with the 
 Screw, which with the Paddle, must be produced by Steam 
 alone. And thus large engines are not requisite ; and thus 
 there are minimum cargoes of coal ; and maximum cargoes 
 of goods ; instead of maximum cargoes of coal ; and minimum 
 cargoes of goods. And every cost and expense is very much 
 diminished ; and every profit is very much increased ; and money 
 can be fairly earned under the one system, under circum- 
 stances, which would only involve loss under the other. Thus 
 the whole case of disabilities and dependence, is changed into a 
 case of facilities and self-support. And letters can be carried 
 just as quickly as before; and goods can be cariied a great deal 
 quicker and cheaper than ever. And instead of the Public purse 
 being dipped into for large grants as at present ; it has to be 
 dipped into for small grants only — For three and four-pences ; 
 and two and nine-pences ; where now twelve and six-pences are 
 required. And thus it cannot but be that any Admiralty, and 
 any Government, to whom these things are now known; should 
 be actuated by the strongest inducements, to introduce wherever 
 they can, a self-supporting and more effective system ; rather 
 than a dependent and less efficient one. And, therefore, it can- 
 
 g2 
 
84 MAIL CONTRACT SERVICE. 
 
 not but be that the present Admiralty, and the present Govern- 
 ment, are more directly interested in perfecting the Screw, than 
 Government is they possibly Can be in maintaining the Paddle. And not to 
 interSted'in'* ^^^ ^^^^^ things which are passing under our eyes ; and not to heed 
 perfecting the them ; and to play at cross purposes with the Admiralty by going 
 
 Screw than it '■ "^ , i , « .1 1 i ■ t j 
 
 can be in main- all the way to Liverpool to look for failures, when their Lord- 
 Paddle. ^ ships are referring to London success ; does appear to argue 
 at least as much want of consideration and foresight in the 
 management of affairs beyond the sphere of the Navy as has 
 ever been charged as taking place within it. It also may yet 
 be found to realize results, which will afford very grave occu- 
 pation over their own circumstances ; to those who are always 
 so eager to cast blame upon ours. 
 The charges of And now let me show that there was in reality no more 
 tuaWT'' ad-"*^' foundation for the gratuitous charge against the Screw Aux- 
 vanced against Jijary for 'want of punctuality of arrival:' than there was of 
 
 the Screw, f 5 . . 
 
 shown to be consistency in quoting the ill-ordered experience of Liverpool 
 tuitous. ^s ^'^y '■pply against the results of the well-ordered experience 
 
 of London. 
 
 It will be allowed on all hands that the highest degree of 
 ' punctuality' which has ever been ensured by mail communica- 
 tion across the Ocean, is that which has been exhibited by the 
 admirable line of Steamers of Mr. Cunard : and the evidence 
 furnished by the performances of two of these Ships, quoted in 
 the last Chapter, and which, up to a recent period, were the 
 two fastest Ocean Steamers known ; will give the best idea of 
 how far punctuality can indeed be boasted of as an attainable 
 object ; at least up to the period when the charge against the 
 Screw was made by the Directors of the Peninsular and 
 Oriental. For instance : — 
 
 In eleven voyages out from Liverpool to Halifax, the time of 
 the "Hibernia" varied from lid. 7h. 30m., to 18d. 13h. 40m.; 
 showing an extreme variation of 7d. 6h. 10m,, with all inter- 
 mediate variations between. 
 
MAIL CONTRACT SERVICE. 85 
 
 111 eleven voyages home from Halifax to Liverpool, the time 
 of the "Hibernia" varied from 9d. Ih. 10m., to lid. 15h. 10m.; 
 showing an extreme variation of 2d. 14h., wilh all intermediate 
 variations between. 
 
 In eleven voyages out from Liverpool to Halifax, the time of 
 the " Cambria" varied from lOd. 22h. 15m., to 16d.4h. 10m.; 
 showing an extreme variation of 5d. 6h. 55m., with all iiil er- 
 mediate variations between. 
 
 In eleven voyages home from Halifax to Liverpool, the time 
 of the " Cambria " varied from 8d. 23h. 55m., to 13d. 2h. 35m., 
 showing an extreme variation of 4d. 2h. 40m., with all inter- 
 mediate variations between. 
 
 And in the forty-four voyages thus performed by two of the 
 fastest ships, of the fastest line of Paddle-steamers, we find an 
 extreme variation of 9d. 14h. 59m., in the time of performing 
 a distance of 2550 miles : this variation amounting to an 
 extreme difference of 106 per cent, in time; with forty-two 
 intermediate differences between. 
 
 I refer to these circumstances, only, for the purpose of show- 
 ing, that what with variations between one ship and another ; 
 what with variations between one season and another ; what with 
 variations between voyages out and voyages home; between 
 voyages performed in the same ship in the same season ; and 
 voyages performed in the same ship in different seasons ; per- 
 formed in different ships in different seasons ; and in different 
 ships in the same season, &c., &c., &c. ; real ' punctuality of 
 arrival' appears to be an unattainable object at present, by 
 means of any such powers as are placed at our disposal. And 
 whatever other cause the Directors of the Peninsular and Orien- 
 tal may have had for declining to tender for the employment 
 of the Screw ; their charge against it of ' want of punctuality 
 of arrival ' is as little founded upon any sound experience 
 which could have come within their knowledge, as was the 
 inference, that this desirable quality can be attained with the 
 
86 
 
 MAIL CONTEACT SERVICE. 
 
 Punctuality, 
 where soundly 
 provided for, 
 equally as at- 
 tainable with 
 the Screw as 
 withthePaddle. 
 
 The reasons for 
 this digression 
 from the more 
 general subject. 
 
 Paddle ; which their offer to employ it for the Service required, 
 was necessarily intended to convey. 
 
 The truth is, that the claim of the Screw to maintain a mail 
 communication with regularity, rests upon the very same basis 
 as the claim of the Paddle ; viz., upon its ability to realize, 
 throughout all the natural variations of the year, climate, and 
 other circumstances, a high average speed or ' mean rate;' 
 and proof of the power to afford this ' mean rate,' is the only 
 proof, which is, or can be exacted, as a guarantee for the per- 
 formance of Mail Service on the Ocean, from the one as well as 
 the other. This proof has been openly and amply afforded 
 to all who would see it, by a now four years' uninterrupted work 
 of the Auxiliary vessels I have quoted in the last Chapter ; and 
 this proofof competency appears to be the only one upon which 
 the terms of a Mail Contract can be based, until such time as 
 the several contingencies of winds, waves, weather, and acci- 
 dents, are placed more under human control than now they 
 are. 
 
 I have allowed myself to be led into this digressive Chapter 
 for these several reasons : 
 
 First; — So much of embarrassment and mistrust with respect 
 to the whole question of Screw-propulsion in the Navy, has 
 arisen from circumstances which have occurred within its own 
 sphere, that I have desired to prevent the aggravation of 
 these embarrassments by disproving groundless condemnation 
 and misrepresentations of the Principle, from without. 
 
 Next, — ^While pointing out for rectification, such oversights as 
 I conceive to have occurred to ourselves ; I have desired to 
 show to others that there are circumstances attendino- this 
 introduction of a great and extensive change, which may give 
 them full cause for caution against oversights — quite as extensive 
 as any with which we have had to deal. 
 
 Next, — I have wished to point out that between the two me- 
 chanical Principles of the Screw and Paddle-wheel, there do 
 
MAIL CONTRACT SERVICE. §7 
 
 exist inherent and essential distinctions, which produce equally 
 broad effects, whether they be employed respectively for Naval 
 or for Mercantile purposes ; and I have wished to point out 
 what the practical working of these distinctions is. Not for 
 the purpose of disparaging the Paddle, but for the purpose of 
 showing that the advantages of the Screw can only be realized, 
 when its distinctive merits are carefully and soundly studied 
 and provided for. 
 
 Next, — I have ventured to hope that I might draw attention to 
 the mode in which this subject appears so directly to affect that 
 Civil branch of Service which is under the administration of 
 the Admiralty; with the view to its being called upon to share 
 in those demands for reduction, which now fall with such exclu- 
 sive weight upon the more Military branch. Our present Mail 
 Service absorbs nearly 800,000/. of the annual revenue of the 
 country; and it may be found that both present and prospective 
 economy can be extensively effected, by gradually but firmly 
 introducing into it, whenever, and wherever, it can be prudently 
 and properly done ; — the rejected Principle of the Peninsular 
 and Oriental. A Principle which, the ' Directors' of the 
 whole community — the Government, — merit so much com- 
 mendation for having secured in the instance of the Brazil 
 Mail, for the benefit of this great " Company" over which they 
 preside. Because it is a Principle which is capable of reduc- 
 ing public expenditure at the same time that it improves 
 general commerce. — Because it takes less out of the public purse, 
 and puts more into private ones; while Paddle-Propulsion 
 draws very largely upon both. — For instead of carrying goods, 
 the Paddle is compelled to carry coals only ; and then, it calls 
 upon all of us to pay for the expense of burning them. 
 
 Let me then support the general purport of this Chapter by The foregoing 
 adding the few following facts. The Company to whom belong peculiar com- 
 the Auxiliary vessels, already so often quoted, had strong screw°to°be * 
 reasons to expect that the Contract for the Mail to the Brazils employed in 
 
88 MAIL CONTRACT SERVICE. 
 
 Mail Contracte might have been awarded to them ; and they had prospectively 
 
 further sup- " . . 
 
 ported. ordered three Ships to be built for the purpose of executing it. 
 
 These Ships are of 530 tons, with Engines of 80 Horse-power 
 each ; and on the completion of the two first, they were taken be- 
 fore the ' measured mile ' in Long Reach, and their speed very 
 rigidly tested, and ascertained to be • for the "Bosphorus" 9*68 
 knots per hour ; and for the " Hellespont " 9-65 knots per 
 hour. But in consequence of the Brazil Contract having been 
 awarded to the Royal Mail Company instead of to them, 
 these two Ships have been placed on a line of communication 
 between Liverpool, Constantinople, and London ; and I have 
 now before me the results of the first voyages of each of them 
 while thus employed ; from which it appears that they have 
 together run over a distance of 12,766 miles at a ' mean rate' of 
 7 '91 knots per hour, out and home. Now it will be recollected 
 that the Ocean speed of the Royal Mail Company's Steamers 
 to and from the West Indies, is 7*65 knots per hour, as a 
 ' mean rate ;' and it was this ' rate ' which the Screw-shipping 
 Company engaged, in their tender, to perform on the Brazil line 
 of Mail Service, if awarded to them. So that we have clear 
 evidence of the perfect competency both of the Principle, and 
 of the Ships themselves, to execute the Mail Service tendered 
 for ; because we find them realizing a ' mean rate ' one quarter 
 of a knot per hour, higher than that which they undertook to 
 ensure. We also find that this ' mean rate ' has been realized 
 at a period of the year, viz., from the middle of September to 
 the beginning of December, which is not favourable to a high 
 speed ; and that it has been realized upon a line of Service far 
 more unfavourable than that of Mail employ to the Brazils. And 
 in further proof of the equal competency in the Screw els well 
 as Paddle for the performance of Mail Service, it may thus 
 appear worthy of notice, that Auxiliary Screw-vessels of only 
 530 tons, and only 80 Horse-power, have thus shown them- 
 selves able to perform a higher Service than that which is 
 
MAIL CONTRACT SERVICE. §9 
 
 now performed on the West India line by Full-powered Paddle- 
 ships of 1300 tons, and 400 Horse-power. So much for the 
 competency of the Screw ; now for its Self-Support. 
 
 These vessels of 530 tons with 80 Horse-power, have taken 
 out and home cargoes of the average amount of 360 tons; 
 while the West India vessels of 1300 tons and 400 Horse- 
 power can only carry an average cargo of 70 tons. Moreover, 
 these Auxiliary Screw-vessels are now engaged in the same 
 trade as certain vessels belonging to the Peninsular and Orien- 
 tal, which vary in size from about 900 tons, with 280 Horse- 
 power, to about 1200 tons with 400 Horse-power, and which 
 do not, I believe, carry larger average cargoes ; nor make their 
 average voyages in less time, than the 16d. 20h. as yet occupied 
 by the Auxiliaries between Constantinople and back. But even 
 if I am in error to some small extent as to the actual amount 
 of average cargo carried ; and the actual period of the 
 average voyage made, by the vessels of the Peninsular and 
 Oriental ; I am not in error when I state that the practical 
 difference between Paddle-propulsion, and Screw-propulsion — 
 that is to say ; between large ships carrying large cargoes 
 of coal, and small cargoes of goods ; — and small ships carrying 
 small cargoes of coal, and large cargoes of goods ; amounts 
 to this ; — viz.. That the Auxiliaries are able to make a profitable 
 return upon freights which are 22 per cent, lower than those 
 demanded by the Full-powered Steamer ; both being employed 
 on the same line of trade — a fact which is perfectly well 
 known to the Directors of the Peninsular and Oriental ; and, 
 therefore, it is just possible that the charge of ' incompetency ' 
 urged by them against the principle of Screw-propulsion, may 
 not have originated so entirely from a disinterested regard for 
 the convenience of our Australian colonies. 
 
90 THE SCREW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 CHAPTEE IV. 
 
 ON THE FORMS OF THE SCREW-SHIPS OF THE NAVY. 
 
 PAET I. 
 
 THE CAUSE OF THE DEFECTIVE FORM OF OUR SCREW-SHIPS 
 TRACED OUT. 
 
 The subject which suppUes a title to this chapter is one which 
 is too important in itself to leave unnoticed. And so much both 
 of encouragement and warning may be derived from a dispas- 
 sionate examination of it, that it would not be consistent to over- 
 look it in a work like this, which purposes to treat of the whole 
 history of the Screw as connected with the Navy. Much how- 
 ever of the instruction afforded by it is of a nature sufficiently 
 grave to call for both carefulness and precision in setting it 
 forth; and therefore in reviewing the whole subject of the 
 'forms of our Screw-ships,' it will be my endeavour to combine 
 impartiality and truthfulness with as much of conciseness as the 
 many important features presented by it will permit. 
 A fine form of To begin then with the beginning. To Mr. Francis Pettit 
 giten'tf [he ^'"'^'^ ^'"^ ^® indebted for the " Archimedes j"— to the " Archi- 
 oiiginal sue- medes" for the "Rattler:" — and to the "Rattler" for our 
 
 ceesful Screw- 
 ships, present Screw Fleet. Again, Mr. Smith determined the form of 
 
 after-body to be given to the "Archimedes;" — the "Archi- 
 medes " determined the form of after-body to be given to the 
 " Rattler;" — but — there the link was broken ; and as this early 
 breach in a hitherto successful chain of experience was necessarily 
 made for a specific purpose, and was the occasion of extensive 
 results, it will, I believe, be found important and valuable to 
 
FOEMS OF SCREW-SHIPS. 91 
 
 trace both the cause and the consequence, and to examine the 
 nature and merits of them both. 
 
 The trials of the " Rattler" in the Thames in 1844, 1845, 
 were made under the inspection of the highest practical skill 
 and talent in the kingdom, and had fully established the equal 
 propelling powers of the Screw with the Paddle-wheel in smooth 
 water. But it was requisite to confirm this result by more ex- 
 tended and practical work upon the Ocean ; and therefore when 
 the trials were ended, the ship was made over to be prepared for 
 commission, and completed as one of the armed force of the Navy. 
 
