The strength of the navy of Denmark in 1857

For years was in the Netherlands a magazine published dealing with maritime affairs. It published in 1857 some information dealing with the Danish navy. According to the article there were 5 ships of the line, 8 frigates, 6 corvettes, 4 brigs, 3 schooners, 1 cutter, 1 screw steam gunboat, 7 paddle steamships, 7 transports, 50 gunboats, 2 gun sloops and 4 mortar boats. The main naval facilities were located at Copenhagen. Danmark possessed very well sailors and an excellent corps officers.

Source
G.A. Tindal en J. Swart. Verhandelingen en berigten betrekkelijk het zeewezen en de zeevaartkunde. Vol 17. Amsterdam, 1857, p. 450-451. Digitized by Google.

The strength of the navy of Naples [Sicilies] n 1857

For years was in the Netherlands a magazine published dealing with maritime affairs. It published in 1857 a news item, originally published in the Allgemeine Milit. Zeitung. According to this item was the navy of Naples consisted of 3 ships of the line armed with 84 and 80 guns, 5 frigates with 40, 46 and 48 guns, 5 brigantines each with 20 guns, 2 corvettes of 14 and 22 guns, 2 goelettes each of 14 guns, 10 mortar boats, 10 gunboats each with 2 bronze guns, 10 booi or parzanli each with 1 gun, 20 coast vessels each with 1 bronze gun, 12 steam frigates each with 10 guns and 300 hp, 4 steam corvettes of 6 and 8 guns, 11 steamships with 4, 6 and 8 guns and 40-200 hp and 3 unarmed steamships.

Source
G.A. Tindal en J. Swart. Verhandelingen en berigten betrekkelijk het zeewezen en de zeevaartkunde. Vol 17. Amsterdam, 1857, p. 277-278. Digitized by Google. The article was earlier published in the Allgemeine Milit. Zeitung.

French experiment with bomb-guns according to the Nederlandsche Staatscourant dated 23 December 1824

Paris, France, 19 December. At Brest were very successful experiments with so called bomb-guns which shoot with a less arched elevation as mortars. Probably they were based on the flight of a rocket. It was expected that this invention was valuable for sea warfare especially for smaller vessels while attacking of defending against larger ships.

Folgers’ design for a ram mortar vessel according to the Dutch magazine Marineblad dated 1892-1893 no. 10

An item referred to the magazine The Army and Navy Journal  reporting that commander Folger (1) chief of the US Bureau of Ordnance proposed to built a ram mortar vessel. The dimensions were to be 262’(load line)-275‘ (over all9 x 40‘(load line)-46‘ (maximum) x 17’ and a displacement of 2.700 ton. The engines were to deliver 6.225 ihp allowing a speed of 18 miles. The coal bunker capacity was 190 ton with a standard draught and with speed she had a range of 821 miles. The armour consisted of a deck thick 3” although above the boilers and engines on the highest part 5” and lower part 4” while the hull was protected by 3” thick armour stretching to 9’ below the surface. The armament was to consist of 4-9” breech loading mortars and 2 submerged guns of the Ericson design. The hull of the vessel was probably cigar-shaped and the armour of the superstructure and the sides into each other fluent.

Note
1. William Mathew Folger (19 May 1844 Massillon, Ohio-22 July 1928 Cornish, New Hampshire). Promoted to the rank of commander on 1 March 1885. He was between February 1890 and January 1893 temporarily promoted to the rank of commodore chief of the Bureau of Ordnance. Retired on 30 June 1905 in the rank of vice-admiral.

The building of gunboats and mortar boats for the British Royal Navy as described by Dutch navy officers in 1856

An item reported that the Dutch navy lieutenants 1st class Jhr. A. Klerck and 2nd class J. Phaff were sent with the Dutch schooner Zr. Ms. Atalante to attend the British naval review of Spithead, Engeland in 1856. At that moment was the so-called Crimean War (16 October 1853-30 March 1856) in which the United Kingdom was involved ended. However the results and demands of this war became clear during their visit. In a report to the minister of Navy they described what they saw. The Atalante left on 7th April arriving at Portsmouth, England on the 14th where they were spoke the British vice admiral Sir Geroge Seymour, commanding officer there. The worse weather conditions prevented visiting the ships on the roads. As alternative were instead the gunboats in the harbour visited. They pointed out those boats were built to serve over seas in the latest war and not for the coastal defence of the United Kingdom.

