from Napoleon. As Napoleon had broken up his Boulogne camp on August
26th and by now had the greater part of that army in Germany, his
forcing Villeneuve to sea is one of those mysteries which can never be
fathomed. He acted in the teeth of naval advice, and there are few more
pathetic pictures in history than the disgraced Villeneuve putting to
sea to known certain defeat, endeavouring to fire his men with hope.[62]
On the 20th October, the Franco-Spanish fleet was at sea with
thirty-three ships of the line, the British consisting of twenty-seven.
Nelson let the enemy get clear of the land, and then on October 21st,
attacked them off Trafalgar.
Of this battle so much has been written that any detailed description
here is superfluous. To this day, the historians dispute as to what
the exact tactics were, and it is doubtful whether anything will ever
get beyond Professor Laughton’s summary in his _Nelson_. Here the most
emphasis is laid on the fact that in his memorandum of October 9th,
Nelson expected to handle forty ships against a still larger hostile
force. All these matters are, however, but for the academicians. The
main facts are that Nelson correctly gauged the inability and gunnery
inefficiency of the enemy and sailed down on them in two lines ahead,
they lying in line abreast--a position which, had they been able to
shoot well, promised them victory better than any other.
As an exhibition of tactics, Trafalgar was not even original--Rodney
in the past had done something very similar. On no principle of
“theory” was Nelson right. Simply and solely his genius lay in ability
to calculate the human element, to lay his plans accordingly, and to
achieve certain victory on that!
Villeneuve did all that was possible; and several of the French ships
fought with remarkable courage. But nothing could avail them against
Nelson’s understanding that it was quite safe to take this risk of
sailing end-on into them and then overwhelming a part of them with
superior numbers.
After some four hours’ fighting, eighteen of the enemy, including
Villeneuve’s flagship, the _Bucentaure_, were captured, and the rest
drew off.
Nelson himself, within about twenty minutes of falling foul of the
enemy, was mortally wounded by a musket shot from the tops of the
_Redoubtable_.
The losses to the allied Franco-Spanish fleet at Trafalgar in killed
and wounded were extraordinarily heavy, averaging something like 300 or
more per ship. In one, the casualties amounted to five in every six.
This enormous loss was due to the raking broadsides of the English
vessels, which wrought terrible destruction.
Nelson’s last order had been to anchor. Collingwood, on whom the
command now devolved, saw no object in this; to which is generally
attributed the fact that most of the prizes were lost in a gale that
followed the battle. Some were wrecked, some re-captured by the enemy
off Cadiz, some destroyed to prevent re-capture. All told, only four of
the eighteen prizes ever reached Gibraltar. These were the _Swiftsure_
(an ex-British ship), and three of the Spaniards, _Bahama_, _San
Ildefonso_, and _San Juan Nepomuceno_. All were old and worthless.
From the battle, Dumanoir had escaped with four French ships. With
these he made for the Mediterranean, but being intercepted by Sir R.
Strachan, was compelled to surrender his damaged ships after a short
action. One of the captured ships, the _Duguay Trouin_, was renamed
_Implacable_, and till quite recently was a training ship at Devonport.
Although some considerable Franco-Spanish naval force still existed,
it was now so scattered in different parts, and so blockaded, that
danger from it was no longer to be apprehended. In December, however,
two divisions of the Brest fleet, the first consisting of five ships
of the line and three other vessels, under Vice-Admiral Leissegues,
and the second of six ships of the line and four other vessels, under
Rear-Admiral Willaumez, evaded the blockade. They were destined for the
West Indies and the Cape respectively. On February 6th, 1806, off San
Domingo, Leissegues was met by Sir John Duckworth, and seven ships.
Three of the French were captured and two others were run ashore and
destroyed. Willaumez eventually reached the West Indies also, but did
not accomplish anything of moment, and having lost four ships, finally
returned to France.
In 1806, the British _personnel_ was 120,000. Estimates £18,864,341.
Fleet 551 ships, of which 104 were of the line. This year was mainly
remarkable for the extraordinary inaction displayed by the French, who
lay sheltered in creeks and inlets along the coast. However, some of
their frigates were captured by boat attack.
