Harry Mulvey's Navy
The Ulysses character Harry Mulvey, with whom Molly had her first sexual encounter, was in Gibraltar for a few weeks in May 1886. Mulvey was a sub-lieutenant in the Royal Navy and his ship, HMS Calypso, sojourned there on its way to its East Indies station. This page provides a brief description of the Late-Victorian and Edwardian Royal Navy in which Mulvey served.
As noted by Leopold Bloom, at the turn of the twentieth century the Royal Navy was by far the world's largest sea force and accordingly, "ruled the waves."
n/ [Bloom thinking about the enormity of the sea.] "... a casual glance at the map revealed, it covered fully three-fourths of it and he realized accordingly what it meant to rule the waves." U (Gabler) 16:527-29.
The second largest navy at the time was that of France which had 20 capital ships. Britain's Home Fleet alone was equal to, or greater, in strength than the entire navies of each of the other sea powers.
Nation | Modern Battleships | Armored Cruisers | Total | |
| United Kingdom | 34 | 20 | 54 | |
France | 12 | 8 | 20 | |
Germany | 13 | 4 | 17 | |
| United States | 12 | 1 | 13 | |
Russia | 10 | 2 | 12 | |
Japan | 4 | 8 | 12 |
The Royal Navy on Bloomsday
In 1904, the navy was in transition from a force for imperial control to a strike force to engage fleets of the major powers. Government officials and senior admirals of the time expected Imperial Germany would be the United Kingdom's primary foe at sea. As part of this transition, the Admiralty (the navy's governing body) began to transfer many battleships and cruisers from the distant stations to European waters.
On Bloomsday, about 75-80% of the navy's combat power (as represented by battleships and armored cruisers) was in the three European fleets: Home, Atlantic, and Mediterranean. All capital vessels had been withdrawn from the old North American and West Indies Stations and those zones were designated the cruising area for the home-based 4th Cruiser Squadron. The East Indies, Australia, China, and Pacific Stations were managed as a single unit known as Eastern Force. The prior year, the Admiralty had terminated the UK guard ship program where battleships and cruisers were kept at designated merchant ports and naval anchorages.
Principal Ships of the Royal Navy
Organization / Headquarters | Battleships | Armored Cruisers | Cruisers |
Home Fleet | 12 | 6 | 9 |
4th Cruiser Squadron | 3 | ||
Atlantic Fleet Gibraltar | 8 | 6 | 5 |
Mediterranean Fleet Malta | 8 | 3 | 11 |
Cape of Good Hope Station Simonstown (Cape Town) | 1 | 8 | |
China Station Hong Kong | 5 | 2 | 7 |
East Indies Station Trincomalee, Ceylon | 5 | ||
Australia Station Sydney | 6 | ||
Pacific Station Esquimalt, Canada | 3 | ||
Total Principal Ships | 34 | 20 | 54 |
Not only was the Royal Navy by far the world's largest maritime force, through its network of bases and coaling stations it could project British power globally. The Mediterranean, North Atlantic, South Atlantic, Indian Ocean, and Western Pacific were all serviced by naval facilities located on British territory. The only naval facility abroad not on British soil was the minor coaling station at Coquimbo, Chile. Coquimbo and Esquimalt, British Columbia were the two shore facilities of the Royal Navy's Pacific Station.
While living in Trieste, James Joyce had an interest in naval affairs. His brother, Stanislaus, was surprised when he learned that Joyce knew the naval strengths of the various European powers. This interest could have arisen from Joyce's short stay in Pola. That small, port city near the tip of the Istrian Peninsula was the principal base of the Austro-Hungarian navy.
n/ Stanislaus Joyce's "Book of Days" (diary, 1907-09). Richard Ellmann Papers, McFarlin Library, University of Tulsa, 1988.012.1.62.
Operational Zones and Bases of the Royal Navy
At home, the navy had three major naval bases: The Nore (facilities from the Thames Estuary south to Chatham), Portsmouth, and Devonport. All enlisted personnel afloat were assigned to one of these three "divisions" as their permanent home. Also in the United Kingdom were seven Naval Dockyards and multiple other shore facilities such as victualling yards (food, rum, and clothing stores), ordnance stores (munitions, guns, equipment, and parts), hospitals, training facilities, etc.
Overseas, there were fortified naval bases, unfortified bases, and coaling stations. The fortified bases had the full range of naval facilities including dry docks. The five such bases were Bermuda, Gibraltar, Malta, Simonstown (near Cape Town, South Africa), and Hong Kong. Coaling stations only had facilities for providing vessels with coal. The navy also made use of commercial coal yards that serviced merchant vessels.
