Minister of Marine

“ The central organization also comprises a number of departments (services) entrusted with the various branches of naval administration, such as administration of the active fleet, construction of ships, arsenals, recruiting, finance, &c. The minister has the assistance of the Conseil supérieur de la Marine, over which he presides, consisting of three vice-admirals, the chief of staff and some other members. The Conseil supérieur devotes its attention to all questions touching the fighting efficiency of the fleet, naval bases and arsenals and coast defence. ”

“ For many years no new vessels of importance were added to the fleet, but in 1893 the armored cruiser Kaiserin Maria Theresia was launched and three small battleships were commenced; and since that time the annual building programme has steadily increased. As reorganized in 1901 the Navy Department forms an autonomous section in the Ministry of War under the control of a vice-admiral, who is commander-in-chief of the fleet and marine forces, and who represents the Minister of War in the discussions of the budget of the Navy Department. ”

“ Men are enlisted in the navy, and officers are commissioned as in the army, but with different ratings and ranks. |Administration of the navy.| The navy also has its code corresponding to the Articles of War and its system of courts-martial. The Marine Corps, which in organization, drill, and discipline, is really a military organization, comes under the control of the Secretary of the Navy because it is primarily intended to furnish a landing force after attack. ”

“ I have had much satisfaction in receiving the commands of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to make known to you, their Lordships approbation of your conduct, and of that of the Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers, and Privates of the Marine battalion, landed from the ships in the squadron, to co-operate with the Army on the coast of Egypt, and I have to request that you will, with the permission of Major General Coote, communicate the approbation which their Lordships have been pleased to express to the Officers and men serving under your command. ”

“ The secretary of the marine, who shall also be appointed during pleasure It shall be his duty to superintend every thing relating to the marine department, the public ships, dock-yards, naval stores, and arsenals ”

“ The present system of administration of the services may be said to date, for the Army, from 1855, and for the Navy from some twenty-five years earlier. A Prime Minister forming a government allots to the different offices members of Parliament of prominence and supposed capacity. Thus it invariably happens that gentlemen are appointed to exercise supreme control over the Army and Navy who possess no experience or knowledge of the military or naval service and profession. ”

“ The marines are excellent fellows, well-trained, hardy, cheerful, duly respecting themselves, and proud of their service: while, from belonging to a fixed corps, and from not being liable to be perpetually disbanded and scattered, they acquire a permanent interest, or an inherent esprit de corps, as well as a permanent footing in the Navy. In like manner, the marine officers constitute one of the most gentleman-like bodies of men in the King's service. They are thoroughly imbued with all the high sentiments of honour belonging to the military character ”

“ One of the departments is that of the navigator. Another is the department of ordnance. A third is that of the engineer, a fourth that of the medical officer, a fifth that of the Paymaster and a sixth has to do with the Marine Corps.
The executive officer not only runs almost everything on the ship but is in charge of all equipment and stores. He is the man who can do most to make a ship happy or hellish. He looks after the daily routine, drills, repairs, cleaning up, issuing of stores, and the like. He is the man to whom all other officers, big and little, report. ”

“ The death of the Lord High Admiral, in a retrospective view, also produced some trivial reforms in the constitution of the Marine Regiments, which were accomplished under the auspices of the same ministry that had framed their original regulations. Some existing abuses were, I believe, the pretext for this change, as the Commissaries, after the decease of the Royal Consort, were enjoined to transmit their accounts, and otherwise correspond with the Secretary at War, upon the subject of these establishments. ”

“ A commanding officer invested, and justly so, with unlimited authority on board his own ship, is sure by intelligence, firmness, and sense of duty, to find other means than the lash of making the saving law of absolute obedience to superiors respected, without going such lengths as the captain of an American warship, who, on his own responsibility, hanged one of his midshipmen, nearly related to the Minister for Naval Affairs, who had been guilty of attempted mutiny, from the yardarm. ”

“ Where there are no passengers and no supercargo, as in our vessel, he has no companion but his own dignity, and few pleasures, unless he differs from most of his kind, beyond the consciousness of possessing supreme power, and, occasionally, the exercise of it.
The prime minister, the official organ, and the active and superintending officer is the chief mate. He is first lieutenant, boatswain, sailing-master, and quartermaster. The captain tells him what he wishes to have done, and leaves to him the care of overseeing, of allotting the work, and also the responsibility of its being well done. ”

“ But, as has been explained, the policy of my department was bound up with that of the Ministries of the Interior, of Finance, and of Foreign Affairs, and there had been a difference of opinion between the late War Minister and his colleagues on some most important points. As there was no co-ordinated programme between the War and Navy Departments, I was forced to spend my first two years in office in framing an exhaustive statement for [Pg xxiv] our guidance. ”

