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Snakes in the Grass
The late 1800’s was generally seen as a sort of dark age regarding naval progress within or even regarding Canada. Ministers, Officers and politicians came and went, many words were uttered and no real action was undertaken. The specter of Charybdis hung low over any attempt at development and quickly was loaded into a metaphorical cannon and fired in the general direction of any pro-Navy figure. One of the few silver linings was the fact that due to its connection to the rest of North America through the Trans-Canada Railway, the Esquimalt naval base and the surrounding areas was reinforced with additional shore batteries. The main contribution from Canada in this time period was paying a 25% subsidy to the Canada Pacific Railway upon their commission of the three Empress class ocean liners. This was to ensure that the Empress of China, Empress of Japan and Empress of India were specially fitted with areas able to take gun platforms and alongside Admiralty stocks of 4.7” guns at Hong Kong and Vancouver, the trio could be quickly armed to counter Russian raiding cruisers.
RMS Empress of Japan passing through the First Narrows of Vancouver Harbor, June 1893.
While the Australian colonies were hard at work operating warships and planning defensive measures, Canadian politicians were generally seen to be doing what they pleased and what they pleased had little to do with allocating funds towards naval developments. The next up and coming personality Lieutenant Andrew R. Gordon, acting Commander of the Fisheries Protection Service. Yet another former Royal Navy officer who had retired to Canada, Gordon’s plan was relatively simple in comparison to others that had came before. Looking to the recent HMS Rattlesnake, Gordon wished for a pair of similar ships to be purchased and given to the Fisheries Protection Service. Unlike many of the proposals before, Gordan had provided an extensive 35-page report lacking all fluff and moving directly from point to point. In Gordon's opinion, the main threat to Canada was Russian or French armed mail steamers carrying significant amounts of weaponry. With the Admiralty unable to promise force deployments to protect Canada during wartime, such ships would be a huge value.
This pair of ships would serve as fisheries protection ships in peacetime and warships in a time of conflict against enemy cruisers. High speed and fair range allowed the ships to effectively enforce fisheries laws while also remaining effective as seagoing combat vessels. The 4” armament, torpedoes and quick firing smaller guns would be at an obvious disadvantage against a 6” armed merchant cruisers however such an enemy would be averse to risk damage so far away from friendly bases. Torpedoes especially had recently seized naval professionals across the globe in an iron grip of psychological warfare, even if their actual effectiveness was rather limited. The combination of range, high speed, good armament and low cost factored into their suitability alongside their compact dimensions which would allow them to travel through the Welland and St Lawrence Canals, serving the lakes as well as the coast.
The scheme itself was well received internally and eventually made its way up the chain to Prime Minister Macdonald. Although it was cleverly disguised as a fisheries protection plan, Macdonald saw directly through the ruses true purpose to set up the nucleus of a naval force. With the caveat of purchasing the ships themselves first under the guise of unarmed survey or fishery vessels and arming them at a later date. Gordon’s status as a lowly Lieutenant forced him to pitch his idea to the Admiralty through the Canadian high commissioner, a man largely clueless to any specifics of naval matters. In a series of blunders, the commissioner did not actually include Gordon's lengthy report to the Admiralty and only passingly mentioned about purchasing similar vessels to Rattlesnake for use as Fisheries patrol ships. The Admiralty dismissed the ‘proposal’ out of hand and recommended the Pheasant class of gunboats. Such ships were heavily armed, yet slow, old and featured high masts alongside not being able to move from the Lakes to the open ocean. These ships were used previously by the Admiralty on fisheries protection duties and were seen as perfectly adequate, something Gordon rejected wholeheartedly.
Pygmy class gunboat HMS Partridge circa 1893, her dated features are quite apparent in comparison to HMS Rattlesnake above.
Gordon’s attempts were likely to never succeed even if the Admiralty had received his entire paper. What they saw as a lowly lieutenant proposing a non-traditional role for a relatively new type of ship was seen as a kind of heresy by the Admiralty. Torpedo gunboats were designed for the specific purpose of screening battle line units from enemy torpedo assaults, there was no room for deviation in the Admiralty's eyes. With respect to Gordon, his ideas about the more general usage possibilities for torpedo gunboats was rather prophetic given what the type would eventually transition into but as was common, he was ahead of his time. Gordon would attempt to see modified versions of his scheme come to fruition in the future but his premature death in 1893 spelled an end to this particular endeavor. His death would again leave a vacuum within the Department of Marine and Fishers and the Department of Militia and Defense that would not be filled for quite some time.