Click on the link above to download a high resolution map of Royal Navy bases and coaling stations located abroad. Unlike the map on this webpage, the downloadable map is labeled with placenames. The map image is in the file NavalStations.pdf (1.0 mb) which will open in a new browser window. Note that during Molly's teenaged years, Gibraltar was not a major naval base. See, Gibraltar on Bloomsday.
Ships of the Royal Navy
The navy's capital ships were the battleships and armored cruisers. They were designed to engage and destroy enemy warships. Unarmored cruisers were the reconnaissance vessels for the capital ships and also served as escorts for merchant vessels. Most cruisers had some armor plating and were designated "protected." Protected cruisers were classified 1st or 2nd Class; non-protected cruisers 3rd Class. Destroyers were small, non-protected, fast vessels that could close in on enemy warships, fire torpedoes, then quickly flee from the enemy guns. Destroyers were also used to engage and sink enemy small vessels, especially torpedo boats. Destroyers were originally called "torpedo boat destroyers."
Ocean-Going Warships (displacement, principal armament, complement)
- Battleships: 12,000 to 17,000 tons, 12" guns, 650-800.
- Armored Cruisers: 10,000 to 14,000 tons, 9" guns, 700-900.
- Cruisers (protected), 1st and 2nd Class: 5,000 to 12,000 tons, 6" or 9" guns, 500-800.
- Cruisers (escort), 3rd Class: 1,800 to 3,000 tons, 4" or 6" guns, 200-350.
- Destroyers: 350-500 tons, torpedoes used against ocean-going vessels, 3" guns used against coastal vessels, about 50 men.
About one-fourth of complements, except for the destroyers, consisted of Royal Marines. Artillery marines supplemented the ship's gunners.
Coastal and Inland Waterway Warships (principal armament, complement)
- Guard Ships - obsolescent battleships and armored cruisers. No longer used at home but stationed at some overseas bases such as Bermuda.
- Gun Boats - torpedoes and 4" or 5" guns, 75-125.
- Torpedo Boats - torpedoes, 18.
- Submarines - torpedoes, 8-11.
- Patrol Boats - 50 cal. machine guns, some with small cannon.
Support Vessels
- Survey Ships
- Towing Ships
- Troop Transports
- VIP Yachts
- Harbor Boats
Manning
Royal Navy Personnel | Number | Percent |
| Commissioned Officers | 4,300 | 4.4 |
| Midshipmen & Cadets | 1,270 | 1.3 |
| Warrant Officers | 1,650 | 1.7 |
| Petty Officers & Seamen | 80,550 | 82.5 |
| Boys | 9,900 | 10.1 |
Total | 97,670 | 100.0 |
The Admiralty
The head of the Royal Navy was the First Lord of the Admiralty, a member of parliament with cabinet rank. His position was similar to that of the Secretary of State for War. He governed the navy through the Board of Admiralty of which he was a member and its President. His principal civilian advisor was the Permanent Secretary of the Admiralty, a civil servant whose position was similar to that of the Permanent Under-Secretary of State for War.
Admiralty Board
First Lord of the Admiralty: MP
Civil Lord of the Admiralty: MP
Financial Secretary: MP
First Sea Lord: Admiral
Second Sea Lord: Rear-Admiral
Controller of the Navy: Rear-Admiral
Junior Sea Lord: Captain
Admiralty Departments
Intelligence
Coast Guard & Naval Reserves
Office of the Engineer-in-Chief
Ordnance & Torpedoes
Office of the Controller of the Navy
Transports
Medical
Engineering & Architectural Works
Office of the Hydrographer
Royal Marines
Office of the Accountant-General (civil)
Contracts (civil)
Dockyards (civil)
Naval Construction (civil)
Victualing (civil)
Harry Mulvey, RN
As Joyce gives Mulvey the rank "lieutenant" the character was a young executive officer of the navy's "military" branch. Such officers were all of the middle and upper classes and their families had connections among senior naval personnel. Such connections were necessary to get a cadet nomination and begin the seven-year process to obtain a Queen's commission as a sub-lieutenant in the Royal Navy.
To download from this website a flowchart of officer intake, click on the above link. The figure is in the file RNOfficerIntake1880.pdf (93 kb) which will open in a new browser window.
In 1879, about when Mulvey became an officer cadet, the navy's officer corps was dividend into two branches, military and civil. The civil branch encompassed the "trades" officers: Engineers, Paymasters (accountants), Surgeons, Chaplains, and Naval Instructors. Engineers and paymasters were of the lower-middle class and entered officer training through competitive examination. The other civil officers were of the middle class as such status (and income) was practically a necessity to qualify in the appropriate profession. The military branch officers were the executive officers who commanded ships and were responsible for navigation, gunnery, and the overall management of vessels.
