MnmioM v»iii»)»iiiSiMt*«»SM»i)>M»vt\^ y.Tsy.v-^ 4 ^ f^ ItiffiGmL *^|^K*««mnrt«fr * i ]im&MM''M&L' ,.^ix.vi:^ulJtii^M^fC^X''. ' V THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES GIFT OF GEORGE GRAMLICH 1 — Uniform 7vith this volume THE BRITISH ARMY BOOK By PAUL Dx\NBY and LiEUT.-CoL. CYRIL HELD, R.M.L.I. " It is full of great deeds sure to fire the imagination of any boy."—Times. " Gives a better and more readable account of our army than any book we can think of." Graphic. " A most stirring, as well as informative book." — Scotsman. " A glorious story, told in fine racy style." —Sheffield Daily Telegraph. LONDON: ELACKIE & SON, Ltd., 50 OLD BAILEY, E.G. "BRl'lAIXS SURE SHIELD" The British Navy Book BY Lieut. -Col. and Brevet Col. CYRIL FIELD, R.M.L.I. H^ith Full-page Illustrations in Colour and in Black-and-White and Numerous Illustrations in the Text BLACKIE AND SON LIMITED LONDON GLASGOW AND BOMBAY Contents Chap. Page Pkologce: The Command op the Sea (a.d. 1915) - - 9 I. A Lesson from C^sar 19 II. Ancient War-ships - - - 28 III. Fighting-ships of the Middle Ages - - - - 38 IV. Mariners of Other Days 54 V. Some Medij;val Sea-fights 60 VI. The Navy in Tudor Times 67 VII. From Elizabeth to Victoria 81 VIII. The " Turks " in the Channel 99 IX. The Honour of the Flag 115 X. The Evolution "of Naval Gunnery 125 XI. Evolution of the Ironclad Battleship - - - - 146 XII. The Evolution of the Submarine and Submarine Mine - 167 XIII. Naval Brigades 187 XIV, War-ships of all Sorts 204 XV. The Manning of a Ship 223 XVI. Beginning of the War Afloat 242 XVII. Operations in the North Sea and Channel - - - 254 XVIII. In the Outer Seas 261 XIX. A Reverse and a Victory 272 XX. German Raids and their Signal Punishment - - - 285 XXI. The Royal Naval Air Service 292 Conclusion 307 Illustrations IN COLOUR Page "Britain's Sure Shield" Frontispiece Uniforms of the British Navy: Midshipman, Admiral, Flag- Lieutenant, Secretary (Fleet Paymaster) 96 Uniforms op the British Navy: A.B. (Marching Order), Ist Class Petty Officer, Stoker 188 Uniforms of the Royal Marines: Gunner, R.M.A. ; Colour- Sergeant, R.M.L.I.; Major, R.M.A. 236 IN BLACK-AND-WHITE H.M.S. "Dreadnought" Firing a Broadside of 12-inch Guns - 10 Learning to Fight Zeppelins 16 A War-galley in the Days of King Alfred . 36 The "Great Harry", the First Big Battleship of the British Navy 70 A Sea-fight in Tudor Times 78 Destroying a Straggler from the Armada 82 Lord Howard Attacking a Ship of the Spanish Armada - - 84 The "Royal George" Engaging the "Soleil Royal" in Quiberon Bay, 1759 90 The "Victory" in Gala Dress 92 "The Glorious 1st of June", 1794 34 The Release of Christian Prisoners at Algiers- - - 108 s Illustrations The Fight between a Merchantman and a Turkish Pirate - 112 Teaching the Spaniard "The Honour of the Flag" - - - 118 The Battle of the Nore, June, 1653, between the English and Dutch 122 The "Dulle Grietk" at Ghent 130 The Main Gun Deck on H.M.S. "Victory" 140 Naval Gunnery in the Old Days - - 142 13.5-iNCH Guns on H.M.S. "Conqueror" 144 H.M.S. "Warrior", our First Sea-going Ironclad Battleship - 154 A Monster Gun which is now Obsolete 162 A Fleet of Submarines in Portsmouth Harbour - - - - 176 English Blue-jackets at the Defence op Acre - - - - 192 The Naval Brigade in the Battle of El-Teb . - - - 200 Our Seamen Gunners with a Maxim 202 " Deck of a " Dreadnought Cleared for Action . - - - 206 The British Submarine "E2" 216 The 13.5-inch Gun: Some Idea of its Length .... 238 6-inch Gun Drill: The Breech Open 240 " " The Sinking of the German Cruiser Mainz - . - - 248 " ! - Missed " ; the Helm the Best Weapon against Torpedoes 258 The British Air Raid on Cuxhaven : Drawing by John de G. Bryan 302 The British Air Raid on Cuxhaven : Sea-plane flown by Flight- Commander R. Ross -...--..- 304 Publishers' Note about to go to press Just as this book was issued forbidding the an Admiralty Order was or illustrations likely publication of any text Proofs of to the enemy. to prove of service were submitted to the The British Navy Book that the book has Admiralty, with the result accordance with in- been approved. Acting in Commissioners, we structions from the Lords for those have substituted other illustrations chosen to represent more recent ships previously the Great War by sea. BLACKIE & SON, Limited. " THE BRITISH NAVY BOOK PROLOGUE The Command of the Seas (a.d. 1915) "It may trvdy be said that the Command of the Sea is an Abridgement or a Quintessence of an