Prince Rupert's devotion to the crown was bad for the navy, for lie carried off 25 large ships; and Cromwell, on acceding to power, had but 14 two-deckers. His energy. however, soon wrought a change, and in five years lie had 150 ships, of which a third were of the line; his crews amounted to 20,000 men. During the protectorate, Peter Pett, son of Phineas, built the Constant Warwick, the earliest British frigate, from a French design and pattern. Cromwell first laid navy estimates before parliament, and obtained :600,000 a year for the service. The duke of York, afterwards James II., assisted by the indefatigable Mr. Samuel Pepys, did much for the navy, establishing the system of admiralty government much on its present footing. In his time, sir Anthony Deane improved the model of ships of war, again after a French design. James left, in 1688, 108 ships of the line, and 65 other vessels; the total tonnage of the navy, 101,892 us; the armament, 6,930 guns; and the personnel, 42,000 meM William HI. sedulously igmented the force, its importance to his adopted country. When lie died, f t mere were 272 ships of 159,020 tons, when the annual charge for the navy had risen to £1,056,915. George II. paid much attention to his fleets, and greatly augmented the size of the ships; he left, in 1760, 412 ships of 321,104 tons. By 1782 the navy had risen to 617 sail of 500,000 tons; and by 1802 to 700 sail, of which 148 were of the line. In 1813 there were 1000 ships (256 of the line), measuring about 900,000 tons, and carry ing 146,000 seamen and marines, at an annual charge of about £18,000,000. Since the peace in 1815 the number of vessels has been greatly diminished, although their power has vastly increased.
The progressive augmentation of size in vessels may be judged from the increase in first-rates. In 1677 the largest vessel was from 1500 to 1600 tons; by 1720, 1800 had been reached; by 1745, 2,000 tons; 1780, 2,200 tons; 1795, 2,350 tons; 1800, 2,500 tons; 1808, 2,616 tons; 1853, 4,000 tons. From 1841 a gradual substitution of steam for sail ing vessels began, which was not completed, however, till 1859. Since 1860 another reconstruction has taken effect, armor-plated frigates, impervious to ordinary shot, armed either as broadside vessels or in turrets, being substituted for timber vessels. At the
Sallie time three and•two deckers have ceased to be employed, enormous frigates and turret-ships replacing them of a tonnage far exceeding the largest three-deckers of former times; they mount fewer guns, but those they carry are of stupendous caliber, and of rifled lore. The Northumberland, one of the largest frigates of this new class, is of 6,621 tons. 1350 horse-power, and 38 large guns, while the Devastation carries 4 great guns in turrets of the most massive armor. The Inflexible (turret-ship) carries four 81-ton guns, and is supposed to be the most powerful war-ship in the world.
On April 1, 1874, the effective vessels of the navy were as follows: 33 armor-plated frigates (3 building); 14 turret vessels (2 building); 3 armor-plated corvettes, and 2 sloops; 3 Boating-batteries; 3 armored gunboats; 37 ships of the line (10 without steam); 43 frigates (7 without steam); 42 corvettes (7 building, 5 without steam); 46 sloops (3 build ing, 4 without steam); 43 gun-vessels; 69 smaller steamers (14,building); 71 gunboats; with 17 transports, 6 yachts, and 5 schooners; giving a total of 424 vessels. At the end of 1877 there were in all 249 ships in commission, exclusive of Indian troop-ships. The Telsonnel of the navy amounted in 1877 to 60,000 men including 14,000 marines, but excluding artificers and laborers in dockyards; the armament being about 5,000 guns, mostly of heavy caliber. The annual charge for 1874-75 was estimated at ,E10,179,485, which may be thus broadly subdivided (in 1878-79 it was £11,053,091): Wages, victuals, and clothing of officers and men £3,667.021 Admiralty office 178,066 Coast-guard and naval reserve 163,311 Scientific branch (surveying, hydrography, etc.) 111,170 Dockyards and victualing yards ..... 1,253,211 Stores for building and repairing ships 1,851,063 Miscellaneous services 964,117 Half-pay and pensions 1,815,926 Conveyance of troops....... ... .. .... 175,600 Information on the various points of detail connected with the navy, will be found under the respective heads, as ADMIRAL, CAPTAIN, HALF-PAY, SHIP-BUILDING, SIGNALS, etc.