Aspirant executive officers entered the navy as 12- or 13-year old cadets. To obtain a cadetship, a boy's parents needed to secure a nomination from a serving admiral or commodore, or a captain who had recently received command of a ship. Once a nomination was secured, a boy had to pass a physical examination and a rudimentary, written examination. Of course, boys had to be British subjects and with wholly European ancestry.
Cadets lived for up to two years on a training hulk at Dartmouth, the HMS Britannia, where they received academic instruction and seamanship training, and were indoctrinated in the navy's way of life. A cadet's parents had to pay for his uniforms and books and also pay tuition fees of £70 per year. Additionally, they had to provide the cadet with pocket money of 1 shilling per week. Cadets who progressed well in their training could pass out of Britannia in 12 or 18 months.
HMS Brittania
After leaving Britannia, a cadet was appointed to the subordinate officer rank of midshipman and assigned to a large warship for his intermediate training. Midshipmen received pay and stayed at sea for three to four years. Unlike the army, where cadets were secondary school graduates, naval officer aspirants usually entered service with incomplete primary schooling. The Admiralty, to provide executive officers with a gentleman's education, had midshipmen receive secondary schooling from Naval Instructors, most of whom were university graduates. Midshipmen received practical naval training from the junior lieutenants of the ship's complement.
After at most four years as a midshipman, the officer aspirant took the written, officers' seamanship examination. Those who passed, and nearly all did, were commissioned acting sub-lieutenants and sent to the Royal Naval College at Greenwich for advanced training.
Royal Naval College, Greenwich
Martin Falbisoner, Creative Commons Share Alike License.
At Greenwich, officer-students received academic instruction in subjects relevant to the operation of a warship. The curriculum covered scientific subjects (such as meteorology), foreign languages, naval history, naval architecture, and engineering. After passing examinations in all required subjects, the officer-student became a regular sub-lieutenant of the Royal Navy. Students were allowed one year in which to complete their Greenwich studies.
Harry Mulvey probably left Greenwich at age 19 when he was assigned to his first ship, HMS Calypso. On the ship's voyage to its East Indies station, it stayed at Gibraltar for several weeks and there Lt. Mulvey met 15-year old Marion Tweedy.
n/ U (Gabler) "Penelope"
Naval Career and Life
After serving two years as a sub-lieutenant, Mulvey would have been promoted to lieutenant. After another eight years he would have become a senior lieutenant. Naval lieutenants were rank-equivalent to army captains, and senior lieutenants rank-equivalent to majors. Mulvey would have reached the senior lieutenant ranks at age 29. He then would have needed promotion to commander by age forty in order to remain in the navy. As Mulvey embarked on his naval career at a time that the Royal Navy was expanding, he likely was promoted to commander at age 35. The next rank up was captain and he would need such promotion by age 50 to remain on the active list. In Ulysses, Molly thought that Mulvey, if he were still living, would have been a captain or admiral.
n/ U (Gabler) 18:823-25.
That of course would have been highly unlikely. On Bloomsday, Mulvey likely held the rank of commander and either captained a small cruiser, was a senior officer on a larger vessel, or held a mid-level, shore-based position.
Naval officers, because of sea-going assignments, had much less social intercourse with civilians than did army officers. When on shore assignment at home; however, the life of a naval officer was similar to that of an army officer. One key difference between officers of the senior and junior services was that naval officers could live as gentlemen on their service pay. As naval officers spent much of their careers at sea, they weren't expected to own horses and had limited opportunity to engage in expensive sporting and social activities.
A major difference between naval and military officer life was the relative comfort of the messes. At sea, the officers' mess was known as the "wardroom." It was where officers took their meals and socialized during their off-duty hours. Because of ship-board constraints, the wardroom was not as ornate and comfortable as a mess house. Furthermore, wardroom meals were of much lower quality than mess meals. First, was the difficulty of obtaining fresh ingredients while at sea. Second, was that the Royal Navy had no sea-going chefs. While an officers' mess at home usually employed a French or French-trained chef, wardroom meals were prepared by the same navy cooks that prepared the crew's meals.
Navy Officers
The early-nineteenth century Royal Navy had three classes of personnel: Commissioned Officers, Warrant Officers, and Men (known as "ratings"). The warrant officers were the navy's skilled specialists and there were two subsets within that class. The "senior" warrant officers were professionals and included instructors of midshipmen, surgeons, chaplains, and pursers (accountants and clerks). The "junior" warrant officers were concerned with the sailing and fighting of the ship and such officers were all former ratings. Junior warrant officers included gunners, carpenters, and boatswains. As steam propulsion was introduced, a new grade of junior warrant officer was introduced; engineer. By the mid-nineteenth century, all senior warrant officer positions and the engineer rank became commissioned appointments. When Mulvey entered the Royal Navy, there were two classes of commissioned officers: Military (executive) and Civil (the former senior warrant officers).
