Gunboat

“ Arriving near the point, your steamer will come to anchor, and you will observe closely whether signs of the enemy can be seen from the steamer; if there are indications that the enemy are in force then the gunboat will shell the place vigorously to drive them back from the point, when you will land your command under cover of the fire of the gunboat, and make a thorough inspection of the work that has been done by the enemy, and effectually destroy any fortifications that may have been begun. ”

“ We used to bang 'em with the butts of our rifles. They gave up that dodge after a while and invented something 'cuter' still. They'd fasten ten or twelve long ropes to the keel, outside her, bringing them over the side on deck, and they'd lash the free ends to sacks of rifles. If they sighted a gunboat or a launch, or any of our people, and there was a risk of being caught and searched, they'd simply drop them overboard and let them hang down in the water suspended from the keel. ”

“ The broadcast use of gunboats in peace time is a marked strategic weakness, and larger vessels can generally do the work equally well, in fact far better, for they really possess the strength necessary118 to uphold the prestige of the flag they fly, whereas the gunboat is merely an abstract symbol of the power of the nation, not a concrete embodiment of it. ”

“ We found our prize a most formidable gunboat, mounting two 11-inch guns forward, and two 9-inch guns aft, all protected by thick iron casemates, utterly impenetrable to our artillery, even at the very shortest range. ”

“ Sharp-pointed gunboats, with bullet-proof crows' nests and swivels that are the gentlest murderers ever polished; monitors through whose eyeholes a ball a big as a cook-stove squints from a columbiad socket; ferry-boats which are speckled with brass cannon, and all sorts of craft that can float and manœuvre, provided they look at us through deadly muzzles are there to the number of fifty or sixty, as many as make the entire navies of all other American nations. ”

“ The efficacy of gunboats for the defense of harbors and of other smooth and inclosed waters may be estimated in part from that of galleys formerly much used but less powerful, more costly in their construction and maintenance, and requiring more men. But the gunboat itself is believed to be in use with every modern maritime nation for the purposes of defense. In the Mediterranean, on which are several small powers whose system, like ours, is peace and defense, few harbors are without this article of protection. ”

“ The Secretary of the Navy had stated the number of men necessary for each gunboat at twenty-seven. Take three hundred and fifty men as necessary for a frigate; of course thirteen gunboats will not require more men than one frigate. Mr. F. said he thought gunboats, in every point of view, the preferable defence. The Secretary of the Navy had stated sixty gunboats to be requisite. For the purpose, however, of accommodation, it is proposed to lessen the number of gunboats to thirty, and to apply the remaining sum to fortifications. ”

“ The common type is longer than an ordinary gunboat—a long, low, graceful thing, flying through the water at fabulous speed, with a great curve of water some yards back of the bow, and smoke flying horizontally from the three or four stacks. ”

“ Plummer's artillery wasted no ammunition in useless fire upon the iron-plated boats, and his guns were so shielded by their position in sunken batteries, back from the edge of the bank, that the [Pg 74] fire of the gunboats passed harmless overhead. The deliberate fire of sharpshooters from the rifle-pits, however, searching every opened porthole, pilot-house, and every exposed point, was so annoying that the fleet withdrew. Every day the gunboats opened upon the position, either in stationary attack or while passing up and down the river. ”

“ The plan of action with gunboats is—as at Sweaborg—to keep constantly in motion, generally circling round and round, easing for a moment as the gun is ready, delivering fire, and then steaming on again during the reloading. To hit so small an object under such circumstances is, as has been observed, extremely difficult. ”

“ There is another point to be borne in mind in considering the effect of the modern method of warfare, at least as far as a sea attack is concerned. Our heaviest ordnance are placed, and with reason, on gunboats. A very few of these, armed with a couple of the new rifled-cannon each, and firing conical shell, would be sufficient to set all Portsmouth dockyard in a blaze at a distance of four miles, whilst at that distance each gunboat presents but a tiny mark for the batteries on shore. ”

