"Qui non proficit, deficit'
I.—Officers.
The question of Naval Education is one that is fraught not only with the improvement of that branch of the public service, but, in the event of war, with the honor of the entire country; and it therefore merits the gravest attention from those authorities to whom the welfare of the Navy is committed.
The necessity of a more liberal education for the officers was early seen by the officers themselves; and it is not only to the Hon. George Bancroft, Secretary of the Navy, that we owe the establishment of the Naval Academy at Annapolis; but to Commodores George C. Read, Thomas Ap-Catesby Jones, Matthew C. Perry, and Captains E. A. F. Lavallette and Isaac Mayo, for their hearty approval of the scheme. Nor should the name of Commander Franklin Buchanan be ignored in this connection, for to his admirable administration of the trust committed to him as its first Superintendent, is undoubtedly due the continuation of the School after its first tentative establishment.
The question as to the system to be pursued in the education of the Naval Officer is one that may still be considered an open one; that some sort of an Academic course is necessary is generally admitted, but whether this course should precede or follow a course of instruction afloat is not yet satisfactorily settled. I believe that the present system, in which the student is placed under strict discipline on shore at the outset of his career, is preferable to that which would permit him to be subjected to the temptations incident to a sea life, before his character and habits are sufficiently formed to enable him to withstand them successfully. One great objection to it, however, is the fact that but few ships can have Midshipmen on board, as the whole number of officers of that grade is necessarily small. "While admitting that the Midshipman fills an office which is of great use to the discipline of a vessel, yet we must not lose sight of the fact that it is not Midshipmen alone whom we seek to train, but the Commanders of the Navy of the future. And in the education of the men, we must take care that the want of the Midshipman of the olden times be not greatly felt, by committing to intelligent petty officers many of the duties heretofore performed by officers of that grade. Assuming, then, that the Academic course is that to be first pursued, it becomes necessary to define clearly what officers are to receive this instruction. The officers of the Navy are divided by law into Line and Staff; the latter being subdivided into Medical, Pay and Engineer officers. Chaplains, Professors of Mathematics, Naval Constructors, and Secretaries. Included also in the naval organization are the officers of the Marine Corps.
From any scheme of purely naval instruction it is obvious that the Medical officer must be excluded; his preliminary training must be obtained in some established Medical College. The Chaplains also and the Professors of Mathematics (together with the Secretaries whose offices will become vacant with the lapse of the offices of the Admiral and Vice-Admiral) are also not to be included. There remain, then, as the officers who are to be trained at the Naval Academy, the officers of the Line and of the Marines, together with those of the Pay and Engineer Corps and the Naval Constructors. At present we have only the Line and Engineer officers under such instruction; how shall we bring in the remaining officers in such a manner as to conduce to the harmony of the service and the good of the country?
The subject thus presented for discussion involves not only the manner of the education of the officers above mentioned, but also the number required to undergo such instruction, as well as the manner in which the requisite number shall be selected.