Officer Distribution, 1903-04
Officer Classification | Number | Percent |
| Executive | 2,200 | 51 |
| Engineer | 1,000 | 23 |
| Medical (Surgeons) | 440 | 10 |
Accounting (Paymasters) | 400 | 9 |
| Instructors | 140 | 4 |
| Chaplains | 110 | 3 |
Military Branch Officers
These officers were also known as "executive" officers and were responsible for the fighting of the ship. By Bloomsday, many were specialist gunnery or torpedo officers. Executive officers held the combatant ranks of sub-lieutenant, lieutenant, commander, and captain. Executive officers, like army officers, were all of middle or upper class families.
Civil Branch Officers
These officers were professionals who were responsible for the operation of the ship and the welfare of the ship's complement. Civil officer ranks were engineer, surgeon, paymaster, chaplain, and naval instructor. Naval Instructors were mostly university graduates and were responsible for the academic education of midshipmen. About half of Naval Instructors were also clergymen and doubled as chaplains. Surgeons and chaplains were of middle class families while engineers and paymasters had lower-middle class backgrounds.
In 1903, the Admiralty transferred the engineers to the Military Branch. With such transfer their rank titles became hyphenated, e.g. engineer-lieutenant and engineer-commander.
The Social Divide
From the late nineteenth century well into the early twentieth century, military branch officers looked down on civil branch officers, especially engineers and paymasters, as "tradesmen" and not true "gentlemen officers." Admiral John Fisher, who rose to the navy's highest uniformed position, First Sea Lord, often told the following story to express his displeasure with the snobbery among many executive officers.
A chief engineer called Brown worried the first lieutenant of a ship to exasperation by telling him that he ranked before him when on shore or when going in to dinner. 'Look here, Brown' said the first lieutenant, 'it don't matter what rank the Admiralty like to give you and I don't care a damn whether you walk into dinner before or after me. But all I know, Brown, is that my ma will never ask your ma over to tea.'
n/ Wells, The Royal Navy, 59-60.
To download from this website a flowchart of officer intake, click on the above link. The figure is in the file RNOfficerIntake.pdf (96 kb) which will open in a new browser window.
In 1903, the Admiralty, after prodding by Admiral John Fisher (then Second Sea Lord), significantly revamped officer training. Beginning that year, all combatant officer aspirants would undergo common training for six years after which they would receive one year of specialized training to become either executive officers, engineers, or marine officers. Cadets were now appointed at age 13 and attended the Royal Naval College, Osborne for two years followed by another two years at the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth. After leaving Dartmouth, cadets were appointed midshipmen to serve 6 months on a training ship followed by 18 months on a regular, large warship. After passing the officer seamanship examination, midshipmen were appointed acting sub-lieutenants and attended the Royal Naval College, Greenwich. There they took either the executive course, engineering course, or Royal Marine course. Graduates, age 20, would be commissioned regular sub-lieutenants, sub-lieutenants (E) for engineers, or first lieutenants of the Royal Marines.
There was an exception to the above commissioning program. Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst could enter Greenwich as marine 2nd lieutenants and take the one-year Royal Marine course.
The old cadetship nomination system was replaced with appointment by committee. A youngster's parents would apply to the Admiralty for a cadetship, the boy would undergo a physical examination, and then take a written entrance examination. The boys who attained the highest marks were interviewed by the cadetship committee which selected those to attend the Royal Naval College, Osborne. Generally, boys from middle and upper class families with naval connections were chosen for future executive commissioning. Boys from families lower down the social hierarchy, were chosen for future engineer commissioning. Though cadetship fees and expenses were reduced, they were still high enough to make it impossible for working class boys to become naval officers.
Commissions from the ranks were practically non-existent. Prior to 1902, only three enlisted men were promoted to commissioned rank in the previous eighty years. That year, the Admiralty authorized commissioning four percent of chief warrant officers annually. In 1904, there were 222 chief warrant officers in the navy; about one for every six ordinary warrant officers. The British Establishment's opinion as to commissions from the ranks is illustrated by the following statement made to a warrant officer in the 1890s by the mother of a naval lieutenant.
"I have the greatest sympathy with you personally in your desire to rise, but you have chosen the wrong service. The Navy belongs to us, and if you were to win the commissions you ask for it would be at the expense of our sons and nephews whose birthright it is."
n/ Capper, Aft From the Hawsehole, 130.
