Naval Fleets circa 1859 Part II – Great Britain From information provided by Angus McLellan World Navies circa 1859 – from Hans Busk and Other Sources – Part II – Great Britain Contents INTRODUCTION 3 GREAT BRITAIN 4 THE ROYAL NAVY AS AT APRIL 1859 5 STEAM VESSELS 5 SCREW GUN BOATS 21 SAILING VESSELS 22 MORTAR VESSELS AND MORTAR FLOATS 29 NOTES 29 SHIP DESIGN 29 LIES, DAMN LIES AND STATISTICS 29 USEFUL TRIVIA 30 GUNS 30 MERCHANT SHIPPING, MACHINERY, SHIPBUILDING, IRON, STEEL & COAL 33 PART I 34 Page 2 of 34 World Navies circa 1859 – from Hans Busk and Other Sources – Part II – Great Britain Introduction Hans Busk wrote a book entitled “The Navies of the World” in 1859. This book was reprinted twice, in the 1950's and as a facsimile of the original in 1974. It provides possibly one of the best discussions and descriptions of early modern navies, covering as it does the navies in transition from the wooden wall, the ship of the line with a number of broadside cannons to the turreted vessels of the 20th Century. Angus McLellan has provided a summary of the contents of the book and this summary is presented across a number of parts in Thomo’s Hole at http://thomo.coldie.net/. At the same time, I have combined them all here into a single PDF file. Navies of the World, although surveying at some length the fleets of significant maritime powers, is primarily concerned with a detailed evaluation of the strength, performance, and administration of the British and French navies and to draw attention to the threat posed by the latter. There have been two reprints of the 1859 original, in 1959 and 1971. The work is of great interest to the student of naval history in the nineteenth century. The author, Hans Busk the younger (1815-1882) was one of the main originators of the volunteer movement in England. The book contains the following chapters: o Introduction o Analysis of the Leipsic Article o Comparison of the Navies of England and France o Navies of Other Nations o Of Steam and the Screw-Propeller o Naval Ports and Arsenals of France o Of Manning the Navy o Naval Tactics and Gunnery, and Modern Improvements in Artillery o The Board of Admiralty o Conclusion o Appendices There are generally copies of the work available at online bookstores with all three editions generally available. I have seen first editions available for between £55.00 and £75.00 in the United Kingdom, EUR 65.00 in Germany and US$ 140.00 in the United States. Reprints (either the 1959 or the 1971 facsimile) I have seen available for from US$ 5.00. A search of Abebooks.com at http://www.abebooks.com/ on the name “Hans Busk” will return details of both the “Navies of the World” as well as his other publication, “THE RIFLE: and how to use it. Comprising a description of that invaluable weapon in all its varieties, and an account of its origin”. Page 3 of 34 World Navies circa 1859 – from Hans Busk and Other Sources – Part II – Great Britain Hans Busk’s “Navies of the World” was based on the world naval situation in 1859, or on those parts of it that Busk thought would help his case for an even bigger Royal Navy, official support for the volunteer movement and an enlarged Militia. The first two did happen, but it’s unlikely that Busk deserves blame or credit for this turn of events. Only for a few navies does Busk list every ship. Since the information on British ships is easily available in print and on the web, McLellan starts with Napoleon III's navy. Through the text “2M” means “2 mortars”, etc. Where possible, McLellan has added the displacement in tons and dimensions of some ships. I will update those figures further if I obtain further information. If there are any obvious errors, or things that don't make any sense, please don't hesitate to ask or to let me know at mailto:[email protected] and I'll pass your comments and questions on to Angus. Great Britain According to a statement made to Parliament, on the first day of 1863 the Royal Navy had some 1,014 ships in total of which 790 had fewer than 20 guns. As at 1st January 1859, Busk gives the number of ships in commission, their crews and guns as follows. Station Ships Guns Men East Indies, China & Australia 49 389 5051 Cape of Good Hope 8 104 1239 West Coast of Africa 18 100 1885 Brazil 9 146 1672 Pacific 12 281 2845 North America & West Indies 21 320 3470 Mediterranean 22 532 5876 Subtotal 139 1872 21948 Plymouth, Portsmouth, Sheerness, Woolwich, Cork & 45 979 7958 Pembroke Dock Coast Guard Service 26 623 3612 Channel Squadron 7 498 4697 Particular Service 12 86 1496 Surveying Service, Packet Service, Yachts, Fitting Out, 21 458 5265 Ordered Home Flag Officers & Retinue, Supernumaries & Kroomen 1244 Marines in China 1813 Marines on Shore in England 6282 Grand Total 267 4649 56048 The East Indies station was much larger than usual as a result of the war with China. Under normal circumstances the main fleet was deployed on the Mediterranean station. The Channel Squadron, although not large in numbers of ships, was relatively powerful as it was usually limited to