Although with a certain American naval officer unleashing his theories of sea power upon the world, the public perception of the necessities for a national navy were about redefined.
RMS Empress of Japan passing through the First Narrows of Vancouver Harbor, June 1893.
While the Australian colonies were hard at work operating warships and planning defensive measures, Canadian politicians were generally seen to be doing what they pleased and what they pleased had little to do with allocating funds towards naval developments. The next up and coming personality Lieutenant Andrew R. Gordon, acting Commander of the Fisheries Protection Service. Yet another former Royal Navy officer who had retired to Canada, Gordon’s plan was relatively simple in comparison to others that had came before. Looking to the recent HMS Rattlesnake, Gordon wished for a pair of similar ships to be purchased and given to the Fisheries Protection Service. Unlike many of the proposals before, Gordan had provided an extensive 35-page report lacking all fluff and moving directly from point to point. In Gordon's opinion, the main threat to Canada was Russian or French armed mail steamers carrying significant amounts of weaponry. With the Admiralty unable to promise force deployments to protect Canada during wartime, such ships would be a huge value.
This pair of ships would serve as fisheries protection ships in peacetime and warships in a time of conflict against enemy cruisers. High speed and fair range allowed the ships to effectively enforce fisheries laws while also remaining effective as seagoing combat vessels. The 4” armament, torpedoes and quick firing smaller guns would be at an obvious disadvantage against a 6” armed merchant cruisers however such an enemy would be averse to risk damage so far away from friendly bases. Torpedoes especially had recently seized naval professionals across the globe in an iron grip of psychological warfare, even if their actual effectiveness was rather limited. The combination of range, high speed, good armament and low cost factored into their suitability alongside their compact dimensions which would allow them to travel through the Welland and St Lawrence Canals, serving the lakes as well as the coast.
The scheme itself was well received internally and eventually made its way up the chain to Prime Minister Macdonald. Although it was cleverly disguised as a fisheries protection plan, Macdonald saw directly through the ruses true purpose to set up the nucleus of a naval force. With the caveat of purchasing the ships themselves first under the guise of unarmed survey or fishery vessels and arming them at a later date. Gordon’s status as a lowly Lieutenant forced him to pitch his idea to the Admiralty through the Canadian high commissioner, a man largely clueless to any specifics of naval matters. In a series of blunders, the commissioner did not actually include Gordon's lengthy report to the Admiralty and only passingly mentioned about purchasing similar vessels to Rattlesnake for use as Fisheries patrol ships. The Admiralty dismissed the ‘proposal’ out of hand and recommended the Pheasant class of gunboats. Such ships were heavily armed, yet slow, old and featured high masts alongside not being able to move from the Lakes to the open ocean. These ships were used previously by the Admiralty on fisheries protection duties and were seen as perfectly adequate, something Gordon rejected wholeheartedly.
Pygmy class gunboat HMS Partridge circa 1893, her dated features are quite apparent in comparison to HMS Rattlesnake above.
Gordon’s attempts were likely to never succeed even if the Admiralty had received his entire paper. What they saw as a lowly lieutenant proposing a non-traditional role for a relatively new type of ship was seen as a kind of heresy by the Admiralty. Torpedo gunboats were designed for the specific purpose of screening battle line units from enemy torpedo assaults, there was no room for deviation in the Admiralty's eyes. With respect to Gordon, his ideas about the more general usage possibilities for torpedo gunboats was rather prophetic given what the type would eventually transition into but as was common, he was ahead of his time. Gordon would attempt to see modified versions of his scheme come to fruition in the future but his premature death in 1893 spelled an end to this particular endeavor. His death would again leave a vacuum within the Department of Marine and Fishers and the Department of Militia and Defense that would not be filled for quite some time.
Although with a certain American naval officer unleashing his theories of sea power upon the world, the public perception of the necessities for a national navy were about redefined.
- RelativeGalaxy7
- Word Count: 930