 And here it seems first to have occurred with the "Rattler," The Screw-ship 
 to be regarded as no more than any other ordinary ' Steamer;' for receiving the 
 and although she presented throughout her length, the first ^ameufaT^ 
 instance of an unencumbered broadside, capable of being made *he Paddle- 
 to mount whatever guns her available displacement would 
 admit of; still, to every other ship designated as a • Steamer,' 
 it had been usual to supply from our Arsenal what was tech- 
 nically known as a ' Steam armament ;' that is to say, a battery 
 consisting chiefly of heavy guns to be mounted on the clear 
 space of deck at each extremity of the ship ; and the only 
 important distinction recognised between the "Rattler" and 
 every other ' Steamer ' hitherto an applicant for artillery equip- 
 ment, appears to have been, that for this mode of receiving 
 her artillery she presented herself very defectively prepared. 
 Her foremost extremity was indeed capable of being supplied 
 with the usual heavy pivot-gun ; but her aftermost extremity, 
 which had been constructed with reference to the nature of her 
 propeller, was found incapable of being similarly mounted ; 
 and this inability seems to have been regarded as a serious 
 defect in her armed capabilities; and to have occasioned a 
 requii-ement, that any future ships to be built upon the prin- 
 ciples of the "Rattler" might have their aftermost, as well as 
 their foremost extremities, prepared for receiving a ' Steamer's' 
 appointment of guns. 
 
fori 
 
 92 THE SCREW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 This prepare- The inconsiderate remark that the Naval Steamer is unable 
 
 tion inconsis- 
 tent with the to compete in speed with the private one, has always met its 
 
 suMesBM"fine ™°®'' appropriate reply by pointing to this heavy battery in the 
 very extremities, as a condition which controls most unfavourably 
 the design of the Naval Constructor. But if he had hitherto 
 been debarred from fine lines of ' run' and ' entrance/ in order 
 to provide support for the heavy guns with which the extremities 
 of Paddle-steamers have to be loaded; how much more must 
 he ' fill out ' the after-body of the Screw-ship, in order that it 
 might support the undiminished burthen of this heavy battery, 
 to be doubled perhaps by the weights of the Propeller ! In 
 such a case it was clear that the introduction of the Screw, in- 
 stead of relieving the Constructor of his difficulties, must 
 greatly aggravate them. Instead of facilitating the improve- 
 ment of his forms, by enabling him to improve their extremities, 
 it must force him to make them still worse. For a fulness of 
 after-body, greater than any which had hitherto been necessary 
 even in the Paddle-steamer, would be the only alternative left 
 for him to adopt in the Screw-ship, if the requisition to have 
 their sterns prepared to accommodate the gun-slide of the 
 Paddle-steamer should indeed be carried into effect. And 
 carried into effect it was. No intention to change a course of 
 long standing would seem to have been noticed; doubtless 
 because no change in the Instrument of Steam-power could 
 be seen as a sufficient reason for changing the appointment of 
 the guns. Whether a ship were propelled by one Screw or two 
 Paddles, was there not a Steam-engine to do the work in both ? 
 Were not both therefore evidently 'Steamers?' And never 
 since the Steamers of the Navy had first applied to be fiirnished 
 with artillery, had our Arsenals ever been expected to provide 
 for them any other than 'Steam armaments' alone. 
 
 That the battery which had been reduced to incompleteness 
 by the exigences of the Paddle-wheel, could be restored to full 
 power by the adoption of the Screw — That the exposure of the 
 
FORMS OP SCREW-SHIPS. 93 
 
 engines in the one case could be exchanged for complete pro- 
 tection in the other — That a detached and partial armament 
 only capable of being brought into limited and cautious use, 
 could be replaced by an unbroken and powerful broadside, 
 capable of meeting every circumstance of warfare — These most 
 important and essential distinctions between the two Principles, 
 which had constituted the special objects for the sake of which 
 the introduction of the Screw had been urged and sanctioned ; — 
 these distinctions could never have fallen under knowledge 
 or notice, where it was required that the Screw-ship should be 
 prepared for that exceptional and incomplete equipment of the 
 Paddle-steamer, which it was expressly intended she should 
 supersede. And because these important distinctions were not 
 appreciated, where nevertheless the requisite provision must be 
 made for working them out, therefore they came to be disre- 
 garded altogether; and because they were disregarded, there- 
 fore they came to be violated ; and because they were violated, 
 therefore in due time all which followed appears to have flowed 
 in as a matter of course. 
 
 In 1845, circumstances required a large increase to be made to The conse- 
 the strength of the Steam-Navy. At that time the " Rattler" had preparing the 
 shown that the Screw could realise at sea the promise held -j^^^' **' ° 
 out by its performance in the river, and after long deliberation 
 it was determined that the required increase should be made 
 chiefly in ships so propelled ; and thus that a foundation 
 should be laid for securing in our future Steam-Fleet the 
 superior man-of-war advantages which the Screw was seen to 
 hold out. These advantages, so far as regarded the restora- 
 tion of an effective broadside, were seen to require the construc- 
 tion of an entirely novel class of marine machinery capable of 
 being worked in a position of security under water. And the 
 success of a primary object was thus seen to depend on the 
 completion of a very difficult and doubtful task. Because the 
 construction of powerful engines of a character so entirely 
 
94 THE SCREW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 novel, was seen to require a total change in all the ordinary 
 labours of the designing - room, drawing - office, model-loft, 
 foundry, and workshop of whatsoever establishment might be 
 induced to undertake the job. Such changes it was also seen 
 must greatly enhance the risks of failure in any individual case, 
 and therefore it was further determined not to place reliance on 
 any individual attempt at all, but to ensure success by enlist- 
 ing the efforts of every Engineer of eminence in the kingdom 
 to secure it. 
 
 Accordingly twenty-three pair of Screw-engines, illustrating 
 the respective views of their several Projectors, were decided 
 on, contracted for, and commenced, after much anxious delibe- 
 ration ; and twenty-three ships in which to try the engines when 
 completed, were necessarily at the same time appropriated, 
 converted, or ordered to be built. And as it was with the 
 engines, so it was with the ships ; the enterprise and talents of 
 private parties, as well as public servants, were to be enlisted 
 to complete them. And as it was with the Engineer, so it 
 was with the Constructor ; each might put forth the effort of 
 his own individual ability and talent, but each must comply 
 with certain conditions in his work. But here it would seem 
 that co-operation could not have been directed with a necessary 
 regard to the fulfilment of one common object. For while it 
 was required that the engines should be designed so as to give ef- 
 fect to the complete broadside, which the Screw had been adopted 
 to restore ; the forms of the ships were controlled by the require- 
 ment to prepare them for that incomplete ' Paddle armament ' 
 which the Screw had been meant to supersede. And the seeds 
 of this want of unity of purpose grew up to produce their fruit. 
 These conse- As early as March, 1846, Mr. Lloyd, the then Chief En- 
 
 ?rated^bythe' gineer of Woolwich factory, became convinced that the after- 
 experimenis on bodies of the Screw-ships then biiilding were at variance with 
 
 the "Dwarf. r o 
 
 certain acknowledged principles of form, and that they must 
 prove very detrimental to the speed of the ships themselves, by 
 
FORMS OF SCREW-SHIPS. 95 
 
 whatever means or machinery it might be intended to propel 
 them. Permission was, therefore, solicited and obtained by him 
 for instituting a aeries of experiments, with the view to ascertain 
 the correctness or otherwise of his views. 
 
 The " Dwarf" was the vessel selected, and the experiments 
 made upon her confirmed in full extent the convictions of 
 Mr. Lloyd. The " Dwarf " after some delay was taken into 
 dock, and the form of her after-body was 'filled out,' so as to 
 represent proportionally the form of after-body of the ships 
 then building. Care was taken that the ' filling ' should be 
 brought to coincide, as near as possible, with the general lines 
 of the vessel, and that it should present no abruptness or ob- 
 struction, which might aggravate the effect of the form itself. 
 The 'filling' was made by means of three separate and in- 
 dependent layers, capable of being removed, the one from over 
 the other, without disturbing those beneath ; so that the effect 
 of the alteration in form, whatever it might prove to be, should 
 be confirmed by three several gradations of proof. 
 
 The first and second only of these graduated experiments 
 were made. In that which took place on the 3rd of October, 
 1846, the "Dwarf's" speed was estimated to be 3-25 knots 
 per hour, the engines making 24 revolutions per minute; 
 this was with the greatest amount of fulness of after-body. 
 In that which took place on the 23rd of the same month, the 
 " Dwarf's" speed was found by Massy's log to be 575 knots 
 per hour, the engines making 26*5 revolutions per minute; 
 this was with the next less amount of fulness of after-body. 
 And these two trials were considered to be conclusive. Because 
 before the alteration of her form, the " Dwarf's " speed at the 
 ' measured mile ' had been ascertained to be 9' 1 1 knots per 
 hour, the engines making 32 revolutions per minute; and 
 so soon as the ' fillings ' were taken off, and the vessel 
 had been restored to her original form, the "Dwarf" again 
 returned to her speed of 9 knots. 
 
gg THE SCREW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 The result of these experiments, therefore, went to establish 
 three points. First; that the full sterns of the new Screw-ships 
 would prove most detrimental to their speed. Next, that it 
 would greatly reduce the effective power of their engines. 
 And lastly; that it would almost destroy their power of 
 steerage when under steam ; for the " Dwarf " had been so 
 affected in this respect by the alteration of her form, that it 
 would have been quite unsafe to have taken her among the 
 shipping in the river; although when in her proper form she 
 possessed that superior steerage-power, which is peculiar to the 
 use of the Screw.* 
 These conse- The results obtained by the experiments on the " Dwarf" 
 
 fcm"rby°the were to be further corroborated, however, before being acted 
 « R'fl°mm" °"" Among the smaller Screw-ships building were two pairs, 
 and " Teaser." each of which pair were of different dimensions ; but each 
 consisted of a wooden and an iron ship precisely alike. The 
 wooden ones were under construction in the Dock-yards ; the 
 iron ones were being built in private establishments. And 
 Mr. Miller constructing the " Minx," and Mr. Ditchburn 
 constructing the " Sharpshooter;" both pleaded, and both at 
 length obtained permission, that their respective ships might be 
 exempted from that fulness of the after-body, which was still 
 permitted to remain in the " Teazer " and " Rifleman," their 
 two wooden sisters. And shortly after the experiments on the 
 
 * The view taken by Mr. Lloyd upon this occasion was, that the full and abrupt 
 after-bodies then building into the Screw-ships, in order to support the combined 
 weights of stem batteries and propellers, must destroy their speed, by creating a 
 large amount of what is technically known as the ' Negative resistance ' of a ship ; 
 and that such a form must at the same time vitiate the propulsive effort of the 
 Screw itself upon the water. The reduction of the power of the engines by so 
 great an amount as one-fourth, as in the first trial ; and the nearly total privation of 
 the steerage power upon both occasions ; — these appear to have been unexpected 
 results, in a degree unaccounted for to this day. 
 
 The " Dauntless," in her unaltered form, has exhibited this same peculiarity of 
 defective steerage ; spinning round the entire circle of the compass in ten minutes 
 when her helm was left alone. 
 
FORMS OF SCREW-SHIPS. 97 
 
 " Dwarf;" the corroborative trials between the full and the fine 
 form, as exemplified in these two pair of vessels, were carried 
 out with careful exactitude, and with the following results. 
 
 The speed of the "Sharpshooter" was ascertained to be 
 9-916 knots per hour, and that of the " Rifleman " 7-903 
 knots only ; showing a difference in speed of 2-013 knots, or 
 25 per cent, in favour of the finer form. These were two 
 vessels of 484 tons, yrith engines of 200 Horse-power each. 
 
 The speed of the " Minx " was ascertained to be 7-848 
 knots per hour, and that of the " Teazer" 6-315 knots only; 
 showing a difference in speed of 1-533 knots, or 24 per cent. 
 in favour of the finer form. These were two vessels of 301 
 tons, with engines of 100 Horse-power each. 
 
 Now since it has been at times remarked that such differ- A practical 
 
 r 1 .1 p 11 . 1 p view of the im- 
 
 ences ot speed as these 'seem after all to be of no great portance of the 
 moment;' therefore it may prove not unimportant to refer these menislnd'"" 
 eases to certain well known laws, by which the real value of '^'^'s- 
 such differences of steam-speed can be truly ascertained. By 
 these laws it is shown that it would have required additional 
 machinery to the extent of 195 Horse-power; or practically, 
 that the Engine-power should be doubled in the " Rifleman," 
 in order to raise her speed to that of the " Sharpshooter." 
 And that it would have required additional machinery to the 
 extent of 95 Horse-power, or practically, that the Engine- 
 power should be doubled in the " Teazer," in order to raise 
 her speed to that of the " Minx." And if these numbers be 
 respectively multiplied by 62, and the product be considered as 
 Pounds Sterling, we shall then find that 12,090/. and 5,890/. 
 would be the cost price of making these respective additions 
 in machinery. And if to these sums we add 19/., and 9/., 
 respectively, as the expense per day for additional fuel required 
 for working such additional machinery ; we shall then ascertain 
 the cost price and current expenses of equalizing such dif- 
 ferences of speed as took place between these ships. Thus 
 
 H 
 
98 THE SCREW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 a very comprehensible and practical idea may be given of 
 their real value, as distinguished from their apparent im- 
 portance. And I need scarcely point out, that the same 
 estimate which fixes the cost of such differences of Steam- 
 speed, fixes also the cost of that defective form of construction 
 by which such differences were produced. 
 
FORMS OF SCREW-SHIPS. 99 
 
 PART II. 
 
 THE ORIGIN AND THE NATURE OP A ' STEAM ARMAMENT.' 
 
 We have thus traced out the immediate cause for which the The merits of 
 
 successful forms of the "Archimedes" and "Rattler" were " Paddle arma- 
 
 departed from ; and we have seen by the trials of the " Rifle- "^n^j ^''*" 
 
 man," the " Teazer," and the " Dwarf," that in order to prepare 
 
 the Screw-ship for the mode of arming the Paddle-steamer, it 
 
 had been found requisite to impose upon her a malformation of 
 
 the after-body, which destroyed the working power of the 
 
 Mechanical Instrument itself which the ships were intended to 
 
 employ. The immediate suspension, and eventual alteration of 
 
 the Screw- Fleet then built or building, were the obvious and 
 
 necessary consequences. But before tracing these consequences 
 
 iiito further detail, it may be well to examine into the nature 
 
 and merits of that mode of arming a ship-of-war for the sake of 
 
 which such grave consequences were thus incurred. 
 
 First then, as regards the effect of a 'Paddle armament' lu effects upon 
 upon the general character and fabric of the ship herself. It has ^Jf '^ "" 
 been found by all who have ever attempted the construction of 
 a Naval Steamer, that the necessity of providing for a battery 
 of guns of the heaviest calibre in the very extremities, imposes 
 conditions of form so unfavourable to speed ; that a resort to 
 very high and expensive proportions of machinery is the only 
 means by which it is secured at all. It is also to be believed, 
 that" this fulness, and consequent buoyancy of the extremities, 
 materially aggravates that violence of motion in bad weather, 
 which is necessarily induced by such an unfavourable position 
 of the chief weights of armament themselves. So that what 
 with the weight of the Paddles suspended over each side, and 
 
 h2 
 
100 THE SCREW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 what with the weight of heavy guns attached to each extremity ; 
 it is difficult to conceive any description of ship subjected to 
 conditions less conducive to that easy and regular motion, which 
 is just as necessaiy for the effective use of naval artillery, as it is 
 essential to the durability of the ship herself 
 Its effects upon Next, with respect to establishing the ordnance equipment of 
 store"^^ '^ "^ °"'" Steam Force upon some simple and uniform system ; 
 perhaps there may be special advantages presented by ' Paddle 
 armament' here. On the contrary, the only uniform system 
 which it appears capable of establishing, is one of constant 
 change in almost every important item in the armed equipment 
 of a ship-of-war. Guns of all variety, in length, weight, charge, 
 character, and calibre, have been designed and cast expressly 
 for perfecting this system of arming ' Steamers ;' and more 
 numerous still have been the plans for mounting, working, 
 pivoting, pointing, compressing, controlling, transporting, and 
 securing them. ' Paddle armament ' has given birth in the 
 Navy to a variety in length of gunslide alone, which is almost 
 as numerous as that of our ' Steamers ' themselves ; for every 
 variation in the breadth of the one has to be met by a corre- 
 sponding variation in the length of the other. For instance; — it 
 is ruled as requisite for safety that the muzzle of each gun 
 should project beyond the ship's side, and it is the duty of the 
 gunslide to enable the gun to comply with this requirement ; 
 therefore a radius is struck from the centre of the ship at some 
 point near her extreme end forward; and another radius is 
 struck from the centre of the ship at some point near her 
 extreme end aft ; and the different lengths of these two radii, 
 determine the diflferent 'lengths of gunslide,' and diflferent 'dis- 
 tances of pivot,' for the particular guns, in the particular bows 
 and sterns, of almost every particular ' Steamer ' in the Navy. 
 For not only do these two radii necessarily differ according to 
 the different breadths of different ships, but they as necessarily 
 differ according to the different breadths of the different ex- 
 
FORMS OF SCREW-SHIPS. IQI 
 
 tremes of the same ship. So that, in this one item alone, 
 ' Paddle armament ' requires, in case of war, that almost every 
 separate battery mounted in the bows and sterns of the several 
 ' steamers,' employed on each foreign station, should be furnished 
 with a distinct provision of spare gunslide. 
 