Before entering upon the discussion of these points, it will be desirable to look first at the requirements of the ideal Naval Officer of today in the way of education: and it must be the aim of the authorities to approach as near the ideal as possible: the country both needs and desires the best that can be procured. The progress of modern scientific ideas has rendered an extended curriculum necessary; the introduction of steam propulsion (much as we may regret its destruction of the romance of the sailing frigate) has made it necessary that the Naval Officer should not only know how to sail his vessel, but how to steam her, in the most judicious and economical manner. He should understand thoroughly the working of the motive power of his ship, and he should be as able to run the engines, to tend the fires, or to put a patch upon the boiler, if necessary, as to reef topsails or to splice a rope. He must, perforce, be a navigator; by which term is implied not only the ability to keep the reckoning of the ship from day to day, but also to handle his vessel skillfully in waters unknown to him except by means of charts; and furthermore, a skilful navigator should possess such knowledge as will enable him to make a chart of unsurveyed ports, or to replace the buoys and beacons in a harbor, which may have been removed by an enemy or otherwise. The introduction of iron in shipbuilding has rendered necessary a thorough knowledge of the deviation of the compass, a branch of navigation which was for merely of but very slight importance, but which now assumes a great deal of consequence. He must be an artillerist; he must understand the manipulation of the weapons provided for offence and defense on board his vessel; he must have such a knowledge of torpedoes, of their construction and use, as to enable him to make this terrible engine of war do useful service against an enemy, or to avoid those that may be brought to bear against himself. He must also have a sufficient knowledge of the soldier's profession to enable him to train his own men, and to qualify both himself and them for expeditions on shore, where he may be called upon to protect the property of American citizens or to take active offensive measures against an enemy. He must possess a sufficient amount of legal knowledge to qualify him for a seat upon courts-martial; and he must also be sufficient of a diplomat to enable him to decide promptly and correctly, questions which involve the honor of the flag, as upon his action may hang peace or war. He must, of course know how to handle his vessel, of whatever type she may be, whether monitor, iron-clad frigate, or wooden gunboat, under all circumstances of wind and weather, as also of battle; to which end he must understand the signals that may be made by his chief, and the method of the execution of the orders thus transmitted. He must be fertile in resources in cases of emergency and disaster; and quick to appreciate the worth of the changes that are constantly taking place and being proposed in the fitments of vessels. To all these varied requirements must be added the habits of obedience and command, and that ability to impress his individuality upon those placed under him, which alone can render him successful in the crucial trial of battle, for which indeed his whole education must be a preparation. Such, I say, is the ideal Naval Officer; it should be the aim of each to approach as near to the standard as his individuality will permit; the country wants, as I have said, the best and it is our duty to see that so far as in us lies we give to her our efforts to come as near the best as we can.
That these requisites of the Naval Officer, so far in advance of those of former days, are due to the introduction of steam into ocean navigation, will, I think, be at once acknowledged; this power, which was at first deemed only an auxiliary, has become the premium mobile, and we cannot shut our eyes to the fact that there is now necessary a complete knowledge of the new steam seamanship. Attributing the highest importance to this factor in the man-of-war of to-day and of the future, I consider it necessary that the distinction now existing between the Line officer and the Engineer officer be greatly modified and soon be practically abolished. I am aware that such a radical change would not only meet with great opposition at the outset, but would be very difficult of speedy accomplishment. I am sure, however that it can be accomplished; and the details of the system which I propose to this end will appear further on.
Let us return now to the question of the number of officers to be educated: this is a matter of great importance, as, while it is desirable that enough new men should be coming forward each year to keep the ranks full, any overplus is to be deprecated.
The annual number of graduates of the Naval Academy requisite for this purpose, might be found by taking, as the maximum number to be allowed each year, the actual number of vacancies existing in the active list at the expiration of the second year of the course as indicated hereafter.
In this country it is a matter of importance that the equal chance which all classes of our fellow-citizens have under the present system should be maintained. To this end I believe that the present method of appointment by Representatives in Congress is the best, but there should be an additional provision of law that these appointments should only be given to those pho are successful in a competitive examination, held after due public notice. It might perhaps be wise for the Secretary of the Navy to send to each Representative having an appointment, the scheme of an examination; such scheme to be prepared by the authorities of the Naval Academy. This would tend to uniformity of standard throughout the whole country. These appointments should be made from each district in alternate years; and the appointee should be sent to Annapolis to be again subjected to an examination, in the same manner as is now practiced. In this connection I would urge that the number of appointments-at-large by the President might be advantageously restored to the old number of ten each year, with the limitation that these appointees should be from the sons of Army and Navy officers, thus opening an opportunity to them which is now entirely closed, as an officer is continuously on the move and generally has no fixed residence in any congressional district to entitle his son to compete. If the candidate passed the entering examination he should receive an appointment as Naval Cadet, and should undergo substantially the same course as is now pursued at the Naval Academy for the first two years. At the expiration of that time those men who stood highest in their class (within the limits of number as fixed according to the preceding method) should receive their appointments as Midshipmen, and should be then deemed to have entered the naval service. Those who fell without this number should receive certificates showing that they had passed through the preparatory course, and should also be given (unless deemed specially unworthy) honorable discharges as Naval Cadets. This is substantially the plan advocated by Rear-Admiral C. R. P. Rodgers, late Superintendent of the Naval Academy, from whose report to the Secretary of the Navy for 1877, I quote the following:
"In my opinion the number, both of cadet-midshipmen and cadet engineers, might be advantageously decreased. During the present winter, for the first time, the list of ensigns will be filled, and midshipmen who shall have passed their examination for promotion to that grade must wait for new vacancies before they can reach it. Under our present system, this number of passed midshipmen will increase every year, and we shall have the sorry sight of an ever-increasing number of young gentlemen—two, or perhaps ten, years after their graduation—waiting, with hope long deferred, for promotion to the lowest grade of commissioned officers.
