Hans Busk wrote a book entitled “Navies of the World” in 1859. This book was reprinted twice, in the 1950’s and as a facsimile of the original in 1974. It provides possibly one of the best discussions and descriptions of early modern navies, covering as it does the navies in transition from the wooden wall, the ship of the line with a number of broadside cannons to the turreted vessels of the 20th Century. Angus McLellan has provided a summary of the contents of the book and this summary is presented across a number of parts. Note that the Downloads Section of Thomo’s Hole has ALL the parts combined into two PDF files.

This fourth part then deals with the Navies of the Americas and Asia circa 1859. Angus notes that originally he thought this would just be the Americas, but there are two navies in Asia as well.

Hans Busk’s “Navies of the World” was based on the world naval situation in 1859, or on those parts of it that Busk thought would help his case for an even bigger Royal Navy, official support for the volunteer movement and an enlarged Militia. The first two did happen, but it’s unlikely that Busk deserves blame or credit for this turn of events.

If there are any obvious errors, or things that don’t make any sense, please don’t hesitate to ask or to let me know and I’ll pass your comments and questions on to Angus.

The Netherlands East Indies

This isn’t mentioned by Busk but for people who like weird and wonderful wargames, the Netherlands East Indies have lots of potential. There was endemic piracy in the area, some of the pirate fleets being huge, and a brutal war with Atjeh from 1873 onwards.

In addition to the Koninklijke Marine, the Dutch government had a second naval service, the Gouvernements Marine in the Netherlands East Indies. These ships hunted pirates, delivered mail and passengers and generally supported the authorities in the East Indies. Busk doesn’t mention this force but I have a list for 1863. The Netherlands East Indies had naval bases at Soerabaja, Batavia (Djakarta) and Dassoon (somewhere on Java, probably near Tjilatjap). The Gouvernements Marine preferred ships of iron or teak since oak and pine rotted very quickly in tropical waters.

Crew figures are as given in the records of the day, Europeans + Natives.

Name	Guns	Crew	NHP	Built	Hull
Screw ships
Hertog Bernhard	4	10+79	170	England, 1851	Iron
Java	6	8+53	80	Liverpool, 1854	Iron
Draak	–	7+38	80	Soerabaja, 1859	Iron
Paddle ships
Boni	8	6+33	60	*, 1855	Iron
Kapoeas	7	6+33	80	*, 1859	Iron
Bronbeek	6	7+35	80	Dassoon, 1860	Teak
Telegraaf	6	7+35	80	Ditto, 1860	Teak
Dassoon	6	7+35	80	Ditto, 1861	Teak
Barito	5	3+21	25-30	*, 1861	Iron
Tjinrana	5	3+21	25-30	*, 1861	Iron
Sailoos	–	2+12	20	*, 1861	Iron

In addition there were 79 wooden sail gun boats each with 3 guns and a native crew of 20 men each. These were built in 1860-1861, 67 at Dassoon & 12 at Batavia. The ships marked * were built in Dutch yards and reassembled at Soerabaja, except for Bonim which was Mersey-built and reassembled at Sydney. The named ships were all classed as armed ships and probably carried rockets and swivel guns as well as the listed “big” guns.

Hertog Bernhard measured 765 tons and had room for 400 soldiers and their baggage. She appears to have been a flush-decked, clipper-bowed, three-master, possibly a schooner. Sailoos was only 20m long, 3m70 beam, drew less than 1m of water and served on the rivers of Borneo. The three Dassoon paddle ships were 25m20-26m60 long, 4m20-4m55 beam and less than 2m draft. Telegraaf was the largest, and carried 60 tons of coal, the others 40 tons. Telegraaf made 11 knots on trials and was a good sea boat. The engines for these ships were built (probably assembled) at Soerabaja.

British India

The Indian Navy, called the Bombay Marine until 1830 and reformed as such in 1863, was not the only naval service in India. There was also the Bengal Marine, which did not form part of the first Indian Navy formed by the British, but only the Indian Navy is mentioned by Busk.

The main shipyard was at Bombay which built ships as large as 80 guns in the past. There were minor yards elsewhere in India, and a private yard at Moulmein in Burma where timber was much cheaper than in India. Ships in India were built from mainly from teak.

I have added to the descriptions where possible. Armament of the paddle sloops and frigates was on Royal Navy lines: 8-inch 65cwt shell guns and 32-prs. When armed as a sloop, Berenice carried an unknown number of 8-inch 65cwt guns, one picture shows all nine gun ports open but only one muzzle in sight. At the other end of the scale, Indus carried one 4.5-inch 12-pr light field howitzer and one brass 3-pr mountain gun. Nearly all of these ships were built of iron or teak.

