MANNING THE NAVY. (Hansard, 18 August 1846)

MR. BERNAL
begged to call the attention of Her Majesty's Government to the necessity which existed for providing experienced seamen for the British navy. He had no doubt that, under the care of his noble and right hon. Friends in office, the country would be supplied with as fine a navy as ever swam the seas, and that, so far as the matériel was concerned, there could be no complaint. But, in order to maintain the naval supremacy of Great Britain, it would be absolutely necessary that effective measures should be adopted for the manning of those fleets. Mere matériel, without personnel, would be insufficient, and he therefore called upon his noble Friend to state before they separated whether the Government had given attention to the question of how the British fleet was to be manned hereafter. It was well known that at present there would be great difficulty in manning twenty additional ships, should necessity arise for them, with efficient men, properly trained and accustomed to gunnery. It was in that respect the greatest difficulty existed. There was no school for training British seamen to the use and practice of marine artillery. After a three years' cruise, just as the men on board a vessel were thoroughly trained to all their duties, just when they had all become able practised seamen, they were paid off and discharged. He would strongly recommend the adoption of some plan by which practice should be secured to the men. The coast guard, for instance, could be erected into a sort of school. Heavy marine guns could be sent to the several stations, where the men could be practised in their use, and by that 874 means the nucleus of a marine reserve force, to the number of 8,000 men or thereabouts would be provided.

CAPTAIN BERKELEY
had taken almost the same views as the hon. Gentleman had now expressed. He (Captain Berkeley) had always thought and said that it was perfectly useless for this country to possess a fine fleet, if they did not take measures for manning it efficiently. Before he held office at the Admiralty, he had always maintained that sufficient attention had not been paid to the manning of our ships of war; and now that he was in office, he would do all in his power, in conjunction with the noble Earl at the head of the Admiralty, to provide an ample supply of efficient seamen, who might be available for the naval service. He was happy to say, that during the short time he (Captain Berkeley) had been at the Admiralty, a large body of able and efficient men had joined Her Majesty's navy, and that the enlistments were rather increasing than decreasing. He hoped before the next Session to be prepared to submit a plan to the Government which would place at their disposal a body of thorough seamen, who within forty-eight hours would be available at Portsmouth or Plymouth in sufficient numbers to man a fleet.

MR. WILLIAMS
considered the matter to which the hon. Member for Weymouth had directed attention, was one of very great importance. The present system of manning the navy was very inefficient, and no inducements were held out to the men to remain in the service. He was informed that many of the men who had recently been discharged from the Excellent had entered the American service.

ADMIRAL DUNDAS
most positively contradicted the report that had gone abroad that some of the men discharged from the Excellent had entered the American service. The fact was, that a great number of British seamen had recently left the American service to enter our own. Indeed, the British naval service had lately been very much improved; there had been fewer punishments, the men had been better fed and clothed, and the complaints had been less frequent than formerly.

MR. COWPER
considered the remarks of the hon. Member for Weymouth (Mr. Bernal) very important. The maritime defence of the country involved not only its safety but its very existence; and this country could not expect to maintain the position she did in the world unless she 875 had a large disposable force upon any sudden outbreak of war.