 There is no need to enlarge upon the want of support and 
 co-operation between the two armed extremities of the deck, 
 which characterizes a ' Paddle armament ;' because it is clear 
 that between the one chief battery at the extreme end of the 
 ship forward, and the other chief battery at the extreme end of 
 the ship aft, with the bulk of the Paddle-boxes between; there 
 exists the smallest amount of mutual support which a ship's 
 deck can be found to afford. 
 
 But with respect to facilities of manoeuvring, &c., in action, Its effects upon 
 perhaps there are advantages in a ' Paddle armament ' here, engagement. 
 It would, I believe, be a bold opinion to maintain that there 
 were ; for to furnish the extremities of any ship with the most 
 effective portion of her armament seems necessarily to involve, 
 that when fighting at all, the extremities must be exposed to 
 bear the brunt of it. It is said, indeed, that a ship in action, 
 ' end on,' presents a smaller mark for an enemy to fire at ; but 
 this doctrine, as applied to ships capable of being armed with 
 an unbroken broadside, must have been at least as true in the 
 days when our fathers fought, as it ever can be in our own. 
 And it ought, I believe, to meet with as little encouragement 
 now, as it surely would have met with, had it ever been pro- 
 pounded then. For it seems a very bold and a very hazardous 
 position indeed to maintain, that we can now reap honour and 
 advantage by courting exposure to a raking fire ; when there 
 are so many living witnesses to prove that such an exposure 
 only entailed discredit and loss upon those who were subjected to 
 it, however reluctantly, in days gone by. 
 
 But, in short, there is no advantage whatever to be found in "Steam arma- 
 
 ... • 11. 1 , /-. ment" always 
 
 that which is conventionally known as a ' steam armament. On a system of ne- 
 cessity: 
 
102 THE SCKEW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 the contrary, there is not a feature in it which is free from very 
 serious disabilities and defects. It was forced upon us from 
 necessity ; not adopted by choice ; and it seems much to be 
 regretted that it should not have been even authoritatively 
 abandoned so soon as that necessity ceased. It is a mode of 
 arming a ship purely exceptional, and should therefore be 
 limited to the exceptional case which produced it. It takes 
 date only from the introduction of the ' Paddle-steamer ;' — when 
 the Paddle wheel itself, with its projecting sponsons on each 
 side of it; and the Fore-rigging before, and the Main-rigging 
 abaft these ; — left no available space upon her deck for any 
 effective armament whatever, save in the extremities alone. 
 And because in this position the guns must necessarily be few 
 in number; therefore their calibre was enlarged to try and 
 make up for it. And because the mode of machinery which the 
 Paddle requires is necessarily exposed to shot ; therefore the 
 range of the guns was increased, to try in some degree to keep 
 it out of mischief. But when the adoption of the Screw had 
 provided for the re-appropriation of the broadside to its original 
 use ; from that moment there existed no more reason for im- 
 posing on the Screw-ship the disabilities peculiar to the 
 Paddle-steamer, than there exists a reason for imposing them 
 now, upon every Frigate and Line-of-battle-ship in our Fleet. 
 If the filling of the extremities with a permanent battery of the 
 heaviest guns be indeed the discovery of an improved mode of 
 arming ships-of-war ; then it would seem necessary that the 
 bows and sterns of every member of our Fleet should be modified 
 for realizing this improvement alike. But, on the other hand, 
 if ' Steam armament ' be indeed no more than a system of 
 necessity ; adopted as a remedy for defects ; and being in itself 
 fraught with them ; then, it would seem to be yet more necessary 
 that its application should be strictly limited to that portion of 
 our Force which has entailed upon us the necessity of adopt- 
 ing It. 
 
FORMS OF SCREW-SHIPS. 103 
 
 And that the inherent defects and perplexities of this system and its great 
 have been fully acknowledged, and anxiously contended with, known ^d"^* 
 is proved by every passage of its history from the earliest date confided 
 of its existence. For the exertions to arm the Paddle-steamer 
 with a continuous, effective, and powerful battery, have been no 
 less constant, or strenuous, or costly, than those which have 
 been made to make her also a complete Sailing-ship. The 
 efforts of years have been strained towards this object ; each 
 plan and project before adverted to was expressly intended to 
 effect it. And as attempts at a connected armament amidst 
 the paddle obstructions of the upper-deck were gradually aban- 
 doned in despair; so Main-decks were resorted to with renewed 
 energy and hope, of seeing the lost broadside restored. Ship 
 after ship, from the " Gorgon " to the " Terrible," has been 
 built with this express design ; and scale after scale each has 
 followed the other in increased size ; until, in this latter vessel, 
 the desired object was at length obtciined. And when, before 
 and abaft the Paddles of the " Terrible," there appeared the 
 muzzles of two guns, pointing through the Main-deck ports of 
 a ship of 1847 tons, and 225 feet between the perpendiculars; 
 the sight was greeted as a triumph, in which the " Odin," and 
 " Sidon," of somewhat smaller dimensions, have since been 
 admitted to share. 
 
 And the difficulties and defects of the Paddle-system thus Erery defect 
 anxiously contended with; and to this day unremoved; found mament" ca-" 
 each its complete and appropriate remedy in the simple adop- ^f^}^ °^ ""^ 
 
 r -^ r JT .; 1 jr piete removal 
 
 tion of the Screw. The adoption of this Principle at once by adopting a 
 
 ~,i ii'i 11171- 1 full-armed 
 
 offered an unencumbered side capable of being mounted with broadside in 
 any force of guns which the displacement of the Ship might * "^""* ''' 
 allow. It offered the means of immediate relief to the over- 
 burthened extremities. Every important weight in hull, en- 
 gines, and armament, was at once capable of being exchanged 
 from an unfavourable, to a favourable disposition. Thus it 
 offered ease of motion and stability. The steadiment in action 
 
104 THE SCREW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 to be derived from the free employment of Sails. Improve- 
 ment of form ; and hence increase of speed. A promise of 
 greater durability in the Ship herself; because presenting less 
 objects of exposure to the effects of sea and weather. The Pro- 
 peller and its machinery working in common security under 
 water ; and facilitating every mode and manoeuvre of warfare. 
 Complete co-operation and support throughout the entire arma- 
 ment. Ability to employ any size or description of gun. The 
 supply of every ordnance-store capable of being furnished upon 
 a uniform plan ; even ' length of gunslides ' being determined 
 by the requisite recoil of the guns ; quite irrespective of any 
 varying dimension in the Ship. Thus might the lost broad- 
 side be restored in the Screw-ship ; and restored with increased 
 effect. Every advantage openedj by skill or opportunity in 
 time of action, might be seized on, and enhanced, by the pos- 
 session of a power independent of the Sails, yet capable of com- 
 bining with them ; — a power under more control than the wind, 
 and better protected than the masts. 
 The full-armed And in the earliest days of expected success, all these points 
 the Screw-ship '^^ advantage for Naval purposes were seen ; and were examined 
 always in- jnto ; and constituted the chief and acknowledged recommenda- 
 
 tended ; , ^ . . . . 
 
 tions of the Screw. If its extensive introduction had been decided 
 upon at an earlier date than it was, they might all have been 
 as fully secured then, as they are capable of being fully realized 
 now ; for all subsequent experience has but shown the complete 
 ability of our Screw-ships to realize them, — if only provided for. 
 It seems to have been well and prudent, however, to await at 
 first for a more extended and practical knowledge of the pro- 
 pelling powers of the instrument itself. But so soon as proof 
 of these had been sufficiently given ; and when in 1845 the 
 fitting opportunity was seen to have arrived ; then, the extent to 
 which the Screw was at once accepted for the Navy, bears wit- 
 ness to the intention of those who then introduced it to secure 
 the advantages offered by it both largely and permanently ; and 
 
FORMS OF SCBEW-SHIPS. 105 
 
 the decisive measure of ordering a new system of machinery to 
 be called forth purposely and solely to work these advantages 
 out; gives ampleproof of the determination which must then have 
 existed, to realize them completely. And how do we find, may 
 I askj that this determination was supported ; and how, may I 
 ask, was its success provided for ? Why, under the influence of 
 an injudicious exaction to continue that cumbrous arming of 
 the extremities, which it was expressly desired to do away 
 with ; the Ships themselves were built with a bulk of after- 
 body which was a departure alike from known experience and 
 known laws. A too facile sanction appears to have been 
 given to a form of construction, which was thus controlled for 
 the purpose— not of realizing improvement, so much as per- 
 petuating defect. — To a form which, instead of providing for an 
 increase of speed ; was found practically to destroy it altogether ; 
 and which, in the extensive alterations it has inevitably occa- 
 sioned, has involved us to this present day, in all the discou- 
 ragements of Doubt, Disappointment, and Expense. 
 
 This is of course a painful retrospect to read, as well as write, and the serious 
 
 ... , , ...»,, . , ,. results of not 
 
 and it IS made, — not because it is pamtul, — but notwithstanding preparing hei 
 that it is so ; and solely because it is hoped and intended that it "' ■ • 
 may yet prove useful. In specifying the acknowledged defects 
 attendant upon the only known mode of arming a Paddle- 
 steamer, side by side with the equally obvious advantages held 
 out to us by the Screw, it has been intended to show that there 
 do exist inherent and essential distinctions between the two 
 Principles, which affect the entire details of their armed capa- 
 bilities. And in thus identifying the immediate cause of the 
 errors which commenced in 1845, it has been intended to show 
 that they cast no shadow of reflexion upon the mature and 
 clear-sighted decision which enlisted the merits of the Screw 
 into the permanent Service of the Navy, but that they were 
 entailed because those essential distinctions were unattended to. 
 It has been intended to show that a want of consistent co-opera- 
 
106 THE SCREW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 tion marked and marred the early progress of our Screw-Fleet 
 because there was wanting, a common appreciation of the objects, 
 and intentions aimed at, on the part of all those upon whom it 
 must nevertheless devolve to provide for their being worked out. 
 The employment of the common motive power of Steam in any 
 way whatever, appears to have overclouded all perception as to 
 any distinction which it was at all material, or intended to observe, 
 between the old System and the new. The Screw-ship could 
 only be regarded and provided for, like any other ' Steamer,' and 
 for this similar provision, her stern must be similarly prepared. 
 Thus, an impracticable form was given to her, in order yet 
 further to impose upon her that inappropriate, and wholly ex- 
 ceptional mode of armament, which she was engaged into the 
 Service expressly to supersede. And this double violation of the 
 chief objects of its adoption, the Screw itself was left, as it were, 
 to reprove. Because; its intended Man-of-war advantages 
 were thus overlooked ; and because a preparation was made, 
 rather to suppress than to develop them ; therefore it refused 
 upon its part also, all co-operation of its propelling powers ; and 
 thus it undertook to vindicate its claim to be treated upon its 
 own merits alone. And the lesson thus read to us is now 
 pointed out, solely, that it may not have to be learnt over again. 
 The "Screw- Long subsequent to the events thus traced out, the difficulties 
 
 "Paddle- attendant upon working the heavy guns of our Steam-Fleet 
 
 steamer are ^vere again submitted to the investigation of a Committee, with 
 
 again con- ° o ' 
 
 founded toge- the view, if possible, to mitigate or relieve them. And again 
 
 ther with re- . . ■ i i . . ~ 
 
 speot to their the recognition, or intended recognition, of any practical dis- 
 ment*.° "™^' tinction whatever to be observed between the principles of the 
 Screw and Paddle, as regards the facilities respectively 
 afforded by them, for an equipment with complete armament ; 
 appears to have been as much overlooked as before. The 
 employment of a Steam-engine, again appears to produce 
 the same effect as before in outweighing all other percep- 
 tions ; and all descriptions of ship, provided with any descrip- 
 
FORMS OF SCREW-SHIPS. 107 
 
 tion of machinery, are promiscuously mingled together and 
 stamped under one general denomination of ' Steam-vessels ;' 
 there to receive one common mode of treatment ; and that 
 treatment the old mode of arming the extremities. So that 
 although the intractable difficulties of that System were thus 
 made the subject of special investigation ; yet the investiga- 
 tion itself results in an endeavour to extend that System 
 into Ships entirely free from all the disabilities which called 
 those difficulties forth. The clear broadside of the Screw- 
 ship seems again as much overlookedj as if it were still 
 surrendered to all the obstructions connected with a Paddle- 
 wheel; and the facility with which the extremities of the ship 
 can be made to accommodate a battery of heavy guns is alone 
 considered worthy of serious attention. The standard measure 
 of the powers and capabilities of the Screw-ship as a man-of- 
 war, are proposed to be determined according as her breadth 
 of deck at the bow, and at the stern, shall be found capable of 
 receiving some particular length of gun-slide in common with 
 some particular Paddle-steamer. All account of essential 
 differences in the disposition of every important weight of hull 
 and equipment, is as totally unobserved as if it had no existence 
 at all, or as if it could be attended with no practical effect 
 whatever if it did exist. But full-powered Screw-ships and 
 Paddle-steamers are all gathered together under one indis- 
 criminate and promiscuous term of ' Steam-vessel.' — AH are 
 denounced as alike incapable of being eflFectively armed for 
 any offensive warfare whatever ; and the assigned cauSe of this 
 incapacity is stated to be 'the established violence of their 
 motions in bad weather' — Which amounts, in effect, to an 
 indiscriminate charge of incapacity made against a whole 
 Fleet of an entirely new description of ship, when as yet no 
 single one of them with complete equipment, had ever been 
 at sea. 
 
 That the Screw was substituted into the Navy, not because Are we yet 
 
108 THE SCEEW-FLEET OE THE NAVY, 
 
 clear of the it is precisely like the Paddle upon the all-important point of 
 
 error of regu- , , i • n • • i -i. • 
 
 lating the form armament ; but because upon this all-important point it is pre- 
 rfour'scrTw-"' cisely its reverse; appears to have been as little appreciated 
 ships by the ypon this later occasion as it had been in the original instance. 
 
 length of theu: '^ .,,... u 
 
 gun-slides? And this want of observing essential distinctions would as 
 evidently lead again to precisely the same consequences as 
 before. For it is directly submitted, with a view to economy in 
 gun-slides, that the sterns and bows of all 'Steam-vessels' 
 should again be 'filled out' to some uniform breadth, in 
 order to accommodatSj as nearly as might be, some uniform 
 length of that item of their artillery furniture. So that as 
 late as the middle of 1847 we have a direct recommendation 
 to revert to the same deformity of construction which was 
 forced upon the Screw-ships in 1845, and which has cost us 
 the continual alteration of them from the discovery of our 
 error in 1846, up to this present time. And the professed 
 object of this proposed repetition of so costly a naval error is 
 urged upon precisely the same plea as before ; viz., the neces- 
 sity of affording relief to the difficulties entailed on artillery 
 services, connected with the appointment and preparation of 
 ' Steam armaments ' — A term which means in practice, not the 
 close and effective struggle of ship with ship ; but a distant 
 and effete random-fire from bow guns, or stern guns, against 
 complete broadsides — a mode of preparing to bring a British 
 ship of war into action which never could have received the 
 serious attention of any Naval Authority whatever; if the 
 necessities peculiar to the Paddle-steamer had not forced it as 
 an unwelcome episode into our traditions; to distinguish the 
 Broadside practice of Sailing days only, from the extension 
 of the same effective practice into Steaming days also ; — throuo-k 
 the invention of the Screw. 
 
FOEMS OF SCREW-SHIPS. 109 
 
 PAET III. 
 
 THE RESTORATION OP OUR SCREW-SHIPS TO AN EFFICIENT FORM 
 VINDICATED. 
 