"We shall, also, under the present system, graduate every year many more cadet-engineers than will supply the waste of that corps. I would, therefore, respectfully suggest that either the number of cadet appointments be largely decreased, or that a new system should be adopted which would produce far better results than the one now in force.
"I would suggest that some able actuary be found to calculate the annual waste of the Navy, both of the Line and of the Engineer Corps; and, further, that he should compute how many cadets should each year enter the second class to supply that waste, and keep the number of officers in the lower commissioned grades of the Navy always full.
"This table could be made more easily than the tables of the life insurance companies, and might be re-arranged every five or ten years. The number of cadets for the second class being thus decided, admission to it should be the prize for which all entering the Naval Academy should compete during the first two years of their novitiate. Those who failed to win the prizes might be graduated at the end of their first two years, and return to their homes with an honorable diploma, and would well repay the country for the cost of their training, by carrying to every congressional district in the land the habit of discipline, the traditions of military life, and a practical knowledge of the use of arms, which would make them invaluable in the organization of volunteer regiments whenever the country found occasion to call its citizens to arms.
"There is a subtle power in military discipline which cannot be readily defined, but which gives to those who have learned to obey, a great capacity to command with ease and with ready acceptance. Under this system no cadet need be found deficient, except for grave misconduct or for contumacious and inexcusable neglect of study."
It must be borne in mind that under this scheme we are to educate not only the future Line officers of the service, but also the Engineer, Marine, and Pay officers as well as the Naval Constructors; consequently it is very desirable that the course should be the same for all the cadets during the course. At present the course for cadet-midshipmen and cadet-engineers during the fourth and third class years is almost identical; a little judicious trimming, with but little loss in any particular direction, would render them precisely the same. If the new appointees should enter in May, they might embark at once on board the practice ship for the summer cruise, and so gain an additional amount of experience, by having two cruises during the first two years, instead of one, as is now the case. Besides the sailing practice ships, there should also be a suitable practice steamer attached to the Naval Academy; and opportunity should be afforded to the cadets to perform fire and engine-room duties during their third class year, prior to the beginning of the summer cruise.
Under the system of selection herein advocated the school would contain no more students than at present, so that the expense of the increased number of appointments made would be nothing; the difference would be that the preparatory classes of Naval Cadets would be very large, while the upper classes of Midshipmen would be very small, and would be composed of the best men who entered in each year.
With the date of his appointment as Midshipman, the education of the officer would really begin. After the two years of his preparation as a Naval Cadet, spent within the walls of the Academy, he would be more enabled to appreciate his advantages, especially as he recognized the fact of his selection from the large number who entered with him. Inasmuch as each class would be composed of the best material, it would be possible to pursue a higher course in all branches than is now pursued at Annapolis; and by the addition of one year to the course, every student could be instructed in all the branches now taught to both cadet-midshipman and cadet-engineer; and each man would graduate for service in the fleet with a greater degree of competency for duty, either on deck or in the fire and engine-rooms, than that now possessed by either class of young men who leave the school after a four years course.
