REGULATIONS FOR THE "ROYAL NAVAL ARTILLERY VOLUNTEERS."

It has been thought desirable to publish the following statement, for the purpose of giving some explanation of the services, duties, privileges, and general organisation of the Royal Naval Artillery Volunteers.

In inviting persons to enrol themselves in the corps, the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty desire to extend the volunteer movement, so successfully established as an auxiliary to the land forces, to the defence of this country by sea. The proposal is novel and unprecedented in its character. In any other country than our own, it would, in all probability, be visionary. In England, however, we possess a guarantee for the success of such an undertaking, which cannot be found elsewhere. A taste for maritime pursuits pervades this insular nation, and the hope may therefore be confidently entertained that the appeal, now made to the patriotism of the nautical and aquatic sections of the community, will not be urged in vain.

Eminent naval authorities have, for many years past, recommended the formation of a corps, for the purposes of coast defence, composed of persons who, while not possessing the wider experience of the seaman, are accustomed to the management of boats, and in the constant habit of going afloat. The Act for the Royal Navy Artillery Volunteers, passed in the last session at the instance of the Admiralty, and the regulations recently issued under that Act, afford the most convincing proof that, in the estimation of those who are actually responsible for the efficiency of the naval service, such a force is desirable. The concurrence of the naval members of the late administration in the various steps which have been taken, may likewise be quoted, in order to show that there is a general desire, among those to whom the welfare of the navy is an especial object of solicitude, for the success of the movement, which it is the object of the present writer to explain.

It has been already stated that coast defence, and not service at sea, constitutes the especial sphere proposed for the Royal Naval Artillery Volunteers. The term coast defence is perhaps, in a certain sense, a misnomer. The defence of the most important of our commercial harbours against an attack from the sea could not be effectually conducted by a force composed exclusively of men trained for the land service alone. The approach to all the great ports of the United Kingdom from the sea involves the navigation of extensive estuaries, where floating batteries, and armed rafts, and the use of torpedoes, are essential to a complete defence, and would in point of fact effectually prevent the nearer approach of a hostile fleet. In the laying out of torpedoes on an extensive scale, a flotilla of boats would be required; and in furnishing crews for such boats, the well-trained oarsmen, who, it is hoped, will be found willing to enroll themselves in the Royal Naval Artillery Volunteers, would be enabled to render valuable service. In all probability, by their co-operation in the hour of danger, they would release an equal number of highly trained seamen, who would form the crews of sea-going cruisers. All our greatest ports, London, Hull, Newcastle, Leith and Granton, ports for Edinburgh, Glasgow, Bristol, Southampton, Belfast, Dublin, Cork, are situated at the head of an extensive estuary, or at some distance from the mouth of a navigable river. The mere enumeration of these names is sufficient to show how large a sphere there might be, in the event of a threatened invasion, for the employment, in the important and essential task of harbour defence, of an auxiliary force composed, not of trained seamen, but of persons who may be described generally as aquatics.

It is to be observed that a mere oarsman, although not trained at the great guns, or in the use of rifle and cutlass, would be enabled to do good work in a service in which the use of boats must be largely resorted to; and that, in order to take a number at a gun mounted on a raft, such as the 'Nancy Dawson,' which the late Captain Cole improvised for our naval operations in the Sea of Azof, or to serve in a gun's crew in a floating battery for harbour defence, neither sea legs nor sea experience are indispensable qualifications. For such duties those qualities are required which equally combine to make a good gunner and a good soldier, whether afloat or on shore—a fair share of physical strength and activity, intelligence, and, above all, courage and patriotism.

Designed, as the Royal Naval Artillery Volunteers have been, for the especial work of coast and harbour defence, it is not necessary that the corps should be very numerous. It certainly need not exceed the numbers of our amateur yachtsmen and oarsmen, for whom the opportunity, now offered, of taking their share in the national defence, is chiefly intended. Enough will have been done, if a brigade can be formed at each of the principal ports, of a strength varying from 200 to 600 men.

Having described the general scope of the duties, which would devolve on the Royal Naval Artillery Volunteers, in the event of their being called out for actual service, the nature of the training proposed for the members of the force may be briefly explained. The first consideration must be to familiarise them, to some extent, with the management of boats. This instruction might occupy much time in a corps composed of men, who had never been in the habit of going on the water; but, as the Royal Naval Artillery Volunteer corps is to be recruited in a large proportion from among aquatics, many of their number may be expected to possess this qualification without the necessity for special instruction.