battleships, frigates and corvettes. Page 4 of 34 World Navies circa 1859 – from Hans Busk and Other Sources – Part II – Great Britain All tonnages are tons burthen (builders old measurement) unless noted otherwise, all horsepower nominal. The Admiralty did not adopt displacement tonnage until 1873 after considering the adoption of Moorsom Rule (Gross Register) tonnage instead. The original order of ships in Busk's lists has been changed so an attempt to group ships of the same class together and to include ships under construction or converting at the appropriate place. The list is quite long enough without having to look in multiple places. The Royal Navy as at April 1859 Steam Vessels Name When Horse Guns Ton- Trial Station Built Power nage Speed Screw Ships of the Line Three-deckers (* building or converting) *Victoria 1859 1000 121 4116 11.797 *Howe 1860 1000 121 4236 - Duke of 1852 700 131 3771 10.13 Portsmouth Wellington Royal Sovereign 1857 800 131 3760 - Portsmouth Marlborough 1855 800 131 3853 11.06 Mediterranean *Prince of Wales 1860 800 131 3994 - Royal Albert 1854 500 121 3726 10.0 Channel Squadron Windsor Castle 1858 500 102 3099 - Devonport All except Victoria and Howe were laid down as sailing ships. All ships are in Lambert's "Battleships in Transition" while his "Last Sailing Battlefleet" gives a great deal of information on the development of the battle fleet before steam, most of which is relevant through the early 1860s. These ships required large crews, 1000 men and more, and were expensive, Victoria cost over 150,000 pounds (about 750,000 dollars). The advantages of battery height and concentrated firepower in battle were felt to be worth the cost by all three Surveyors after the Napoleonic Wars and by the great majority of sea officers. Details from Lambert for the pre-ironclad steam battle fleet are on Bob Cordery's website under Victorian & Edwardian Military Miscellany at: http://www.colonialwargames.org.uk/ This includes all three- and two-decker battleships, all blockships and the frigates Mersey & Orlando. It seems pointless to repeat them here. Royal Sovereign was ordered converted to a turret ship based on Captain Coles' ideas, modified by Isaac Watts to make them practicable, in April 1862. A number of senior officers favoured carrying out many more such conversions. But converting Royal Page 5 of 34 World Navies circa 1859 – from Hans Busk and Other Sources – Part II – Great Britain Sovereign had been expensive at £180,000 (900,000 gold US dollars) and the experiment was not repeated. There is a reasonable reference to the Royal Sovereign in 1857 at: http://www.battleships-cruisers.co.uk/hms_royal_sovereign_1857.htm including an illustration. Name When Horse Guns Ton- Trial Station Built Power nage Speed Two-deckers (* building or converting) Conqueror 1855 800 101 3224 10.806 Mediterranean Donegal 1859 800 101 3200 11.912 Devonport St Jean d'Acre 1853 600 101 3200 11.190 Channel Squadron *Gibraltar 1859 800 101 3715 13.338 *Duncan 1860 800 101 3715 - James Watt 1853 600 91 3083 9.361 Devonport Victor 1855 600 91 3208 11.922 Mediterranean Emmanuel Edgar 1858 600 91 3094 11.371 Sheerness Hero 1858 600 91 3148 11.707 Sheerness Agamemnon 1852 600 91 3074 11.243 Portsmouth Renown 1857 800 91 3317 10.87 Channel Squadron *Revenge 1859 800 91 3318 11.53 *Atlas 1860 800 91 3318 - *Anson 1860 800 91 3318 - *Defiance 1861 800 91 3475 - *Bulwark NEVER 800 91 3715 - Orion 1854 600 91 3281 12.50 Mediterranean *Hood 1859 600 91 3232 - Caesar 1853 400 90 2767 10.274 North America Algiers 1854 600 91 3168 - Channel Squadron Princess Royal 1853 400 91 3129 11.031 Mediterranean Hannibal 1854 450 91 3136 - Portsmouth Nile 1839 500 91 2622 8.2 Queenstown *London 1840 500 91 2626 - Devonport *Rodney 1833 500 91 2770 - Chatham *Nelson 1814 500 91 2736 - Royal George 1827 500 89 2616 9.375 Sheerness *Prince Regent 1823 500 89 2672 - *St George 1840 500 89 2830 10.933 Devonport *Royal William 1833 500 89 2849 - *Neptune 1832 500 89 2830 - Portsmouth *Waterloo 1833 500 89 2830 9.934 *Trafalgar 1841 500 89 2830 10.908 Exmouth 1854 400 91 3083 9.1 Devonport Page 6 of 34 World Navies circa 1859 – from Hans Busk and Other Sources – Part II – Great Britain Name When Horse Guns Ton- Trial Station Built Power nage Speed Aboukir 1848 400 91 3109 - Devonport *Albion 1842 400 91 3109 Devonport *Queen 1839 500 86 unk - Sheerness *Frederick 1860 500 86 unk - William Cressy 1853 400 80 2540 7.2 Sheerness *Lion 1847 400 80 2580 - *Collingwood 1841 400 80 2589 Portsmouth Majestic 1853 400 80 2566 - Sheerness Mars 1853 400 80 2576 - Sheerness Meeanee 1849 400 80 2600 - Sheerness Centurion 1844 400 80 2590 8.50 Mediterranean Brunswick 1855 400 80 2484 7.742 Channel Squadron Goliath 1842 400 80 2599 - Chatham *Irresistible 1859 400 80 2500 10.01 Colossus 1848 400 80 2590 9.152 Sheerness Sans Pareil 1851 400 70 2339 9.3 Devonport *Powerful see below *Bombay 1828 400 81 2783 10.157 Ships from Orion downwards on the list were converted from sailing ships after launch or while under construction.