“ Among them are the gunboats,—a cross between a floating fort, a dredging-machine, and a mud-scow. The sailors, who have been tossed upon the ocean in stately ships, call them mud-turkles. There are thousands of soldiers on the steamboats and on the shore, waiting for the sailing of the expedition which is to make an opening in the line of Rebel defences. There are thousands of people busy as bees, loading and unloading the steamboats, rolling barrels and boxes. ”

“ Time proved that the lighter class of boats, called "tin-clads," were helpless against field guns, while heavy iron-clads could be driven off by riflemen protected by the timber and levees along streams. To fire ten-inch guns at skirmishers, widely disposed and under cover, was very like snipe-shooting with twelve-pounders; and in narrow waters gunboats required troops on shore for their protection. ”

“ A strong fleet of gunboats, stationed all along the coast, and with carefully-devised arrangements for mutual communication, so that at any time their force could be speedily concentrated in one or more important positions, would be far more efficacious and far more economical than the more popular expedients for the military defence of England. ”

“ We suffered most when wearing or tacking; it was then I most sensibly felt the want of another frigate. At half-past four, the wind inclining to the northward, I made the signal for the bombs and gunboats to retire from action, and, immediately after, the signal to tow off the gunboats and prizes, which was handsomely executed by the brigs, schooners, and boats of the squadron, covered by a heavy fire from the Constitution. At three-quarters past 4, p.m., the light (p. 140) vessels, gunboats, and prizes being out of reach of the enemy's shot, I hauled off to take the bomb vessels in tow. ”

“ The various types of cruisers are not expected to fight with any but vessels of their own class, which they may encounter in the discharge of similar duties, such as scouring the seas as the advance guard of the slower line of battle-ships, preying upon or escorting merchant vessels, blockading ports, and acting as convoys for troop-ships. Gunboats are simply light-draught cruisers, and are intended for use in shallow waters and rivers. ”

“ The efficacy of gunboats in the defence of coasts, ports, and harbors, must be obvious to every person capable of reflection; when it is considered with what celerity they can generally change their position and mode of attack, extending it widely to as many different directions as their number consists of, or concentrating nearly to one line of direction. ”

“ This powerful vessel had successfully encountered a strong fleet of U. S. gunboats, and fought them for several hours without sustaining material damage. There was nothing able to cope with her in the sounds. ”

“ Three gunboats arrived in sections, and these were put together. They were stronger, and much better defended by steel plates than the first gunboats; and each of them carried two six-pounder quick-firing guns, a small howitzer, four Maxims, and a searchlight. They were, however, much slower than the old boats, and could do very little in the way of towing.
Besides these, eight steel double-deck troop barges were brought up, in sections, and put together. ”

“ Gun-boats, or police junks, are ubiquitous. A very low freeboard and no cabin, with the exception [103] of a kind of deck-house quite aft, where the helmsman stands, one mast hoisting a gracefully-cut sail with alternate blue and white cloths, a small muzzle-loading cannon in the bows, and a crew of ten or a dozen in quaint uniforms, who, when wind fails, take to the sweeps, and standing up facing the direction in which they are going, and keeping good time, propel the boat at a fair pace. When at anchor an awning in blue and white stripes affords a commodious shelter. ”

“ These gun-boats were all propelled by muffled oars, that dipped in and out of the water so as to make no noise; nor did any of the men speak above their breath. On the gunwale of the boat, a strip of heavy canvas was nailed, the inner edge having been left unfastened, under which were concealed their swords, guns, and other implements for use in a combat, and so placed that each man could, at an instant’s notice, lay his hand upon his own weapon. ”

“ Gun boats, twenty-five tons, carry a long iron twenty-four pounder in the bow, with a complement of thirty-five men. They are officered and manned from the squadron, excepting twelve Neapolitan bombardiers, gunners, and sailors, attached to each boat, who were shipped by permission of their Government. This step I found necessary, as every vessel in the squadron was considerably short of complement. The gun boats are constructed for the defence of harbours; they are flat bottomed and heavy, and do not sail or row even tolerably well. ”

