Warships and their story

by R. A. Fletcher

THE “CORNWALLIS,” 1812.

From a Model in the Museum of the Royal United Service Institution.

The defeat of the Danes at Copenhagen, the battle of the Nile, the “glorious first of June,” the battle of Trafalgar, the duels of the American War, and the battle of Navarino, united to give a splendid termination to the career of the wooden warship as a fighting unit. That of Trafalgar was the last in which great fleets of the best “wooden walls” that human skill could devise opposed each other in manœuvre and counter-manœuvre. That of Navarino, fought in a bay, almost in a dead calm, with the ships hardly moving and some even at anchor, was the last conflict in the world’s history in which the wooden battleships of the East and the West lay alongside each other and blazed away with every available weapon at a range so close at times that they could not possibly miss.

Constructionally, wooden battleships had about attained the limit of size. Already they revealed unmistakable signs of longitudinal weakness, and it had been a problem, which the builders up to that time had been unable to solve, how to stiffen the hulls so that they would withstand the hogging and sagging strains. It was not until Sir Robert Seppings introduced his system of ship construction that the difficulty was overcome, but the increase in the deadweight of the ship was great. Still, had it not been for his system it would have been impossible to construct some of the later vessels which left the ways before steam was introduced and iron was adopted for ship construction. Very few vessels were built larger than those which fought in Trafalgar Bay, though several were designed. The improvements made were rather in the form of the underbody in order to increase the speed and sea-going qualities of the ships. One of the largest old-style battleships ever proposed was the Duke of Kent, which was to have been a four-decker carrying one hundred and seventy guns, and having a tonnage of 3,700. She was to have been given a length of 221 feet 6 inches on the gun-deck, an extreme breadth of 64 feet, and a depth of hold of 26 feet. On the lower deck she was to have had thirty-six 32-pounders, and a similar complement on the lower middle deck; thirty-six 24-pounders on the middle deck; thirty-eight 18-pounders on the upper deck; ten 12-pounders and six 32-pounder carronades on the quarter-deck; and four 12-pounders and four 32-pounder carronades on the forecastle. Though she never progressed beyond the paper stage, these particulars are interesting as showing what the naval architects of a hundred years ago were prepared to design.

The Queen of one hundred and ten guns, the first three-decker launched after Queen Victoria’s accession, the Vernon of fifty guns, and Pique of forty guns, and others of various classes were designed by Sir W. Symonds, who, during his fifteen years’ surveyorship to the Admiralty, was responsible for no fewer than one hundred and eighty vessels. The finer lines he gave them increased their speed, and they were broader, loftier, and roomier between decks than their predecessors, and were better ships all round. They may be regarded as embodying the highest degree of excellence to which the sailing wooden warship attained.

Reference has been made to the guns used on shipboard at various times, and to the establishment of dimensions or rates to be observed in building the ships employed in the British Navy. The guns about to be described were used in all navies; the establishments referred to are peculiar to the British Navy, though the vessels themselves differed but little from those belonging to other nations. It must also be remembered that though the names of the guns were retained through century after century, very little is known of the earliest weapons, and that their names came to be applied to guns which had little in common.

The establishments, as they were called, were adopted to secure uniformity in types, and it is well to bear these details in mind, or at least to refer to them, in studying the history of the achievements of the British Navy in order that an approximately correct idea may be obtained of the ships and weapons used by and against Great Britain which have had so great an influence on the world’s history.