With his entry upon the larger stage of action afloat, would begin for the young officer his instruction in the command of men, and in the ordinary routine duties of ship life. Care should be taken to have a sufficient number of Midshipmen on board each ship to which they might be ordered to perform duty both on deck and in the engine room; and during the cruise of two years, they should, as now, be preparing for their examination, upon successfully passing which they should be at once commissioned as Ensigns and become Ward-Room officers. At this point of his career we should have the young officer fairly prepared for his future duties, after a course of preliminary training lasting seven years: he would have a thoroughly good foundation upon which to build any specialty to which his natural disposition inclined him; and while he would not lose his identity with the Line, he could avail himself of the opportunity offered to apply himself to further improvement in any direction he saw fit. Before proceeding to the consideration of the later education of the officers, I present the following scheme for that of the first seven years.
Course of Instruction.
For all Classes.—Practice Cruise, June to September, inclusive.
Academic Year, October to May inclusive.
Naval Cadets.
First Class, First Fear.—Practice Cruise, Mathematics, English Studies and History, French, Drawing.
Second Class, Second Year.—Practice Cruise, Mathematics, History and Rhetoric, Physics, Chemistry, French, Drawing.
At close of this year selections made for appointment as—Midshipmen.
Third Class, Third Year.—Practice Cruise, Seamanship, Ordnance, Marine Engines, Applied Mathematics, French, Mechanics, Spanish.
Junior Class, Fourth Year.—Practice Cruise, Naval Construction, Ordnance, Navigation, Heat, Light, Spanish, Astronomy, Marine Engines, Drawing.
Senior Class, Fifth Year.—Practice Cruise, Navigation, Surveying, Fabricating Machinery, Strength of Materials, Designing Machinery, Public Law, Physical Measurements, Naval Tactics.
Practice Cruise of First, Second, and Third Years, to be in sailing vessels.
Practice Cruise of Fourth Year in steamer, visiting ship-yards &c., &c..
Practice Cruise of Fifth year in sailing vessels.
Practical Exercises during the Academical Year in Seamanship, Naval Tactics, Infantry, Field Artillery, and Boat-Howitzer Drills; Great-Guns, Mortar Practice, Manipulation of Artillery on board Iron-Clad, Fencing, Marine Engines, Management of Boilers, Tools, and Machines, &c., &c. Leave should be granted for two months in the third practice cruise, and for one month in the fourth.
At the end of the fifth year, graduation, followed by leave for three months; at the expiration of which the graduates should be ordered to sea for two years. During this time they should be given duty both on deck and in the engine-room, and should also have especial attention paid to their instruction in practical Navigation and Seamanship.
The number of graduates in each year would be very few (not exceeding twenty-five.) Three ships would provide duty for them all, and the Commanding officers of these vessels should have special instructions with regard to the Midshipmen, so that all might have equal opportunities. At the expiration of the cruise the examination for Ensign should be held.
Having thus obtained the lowest grade of commissioned officer, before proceeding to the question of post-graduate education, it will be necessary to detail the scheme already foreshadowed with regard to the amalgamation of the various Corps.
I assume the broad principle that (with the exception of the Medical officers and the Chaplain) every officer on board ship should be a combatant sea officer, a graduate of the Naval Academy, an efficient addition to the strength of the ship's company, in lieu of the present plan, by which many persons of the ship's complement are unskilled and untrained in the use of arms; and this involves practically, a general reorganization of the entire service.
As regards the Line, it may be considered as needing but slight changes. The number of Lieutenants should ultimately be increased by one hundred. The title Master should be changed to Sub-Lieutenant, and the number ultimately increased by one hundred. The additional two hundred officers would be necessary to perform the duties of the Engineer, Pay, and Marine Corps, as noted hereafter.