“ We all had pistols in our belts and cutlasses by our sides, while in each boat there were several muskets besides those carried by the marines. In the bow of the launch, as also in that of the pinnace, there was a long brass gun, which could throw a shot well able to send a pirate prow to the bottom in the course of a few discharges. The captain gave the order to shove off, and following him closely, the flotilla of boats pulled away to the southward. I could not help looking every now and then at the big ship, as her dark hull, and masts and yards rose up against the clear sky. ”

“ You may call the battle cruiser a cross between the battleship and the cruiser; she has the big guns of the former and the speed of the latter. She gains this speed by having a less weight of armour, and, as a rule, a smaller number of guns.
The most powerful weapon used in our Navy is the 15-inch gun, with which the latest of our battleships, the Queen Elizabeth (launched 1915) , is armed. This gun, which weighs ninety tons, throws a shot weighing five-sixths of a ton at a velocity of more than a mile a second for a range of 10,000 yards, or roughly six miles. ”

“ That longer row of sheds, facing the water and the landing-slip, is divided off into numberless pigeon-holes, out of which peer as ill-tempered a set of gun-boats, as well could be got together, if we may judge from the names conspicuously painted on their bows. Snappers, Growlers, Biters, Vixens, Termagants, Bruisers, Snarlers, &c., all looking at you out of their houses, just like so many bull-dogs in a sporting dog-dealer’s yard.
But how do these 200 feet gun-boats perform the feat of getting so comfortably on dry land? There is a huge locomotive, and before you are the rails. ”

“ This is the mad-boat of the establishment: the insane are permitted to row, and fish, and sail on their old element, and no harm comes of it.
But the Gun Boat Slip? says the reader. Well, the Gun Boat Slip is perhaps the oddest place in the whole naval establishment. At first the visitor thinks he is in a railway station, as on either side, long rows of sheds are placed, and between them lines of rails—one line running down into the salt water, with others crossing it at right angles, just in front, and parallel with the long row of sheds, which open end-ways upon the open shore. ”

“ For three hours we tried to put a shell into the blockade-runner with our guns, but could not do so on account of the sand dunes interfering with our range. At twelve o'clock Captain Gregory decided to land a boat's crew; and that was his mistake No. 3. We all well knew there would be resistance offered to our landing, under the circumstances, but I received orders to set fire to the schooner, and therefore had nothing to say. Sixteen of the best men were selected and armed with rifles, and to each was also given a navy revolver, or else a boarding-pistol, carrying an ounce bullet. ”

“ The sailors, delighting in such work, ran down the hill with the tackle-falls, as the guns flew up with almost incredible velocity, notwithstanding the depth of the mud, the incessant rain, and the steep acclivity of a newly cut road.
“There is something indescribably animating to the mind of British seamen, whenever they are ordered to land with a great gun. The novelty of getting on shore, and the hopes of coming into action, give a degree of buoyancy to their spirits, which carries them to the highest pitch of enthusiasm. ”

“ Down either side of the deck stretched a row of heavy carronades, each with its crew of gunners grouped about the breech, and each shotted and primed ready for the opening volley. From the magazine amidships, to the gun-deck, reached a line of stewards, waiters, and cooks, ready to pass up cartridges; for on a man-of-war, in action, no one is an idler. Active boys were skurrying about the deck, barefooted, and stripped to the waist. These were the "powder monkeys," whose duty it would be, when the action opened, to take the cartridges from the line of powder-passers and carry it to the guns. ”

“ Bridge, conning-tower, funnels, masts, and boats had vanished utterly. Her guns, wrenched from their mountings, pointed upwards at grotesque angles through their shattered shields. Where the torpedo-tubes had been was a jagged hole still spanned by one arc of the gun-metal racer. This much was visible in the reflected glare of the distant search-lights as the Calder swept by with her guns trained abeam should the vessel still be capable of offence.
A score of men, mostly engine-room ratings, were gathered amidships on the shattered deck of the crippled vessel. ”