All ships not noted as steamers were sailing ships in every case I could check. Tonnage can only be displacement for Assaye, but otherwise is most likely tons burthen (builders old measurement). Berenice was big enough to carry about 900 troops during Persian campaign of 1857.

	Guns	Description
Acbar	22	Sloop
Anquita	6	Tender
Assaye	10	Paddle frigate, 177′ oa x 39’6″, 1800t, 650NHP
Assyria	2	Paddle, river steamer, similar to Indus
Auckland	6	Paddle sloop, over 900t
Australian	6	Screw transport
Beeas	2	Paddle
Bheemah	4	Tender
Berenice	2	Paddle sloop, 756t, 220NHP
Charlotte	2
Cheenab	2	Paddle
Clive	18	Sloop
Constance	3
Conqueror	2	Paddle
Comet	5	Paddle gun boat
Coromandel		Screw transport
Dalhousie		Screw transport
Elphinstone	18	Probably a sailing sloop
Emily	2	Schooner
Euphrates	10	Surveying brig, formerly sloop
Falkland	12	Sloop
Ferooz	10	Paddle frigate
Frere	4	Paddle
Georgiana	2	Schooner
Goolanair		Paddle yacht
Indus	2	Paddle, river steamer, 304t, 60NHP
Lady Canning	4	Paddle
Lady Falkland	2	Paddle
Mahi	3	Schooner
Marie	2	Tender
Napier	2	Paddle
Nerbudda	2	Cutter
Nimrod	2	Paddle, river steamer, similar to Indus
Outram	2	Paddle
Planet	2	Paddle
Pownah	2
Prince Arthur		Screw transport
Punjaub	12	Paddle frigate, as Assaye but 7′ longer
Satellite	2	Paddle
Semiramis	8	Paddle frigate, 1143t, 350NHP
Sir H.Havelock	2	Paddle
Sir W. Lawrence	2	Paddle
Sydney		Screw transport
Snake		Paddle
Tigris	6
Victoria	4	Paddle
Zenobia	10	Paddle frigate, ex-cargo, aka “the Pig Boat”

Other large ships which may still have been afloat, although not in commission, included the paddle frigates Sesotris and Moozuffer.

The Bengal Marine had had half a dozen, probably more, iron paddle steamers in the early 1850s. The first of these was the famous Nemesis, 660 tons bm, 184′ x 29′ x 6′, 120 NHP and 8 knots, armed with 2 32-pr, 4 6-pr and a Congreve rocket launcher. Nemesis was sold in the 1850s. A squadron of Bengal Marine iron paddlers in Burma in 1852 included Nemesis, Tennasserim, Phlegeton, Mahanuddy, Prosperine & Enterprise.

Having dealt with Asia as far as possible, and neither Busk nor I know anything about China’s navy, it’s time for the Americas.

Chile

Starting in the south, the Chilean Navy was rather small. Busk lists the following ships:

	Guns
1 Corvette	18
1 Brig	14
1 Ditto	10
1 Schooner	4
1 Steamer	20
5 Ships	66

The Chilean Navy has a good historical website where most of the ships which have served are listed.

http://www.armada.cl/p4_armada_port/site/edic/base/port/tradicion_historia.html

Either click on Buques de Ayer and pick the letter of the alphabet that interests you or, rather easier if you aren’t an expert on the Chilean Navy, go to the campaign of interest and click through to the ships mentioned. Even if you don’t know any Spanish at all, it’s easy enough to get a rough idea what the story is.

Peru

2 Frigates	1 of 33 guns, 1 of 46 guns
2 Steamers	1 of 10 guns, 1 of 1 gun
1 Brigantine	14 guns
4 Small steamers
1 Mail steamer
5 Pontoons
Total 15 vessels carrying 104 guns

According to Conway’s and the Peruvians, the 33 (34) gun frigate was actually a screw steamer named Apurimac which is one of the “Buques Historicos” in the History section of the Peruvian Navy website, which is at:

http://www.marina.mil.pe/

There’s even a picture.

If you want more information on the Peruvian Navy, Juan del Campo has an excellent website at:

http://members.lycos.co.uk/Juan39/PERUVIAN_MARITIME_CAMPAIGNS.html

Brazil

The largest South American navy was Imperial Brazilian Navy. Some ships were bought in Britain and France and there was a navy yard at Rio de Janiero which built most of the ships. Although Brazil was not a major industrial nation, engines for some ships were built in Brazil.

