Marine

“ The effect was greatly to increase skill in navigation, to build up a merchant marine, and—it being an age of universal freebooting—to cultivate an experience in naval warfare which was a preparation for the great sea-fights of the eighteenth century. ”

“ To make what sailors you have efficient and available for naval emergencies. In this respect the French authorities have achieved an entire success. Every sailor, nay, every man whose employment savors at all of maritime life, though he be only a boatman plying the river, or a laborer in harbor or dock, is enrolled in what is called the marine inscription,—thenceforward in all times of need to be called into active service. ”

“ The watching fleets of the present day have none of the charm and change to occupy their mind which accompanied the sailing-ship navy, making and shortening sail, trimming sails, tacking, and wearing, necessary for cruising on the look-out. There were no air-vessels, mines, submarines, or torpedoes in the old days, no under-water warfare. The strain upon officers and men of the sea-going fleet in these days is terrific: nothing to occupy their thoughts as in the days of sailing-ships. ”

“ This term is not universally confined to vessels of a particular construction, or which are masted and rigged in a method different from all others. It is variously applied, by the mariners of different European nations, to a peculiar sort of vessel of their own marine. ”

“ Officers and men in abundance were ready. The magnificent seafaring populations of the merchant marine and the fisheries were drawn into the naval service, and subsequently the whole mercantile marine was brought under naval control, and for practical purposes was embodied with the Navy. ”

“ The mariners all 'gan work the ropes,
Where they were wont to do:
They raised their limbs like lifeless tools—
We were a ghastly crew.
The body of my brother's son
Stood by me, knee to knee:
The body and I pulled at one rope,
But he said nought to me.'
But not by the souls of the men, nor by demons of earth or middle air, but by a blessed troop of angelic spirits, sent down by the invocation of the guardian saint. ”

“ There are no books published which will tell you more of the new navy,—of the men, the ships, the huge guns, the submarine auxiliaries and all the hundred and one things that go to make up the fascination of the naval seaman's life, than these volumes. ”

“ Feet of the Captains hurry through the stillness,
⁠Ghostly sails of galleons are drifting to and fro,
Voices of mariners sound across the shadows,
⁠Waiting the word that shall bid them up and go.
"Lo, now," they say, "for the grey old Mother calls us,"
⁠ (Listening to the thunder of the guns about her shore,)
"Death shall not hold us, nor years that lie between us,
⁠Sail we to England to strike for her once more." ”

“ If it be in the night, you shall shoot off two pieces and bear two great lights, one a man's height and a half above another.
"XV. Every Captain and Master of the Fleet shall have a special regard that no contention be found betwixt the mariners and the soldiers. ”

“ Says, Cheer up your hearts, my mariners all,
You are not very far from the land.
And the raging seas do foam, foam,
And the stormy winds do blow,
While we poor sailors must mount to the top,
When the landsmen they lye low. ”

“ A squat black beetle-body, sole witness in that wide scene
Of the silent, incredible war with the vanishing submarine;
And was wrapt in the air divine that is unto the body as wings,
And unto the soul quintessence of glad, unspeakable things. ”

“ These united causes originally suggested the expediency of forming an establishment of marines, who were raised and embodied with the sole view of being a nursery to man our fleets. They were always quartered in the vicinity of our principal sea-ports, where they were regularly trained to the different methods of ship-fighting, and to those various manoeuvres of a vessel, in which numbers were necessary. ”

“ They are sea-soldiers, or soldiers enlisted for service either on shore or on board ships-of-war, and who are [II-362] known as Marines, although all sea-going persons are really marines.
Most powers which possess navies have also marines, France being an exception. They constitute a separate military body from the seamen and other enlisted men of a war-ship, and are trained to fight either as infantry or as artillerists, and especially for participation in naval engagements. ”

“ After parting; from you at Benedict, on the evening of the 20th instant, I proceeded up the Patuxent with the boats and tenders, the marines of the ships being embarked in them, under the command of Captain John Robyns (the senior officer of that corps in the fleet) , and the marine-artillery, under Captain Harrison, in their two tenders; the Severn and Hebrus frigates, and the Manly sloop, being directed to follow us up the river as far as might prove practicable. ”