For 1807, the _personnel_ was 120,000, afterwards increased to 130,000.
Estimates £17,400,000. Seven hundred and six ships in service, 104 of
them being of the line.
In this year a special system of education for shipwright apprentices
and the establishment of a school of naval architecture was
recommended. It was not, however, until some years later that anything
was actually done in this direction, the old haphazard system of
construction being still followed.
In this same year the “18-gun brig-sloop” appeared, no less than
twenty-five being ordered. These vessels were of about 380 tons,
and carried sixteen thirty-two-pounder carronades and two long
six-pounders. They were found to be extremely useful vessels. During
this year the Turkish and Italian Navies were suspected of being likely
to pass into the hands of France. Sir John Duckworth was, therefore,
sent to Turkey with orders to force the Dardanelles and demand the
surrender of the Turkish fleet to the British. Failing this he was to
capture or destroy it and to bombard Constantinople.
On the 19th of February, the fleet ran through the unprepared
Dardanelles without much injury. It was fired on by a small Turkish
squadron, most of the ships of which were destroyed. The neighbourhood
of Constantinople was reached; but the Turks refused to agree to
what was demanded and busied themselves with strengthening the
fortifications of the Dardanelles.
On the 1st of March, Duckworth, having done nothing, save realise his
awkward situation, came down through the Dardanelles, running the
gauntlet of guns which threw stones weighing nearly half-a-ton, some
considerable damage being done to such ships as were hit. These guns
were, in some cases, holes bored in the rocks filled with powder and
stones; others were genuine “monster guns.”
Operations against Copenhagen, under Admiral Gambier, were opened on a
considerably larger scale. He had under him eighteen ships of the line,
forty lesser vessels and nearly 400 transports. This fleet arrived
early in August, and demanded the surrender of the Danish Navy until
such time as peace should come about, when it would be returned to its
original owners. This being refused, troops were landed, and on the
1st of September, Copenhagen was bombarded and presently surrendered.
Fifteen ships of the line and ten other vessels were given up, and one
ship, which tried to escape, was captured. Three ships of the line were
found building; two of these were taken to pieces and carried away; the
third, being more nearly completed, was destroyed. All the naval stores
were also brought away from the dockyard, necessitating the employment
of no less than ninety-two of the transports.
Only five of the prizes were considered worthy of taking into the
British service. Of these, one was the _Christian VII_ (eighty), of
2,131 tons. This ship was so good that four copies of her were built
for the British Navy.
In the winter of this year, Sir Sydney Smith, with nine ships of the
line, blockaded the Tagus and demanded the surrender of the Portuguese
fleet, or else the retirement to South America of the Prince Regent,
who naturally enough (and as had been expected) accepted the latter
condition and went to South America with the bulk of his fleet. During
the year, Curacoa was surprised and captured from the Dutch; St. Thomas
and Santa Croix were taken from the Danes. The French being now in
possession of Portugal, Madeira was also taken possession of by the
British.
Losses to the extent of thirty-nine British ships were sustained during
this year, mostly by wreck; one sloop, two brigs and six cutters being
the only ships captured by the enemy. At the end of 1807, Russia, which
had hitherto been an ally, declared war, owing to the peace of Tilset.
England, Austria and Sweden were thus at war with the rest of the
continent.
Russia had eleven ships of the line under Senyavin in the
Mediterranean. Senyavin made a bolt for the Baltic with most of them,
but having got as far as the Tagus found himself blockaded by Sir
Sidney Smith.
A squadron was sent under Samaurez to the Baltic in June to co-operate
with the Swedes against the Russians who were in Rogerswick harbour. An
attempt was made to destroy the entire Russian fleet, but owing to a
strong boom the operation failed. The blockade was continued for two
months, after which the British fleet retired.
For 1808, the _personnel_ was 130,000. Estimates, £18,087,500. Ships
of the Navy, 842; of which 189 were of the line. Of these, seventy-six
were 74-gun ships.
Napoleon had been steadily renovating his Navy ever since Trafalgar,
and it now consisted of over sixty ships of the line, besides at least
twenty others completing.