The next point to claim attention will be the exercise at the great guns. Here I may venture to affirm, from personal experience, that the naval gun drills have been, in every detail, so carefully considered, the instructors are so completely masters of the subject which they have to teach, and the mechanical appliances are such effectual substitutes for heavy manual labour, that a few days of constant attention will suffice to make a volunteer a useful man in a gun's crew. The class of recruits required for the Royal Navy Artillery Volunteers possess advantages of intelligence and education, far beyond those which the practical seamen can enjoy; and we may anticipate, from the experience already acquired, that they will form some of the smartest gun's crews in any branch of the naval service. There is neither insurmountable difficulty, nor unduly fatiguing labour, in the drill at the great guns. The intricacies could be mastered in a few days, if the volunteers were kept continuously at drill, as they necessarily would be, should they ever be called out for actual service.

The essential point in a volunteer corps is to secure men physically capable of doing their work, and who may be confidently relied upon as ready to serve, whenever they may be called upon.

The small-arm exercises are still more easily mastered. A rowing man will find himself able to use his cutlass efficiently in a few hours; and, after a couple of days of continuous drill, he would be able to go through the manual and platoon exercises with satisfactory smartness and precision.

Rowing and yachting gentlemen will perceive that they will have no difficulty in acquiring the knowledge of their drills, which is required in order to make them efficient, in the winter months. They will not find that their favourite amusements on the water, in the summer months, are incompatible with service in the Royal Naval Artillery Volunteers.

Every effort will be made to afford to those, who may be willing to join the Royal Naval Artillery Volunteers, the necessary facilities for learning their drills. For the London brigade, the 'Rainbow,' a gun vessel well adapted for the purpose, is now being fitted out at Chatham. This vessel will be ready in two months from the date of this publication; and, when completed, will be moored in the Thames in a convenient position, off Somerset House. Should such an arrangement be found convenient for members of the Corinthian and other yacht clubs at Erith, it is possible that the 'Rainbow' may be moved, from time to time, to moorings near the pier at Erith; and, should a desire to that effect be expressed by the members of the rowing clubs higher up the Thames, an effort will be made to move the vessel to moorings near the boat-houses of any rowing clubs, which have their head-quarters below Kew Bridge.

No positive promise, however, can be given that the 'Rainbow' shall be moved. There are many points to consider, such as draft of water, height and width of arches, and obstruction of the navigation of the river.

For those clubs which are established still higher up the river, where there is not sufficient water to float the 'Rainbow,' facilities for instruction may be provided by mounting a 64-pounder gun on a raft, which could be towed from place to place, and moored to the bank of the river adjacent to the boat-houses belonging to the clubs. An instructor would accompany the raft; and, during the winter months, arrangements might be made for giving to volunteers an opportunity of going through their small-arm drills in a drill-shed, or other convenient place, available for the purpose. Thus it may be found possible to extend the system of instruction, by effectual, yet inexpensive, means, far up the Thames, and so to embrace towns such as Reading, Maidenhead, Henley, Windsor, and even the headquarters of rowing, the University of Oxford.

Inquiry having been made as to whether members will be expected to appear in uniform, whenever they attend drill, it may not be superfluous to mention that the regulations are silent on this point. Members will only be required to wear uniform on special occasions, of which due notice will be given.

Members of the Royal Naval Artillery Volunteer corps may therefore rest assured that they will have the opportunity of being thoroughly instructed in the drills, in which it is considered desirable that they should be proficient.

The drills will comprise those for great guns, rifle, pistol, and cutlass, as in the Royal Navy, and no deviation from these drills is to be permitted.

All drills will be carried out by the instructor, attached to the brigades, under the officer-instructor. The permanent staff of a brigade will consist of an officer-instructor and one petty officer instructor for each battery. The officer-instructor will be commissioned as a lieutenant in the Royal Naval Artillery Volunteers, and will be selected from officers of or retired from the Royal Navy, of and above the rank of lieutenant. He will keep the muster-rolls, and it will be his duty to make himself acquainted with all the members of his brigade, and their qualifications. He will superintend all drills and exercises, and is to have complete control over the petty officer instructors, and to be responsible to the Admiralty for their conduct and efficiency.

On the important point of the number of attendances at drill, the regulations require that every volunteer must attend at least two drills a month, until he has obtained the standard of an efficient. An efficient must be able to perform in a satisfactory manner the duties of any number except No. 1 at heavy gun exercise, or at revolving gun exercise, as applicable to the 64-pounder guns mounted in gunboats; and he must be possessed of a good knowledge of the manual, platoon, and cutlass exercises.