In the opinion of the Dutch navy officers was the fact that the British Royal Navy lacked flotilla vessels the main reason for the unemployment of the Baltic fleet in 1854-1855. This was compensated by the building of around 200 gunboats and 200 mortar boats by private shipyards. The gunboats were small steamships with as rough dimensions 35 x 8 metres and a tonnage of 235 British tons. There were 3 types namely with 20,40 and 60hp although of the latter type the largest number, the difference between the type was just a slight different draught and around 20 tons smaller tonnage although with a similar armament. The largest type had a draught of 7 feet, the smaller types just 4-5 feet. All screw propelled without the possibility to lift the screw and with direct drive high pressure steam engines.

Source
Verhandeling en berigten betrekkelijk het Zeewezen, de Zeevaartkunde en de daarme in verband staande wetenschappen, 2nd part. Jacob Swart. 1856. 

French sailing mortar vessel la Trombe (1854) in 1859

Homeport Cherbourg, France. Laid down at Lorient, France on 12 December 1843 and launched on 5 May 1855. Wood-built. Armed with 2 mortars.

Source
Hans Busk. The Navies of the World, London, United Kingdom, 1859. 

French sailing mortar vessel la Torche (1854) in 1859

Homeport Cherbourg, France. Laid down at Lorient, France on 12 December 1854 and launched on 1 May 1855. Wood-built. Armed with 2 mortars.

Source
Hans Busk. The Navies of the World, London, United Kingdom, 1859. 

French sailing mortar vessel le Tocsin (1854) in 1859

Homeport Cherbourg, France. Laid down at Lorient, France on 22 November 1854 and launched on 3 April 1855. Wood-built. Armed with 2 mortars.

Source
Hans Busk. The Navies of the World, London, United Kingdom, 1859.

French sailing mortar vessel la Fournaise (1854) in 1859

Homeport Cherbourg, France. Laid down at Lorient, France on 12 December 1854 and launched on 24 April 1855. Wood-built. Armed with 2 mortars.

Source
Hans Busk. The Navies of the World, London, United Kingdom, 1859

French sailing mortar vessel La Bombe (1854) in 1859

Homeport Cherbourg, France. Laid down at Lorient, France on 22 November 1854 an launched on 18 April 1855. Wood-built. Armed with 2 mortars.

Source
Hans Busk. The Navies of the World, London, United Kingdom, 1859.

The Swedish navy according to Colburn in 1856

Thanks to the fact that nowadays more and more books are digitized we are able to read books that are some times for decades no longer available for the public for several reasons. That's quite a pity while these books contains useful information while the archives are destroyed, incomplete or nor accessible.

"The Swedish Chambers have approved the proposition of the Minister of Marine, which fixes the strength of the Swedish and Norwegian fleets for 1857 as follows:-Swedish fleet-10 sail of the line, 6 frigates, 4 schooners, 4 brigs, 9 steam schooners, 77 gunboats, 122 armed boats, 6 mortar vessels, 22 steam despatch boats, 2 Royal yachts. 21 transports, 594 armed row beats. Norwegian fleet-2 frigates, 2 schooners, 2 steam schooners, 1 brig, 43 gunboats, 5 tugs, with a steam frigate and a despatch boat, both of which are now being finished on the stocks at Christiania."

Source
Colburn's Unites Service Magazine, part II, October, 1856, p. 186.

The Swedish navy around 1852 according to Tait’s Edingburgh magazine

Thanks to the fact that nowadays more and more books are digitized we are able to read books that are some times for decades no longer available for the public for several reasons. That's quite a pity while these books contains useful information while the archives are destroyed, incomplete or nor accessible. In this specific magazine was an article titled “The National Defence Madness” published in which the British navy was compared with several other navies and the results were presented in the British Parliament.

P. 360: “The navy of Sweden is as follows: 10 ships of the line, 8 frigates, 8 brigs and corvettes, 6 schooners, 8 mortar-boats, 22 transports, 250 gunboats, &c, 12 steamers; total, 330.”

Source

William Tait. “The National Defence Madness: in: Tait’s Edingburgh magazine, January-December 1852.

The British navy off Algiers according to the Nederlandsche Staatscourant dated 11 September 1824

London, 7 September. The Aetna and two other bomb galliots which served off Algiers arrived last Thursday at Portsmouth. The letters they brought with them described the events after the hostilities stopped. The British vice consul Damford went on shore and was received with all honours. A request done by the Algerian admiral to be allowed to visit the British mortar vessels with his senior officers was refused. Except for the British captain Spencer of the Naiad no British officers were allowed to go on shore. The Aetna entered the Bay of Algiers approaching the batteries to a maximum distance of 3.000m but wasn’t hit. The 30-40 Algerian gunboats each armed with 1 gun didn’t attack her.

Last Saturday arrived the 28-gun Ranger at Portsmouth captain Fisher coming from Algiers and laid up in quarantine. Her captain immediately departed towards London with letters from admiral Neale.

