Warships and their story

by R. A. Fletcher

“Happy is the nation that has no precedents,” was the sententious comment of an American officer.

CHAPTER V

IRON SHIPS OF WAR; FROM THE INTRODUCTION OF IRON ARMOUR
TO BROADSIDE AND TURRET SHIPS

When the Crimean War broke out, Great Britain and France shared the naval leadership of the world. Nearly all the other nations had warships of one kind or another, but the finest specimens were to be found in the fleets of those two powers. They included the Duke of Wellington, fitted with screw engines of 700 h.p. and carrying one hundred and thirty-one guns; the Agamemnon, of 600 h.p. and ninety-one guns; and the frigate Shannon, of 600 h.p. and fifty-one guns, to mention three of the best examples of their classes.

Russia had some powerful vessels, including a few steam warships, but her naval resources were not equal to those of either of the allies. The French and English naval reviews in 1853 and 1854 were instructive as showing the improvements which had been effected in the preceding fifteen or twenty years. The screw propeller was so advantageous a method of propulsion that the conversion of sailing vessels into steamers went on apace in all the navies of Europe, and the United States, which usually did not at that time trouble about European naval developments, caught the infection and not only built steam frigates, but transformed some of its smaller vessels also to augment the steam warships it had already found necessary for its operations in the Mexican Gulf, the West Indies, and elsewhere. The frigate was a favourite type of ship with the Americans, and whether in the sailing days or after the adoption of steam for warships, the American frigates were equal to those to be found anywhere.

The naval force which went to the Crimea was largely steam-driven. The Battle of Sinope, in November, 1853, in which the Russians annihilated a Turkish fleet, proved alike the superiority of a steam war fleet over a sailing fleet, and, incidentally, the range and power of the Russian guns. The Russian squadron was more powerful in every way, but its great superiority lay in its heavy artillery; all the Russian ships of the line carried smooth-bore guns which could fire shells, and the shells, exploding, set fire to and demolished the Turks in a few minutes. This demonstration of the effectiveness of the Muscovite weapons showed the allies for what they ought to be prepared when the expected war broke out; but the Russians knew that in fighting capacity their fleets were no match for the British and French fleets, so their vessels were kept under the protection of the Russian forts, and for the most part destroyed a few at a time as the war went on. The Russians are not to be blamed for shirking a naval battle, for the British and French were the greatest naval forces in the world, splendidly equipped and ready for the fray; whereas the Russians do not take kindly to naval warfare—as events half a century later showed. Many of the Russian ships were hastily equipped; it was currently reported in this country that some of them were engined with converted railway locomotives. All the Russian ships, however, were not of this type. Some were built on the Thames, among the number being the paddle frigate Vladimir, which gave a good account of herself in more than one engagement. She was a wooden vessel, and at the time of her construction in 1848, was considered to display a remarkable amount of symmetry of form, and to be of very considerable magnitude. Her length between perpendiculars was 200 feet, and her burthen 1,200 tons. She carried two 10-inch pivot guns, and four 8-inch guns mounted on sliding carriages.

H.M.S. “CENTAUR,” “BULLDOG” AND “IMPERIEUSE” ENGAGED WITH SIX
RUSSIAN GUNBOATS OFF CRONSTADT, 1855.

SECTIONAL MODEL OF RUSSIAN MAN-OF-WAR, 1854, IN THE MUSEUM OF
THE ROYAL UNITED SERVICE INSTITUTION.