Aug.

1816. high as it already stood, higher still in the estimation of the world. Nor will the triumph at Algiers pass to posterity, without the name of Exmouth, as the leader of the brave band by whose prowess it was gained.

nours

Ho- For the skill and valour he had displayed in conand re- Summating this glorious achievement, lord Exmouth wards was created a viscount of the United Kingdom.

to the

con

Rear-admiral Milne, also, was made a knight-comquerors mander, and captains Ekins, Aylmer, Wise, Maitland, Paterson, and Coode, companions, of the Bath. All the lieutenants named in the list in the preceding page, and some others, including lieutenant Fleming who commanded the explosion-vessel, were promoted to the rank of commanders; and several of the master's mates and midshipmen obtained commissions as lieutenants.

Anecdote of the

admi

The dutch admiral behaved uncommonly well; and the following has been adduced as an instance of his dutch self-possession in the heat of the battle. About an ral. hour after the firing had commenced, a lieutenant of the Queen-Charlotte went on board the Melampus with a message from lord Exmouth. The baron himself attended the lieutenant to the gangway on his return, and rated the frigate's first lieutenant somewhat sharply, for his inattention in not having shipped the best man-ropes for the british officer's accommodation. Among the meritorious individuals concerned in the expedition, the interpreter must Mr. Sa- not be forgotten. The zeal, talent, and fidelity of Mr. Salamé appear to have merited all the praises officially bestowed upon him, as well by the commander in chief, as by the officers, rear-admiral Penrose and captain Brisbane, present at the conferences with the dey.

lamé.

589

STATE OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

to

1820..

New

rating

THE abstract for the year 1817* differs from all 1817 that have preceded it in the series, by the double arrangement of its classification, owing to the revival, by an order in council, of the ancient and only reasonable practice of rating the ships of the british navy; namely, according to the number of carriage-guns of every sort which they respectively mounted. The memorial from the board of admiralty to the prince regent, recommending the alteration, bears date November 25, 1816; and the order in council establishing the new ratings, according to the plan submitted, issued in the month of February, 1817. Although this memorial of the board of admiralty was not seen by us, until every abstract of the 28 was printed, and every note attached to them prepared, we find that we had anticipated nearly all the reasons urged by the board for the necessity of some amendment in the classification. The following are the two concluding paragraphs of this important memorial: "We trust that we shall be excused for observing s to your royal highness, that it is wholly unworthy from the character of the royal navy of this kingdom to maintain this system, which, though introduced by the accidental cause we have mentioned, and without any design of deception, yet may give occasion to foreign nations to accuse us of misrepresentation, when we state that a british frigate of 38 guns has taken a foreign frigate of 44, when in fact the british frigate was of equal, if not superior force. We therefore humbly recommend that your royal highness

* See Appendix, Annual Abstract No 25; also, in particular, the notes belonging to it.

Ex

the

order

in

counei

1820.

1917 will be pleased to order, that the rule for stating the force of his majesty's ships, which prevailed prior to 1793, and which in fact never was formally abrogated, should be revived and established; and that in future all his majesty's ships should be rated at the number of guns and carronades which they actually carry on their decks, quarterdecks, and forecastles."

Error

in a statemeni

in it.

A reference to the early pages of this work will raise a doubt as to the correctness of the passage, "which prevailed prior to 1793," unless we explain that, as "guns" were the only species of ordnance named in the original order fixing the rates of the ships, no ship in the british navy, prior to 1793, nor subsequently indeed, did mount more "guns," that is, long guns, than her established or rated number; but that, as far back as January, 1781, 429 ships belonging to the british navy carried from four to 12 pieces of carriage-ordnance, or, as the French expressively say, "bouches à feu," more than their rated number, will not, we presume, be disputed.* We are sorry to observe that the new order confines the guns (for we must persist in including carronades within that term†) to the "decks, quarterdecks, and forecastles," because every ship belonging to the three higher rates of the navy still mounts six British guns more than she rates. These guns, it is true, hips are 18-pounder carronades; but many of the 80s and first-class 74s have carried 24-pounders, and may till again, if a war breaks out. Moreover, the public is informed by the admiralty navy-list, that "the force han of each ship is stated according to the number of guns and carronades actually carried," without any exception as to the poop, or roundhouse: hence, when it becomes known, that the Superb, of "78 guns,' mounts 84, and the Bulwark, of "76 guns,' 82, what will people suppose, but that the new rating system, like the old one, carries concealment