The Danish navy around 1852 according to Tait’s Edingburgh magazine

Thanks to the fact that nowadays more and more books are digitized we are able to read books that are some times for decades no longer available for the public for several reasons. That's quite a pity while these books contains useful information while the archives are destroyed, incomplete or nor accessible. In this specific magazine was an article titled “The National Defence Madness” published in which the British navy was compared with several other navies and the results were presented in the British Parliament.

P. 360: “The Danish navy is, 5 ships of the line of 84
p. 361: 1 of 66, 2 frigates of 48, 3 of 46, 2 of 40, 1 corvette of 26, 4 of 20, 2 brigs of 16, 2 of 12, 1 of 8, 2 of 6, 1 cutter of 6, 1 of 4, 2 of 2 guns, total, 29 ships and 996 guns; 18 mortar-boats, 15 mortar-barques, 41 gun-boats, 4 gun-ships, 4 steamers.”

Source
William Tait. “The National Defence Madness: in: Tait’s Edingburgh magazine, January-December 1852.

Several French torpedo aviso’s converted into mortar aviso’s according to the Dutch magazine Marineblad dated 1899-1900 no. 7

An item referred to the foreign magazine Mittheilungen reporting that the French torpedo aviso’s Bombe, Couleuvrine, Dague, Dragonne, Flêche, Lame, Saint-Barbe and Salve were to be converted into mortar aviso’s. To their armament of 4-4,7cm quick firing guns, 3 machine guns and 2 torpedo tubes was a 15cm mortar added placed amidships. Further more was reported that a 500-ton mortar vessel would be built with a speed of 24 miles and armed with 1-24cm mortar and 8-4,7cm quick firing guns but none torpedo tubes.

The navy of Sweden and Norway in 1850

For years was in the Netherlands a magazine published dealing with maritime affairs. It contained notes dealing with the Royal Dutch Navy and the Dutch merchant shipping/trade, but also supplied information dealing with foreign navies, especially of France and Great Britain. Occasionally we can find information dealing with the navies of other countries Russia, United States or even Mexico.

The navy of Sweden consisted of 10 ships of the line, 8 frigates, 8 corvettes, brig and schooners, 8 bombs, 22 transports and 12 steamships. There was also a fleet especially with the purpose to defend her coasts. This fleet consisted of 25 covered gunboats, 200 open gunboats, 100 gun yawls, 20 howitzer- and mortar sloops, 28 gun sloops and 107 small vessels, partly aviso’s, partly transports, used to support both fleets. In case of war the navy numbered 28.031 sailors and marines and was armed with 1814 guns.

The navy of Norway was quite weaker compared with the Swedish number of ships. However, in wartime the Norwegian navy counted included the soldiers 50.000 men. She consisted of 2 frigates, 3 corvettes, 1 brig, 5 schooners, 4 steam boats and 131 gunboats. The annual costs for the navy of Sweden amounted in 1838 2.100.413 daalders (2.047.539 Dutch guilders), in the years 1845-1847 1.414.240 daalders (1.378.884 Dutch guilders). For the period 1848-1850 the budgets for the army and navy were raised with 60.000 daalders (58.500 Dutch guilders). In times of war was a raise with 3.000.000 daalders (2.925.000 Dutch guilders) permitted.

Source
G.A. Tindal en J. Swart. Verhandelingen en berigten betrekkelijk het zeewezen en de zeevaartkunde. Vol 10. Amsterdam, 1850, p. 236-237. Digitized by Google.

The Austrian navy in 1859 according to Hans Busk

Radetzky

Ron van Maanen

In 1859 Hans Busk gave the following information dealing with the Austrian Navy.
P. 106: "1 screw ship of the line, 800 hp, 91 guns, 900 men (1), 3 screw frigates, 300 hp, 93 guns, 1125 men (2), 4 sailing frigates, 171 guns, 1618 men, 2 screw corvettes, 230 hp, 44 guns, 520 men (3) ,5 sailing corvettes, 82 guns, 757 men 5 brigs, 72 guns, 527 men 3 steamers, 300-350 guns, 18 guns, 423 men, 10 smaller steamers, 40-180 hp, 35 guns, 508 men, 3 screw schooners, 50-90 hp, 14 guns, 67 men, 4 brigantines (transports), 26 guns, 220 men, 12 gun sloops, 40 guns, 92 men, 12 pinnaces, 36 guns, 324 men, 4 row gun boats, 8 guns, 312 men, 11 row yawls, 11 guns, 160 men, 2 pontoons, 20 guns, 330 men, 1 prahm, 1 mortar boat, 12 guns, 120 men, 43 piroques for lagunes, 43 guns, 90 men, 7 transports, unarmed, 430 men. 135 vessels with 852 men and 8707 men.


