Читать книгу The Sea: Its Stirring Story of Adventure, Peril, & Heroism (Vol. 1-4). The History of Sea Voyages, Discovery, Piracy and Maritime Warfare онлайн

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Another officer of the Royal Navy—the engineer—deserves particular notice, for his position is becoming daily of more and more importance. It is not merely the care and working of the engines which propel the vessel in which he is concerned; the chief and his subordinates have charge of various hydraulic arrangements often used now-a-days on large vessels, in connection with the steering apparatus; of electrical and gas-producing apparatus; the mechanical arrangements of turrets and gun-carriages; pumping machinery; the management of steam-launches and torpedoes. Take the great ironclad Thunderer (that on which the terrible boiler explosion occurred) as an example: she has twenty-six engines for various purposes, apart from the engines used to propel the vessel, which have an actual power of 6,000 horses. The Téméraire has thirty-four engines distinct from those required for propulsion. A competent authority says that, “with the exception of the paymaster’s and surgeon’s stores, he is responsible for everything in and outside the ship (meaning the hull, apart from the navigator’s duties), to say nothing of his duties while under weigh.” And yet engineers of the navy do not yet either derive the status or emoluments fairly due to them, considering the great and increasing responsibilities thrown upon them of late years. Sir Walter Scott makes Rob Roy express “his contempt of weavers and spinners, and sic-like mechanical persons, and their pursuits;” and in the naval service some such feeling still lingers.