zith

›oops

arry

nore

hey

ate.

* See vol. i. p. 52.

† Ibid. p. 55.

to

1820.

in the background? The best remedy is, in our 1817 opinion, to disarm the poop of the six 18-pounder carronades, and to level the barricade: the ships will experience no sensible diminution of force, and be much more shug and seaworthy.

rating

Viewed as a whole, the new rating system is a French very important state measure; but, as depending system, upon the guns which each ship is calculated to mount, the plan will require an active war to perfect it. Not having used carronades to the extent of the British, the French have little if any thing to alter in their system. If a french 74, when fitted out by the English, is mounted with 78 guns, it is not, in general, because she had carried that number in the french service; but because, for the accommodation of the far most important man on board a french ship, be the government a monarchy or a republic, two ports of a side were left vacant in the cabin. With respect to their frigates, the French more usually denominated them 44s than 40s; and even the latter came nearer to the mounted force of the ship, than was the case with the british 38s. But the Ame- Ameriricans, how did they act? Why their rating system can was founded upon deception, and deception alone. system They built "44s," and mounted them with 56 guns; and they have since built "74s," and mounted them with 102 guns, on three flush decks: although, owing to inability to bear the weight, from some error in the construction of the hull, the two first-built ships went to sea with no more than 82 guns.

rating

can

While on the subject of the american 74s, we Ameri will, having the means in our power, compare the 74s. force of one of the smallest of them with that of a british 74 of the middling class; a class that exceeds in number all the other line-classes in the british navy put together; and the only class of 74, which, in the event of a contest, the Americans would admit to be an equal match for a ship of theirs bearing the same denomination.

Let us

1917 take the Albion.

to 1820.

of the

Frank

com

pared.

f

That ship mounts 28 long 32-pounders, weighing 55 cwt., upon her first deck, 28 long 18s upon her second deck, six long 12-pounders, and 12 carronades, 32-pounders, on Force her quarterdeck and forecastle, and six 18-pounder Albion carronades on her poop; total, 80 guns. Her net and war complement is 594 men and boys, including 32 lin of the latter; and her measurement 1743 tons. The american 74-gun ship Franklin mounts 30 long 32-pounders, of 63 cwt., upon her first deck, 32 medium 32-pounders, of 52 cwt., on the second deck, and two of the same guns and 18 carronades, 32-pounders, on the quarterdeck and forecastle; total, 82 guns. Her complement actually on board in 1818 was 786 men and boys, including but eight or 10 of the latter; and she measures 2124 tons. Admitting, then, these ships to be mutually opposed, the following would be their comparative force:

Remarks

So much for the equality of force between an ameon the rican 74 and a british 74 of the class of the Albion; subject and yet, were a war to break out to-morrow, sir William Hoste* would consider himself peculiarly fortunate (and where is the captain of a british 74, indeed, who would not?) in falling in with the Franklin, commanded by the most renowned of the american commodores.

sions

Dimen- We will now proceed to state a few particulars of the respecting the construction, equipment, and qualifiFrank- cations of the Franklin, the result of an inspection

lin.

of the ship when she lay at Spithead in January, 1818; and which particulars, to the british public at least, are as novel, as it is hoped they will prove interesting. The Franklin was laid down at Philadelphia in the summer of 1813, and launched in *The Albion's captain till June, 1825.