Naval officer

“ It is absolutely safe to predict that the Naval Officer of 50 years hence will smile when he reads that his forefathers had to have an officer of Commander’s rank appointed to a ship solely for charge of the main engines. ”

“ The naval officer on board his ship, face to face with the difficulties of the profession, and in daily contact with the grim implements which remind him of the eventualities of his calling, naturally sees in organization mainly a means to an end. ”

“ Their practical experience in handling ships of all sizes, shapes, and speeds under a great variety of conditions is in reality much more extensive than naval officers could possibly enjoy. I was sure that they could quickly pick up steaming and turning in formation under the direction of naval officers, the convoy commander being always a naval officer. ”

“ Though the reputation of a British naval officer is the pride and best possession of his life, yet I cannot feel insensible, also, to the affectionate anxiety of relatives, whose lives have also been entirely devoted to the service, nor to the kind solicitude of all who know me. ”

“ After this, by order of the officer of the deck, silence reigns. At a word from the commander the senior lieutenant begins to read the articles of war, and as he does so all heads are uncovered. Simple yet eloquent is this expression of the faith in [Pg 79] which every naval officer must live. "The commanders of all fleets, squadrons, naval stations and vessels belonging to the navy," runs the wording of the first article, "are required to show in themselves a good example of virtue, honor, patriotism and subordination." ”

“ I believe there are few exceptions to this rule; and I think it may be observed, that, in the navy, precisely as an officer rises in the service, so his means of travelling to good purpose are improved likewise. As he advances in rank, his introductions to society become more easy and extensive, and his facilities for seeing strange things are multiplied at every step, till at length, when he arrives at the command of a ship, he finds himself in one of the most agreeable situations, perhaps, that the nature of things admits of, for viewing the world to advantage. ”

“ The best place for a naval officer to learn his duties is at sea, by performing them, and only by actually putting through a voyage of this nature, a voyage longer than any [24] ever before undertaken by as large a fleet of any nation, can we find out just exactly what is necessary for us to know as to our naval needs and practice our officers and enlisted men in the highest duties of their profession. ”

“ He is a representative young naval officer, proud of the history and traditions of the navy, thoroughly equipped by highly specialized training for the work in hand, high-spirited and yet recognizing that the high order of ability and daring found in the personnel of the navy can only be made available to the nation's service by discipline. ”

“ Sometimes larger craft will pass, manned by gentlemen wearing the ordinary naval officer's caps but dressed in khaki shirts and breeches. They are naval reserve officers and are out with the fell purpose of laying mines of a harmless nature, and when they pass M——, R——, and I give up enticing the wily crab to fix itself to the piece of mutton we have dangling at the end of a string, and have a good look to see if we can recognize any of our club members. ”

“ The sphere of influence of the British Navy comprising as it does the waters of the entire globe, it follows that the average naval officer comes into contact with all sorts and conditions of men; and if he uses his opportunities he will inevitably become a rare judge of human character. He will tend to range men in groups whether they be his own officers or men, or persons of every race and grade of society with whom he comes into contact. ”

“ For these services the United States naval commander-in-chief received the thanks of the Panama Railroad Company, the several Pacific Mail Steamship Companies, and all the consuls and foreign merchants.
These are a few instances of which the writer is cognizant of what the navy does in time of peace. Scarcely a naval officer of moderate experience and length of service but has witnessed similar scenes in different parts of the world. They do not attract the attention of the public, and naval officers are not apt to blow their own trumpets.—March 13, 1884. ”

“ So the naval officer needs for ever to be passing from the sea to the Vernon, or the Excellent, or to Greenwich, where he is kept up-to-date and given a perennial opportunity to develop the best that is in him. ”

“ Now, no study of naval strategy can be thoroughly satisfactory to a naval officer unless it assists him practically to decide what should be done in order to make the naval forces of his country, including himself, better in whatever will conduce to victory in the next war. ”

“ A careful study of the illustrated weekly papers will give us a fair knowledge of the appearance of the average naval officer, and we shall also gather from this same source that when he’s not rushing about after niggers with a field-gun, he’s employed attending balls at various Government Houses, or talking to beautiful ladies on a huge electric-lighted quarter-deck, what time the moon calmly shines on some picturesque Mediterranean harbour. ”

“ Our officers and enlisted men are learning to handle the battleships, cruisers, and torpedo boats with high efficiency in fleet and squadron formations, and the standard of marksmanship is being steadily raised. The best work ashore is indispensable, but the highest duty of a naval officer is to exercise command at sea. ”

“ Intensive training of all officers is being conducted in the fleet with the purpose of preparing them to assume the duties of positions of higher responsibility which they must immediately occupy in the event of the fleet being mobilized, and some progress has been made on plans to train in peace time the abundant and excellent naval officer material to be found in the colleges and elsewhere throughout the country. ”

“ I cannot conclude this letter without assuring their Lordships that every captain, officer, seaman, and marine, have most zealously done their duty; nor will it, I hope, be thought taking away from the merits of others, in drawing their Lordships’ particular notice to the energetic exertions of the captains, officers, and men employed in the gun-boats: they have been constantly under fire, and gone through all the hardships of their situation with the utmost cheerfulness. ”

“ Then he called a marine and had him show the woman to the fore-top. It is the experience of a lifetime for a naval officer who has cruised in the Mediterranean and rocked over the high waves of the south Atlantic to be placed in command of a brick battleship, which rests peacefully alongside a little pier and [Pg 78] is boarded by hundreds of reckless sight-seers every day. ”