A certain increase of naval activity consequently ensued, and early in
the year Admiral Ganteaume, with five ships of the line, escaped from
Rochefort in a gale during the absence of the blockading fleet and
succeeded in reaching Toulon. Here he was joined by five more ships of
the line and some frigates and transports. He sailed again and effected
the relief of Corfu and thence returned to Toulon.
In August, the Russian Admiral, Senyavin, who all this time had been
blockaded in the Tagus, offered to surrender his ships to the British
on condition that they should be given back after the war and that he
and his men should be free to return to Russia. These terms were agreed
to.
This year saw the launch of the _Caledonia_ of 120 guns, the largest
ship yet built in England. She was of 2,616 tons. An interesting item
in connection with this ship is that she was designed and ordered to be
laid down as long ago as 1794, but steps to build her were not taken
until eighteen years later.
For 1809, the _personnel_ was 130,000. Estimates, £19,578,467. Ships
of the Navy, 728; of which 113 were of the line. In this year the
maintenance allowance of the British fleet, which had been £3 15s. 0d.
per man per month, was increased to £4 16s. 0d.
In February, owing to a gale, the British fleet blockading Brest had to
withdraw; and Willaumez came out with the object of collecting a few
ships at Rochefort and Lorient, and then sailing to relieve Martinique.
He was, however, found and blockaded in the Basque roads, and attack on
him by fire-ships was suggested.
In April, Lord Cochrane was sent out with a squadron to attack by
fire-ships. Three of these were the special invention of Cochrane. The
hold of each was filled with powder casks and sand, covered in with big
booms and topped with hand grenades and rockets.
On the 11th, Cochrane, leading the expedition with one of his
“explosion vessels,” went in to attack; to discover that the enemy
had anticipated things and built a boom. This, however, was struck by
Cochrane’s vessel, which was then blown up, shattering the boom to
pieces. The rest of the fire-ships came down through the gap, but were
badly handled in the majority of cases, and no French ships were fallen
on board of. The “explosion vessels” had, however, created such a panic
that the French ships cut their cables and drifted ashore, except one
ship, which was grappled with, but succeeded in disengaging.
When day broke, the French ships were seen to be mostly ashore,
and Cochrane urged immediate attack. Gambier, however, displayed
considerable lack of energy, consequent on which many of the French got
off. Three ships were, however, captured and destroyed, and two others
were destroyed by the French themselves.
Cochrane thought that it should have been possible to destroy the whole
fleet, and made use of his being a Member of Parliament publicly to
oppose the vote of thanks to Lord Gambier. Gambier then demanded a
court-martial, which was undoubtedly “packed.” He was acquitted; and
Cochrane, one of the most brilliant officers of the Navy of that day,
was compelled to leave the Service. Until his re-instatement, many
years afterwards, he spent his career in the service of the revolting
Spanish colonies in South America.
Napoleon had long been fortifying and improving the Scheldt, and in
1809 the decision to destroy it was come to. The expedition, which left
England on the 28th July, consisted of thirty-seven ships of the line,
thirty-nine frigates or intermediates, fifty-four sloops or brigs,
together with 400 transports, carrying 39,000 troops, under the Earl of
Chatham. The fleet was commanded by Rear-Admiral Sir Richard Strachan.
The object of the expedition was to destroy all ships there and
demolish the dockyard and fortifications. But, owing to delays, the
French had ample warning of the impending attack, and put all their
ships up the river out of reach. It was also found impracticable to
attack the dockyard or Antwerp. Flushing was therefore blockaded,
and surrendered on the 15th August. One thirty-eight gun frigate was
captured, and a frigate and a brig building in the dockyard were
burned, while the timbers of a seventy-four gun ship that was building
were carried away to Woolwich, and a ship, afterwards named the
_Chatham_, built from them.
Walcheren was also captured. Twelve thousand troops were left
garrisoning Walcheren. Of these, nearly half died of disease in the
swamps, after which the place was evacuated.
