The Great Armament

Before Sweaborg the construction of flotilla craft had not been attended with any great urgency; the only order placed after October 1854, on 18 April 1855, was for 10 gunboats and six gunvessels. After Sweaborg Dundas declared he could not have too many gunboats for Baltic operations, particularly if they could carry double the present armament. He also favoured enlarged mortar vessels. Wood then ordered 30 more gunboats and gunvessels; enlarged gunboats were considered impractical but Wood was alarmed by Dundas’s pessimism. ¹ The issue of mortar failure was settled by ordering 200 for 1856, while the Surveyor’s Department also considered iron rafts and floats to carry them. Dundas suggested building long-barrelled mortars, or cutting down 10-inch guns. Palmerston supported the idea of long-range weapons with an enquiry into the best metal for casting new mortars, having already ordered two of Mallet’s 36-inch mortars. The Committee was directed to consider rifled mortars, among other new proposals. Confidence in existing weapons was not improved when another barrel burst during the trials of an iron float at Shoeburyness. The danger increased when the weapons were fired at extreme range – the object of both Dundas and Palmerston. At Sweaborg Russian guns and Dundas’s caution had forced them to the outer limit of performance. ² Palmerston was an enthusiast for new weapons, sending all manner of schemes to the Admiralty and the War Office and accusing Berkeley of preconceived objections to Brunel’s shot-proof gunboat. Even Dundonald’s gas and smokescreen plan was given another airing; Wood was unenthusiastic but allowed the Earl to discuss it with Dundas. The submarine built to Palmerston’s order by Scott-Russell and Sir Charles Fox was delayed by the defection of the German inventor Wilhelm Bauer to Russia. Palmerston hoped this simple oar-driven craft could be used with divers to breach the Cronstadt barrier. Wood sent Sulivan, Cooper-Key and James Hope down to Poole harbour for the trials; they went underwater but were not impressed. Wood refused to pay the £10,000 Palmerston had promised out of Admiralty funds, or to sanction an improved version. ³