Navy The Royal

Navy, The Royal. The origin of the royal navy of this country may, with an approach to truth, be said to be lost in the mists of antiquity. In early days the sovereigns mainly relied for the defence of the coasts and of the narrow seas upon the right which they possessed of calling upon a certain part of the population not only to serve at sea, but also to supply ships. Many kings, however, also had ships of their own, and these may be said to have formed a royal navy. Not until Henry VHP's time was there perhaps a royal, in the sense of a national, navy. Henry organised one, and although he did not create a permanent body of officers, his constitution of the navy was not, in many other respects, different from that which is in force to-day. Sea officers, as a specially trained class, appeared under the Commonwealth, and under James II, who was himself a seaman of ability, became the only class generally capable of holding naval command. James also introduced the system of half-pay, and effected numerous further improvements. From a very early date until 1649, and again from 1660 to 1673, from 1684 to 1689, from 1702 to 1708, and in 1827-28, the navy was governed by a Lord High Admiral. The discipline of the navy is provided for by the Naval Discipline Act, or "Articles of War," a measure which, with usually no alterations, is renewed annually; and by the "Queen's Regulations and Admiralty Instructions," which are established by Order in Council, and very frequently added to or modified. Offences which are sufficiently serious are dealt with and punished by a court-martial, sitting under and punishing "in accordance with, these provisions. Naval officers are either military or civil. The former, in order of rank beginning with the highest, are: admirals of the fleet; vice-admirals; rear-admirals; commodores (i.e. captains so appointed); captains; staff-captains; commanders; staff-commanders; lieutenants; navigating-lieutenants; sub-lieutenants; navigating sub-lieutenants; chief warrant officers (chief gunners, chief boatswain); warrant officers (gunners and boatswains); midshipmen, and naval cadets. The civil officers, in similar order, are: inspectors-general of hospitals and fleets; secretaries to admirals of the fleet; paymasters-in-chief; chief inspectors of machinery; deputy-inspectors of hospitals and fleets; senior inspectors of machinery; senior secretaries to commanders-in-chief; junior inspectors of machinery; j unior secretaries to commanders-in-chief; fleet surgeons; fleet paymasters; fleet engineers; secretaries to junior flag-officers; staff-surgeons; staff-paymasters; senior naval instructors; staffengineers; paymasters; chief engineers; secretaries to commodores of the second class; junior naval instructors; surgeons; senior assistant-paymasters; senior engineers; medium assistant-paymasters; junior engineers; junior assistant-paymasters; assistant-engineers; chief carpenters; carpenters; head schoolmasters; clerks; assistant-clerks; and engineer students. Chaplains hold no naval rank, "but retain when afloat the position to which their office would entitle them on shore." The navy, it may here be noted, is senior to the army, and takes precedence of it. The expression "Army and Navy" is therefore incorrect, while "Naval and Military" is quite as it should be. In cases in which officers are otherwise of equal relative rank, a naval officer consequently precedes, or even takes command of, an army one. In 1805 the navy included 175 ships of the line and 246 frigates. With these may be compared the 80 ironclads and 114 cruisers of the British Empire in 1893. The modern vessels, it must not be forgotten, are, upon an average, of five times the tonnage of the old, and of ten times the costliness. Nelson's Victory in 1765 cost about £17 a ton to build; the Royal Sovereign of 1891 cost nearly £60 a ton for hull and machinery alone; and all her expensive guns and fittings had still to be paid for, and, as in point of numbers, so also in point of size did ships increase even before Nelson's day. The largest war-ship of Elizabeth's time was of not more than 1,000 tons burthen. In 1667 a 100-gun first-rate measured 1,500 tons; in 1719, 1,870 tons; in 1745, 2,000 tons; in 1780, 2,200 tons; and one of the last 100-gun ships constructed was of 3,727 tons burthen, or 5,724 tons displacement; but this is, of course, little in comparison with the Magniftcent's displacement of 14,900 tons. A great stimulus to increased size was afforded by the introduction of steam, the screw, and iron as a building material; and it was renewed when, after the Crimean War, the principle of armouring battleships was adopted, and the long rivalry between ever thickening armour and ever weightier guns began. Steel has since become the usual building material, and the use of sail-power, even as an auxiliary, has been almost entirely dispensed with in modern ships of war. The developments of recent years have to a very large extent altered the nature of the qualifications which have to be looked for in the good sea-officer, who must now be not merely the navigator, the mariner, and the brave man whom he was required to be in Nelson's day, but also an electrician, a chemist, an engineer, and a man of science generally. Whether the British service can fit in with the new conditions as well as it did with the old has yet to be proved by the sad test of a great

Navy Board, The. Upon the restoration of Charles II., his Majesty appointed a Treasurer, Controller, Surveyor, and Clerk of the Navy, who were styled Principal Officers. To them were added a few months later three Commissioners "to assist the said Principal Officers in the management of the affairs of the Navy." These seven individuals formed the Navy Board. The number of members was at various subsequent periods modified; but the Navy Board continued to manage the civil affairs of the navy until 1832, when it was abolished, and its work put under direct control of the Board of Admiralty. The Navy Board met at the Navy Office, which in the earlier days of its existence was on Tower Hill and in the later at Somerset House.

' Naxos, the largest of the Cyclades, is in the Greek archipelago, east of Paros. It is a beautiful mountainous island, 18 miles long by 12 broad, and contains 170 square miles. There is much granite, marble, and serpentine, and emery is exported. The chief productions are fruit, wine, oil, wax, honey, and cheese. The island was settled by Ionians from Athens, and was famous for its wine and its part in the history of Dionysos and Ariadne. The capital, also Naxos, has a small harbour.