Sailing Vessels

1 Frigate
5 Corvettes
2 Barques
5 Brigs
7 Brigantines
1 (Text missing in book)
4Schooners
2 Gun boats
27 Ships

Steamers

7 Screw
8 Paddle
15 Ships of 1770 NHP

In the Matto Grosso there were another 29 gun boats and there were 3 frigates, 4 corvettes and a steamer under construction. Based on that, it’s possible to put names & figures to some of the ships of the Brazilian Navy in 1859. The armaments which include Whitworth guns are likely to be from the period of the Paraguayan war or after. The 68-pr guns listed are more likely to be 65cwt 8-inch shell guns than 95cwt solid shot guns.

• Constituicao, frigate, launched 1826, 30 32-pr, 2 24-pr & 30 42-pr carronades, 1768t, 53m94 x 7m92
• Amazonas, paddle frigate, launched 1851, 4 32-pr & 4 70-pr Whitworths, 1800t, 56m88 x 9m81, 350hp, 10kt
• Belmonte, screw corvette, launched 1856, 4 32-pr, 2 68-pr & 1 70-pr Whitworth, 602t, 51m20 x 7m46, 120hp, ?kt
• Beberibe, screw corvette, launched 1854, 6 32-pr & 1 68-pr, 559t, 52m42 x 7m62, 30hp, ?kt
• Parnahyba, screw corvette, launched 1858, 602t, ? x ?, 1 70-pr Whitworth, 2 68-pr & 4 32-pr, 120hp, 12kt
• Recife, paddle corvette, launched 1850, ?t, 50m59 x 7m01, 2 30-pr shell guns & 2 30-pr, 150hp, ?kt
• Bahiana, corvette, launched 1849, 24 30-pr shell guns, ?t, 44m80 x 10m36
• Berenice, corvette, bought 1847 from Argentina, 14 30-pr and 8 small, 362t, 35m96 x 9m75
• Carioca, corvette, launched 1824, 18 guns, 818t, 37m49 x 10m05, foundered 13 April 1859 off Sao Paolo.
• Dona Isabel, corvette, launched 1855, 20 30-pr shell guns, 617t, 130′ x 33′ (original says pes, presumably not the same as English feet)
• Ipiranga, steam gun boat, launched 1854, ? guns, 350t, 39m04 x 5m52, 70hp, 9kt
• Araguaia class (Araguaia, Ivahy, Araguary), screw gun boat, launched 1858, 2 32-pr & 8 68-pr, 400t, 44m20 x 7m40, 80hp, 9kt
• Japura, steam gun boat, bought 1855, 1 30-pr shell gun & 6 32-pr, 323t, 36m57 x 7m31, 80hp, ?kt
• Anhambai, steam gun boat, launched 1858, 2 guns, ?t, ? x ?, 40hp, ?kt
• Mearim class (Mearim), steam gun boat, launched 1857, 4 32-pr & 2 68-pr, 415t, 45m72 x 7m01, 100hp, ?kt
• Paraense, paddle steamer, launched 1851, ?t, 59m01 x 9m, 1 70-pr Whitworth, 3 68-pr & 2 9-pr Whitworth, 220hp, 8kt

Mexico and Canada

The Mexican Navy was very small and there was no Canada, let alone a Canadian Navy, which only leaves the United States of America.