“ Sixty of the marines had gone on shore in the morning, a considerable number of the rest who were on the upper-deck were saved, but the greater number of the crew, many of whom were in the hold stowing away the rum casks, had perished; indeed, out of the ship’s whole complement, seventy seamen only escaped with their lives. ”

“ The learned and ingenious, who at different times have turned their attention to the subject of navigation, have supplied the mariner with various means, by which he can direct his course on the deep with accuracy and certainty. ”

“ In every sea fight, great or small, marines have taken part, and on every continent they have served in big and little wars, sometimes as part of the army, sometimes with naval contingents, sometimes alone. ”

“ Sail forth—steer for the deep waters only, Reckless O soul, exploring, I with thee, and thou with me, For we are bound where mariner has not yet dared to go, And we will risk the ship, ourselves and all. ”

“ The boatswain and his mates pipe, all hands to quarters! at every hatchway. All the persons appointed to manage the great guns, immediately repair to their respective stations. The crows, handspikes, rammers, spunges, powder-horns, matches, and train tackles, are placed in order by the side of every cannon. The hatches are immediately laid, to prevent any one from deserting his post by escaping into the lower apartments. The marines are drawn up in rank and file, on the quarter-deck, poop, and fore-castle. The lashings of the great guns are cast loose, and the tompions withdrawn. ”

“ Naval forces, with only about 7,000 men, constitute less than 5 percent of the armed forces' personnel strength. They man a variety of vessels, however, including escort ships, patrol boats, torpedo boats, two submarines, and miscellaneous supply and service vessels. ”

“ In Cabin’d Ships at Sea In cabin’d ships at sea, The boundless blue on every side expanding, With whistling winds and music of the waves, the large imperious waves, Or some lone bark buoy’d on the dense marine, Where joyous full of faith, spreading white sails, She cleaves the ether mid the sparkle and the foam of day, or under many a star at night, By sailors young and old haply will I, a reminiscence of the land, be read, In full rapport at last. ”

“ "God save thee, ancient Mariner! From the fiends, that plague thee thus!— Why look'st thou so?"—With my cross-bow I shot the ALBATROSS.
PART THE SECOND. ”

“ Many a green isle needs must be
In the deep wide sea of Misery,
Or the mariner, worn and wan,
Never thus could voyage on—
Day and night, and night and day, _5
Drifting on his dreary way,
With the solid darkness black
Closing round his vessel's track:
Whilst above the sunless sky,
Big with clouds, hangs heavily, _10
And behind the tempest fleet
Hurries on with lightning feet,
Riving sail, and cord, and plank,
Till the ship has almost drank
Death from the o'er-brimming deep; ”

“ The mariner will have dominion over the atmosphere and the great deep, over the fish of the sea and the fowls of the air. ”

“ The movement of each ship is chiefly regulated by the main and fore-top sails, and the jib; the mizen-top sail being reserved to hasten or retard the course of the ship, and, in fine, by filling or backing, hoisting or lowering it, to determine her velocity.
The frigates, tenders, and fire-ships, being also hauled upon a wind, lie at some distance, ready to execute the admiral’s orders, or those of his seconds, leaving the line of battle between them and the enemy. If there are any transports and store-ships attendant on the fleet, these are disposed still further distant from the action. ”

“ "I fear thee, ancient Mariner! I fear thy skinny hand! And thou art long, and lank, and brown, As is the ribbed sea-sand. ”

“ It is an ancient Mariner, And he stoppeth one of three. "By thy long grey beard and glittering eye, Now wherefore stopp'st thou me? ”

“ First in importance, as well as in interest, to seamen is the question of personnel. It is much to the credit of the Navy League that it is wide197 awake to the dangers besetting this country through the increasing numbers of foreign seamen manning our ships. ”

“ The absolute necessity of studying recent faunas with particular attention to the types of organisms represented, and to the numbers of species and of individuals, has not been realized sufficiently in the past. The habitats of fossil faunas cannot be determined without a knowledge, an intimate knowledge, of the habitats of recent faunas. To be sure, there is little doubt about the kinds of organisms which make up a typical marine fauna ”

“ YE MARINERS OF ENGLAND:
A NAVAL ODE.
I.
Ye Mariners of England!
That guard our native seas;
Whose flag has braved, a thousand years,
The battle and the breeze! ”

