CHAPTER II
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THE CONDITION OF THE NAVIES IN 1793—AND ESPECIALLY THE FRENCH NAVY.
Causes of the deterioration of the French navy after 1789 35
Ignorance of maritime conditions among French administrators 37
Value of the lessons derivable from this experience 38
Factors conditioning the effects of any form of military activity 38
The gun the one sea-weapon of the period in question 39
A ship is a mobile battery 39
It is handled by an organic body, whose members are mutually dependent 39
Necessity of special training to such an organization 40
Blindness of the French Legislature to these facts 41
Rise and growth of insubordination in the navy 41
The disturbances in Toulon, 1789 42
Maltreatment of Commodore D'Albert de Rions 43
Weakness of the National (Constituent) Assembly 43
The Nootka Sound trouble between Spain and Great Britain, 1790 44
France prepares to support Spain 45
De Rions ordered to command the Brest fleet 45
Mutiny in the Brest fleet 45
De Rions leaves the navy 46
His services and distinguished professional reputation 46
Disorders in the navy abroad 47
Disastrous effects upon the French colonies 48
Emigration of French naval officers 49
Reorganization of the navy by the Constituent Assembly, 1791 50
Previous measures of the monarchical government, 1786 51
Reorganization decrees of the Assembly, April, 1791 52
Essential spirit of this legislation 53
The Second (Legislative) Assembly lowers the qualifications for officers 54
Naval officers in the Reign of Terror 54
Further legislation by Third Assembly (National Convention), 1793 55
Results of the successive measures 56
## Action of the Assemblies touching enlisted men 57
Singular arguments based on equality of rights 58
Extravagancies of the period 59
Direct results of these measures as shown in battle 60
Indirect effects of the laxness of the Assemblies upon discipline 60
Mutiny in the Brest fleet, 1793 62
Disorders in the Mediterranean fleet, 1792 63
Deterioration of the material of the navy 64
Misery of officers and seamen 64
Want of naval supplies and equipment 67
Effect of these disadvantages upon naval efficiency 68
Effect of naval inefficiency upon the general results of the war 68
Endurance and success of Great Britain due to her Sea Power 69
Condition of the British navy in 1793 69
Possesses a body of trained officers having a continuous tradition 69
Embarrassment of Great Britain for seamen 70
Condition and health of the crews 71
Mutinies in the British navy. How characterized 72
Character of the material in the British navy 73
Comparative force of the French and British navies 75
Numbers and condition of the Spanish navy 75
Inefficiency of its officers and seamen 76
Navies of Holland, Naples, and Portugal 78
Of Turkey and the Baltic States 78
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