The United States of America

The United States Navy, January 1859

Name	Guns	Year	Present State	Station
Ships of the Line (10) (Sailing)
Pennsylvania	120	1837	–	Receiving ship, Norfolk
Columbus	80	1829	Ord.	Norfolk
Ohio	84	1820	–	Receiving ship, Boston
North Carolina	84	1820	–	Receiving ship, New York
Delaware	84	1820	Ord.	Norfolk
Alabama	84	–	Bldg	Portsmouth
Virginia	84	–	Bldg	Boston
Vermont	84	1848	Ord.	Boston
New York	84	–	Bldg	Norfolk
New Orleans	84	–	Bldg	Sackett’s Harbor
Frigates (11) (Sailing)
Independence	56	1814	–	Receiving Ship, Mare Is.
United States	50	1797	Ord.	Norfolk
Constitution	50	1797	Ord.	Portsmouth
Potomac	50	1821	Ord.	New York
Brandywine	50	1825	Ord.	New York
Columbia	50	1836	Ord.	Norfolk
Congress	50	1841	Ord.	Philadelphia
Raritan	50	1843	Ord.	New York
Santee	50	1855	Ord.	Portsmouth
Sabine	50	1855	–	Coast of Brazil
St Lawrence	50	1847	–	Coast of Brazil
Sloops of War (21) (Sailing)
Cumberland 2	24	1842	–	Coast of Africa
Savannah 2	24	1842	–	Home sqdn
Constellation 22	22	1854	Ord.	Boston
Macedonian	22	1836	Ord.	Portsmouth
Plymouth	22	1843	–	Naval ordnance ship
St Mary’s	22	1844	–	Pacific sqdn
Jamestown	22	1844	–	Home sqdn
Germantown	22	1846	–	East Indies
Saratoga	20	1842	–	Home sqdn
John Adams	20	1831	Ord.	Norfolk
Vincennes	20	1826	–	Coast of Africa
Falmouth	20	1827	–	Brazil Station
Vandalia	20	1828	–	Pacific Ocean
St Louis	20	1828	Ord.	New York
Cyane	20	1839	–	Pacific Ocean
Levant	20	1837	Ord.	Boston
Decatur	16	1839	–	Pacific Ocean
Marion	16	1839	–	Coast of Africa
Dale	16	1839	–	Coast of Africa
Preble	16	1839	–	Paraguay Expedition
Brigs (3) (Sailing)
Bainbridge	6	1842	–	Paraguay Expedition
Perry	6	1843	–	Paraguay Expedition
Dolphin	4	1836	–	Paraguay Expedition
Schooner (Sailing)
Fenimore Cooper	3	1852	–	Surveying
Screw Steamers, First Class (7)
Franklin	50	–	Bldg	Portsmouth
Merrimac	40	1855	–	Pacific Ocean
Wabash	40	1855	–	Mediterranean
Minnesota	40	1855	–	East Indies
Roanoke	40	1855	–	Home sqdn
Colorado	40	1855	Ord.	Boston
Niagara	40	1856	–	Special service, Africa
Busk adds a note here: “The six frigates … are stated in the official list to mount 40 guns; it is well known, however, that their real armament consists of 12 heavy Dahlgren guns”. This was, of course, only true of the USS Niagara and not of the Merrimack class.
Screw, Second Class (6)
San Jacinto	13	1850	Ord.	New York
Lancaster	–	–	Bldg	Philadelphia
Pensacola	–	–	Bldg	Pensacola
Brooklyn	–	–	Bldg	New York
Hartford	–	1858	Bldg	Boston
Richmond	–	–	Bldg	Norfolk
Screw, Third Class (2)
Massachusetts	9	1841	–	East Indies
Princeton	10	1851	–	Receiving Ship, Philadelphia
Paddle-Wheel, First Class (3)
Mississippi	10	1841	–	East Indies
Susquehanna	15	1850	Ord.	New York
Powhatan	9	1850	–	East Indies
Paddle-Wheel, Second Class (1)
Saranac	6	1848	–	Pacific
Paddle-Wheel, Third Class (5)
Michigan	1	1844	–	Northern Lakes
Fulton	5	1837	–	Paraguay Expedition
Alleghany	10	1847	–	Receiving Ship, Baltimore
Water Witch	2	1845	–	Paraguay Expedition
John Hancock	2	1850	Ord.	Mare Is.
Steam Tenders (2)
Despatch	–	1855	–	Home sqdn
Arctic	–	1855	–	Special service
Store-ships (5)
Relief 6	6	1836	–	Home sqdn
Supply	4	1846	–	Paraguay Expedition
Warren	–	1826	Ord.	Mare Is.
Fredonia	4	1846	–	Valparaiso, Chile
Release	2	1855	–	Paraguay Expedition

The US merchant marine had about 2.5 million tons of shipping registered for foreign trade of which about 100,000 tons were steamers. There were another 2 million tons of lake and river craft of which a huge 770,000 tons were steamers. That’s about half of all the merchant steam tonnage afloat around 1860. US construction of seagoing ships was in long term decline well before 1860 and relatively few large seagoing steamers were built in US yards. Iron was expensive in the US, domestic industry being weak and tariffs high, so few iron ships were being built in US yards. In terms of industry in general, the US was likely the third largest industrial economy in the world in 1859 and the second largest by the middle of the 1860s. By about 1880, the US industrial economy had about tripled in size and reached the level of Britain in 1860.

Of all the navies of the world at this time, the US Navy is probably the best documented on the web and in print so there’s no point adding anything much.

The USA and Britain used the same definitions of inches and pounds (and, so far as ships and guns appear to be concerned, tons and hundredweights too). Where guns were rated by weight of shot there was no confusion. For guns rated in inches the USN used the nominal diameter of the bore and the RN used the nominal diameter of the shot. This meant that a US 8-inch gun would fire about 64-65lb solid shot and a British one 67-69lb solid shot. Hardly a great difference but it’s another demonstration of the fact that every navy did things their own way.

A recommended starting point for the US Navy on the Internet is The Naval Historical Center:

http://www.history.navy.mil/

Which contains a wealth of photographs of old vessels. Indeed, for a cultural cross reference between the US Navy, the German Navy, the British Navy and an Australian poet (A. B. “Banjo” Patterson), search the website above for “Calliope, Samoa, Hurricane” and check The Ballad of the Calliope. It will be displayed in Thomo’s Hole soon.