THE BALTIC FLEET.

Lyttelton Times, Volume IV, Issue 202, 7 October 1854, Page 6

THE BALTIC FLEET.

(From Bontlty's Miscellany for April.) It is necessary, in estimating the de^tructire ability t>f this monster fleet, to demonstrate its resistless force fay some other means than a bare enumeration of ships, men, and guns. The new agent which it carries gives an unknown, but

at least a terrible efficiency to its thousandsjof " hearts of oak," as well" as its thousands of heavy guns. The evolutions of this squadron should not be compared with the performances of any previous fleet, as it is not dependent upon the caprice of the winds. Admiral Napier will be enabled to assert his own free will and control over the motions of his ships. He is now monarch ofthe deep, and really "rules the-waves." His ascendency over the elements gives him the power of ofiejing battle to his human foe or declining to fight, as he thinks most expedient; and a victory over the Russians in his canvass fleet seems a necessary consequence. For he can plant, wherever a ship can float, when he likes, and how he likes, any number of his tremendous batteries.

Imagine the effect of the broadside, of the "Iron Duke," throwing its ton of metal into another ship of war under canvass. Let us say, for instance, that the great three-decker can throw six broadsides in (our minutes, or, in other words, that she can hurl six tons of iron shot in four minutes upon a given point in that brief space of time. It is evident that, if flesh and blood can be found to stand this sort of smashing, we know of no frames of wood and iron that can : and, as the "screw" can worm herself into any position most favourable for attack, every shot would tell, and the work of destruction must be done in a few moments. There will be, as there always has been, great scope for personal daring, and'much will depend upon physical superiority and courage; but the days of "the old tacticians are past, and weight of metal and good gunnery will, for the future, be the real agents to bring matters to a sharper and more decisive conclusion.

The power of bringing an enemy to close quarters, and avoiding long chases, is one of the greatest advantages a "screw" fleet possesses, and is, moreover, well adapted to our peculiar bull-dog mode of fighting1. Long shots and long chases are "Jacks abomination ; he is at home when the fight is warm, sharp and severe. But while estimating the probable consequences of the next naval encounter, we must not blind ourselves to the fact that our "screws" are, up to this time, not only a novelty in war, but an experiment; they have not yet earnt their "spurs." But that steam will prove itself a giant in war, as it lias done in peace, no one doubts, and that rapidly, for the strides of this colossus bring within the compass of a life the most startling contrasts. Only 47 years ago a crowd of gaping idlers met upon the quay at New York to jest and ridicule the madcap who had wasted his time and capital in constructing an engine to propel a vessel against the current of the Hudson. It was considered a great marvel that the little craft moved away from the quay, and contempt was changed into astonishment when the New Yorkers beheld the first trembling steps of the infant giant upon their waters. Since then, under the fostering care of science, steam has all but deprived the ocean of its perils, and now the dearest interests of western civilization are intrusted to the efficacy this motive power has given to ourline-of-battle ships. Without being alarmists, nay, in the full confidence and belief of certain triumph, we must not overlook the possible mischance that the first severe sea fight may demonstrate the weakness of our " screws," as at present constructed. It has not escaped the sagacity of naval engineers, that their steins are much weakened by the loss of the " dead wood taken away for the working of the fan, and that an unlucky shot in this tender part may lay one of these bulwarks, a mere hulk, at the mercy of the foe; and that the machinery which has been found to be out of order, and " whimsical" when being tested in the calm waters of the " measured mile" in Stokes Bay, may be as liable to fail us in the shock of battle and in the hurry of chase or retreat. It is quite as well, then, that the second division of the Baltic fleet will add a lew sturdy liners, dependent upon canvass alone, under the flutter of which our gallant tars have been accustomed to conquer.

There is sound policy, therefore, in a transition state like the present, from canvass to steam, in being armed at all points. But the comparative efficacy of the two classes of ships, " screws" and ■' canvass," will very soon be put to the test, for the admiral who commands the Baltic fleet is as ready at coming to blows as most men. In the confined sea in which the Russians lurk, the squadrons must soon furnish us with the terrible statistics of the game of war, played out with 68-pounders. Let us hope, for the sake of peace, that the foe will give us an

early opportunity of convincing him, as well as our own Doves, that the money expended on our " screws" has been judiciously invested.