It has already been explained that these qualifications may easily be acquired in a fortnight of continuous attendance at drill, by the application of a very ordinary amount of intelligence and attention. The regulations expressly avoid the imposition of any compulsory service afloat in time of peace. Target practice afloat is obviously essential to the efficiency of a naval gunner; and it is therefore desirable that every volunteer should have a fair number of opportunities of taking part in this useful exercise. In a long summer's day, the members of the London Brigade may embark in a gunboat at Erith or Gravesend, proceed to the Maplin Sands, off Shoeburyness—which is the most convenient place for firing practice over a sea range—and return to London by a convenient hour in the afternoon or evening. It will doubtless be the desire of every naval volunteer to avail himself of a sufficient number of opportunities for target practice, to secure his own efficiency. But, as there are many who will be anxious to have a greater amount of exercise afloat, every volunteer, who wishes it, may embark once a year, and remain for a period of eight days in a gunboat, manned by a crew to be furnished from the battery to which he himself belongs. It should, however, be observed that, when called out for actual service, the volunteers will not be liable to embark in sea-going vessels. Whenever so assembled, they will serve on board any of H.M, ships employed in the defence of the coasts of the United Kingdom; unless, indeed, they volunteer for, and are found capable of doing duty in, sea-going cruisers. They will not be required to go aloft, or to attend to the fires in the stoke-hole. They will, however, have to accommodate themselves to the berthing and messing arrangements usual for the seamen of the Royal Navy.

The regulations recently issued contain ample information as to the organisation of the Royal Naval Artillery Volunteers; and their practical effect will be summarised in the following extracts from the code of rules.

The Volunteers are raised under the Act passed in 1873. They will be called out by Royal proclamation, and will be liable to serve in any vessels employed for coast defence. They will be liable to perform all the ordinary duties of the vessels in which they may be embarked, in the same manner as those duties are performed by the regular crews of Her Majesty's ships, except those duties that can only be performed by practical seamen.

The Royal Naval Artillery Volunteer force, for administrative purposes, will be formed into brigades, and each brigade will consist of four or more batteries of from 60 to 80 men. Each brigade will be designated by a local name.

The following table contains the authorised establishment for brigades and the batteries composing them:—

In this table, two numbers divided by a line signify the maximum and minimum strength—thus 80/60 means not more than 80 and not less than 60.

Persons wishing to organise a corps to form part of a brigade of Royal Naval Artillery Volunteers should place themselves in communication with the Secretary of the Admiralty.

Whenever it is practicable, a brigade will be formed at each of the large ports in the kingdom, and the batteries composing the brigade will be raised in the immediate neighbourhood of the port.

When the Volunteers are not of sufficient strength at any port to form a brigade, the batteries enrolled on a part of the coast formed into a district will be formed into a brigade, and will be called a district brigade.

The object of this organisation is to unite separate batteries under one head, to secure uniformity among them, and to afford them the advantage of an officer-instructor.

Candidates for enrolment as members of the Royal Naval Artillery Volunteers must be of good character, and physically fit for the service; their eligibility will be judged by the commanding officer of the corps, assisted by such others of the corps as he may think fit to appoint for that purpose.

No person below the age of 17 is to be enrolled in the corps without the special authority of the Admiralty.

Boys of 14 years of age and upwards may be enrolled for the purpose of being trained as buglers.

Men belonging to any other force liable to be called out for service in case of war are not to be enrolled.

Apprentices are not to be enrolled without the consent of their masters.

Persons dismissed from any other service or corps for misconduct are not to be enrolled without the special sanction of the Admiralty.

The commanding officer of a corps is to give to any Volunteer, on his quitting the corps, a certificate of discharge, when requested to do so by such Volunteer.

Every member has power to withdraw from the corps upon giving 14 days' notice to that effect.

Enrolled members are classed as efficients and non-efficients.

All enrolled members who do not fulfil the conditions above referred to are reckoned as non-efficients.

Each brigade will be commanded by a lieutenant commanding.

Each battery will be commanded by a sub-lieutenant.

In each battery there will be, as it has already been stated, one chief petty officer, two 1st class, and two 2nd class petty officers.

The petty officers of a battery will be selected by the commanding officer of the battery.

When assembled for drill or inspection, the Volunteers will be under the command of the senior naval officer of the district. When the Volunteers are assembled for drill, the senior officer will be represented by the officer instructor, a retired commander or gunnery lieutenant of the Royal Navy, whose duty it will be to see that all drills are properly carried out.

When afloat, the Volunteers are to be, in all matters whatsoever, under the command of the captain or commanding officer of the ship in which they may be.

The authority of the officers commanding batteries is strictly limited to their own batteries only. The discipline will be the same throughout the corps, and will be enforced by the lieutenant commanding the brigade, in conformity with the regulations issued by the Admiralty.