p. 126-127: "The Austrian Navy numbers altogether 135 vessels, including pinnaces, gun-boats, yawls, and pontoons. The aggregate number of guns is 852, and of men 8707. But of the above 135 vessels only 6 are steamers-namely, 1 screw ship of the line (launched in April last, and the first ever possessed by Austria)-she is a fine vessel, tolerably well built, mounts 91 guns, has engines of 800 horsepower, and a crew of 900 men; 3 frigates have each engines of 300 horse-power, mount together 93 guns, and their aggregate crews amount to 1125. The personnel of this Navy includes 1 vice-admiral, 2 rear-admirals, 9 captains of ships of the line, 8 captains of frigates, 6 captains of corvettes, 40 lieutenants of ships, 22 of frigates, 48 midshipmen (ship), 46 midshipmen (frigate) and a corps of 119 naval cadets. The seamen consists of 15 officers and 2962 men. The corps of naval architects comprises 14 officers and 6 cadets; that of naval engineers numbers 43 men. The marine artillery is composed of 38 officers, 9 cadets, and 1133 men. The marines, 1995 strong, commanded by 57 officers and 27 cadets".

Source
H. Busk. The Navies of the World; their present state, and future capabilities, p. 103 and 126-127. London, 1859. Digitized by Google.
Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905, London 1979.
I didn't use Karl Gogss publications dealing with the Austrian navy, although off great value!


Notes
1. This must be the Kaiser, of which Conways stated that she was laid down at Pola 25 March 1855, to be docked 2 February 1869 and to rebuilt as a centre battery ship.
2. Probably the frigates of the Radetzky class, namely the Radetzky, laid down at Wigram, London 1851, launched 13 April 1854, the Adria, laid down at the Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino 1 August 1855, launched 26 January 1856 and the Donau, laid down at the Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino May 1855, launched 20 November 1856.
3. The Erzherzog Friedrich, laid down at the Arsenal at Venice 14 February 1854, launched 11 April 1857 and the Dandolo, laid down at the Arsenal at Venice 26 September 1854, launched 7 August 1858.

The navy of the Two Silicies in 1859 according to Hans Busk

“The latest detailed return of the Navy of the Two Sicilies gives the following catalogue: 2 ships of the line, 1 of 90 and the other of 80 guns; 2 frigates of 64, 1 of 48, and 2 of 41 guns; 2 corvettes, a mortar-vessel, 5 brigantines, and 2 schooners. The above 17 are all sailing vessels, and carry altogether about 600 guns. Then of steamers, the Neapolitans possess 2 frigates 450= 900 horse-power; 12 frigates, 300= 3600 ; 4 corvettes, 240=960; 11 smaller vessels; 3 transports; 10 mortar-vessels; and 30 armed with Paixhans’ guns: altogether, 98 vessels of all descriptions, with an aggregate horse-power of 6650, and carrying 832 guns. The King of Naples has in his naval service 2 vice-admirals, 5 rear-admirals, 9 brigadiers, 8 captains of ships of the line, 17 captains of frigates, 30 lieutenants, and 26 midshipmen. There are 2 battalions of marines, each comprising 6 companies. The marine artillery consists of 14 companies, of 225 men each; 2 companies (stationary) of 131 men; the staff numbering 42. Of seamen there are 104 officers and 800 men.”

Source
Hans Busk. The Navies of the World. London, 1859, p. 125-126. Digitized by Google.

The navy of the Two Sicilies according to the Nautical magazine and journal of the Royal Naval Reserve July 1858

Thanks to the fact that nowadays more and more books are digitized we are able to read books that are some times for decades no longer available for the public for several reasons. That’s quite a pity while these books contains useful information while the archives are destroyed, incomplete or nor accessible.

P. 376: “The Navy of the Two Sicilies is 98 ships, representing 6,650 horsepower and 832 guns. These include thirty-two steamers, of which two are frigates of 12 guns and 450 horse-power; twelve others of 6 guns and 300 horse-power: the rest are from 40 to 240 horse-power. The sailing vessels are, two ships of the line, one of 80 guns and one of 90 guns; five frigates, i.e., two of 64 guns, one of 48 guns, and two of 41 guns; two corvettes, one of 14 guns, another of 22 guns; five brigantines of 20 guns each; two schooners of 14 guns each; ten mortar-vessels, ten gunboats of 2 guns each, and thirty armed each with a Paixhans gun. The personnel is composed of 2 vice-admirals, 5 rear-admirals, 9 commodores, 8 captains, 17 commanders, 30 lieutenants, and 26 masters. The vice-admirals are the Count d’Agulla and Jean della Spina; the rear-admirals are, Garofalo, Palma, Cavalcanti, Lettiere, and Roberte. The vice-admirals direct affairs.”

Source
Nautical magazine and journal of the Royal Naval Reserve, volume 27, July 1858.