As regards the Engineer Corps, we may well learn a lesson from the French Service. The Engineers should be the corps d'elite. The scientific men of the service should there find their appropriate place. They should be, also, the Constructors, uniting in their Corps the offices of designing and construction of vessels, as well as of the machinery to propel them. The number of the various grades should be as follows; One (1) Rear-Admiral, Engineer-in-Chief. Two (2) Commodores, General Inspectors, for duty under the Bureau in the Departments of Engineering and Construction respectively; twelve (12) Captains, to be distributed at the various yards as Constructors, and held for genal duty as supervising Engineers of work outside the Navy Yards; twelve (12) Commanders, for duty as Chief Engineers at the Navy Yards: neither of these two grades should be required to go to sea, except that the Commanders should be required to make one three years cruise while in that grade, prior to promotion; twenty-five (25) Lieutenant-Commanders, for duty at sea as Chief Engineers of vessels, and at Navy Yards as assistants to the Chief Engineers and Constructors. These should constitute the permanent portion of the Corps. The detailed portion should be Line officers who had specially qualified for it in the post graduate courses mentioned hereafter. On board vessels of the first and second rates there should be a Chief Engineer in charge of the machinery, with one detailed officer to assist him. On board third and fourth rates the Engineer's Department should be in charge of detailed officers. The actual manipulation of the engines should be performed (as it is even now when we have such a large number of Engineer officers) by machinists. Men possessing the requisite qualifications can easily be secured to fill these places, especially if they are made permanent, as they should be. Not only this, but machinists should be made Warrant officers of the Line precisely as
Boatswains and Gunners now are. By throwing sufficient safeguards around the issuing of a warrant we would be sure to get proper men. They should first serve a three years enlistment as machinists; after which, upon bringing proper testimonials from the officers under whom they served, and passing an examination, they should be appointed Machinists. They should receive their warrants dating back to the time of appointment, after a further probation of one year, with favorable reports from their officers. That such a Corps of Machinists is possible we learn from the French Navy, where a similar system succeeds admirably. Vacancies in the Lieutenant-Commander's list should be filled by competitive examination from among the Lieutenants and Sub-Lieutenants who had served at least two details at sea. The details should be confined to a period not exceeding five years, the time on shore being spent at Navy Yards and in the Bureau preparatory to going to sea. No officers should ,be detailed for this duty in excess of the number actually required to fill the places mentioned. It would be a wise plan to pay all the permanent officers a salary higher than that paid to other Corps, as an additional inducement to the best men to enter this important branch of the service. All of the detailed officers of the Engineer Corps should receive an increase of ten (10) per centum on their pay while serving in the detail.
The organization of the Pay Department should be as follows; One (1) Commodore; two (2) Captains; seven (7) Commanders, and fifteen (15) Lieutenant-Commanders, for duty at the various Navy Yards, and as Purchasing and Disbursing officers at the various shore stations; these should comprise all the permanent members of the Pay Corps; the duty of Pay officers at sea should be performed by Lieutenants detailed for that purpose, for a single cruise; these officers should not be detailed for this duty for two successive cruises, but, at the expiration of their three years detail, should return to their duty in the Line. That this scheme could be carried out readily, seems to me most clear ; and that it is by no means a novel plan, I quote as follows from the "Army and Navy Gazette" of September 7th, 1878, viz. "The navigating branch is being gradually absorbed, and owing to the progress of naval science very much for the good of the service; why should not the Paymaster's Line be allowed to fade away honorably and gradually? The mystery of ships' books and accounts cannot be very appalling to those who have passed Greenwich, and the post of Paymaster might easily be filled by an executive officer who, for the sake of increase of pay, may be content to give up the prospect of rising to the highest rank in the profession…What really is wanted is that there should be a number of officers who have specially qualified for Staff appointments by a course of study similar to that gone through by military officers at the Staff College; from whom should be selected the personal staff of flag officers…; also to stop the entering of a separate class for office duties, and by degrees replace them from the executive branch. By doing this a class would be abolished and many of the disputes and grievances which arise on board ship rendered things of the past; and so many more officers available who would be competent to take charge of ship's boats or men in an emergency."
A similar plan has been proposed in the French Navy, and is, I understand, carried out in the Russian Service.
It is very certain that "the mystery of the ships' books and accounts cannot be very appalling" to a graduate of the Naval Academy; and by detailing the Paymaster from the Line we should gain the advantage, as noted above, of having an additional combatant officer who would be useful in action, or who could stand a watch or do other like duty in case of emergency. The vacancies in the permanent portion of the Corps should be filled by competition from among the Lieutenants who had served two or more details as Paymaster at sea.