Navy Enlisted Men: The Ratings
Most enlisted personnel entered the navy as 14-year-old apprentices known as "Boys." Upon reaching age 18 they were qualified ("rated") for a specific, sea-going job and became regular sailors. Hence, enlisted personnel, other than boys, were known as ratings. The major exception to this career progression was for stokers. Stokers enlisted at age 18 through 24 and such recruits, after brief training, were qualified as Stokers, 2nd Class. Another exception was for Engine Room Artificers. These highly skilled men enlisted at age 18 through 24 and were qualified journeymen in various mechanical trades. ERAs were the highest paid of all navy enlisted men. About 20-25% of the sailor-tradesmen were ERAs.
There were three personnel classifications for the ratings: stokers, tradesmen, and seamen. The seamen were the generalists and the ones who manned the guns and torpedo launchers. There were two grades of non-commissioned officers (Petty Officer and Chief Petty Officer) and three grades of rank-and-file sailors (two for tradesmen and stokers). Seamen NCOs would hold ranks such as Chief Boatswain's Mate or Gunner's Mate. Tradesmen NCOs would hold ranks such as Chief Electrician's Mate and Carpenter's Mate.
Petty Officer and Seamen Titles
Seamen | Tradesmen | Stokers | |
| Number, 1903-04 | 42,053 | 15,688 | 24,846 |
| Chief Petty Officer | Chief [specialty] Mate | Chief [trade] Mate | Chief Stoker |
| Petty Officer | [specialty] Mate | [trade] Mate | Leading Stoker |
| Leading Seaman | Leading Seaman | [trade], 1st Class | Stoker, 1st Class |
Able Seaman | Able Seaman | [trade], 2nd Class | Stoker, 2nd Class |
| Ordinary Seaman | Ordinary Seaman | NA | NA |
| Boy | Boy | Boy | NA |
Enlisted Life
Sailors lived a much harder life than did their army counterparts. At sea, sailors slept in hammocks strung up in crowded sleeping bays. On shore, quarters were similar as until the 1890s there were no naval dormitories. Shore-based sailors were quartered in hulks known as receiving ships. Food was worse than in the army and portions were also smaller. Beginning in 1900, sailors were provided daily with two full meals. Prior to then, they were given one full meal and a light breakfast. Like in the army, enlisted personnel purchased additional meals at the canteen.
Discipline was stricter than in the army, especially at sea, and punishments at sea were more severe than those meted out on shore. Sailors could be reduced in rank by their commanding officer and there was no avenue of appeal. In the army, a soldier could only lose his stripes through court-martial verdict.
For sailors whose specialty did not occupy them full-time (and that was most) there was a great deal of "busy-work." Typically, idle sailors were put to work needlessly cleaning and polishing the ship. There were also, as in the army, "fatigues" such as coaling, working in the kitchens, and cleaning the officers' wardroom. Unlike in the army, there was little guard duty as that task was performed by marines assigned to cruisers and larger warships.
Basic Annual Pay in Pounds, 1905
Seamen | Tradesmen & Stokers | Engine Room Artificers | |
| Chief Petty Officer | 61-73 | 75-90 | 128-137 |
| Petty Officer | 49-55 | 50-70 | 100-110 |
| Leading Seaman | 33-37 | 40-50 | 91 |
Able Seaman | 30 | 30 | 73 |
| Ordinary Seaman | 23 | NA | 55 |
Note that seamen accounted for 51% of the ratings, stokers 30%, ERAs 4%, and other tradesmen 15%. Seamen received up to £9 annually for special qualifications and like in the army, had opportunities to earn extra-duties and working pay. All sailors received supplemental "hard lying" pay when assigned to unusually uncomfortable billets, such as small, ocean-going vessels. Additional pay, in the form of allowances, could be substantial, at least when compared to basic pay. Maximum annual, total allowances for the highest enlisted ranks were £44 for seamen, £29 for stokers, £18 for ERAs, and £54 for other tradesmen.
Unlike in the army, there were no family quarters for sailors' dependents. Furthermore, sailors did not receive dependents allowances. Married sailors had to feed, house, and clothe their wives and children from their pay. Accordingly, families of rank-and-file sailors lived in poverty while those of most petty officers lived somewhat above the poverty level. Generally, only families of the higher-ranked ERAs and CPO tradesmen led somewhat comfortable, working-class lives. About 60% of petty officers and 10% of rank-and-file sailors were married.
To download from this website a flowchart of ratings intake, click on the above link. The figure is in the file RNEnlistedIntake.pdf (120 kb) which will open in a new browser window.