Universal Monarchy. Sir Francis Bacon. It is a grey morning out on the North Sea, with but little wind. There is no swell, but considerable movement on the surface of the waters, with here and there an occasional tossing of the white manes of the sea-horses. Swimming majestically through the sea comes one of our monster slate-grey battle-cruisers. She is "stripped to a gantline", and in complete and instant readiness for action. The red cross of St. George flutters bravely at her fore-topmast head, for she is the flagship of the squadron of three or four tower- ing grey ships that are following in her wake. Aft flies the well-known White Ensign, the "meteor flag of England" blazing in the corner. Far away on either bow, but dimly discernible on the wide horizon, are the shadows of other smaller ships, the light cruisers, which are moving ahead and on the flanks of the squadron like cavalry covering the advance of an army. On board is an almost Sabbath-day stillness, save for the wash 9 The British Navy Book of the sea, the dull steady whirr of the giant turbines far down below the armour deck, the periodical clang of the ship's bell, marking the flight of time. Now and again comes a whiff of cooking from the galley. As the day advances the light grows stronger; gleams of sunshine send the purple shadows of masts and rigging dancing fitfully over the wide deck, which is practically deserted. There is the marine sentry over the life-buoy aft, look-outs aloft and at various corners of the superstructures, and the figures of the officer of the watch, signalmen and others are seen in movement up in the tri- angular platform dignified by the name of the "fore-bridge". Who would imagine that there are seven or eight hundred souls on board, seamen, marines, stokers, and many other ratings of whose existence and duties the " man in the street" is profoundly ignorant? But look inside this massive gun-hood, from which pro- trude forty feet of two sleek grey monster cannon, each of which is capable of hurling 850 pounds of steel and high explosive a distance of a dozen miles. Grouped round their guns in various attitudes are the bluejackets forming their crews. They are tanned and weather-beaten fellows, but there is a strained and tired look about their eyes. Here in the confined spaces of their turret they have eaten, slept, and whiled away the watches as best they might for many, many hours. They have not had the discomforts of their khaki- clad brethren in their sodden trenches, nor listened to the constant hiss of hostile bullets and the howl and crash of "Jack Johnsons" at unexpected moments. But if they have been immune from these constant and manifest dangers, they have had none of their excitements. They have had the temptation to boredom, and the less exciting but always present peril of the dastardly German system of mine-laying in the open sea. Some are writing letters to chums, to sweet- hearts, and to wives. Others are killing time with the light literature that has been sent to the ship in bundles by the 10 The Command of the Seas many friends of the fleet on shore. In one corner is a mid- shipman writing up his "log", and beside him sits the lieu- tenant in charge of the turret reading for the fourth time a much-folded letter he has taken from an inner pocket. Look into the next turret and you will see a similar scene, the only difference being that in this case the guns' crews and their officer are marines, wearing red-striped trousers and " Brodrick " caps—the latter not unlike those of the seamen, but with the corps badge in brass on a semicircular scarlet patch in front, instead of a ribband with the ship's name. In the casemates housing the smaller guns in the superstructures and on the deck below are similar though smaller groups. All are waiting—waiting. We wend our way below. The clerks and writers are working in their offices, the cooks are busy at their galleys. Men must eat and accounts must be kept though the ship should be blown out of existence in the next ten minutes. We enter a narrow lift and are shot down to the lower regions, where the sweating stokers handle rake and shovel, the arti- ficers and engine-room staff ply oil-can and spanner, and the engineer officers study gauges and dials of all sorts and kinds. There is more life down here than up above. Work is going on that needs constant watching and attention. On our return journey to " the upper air " we glance in at the wire- less room.