The lieutenant commanding will make arrangements for drill, securing, so far as it may be necessary, separate hours for each battery. Before adopting any final arrangements for drill, he will confer with the officer instructor.

There may be an occasional general muster of the corps, when considered necessary by the lieutenant commanding.

The batteries will take precedence at general parades according to their numbers, and not according to the seniority of their respective commanding officers.

The brigade staff will not be attached to a battery, but will act under the lieutenant commanding only.

Officers of the Royal Naval Artillery Volunteers rank with, but after, officers of the Royal Navy and Royal Naval Reserve of their respective ranks.

All officers of the Royal Naval Artillery Volunteers will be commissioned by the Admiralty.

The commanding officers of brigades will recommend, for the consideration of the Admiralty, names of persons for the appointments and promotion of officers in their brigades.

The appointment of an honorary commander to a brigade is allowed, and such honorary lieutenants and sub-lieutenants as the Admiralty may think fit to sanction.

Officers in full pay in the Navy or Army are not eligible for other than honorary commissions.

The uniform approved for the officers resembles generally that worn by officers of the Naval Reserve, silver being substituted for gold lace.

The principle upon which the Volunteers should be officered has been one of the most frequent subjects of discussion among those who have associated themselves with the movement from the commencement, and who have been provisionally enrolled, with the sanction of the Admiralty, in anticipation of the passing of the Act of Parliament of last year.

A desire has been expressed that no officers should be appointed to the corps, but that the Volunteers should serve only under direct naval command. Practically, the desire, so strongly felt, has been fulfilled in the arrangements which have actually been made.

Whenever called upon to serve afloat, or when embarked for the purpose of training, the Volunteers will be under the command of the officer, commanding the ship, in which they may be. When embarked for their first cruise in the autumn of the present year, the arrangements were, of necessity, experimental and provisional. There was a natural desire on the part of the officer commanding the 'Foam' to meet the wishes of the Volunteers themselves in every possible way, consistent with the efficient performance of the service, and the carrying on of the drills and exercises required. The same considerate spirit will doubtless prevail on all future occasions; but the Volunteers, who make themselves acquainted with the regulations, will clearly perceive that, whenever they embark, they place themselves under direct naval authority; and that, when afloat, their own officers are never to assume any naval command or authority whatever, unless ordered to do so by their superior naval officers.

The officers of the Volunteers will do their utmost to assist the naval officers to preserve discipline. They may, if they think fit, set an example to their men by taking an active part in all the duties and manual exercises. They may fall in at quarters, and take any number at the gun. In short, they may become, as much as they please, active working seamen and efficient practical gunners. It is for them to use their own discretion in determining how much or how little they shall participate in the manual labour, involved in carrying out the drills and exercises ordered by the naval officers in command.

When at drill, as it has already been pointed out, the officer-instructor will superintend the instruction of the Volunteers, and he will be responsible that all exercises are properly carried out, in accordance with the regulations from time to time laid down for the instruction of the Royal Navy. It will thus be evident that the paramount and undivided authority of the naval officers over the Volunteers when afloat, and the superior responsibility of the officer of instruction when the Volunteers are at drill, so largely overshadow the authority of the officers of the Royal Naval Artillery Volunteers in all matters, excepting those which relate to discipline and the civil administration and organisation of the corps, that it could not reasonably be expected that retired naval officers of rank should volunteer to become battery officers in the Royal Naval Artillery Volunteer Corps. Naval officers of less exalted rank do not often retire, if they have a great zeal for the service. Some exceptions, however, there must be to this general rule; and it is probable that a certain number of retired officers from the junior ranks of the Navy will, hereafter, kindly offer their services to command brigades or batteries in the ports or districts, in which they may happen to reside. The Volunteers will at all times feel a pride in availing themselves of such opportunities of acting under officers, who have received a high professional training in Her Majesty's naval service.

While the effect of the arrangements, which have been described, necessarily limits the sphere of the officers of the Royal Naval Artillery Volunteers, their services, in several important points, are not the less essential. It is to them that the Admiralty must look for the exercise of their personal influence, in inducing recruits to join their respective brigades and batteries; and their moral influence will be the principal security for the maintenance of good discipline in a force composed exclusively of Volunteers. Although, under the regulations, no fixed standard of efficiency is expressly required in an officer of the Royal Naval Artillery Volunteer force, those among them, who can command sufficient leisure for the purpose, will readily appreciate how excellent an effect must be produced by the personal example of an officer, who will take pains to make himself acquainted with the drills and exercises, in which the men under his command are instructed. He will have the opportunity of obtaining the same certificate of proficiency, which is given to those officers of the Naval Reserve, who become qualified to drill the seamen of the reserve at the great guns, and in the small arm exercises.