About 55-60% of enlisted men entered the navy at age 14 as that was the age of apprenticeship in civil life. Upon enlistment, boys were assigned to on-shore quarters for six months and spent most of their day receiving classroom instruction. After such instruction, boys were placed on training hulks (obsolete vessels permanently moored) where they lived and underwent practical, nautical training. Boys generally spent 18 months on a training hulk.
Boys first went to sea at about age 16 when they served for three months on a specialized training vessel manned by instructor crewmen. HMS Calypso (noted in Ulysses as Lt. Mulvey's ship) was a sea-going, boys training ship until 1902. That year it was permanently moored in Saint Johns, Newfoundland, and converted to a drill hulk for the Newfoundland Royal Naval Reserve.
HMS Calypso
Alan Green, from the Victoria State Library.
After completion of the training cruise, boys were assigned to a regular warship for two years. During this period, they received on-the-job training, along with a good measure of corporal punishment. At age 18, boys who mastered the required skills were promoted to "ordinary seaman" and were no longer trainees. During their boy sea-service, youngsters with special aptitude were trained in one of the civil department trades. Upon completing their apprenticeship, such boys were promoted to a second-class tradesman rank for their specialty (equivalent to able seaman).
Retirement
Sailors became eligible for pensions after 20-years' service. Only service while age 18 or older reckoned towards retirement. Except for engine room artificers and certain tradesmen of the higher ranks, naval pensioners without employment lived in poverty. Many, such as the "one-legged sailor" in Ulysses, resorted to begging.
Annual Pension in Pounds, 1905
Rating | Minimum | Maximum |
| Seaman | 24 | 56 |
| Stoker | 32 | 91 |
| Engine Room Artificer | 100 | 137 |
Other Tradesmen | 26 | 128 |
The Royal Marines
The Royal Marines was the navy's amphibious assault force. About one-fourth the complements of larger ships consisted of marines. The Royal Marines had two branches; artillery and infantry. Aboard ship, marines were responsible for guard duties and those of the artillery helped man the ship's guns. Like sailors, marines afloat were assigned to work fatigues.
Pay and pensions for marines were similar to that received by soldiers. Unlike for sailors, the Admiralty provided married marines with family quarters.
Socially, marine officers ranked below most army and navy officers, being on par with officers of the Army Service Corps and the support departments. An upper class or aristocratic marine officer was a rarity and the January 1904 Navy List shows no titled marine officers. While all marine officers were of the middle class, they lacked independent incomes and supported themselves on their service pay.
Royal Marines, 1903-04
Artillery | Infantry | Total | Pct. | ||
| Generals | 3 | 10 | 13 | --- | |
Commissioned Officers | 33 | 241 | 274 | 1.4 | |
Warrant Officers | 10 | 17 | 27 | 0.1 | |
| Sergeants | 306 | 1,077 | 1,383 | 7.2 | |
Rank & FIle | 3,635 | 13,982 | 17,617 | 91.3 | |
| Total | 3,987 | 15,327 | 19,314 | 100.0 |
In the above table, Rank & File includes 100 musicians and 515 buglers.
The Coast Guard
The Coast Guard Act of 1856 passed control of that organization from the Board of Customs to the Admiralty. Though the Coast Guard retained its revenue protection function, the service became a reserve of the Royal Navy. By Bloomsday, this service had multiple roles. In addition to supporting the customs service, the Coast Guard assisted ships in distress, kept meteorological and hydrographic records, compiled merchant shipping data, enforced agricultural quarantine regulations, took custody of wrecks, operated naval signal stations, and worked with the Royal National Lifeboat Institute in conducting sea rescues. The Coast Guard also maintained coastal practice firing batteries used by naval reservists, militiamen, and in Great Britain, volunteer force artillery men. In Ulysses, Joyce mentions the "... coastguard service who had to man the rigging and push off and out amid the elements whatever the season when duty called ..."
n/ U (Gabler) 16:646-48.
Enlisted ranks were filled with experienced Royal Navy ratings who had received Admiralty permission to transfer to coast guard service. The maximum age at time of transfer was 37. Coast Guard seamen and petty officers could serve until age 50; chief petty officers until age 55. Commissioned positions were filled with Royal Navy officers on temporary assignment. On Bloomsday, 103 Royal Navy officers served with the Coast Guard and the service had 4,234 men in other ranks.