“ To lower; also to sink, as "the deck has settled;" "we settled the land." (See Laying.) "Settle the main top-sail halliards," i.e. ease them off a little, so as to lower the yard, as on shaking out a reef.
SETTLING. Sinking in the water.
SET UP. Soldiers, mariners, and small-arm men, well drilled, and instructed to be upright and soldierlike in their carriage, are "well set up."
SET UP RIGGING, To. To take in the slack of the shrouds, stays, and backstays, to bring the same strain as before, and thus secure the masts. ”

“ The necessary preparations being completed, and the officers and crew ready at their respective stations, to obey the order, the commencement of the action is determined by the mutual distance and situation of the adverse ships, or by the signal from the commander in chief of the fleet or squadron. The cannon being levelled in parallel rows, projecting from the ship’s side, the most natural order of battle is evidently to range the ships abreast of each other, especially if the engagement is general. ”

“ If they made an occasional trip to sea in a merchantman or privateer between whiles, that by no means impaired their professional ability, and the "prime seamen" of those days were the finest sailors in history. Unfortunately their number, [226] for various reasons, was somewhat limited, and a ship's company, especially if she or her commander bore a bad name afloat, had to be completed by all kinds of people. Even the marines, regularly enlisted men as they were, were by no means always of the same calibre. ”

“ All these obstacles, and the tremendous fire of cannon and small arms, kept up during the whole time the boats were in sight, which, from the illumination caused by the burning vessel, was lengthened, served only as a means of shewing how vain all resistance is, when British seamen and marines are led by their officers in the way they were upon this occasion. ”

“ If the fleet is superior in number to that of the enemy, the admiral usually selects a body of reserve from the different squadrons, which will always be of use to cover the fire-ships, bomb-vessels, &c. ”

“ Tell that to the marines—the sailors won’t believe it. ”

“ The marines were drawn up, under arms, upon the poop, along the gangways, in the waist, and on one side of the quarter-deck. A heap of sawdust was thrown on the other side of the quarter-deck, and a cushion placed upon it; in the middle, upon the gratings, a platoon of nine marines were drawn up in three lines, three in each: the two foremost lines, which were intended to fire, had their bayonets fixed, as is customary on such occasions. ”

“ Of whatsoever number a fleet of ships of war is composed, it is usually divided into three squadrons; and these, if numerous, are again separated into divisions. ”

“ The admirals of his majesty’s fleet are classed into three squadrons, viz. the red, the white, and the blue. ”

“ The fleet being thus more inclosed, will more readily observe the signals, and with greater facility form itself into the line of battle; ”

“ And a gallant fleet was sailing there whose fighting days are done,
Sloop and galleon, brig and pinnace, all the rigs you never met,
Fighting frigate, grave three-decker with their snowy canvas set;
Dozed and dreamed, when, on a sudden, ev'ry sail began to swell,
For the breeze has spoken strangers, with a stirring tale to tell,
And a thousand eager voices flung the challenge out to sea:
"Come they hither in the old way, in the only way that's free?" ”

“ When the mariner, sailing over tropic seas, looks for relief from his weary watch, he turns his eyes toward the southern cross, burning luridly above the tempest-vexed ocean. As the midnight approaches, the southern cross begins to bend, the whirling worlds change their places, and with starry finger-points the Almighty marks the passage of time upon the dial of the universe, and though no bell may beat the glad tidings, the lookout knows that the midnight is passing and that relief and rest are close at hand. ”

“ Speed on my book! spread your white sails my little bark athwart the imperious waves,
Chant on, sail on, bear o'er the boundless blue from me to every sea,
This song for mariners and all their ships. ”

“ In war time, this is a moment when hundreds of eyes are engaged in peering [Pg 227] all round into the twilight; and happy is the sharp-sighted person who first calls out, with a voice of exultation—
“A sail, sir—a sail!”
“Whereabouts?” is the eager reply.
“Three or four points on the lee-bow, sir.”
“Up with the helm!” cries the officer. “Set the top-gallant and royal studding-sails—rig out the fore-top-mast studding-sail boom! Youngster, run down and tell the captain there is a stranger on the lee-bow—and say that we are making all sail. She looks very roguish.” ”