The Marine Corps should remain as it now is in the higher grades, except that the grade of Brigadier-General should be revived, and the number in the grade of Majors should be increased to fifteen (15), sufficient for duty at the Navy Yards and shore stations, and to command the guards of flag ships: the duty of the subordinate grades of Marine officers at shore stations should be performed by Lieutenants and Sub-Lieutenants, detailed for that purpose for a period not exceeding three years: one of the watch officers of a vessel should be the commanding officer of the marine division, and he should have served on the shore detail before being sent to sea for that duty. Vacancies in the permanent part of the Corps should be filled by competition from the Lieutenants who had served two or more details as above noted. To the permanent officers of the various Staff Corps should be applied the provision of law, as in the Army, that they should exercise no military command.
It may be objected to this scheme of detailing officers that it is not only novel but impracticable. It is perhaps novel as regards the Navy, but it is not so as regards the sister service. In the armies of nearly all the principal foreign countries the Line and Staff officers are interchangeable, the Staff being wholly made up (in the junior grades) of details from the Line for a fixed term of years. Brevet Major-General Upton in his report on "The Armies of Asia and Europe," lays the greatest stress upon this principle; and in his scheme for the reorganization of our own Army provides for the system of staff-detail in its fullest application. I am firmly convinced that it is the only way in which we can ever harmonize the differences which exist in our service between the Staff and the Line, and which can utilize to the fullest extent the fighting power of the personnel, as well as offer suitable inducements to the scientific minds to enter the Corps where they will be of the best service to the country.*
But this scheme of detailing officers from the Line to perform the duties of Engineer officers would not succeed unless there be additional means provided to prepare for that duty. The graduates of the Naval Academy are certainly now able to do the duty of Subaltern Marine officers, and it would require but a very slight amount of instruction to enable them to fulfill the duties of Paymaster. But it is obviously not so with the Line officer who is to be detailed for the Engineer Corps. He must have placed at his disposal the means of improving himself in his profession. Advantage should be taken of the education acquired at Annapolis to establish a post-graduate course, or rather several such courses, some of which should be obligatory, others optional. All officers upon reaching the grade of Ensign, should immediately be ordered to the Torpedo School, to undergo the course of instruction there, and they should be required to pass a satisfactory examination at its conclusion. Another obligatory course should be in steam, both practical and theoretical. The Torpedo Station should have its facilities so enlarged that both of these courses could be pursued there. This could be very readily done with comparatively slight expense.
The optional studies should be in Ordnance and Surveying, with a higher course in Steam, and a thorough course in Naval Architecture. The course in Ordnance should be an amplification of that which now exists in the Washington Navy Yard, and this could readily be affected with no additional expenditure of money.
A course in Surveying is now furnished to officers who enter the Coast Survey, but it might readily be made more extensive by giving to these officers opportunities to become familiar with the theory and practice of the determination of positions by the use of field instruments.
The higher course in Steam should be pursued at Annapolis, where also, should be taught Naval Architecture. Only those officers who had passed with credit both the obligatory courses should be eligible to pursue this advanced course. Instruction should be given by lectures and text-books; examinations should be frequent and searching, and the failure to pass should cause the instant detachment of an officer from this duty; for this course are wanted the very best men that can be procured.
I have made no attempt to elaborate the details of these various post-graduate courses, as I do not deem myself competent to do so; but the specialists, whom we already possess in the service, would find no difficulty in preparing suitable programs.
All that has been said heretofore applies to the future; the question naturally arises what is to be done with the officers now on hand? So far as the Line officers are concerned, all these courses should be at once thrown open to them, and all of this might readily be done without any additional legislation, save an appropriation to enlarge the facilities of the Torpedo School, as indicated above.