 I TURN gratefully to vindicate the removal of that defective 
 form in our Screw-ships, the immediate cause of which has 
 been thus traced out ; and in deference to the temper of the 
 present day, the justification of these alterations shall be based 
 not so much upon the improved efficiency which they have 
 produced in the ships themselves, as upon the actual value 
 which we are able to assign to them in Pounds Sterling. 
 
 The "Rifleman" was the first Screw-ship to have the de- The results of 
 formity of her after-body removed ; and so soon as the process « Rifleman" to 
 was completed, she was taken before the measured mile in ^" effective 
 Stokes Bay on the 13th of December, 1847, and her speed 
 found to have been improved by the operation to the extent of 
 1 ■ 587 knots. It had been 7 • 903 knots before ; it was now 
 increased to 9*5 knots per hour. The engines, however, 
 upon this occasion were not working so well as they had done 
 upon the trials previous to the alteration, and for this reason, 
 and because the " Rifleman " subsequently underwent a change 
 in her Steam equipment, which illustrates still further the 
 advantage of having altered her form; therefore no calcula- 
 tions are here based on the above result, only it is pointed out 
 as having been most satisfactory and conclusive. 
 
 The change alluded to was that of removing the engines of 
 200 Horse Power and substitutng engines of 100 Horse 
 Power in their place; and with these latter the "Rifleman" 
 was again tried before " the mile " on the 20th of May, 1848, 
 and her speed ascertained to be 8 -Oil knots per hour, that is 
 
110 THE SCREAV-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 to say, a shade better than it had been with engines of double 
 the power prior to her alteration. The deformity of the 
 " Rifleman's" after-body had therefore required the effort of 
 100 Horse Power in order to drag it through the water at a 
 speed of (say roundly) 8 knots ; for so soon as this deformity 
 had been excised ; and the engines of 200 Horse Power re- 
 moved too; then the engines of 100 Horse Power which took 
 their place, were found to drive the relieved "Rifleman" 
 rather faster than before. Thus an engine of 200 Horse 
 Power was placed at disposal ; an engine of 100 Horse Power 
 was found to do the same work ; and whatever may have been 
 the expense incurred by the change of form which produced 
 this effect, we are clearly entitled to set off against it, the 
 difference in value of the larger engine, which that change had 
 thus released. And at the actual contract price of 62?. per 
 Horse Power, we at once place the sum of 6200?. to the credit 
 side of the alteration. But this is the money value of the 
 improvement only, and there remains to be reckoned the 
 amount of savings effected by it besides. I will not estimate 
 these savings on all the minor items of engine-room expenditure ; 
 I will take the difference of consumption in fuel alone, between 
 engines of 100 and of 200 Horse Power. I will even allow 
 that the aggregate use of steam throughout each year shall 
 amount to no more than one month and a half of full steaming, 
 and thus that it should take 8 years in order to give one year's 
 full consumption. I will estimate this consumption at the 
 usual rough rate of 10 tons and 20 tons per day for the two 
 engines of 100 Horse Power and 200 Horse Power re- 
 spectively ; and at the very moderate price of 25«. per ton as 
 an average for all stations at home and abroad, we shall find, 
 that the alteration is entitled to be credited in the saving of 
 coals alone, with a further sum in 8 years of 4562/. 10*. So 
 that in this instance we have realized, (say roundly) 570?. per 
 annum, as an actual current saving, so long as the " Rifleman " 
 
FORMS OF SCREW-SHrPS. m 
 
 shall last, wherewith to repay the expenses of having made an 
 alteration in her form, which itself has saved 6200Z. worth of 
 machinery from total waste.* 
 
 But the " Teazer's " history will furnish an instance which The results of 
 
 p .,, f-i, ^1-1 restoring the 
 
 possesses even stronger features still. She too, after having her "Teazer" to 
 speed carefully tested, underwent the same process of excision ^°^ ""^ '"* 
 as the " Rifleman ;" and when completed, a similar change 
 was also made in her steam equipment. Her engines of 100 
 Horse-power were taken out, and engines of only 40 Horse- 
 power were substituted in their stead, and with these smaller 
 engines her speed was found to be not only equal, as in the 
 " Rifleman's " case, but it was found to be very superior to 
 what it had been before. On the 8th of June, 1847, engines 
 of 100 Horse-power drove the "Teazer," ' as built,' at a 
 speed of 6-315 knots. On the 6th of October, 1848, engines 
 of only 40 Horse-power drove the " Teazer," ' as altered,' at a 
 speed of-7*685 knots ; or with an improvement of 1 "37 knots 
 per hour. 
 
 In this instance then, the new engines were only of two- 
 fifths the power of the old ones, and had they produced no 
 more than an equal speed, it would have been clear that the 
 power of the remaining three-fifths, must have been wasted by 
 that deformity in the after-body of the ship, which alone had 
 been altered. But since the new engines produced not only 
 an equal, but a higher speed than the old ones, therefore it is 
 clear that more than three-fifths of the " Teazer's " original 
 Steam-power must have been thus wasted ; and it is found in 
 effect that only 22 Horse-power would now give the same speed 
 to the " Teazer," ' as altered,' which it before required 100 
 Horse-power to give to the " Teazer " ' as built.' So that 
 the obstructions, which the alteration removed, had been 
 
 * I have not taken note of the difference of expenditure, due to the increased 
 speed, produced by the alterations. Butin this, and the following cases, I have con- 
 sidered a rough estimate of ' saving of fuel ',a8 sufficient for the purposes intended. 
 
112 THE SCREW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 actually wasting seventy-eight hundredths, or nearly four-fifths 
 of the whole power of the " Teazer's " engines, when driving 
 the ship at the above low speed of 6-315 knots. Thus, by 
 the alteration of this ship, an engine of 40 Horse-power could 
 take the place of one of 100 Horse-power, and produce an 
 improvement in speed of 21 per cent.; and it is worthy of 
 remark, that the engine of 100 Horse-power thus released 
 from a ship of 301 tons, was placed in one of 484 tons, which 
 larger ship it drove 1 • 696 knots, or 27 per cent., faster than 
 it had driven the smaller one before. For this engine of 100 
 Horse-power, which on the 8th of June, 1847, drove the 
 " Teazer," ' as built,' at the speed of only 6-315 knots; is 
 the very same engine, boilers and all, which, on the 20th 
 of May, 1848, drove the " Rifleman," « as altered," at the 
 speed of 8 • Oil knots per hour. 
 
 In proceeding to assign its money value to the " Teazer's " 
 alteration, I will not take account of the " Teazer's " increased 
 speed with her smaller engines ; but I will content myself as 
 before with crediting her change of form with the difference in 
 value of the engines she actually has had, before and after 
 it was made. At the actual contract price of 62Z. per Horse- 
 power, a sum of 3720?. will constitute this first item of credit ; 
 and by the same computation as before, the saving in coals 
 will furnish a further item of credit in the eight years of 
 2737?. 10s. So that in this instance also we have, (say roundly) 
 340?. per annum, as an actual current saving, so long as the 
 " Teazer " shall last, wherewith to repay the expenses of having 
 made an alteration in her form, which itself saved 3720Z. worth 
 of machinery from total waste. 
 The results of But lest fastidious economists should still feel dissatisfied with 
 non-restoration such a disposition of public money, we v>ill next proceed to take 
 of ourScrew- another view of the question ; and instead of showing the saving 
 which has been effected by altering the forms of our Screw-ships ; 
 we will present them with an estimate of the waste which 
 
FORMS OF SCREW-SHIPS. 113 
 
 must have been incurred, if we had been guilty of working 
 them as they were. This time I will take a large ship instead 
 of a small one ; and in order to prove whether these changes 
 have been based upon real experience, or whether they were 
 dictated, as has been said, by mere caprice, I will select an 
 instance in which the operation as yet is only in progress. 
 In such an instance, therefore, I shall have to predict as it 
 were a speed for the ship when altered ; but as I shall work 
 with this assumed speed with the same confidence as if it were 
 a real one ; the fact and the assumption will in all probability 
 admit in due time of being compared together, by any who 
 may be curious enough to do so. 
 
 The "Encounter," the " Rifleman," and the "Sharpshooter," illustrated by 
 all possess one character of design in common with the " Daunt- •< Dauntless." 
 less," and have all come from the hands of the same Con- 
 structor ; but as the first of these presents the nearest 
 approach to a sister ship, I shall take the " Encounter's" first 
 performance of 10 "27 knots per hour on the 19th of March, 
 1848, and reduce it to 9- 75 knots, which I shall consider to be 
 the true speed of the " Dauntless " after she shall have been 
 altered. Premising this, however, that if indeed the " Daunt- 
 less " be found, after full trial, to have acquired by her change 
 of form a higher speed than this ; then, the real expense and 
 waste of working her as she was built, would proportionately 
 have exceeded the expense and waste of so working her, as it 
 is here estimated. 
 
 I find then that it will require engines of only 246 Horse- 
 power to produce in the " Dauntless," " as altered," that same 
 speed of 7 '336 knots per hour, which, on the 28th of August, 
 1848, it required engines of 580 Horse-power to produce in 
 the " Dauntless " "as built." Upon this occasion, therefore, 
 the deformity in that ship's after-body, which is now in process 
 of removal, wasted the effort of 334 Horse-power, or nearly 
 six-tenths of the whole power of her engines ; and if, by the 
 
 I 
 
114 THE SCREW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 non-alteration of the ship, that deformity were still to be re- 
 tained, then it is clear that it must be debited with the expense 
 of the 334 Horse-power which are required to drag it through 
 the water at the above rate ; and at the actual contract price of 
 52Z. per Horse-power, we should thus get a first sum of 
 17,368Z. entirely wasted by working the "Dauntless" in the 
 form in which she was " built." In the cases of the " Rifleman " 
 and " Teazer," the current saving in small stores effected by 
 improving their forms, was excluded from the estimate, which 
 was made in fuel only; and, therefore, in fuel only, I now 
 estimate the waste of not improving the " Dauntless." And 
 taking the same price and the same basis as before, it mil be 
 found that the waste of coals required for maintaining the waste 
 of the 334 Horse-power, would amount in the eight years to 
 15,056Z. 5s. So that in this instance of a supposed non- 
 alteration, we should have entirely thrown away, (say roundly) 
 the sum of 1880Z. per annum in actual current waste, so long 
 as the " Dauntless" should last, as the continued loss of 
 not altering a defect in her form, which itself entirely wasted 
 1 7,368/. worth of machinery. 
 Further results Therefore to advocate that the " Dauntless " should not be 
 of the supposed altered, has been to advocate in the first place, that we should 
 
 non-restoration 
 
 of the " Daunt- incur the fixed and current waste thus set forth. But the ex- 
 less " 
 
 pense would not have stopped there ; because to advocate that 
 
 the " Dauntless" should not be altered, was not only to advocate 
 
 that this fixed and current waste should be incurred ; but it was 
 
 also to advocate that we should retain in the hull of a very large 
 
 and most expensive ship ; of otherwise unexceptionable promise ; 
 
 a single, well-known point of faulty form, which she received in 
 
 common with a whole fleet of others, for one common object, and 
 
 which was just as easy of removal in her case, as it had been in 
 
 that of all the rest. But the efiect of this faulty point of form 
 
 had been ascertained to be such ; that the whole effort of very 
 
 powerful machinery was unable to accomplish for the ship a 
 
FORMS OF SCREW-SHIPS. 115 
 
 speed of more than seven and one-third knots, so long as it was 
 retained. That is to say, it had been ascertained that this 
 single point of faulty form had reduced this ship to a speed 
 which would practically have rendered her unfit either — to 
 ' overtake,' or — to ' run away;' — unfit to afford protection to 
 others, even if able successfully to defend herself. And there- 
 fore to advocate the retention in the " Dauntless'' of a speed at 
 once so useless and so costly ; by advocating the non-alteration 
 of that form which alone produced it ; was in effect to advocate 
 and ensure, step by step, the eventual condemnation of the most 
 promising Screw-Frigate we yet possess, as being totally dis- 
 qualified for the services of a Ship-of-War. 
 
 I do not presume to inquire into the sufficient causes which The case of the 
 may have occasioned any doubt or delay, in restoring this ship ^5^^^ presented 
 to an effective form. But I may be permitted to observe that *"^hlt o?otha 
 her case presented no exception whatever from that of others ; Screw-ships. 
 and (hat from the moment that the trials of the "Dwarf" in 
 October, 1846, had established the faulty form in which all the 
 Screw-ships were then building, (with exception, as before 
 noticed, of "Sharpshooter" and " Minx,") from that time it was 
 known that the " Dauntless " furnished as complete an expo- 
 sition of the error as any of the rest. It was of great advantage 
 that she should have been taken to receive her engines while 
 yet in the form in which she was ' built ;' but so soon as she had 
 received them, and so soon as by their means it was ascertained 
 by actual trial before ' the mile,' that her malformation was 
 controlling her speed to the above low rate of seven and one- 
 third knots ; then every calculation, and deduction which has 
 here been made, could have been openly shown at once ; and 
 supposing that it had been so, it must have presented precisely 
 the same features as it possesses now. I may also be permitted 
 to express regret that any doubt or delay in the restoration of 
 this ship, should have had the effect of extending doubt and 
 delay also to the solution of the most weighty problem which 
 
 i2 
 
116 
 
 THE SCREW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 But circum- 
 stances have 
 rendered her 
 effective res- 
 toration spe- 
 cially impor- 
 tant 
 
 The restoration 
 of the whole 
 Screw-Fleet 
 built in 1845 
 has been pre- 
 cisely the same 
 in nature and 
 in results in 
 each ship. 
 
 the Screw yet presents to us to decide. Because in the course 
 of events the "Dauntless" appears now to be the only ship 
 which promises to determine successfully the important purpose 
 of her design ; namely, whether full powers of sail ; and a full 
 armament of guns ; can indeed be made to combine with full 
 Steam-powers, in one and the same frigate ; so as to unite im- 
 proved efficiency and economy, in all the services of peace and 
 war. Assuming that the equipment of our only other Screw- 
 Frigate, the " Termagant," is of course as complete as the ship 
 herself admits ; still, as a Frigate of 1556 tons with but 24 
 guns, and several ports unoccupied; she cannot be taken at pre- 
 sent as solving successfully, the question of a full armament of 
 guns. Neither does the present disposition of her masts permit 
 her at present to solve successfully the question of a frigate's lull 
 proportion of sail-power ; — because in this respect «he is practi- 
 cally at present, no more than a large brig; so that unless the 
 "Termagant" shall hereafter be found capable of material im- 
 provement ; her man-of-war equipment is at present of such a 
 nature as would seem to throw upon the " Dauntless " alone, the 
 task of proving whether we can or cannot realise the intended 
 combined and triplicate powers, of a complete Screw-Frigate. 
 
 But to return to the more general subject from which I have 
 thus digressed. 
 