With the view of enlisting, in support of the Naval Volunteer movement, the potent influences which are derived from the esprit de corps, wherever it may reasonably and prudently be encouraged, it is proposed to associate certain batteries in the London brigade with some of the principal rowing and Corinthian yacht clubs on the Thames, and to give commissions to any gentlemen, otherwise eligible, who are instrumental in raising a full battery of Naval Volunteers.

The following list of some of the principal rowing clubs, will serve to show the large number of gentlemen, from whom assistance may be expected, in promoting the success of a movement for extending the Volunteer service to a certain sphere of naval operations;

The Corinthian yacht clubs on the Thames are equally able to render assistance, and are indeed capable of raising, if they think fit, an entire brigade for the Royal Naval Artillery Volunteer Corps.

The resources of the clubs located on the banks of the Thames have been particularly specified; because the present writer, in his connection with the movement under consideration, is more immediately identified with that river. Readers of these pages, residing in the vicinity of any of our great ports, will doubtless be able to discover equally ample materials for the foundation of a sufficient force, for the purposes of co-operation in the defence of the coast, in their own neighbourhood. A corps, though it may be raised at some distance from the sphere of its intended operations, in the event of threatened invasion, will not be the less valuable for the defence of a great port.

The railway and the telegraph afford the means of concentrating large bodies of men in a few hours at any port on the shores of the United Kingdom. Wherever the coast-guard are stationed, the means exist of giving instruction to the Naval Volunteers. All the out-ports, at which men have been enrolled, can be visited by a gunboat at frequent intervals, to embark the Volunteers for target practice afloat; while those who wish to go to sea for an eight days' cruise, will have, every year, the opportunity of doing so.

In conclusion, it may not be superfluous to offer a few observations on the Volunteer movement generally. The most cogent inducements to Volunteer activity may appear to be wanting at the present time. Our country is happily not threatened with the danger of foreign invasion. A becoming modesty will deter any individual connected with the Volunteer service from arrogating to himself any share in the prestige and distinction, which are the special privilege of the regular services. It is an essential feature of the present movement that there shall be no contribution from the state in the form of pecuniary reward for services rendered; and that every effort shall be made by the Volunteers to impose as small a burden as possible on the Exchequer. The sterner sense of duty, which is now encouraged among the Volunteers for land service, is opposed to all attempts to gain popularity for the auxiliary forces by festivals, holidays, and entertainments.

While, however, all these inducements and attractions are withheld, a higher standard of efficiency in the officers and the men is properly insisted on. In presence of the difficulties which arise from the altered conditions of the service, some earnest friends of the Volunteer movement have been oppressed with doubts, as to the possibility of stimulating the patriotism of the country to such a pitch, that Volunteers shall still be forthcoming in a time of profound peace. I do not conceal my individual opinion that compulsory service may fairly be required, from every individual of military age, when the country is in danger. Unfortunately, so strong a measure would probably meet with an amount of resistance, which could not be overcome in this free country, where nothing affecting the social habits and prejudices of the people can be proposed, which is not universally popular. But I venture to hope that we may rely, in the absence of direct legal compulsion, on motives even more powerful than the strong arm of the law. If every man who is capable of co-operating in the defence of his country should feel himself compelled, by his sense of duty and patriotism, to enter his name in the roll of her defenders, the liability to service, thus imposed by the free will of the Volunteer upon himself, will be a far more effectual safeguard than legal compulsion, for the security and the honour of England.

The Volunteer movement affords the occasion for teaching, in the most practical form, the duty of self-sacrifice in a worthy cause.

In the artificial conditions of modern society, there are multitudes of men, who, in the ordinary exercise of their vocation, are unduly deprived of the opportunities for physical exercise and development. More especially is this true of the younger members of the professional and commercial classes. To them an appeal is now most earnestly made on behalf of the Royal Naval Artillery Volunteers. In taking a part in our drills and exercises, they will do a work beneficial to themselves individually, and conducive to the welfare of their country.

N.B.—Any gentlemen wishing to join the Royal Naval Artillery Volunteers, may communicate with Mr. Thomas Brassey, M.P., or Commander St. Vincent Nepean, R.N., at the temporary head-quarters, 4, Great George Street, Westminster. The regular drills of the corps will not be commenced until the drill vessel 'Rainbow' has been moored off Somerset House, and all other arrangements have been completed. Gentlemen are earnestly invited to send in their names, in the meanwhile, provisionally, so that the organisation of the brigade may be completed at an early date; and that the movement at the out-ports may be encouraged by the example of the metropolis.