With regard to the Pay and Marine Corps, appointments should cease at once, and the system of details be begun, as the wants of the service required. Both of these matters could be easily settled. With regard to the Engineers we might conform somewhat to the plan pursued in the English Navy, in doing away with the Navigating Officers. So far as possible the lower grade should be at once absorbed in the Line. Any Passed Assistant Engineer (with the relative rank of Lieutenant) now on the list, who desired, should have the option of standing the examination now passed by a Master for Lieutenant, and if successful should be commissioned as Lieutenant from the date of his examination, and he would, of course, be eligible for detail in the Engineer Corps. At the expiration of two years this option should cease, and the vacancies then remaining in the Lieutenants' list be filled by promotion from Sub-Lieutenants. Those Passed Assistant Engineers, who failed or declined the option, should not be promoted to Lieutenant-Commanders in the Engineer Corps, unless successful in the competitive examination above-mentioned (which should, of course include Naval Architecture,) but should remain upon the list in their present positions. Any Passed Assistant or Assistant Engineer now on the list with the relative rank of Master, should have the same option to become a Master; and any Assistant Engineer now on the list with the relative rank of Ensign, should have the same to become an Ensign; all those declining or failing should be promoted to Passed Assistants, under the same condition as above prescribed. Vacancies on the Sub-Lieutenants' list at the expiration of two years should be filled from the grade of Ensign by promotion. Cadet-Engineers and Cadet-Midshipmen, graduates of the Naval Academy, should be required to pass exactly the same examination, facilities being given them for study at the expiration of their two years cruise after graduation; and they should be promoted as if they had all originally belonged to the same class, ranking according to merit. For the Cadets in the school the course should be changed to five years at once, and no more appointments made under the old system. In two years, then, this entire plan for the reorganization would be well under headway, and in five years the good effect would be manifested. No more appointments of Assistant Naval Constructors should be made, and no promotions to the grade of Naval Constructor. Competent Chief Engineers should be allowed to enter upon the duties of Constructors, and inducements offered to the present Constructors to retire.
Such, in brief, is the scheme which, when properly elaborated as to its details, by hands more competent than mine, will in my opinion, bring harmony to the service and add more to its efficiency than any other system that could be pursued.
II.—Men.
While it is necessary that we should do all in our power to raise the standard of the officers of the Navy, it is no less important that we should turn our attention to the men.
The system, or rather the want of system, of former days is confessedly a failure in securing for the service the right character of material for the modern man-of-war's-man. The want of to day is energetic, self-reliant young men trained to their profession from an early age, who shall look upon the service as their home.
It is evident that a sailor cannot be made upon dry land. He must be afloat—must identify himself with his ship and become part and parcel of her. And as the duties of the naval officer differ from those of the officers of the merchant marine, so do the duties of the naval sailor differ from those of the sailor who serves in a merchant vessel. It, therefore, needs a special education to evolve the man-of-war's-man.
The apprentice system, which is now under full headway, is a most happy means to this end, and upon all sides are heard the encomiums of those Commanding officers who have been lucky enough to have any of the apprentices on board of their vessels.
That the boys should be selected with very great care is at once evident. The life is by no means an easy one, and it requires a most excellent physique to answer all the demands made in active service. Two things should be at once impressed upon the boy; that he should keep himself clean and that he should learn to make his own clothing. Swimming should be taught also, and every opportunity that offers itself should be availed of to give the boys practice. These are cardinal maxims and hardly seem worth repeating. Indeed, it is a work of supererogation to attempt to detail the course to be pursued with apprentices, for the general sentiment of the service is so much in favor of the system, that it is merely a question of slight details as to how it is best carried out. A special care is, of course, necessary, that all the boys should have thorough instruction in seamanship, gunnery, and small arms; and I am sure that no one who has ever seen the "Saratoga" can say that the system there pursued does not turn out excellent young men—men upon whom, as years go on, the country can rely as efficient guardians of its honor.
