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>>Many thanks to Cy and AP. >>This was just the idea. >>Michael Lewis' "Social history of the Royal navy" >>talks a lot about the evolution of the ranks, but >>don't give a complete list as those you put there. >>Bye and thanks again >>Gerardo > >N.A.M. Rodger, <i>The Wooden World,</i> gives the >complete crew establishment for every type of ship in >the British navy as of about 1750, from 100-gun first >rates down to the small sloop whose crew Cy listed. I >don't know of a similar list for the vessels that did >not rate at least a commander for a commanding >officer, and there were a lot of gun brigs commanded >by lieutenants in the French Revolutionary and >Napoleonic Wars. There were also a few other >developments, such as the innovation of the >sublieutenant rank. > >One difference also that developed around the >beginning of the FRAN wars was the separation between >officer ranks and appointments to command. At least >up through the Seven Years' War, it was not possible >to "promote" an officer to the rank of (master and) >commander or captain. Rather, appointment of a >lieutenant to command of a ship that was entitled to a >commander or a captain as its commanding officer was >what made that officer a "post captain" or a "master >and commander." Thus, it was only possible to promote >an officer if there was a vacancy to which he could be >appointed. Vacancies could be contrived, because an >officer who resigned a command did not lose his rank, >although he did go on half-pay. I think this was also >true during the "American War." Only around 1794 did >the custom arise, for instance, of promoting all the >first lieutenants of the ships of the line engaged in >a major victory to commander, whether there were >vacant sloops for them to command or not. In fact, >such a promotion could kill an officer's career. He >could not serve and be paid as a lieutenant anymore, >but there might be more officers on the list of >commanders than there were suitable ships for them to >command. The same thing could happen to a first >lieutenant promoted directly to captain because he had >taken over for a dead captain in a victorious action. > >In fact, until around 1750, it was possible, although >not the rule, for lieutenants to be promoted directly >to captain. Rodger records grumbling by veteran >admirals at being restricted to the commanders on >their stations for promotions to captain. However, at >that time, vessels with commanders as their commanding >officers were much rarer than they became later. >Commanders were the COs of fireships, but they had >fallen out of use, although a few were still employed >as scouts and light cruisers; bombs (mortar vessels), >which were always relatively rare; and "sloops," which >were rare until late in the 18th century. On a >particular station, there might not even be any >commanders available if a captain died or resigned his >command. > >One example of a famous admiral who was promoted >directly from lieutenant to captain was Edward Hughes, >the British commander-in-chief in the Indian Ocean in >1781-83 against the French admiral Suffren. He is a >good example of what looks like a contrived promotion, >although one that, I am sure, those involved believed >that he deserved. He was a passenger in HBMS ><i>Warwick</i>, 60, in company with HBMS <i>Lark</i>, >44, escorting a convoy to Louisbourg and Newfoundland >in the summer of 1747. They encountered HCMS ><i>Glorioso</i>, 70, which was bringing an important >specie shipment across the Atlantic. After a 40-hour >chase, they caught up with <i>Glorioso</i> in light >winds around midnight. <i>Lark</i> fired one or two >broadsides and disappeared into the dark, leaving the >fight to <i>Warwick,</i>, which was badly damaged in >her rigging so that <i>Glorioso</i> could escape. The >captain of <i>Warwick</i> immediately complained about >his senior officer (who had a record of "shyness" and >was probably being sent to Newfoundland to get him >away from any action), who was eventually >court-martialled at Jamaica under the authority of >Rear-Admiral Charles Knowles. The court-martial >required the suspension of <i>Lark</i>'s commanding >officer; Hughes was appointed acting captain, and when >the court dismissed the captain from his command, >Hughes was appointed to the vacancy, and took his >seniority as a captain from that date. Since Hughes >crossed the Atlantic as a passenger in <i>Warwick</i>, >it appears that he was being sent to Knowles (who >spent the summer of 1747 at Louisbourg but was already >scheduled to take the Jamaica command in the fall) >specifically so that Knowles could promote him at the >first opportunity. > >This was probably a maneuver by Vice-Admiral George >Anson, the only naval officer on the Admiralty Board. >Knowles probably owed Anson a favor or two, and it was >easier to get Hughes promoted abroad than at home, >where the Admiralty Board itself held the patronage >and there would be many favorites of the other members >of the board and of other politicians in London. As >Rodger describes the system, all officers needed >"followings" of this sort�competent officers of all >kinds (not just commissioned officers like >lieutenants, but masters, boatswains, carpenters, >etc.) on whom they could rely to do their jobs well. >Their own careers depended on identifying talent and >advancing it, and they had a responsibility to the >service to find and promote "efficient" men. They >traded recommendations, and often received requests >from friends and relatives, but the rule at all levels >was that the people you recommended had better be >good, because if they were not, no one would accept >any further referrals. Just as captains needed good >officers on their ships, admirals needed good >captains. In recommending Hughes to Knowles (if >indeed that is how he got his promotion to captain), >Anson was doing Knowles a favor by assuring him that >he was sending him a competent subordinate. Hughes >didn't stay on the Jamaica station long, and was not >present at the Battle of Havana on October 1/12, 1748, >but Knowles certainly could have used him on that >occasion instead of some of the blundering >knuckleheads who robbed him of a more substantial >victory and caused him to be court-martialled, >essentially, for their failings. The opposite can be >seen in the Second Battle of Cape Finisterre in >October 1747, where Admiral Hawke had something of an >all-star team who were able to interpret his signals >intelligently and aggressively, securing a substantial >victory. I suspect that Anson had hand-picked the >captains of the Western Squadron, and that sending >John Crookshanks (captain of <i>Lark</i>) to >Newfoundland was part of that. (One of Hawke's >captains did misbehave and was court-martialled, but >the rest performed well enough that it did not matter.)

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