 Because; — the speeds of the ''Rifleman" and "Teazer" 
 were very critically tested both before and after their change 
 of form, and that for the express purpose of measuring the 
 effect it would produce upon them ; therefore, the amount of 
 improvement realised is capable in their cases of being satis- 
 factorily valued at a distinct money price. But it is to be 
 observed that whatever in this respect is true of these two 
 ships ; is equally true in their several degrees of every other 
 member of the Screw-fleet built in 1845, always saving the 
 two exceptions of the "Sharpshooter" and "Minx." It is 
 equally true in their several degrees of the " Arrogant," the 
 
FORMS OF SCKEW-SHIPS. 117 
 
 "Termagant," the " Conflict," the "Desperate," the "Niger," 
 the "Encounter," the "Simoom," the "Vulcan," the "Green- 
 ock," the " Megsera." Upon all these there was imposed the 
 one common condition, that unlike the " Rattler" they should be 
 prepared to carry a ' Steam armament' in their sterns as well 
 as their bows; and in all these, this condition had required of 
 their several Constructors a common malformation of the after- 
 body. Some possessed this malformation to a greater degree 
 than those two whose cases I have been enabled more particu- 
 larly to specify, and some possessed it less. According to 
 that degree, so must have been the extent to which the power of 
 their engines was in every case wasted ; and so must have been 
 the extent to which that wasted power was in every case saved. 
 And we are alone unable to state what that actual extent of 
 saving in every case really was ; because the greater number of 
 them were altered before their speed was tried. But one com- 
 mon character of alteration, however, has been found necessary 
 in every case ; in every case the alteration of the stern has 
 alone been necessary ; and in every case this necessary altera- 
 tion has been attended with one common and most satisfactory 
 result of marked improvement. The extent of that alteration, 
 however, has not been in every case alike. Some were com- 
 pleted before they were altered ; some were altered before they 
 were complete. Some have been effectively altered without 
 the necessity for their being lengthened; others have had to be 
 considerably lengthened in order to be effectively altered at all. 
 The " Dauntless" is of this latter class ; she is the last of the 
 thirteen to have her defective form removed ; and when in her 
 case the improvement is effected, she too will enable us with 
 the "Rifleman" and "Teazer" to calculate with exactitude 
 the value of the increased speed produced. And supposing 
 that this increased speed should not exceed the money estimate 
 I have given for it ; even then, I shall be held perhaps to have 
 vindicated successfully the alterations of our Screw-Fleet, which 
 
118 THE SCREW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 will then be complete. And the most fastidious economist, — he 
 who is readiest to declaim against the constant operations 
 which our ships are undergoing ; must then admit that no 
 public money was ever more properly or more profitably ex- 
 pended, than that which has gone to restore an efficient form 
 to the Screw-Fleet of 1845. 
 Theabo?ecal- But it has not been for the sole purpose of justifying these 
 culations ex- alterations, that the calculations which show their necessity and 
 
 hibit the very ' 'J 
 
 expensive dif- importance have been here put forth in detail. There has been 
 ference between . i ■ i • u- 
 
 a. fine forpi of the inducement of a far higher, and even a more extensive object 
 afvdionJ^" still. In thus showing the positive value of an improved form, 
 as determined from actual experiments instituted for this very 
 object ; it has been my purpose and my wish to fix attention 
 the more strongly to the positive expenses and waste of a de- 
 fective one — to the serious results which are certain in one vyay 
 or other to ensue, from any tampering with the forms, and with 
 the proportions of the Ships of our Navy, for purposes however 
 plausible in themselves. It has been my purpose and my wish 
 to fix attention to the necessity for securing our Constructors, as 
 much as possible, in the performance of their very difficult and 
 delicate task of design — against inconsiderate demands, or blind 
 conditions. And this, it was felt, could not be done with the full 
 effect which its importance has seemed to me to merit ; until 
 the cause, for which a defective form in our Screw-ships had been 
 required, had first been dispassionately examined into, and traced 
 out. This has now been done. In following the several muta- 
 tions of form, from that of the "Archimedes" and "Rattler," 
 to those of the " Rifleman " and " Teazer " and their con- 
 geners ; and in watching in the instance of the " Dauntless " 
 our complete return back again to that successful experience in 
 the form of the original pair of Screw-ships from which we 
 had allowed ourselves to depart. We have seen that the sole 
 cause of that departure was induced, by an inconsistent requi- 
 sition to continue in a totally distinct description of Ship an 
 
FORMS OF SCREW-SHIPS. 119 
 
 exceptional and burthensome mode of armed appointment, 
 which it was felt by our Constructors that a fine form of 
 ' run ' could not be made to bear ; and we have learnt that the 
 full form of ' run ' which was thus, as it were, compelled to be 
 substituted for it; though doubtless it might have borne the 
 inappropriate burthen ; yet was totally ineffective to carry it 
 at a moderate speed, even when urged by the efforts of the 
 most powerful machinery. This effect of a full form of after- 
 body had indeed been always known in a general way ; it had 
 always been known that to ' fill out ' either the *■ entrance,' 
 or the ' run,' of a fine-lined Ship, was by so much to injure 
 her speed. But the actual extent of that injury was never 
 before known. It was never before determined from actual 
 and accurate experiment made in the same Ships ; placed in 
 every other respect under the same circumstances ; what is 
 the real difference in speed between a fine ' run ' and a full 
 one — What is the real difference of power required to equalize 
 these different speeds — And what the real expense which the 
 different speeds, due to these different forms, are certain to 
 entail. 
 
 It is upon this point of view that the cases which I have and the serious 
 
 effects of reB*!!' 
 
 specially quoted will, I believe, be found to furnish an expe- lating the form 
 rience of far higher moment than even that of vindicating the ^^^^sckIT 
 alteration of our Screw-ships ; and it is alone for the sake of ships by the 
 
 7 , , /■ 1 n length of their 
 
 this experience that these things have been set forth. Because Gun-slides, 
 in the instances of one-half of the Engine-power of the " Rifle- 
 man;" — and four-fifths of the Engine-power of the " Teazer ;" — 
 and six-tenths of the Engine-power of the " Dauntless ;" — and 
 I might add the still higher proportion of the " Dwarf:" — All 
 actually wasted and entirely lost ; together with every attendant 
 waste of stores and fuel, through a single point of malforma- 
 tion in only one of the extremities of these several Ships ; we 
 are presented with a combination of facts which seem to require 
 more forcibly than any argument, that the ' fiUing out ' of 
 
120 THE SCREW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 ' bows ' and ' sterns,' for the special accommodation of any 
 mere item of armament, should henceforth be abstained from. 
 But if the peculiar difficulties under which the Paddle-steamer 
 labours, do indeed require even an approach to such costly mal- 
 formation of the extremities; then, the mode of armament 
 which causes it, should at least be strictly confined to this ex- 
 ceptional case. 
 
 Certain it is that in the Screw-ship neither the difficulties of 
 the Paddle-steamer, nor their consequences apply. Those who 
 offered the Principle of the Screw as well as those who had 
 authority to accept it, as a means of greatly increasing the Man- 
 of-war value of our armed Steam-force, were both alive to these 
 important distinctions. It was offered and accepted by both, 
 because the guns might be removed to their more natural and 
 general distribution over the broadside ; and it was seen and 
 intended by both, that this relief to the extremities, should admit 
 of that finer form of design, which was alone looked to as the 
 means of enabling the Screw-ship to exhibit a superior speed, 
 when using the same power as the Paddle-vessel. 
 
 That these important distinctions were not seen and provided 
 for, by all concerned, appears most clear ; and the extent to 
 which their oversight affects the whole history of the Screw 
 makes it impossible with any regard to an honest consistency to 
 have left the subject unnoticed. But specially so as the lesson 
 taught by it extends far beyond the case which produced it; 
 and bears such direct and hopeful testimony to the direct 
 value of improvement in the form of our future designs ; that 
 the painfulness of tracing a transient and involuntary error to 
 its source, may, I hope, be far more than compensated for 
 by extensive and permanent advantages. 
 
FORMS OF SCEEW-SHIPS. 121 
 
 PART IV. 
 
 AN EXFLANATOKY ILLUSTEATION. 
 
 I ONLY add that I am anxious no remark here made, should TTieuBeofthe 
 
 ,. ,. ,. Ill PI pivot shell-gun 
 
 be interpreted into a desire to undervalue the use oi the perfectly con- 
 horizontal shell-gun of General Paixhans. On the contrary; finefo™*nd* 
 as an invention admirably adapted for fulfilling its professed Ml Sail-power 
 object of ' crippling ' the British Navy ; so is it admirably ship, 
 adapted for the use of the British Navy in meeting the attempt; 
 and its employment upon the broadside, and even in the ex- 
 tremities of our Screvir-ships themselves, is, I believe, not only 
 desirable, but necessary. I will endeavour to explain myself 
 thus. Let it be supposed that Ships of the same dimensions 
 and forms as our Screw-ships have now been restored to, — taking, 
 say, the " Encounter '' as an example; — that such Ships had 
 been introduced into the Navy for some 'needful purpose, prior 
 to the days of Steam. In such case a complete and appropriate 
 Sail-power would then have necessarily been their sole equipment 
 for general service ; and they would have been armed with a 
 continuous battery of 12 or 14 of the most suitable guns of the 
 day upon each broadside ; extending from an aftermost pair of 
 guns abaft the mizenmast, to a foremost pair of guns before the 
 foremast. Thus equipped and armed, let me next suppose our 
 Ship to have passed through the days of General Paixhans' 
 invention; and that they have improved the character of her 
 armament generally, and effected in it this special change; viz. 
 The pair of guns before the foremast, and the pair of guns abaft 
 the mizenmast, have each been taken away and replaced by a 
 single shell-gun of larger calibre, and far more destructive effect 
 than -those removed ; but so mounted that, like them, it is 
 
122 THE SCREW-PLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 equally available for both broadsides ; and still more available 
 than they were, both for offence a-head, or defence astern ; the 
 weight of this single gun being the same, or nearly so, as that of 
 the pair of guns which it superseded ; and this same weight 
 being sustained by the Ship in the same position as before. 
 Now under these conditions it is clear that even the extremities 
 of Ships of the same dimensions and delicate form as our pre- 
 sent Screw-ships have now been restored to, are perfectly 
 capable of being provided with the heavy pivot-shell-gun of 
 General Paixhans; and that in order to do so it is neither 
 necessary to tamper with their form either above or below the 
 water, nor yet to meddle with their Sail-equipment. Thus 
 agreed, let us now advance our case of supposition one stage 
 further; and thus equipped with her original complete Sail- 
 power, and with her modernized artillery, our fictitious 
 " Encounter " having the same perfect Screw-ship form 
 and dimensions as the real one, shall be brought down to 
 the present time, and be subjected like her to the appli- 
 cation of the Screw. The dead-wood of her ' run ' will of 
 course present the same fitness for being pierced so as to receive 
 the Screw itself; the holds when cleared of their surplus stores, 
 will of course present the same capacity for receiving the 
 Engine of 360 Horse Power wherewith to drive it. And so 
 soon as these are set to work upon the requisite shafting which 
 connects the two ; then the Steam-speed of the true and the 
 fictitious " Encounter " will also of course be found to be the 
 same, 
 as she was ori- And now that Our supposed Ship, with her original full- 
 tended tobe spread Sails, has been brought to unite the days that were, in 
 equipped. harmony with the days that be ; preserving unimpaired her old 
 
 traditional pride, enhanced by the consciousness of new powers 
 both in armament and speed ; what difference, I would ask, can 
 be seen between our supposed " Encounter," and the real one ? 
 A very important difference, no doubt. Because the real 
 
FORMS OF SCREW-SHIPS. 123 
 
 " Encounter " is not, yet, equipped with the complete and 
 appropriate Sail-powers of a Sailing Ship of her rank like the 
 supposed "Encounter ;" and the real "Encounter" is not, yet, 
 armed with the full and proud broadside of a Man-of-war of 
 her rate and capacity like the supposed " Encounter." But 
 this difference is not a difference of necessity ; it is only a 
 question of time. For the supposed ability of the fictitious 
 " Encounter " for a complete Man-of-war equipment, has only 
 been assumed from the real ability of the true one, when that 
 ability is taken due advantage of And whenever it shall be 
 determined to furnish the true " Encounter " with the full Sail- 
 power she is perfectly able to bear ; and with the full armed 
 broadside she is perfectly able to carry ; then this Ship will 
 furnish in her class, that example of the combined powers of 
 Steam, Sail, and Armament, which all our full-powered Screw- 
 ships were originally designed to exhibit. And the doubts and 
 troubles which have so beset our progress, as yet, towards this 
 desired consummation, will begin to disperse from the moment 
 that we are presented with a first example, at once so simple 
 and comprehensible to all. 
 
124 THE SCREW-FLEET OP THE NAVY. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 FULL EQUIPMENTS THE OM/T SAFE AND REASONABLE TEST OF 
 THE VALUE OF THE SCKEW-FLEET. 
 
 The extent and Of wood and of iron ; — of large and of small ; — built or build- 
 Sorew-Fleet ^^S > — converted, converting, or contemplated for conversion ; — 
 the Force, which in these pages I have designated as a ' Screw- 
 Fleet,' coiisists of forty ships. 
 
 Their respective measurements vary from the 164 tons of the 
 " Dwarf," to the 3074 tons of the " Agamemnon/' and give an 
 aggregate of 49,157 tons. 
 
 Their respective engine-powers vary, from the 10 Horse- 
 power (high pressure) of the " Teazer ;" to the 780 Horse- 
 power originally meant for the " Simoom ;" and give an aggre- 
 gate of 12,730 Horse-power. 
 Its value must This is, therefore, a very extensive force, and its cost has 
 depend on its ijeen, of course, in proportion to its extent. But its value, as 
 
 services, and its * ^ 
 
 services must compared with its cost, has yet to be determined by the cha- 
 
 depend on its . . „ . « i i i <• • ct ■ 
 
 equipments. racter ot its Services. And the value or its Services must evi- 
 dently be determined by the extent of provision which can be 
 made for them ; or, in other words, by the completeness of the 
 equipment of the ships themselves. With respect to the 
 The " Auxilia- Auxiliary portion of this force, which is principally composed of 
 nes " give satis- gjijpg Qf ^v-ar suitably converted for the Screw : the question both 
 
 lactory promise ^ '' '■ 
 
 of value; of equipment, and of value of services to be returned, seems to 
 
 admit already of a satisfactory solution ; and the " Plumper'' 
 and " Eeynard," as • Auxiliary Sloops ;' the " Amphion" and 
 
CONCLUSION. 125 
 
 " Arrogant," as ' Auxiliary Frigates' of their respective classes ; 
 and the " Blenheim/' " Hogue," and " Ajax," as ' Auxiliary 
 ships of the line ;' all afford proof that this portion of the force 
 can be made to return a full value, in peace or war, as com- 
 pensation for its cost. 
 
 In casting around for such ships as may enable us to form but no evidence 
 an estimate of the value of the ' Screw-ship ;' or full-powered ^d o/the man- 
 portion of this Force, it seems necessary to exclude the experi- °/'^' value of 
 
 '^ _ ■' ^ the Screw-shii). 
 
 ence furnished by the " Rattler." Because she still possesses 
 her original paddle engines of 178 tons weight ; and which are 
 still, like other paddle engines, exposed to shot ; while ' Screw 
 engines ' of the same power have since been constructed of only 
 96 tons weight, and which are entirely protected. The greater 
 weight of her engines thus absorbs displacement, which might 
 otherwise go to complete her guns ; and the greater height of 
 their centre of gravity, goes to deprive her of stability, which 
 might otherwise enable her to complete her sails. So that, 
 as regards the ' man-of-war ' merits of the Screw-ship, as 
 provided with full powers of equipment, the " Rattler's" 
 experience can give no faithful evidence of her value. Neither 
 may we look for conclusive evidence on this important point to 
 either the " Minx, " the " Teazer," the " Rifleman," the 
 " Sharpshooter," or the " Phoenix ;" none of which are of a 
 character to uphold even the ' man-of-war merits ' of a Class ; 
 much less to enable us to estimate the value of a Fleet, 
 however important the information they have given us in other 
 respects. 
 