One thing, however, should be strictly kept in view, and that is, we are educating these boys to be enlisted men, not officers; and no false ideas of future promotion should be brought before them as an inducement to enter the service. The failure of a previous attempt at an apprentice system was largely due to the fact that such ideas were prevalent. But it is not with the sailors proper that there is now so much reform needed as with the other classes of men we find on board ship. I refer to the men composing the Engineer force, the servants, and the general assembly known in nautical parlance as idlers. No man should be allowed to form part of the ship's company who is not an efficient addition to her fighting strength. The firemen and coal-heavers should be trained for that duty, and, in addition thereto should know how to pull an oar, to work the guns of the battery, and to be efficient small-arm men. The question as to the best method to be pursued in their training is one of great importance. I regard it as quite necessary that these men should be as good seamen as the apprentice ships can turn out. Having this as a foundation, any man of sufficiently good physique to stand the effects of the heat can (with that power of adapting himself to circumstances which is eminently characteristic of the seaman) readily acquire sufficient facility in the manipulation of fire-tools to perform the work of the fire-room; for this is not the sort of labor that can properly be called skilled. Such is, however, the characteristic of that kind of labor we look for in the Machinist. Firemen who showed ability, or men otherwise specially selected, should be given opportunities in the Navy Yard workshops, under the supervision of the Engineer officers, to learn thoroughly the use of tools and the general mechanism of the steam-engine, in such a manner as to fit them for the position of Machinist. With a corps of such Warrant officers as I have referred to in the first part of this essay, and with the men under training at the Navy Yards, a large portion of the repairs to machinery might be made, at a great saving of cost to the Government. With men who had passed through the course of training on board the apprentice ship, in the engine and fire-rooms, we should have a reserve force on board ship which could be called on to render efficient service in times of emergency. And we should still farther consolidate and amalgamate the men, as I propose to do with the officers, making of the ship's company a homogeneous, instead of a heterogeneous, organization.
One great evil to which we are subjected on shipboard is the multiplicity of servants. These men are enlisted for duty in the powder division, and are assigned as officers' servants. Of course there must be some one to cook for both officers and men. The ship's cook is more frequently a thorough seaman (one who has been a petty officer) than otherwise; an arrangement could easily be made by which selected men could be trained (while on board the receiving ships) for this special duty, and this would prove of great advantage. As to the officers' cooks, I suppose that they must still be picked up as occasion offers, but there should not be so many as now. I can see no reason why two cooks should not be sufficient for all the officers' messes, provided enough pay is given them to secure the right sort of men. These, together with a steward and assistant, (whose pay should also be ample), would be sufficient to provide for the wants of all the officers, except in the case of vessels having a flag-officer on board.
The system of numerous messes could be greatly modified also. The Commanding officer could mess with the other commissioned officers, in the same manner as is done in the Coast Survey, while still living in the cabin; also, the Steerage officers could mess in the ward-room while living in their own quarters. The Warrant officers (including the Machinists) would form a separate mess. Now, if we cut off the present source of supply of men who are for duty in the powder division, we must seek some other fountain whence to draw them. Such I find in the Marine Corps. The additional men required in that corps for this duty would be but few in number, and their cost to the Government would be no more than that of those whom they displaced, while their presence would add greatly to the efficiency of the vessel to which they were attached. This is substantially the system pursued in the English service, and which I am led to believe works excellently. If we could but get rid of the useless servants whom we now have, (useless to the ship herself, I mean,) and replace them with selected men from the Marines, it would be a great step in advance, and would enhance the efficiency of the service as a whole, by giving us men who had received military training in place of those undisciplined and untrained creatures who are a constant source of vexation and trouble during an entire cruise.
To the Marine Corps, also, Ave should look for our supply of the special police force of a ship; Masters-at-Arms should be selected from Sergeants of Marines; and as competent men are always to be found both among them and among the blue jackets also, we could draw our supply of writers and storekeepers from those who have had such training as to render them effective auxiliaries, instead of positive drawbacks, to the fighting force upon which a vessel could depend in emergencies.
Such are the systems of training for both officers and men which my observation has led me to believe will tend to improve the status of the personnel of the service and render it (under the new and ever-varying conditions of modern Naval warfare) as competent to enter the lists of battle, as it has shown itself to be in the contests in which the country has been involved during the century of its existence. But whatever may be in store for us in the future, we should always bear in mind this truth: "he who does not progress, goes backward."