CHAPTER II
CREATION OF A STEAM FLEET
Changes in Ship Construction after 1840—Reluctance to recognise Advantages of Screw Propulsion—Gradual Conversion of Sailing Fleet to Steam—Armament practically remains unaltered—The Crimean War—Operations in Black Sea and Baltic—Assistance rendered by the Navy—Expedition to Sea of Azof.
The discovery that steam could be profitably utilised for the propulsion of ships, and the tardy adoption of the screw, did not for many years materially affect the construction of war vessels. There was a strong prejudice to overcome in the minds of those who retained a vivid recollection of the glories accomplished in the past under sail, and who had a natural love for the art in which we excelled. Sir William Symonds, to whom I have alluded as effecting considerable improvement in the qualities of our sailing ships, had, as his biographer states, no love for steamers in any shape. They were an order of vessels which forbade the application of his favourite principles of construction. When Sir John Franklin left England, in May 1845, for the Arctic, the 'Erebus' and 'Terror' were each fitted with a screw. It is stated that Sir William spoke plainly of the risk to Sir George Cockburn, First Naval Lord of the Admiralty, and foretold their fate. In a letter to Lord Auckland