 The late trials of the "Niger" went only to confirm in a 
 still higher degree the previous speed-trials of the " Rattler;" 
 but they were not of a nature to elicit the full capacities of the 
 Screw-ship as a man-of-war ; and as a ship of 1072 tons with 
 only fourteen guns, and fiirnished with a much smaller propor- 
 tion of canvass than any sailing ship of the same rank, the 
 " Niger," upon these trials, could only give satisfactory proof 
 
126 THE SCREW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 that she was both worthy, and able, to be made the powerful 
 Screw corvette which, at present, it cannot be said that she is. 
 This also appears to be the extent of what can at present be said 
 for either the " Encounter," or the " Conflict ;" both of which 
 are now in commission, and both of which will doubtless afford 
 such experience of their value as their present equipments 
 will permit. But partial equipments can evidently afford but 
 partial evidence of such services as fuller equipments may be 
 able to perform; and until we have the experience of such 
 services as our Screw-ships are really able to effect, when 
 equipped with the fullest appointments they are really able to 
 bear ; it seems evident that no just comparison can be made of 
 the full value of these ships, as compared with their great cost. 
 Thereforefu- If these remarks be just, then thw lead to the conclusion, 
 
 ture experience ,. , , ,, , 
 
 has yet to deter- that. We possess a public !< orce, which, at the well known 
 
 Mlue of ih™ average prices of 25Z. per ton ; and 56/. per horse-power ; 
 
 " Screw-ship," ^m j^g found to represent, in hull, machinery, and equipment, 
 a total expenditure of perhaps not less than two millions 
 Sterling. And that with respect to the most costly portion of 
 this Force, — and^ therefore, the one from which we naturally 
 expect the highest scale of Service ; — we possess at present no 
 more real experience, by which to determine its actual value, 
 than we did in 1845, when first it was commenced. Every 
 experience for such a purpose seems yet entirely future ; and 
 this circumstance seems at once the more valuable and im- 
 portant ; because it allows time for this consideration ; viz. 
 That the proof of value, which experience has yet to supply ; 
 will evidently depend upon the mode in which that experience 
 shall be ordered. For this appears to be one of those cases in 
 which experience itself, if it be not a fitting experience, will 
 
 and the value only the more widely mislead. And the warning afforded by 
 
 ofthatexpe- uif-icin 
 
 rience must be the total failure of the fecrew under the ill-ordered experience 
 is^wenofill' of Liverpool; when contrasted with the entire success ofthe 
 provided for. very same principle under the well-ordered experience of 
 
CONCLUSION. 127 
 
 London ; may again be quoted as an instance which proves 
 more forcibly than any argmnent, that the distinctive merits of 
 the Principle itself require first to be clearly observed ; and 
 then, that the success which it is intended to realize from them 
 should be appropriately provided for ; or else experience itself 
 cannot be referred to as a safe or a truthful evidence of value. 
 
 To explain myself more practically with reference to the ^he experience 
 immediate case I will again observe ; that the holds of each ^ '"= expected 
 
 ° _ in a supposed 
 
 of our Screw ships contain an engine intended to give effect case of incom- 
 to the fullest armament her capacity will enable her to carry ; ment. 
 and that the after body of each is provided with the means of 
 removing her propeller, so as to give effect to the full sail- 
 power of a sailing ship of her rank. Both such preparations 
 for success, having been made, as we are aware, with very 
 great difficulty and expense. Nevertheless, let it be supposed, 
 that full advantage should not be taken of these provisions. 
 But that Screw sloops, which have cost as much as ordinary 
 frigates; — Screw corvettes, which have cost as much as the 
 largest ones ; — and Screw frigates, for which the price of line- 
 of-battle ships has been paid ; — should each be sent forth for 
 permanent Service, with equipments in guns and sails, far 
 inferior to that of similar classes in the sailing fleet, and much 
 below that which the real capacities of the ships themselves are 
 equal to bear. How, let me ask, in such case could experience 
 thus ordered, be quoted as a truthful test of the serviceable 
 value of such ships ; when such equipments would evidently 
 provide for a scale of Services, very insufficient as a means to 
 remunerate for their cost ? Can the armed services of a sloop 
 be performed by less than a sloop's guns? or the armed ser- 
 vices of a corvette, by less than a corvette's guns ? or those of a 
 frigate, by less than a frigate's guns? Yet all our Screw ships 
 may be taken to have cost, in round numbers, double the price 
 of corresponding classes in the sailing fleet ; and it seems, there- 
 fore, not unreasonable to expect that they should, if possible, 
 
128 THE SCREW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 be made to perform equal man-of-war Services as respects 
 armament, at the least. I know that it is often said, ' Oh, the 
 steam-power of these ships will give them great advantage 
 when engaged with sailing ships.' Certainly ; but this advan- 
 tage is not of a nature to make one gun do the duty of two ; 
 neither can it make the fire of any gun more rapid or precise. 
 The advantage of steam-power in these ships consists in the 
 ability to bring a reluctant enemy to close action ; and when 
 engaged, to give great superiority over him in manoeuvre ; and 
 surely this should be a reason for increasing the armament of 
 such ships to the greatest extent we can. And especially so 
 because their machinery has been provided, and placed m 
 protection, for the sake of this very advantage ; and because the 
 extent of this advantage, is the only repayment we can look to 
 for the expense of having provided it. Therefore it seems to 
 follow that the more incomplete the armed equipment ; the 
 smaller the amount of advantage realized ;^-and the smaller the 
 amount of advantage- realized ; the greater the amount of unre- 
 deemed cost. Nay, would the question be that of unredeemed 
 cost alone ? — might we not say, the more incomplete the armed 
 equipment of these ships, the greater the risk of losing them 
 altogether ? Would the 22,000/. worth of machinery in the holds 
 of the Screw corvettes; and the 32,000/. worth in the holds of 
 the Screw frigates ; which is like coined gold to any captors ; 
 be even adequately defended, by armaments far inferior nume- 
 rically to that of the corvettes, and to that of the frigates, which 
 these ships might respectively be opposed to ? Might we not 
 even carry our consequences still further ; and believe that 
 should the mishap of capture arise, in any case where such ships 
 were not equipped to their fullest capacity, we should have to 
 meet them, in an enemy's hands, with a far more formidable 
 armament than that which they had received at our own ? 
 The conse- Now, if these arguments be good, — and if it be true that pro- 
 
 quence^ofiU portionally unredeemed cost, and an actual risk of entire loss. 
 
CONCLUSION. 129 
 
 must be the expected consequences of incomplete equipment in rience must 
 
 . . result in a repe- 
 
 guns; — then it is yet more certain that increased cost, and real tition of disap- 
 loss, must be the unavoidable consequences of incomplete equip- alteration and 
 menl in sails. Because every yard of canvass which could be expense. 
 carried, and was withheld, would have to be compensated for by 
 so many more tons of coal consumed. And the only experience 
 which could be expected from any extended employment of our 
 Screw ships, as supposed, with equipments inferior to their full 
 capacities ; would be precisely that experience which we are, 
 of course, most desirous to avoid; — the experience of Liverpool. 
 A full price would necessarily have been paid for a first equip- 
 ment, however incomplete ; and to this payment would have 
 to be added the dissatisfaction attendant upon the inadequate 
 Services which an incomplete equipment could alone return. 
 Then would come dissatisfaction ; and dissatisfaction would be 
 aggravated by delayed success. And then alterations would be 
 inevitable ; and another full price would have to be paid for the 
 full equipment, which would then take the place of the incom- 
 plete one. And all this accumulation of payments will have 
 been incurred for the sake of that only advantage, by which it 
 seems even possible that such a course should be recommended ; 
 viz. that of a supposed simplification of Equipment, by reducing 
 the superior powers of our Screw-Fleet into some scale of 
 classification, in common with the more limited powers of the 
 ' Steamer.' And therefore in all such consequences as these, 
 the Screw would be again, — not the cause, but the victim. 
 The Screw would be as blameless of the expense, of these sup- 
 posed alterations of Equipment ; as it is now blameless of the 
 expense, of past alterations of Form. Both would be the 
 legitimate offspring of mistaking the Screw for some modi- 
 fication of the Paddle-wheel. 
 
 While so much experience is yet before us; may it not be The Screw is 
 
 ... not a modifica- 
 
 well then to permit our supposed case to lead us a little lur • tion of the 
 ther ; and induce us to examine whether even the advantage of " ^"^ ^^ " 
 
130 THE SCREW -FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 bringing these two descriptions of Ships under any common 
 equipmentj however varied in respect to scale, is in reality 
 a practicable one. — Assuming of course, that Classification 
 presupposes the assortment together of things similar, — not dis- 
 similar? And with this clue to our search, it will not, I think, 
 be difficult to show, upon very practical grounds ; that a Screw, 
 is not a Paddle-wheel ; whether in the water, or out of the water, 
 any more than a circular system of ' Levers,' is like an ' Inclined 
 Plane.' They are two distinct mechanical Principles, each claim- 
 ing its own distinct mode of operation in order to success — each 
 distinct mode ruling certain conditions of application, as distinct 
 as the Principles themselves ; and such distinctions being no whit 
 the less broad and sensible because it happens that both Prin- 
 ciples are found capable of using the common motive-power of 
 Steam ; when both are employed in the common purposes of 
 Propulsion. For instance ; when the " Basilisk " and " Niger " 
 were prepared for proceeding to trial, an official statement had to 
 be transmitted of the state and circumstances of the two Ships. 
 From which it appears that although they were, as intended, 
 very closely alike in form, size, and dimensions ; yet the hull of 
 the Ship with the Screw, was 95 tons lighter than the hull of 
 the Ship with the Lever. And this difflerence arose from this 
 distinction ; viz., that the shaft for driving a Screw, is situated in 
 the lowest and strongest part of a Ship, which therefore requires 
 no extra strengthening to enable it to sustain the effi3rt ; while the 
 shaft for working a Lever is situated in the highest and weakest 
 part of a Ship ; which therefore requires a very great deal of 
 extra strengthening to enable it to sustain the effl3rt, combined, 
 as it is, with the far greater weight of the Paddle-wheel itself. 
 An equally broad distinction was also found to exist between 
 the Engines themselves, not alone in point of character, but 
 again in point of weight. For those for the Screw were 54 tons 
 lighter than those for the Lever, and again for the same reason 
 as before ; viz. that those for the Screw lay low and flat, without 
 
CONCLUSION. 131 
 
 any superstructure at all ; while those for the Lever stand up- 
 right and lofty, involving a great deal of superstructure, which 
 requires great strength, and involves great weight.* So that in 
 preparing two Ships of the same size, and same form; provided 
 with the same Steam-power, to be employed for the same pur- 
 pose of Propulsion ; (only the one driven by a ' Screw,' the other 
 worked by a ' Lever ') there is found to be a difference be- 
 tween their respective weights of Hull and Engines, amounting 
 to 149 tons, or not less than one-tenth of the entire weight or 
 load displacement of the Ships themselves. This difference 
 being entirely governed by those distinct conditions, required by 
 the two distinct mechanical Principles, by which they are re- 
 spectively propelled. Nor does the distinction end even here ; 
 for great as is this difference in material saved, and in dis- 
 placement gained, in favour of the Ship with the Screw ; yet this 
 difference is still more important, and gives rise to distinctions 
 still more practical, when it is regarded as a difference in 
 weights all situated above the water-line. That is to say, a 
 difference of no less than 149 tons of ' top-weight,' in the two 
 cases. In this respect it will at once be seen that the centres 
 of gravity must assume an entirely different position in two such 
 Ships ; and therefore that every quality which is ruled by this 
 important element in the character of all Ships, must also in 
 effect be ruled, step by step, by those marked distinctions 
 which separate the two Principles themselves. And so it proved 
 practically to be. For although the Ship which used the Screw 
 spread less plain sail, with a greater moment of inclination, — 
 that is to say, a greater inclining power, — ^than that which was 
 furnished to the Ship which used the Lever ; yet the superior 
 stability, and the far superior speed of the " Niger," were 
 strikingly evinced in every sailing trial ; and afforded ample 
 
 * I may here add that there was also a difference of not less than 10 ft. lOJin. 
 in the height of machinery in the two ships. The top of the engines for the Lever 
 being 6 ft. 8 in. above the water-line ; while the top of the engines for the Screw 
 was 4 ft. 2i in. below it ; both ships being at their mean load draught of 15 ft. 1 1 in. 
 
 K 2 
 
132 THE SCREW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 proof that the greatly superior disposition of every important 
 weight, was working out its practical and natural effect, in a 
 totally distinct character between the two Ships under canvass. 
 And the same distinctions which thus governed the practical 
 working of the Sail-power, were seen to govern the practical 
 working of the Steam-power also. For even the two elements 
 of ' pressure of piston,' and ' speed of piston,' which together 
 compose the power of every Steam-engine ; require a distinct 
 modification, according as the Engine is constructed to work a 
 Lever, or to drive a Screw. The one requires a larger piston, 
 with a longer stroke, and less revolutions ; the other requires a 
 shorter stroke, and more revolutions, and therefore admits of a 
 smaller piston ; and these distinctions, which also are entirely 
 ruled by the differences in weight, and differences in mode of 
 operation of the two mechanical Instruments ; were practically 
 exhibited most conspicuously during the most severe trials which 
 took place ; viz., when the two Ships were engaged in towing 
 against each other, stern-to-stern. On that occasion there was 
 a greater 'pressure' used in the Engines working the Lever 
 by an aggregate on the pistons of 6J tons ; but there was more 
 than double the ^ speed of piston' produced in the Engines 
 working the Screw, even by so much smaller an aggregate 
 ' pressure ;' and the greater difference in this element of power, 
 enabled these latter Engines to exert a greater effort, by 188 
 horses. So that the practical result of the distinctions of Principle, 
 thus extending to the character, as well as weight of the re- 
 spective Engines, was seen in the fact, — that the Ship which used 
 the Screw, dragged the Ship which used the Lever by the stern, 
 against her utmost efforts, at the rate of IJ knots per hour nearly. 
 Tliis essential The broad difference which distinguishes the Principle of the 
 
 distinction be- tjjjij? i'r>--ici 
 
 tween tlie two Paddle, trom the Prmciple of the Screw, is thus seen to extend, 
 
 quires?!)!"*' '" '^^^^ ^"^ practical force, to the Ships which respectively use 
 
 fi°n as'ado"ted *'^^'"' ^^ imposes upon them respectively a totally different 
 
 into the Navy amount and disposition in every important weight ; it produces 
 
aloue. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 133 
 
 between them a totally different character in speed, stability, should be 
 and displacement ; and in the severest services in which Steam- iJ ow.i medts 
 power is employed, it gives a marked superiority to the use of 
 the latter instrument. These constitute the chief qualifications 
 for Ships-of-war ; and where these qualities are so fixedly dis- 
 tinct in two different descriptions of Ship as they are here 
 shown practically to be ; then, no common system, or scale of 
 treatment, can be enforced upon both, which must not in the 
 end be expected to produce Disappointment, Confusion, and Ex- 
 pense. But in order to strengthen these considerations of my 
 plea, let me further add, that of the 12,730 Horse-power ma- 
 chinery now appropriated to the Screw; 11,782 Horse-power 
 consists of Screw-engines alone. That is, of Engines constructed 
 to lie horizontally on their sides, and drive a Screw-shaft placed 
 many feet under the water ; and which cannot be set vertically 
 on end, and made to work a Paddle-shaft placed as many feet 
 above the water. Moreover, this mass of machinery consists 
 of THIRTEEN sorts of these Engines ; all differing more or less 
 from each other, in principle or detail; — almost all having been 
 more or less subjected to trial, certainly ; but none, excepting 
 the auxiliary Engines of the " Amphion," having been sub- 
 jected to that extended proof for a period of commission, which 
 can alone determine those respective merits by which to guide 
 our future choice. So that we have on hand, I may say in round 
 numbers, at this present moment, at least six hundred and 
 SIXTY thousand pounds' worth of Engines, which it is not 
 practicable to use for any other purpose than that for which they 
 were constructed. And with what degrees of merit they will re- 
 spectively fulfil that purpose, is a point of very high importance 
 which experience has yet entirely to decide. And when to this is 
 added, that each full-powered Screw-ship in which these Engines 
 shall be embarked, may then be made to receive a full equip- 
 ment ; and may then be made to exhibit in actual Service, in their 
 several degrees, those distinct Man-of-war qualifications which 
 
134 
 
 THE SCREW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 The distinct 
 character of the 
 " Niger " when 
 only partially 
 equipped as a 
 "Steamer," or 
 when fully 
 equipped as a 
 " Screw-ship." 
 
 were shown incipiently to exist in the trials between the 
 " Basilisk " and " Niger ;" — it may then perhaps be admitted, 
 that the extent and importance of such a public Force as this, 
 fully entitle it to have its value determined by an experience, 
 ordered to the best of our abiUty, with an express view to ehcit 
 its own merits alone. 
 
 Let me, then, reverse the picture, and endeavour to assist a 
 future experience on which so much depends, by exhibiting 
 what I conceive may be the real difficulties of providing each 
 Screw-ship with the fiiUest equipment she can be made to bear ; 
 taking the " Niger " as our example. 
 
