The Memoirs of Admiral Lord Beresford
learned to heave the lead from the chains of the _Eurydice_.
{7}
In addition to the ordinary school curriculum on board the _Britannia_,
the cadets were taught seamanship, gunnery and navigation. Book-work
did not interest me, but I took great pains to become proficient in
seamanship, in which I always secured a high place.
A cadet entering the _Britannia_ under 14 years of age, would be
rejected from the Service if he failed to pass the fourth quarterly
examination after his entrance. Having entered the _Britannia_ in
December, 1859, I was sent to sea in March, 1861. I was very happy
during my time in the _Britannia_. Out of school time, we did a great
deal of boat-pulling. My boat was called the _Gazelle_. I remember
that one day, when I borrowed a private boat to put off to the
_Gazelle_, my comrades pushed me out into the stream, and I drifted out
to Spithead, without oars. There was nothing in the boat but a
painter, which I considered it to be my duty neatly to coil down. Then
I sat still and waited until a boat came to fetch me.
Seamanship was taught by the use of models, and sail-drill was taught
upon the mizen-mast. I remember being haunted by a doubt lest the
handling of small models, and going aloft in a stationary ship, might
not enable me to practise the knowledge thus acquired when I came to
deal with the real full-size objects and to go aloft in a ship at sea.
My prevision was largely justified; and when I came to command a ship,
I made the youngsters learn their business by handling real things and
not the models of them. For if anything goes wrong while teaching a
youngster, for instance, to lay out a 6-ton anchor upon a model, he
puts it right with his finger and thumb and thinks he can do the same
with the real anchor.
The captain of the _Britannia_ was Robert Harris, to whom the Service
owes the inestimable benefit of cadet training ships. The first
lieutenant was George S. Nares (now Vice-Admiral Sir George S. Nares,
K.C.B.). He commanded the _Challenger_ in her voyage of scientific
discovery of 1872, during which he was recalled to proceed {8} upon his
celebrated voyage of Arctic exploration. Another lieutenant was
William H. Heaton, whose long whiskers afforded the cadets much
innocent amusement. On a windy day his whiskers used to stream
backwards over his shoulders. Lieutenant Heaton chose to wear his
stripes running longitudinally up his arm, a peculiarity which
exemplifies the prevailing latitude with regard to uniform. There was
no rule prescribing the pattern of cap or great-coat worn in the
Service. Officers might wear the mohair band and badge on any kind of
cap that took their fancy. Some of them used to transfer plain clothes
buttons to a uniform coat or greatcoat, if they were going ashore, for
the sake of economy; for we were nearly all poor in those days. The
chaplain and naval instructor was the Rev. Robert M. Inskip.
My chest on board the _Britannia_ stood between the chests of poor
"Andy" Wauchope and Henry John Thoroton Hildyard. Both subsequently
left the Navy for the Army. The late Major-General Andrew Gilbert
Wauchope, D.S.O., was fatally wounded at Magersfontein during the South
African war. General Sir Henry J. T. Hildyard, G.C.B., K.C.B., retired
in 1911, after long and distinguished service. I was strongly inclined
to follow the example of my comrades and to join the Army; and I have
since occasionally regretted that I remained in the Navy, in which
Service there is less opportunity for attaining the highest rank.
I was raised to the rank of "captain" in the _Britannia_; but I regret
to say that my enjoyment of that dignity was singularly brief, for I
was disrated upon the same day, even before I had time to put on the
stripe. For my delight at my promotion so exhilarated me, that I
forgot to resist the temptation to empty a bread-barge upon the head of
the old master-at-arms as he was coming up the hatchway, and the
spectacle was so amusing that I stayed to laugh at it.
When I entered the Service, the system of training {9} young seamen, as
well as cadets, was in operation. To Sir James Graham, First Lord of
the Admiralty, is due the credit of introducing the training of seamen.
In 1854, he caused the _Illustrious_, two-decker, to be commissioned
for that purpose, under the command of Captain Robert Harris. The fact
was that as sails gave place to steam and as the science of gunnery
progressed, it became necessary to enter seamen as boys and to train
them for continuous service. For some time the short service and long
service systems were concurrent. When I went to sea, captains still
entered men direct from the merchant service, and very good seamen they
were. They were engaged for a commission, at the end of which they
could re-engage or not as they pleased. But in the meantime, under the
admirable administration of Captain Harris, "Jimmy Graham's novices,"
as they were called, earned an excellent reputation in the Fleet; and
continuous service gradually replaced intermittent service. In the
continuous service system resided our chief superiority over foreign
Navies. The objection to it on the part of the Government was (and is)
the increasing permanent charge of pensions. But in the interests of
the Service and of the country, it cannot be too clearly understood
that the system is well worth the cost, and that the revival of the
short service system is profoundly to be regretted.
NOTE
H.M.S. _Britannia_.--She was the seventh ship of her name. She was
launched at Plymouth in 1820, was pierced for 120 guns, and her
complement was 900 men. Her length, beam and draught were 205 feet, 53
feet and 18 feet respectively. In the Crimean war, she landed 200 men
as part of the naval brigade which assisted the Army at the siege of
Sevastopol, and took part in the bombardment of that town. She was
commissioned on 1st January, 1859, by Captain Robert Harris, as a
training ship for cadets. {10} The _Britannia_ was stationed first in
Portsmouth Harbour, then at Dartmouth. She was broken up in 1869. The
memory of Captain Robert Harris deserves to be held in high honour.
