The Organisation of the Royal Naval Artillery Volunteers Explained

by Earl Thomas Brassey Brassey

The uniform approved for the officers resembles generally that worn by officers of the Naval Reserve, silver being substituted for gold lace.

The officers of the corps.

The principle upon which the Volunteers should be officered has been one of the most frequent subjects of discussion among those who have associated themselves with the movement from the commencement, and who have been provisionally enrolled, with the sanction of the Admiralty, in anticipation of the passing of the Act of Parliament of last year.

A desire has been expressed that no officers should be appointed to the corps, but that the Volunteers should serve only under direct naval command. Practically, the desire, so strongly felt, has been fulfilled in the arrangements which have actually been made.

Whenever called upon to serve afloat, or when embarked for the purpose of training, the Volunteers will be under the command of the officer, commanding the ship, in which they may be. When embarked for their first cruise in the autumn of the present year, the arrangements were, of necessity, experimental and provisional. There was a natural desire on the part of the officer commanding the 'Foam' to meet the wishes of the Volunteers themselves in every possible way, consistent with the efficient performance of the service, and the carrying on of the drills and exercises required. The same considerate spirit will doubtless prevail on all future occasions; but the Volunteers, who make themselves acquainted with the regulations, will clearly perceive that, whenever they embark, they place themselves under direct naval authority; and that, when afloat, their own officers are never to assume any naval command or authority whatever, unless ordered to do so by their superior naval officers.

The officers of the Volunteers will do their utmost to assist the naval officers to preserve discipline. They may, if they think fit, set an example to their men by taking an active part in all the duties and manual exercises. They may fall in at quarters, and take any number at the gun. In short, they may become, as much as they please, active working seamen and efficient practical gunners. It is for them to use their own discretion in determining how much or how little they shall participate in the manual labour, involved in carrying out the drills and exercises ordered by the naval officers in command.

When at drill, as it has already been pointed out, the officer-instructor will superintend the instruction of the Volunteers, and he will be responsible that all exercises are properly carried out, in accordance with the regulations from time to time laid down for the instruction of the Royal Navy. It will thus be evident that the paramount and undivided authority of the naval officers over the Volunteers when afloat, and the superior responsibility of the officer of instruction when the Volunteers are at drill, so largely overshadow the authority of the officers of the Royal Naval Artillery Volunteers in all matters, excepting those which relate to discipline and the civil administration and organisation of the corps, that it could not reasonably be expected that retired naval officers of rank should volunteer to become battery officers in the Royal Naval Artillery Volunteer Corps. Naval officers of less exalted rank do not often retire, if they have a great zeal for the service. Some exceptions, however, there must be to this general rule; and it is probable that a certain number of retired officers from the junior ranks of the Navy will, hereafter, kindly offer their services to command brigades or batteries in the ports or districts, in which they may happen to reside. The Volunteers will at all times feel a pride in availing themselves of such opportunities of acting under officers, who have received a high professional training in Her Majesty's naval service.

While the effect of the arrangements, which have been described, necessarily limits the sphere of the officers of the Royal Naval Artillery Volunteers, their services, in several important points, are not the less essential. It is to them that the Admiralty must look for the exercise of their personal influence, in inducing recruits to join their respective brigades and batteries; and their moral influence will be the principal security for the maintenance of good discipline in a force composed exclusively of Volunteers. Although, under the regulations, no fixed standard of efficiency is expressly required in an officer of the Royal Naval Artillery Volunteer force, those among them, who can command sufficient leisure for the purpose, will readily appreciate how excellent an effect must be produced by the personal example of an officer, who will take pains to make himself acquainted with the drills and exercises, in which the men under his command are instructed. He will have the opportunity of obtaining the same certificate of proficiency, which is given to those officers of the Naval Reserve, who become qualified to drill the seamen of the reserve at the great guns, and in the small arm exercises.

With the view of enlisting, in support of the Naval Volunteer movement, the potent influences which are derived from the esprit de corps, wherever it may reasonably and prudently be encouraged, it is proposed to associate certain batteries in the London brigade with some of the principal rowing and Corinthian yacht clubs on the Thames, and to give commissions to any gentlemen, otherwise eligible, who are instrumental in raising a full battery of Naval Volunteers.

The rowing and Corinthian yacht clubs.