“ You have now served under my immediate command nearly six years as midshipman, and eighteen months as senior lieutenant of my flag-ship, during the whole of which time I have carefully watched your character, and am gratified by stating, that for zeal and ability, temper and judgment, in fulfilling all your duties as an officer and gentleman, I have been most perfectly satisfied, and think myself called upon to offer you this tribute of my approbation. I wish you every possible health and happiness, and hope that you will believe me always very faithfully your friend. ”

“ Good responded nobly to this tax upon his inventive faculties. Never before had I the faintest conception of the breadth and depth and height of a naval officer’s objurgatory powers. For ten minutes he went on in several languages without stopping, and he scarcely ever repeated himself. ”

“ On seeing the water rush down the hatchways, he was the first officer that gained the deck; and hearing the acting gunner, who had charge of the watch, call out “luff,” he instantly applied his breast to the tiller, managed, with the assistance of a rope from to windward, to put the helm hard up, and thus averted the general calamity that must have followed obedience to such an order. ”

“ And be it further enacted, That the respective quartermasters of the army shall, upon the requisition of the commanding naval officer of any such detachment of seamen or marines, furnish the said officer and his necessary aids with horses, accoutrements, and forage, during the time they may be employed in co-operating with the land troops as aforesaid. ”

“ At all events, he ought to [Pg 318] possess a distinct rank, and be considered as essentially a part of the ship’s complement as the surgeon, purser, or any other officer in the civil department of the fleet.
People unacquainted with the nature of naval discipline may smile, perhaps, at some of the privileges glanced at above, as essential to the right exercise of power. ”

“ I aver, and I shall die in this opinion, that no man that is an officer, who knows his duty, will make the signal for line abreast to steer down upon an enemy, until the fleet has been stretched and extended in a line of battle, according to the 19th Article of the Fighting Instructions. ”

“ At the Admiralty the principal naval member of the Board is made responsible not only for the distribution and movements of ships—a definition which includes the whole domain of strategy and tactics —but also for the fighting and sea-going efficiency of the fleet, its organisation and mobilisation, a definition so wide that it includes the greater part of the administration of the navy, especially as the same officer is held responsible for advice on all large questions of naval policy and maritime warfare, as well as for the control of the naval ordnance department. ”

“ One of these Admirals I will call a Salt Horse, a man who has seen service during half a century but who has not specialised in a technical branch such as gunnery, or navigation, or torpedoes. A Salt Horse is an all-round sailor. The other Admiral I will call a Maker, and regard him as a highly competent technical officer in the design and construction of ships of war, of their guns, and of their armour. The Captain, a younger man, I will call a Gunner, one who has specialised in naval gunnery in all its branches, and one who knows the old methods and those which now are new and secret. ”

“ Though landsmen continued even after the civil war to be given naval appointments, and though a permanent corps, through the ranks of which everyone must pass, had not been formally established, a body of real naval officers—men who could handle their ships, supervise the working of the armament, and exercise military command—had been formed. ”

“ Of ten commanders made post, the junior had held the former rank upwards of nine years; the senior lieutenant promoted had been a commissioned officer nearly twenty-five years; and the whole of the midshipmen who then obtained advancement passed their examinations prior to December, 1813. ”

“ French naval officers all come up from the ranks. The British and German come from cadet schools and are recruited mostly from the first families. That is best. It provides a finer corps of officers. I, myself, came up from the forecastle, but I believe that, unless you have officers and men from different worlds, your men will have little respect for their commanders. It must either be that, or your officers must inspire respect with their fists as in the old sailing-ship days. The French Navy no longer has a rich tradition. ”

“ The other naval officers of the period were captains, who sometimes at least commanded several vessels; masters, rectors, and constables, who were commanding officers of ships, though often, as to-day is the case with captains and commanders in a large ship, two of them served simultaneously in one craft; and comitres or comites, who were supervisors of galley rowers. ”

“ In my discussions with them they had disclosed an exaggerated idea of the seamanly ability of naval officers in manœuvring their large fleets. They attributed this to the superior training of the men and the special qualities of the ships. “Naval vessels are built so they can keep station and turn at any angle at a moment’s notice,” they would say, “but [Pg 207] we have no men in our ships who can do such things.” ”

“ Collectively, the Navy is a fount of serene knowledge and wisdom, and has been fully conscious of its superiority in men, in ships, and in guns, but individual naval officers afloat or ashore are not always either learned or wise. ”

“ It is not, of course, expected that every lady or gentleman is to be a perambulating Army and Navy List, but a glance at either publication and a comparison with the invitation list may often prevent an officer from feeling snubbed—we having ourselves frequently seen a grey-headed veteran naval Captain put on one side, whilst a young army Major was requested to conduct the lady of the house from the drawing-room; the reason assigned being that military and naval men were so punctilious and scrupulous about ranks, and Major ranks above Captain. ”

“ Fortunately, we happened to be acquainted with two French naval officers who were stationed there, and who showed us every attention. The command of ships in the French navy did not depend on rank in the service as with us. An “enseigne de vaisseau” might command a sloop, but they had many more steps, and were longer in getting on than our officers at that time. In general, the French navy was composed of men of fashion, belonging to the highest families, and great interest was required to support them in the service. ”

“ He was superannuated, with the rank of Rear-Admiral, June 11, 1814.
In 1809, our officer published a work entitled, “The Young Naval Hero; or Hints to Parents and Guardians, on educating and preparing Young Gentlemen for his Majesty’s Navy,” 8vo. ”