“ A President is but a figure-head! And yet you know with what passion I love the Navy. I was born at Le Hâvre, I have always loved all that concerns the sea, and when I entered Parliament my great ambition was to become Minister of the Navy.... ”

“ There is no cast-iron secret or mystery with regard to marine engineering, as some seem to imagine. This being so, there is no reason why lieutenants (E.) should not be just as good and useful experts in their speciality as the gunnery, torpedo, or navigating lieutenant of the present day, without in the slightest degree detracting from their ability to become excellent executive officers. It is imperative that all officers of the present day should be well acquainted with all the general duties connected with the management of ships and fleets. ”

“ He told us that by the Navy Regulations he was instructed, as our commanding officer, to keep up, in such sad conditions as we were thrown into, the organization and discipline of the Service so far as applicable; that he would in the event of our rescue [29] (which we should all hope for and look forward to) be held responsible for the proper administration of law and order; that officers and crew should fare alike on our scanty store of food, and that with care we should probably make out, with the help of seal meat and birds, a reduced ration for some little time. ”

“ He turned to four very capable men who would carry out the actual operation: three admirals who were experts in amphibious landings, fast carrier strikes, and shore bombardment, and Major General Holland M. Smith, who was the commanding general of the Marines’ V Amphibious Corps and now also would be Commanding General, Expeditionary Troops. It was he who would command the troops once they got ashore. ”

“ The Colonels of Marine Regiments clothed their respective Corps, and had the liberty of recommending for commissions—Excepting that the whole battalion was destined for a particular service, none of the Field Officers were embarked. The greatest number of men on board the largest ships did not exceed one hundred under a Captain, three Subalterns, and the smallest was not less than twenty under an Officer.
The Commanders of Marine detachments were enjoined to forward effective returns of them every two months to the Commissary General of Marines, attested by the Captains and Pursers of each. ”

“ A Secretary of War, upon his induction into office, finds system and regularity—the army divided into corps—each officer employed in his legitimate sphere, and the various branches of the service moving in unison and harmony. In the Navy Department there is no such system, and possibly, from the nature of the service, there cannot be, without a thorough re-organization—a work involving not only much time but an enlarged experience. ”

“ In time of peace a Navy Department which is properly administered for times of peace, as most Navy Departments are, can, by means of its bureaus, naval stations, offices, etc., handle the existing fleet, and also these bureaus, naval stations, offices, etc., by labors which for the most part are matters of routine. The department opens for business at a certain time in the morning and closes at a certain time in the afternoon. During office hours the various officials and their clerks fill a few busy hours with not very strenuous labor, and then depart, leaving their cares behind them. ”

“ The Admiral, or commander in chief of a fleet, being frequently invested with a great charge, on which the fate of a kingdom may depend, ought certainly to be possessed of abilities equal to so important a station and so extensive a command. ”

“ The executive action and control of fleet and squadron Commanders is direct and personal in a far stronger degree than that of Generals in the field, especially under modern conditions. The art of handling a great fleet on important occasions with deft and sure judgment is the supreme gift of the Admiral, and practical seamanship must never be displaced from its position as the first qualification of every sailor. The formation of a War Staff does not mean the setting up of new standards of professional merit or the opening of a road of advancement to a different class of officers. ”

“ The Chief of the Naval General Staff directly controls the Naval Infantry Corps, a small naval air arm, the Naval War College, the military standardization services, and several training ships, transports, and surveying ships. The Commander of the Fleet Training Command at Cartagena, who supervises all fleet training centers, is also directly responsible to the Chief of the Naval General Staff. ”

“ Nay, more, I should imagine that your education is greatly in excess of that possessed by men of the same standing in the professions you appear to have adopted."
"Not unlikely," replied the soldier, smilingly removing his disguise; "because I happen to be the Secretary of State for War."
"And I," said the sailor, following suit, and emerging from his sea-faring garb, which now was found to be covering an official uniform—"And I am the First Lord of the Admiralty." ”

“ Many of the essentials of success are already recognized by the General Board, which, as the central office of a growing staff, is moving steadily toward a proper war efficiency and a proper efficiency of the whole Navy, under the Secretary. This General Board, by fostering the creation of a general staff, is providing for the official and then the general recognition of our altered conditions as a Nation and of the true meaning of a great war fleet, which meaning is, first, the best men, and, second, the best ships. ”

“ The regulations, which are the outcome of past experience extending over nearly twenty years, cover every conceivable point of discipline, instruction, recreation, leave of absence, sickness, etc.
The officer of the day—one of the lieutenants—is the person chiefly responsible to the captain for the due performance of all routine duties and the maintenance of discipline, except in the studies, which are under the chief naval instructor, who reports direct to the captain any irregularities in his department. ”