1827	The Battle of Navarin	478

admitted, that this calculation cannot be relied upon, the comparative force being

In former warfare, frigates never took part in a general engagement, and sloops, schooners, gun-boats, &c., were never fired upon without they were rash enough to court a return of shot. It will be in the memory of our readers, that at the Battle of the Nile a frigate was sunk by one broadside of a line-of-battle ship, and, that consequently the vast superiority of force in the 11 sail of the line in still water, must be obvious to any man at all conversant in the destructive fire of an 80-gun ship; four line-of-battle ships were more than ample to destroy the 18 corvettes, when those corvettes were at anchor, and we state this without any fear of contradiction. We have seen the Glatton beat off six frigates; and the splendid attack of Captain Prowse in the 18-pounder 36-gun frigate Sirius, off Civita Vecchia in 1806, where he attacked one ship-corvette, three brig-corvettes, one bombard, one cutter, and three gun-boats, took the largest and drove the rest to seek shelter, may be found in our pages. The action of the Spartan in 1810, in the bay of Naples: and many, many other instances might be produced to show the destructive fire of one large vessel, against 10 times the number of guns in smaller vessels ; but it is likewise to be borne in mind, that for five days previously to the action of Navarin, Monsieur Letellier, a French naval officer in the service of the Pacha of Egypt, had moored the Turco-Egyptian fleet in such a manner, that every broadside of both large and small vessels was directed towards the centre of the circle in which they were moored, and, as far as small vessels could be made effective, they certainly were rendered so on this occasion.

It was evident to the allied admirals that to keep an efficient force as a blockade, ready to thwart the intentions of Ibrahim Pacha during the winter, would be attended with great risk, if it was not physically impossible, and would also cause an enormous expense to their respective governments; and as the bay of Navarin was, at any rate, to them a neutral port, if not partially an English anchorage (for the island of Sphacteria, which belongs to the British, forms part of the bay of Navarin), it was resolved by the commander-in-chief, on the grounds which will be seen by a reference to his official letter, to anchor the three fleets in the bay, alongside of the Turco-Egyptian force, and then be

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