Vice-Admiral Sir William Fanshawe Martin, who himself achieved great
reforms in the discipline of the Fleet, while in command of the
Mediterranean Fleet, wrote to Captain Harris under date 18th January,
1861, "There is no man in England whose opportunity of doing good to
our country for ages to come is greater than yours; and assuredly the
Navy is greatly your debtor." (_The Story of the Britannia_, by
Commander E. P. Statham, R.N. Cassell.)
The successor of the _Britannia_ in which Lord Charles Beresford
received his training, the eighth of her name, known and remembered
with affection by all naval officers save the new generation, lay at
Dartmouth for more than forty years, when her functions were
transferred to the colleges on shore. (_The King's Ships_, by H. S.
Lecky, Lieut. R. N. Muirhead. Vol. 1.)
{11}
CHAPTER III
THE SHIP OF HAPPIEST MEMORY
On the 25th of March, 1861, I was appointed naval cadet in the
_Marlborough_. As I climbed up her side by the hand-rungs, while my
chest was being hoisted in over all, I perceived two huge men looking
down upon me, and I heard one say to the other:--
"That white-faced little beggar ain't long for this world, Dick."
The speaker was John Glanville (called Clamfy Glanville), boatswain's
mate (of whom more anon), and he addressed this lugubrious remark to
Dicky Horne, the quartermaster, a very fat man. It was a far from
encouraging welcome to the sea; but the fact was that I had been ill,
and was feeling very cold as I climbed up the side of the ship. At
first, I was much disappointed at having been sent to a large ship, for
we youngsters had a notion that there were more freedom and
independence in a small ship; and besides, I wanted to go to China.
But I went to China all in good time.
The _Marlborough_ was the flagship of the Mediterranean station. She
was a wooden line of battleship, three-decker, launched in 1835, 4000
tons burthen old measure, 6390 displacement new measure, fitted with
single screw horizontal Maudslay engines. The length of her gundeck
was 245 feet 6 inches, her extreme beam was 61 feet, her maximum
draught was 26 feet. Her complement was 950, and she always carried
100 or more supernumeraries. She was pierced for 131 guns and she
carried 121 guns. She was {12} one of the first ships to be fitted
with wire lower rigging. In the _Marlborough_ the old 24-inch hemp
cable was used for laying out anchor at drill. It was the same class
of cable as that which was used in Nelson's time; it was superseded by
the chain cable.
The vice-admiral in command of the Mediterranean station was Sir
William Fanshawe Martin (called "Fly" Martin); the captain, William H.
Stewart; the commander, Thomas Brandreth: three of the finest officers
that ever lived. The captain of the Fleet was Rear-Admiral Sydney C.
Dacres, C.B. His duties were those of what we should now call a chief
of staff. The office was subsequently abolished; and it was always my
desire to see it restored.
Ships in those days were manned according to the number of guns they
carried. The theory was that if the boats' crews were absent from the
ship, there should always be sufficient men on board to work the sails
and the guns. The watch-bills were made out upon this principle, the
men being distributed among what were called the "parts of the ship."
In the case of a newly commissioned ship, the making out of the
watch-bills and assigning his place to each man, was the first thing to
be done. It was no small task, especially as no printed forms were
supplied for the purpose. The watch-bills were ruled and entered by
the officers on paper supplied by themselves, and were arranged upon
the tradition handed down for centuries. Even the signalmen supplied
their own pencils and paper. Each ship made its own arrangement. It
was not until 1860 that uniform watch-bills, quarter-bills and
station-bills were instituted.
The men were classed in the following categories, each "part of the
ship" being divided into port watch and starboard watch.
The Forecastlemen
The Foretopmen
The Maintopmen
The Mizentopmen
The Gunners
{13}
The Afterguard
The Royal Marines
The Idlers
The Forecastlemen were most experienced seamen. They wore their caps a
little differently from the others. They manned the foreyard, and
worked the foresail, staysail, jib, flying jib, jibboom, flying jibboom
and lower studdingsails.
The Foretopmen worked the foretopsail, foretopgallant and foreroyal
yards, foretopgallantmast, foretopmast and topgallant studding-sails.
The Maintopmen worked the maintopsail, maintopgallant and main-royal
yards and maintopgallantmast, maintopmast and topgallant studding-sails.
The Mizentopmen worked the mizentopsail, mizentopgallant and
mizen-royal yards, and mizentopgallantmast, mizentopmast and
mizencourse (if there was one), also the driver.
The upper-yard men were the smartest in the ship, whose character
largely depended upon them.
The Gunners, assisted by the Afterguard, worked the mainsail and
mainyard. These were generally old and steady men, who were not very
quick aloft. The gunners were also responsible for the care and
maintenance of the gun gear, side tackles, train tackles and the
ammunition. The senior warrant officer was the gunner.
There were only three warrant officers:--gunner, boatswain and
carpenter.
The Royal Marines were divided between fore and aft, working on
forecastle and quarterdeck. I remember seeing a detachment of Marines,