An ''old man-of-war's man's" parting salute to the fleet would be imperfect without an allusion to the difference between the tonnage and armament of our " screws" and the best ships of the last war. The art of destruction has kept pace with the rest of the sciences. It was the first to blossom of all the branches of the tree of knowledge, and whether we recognise its fruit as sprouting from the club of Cain or in the desolating havoc of " grape, canister and shell," it is still teaching us a significant lesson ;\ If we compare two ships, the one built in 1800 of 104 guns, and the other in 1850, of 91 guns —the first a three-decker, and the last a twodecker—we shall find that the schoolmaster has been abroad in our dockyards and foundries, and that the heaviest shot we won our sovereignty of the seas with are mere toys compared with those now in use.

A British ship of 104 guns of the year 1805 was armed as follows:—28 long1 32-pounders on the lower deck ; 30 18-pounders on the middle deck : 30 12 pounders on the main deck ; 8 12 pounders on the quarter deck; 2 12 pounders on the forecastle ; and 6'lS-pouuder cammades on the poop—broadside force 1,0121b.

Contrast tliis ship's power (and she played a most conspicuous part at Trafalgar) with any of out modern " screws." Take the Agamemnon, 91 guns, as a familiar example. Her armament consists of 30 58-pounders, and 59 22-pounders, besides 1 10-inch pivot-gun, and 1 8-inch ditto on her upper deck. Both those pivot-guns carry 60-pounder ball. This ship's force can be known to an ounce, and, as she is one of a numerous class now in the navy, we may congratulate the nation in having- at this period such a fleet of " persuaders" as these line vessels must prove to be, whenever their weighty arguments are brought to bear upon the Eastern or any other vexed question. Tims her 34 68----ponnders, which include her two pivot-guns, will throw 2,1761b. of shot, and her 59 32-poun-ders will lurow 1,8881b., making a grand total of 4,054 lb. for her entire armament, or 2,0321b. or nearly one ton of metal as her broadside force. These figures may not be exactly correct, as 68-pound shot are " cored," or partially hollow ; but the loss in weight is more than compensated as a destructive missile by the extra size of the ball. So that, after making an allowance, we find that our " screws1' are no niggards with their shot, but that they throw an excess of 10001b. of iron at every broadside over one of Nelson's best ships, of 104 guns. When, in addition to this startling disparity in the destructive force of the ships of the two epochs, it is remembered that the modern ninety possesses a motive power in the screw that renders her terrific batteries doubly effective, we can form a rough idea of the resistless power concentrated in ships of war of the Agamemnon class.

The work cut out for Sir Charles Napier is said to comprehend an attack upon Riga. The capture of the "frozen up" Russian ships at Revel—the bombarding of Sweaborg—and even the destruction of the " submarine" fortress of Cronstadt is hinted at, but these are all conjectures, and it is better to let events speak for themselves. We must not forget that the ports in the Baltic are most of them " bar" harbours, over which heavy ships cannot pass; consequently the duty our blue jackets will have to perform assumes a different aspect when this fact is known. No one doubts the determined gallantry of Admirals Napier, Corry, and Chads ; wherever their ships can go, they will take them ; but if the Russians skulk under their guns at Cronstadt, it must be left to the judgment of the Admiral to determine ihe propriety of attacking them under such circumstances.

With respect to the foe he will have to contend with in the tideless waters of the Baltic very little is known. The Russian fleet is numerous, ;ind said to be a ''hobby " of the Emperor. Hitherto its enterprises have been confined to making voyages of discovery to Biga and ltevel, and an occasional cruise to the waters of Copenhagen. The tactics learnt in a short summer's cruise in an internal tideless sea cannot be equal to those acquired in the broad oceans navigated by our mariners. The Bailiff has its own peculiar dangers, no doubt ; one of which is ice, hithertothe most formidable enemy the Russian fleet'has had to contend withit will now have to stand the fire of the united navies of the two greatest Powers in the world.