In October, a French squadron with transports slipped out of Toulon
during the absence of Collingwood, who was blockading the port with
fifteen ships of the line and a number of smaller vessels. On the
evening of October 24th, three French ships of the line and a frigate
were sighted and chased. On the following morning two of the ships of
the line were driven ashore, where their crew set fire to them and
abandoned them; the other ship of the line and the frigate managed to
get into Cette, whence they subsequently got safely back to Toulon. Of
the convoy, the transports and the smaller vessels, which had made up
the rest of the French squadron, some were captured, the others ran
into Spanish harbours and took shelter under the fortifications. Eleven
of these had taken shelter at Rosas, and were cut out by boat attack.
The remaining naval operations of the year were the capture of Senegal,
Cayenne, and French Guiana.
In the Baltic, the Russian fleet was blockaded. One or two boat actions
were the only incidents of the year.
For the year 1810, the _personnel_ rose to 145,000, and the total
estimates amounted to £18,975,120. The number of ships in commission
were 108 ships of the line and 556 lesser vessels.
In the Mediterranean, Collingwood resigned his command on account of
ill-health, and died on his way back to England. He was succeeded by
Sir Charles Cotton. There were no incidents of moment, for though the
French had been busily building ships inside Toulon, the only use
made of these was one or two small sorties when the blockading force
happened to be weak.
In the Channel, French frigates and large privateers were very active.
Of the privateers, several were captured or destroyed, but the frigates
held their own.
Abroad, Guadaloupe was captured by a combined naval and military attack
in a series of operations in the Antilles.
In July, the Isle of Bourbon was captured, and following this an
attack was then made on Mauritius, which was the head-quarters of a
considerable French privateer fleet. The first attack was delivered by
Captain Pym on Grand Port. He had with him four frigates. Two French
frigates and two smaller vessels lay inside.
On August 22nd, the first attempt was made, but owing to Captain Pym’s
ship, the _Sirius_, getting aground, it was delayed until next day. In
the next day’s attempt, both the _Sirius_ and _Magicienne_ ran aground,
almost out of range. The other two ships, _Iphigenia_ and _Nereide_,
got in and drove the French ships ashore. Firing from them, however,
still continued, and ultimately the _Nereide_ had to surrender. The two
British ships which had run ashore were blown up by orders of Captain
Pym. The _Iphigenia_ succeeded in getting out of the harbour with the
crews of these two ships, but while warping out was surprised and
also captured by another French squadron. The entire attack proved a
failure. The incident is mainly of interest as being the only instance
in the war in which a British squadron sustained defeat.
Following upon this, a more serious attack was made on Mauritius;
10,000 troops were embarked, accompanied by one ship of the line and
twelve frigates. A landing was effected at the end of November, and
the island subsequently surrendered.
In the Baltic, Sweden, which had hitherto been a British ally, joined
the French side. The Russian fleet was still blockaded by Admiral
Samaurez, but as the Tsar was known to be wavering in his allegiance
to Napoleon, no actual hostilities took place against him, and during
the greater part of the year British merchant ships freely traded with
Russian ports.
When peace was declared between England and Russia, the ships of
Senyavin which had been captured in the Tagus were restored, but they
contributed nothing to naval history. During the year, five frigates
were captured from the French and two British frigates were captured by
the enemy. British losses of the year included one ship of the line and
seven frigates wrecked or blown up to prevent capture, as well as some
smaller vessels.
For the year 1811, the _personnel_ remained at 145,000. The Estimates
were £19,822,000, and the number of ships in commission were 107 of the
line, and 513 of inferior rates.
A considerable blockading squadron was still maintained off Toulon,
but the French ships there, though they occasionally came out into the
Road, were extremely careful to avoid any engagement.
On March 13th, a small battle, which took place off Lissa between six
French frigates, accompanied by five smaller vessels, under Dubourdieu,
and a British squadron consisting of three frigates and a twenty-two
gun ship, commanded by Captain William Hoste, indicates very clearly
the inferiority to which the French fleet had fallen. One French ship
was driven ashore and two others surrendered.
This sort of thing was in no way unique, and a single ship action of
the same year is an even more startling example. The British sloop
_Atlanta_ (eighteen) met and engaged the _Entrepennant_ (thirty-two).
After an engagement lasting two-and-a-half hours the French frigate
struck, having lost thirty men killed and wounded, the total loss to
the British ship being only five men wounded.