 The " Niger" is a Screw corvette, of 1072 tons in measure- 
 ment, but of 1455 tons in real size or displacement; with a 
 length of 194 feet between the perpendiculars. And the 
 " Calypso " is a Sailing corvette, of 731 tons in measurement, 
 but of 857 tons in real size or displacement ; with a length of 
 120 feet between the perpendiculars.* So that the Screw cor- 
 vette is larger than the Sailing corvette by 598 tons, or 69 per 
 cent., and is 54 feet, or 45 per cent, longer ; the cost of the 
 two, when equipped for service, being in round numbers about 
 5O,00OZ. for the Screw-ship, and 25,000^. for the Sailing one. 
 The " Niger " upon her late trials was armed with a heavy 
 pivot-gun at each extremity, with six guns on each broadside 
 
 * There is a difference of 383 tons, or 35 per cent, between 'tonnage' and 
 ' displacement' in the "Niger," as a screw corvette; and a difference of 979 tons, 
 or 67 per cent, between 'tonnage' and ' displacement* in the "Dauntless," as a 
 screw frigate ; while in the "Calypso," as a sailing corvette, the difference amounts 
 to only 1 26 tons, or 17 per cent. ; and in the " Thetis," as a sailing frigate, to only 
 361 tons, or 19 per cent, j the difference between these two measurements being 
 always very much greater in a screw than in a sailing ship. This arises from the 
 manner in which the very different proportions in length and breadth of the two 
 descriptions of ship affect the calculation for ' tonnage.' And 1 notice it for the 
 purpose of observing, that in most cases 'tonnage' gives a very erroneous im- 
 pression of a screw-ship's real size, and, if relied upon, viay lead to error in 
 aiipointing her equipment. For unless displacement were referred to, it would 
 hardly be known that in (he instance of the " Dauntless '" we have a ship which in 
 reality is larger by 500 tons than any thirty-six gun frigate in the Navy. 
 
CONCLUSION. 135 
 
 between them. The " Calypso " upon her late commission 
 was also armed with a heavy pivot-gun at each extremity, 
 though on a separate platform, and with nine guns on each 
 broadside between them. So that the Screw corvette, which is 
 so much larger and longer, and has cost in round numbers 50 
 per cent, more than the Sailing corvette ; was provided for a 
 scale of armed services 30 per cent, inferior. Now, the ques- 
 tion I propose to examine is this, — ' Is this great difference a 
 ' matter of necessity, or is it not ? — Is there any real diffi- 
 ' culty which should prevent the " Niger's " greater size, and 
 ' greater length, from being furnished to the definite amount of 
 ' eleven, instead of six guns on each broadside, so as to bring the 
 ' " Niger's " services, and the " Niger's " cost, to bear a closer 
 ' proportion to each other ?' 
 
 The first diflSculty, and not the least important one to deal The great in- 
 vvith, would probably be stated thus : — ' Oh ! but you forget f^fo^which' 
 ' that the " Calypso " is a Sailing-ship, and the " Niger " is ';*™ attended 
 ' only a Steamer ; and, as a Steamer, she is already very ous use of 
 'heavily armed; she carries fourteen guns, while her sister "Steamer.'' 
 ' Paddle-vessel, the " Basilisk," of the same size and power, 
 ' can only mount six.'' Now, this is very ti-ue ; the " Niger," 
 with fourteen guns, is, undoubtedly, very heavily armed, ' as a 
 Steamer,^ — -far more so than many Paddle-vessels of far larger 
 size. But if it be true that it is ' only ' under her designation 
 ' as a Steamer,' and not according to her capacity "as a Ship," 
 that the " Niger " is " heavily armed ;' does not this very fact at 
 once suggest that the " Niger " ought not to have been de- 
 signated ' as a Steamer ' at all? Does it not proclaim that any 
 designation which can have the effect of precluding our ships from 
 being armed according to their full capacities ; is one which can- 
 not be too soon abandoned, as being at once, most inappropriate 
 and mischievous ? A little reflection upon this point may lead us 
 to remember that this word ' steamer ' was first introduced into 
 our language in order to describe a class of ship which has 
 
136 THE SCREW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 ever presented insuperable difficulties in the way of a complete 
 equipment, whether in guns or sails. And after so many years 
 of painful proof to this effect, it does appear to me to be little 
 else than a misappropriation of language, to take this same 
 wordj and try to make it convey to us a true impression also, of 
 another class of ship the very reverse : — one which presents no 
 such difficulties at all ;— which does admit of a complete equip- 
 ment in both guns and sails ; and not only this, but which we 
 have adopted into the Navy, expressly because it offers to us 
 these very advantages over the former one. Therefore, in so 
 indiscriminate a use of one term, for two objects so distinct ; 
 have we not placed in our own way perhaps the most serious 
 stumbling-block which could have been devised, in order to 
 impede the satisfactory solution of this whole question ; one 
 which I am induced to think has contributed more largely 
 than any other to embarrass it altogether ? 
 
 We are attempting to convey to ourselves a clear apprehen- 
 sion of that which we adopt because we know it to be capable ; 
 and of that which we intend to supersede, because we have 
 proved it to be incapable; — by the use of one common term. 
 When no common term in any civilized language, can thus be 
 made faithfully to describe two opposite characters like these. 
 And because, in allowing ourselves to make this strange attempt, 
 the word " steamer " which we so promiscuously employ has but 
 followed the law of all language — Because it has necessarily 
 called forth the old associations of " incompleteness" with which 
 it has ever been connected; — and because it cannot call forth 
 new associations of " completeness " which it has never yet been 
 known to convey; — therefore, we have been necessarily led by 
 its accustomed influence to regard, and to treat, two opposite 
 characters as if they were the same ; and the result of this con- 
 fusion has been, first Disappointment, and then Distrust. 
 Thus, an improvement of a most important and national cha- 
 racter, has been regarded as if it were little or no improvement 
 
CONCLUSION. 137 
 
 at all ; only, because it cannot possibly be the improvement 
 which it was proposed to be, and which it really is, so long as 
 it is thus placed under the ban of influenceSj which effectually 
 prevent it from being treated as such. Thus, our own conduct 
 has given birth to our own complaint ; " that the screw has 
 brought us as yet more trouble than advantage." Thus has 
 there arisen a disposition to look on those who introduced it as 
 at fault ; and to regard those who support it with mistrust. 
 A.nd thus has it come to be doubted whether the Principle itself 
 possesses any such merits as are attributed to it ; when it is our 
 mode of dealing with it, which has alone prevented these merits 
 from being realized already. But let a designation which thus 
 at the same time disparages and obstructs, be at once abandoned ; 
 and all these unfavourable influences may be expected at once 
 to depart with it. For surely it cannot be a matter of doubtful 
 choice whether we should abandon a disparaging and inappro- 
 priate word ; or continue to disparage and keep in abeyance the 
 powers of a whole Fleet for the sake of retaining it. No need 
 for change with respect to the Paddle-vessel — it is her birth- 
 right ; let her be called a ' Steamer ' still. But once let 
 ' Screw-ship/ and ' Auxiliary,' designate the respective members 
 of our Screw Fleet ; euid once let these terms be taken to denote 
 a full capacity, for full powers of equipment in guns and sails, 
 with similar classes in the Sailing Fleets and a mist of doubt 
 will be seen at once to clear up, as it were from before us ; and 
 this whole question will present itself for solution in a form at 
 once simple, satisfactory, and hopeful, to a degree which it has 
 never yet been permitted to assume. 
 
 If I have thus contributed to remove a first difficulty ; I may The "Niger" 
 
 ,, , . , , , presents ample 
 
 be allowed with greater encouragement to proceed to the next, displacement 
 And in reply to the question, ' But does the " Niger " afford 
 displacement enough for so large an increase to her guns ?' I 
 observe, that upon her late trials the "Niger" was actually 
 weighted with one hundred tons of iron ballast, over and above 
 
 for a full 
 equipment. 
 
138 
 
 THE SCREW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 The "Niger's' 
 decks present 
 ample space 
 for full equip- 
 ment if the 
 space be well 
 employed. 
 
 The "Niger '■ 
 capable of re- 
 ceiving full 
 equipment if 
 her capacity 
 be duly ar- 
 ranged for if. 
 
 the calculated weights of her present scale of equipment. But 
 if one hundred tons of " available displacement " will not satisfy 
 this diflSculty ; then I may state that certain of the trials of this 
 Ship, were required to be repeated at several graduated stages 
 of immersion, in order to test the effects of immersion upon her 
 speed ; and that no perceptible diflference was produced on the 
 " Niger," either in the effect of her Screw, or the power of her 
 engines, whether she was light, or whether she was loaded, 
 throughout a variation of two feet in her mean draught of water. 
 I will only add that the height of her midship port-sills out of 
 water at her load draught was 9 feet 6 inches ; while those of the 
 " Calypso " are only 5 feet 6 inches ; and therefore no trivial 
 increase of immersion, even if requisite, could in any way injure 
 her in this respect. 
 
 ' But the decivs of the " Niger " are too much surrendered to 
 ' hatchways to admit of their being occupied by such an arma- 
 ' ment as she could carry.' True ; but surely there cannot be 
 a more cogent reason than this, for reducing their very extra- 
 vagant extent. We find that the engines of the " Dauntless " 
 are effectually ventilated by 140 square feet of hatchway area, 
 and the " Niger's " engines, which are 180 Horse Power less, 
 and one deck nearer to the air, can hardly require more hatch- 
 way area than this, in order to be equally well ventilated, if 
 equal means be taken to do so. Therefore, the 580 square feet 
 of hatchway which now prevents the " Niger " from being 
 effectively armed, might with great confidence be curtailed by 
 440 feet of its present unnecessary extent, and thus make ample 
 room for completing her to her full capacity as a Ship-of-War. 
 
 ' But the arrangements and supports of the " Niger's " 
 ' decks and holds would have to be re-cast in order to 
 • provide for extended demands, if the " Niger " should be 
 ' armed as fully as her capacity will admit.' Perhaps it 
 may be so. But in so far as this shall be found requisite, 
 whether in her case or in others, does not this constitute the 
 
CONCLUSION. 139 
 
 chief necessity of the whole case ? If the " Niger " or any other 
 of our Screw-ships be not eflFectively arranged for giving us the 
 fullest services they can be made to render as Ships-of-war, is 
 not this the very reason why they should be prepared for ful- 
 filling this sole object of their construction? The decks of 
 Ships employed in Mail Service are required to be arranged 
 and supported, so that in case of need they may be taken for 
 the purposes of war; and where compliance has been avoided 
 or overlookedj care has been taken in many instances to enforce 
 these terms of agreement. And does not the same motive 
 apply with greater force still to the case of ships constructed 
 for the purposes of war alone ? May not the requirement be 
 enforced with still stronger reason, if requisite, from these; 
 seeing that full war Services are the only repayment we have to 
 look to, for the expenses of a full war Cost ? Surely in any such 
 case as this, defective arrangement could never be pleaded as any 
 reason for its continuance. Because this would not be to remedy 
 the consequences of an oversight ; it would be to prolong them, 
 and to make them a continual, instead of only a temporary 
 source of embarrassment, and expense. 
 
 'But then the Expense.' True. But in the view which I Real expense 
 
 \ . . involved in not 
 
 am endeavouring to give to the subject, the question of expense preparing our 
 is involved, — not in giving to our Screw-ships the fullest equip- the fullestser- 
 ments they can be made to carry ; but it is involved in not doing V''^' of which 
 so. The charge of expense would be involved in providing these spectively 
 ships for a scale of Services inferior to that which their real 
 capacities might enable them to perform, and totally inadequate 
 to their great cost. And it could never be urged against their 
 equipment with the fullest powers they can be invested with. 
 For instance, could the " Niger," even "heavily armed," 'as a 
 Steamer,' upon her late trials, with 14 guns, be expected to 
 maintain the character or afford the protection due from a 
 British corvette of her size, in presence of foreign Ships of her 
 own rank of 26 and 28 guns ? Would not the " Niger," thus 
 
140 THE SCREW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 weakly armed as a ship of her real capacity and size, be re- 
 duced to maintain a doubtful struggle against the 20-gun sloop 
 of other Navies ? Nay, could such a struggle be expected to 
 be even doubtful, if the '' Niger," thus armed, were to be found 
 with her machinery deranged, and only furnished with that 
 inferior proportion of sail-power she is still provided with ? 
 But the " Niger,'' fully armed according to her capacity, with 
 the assumed force of 24 guns, would be a totally different Ship 
 from the " Niger " as engaged on her late trials. She would 
 be a Ship fully prepared to maintain her character against any 
 Ships of her rank, and, when fully furnished with canvass, 
 would have little else to do than take the Sloop of any Navy 
 in tow. 
 
 And surely such a change as this would be a change 
 from loss to profit ; and specially so as these ships must 
 constitute in war or peace the chief protection to our commerce. 
 Surely if charged as an expense, this change might be justified 
 as a redemption ; for redemption it would be, and one of no 
 mean value too ; and it would be just as defensible, and upon 
 the very same grounds, as is the release of the 17,000/. worth 
 of machinery now being redeemed to effective employment by 
 the restoration of the form of the '•' Dauntless." 
 
 The superior form and qualities of the "Niger" have in- 
 duced me to select her case for this instance of illustration. 
 But neither her case nor that of others may be expected to 
 present any real difBculty, which will not shrink into most 
 manageable dimensions, before a settled intention to provide for 
 our yet future experience, by appointing each of our Screw-ships, 
 as they may come forward for employment, with the fullest 
 powers they can be made respectively to carry ; as the only 
 means of making each of them repay their cost. 
 Deviations I have already quoted the early provision of the ' Screw- 
 
 from these ori- . , ^ j.\. n -n- < i ■ . > 
 
 ginal intentions engme and the Lifting-gear,' by which alone this object of 
 vXedtLt"" complete equipment could be fulfilled, as bearing silent but 
 
CONCLUSION. 141 
 
 conclusive evidence that it was our original intention to do so. difficulties and 
 And my own conviction is that first intentions are in this g^gg_ 
 respect the best; that they are the soundest, the most pro- 
 mising, and the only easy ones to work out. Every deviation 
 from them appears in degree to have only perplexed, and con- 
 fused the whole subject, and occasioned the most painful portion 
 of our past experience. And most of all has this effect been 
 produced I believe by the unavoidable tendencies arising from 
 the indiscriminate use of one common name for two Prin- 
 ciples, which in every requisite condition, both Art and Nature 
 proclaim to be distinct. Our only safe and reasonable course 
 seems henceforth to avoid all self-imposed shackles induced by 
 a supposed common classification ; in which no element for 
 common classification exists ; and to direct our future steps towards 
 the treatment of this subject, upon the basis of its own special 
 merits. If it have no such merits, certainly it cannot be ex- 
 pected to acquire any, by a forced combination with another 
 distinct Principle ; and therefore to treat it as if it possessed 
 them, must soonest discover the cheat. But if, on the other 
 hand, the Screw be indeed a " Principle of improvement," then 
 we can only expect to reap the reward of its advantages, by 
 having a strict regard to their development alone. 
 
 I have already shown that full Sail-power can be extended The proposal of 
 1o every rank in our Screw-Fleet, upon the same Principles as comprehensive 
 govern its employment in our Sailing-ships. If these Principles fX'chto'organ- 
 should be thought worthy of being examined into, and should i^^ o" present 
 
 ° "^ and future 
 
 be ascertained to be sound ; then it may not perhaps be too Screw-Fleet, 
 much to say, that their adoption would at once decide the 
 question about ' Sail-equipment," upon terms which are identical 
 in Screw and SaiUng Fleets alike. The Screw-sloop would 
 then have the same proportion of Sail-power to her resistances, 
 as we now give to the Saihng-sloop; — the Screw -corvette the 
 same proportion as the Sailing-corvette; — and the Screw-frigate, 
 as the Saihng one. And the merits of form would then alone 
 
142 THE SCREW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 decide the differences of Sail-speed, between the several classes 
 in each Fleet. 
 
 So also the question of Armed Equipment will, I believe, 
 find its most natural and easy solution by having recourse to 
 the same sound basis for a system of permanence and order. 
 And the germs of such a system, so soon as we begin to look 
 for them, in earnest; may here be seen to spring up around us 
 as we seek. 
 