In 1904, the Coast Guard operated nearly 500 stations (124 in Ireland) organized into about 65 divisions within six districts (two in Ireland). Stations were manned by five to ten men, one of which being a warrant officer or chief petty officer. There were 27 Coast Guard vessels: 8 steam-powered gunboats (155 to 520 tons), 13 sailing ships (30 to 131 tons), and six harbor craft. All ships were officered by Coast Guard warrant officers. Headquarters for the North of Ireland District was at Kingstown which was home port for a steamer and a sailing ship. Headquarters for the South of Ireland District was at Queenstown (Cork Harbour) which was home port for two steamers.
About 650 coast guards were assigned to ocean-going vessels, 3,500 to stations and batteries, and 100 to other shore billets, mostly district staffs.
Coast Guard, 1903-04
Coast Guard Rank | RN Equivalent | No. | Pct. |
| Division Chief | Chief Warrant Officer | 244 | 5.8 |
Station Chief | Warrant Officer | ||
| Chief Boatman-in-Charge | Chief Petty Officer | 294 | 6.9 |
Chief Boatman | Petty Officer | 322 | 7.6 |
| Commissioned Boatman | Leading Seaman | 3,374 | 79.7 |
| Boatman | Able Seaman |
Coast Guard Stations
A typical station consisted of a two-storey barrack building of family quarters with a tower at one end. The tower's top level was an observation deck, the middle level provided storage for weapons and munitions (the "keep"), and the ground level held general stores. Out buildings were privies, coal sheds, stables, and a boat house for the rescue boats. There was also a signal flag staff. If a station was a divisional headquarters it had a free-standing, first-class house for the division inspector (a commissioned navy officer).
Typical Division Station Plan
Stations were headed by a station chief or chief boatman in charge and usually quartered six rank-and-file boatmen. The charge-of-station and his family lived in a second-class, seven-room house; the other coast guards in third-class, five-room houses. Note that 7 Eccles Street, home of the Blooms, was a second-class house.
Ross Coast Guard Station, Killala, Co. Mayo
The above structure was built in the 1860s. It accommodated a station chief and six boatmen plus their families. Note that the tower is only of two levels. The top level was both the keep and the observation level.
Reserves
By Bloomsday, the navy had four reserve components plus the Royal Marines Reserve. The Royal Naval Reserve resembled the army's militia, the Royal Navy Fleet Reserve was analogous to the regular army reserve, and the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve and Auxiliary Sick Berth Reserve were similar to the army's volunteer force. Members of the Royal Naval Reserve and Royal Navy Fleet Reserve while training received regular navy pay plus daily additional pay. Ratings also received annual retainers of £6 to £9.
Royal Naval Reserve | Royal Navy Fleet Reserve | Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve | Auxiliary Sick Berth Reserve | Marine Reserve | ||
Commissioned Officers | 3,200 | NA | 27 | NA | 125 | |
| Midshipmen | 400 | NA | 3 | NA | NA | |
Warrant Officers | 200 | NA | 0 | NA | 15 | |
Enlisted Men | 32,600 | 14,000 | 1,400 | 268 | 3,750 | |
Total | 36,400 | 14,000 | 1,430 | 268 | 3,890 |
In the above table, RNR officers includes all half-pay officers and half of officers receiving retired pay. RNR enlisted men includes half of all pensioners less those enrolled in the RNFR. Marine commissioned officers includes all half-pay officers and half of officers receiving retired pay. All other marine reserves are half of all pensioners.
Royal Naval Reserve (established 1860)
This was a body of merchant seamen and officers who agreed to serve in the Royal Navy if called upon by the government. By Bloomsday, the RNR also included retired seamen and officers fit for limited service and under age 55. There was no training requirement for retirees.
Officers:
Reserve officers were licensed merchant ship officers (deck and engineer) or chartered accountants (commissioned as paymasters). During each of their first three-years' service, officers underwent one-months' training on a moored, drill ship. As trainees, officers held the rank of probationary sub-lieutenant, acting assistant engineer, or acting assistant paymaster. After completion of training, officers underwent an annual cruise of 12 to 30 days.
Midshipmen:
These were boys enrolled in HMS Worcester or HMS Conway (private, naval training academies on hulks), or boys at sea who signed up as RNR officer trainees.
Ratings:
The voluntary enlisted men were merchant seamen, fishermen, and crews of customs service vessels. Such recruits underwent an initial training period that varied by specialty and was similar to that undertaken by officers (short courses on drill ships). After a recruit was fully-trained, he was "rated" and underwent an annual cruise of 14 to 28 days. Ratings with 20-years' combined service (regular and reserve) and 40+ years of age were eligible for a £50 gratuity. Those who did not take the gratuity received an annual pension of £12 beginning at age 55. In addition to the voluntary ratings there were the coast guards, all of whom were naval reservists by statute.