In this year the island of Java was captured from the Dutch, and there
were a number of small actions in the Channel, mostly the attacks of
praames on small British ships. The total loss to the enemy consisted
of three French frigates captured, two French frigates destroyed and
one wrecked. Two Venetian frigates were also captured. The losses to
the British Navy during the same period were much more heavy: three
ships of the line, five frigates and an eighteen-gun brig-sloop were
wrecked. Three small ships were captured and various other small
vessels became unserviceable, the total loss in these amounting to
fifty-one.
In January, 1811, the report of the Commission of 1806 was first
brought into operation by the introduction of apprentices to be trained
at the Royal Naval College, at Portsmouth. This was known as the
School of Naval Architecture, and was the first genuine attempt at
introducing science into naval construction. Students were given three
days technical work a week and three days theoretical in mathematics
and theory, under Dr. Inman. From the School of Naval Architecture
the students were sent to the Navy Office, and also to the various
dockyards, for the study of routine. Unfortunately, however, the
experiment was received with disfavour by many of the old-type of
dockyard officer, with the result that most of the students were either
not proficient or else became disgusted and found employment elsewhere.
For the year 1812, the _personnel_ still remained at 145,000. The
Estimates were £19,305,759. Ships in commission amounted to 102 ships
of the line and 482 lesser vessels, with a certain number of ships
in reserve. At and about this period various experimental ships
were built, of which the most interesting was the floating battery
_Spanker_. She was of somewhat amateur construction; intended to carry
guns of the largest size and mortars for bombardment and harbour
defence. The main deck had an over-hang fitted with scuttles, down
through which guns could be fired. The idea of this was, that supposing
she were attacked by boats, these would go under the over-hang and
very easily be destroyed. In practice, however, there was so much
miscalculation that the over-hang was only a few inches above the
water-line. The ship was also found to be so unmanageable that she was
very shortly relegated to harbour service.
The blockades of Toulon and the Scheldt were continued, but nothing
of much naval interest took place. A small French squadron broke out
of Lorient, but after cruising about for three weeks and making a few
prizes, returned to Brest and was blockaded there.
In the Baltic, peace was made with Sweden, and war definitely broke
out between France and Russia, this being the war which culminated in
Napoleon’s disastrous invasion of Russia.
In the Channel and in the Mediterranean a number of single ship actions
took place, and one ship, the _Rivoli_ (seventy-four), built at Venice
for the French Navy, was captured. This particular ship held out for
4½ hours, and at the time of her surrender had only two guns left
available and fifty per cent. of her crew were out of action. She was
captured by the _Victorious_ (seventy-four).
The most important naval event of the year was the American declaration
of war against England. The war had been prepared for some time, and
the American Navy, such as there was of it, was in a very efficient
and up-to-date state. It contained no ships of the line, but a number
of very heavily-armed frigates, manned by well-trained crews. In the
single ship actions that ensued the Americans were almost invariably
victorious.
For the year 1813, the _personnel_ was 14,000; the Estimates
£20,096,709. Ships in commission, 102 of the line and 468 inferior
vessels. The problem of meeting the American frigates was very
seriously considered and a certain number of large ships were razeed
with a view to meeting the American frigates on more even terms.
The most famous event of the year was the fight between the _Shannon_
(British) and the _Chesapeake_ (American). The former was rated at
thirty-eight, but actually carried fifty-two guns. The latter was rated
at thirty-six, but carried fifty. She had done well, but at the time
of the fight had just been re-commissioned with a new crew, of whom
a number were British deserters and some forty were Portuguese. The
_Shannon_, on the other hand, had been in commission for some years;
and Captain Broke had assiduously trained his men in gunnery, having
anticipated the “dotter” of to-day.
Being in this state of efficiency he came off Boston and sent in a
challenge to the captain of the _Chesapeake_. Whether the challenge
was actually received or not, the _Chesapeake_ came out accompanied
by yachts crowded with sightseers and a cargo of handcuffs for the
anticipated British prisoners.
Firing was not opened until the two frigates were only fifty yards
apart. It lasted only about ten minutes, when the _Chesapeake_ being
almost blown to pieces, the _Shannon_ fell aboard her and carried her
by boarding in another five.