 Thus, if we take, say the " Pilot " and " Espiegle " to repre- 
 sent the ' Sailing-sloops ;' — then we have the " Plumper," and 
 " Reynard," as 'Auxiliary-sloops ;' and the "Archer," " Wasp," 
 and " Miranda," as ' Screw-sloops.' And we shall find that we 
 are able at once to complete the class — ' Sloops ' — in its three 
 several but connected ranks or orders, of ' Sloops ' with Full 
 Sail-power only ; — ' Sloops ' with Full Sail-power, and limited 
 Steam-power only ; — and ' Sloops ' with FuU Sail-power, and 
 Full Steam-power also. 
 
 So again, if we name the " Calypso " to stand for the ' Sail- 
 ing-corvettes ;' then we have the "Encounter," the "Niger," 
 the "Conflict," and the "Desperate" as 'Screw-corvettes;' — 
 the intermediate rank or order of 'Auxiliary-corvette,' remain- 
 ing to be yet filled up. Unless, indeed, the great space 
 occupied by machinery in the " Desperate," and " Conflict," 
 should prevent these two Ships from being competently armed, 
 except by replacing their present Full-powered Engines, by 
 Auxiliary ones. In which case these two Ships would take 
 position in the present vacant rank of ' Auxiliary-corvette,' 
 and we should find that we are able at once to complete the 
 class — ' Corvette ' — in its three several but connected ranks or 
 orders also. 
 
 Again, if we take the "Thetis" to represent the 'Sailing- 
 frigates' of 36 guns, then we have the "Amphion" as an 
 ' Auxiliary-frigate ;' and the " Termagant " and " Dauntless " 
 as 'Screw-frigates.' And we shall find that we are able at 
 
CONCLUSION. 143 
 
 once to complete the class — ' Frigate ' — of 36 guns, in its three 
 several but connected ranks or orders also.* 
 
 Lastly; — for it seems yet premature to bring in the Line- 
 of-Battle-ships. If we take the " Leander " to stand for the 
 ' SaiUng-frigates ' of 50 guns; then we have the "Arrogant" 
 as an 'Auxihary-frigate;' and we have the "Arrogant's" form 
 and dimensions, from which to construct, with every confidence, 
 our future ' Screw-frigates ' of 50 or even 60 guns, whenever we 
 choose to begin. And we shall find that we are able to complete 
 the — ' Frigate ' — of our largest class, in its three several ranks 
 or orders also. 
 
 Thus it may be seen that we already have before us a frame- 
 work composed of our whole Screw Force. And that this frame- 
 work but awaits the requisite time, and will, in order to be 
 arranged into a Compact System, simple, comprehensive, and 
 perfectly intelligible, to every rank, and every authority, afloat 
 or ashore. Into a System which strictly follows out the 
 guidance of first intentions ; and conducts the Screw-ship into 
 that natural position which her properties so evidently assign 
 her ; — by engrafting the powers of the Present day, upon the 
 
 * I am not aware, as I write, whether the " Termagant " can or cannot be made 
 to carry more than her present appointment of twenty-four guns within the limits of 
 her load displacement. But I am aware that the "Dauntless" is perfectly able to 
 carry many more ; and, therefore, if the ^* Termagant *' be not able, then the '* Ter- 
 magant" must be regarded as an exceptional ship, and any idea of supposed sister- 
 hood between her and the " Dauntless " may be regarded as untenable. For it 
 would not be reason to disarm one ship of the guns which she is able to carry ; for 
 the mere purpose of likening her to another ship which is unable to carry hers. 
 The " Dauntless ' was designed from the first for a Screw-frigate of twenty-eight 
 guns; 500 tons of displacement being at that time reserved for fuel; but, in com- 
 pleting her arrangements, it has been found practicable to stow but 350 tons ; 
 thereby releasing 150 tons of displacement for other equipment. Out of this over- 
 plus ; 50 tons in round numbers are found to be absorbed by under-estimated 
 weights of machinery. So that it is now ascertained, both by measurement and 
 calculation, that there are one hundred tons of spare displacement within the limits 
 of her load-draught available for increasing the armament of the " Dauntless." And 
 it is further ascertained that this spare displacement will perfectly admit of the 
 " Dauntless" being completed with thirty-six guns, extra stores, provisions, and all, 
 if thought desirable. 
 
144 THE SCREW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 time-honoured practice of the Past. We have thus in our 
 power a System, which violates the integrity of no Principle, 
 and gives offence to no honourable prejudice ; but which har- 
 monizes with the entire course of Naval education ; — Naval 
 discipline ; — and Naval feeling. Which still reserves the re- 
 ward of professional reputation, for skill in practical seaman- 
 ship ; and increases its value by enlarging its sphere, — in com- 
 bination with the powers of Steam. A system which, in opera- 
 tion, provides full development for a Principle yet young ; but 
 regulates its several powers of Steam, — Sail, — and Armament j 
 in successive stages of increase, based upon that long tried Ex- 
 perience, which it comes, — not to supplant, but to invigorate and 
 prolong. In its effect, it would appoint to each new Construction, 
 while yet under design ; a distinct position to fulfil ; — in a distinct 
 rank or order ; of one of those distinct classes, which would thus 
 compose both Screw and Saih'ng Fleets combined. Thereby 
 opening free scope for every extension, and improvement in the 
 one as well as the other; but controlling that tendency to 
 variety, which has subdivided our Paddle-Force, into almost 
 as many classes as Ships. In respect to our present Screw- 
 Fleet, it is a System which offers to provide a well-defined 
 sphere of Service for each one of its members to perform; 
 and would give renewed confidence and purpose in dealing 
 with all of them. In providing each of our present Screw- 
 ships for her appointed position, according to capacities and 
 merits ; proof would be furnished of cases to follow, and cases 
 to shun. Every experience would find a fitting application to 
 afford encouragement, or enforce warning ; — and those who 
 work, and those who direct, would find themselves mutually 
 labouring upon one common and connected system; for one 
 common and mutually understood object, of progressive ad- 
 vancement. Instead of her present hybrid prospects of being 
 neither Sailing-ship nor Steamer ; — unfurnished with the guns 
 and sails of the one ; — and unprovided for the Steam-en- 
 
CONCLUSION. 145 
 
 durance of the other; the Screw-ship would then be recognized 
 in lier own natural and intended character of combining the 
 advantages of both. And a costly Force, which is now regarded 
 with so much of anxiety, would then assume its true features of 
 Form and Power, so as to remove all apprehension of a full 
 remunerative Service for every portion of its Cost. 
 
 But I think I hear the whisper of Doubt again suggesting, ' If A practical 
 ' we do possess ships capable of being made to take rank in the sSical 
 ' several standard classes of men-of-war ; — equal to them in merit ^'>^^^' 
 ' as Sailing-ships ; — and equal in armed force ; but possessing 
 ' additionally in security in their holds, independent powers of 
 ' Steam, capable of use whenever wanted — Then unquestionably 
 ' the natural System upon which to organize a Force like this, 
 ' will be, as proposed, to engraft them upon the already 
 ' established Classes of the Navy. But is the Screw-ship in- 
 ' deed the double-powered Ship which is thus described ?' Very 
 good. Try whether she be so or not ; and thus let there be 
 no longer any doubt about it ; for this question is surely too 
 important to remain a subject of doubt any longer than is 
 needful. We know not to what it yet may lead ; but we do know 
 the extent of Public property embarked in it already. But in 
 providing for such a trial, it is essential that there should be 
 no shrinking before difficulties which are not real; and that 
 there should be no retention of any real difficulties, which are 
 capable of removal. The Screw-ship will I believe be found 
 to require no favour, if subjected to such a trial ; but in common 
 with every thing thus subjected to decisive test, it is necessary 
 that she should have Fair-play. There should be a frank 
 intention to try this question out in full, if at all; and to 
 decide it, not by reasoning, but by sufficient and conclusive 
 facts. The force of twenty-three ships commenced in 1845, 
 has now increased to forty; and every full-powered Screw- 
 ship then laid down, was then intended and believed to be able 
 to fulfil the double-powered character I have described. As 
 
J46 THE SCREW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 yet, however, this ability has been ascertained in no one 
 single instance ; neither as I write is there one single instance 
 in which it can be said that a full-powered Screw-ship has 
 been prepared ; — or is being prepared ; — with the view to ascer- 
 tain it. There is no one single full-powered Screw-ship either 
 prepared, or in course of being prepared, for an equipment 
 with the full proportionate Sail-power of any similar classed 
 Sailing-ship ; together with the fullest armament of guns whidi 
 she is capable of being made to carry. Many months of this 
 last summer were occupied in Trials which were certainly very 
 valuable, because they proved the superior propelling powers 
 of the Screw, when applied under equally favourable circum- 
 stances, both in more ordinary Services and in Towing. But 
 as regards the superior "man-of-war" powers which the Screw- 
 ship may be capable to exhibit ; these Trials were not of a 
 nature to throw practical and conclusive light upon this part of 
 the subject at all. Yet this was the paramount purpose 
 of the construction of them all ; and according as they shall fail 
 or succeed in fulfilling that purpose, so must their introduction 
 be approved of or condemned. The question then yet waits 
 for decision— " Can we, or can we not, combine in one ship, 
 " effectively for every Service of Peace or War ; Full powers of 
 " sail ; Full powers of steam, and a Full armament of guns ? " 
 And the decision of this question is not only all-important as 
 affecting the purpose of our present Screw-ships ; but it is difficult 
 not to see that it is one which affects also every class of Ship, now 
 under construction or design for the Navy, from at least our first- 
 class frigates downwards. Other nations appear disposed to 
 regard with more confidence than we do, the nature of this 
 decision ; and seem working out its Success with more apparent 
 certainty of securing it. And should they succeed in showing 
 that the Screw-ship is indeed the double-powered ship which I 
 have described, and which she was always intended to be ; then 
 no sixty-gun, nor any other frigate, however nobly manned, or 
 
CONCLUSION. 147 
 
 well commanded ; — if provided with Sail-power only, could 
 evade an action with a ship of equal force, provided with Steam- 
 power also ; and that under circumstances of such disadvantage, 
 as must almost ensure her capture. And in the case of such a 
 struggle, there could be no resort to the ultimate effort to reduce 
 inequality of circumstances by ' boarding ;' because the power 
 to 'board;' and the time to 'board;' must be entirely in the 
 choice of the ship with Steam. 
 
 Might it not then be well to bring to issue a decision which by a direct 
 so manifestly affects the whole character and mode of our the services of 
 maritime strength? And might not this decision be arrived ^fth f ji'^'qum. 
 at by the adoption of some such course as that with the terms ™«n^ ^ origm- 
 
 •' * _ ally intenaed. 
 
 of which I now bring this entire subject to a close ? 
 
 The services of the " Arrogant " fully elicited, in every 
 important and practical circumstance, might confidently be 
 taken to determine such portion of the question as regards the 
 limited equipment with Steam-power of ' Auxiliaries.' But 
 Full-powered Services, can only be performed by Full-powered 
 Ships. And the value of our Screw-ships can therefore be 
 determined, by the Services of our Screw-ships alone. There- 
 fore might not some one favourable selection be made out of 
 each of the two larger Classes of these ships, and the task of 
 the decision be laid on these two vessels, after a full and fitting 
 preparation for it ? 
 
 If so, then, for the following reasons, the "Encounter" might 
 perhaps be advantageously named to decide the man-of-war 
 value of the Screw-corvette. Her plan of engines is tried, and 
 is very promising ; her general arrangements have been better 
 cared-for than those of most, and would require least change. 
 Her form, like that of the " Niger," is unexceptionable. 
 She is rather larger than the " Niger," and within four feet 
 as long ; and, therefore, as was assumed in treating of the 
 " Niger's " case, she is equally as able to be pierced for eleven, 
 instead of six guns on each broadside ; — equally as able as the 
 
 h2 
 
148 THE SCREW-FLEET OF THE NAVY. 
 
 " Niger"' to be made a powerful and effective Screw-corvette 
 of Twenty-four guns. A very large portion of the " Encoun- 
 ter's " holds is now surrendered to what is termed a ' troop- 
 deck;' and if this waste space were restored to the holds 
 whence it was taken ; ample room might be found for the 
 stowage of every increased store required by her increased 
 guns; and for an increased supply of fuel to boot. The 
 " Encounter's " spread of canvass now amounts to but 11,270 
 feet ; but there seems no reason why she might not be provided 
 with the 14,500 feet of canvass, which corvette experience 
 assigns as her right proportion ; always having regard that its 
 " moment of inclination," or in other words, its inclining power, 
 should be suited to her Stability of Form. 
 
 The " Dauntless " might be taken to decide the man-of- 
 war value of the Screw-Frigate, perhaps for this general 
 reason, that she is the most favourable ship for such a purpose, 
 of the only two Screw-Frigates which at present we possess. 
 I have already shown that she is capable of being equipped 
 with a fiiU armament of guns ; and that she possesses displace- 
 ment enough within the limits of her load-draught to admit of 
 the requisite and accompanying increase in stores and provi- 
 sions. And I have before shown in detail how she might 
 be provided with the full spread of 21,000 feet of canvass, 
 which Frigate experience assigns as her full proportion ; and 
 that it admits of being appointed with a " moment of inclina- 
 tion '' completely adapted to her Stability of Form. 
 
 Thus equipped, both Ships might be permitted at first to 
 prove, by themselves, the fitness of their appointments ; and 
 when found fit, then these appointments might be regarded as 
 standard Establishments for each respective Class. 
 
 Thus fitly prepared, the Sailing merits of each might first 
 be subjected to severe and decisive competition in all weathers 
 with other Sailing-ships ; and so soon as their true character 
 in this important respect should have been satisfactorily esta- 
 
CONCLUSION. 149 
 
 Wished, then there might be found for them some fitting 
 Service which should ehcit their qualities as ships of war, com- 
 bining the double capacity of ' Sailing-ships' and 'Steamers.' 
 In the performance of such service they might be kept (the 
 harder the better) for a sufficient number of months to ensure 
 indisputable proof of their powers. And then, from an exact 
 registry of every duty performed ; and every expense incurred 
 in performing it ; a final result might be arrived at perhaps 
 in some such way as this. 
 
 The Services and expenses of each Ship under Sail only ; 
 might be compared with the Services and expenses of similar 
 classed Sailing-ships. 
 
 The Services and expenses of each Ship under Steam only ; 
 might be compared with the Services and expenses of similar 
 powered ' Steamers.' 
 
 The Services and expenses of each Ship under Sail only ; 
 might be compared with the Services and expenses under Sail 
 only of similar powered ' Steamers.' 
 
 And lastly, the services and expenses of each Ship under 
 the combined powers of Steam and Sail ; might be compared 
 with the Services and expenses of similar powered ' Steamers ' 
 when under these same combined powers also. 
 
 If comparisons such as these should be struck in each case 
 for precisely similar periods ; and, as near as practicable, gun for 
 gun; force for force; power for power; then, I venture to submit 
 that evidence of such a nature as this, might confidently be 
 expected to decide, without further question, whether the 
 Screw-ship can, or cannot fulfil her intended character as a full- 
 armed British man-of-war, invested with Full and united 
 powers, of Steam and Sail, Then, we should have gleaned an 
 experience which might safely guide us through those extensive 
 changes which the Screw, even now, is silently but surely 
 working. And then all anxious doubt would finally be re- 
 moved, as to whether so large an amount of Pubhc property 
 
150 THE SCREW-FLEET OP THE NAVY. 
 
 has indeed been wisely embarked in securing the permanent 
 and valuable improvements, held out by a new Principle; or 
 whether it has been inconsiderately ventured on the mere 
 modification of an old one. 
 
 I have now to close these pages with an act of grateful 
 duty, in tendering my sincere acknowledgments to the many 
 friends who so long and liberally have contributed to their 
 chief value, by supplying the views and information they 
 contain. I have ever pleaded for such information with the 
 avowed object of turning it to public use, and now I have ful- 
 filled my pledge. — With what advantage it must be for them- 
 selves and others to decide. But if I have assisted in giving 
 a clearer view, or forming a juster estimate of a Principle 
 which seems destined to effect afloat, what the Locomotive 
 effects ashore ; — a more rapid intercommunication of " Mail " 
 and " Merchandise," — not separate, but combined, — I shall not 
 have to regret my many hours of anxious thought and labour 
 thrown away. 
 
 PRINTED BY \Y. CLOWES AND SONS, STAMrORD STREET. 
 
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