Royal Navy Fleet Reserve (established 1903)
This was a body of former navy enlisted men who would fill out ship complements that were maintained at peacetime strength. It was established in conjunction with the introduction of "short-service" enlistments. Known in the navy as "Special Enlistments" they were designed to provide a reserve of experienced, naval seamen. Special Enlistment men served five years in the Royal Navy then seven years in the Fleet Reserve. They were similar to army Short Service men who served one to seven years with the colours and the balance of their 12-year engagement in the Army Reserve. Parliament had introduced army Short Service in 1870. Unlike army reservists, members of the RNFR underwent one week of initial training then one week of annual training on a naval reserve drill ship.
Also in this reserve component were former navy ratings with at least five-years' service but not in receipt of a pension, plus pensioners under age 50. Pensioners served at will while the others engaged for five years. RNFR pensioners were released at age 50 and their annual pensions increased by £7 12s. Unlike other pensioners, the enrolled RNFR pensioners underwent annual training.
Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (established 1903)
This was a body of civilians with no prior naval service who served without pay. Officers were wealthy yachtsmen while the ratings were mostly middle class professionals. Ratings received their initial uniforms and kit from the Admiralty free of charge. Training consisted of weekend and evening drills at drill halls and training hulks, plus an annual 12-day cruise on a Royal Navy warship. Like the army's volunteer force, the RNVR had no establishments in Ireland.
Royal Naval Auxiliary Sick Berth Reserve (established 1903)
This establishment consisted of trained paramedics of the St. John Ambulance organization. If mobilized, they would serve as sea-going medical attendants or shore-based orderlies at naval hospitals. Like the army's volunteer force, the Sick Berth Reserve had no establishments in Ireland.
Marine Reserve
Consisted of officers on the reserve list or in receipt of pensions and enlisted pensioners. All were subject to recall in case of war or national emergency. Reservists underwent no training.
The Navy in Ireland
Fear of French or Spanish invasion caused the government to maintain a strong naval presence in Ireland during the eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries. Until about 1830, Queenstown was one of the Royal Navy's four home fleet bases. By the mid-nineteenth century, invasion fears had nearly vanished and the Admiralty no longer stationed first-class warships in Irish waters. The Queenstown naval base was closed and Ireland became a minor station of the Royal Navy.
Ships and Facilities
In 1901, the Admiralty had five guard ships stationed in Ireland. They were assigned as follows:
Lough Swilly (Co. Donegal) - 1Kingstown Harbour (Co. Dublin) - 1Queenstown (Cork Harbour) - 2Berehaven Anchorage (Co. Cork) - 1
Lough Swilly, Cork Harbour, and Berehaven were naval anchorages to which the Home Fleet would disperse in time of war. Kingstown had a guard ship as it was the port used by the royal family for its visits to Ireland. Occasionally, a warship called on Belfast. The Admiralty ended the guard ship program in 1903; however, two guard ships in Ireland were converted to Royal Naval Reserve drill ships.
On Bloomsday, the two navy warships in Ireland were HMS Aelous at Queenstown and HMS Melampus at Kingstown. The Kingstown ship prior to the Melampus was HMS Belleisle. In Ulysses, the little boys on Sandymount Strand seen by Bloom, Tommy and Jacky Caffrey, wore sailor suits "with caps to match and the name H.M.S. Belleisle printed on both."
n/ U (Gabler) 13:13-16.
Shore facilities were the Royal Alexandra Dockyard at Haulbowline Island and the training hulk for Irish boy recruits, the HMS Emerald, both in Cork Harbour. Headquarters for the Ireland Coast Command was at Admiralty House, Queenstown.
Royal Navy Ireland
Manning
The 1901 census showed the navy had in Ireland about 125 serving officers and 2,100 seamen (excluding boys) of whom about 900 were in the Coast Guard. There were also about 1,000 navy pensioners (commissioned and enlisted) living in Ireland. With termination of the guard ship program and Ireland's loss of three vessels, in 1904 there were probably no more than 450 serving navy personnel, excluding boys and coast guards, in all Ireland.
Sources
Army Enlistment Act of 1870, 33 & 34 Vict., c. 67.
Naval Forces Act of 1903, 3 Edw. 7, c. 6.
Census of Ireland, 1901.
The Navy List, January 1904.
Admiralty, Distribution and Mobilization of the Fleet, 1904, [Cd. 2335].
Admiralty, Navy Estimates for 1903-1904, 1903, H.C. Accounts & Papers, No. 49.
Admiralty, Navy Estimates for 1905-1906, 1905, H.C. Accounts & Papers, No. 51.
King's Regulations and Admiralty Instructions for the Government of His Majesty's Naval Service, 1906.
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