NAVAL GUNNERY

Hokitika Guardian, 6 September 1930, Page 8

NAVAL GUNNERY

THE CENTENARY. CREATION OF WHALE ISLAND. About a century ago—on June 19, 1830 to be precise.—Cuininanilor George Smith,. R.N., was appointed by Admiralty Minute as commander of the first ship to be set apart ‘‘loi' tile practice of sea gunnery,” H.M..S. Excellent, states the naval correspondent of the eolidou “Times.” His appointment was nominally- as. supernumerary commander of the flagship at Portsmouth, but Admiral Sir Thomas Foley, the Conimander-in-Chiel was informed that the Commander “is only so appointed to give him his pay and time, but that he is to reside on hoard the Excellent in Ordinary aiul to be charged with and employed exclusively in superintending an arrangement their Lordships have decided upon for the practice of sea gunnery and for the instruction of the gunners and others belonging to the Sea Service desirous of avail ing themselves off .it, at the Port of Portsmouth.”

It is of particular interest now to recall that this first scheme lor gunnery training was on board a ship in the Dockyard; an indication' of die short ranges, at which firing then took place. For many years, in -fact, the Excellent lay off-the north end of Portsmouth Dockyard. It . was from these small, beginnings that there developed , the great Naval Gunnery School of to-day on Whale Island, in Portsmouth Harbour, the work at which has been so intimately connected with the enormous advances which have been made not only to naval ordnance, but in everything appertaining to gunnery material and the use ol naval armament.

LITTLE CHANGE FROM DAYS OF TRAFALGAR. At the time the school ship was started there had been hardly an\ change from the days of Trafalgar. Smooth-bore guns, flint locks and truck carriages were still in use and the drill was substantially the same as in the sailing line-of-battle ships' during the 18th century. Responsibility for the material still lay with the military ana not with the naval officers. Writing in ' 1825, Captain S. J. Pechell (later a member of the, Admiralty Board) said: “It is singular that the arming of a ship is the only part of her equipment which has not the superintendence ol a naval.officer. We have no sea office! at the Ordnance to arange and decidt upon the proper equipment of ships of war, or to carry into effect any improvement which experience niigilt suggest;” There is in existence a manuscript hook entitled, “Artillery Memorandums Relating to the Royal Navy” by Captain Robert Lawson, Royal Regiment of Artillery datect‘l7B2, which was written for the purpose of the instruction of Prince William Henry (afterward William!V'j then a midshipman of the Barfhier. It contains such matters as the construction of sea ordnance, gun cavriages, projectiles, and, in fact, all the appliances necessary at the time for artillery on board ship. This was the year of Rodney’s victory at the Battle of the Saints,, in which the advantages accuring from the improvements initiated by Captain Sir Charles Douglas, the Captain of the Fleet on Rodney’s staff, were manifest and undisputed. Douglas was the father ol General Sir Howard Douglas, whose famous treatise on naval gunnery, first published in 1820, had so much to dc with the general advancement of the subject. Other improvements were brought about by Captain Philip Broke, of the Shannon, the gunnery of whose ship when she fought the Chesapeake was very highly organised.

‘‘TARGET'SMITH/' In a time when there was no continuous service, and when ships picked up their crews as best they could, the existence of a school ship like the Excellent, from which parties of trained seamen gunners could - be sent to the Fleet at intervals, was manifestly a great step forward. It was Smith’s initiative and enthusiasm which recommended him to the Lords of tile Admiralty, and their decision was fully justified. One of his early steps was the production of a movable target for the men to aim at, whereby he became known in the Service at “Target Smith.” As certain disadvantages were found to attach to an officer of commander’s rank employed on such work, Captain Sir Thomas Hastings formally commissioned the Excellent as an independent command in April 1832. The first draft of seamen gunners were sent to the Edinburgh, 74 gun ship, in the following year. Concurrently with the appointment of Captain Hastings, the gunnery ship was changed, and the Boyne, of 7(! guns, a roomier vessel, was appropriated and renamed Excellent. She had been built to the plans of Nelson’s Victory, and had been launched at Portsmonuth in 1810. The original Excellent had been Collingwood’s ship at the Battle of St. Vincent, and was his favourite command she was broken up at Deptford in 1835. The second schoolship from the name served un til 1850, and from 1830 to 1892 there was another Excellent, which had been built in 1810 as the Queen Charlotte 'ml which flew the flag of Tail'd Exmouth at the bombardment of Algiers. Later Excollents have been small craft the work of the school having been carried ont'on shore since 1891.

GUNS V. ARMOUR. Continuity in the work of the school was assisted by the retention of Captain Sir Thomas Hastings in command for thirteen years until 1845. Of other officers m charge in the early days mention must' be" made of Captain H. 1). Chads 1845-54; Captain Sir Thomas .uaitland, 1854-57; and Captain R. S. Hewlett, 1857-33 under whose regime tiie (csting work and trials of appliances and the armour plate were instituted in the 'Thunderer hulk. The whole science oflguniier.v had now undergone a complete change. Guns powder and fuses were all new. Small arms had been revolutionised. Increasing friction occurred between the Admiralty and Wiir Office owing to the divided responsibility in regard to gun mountings, and in 1866 a solution was found by the appointment of Captain Astlcy Cooper-Key, who had been in command of the Excellent since 1863 as the first Director of Naval Ordliance. Later captains of the Excellent were Arthur Hood, later Lord Hood of Avalon, 1866-69, and Henry Boys 18691874, both of whom left to become Director of Naval Ordnance. An officer prominently concerned in the history of the Excellent was tne late Lord Fisher. After being trained in her, he became gunnery lieutenant or the Warrior and returned as a- staff officer in 1866, during which time he brought the gunnery manual up to date. After promotion and a commission in China he came again to the Excellent and supervised the start of the Vernon as a separate torpedo school-ship. In 1883 lie returned as captain of the Excellent, and his assistants included some of the most valuable officers ,in the Service, the best known, so far as gunnery progress was concerned, being Lieutenant (later Admiral .Sir) Percy Sicott.

GROWTH OF WHALE ISLAND. The actual, conversion of the two mud flats known as Whale Island (the name indicates their original appearance) into the great Naval Gunnery School of to-day, seventy-two acres was levelled and made into a rifle range-, i.nter on development was facilitated by excavations in the dockyard, the soil extracted to make new basins being transferred by convict labour over a viaduct. By 1880 the two ' Mauds had been joined, and a resident gunner’s cottage'erected. In 1884 further buildings were provided, and in 1886 a start was made with the execution of a scheme to transfer the work of the school to the shore. In 1889 during the regime of Captain Compton Doinville, occupation of the men’s new quarters was begun ,and hv 1891 all officers and men hnd .bqen transferred and the bulk was given up. Officers quarters and a causeawav to the main land were not provided until later. The visitor to-day, viewing the wellarranged barracks batteries parade grounds, gardens and recreation facilities, may well marvel at the development of such handsome and congenial surroundings from a mud patch .They are in every way a fitting home for the principal gunnery .school of the British Navy.