The principal establishments were ordered in 1677, 1691, 1706, 1719, and 1745, and certain proposals were also made in 1733 and 1741, which were not of quite so far-reaching a character as the others. The establishment of 1745 was not adhered to for many years, and there has been no cut-and-dried establishment since, the requirements of modern warfare and the inventiveness of all nations having militated against adherence to a rigid standard. Ships of one hundred guns were in length on the gun-deck in 1677, 165 feet; in 1719, 174 feet; in 1745, 178 feet; their extreme breadth was 46 feet in 1677, and 51 feet in 1745, and the burthen increased from 1,550 tons in the first-named year, to 2,000 in the last. The ships of ninety guns had lengths on the gun-deck of 158 feet, 164 feet, and 170 feet in the three years respectively; their extreme breadth was 44 feet, 47 feet 2 inches, and 48 feet 6 inches, and their tonnage 1,307, 1,569, and 1,730 tons. The three-deckers of eighty guns first appear in the 1691 establishment; they were 156 feet on the gun-deck, 158 feet in 1719, and 165 feet in 1745; their extreme breadths at the three dates were 41 feet, 44 feet 6 inches, and 47 feet, and their burthens 1,100, 1,350, and 1,585 tons. Seventy-gun ships increased from 150 feet in length in 1677, to 160 feet in 1745, their breadth from 39 feet 8 inches to 45 feet, and their burthens from 1,013 tons to 1,414 tons. Ships of sixty guns were 144 feet in length in 1691, and 150 feet in 1745, with respective breadths of 37 feet 6 inches, and 42 feet 8 inches, and tonnages of 900 and 1,191 tons. Fifty-gun ships appear in the ratings of 1706 with a length of 130 feet, and in 1745 of 144 feet; then-respective breadths being 38 feet and 41 feet, and tonnages 704 and 1,052 tons. In the same year also, 40-gun ships are recorded with a length of 118 feet, an extreme breadth of 32 feet, and a tonnage of 531 tons; these dimensions had risen in 1745 to 133 feet, 37 feet 6 inches, and 814 tons. Ships of twenty guns were rated in 1719 with a length of 106 feet, breadth 28 feet 4 inches, and tonnage 374; increased by 1745 to 113 feet, 32 feet, and 508 tons.

In regard to their complements, a 100-gun ship in 1677 carried seven hundred and eighty men; in 1733, eight hundred and fifty; and in 1805, eight hundred and thirty-seven men. Ships of ninety and ninety-eight guns had, in 1677, six hundred and sixty men; in 1706, six hundred and eighty men; in 1733, seven hundred and fifty men; and in 1805, seven hundred and thirty-eight men. An 80-gun ship carried in 1692, four hundred and ninety men; in 1706, five hundred and twenty; in 1733, six hundred; in 1745, six hundred and fifty; and in 1805, seven hundred and nineteen men. A 74-gun large class ship had in 1762, six hundred and fifty men; and in 1805, ten less; a 74-gun common class ship had, in 1745, six hundred men; in 1762, six hundred and fifty men; in 1783, six hundred; and in 1805, five hundred and ninety men. A 70-gun ship had in 1677, four hundred and sixty men; in 1706, four hundred and forty; in 1733, four hundred and eighty; and in 1745, five hundred and twenty men. A 64-gun ship in 1745 had four hundred and seventy men; in 1762, five hundred; and in 1805, four hundred and ninety-one men. A 60-gun ship had in 1692, three hundred and fifty-five men; in 1706, three hundred and sixty-five men; in 1733, four hundred; and in 1745, four hundred and twenty. A 50-gun ship had in 1706, two hundred and eighty men; in 1733, three hundred; in 1745, three hundred and fifty; and in 1805, three hundred and forty-three. A 44-gun ship carried in 1733, two hundred and fifty men; in 1745, two hundred and eighty; in 1783, three hundred men; and in 1805, two hundred and ninety-four men.

Very little indeed is known of the earliest types of firearms carried afloat. The crudeness of the methods of manufacture, and the absence of any standard for pattern or size, left the makers free to produce whatever weapons they fancied. The Christopher of the Tower, in June, 1338, is said to have had three iron cannon with five iron chambers. The guns were breechloaders, and the chambers contained the charge and perhaps the projectile. She also had a hand-gun, which, though fired from the shoulder, had the barrel supported by a rest standing on the deck, after the manner of the hand-guns in use ashore. The Mary of the Tower was equipped with an iron cannon provided with two chambers, and a brass gun with one chamber. None of the weapons yet discovered show how the chambers were fastened in the guns of this period. It is known that they fitted loosely and that the chambers could be fired, if necessary, without the guns.