Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 17.djvu/308

296 NAVY In the same year the queen referred to the prince of Denmark, then lord high admiral, an address from the House of Lords, relating to the three following points : (1) the most effectual means for manning the fleet; (2) the encouragement and increase of the number of seamen ; (3) the restoring and preserving the discipline of the navy. His royal highness submitted these points to such of the flag-officers and other commanders as could be assembled, who made a report, recommending (1) that a general register should be kept of all seafaring men in England and Ireland, and that all marines qualified to act as sea men should be discharged from the army; and (2) that not fewer than 20,000 seamen should be kept in employ in time of peace. With regard to the discipline of the navy, they observed that, no particular defect being specified, they could pronounce no opinion on that head. Reserve. Reserve. In addition to the seamen and marines borne on the strength of the navy, there are four lines of reserves at the disposal of the Admiralty : the coastguard, the seaman pensioner reserve, the royal naval reserve, and the royal naval artillery volunteers. To qualify a seaman for admission to the coastguard he must be under thirty-seven years of age, have completed eight years con tinuous service in man s rating, or such period as the lords com missioners of the Admiralty may from time to time direct, be either a seaman gunner or trained man, be in possession of at least one good conduct badge, and be recommended by his captain. Petty officers and seamen of Her Majesty s navy, on being pen sioned for length of service, are eligible for enrolment in the seaman pensioner reserve provided they are either seamen gunners or trained men, and are under forty-five years of age. Men in the seaman pensioner reserve are required to undergo fourteen days training annually, and on attaining the age of fifty they are granted the Greenwich Hospital age pension and exempted from further drill, provided they have attended drill every year, and not less than six periods of such drill. The royal naval reserve comprises those officers and men of the mercantile marine and fishermen who are willing, in consideration of a small retaining salary, to undergo each year a certain number of days training on board a ship of war or at a naval reserve battery. The regulations in force for the appointment of officers to the royal naval reserve are published in each issue of the Navy List. The men are divided into three classes. (1) For enrolment in the first class a man must be under thirty years of age, and show proof of at least eight years sea service in foreign-going or regular coasting vessels within the ten years immediately preceding his application, and must have obtained and held the rating of A.B. three years prior to the expiration of such service, or have completed his indentures as an apprentice for a term of not less than four years, one year of which has been served in foreign-going or regular coasting vessels. Men who have been discharged from the royal navy as able seamen with good characters may be enrolled in the reserve if they are physically fit, provided they do not exceed thirty- five years of age. (2) Candidates for enrolment in the second class reserve must not be under nineteen nor above thirty years of age, and must have followed a seafaring life either in foreign-going, coasting, fishing, or other vessels for three years, of which six months at least must have been as ordinary seaman ; they must know the compass, and be able to steer and to pull a good oar. (3) Boys who have been eighteen months under training in a mercantile training ship are eligible for enrolment in the third class reserve at the age of sixteen, provided they are under engagement to join a merchant ship for sea service, are physically and mentally fit, and can show satisfactory proficiency in gunnery drills, as well as in certain elementary subjects connected with navigation and seamanship. They are eligible for promotion to the second class at the age of nineteen provided they have served six months at sea, and afterwards to the first-class reserve when in all respects qualified as above. Every enrolment in the royal naval reserve is for a period of five years, and on promotion from a lower to a higher class the man is required to re-enrol. The force was originated in 1859, and the officers and men are liable to be called out for general service in the fleet in the event of war. The royal naval artillery volunteers are enrolled under conditions somewhat akin to those attaching to enrolment in volunteer regiments. Brigades of this force have been formed -at London, Liverpool, and Bristol, with batteries at Brighton, Hastings, Southport, Birkenhead, Carnarvon, Bangor, and Swansea. Govern- The discipline of the navy, or the government of Her ment Majesty s ships, vessels, and forces by sea, is regulated cTpiine S " bv the Naval Discipline Act 29 & 30 Viet. c. 109. The Consolidation Act 22 Geo. II. c. 33 replaced the first parliamentary enactment for the government 01 the fleet (13 Car. II. 1, c. 9), and was passed after the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, "to remedy some defects which were of fatal consequence in conducting the preceding war." Previously to the statute of Charles II. the government and discipline as well as the pay of the navy had depended, like the government and pay of the army, upon the quasi-household orders of the sovereign. Under the Naval Discipline Act, the lords commissioners of the Admiralty are empowered to order courts-martial for all offences mentioned therein, and committed by any person in and belonging to the fleet and on full pay ; and also to delegate the same power to officers in command of fleets and squadrons on foreign stations, which power also may devolve on their successors in case of death or recall. By this Act no court-martial can consist of more than nine or of less than five persons, to be composed of such flag-officers, captains, commanders, and lieutenants, then and there present, as are next in seniority to the officer who presides at the court-martial. Commanders and lieutenants are not required to sit when four officers of higher rank, and junior to the president, can be assembled. The former penalty of death for cowardice, or other neglect of duty, in time of action, and for not pursuing the enemy, was, by the 19th George III., so far mitigated as to authorize the court-martial "to pronounce sentence of death or to inflict such other punishment as the nature and degree of the offence shall be found to deserve." Under these articles thus mitigated, Admiral Byng would probably not have been condemned to death. The pro visions of the present Act (29 & 30 Viet. c. 109) confine sentence of death, without alternative, to cases of traitorous misconduct in the presence of the enemy, and murder. All other offences which were formerly capital may now be dealt with either by sentence of death or by such other punishment as the court may think fit to award under the provisions of the Act ; and penal servitude or imprison ment, with dismissal from the service, are now the severest sentences awarded, flogging having been practically abolished. The discipline of the navy is also maintained by a system of summary punishments, including short terms of imprisonment, which can be awarded by the captains of ships, under the regulations issued from time to time by the lords of the Admiralty. The first regular code of printed instructions would appear to be that known as the Duke of York s Sailing and Fighting Instructions, bearing date about 1660, which formed the basis of all the subsequent ones. Much, how ever, of the internal discipline of a ship of war depends upon the captain ; that officer being empowered to punish the men for minor offences, according to the usage of the service, courts-martial on seamen are rarely found neces sary in well-regulated ships. In 1853 a more uniform system, defining the nature and duration of minor punish ments, was promulgated by the Board of Admiralty. By the general printed instructions, the captains of Training Her Majesty s ships are required to accustom the men to assemble at their proper quarters, to exercise them at the great guns, to teach them to point, fire, &c., under all circumstances of sea and weather. Practice in these respects is obviously much more necessary on board ships than on shore. At Portsmouth and Devonport regular instruction is given in the theory and practice of gunnery, in the principles which regulate projectiles, in the theory and manipulation of torpedoes, in the use of small arms, and in all the scientific departments of the art of war. Chemistry and electricity as applied to war and warlike stores are also