The Sun.
London, England, 1848-12-30 00:00:00

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THE AMERICAN NAVY.
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY.
Navy Department, Dec. 4,1848.
Sir,—l have the honour to submit to you the auntie
report of the condition and operations of this depart-
ment of the public service.
During the past year the St. Lawrence, a frigate of
the first class, and the Vermont, a ship of the line, have
been launched. The shores, as well as the lower tim-
bers of the frigate, were found, on examination, to be so
decayed by the long time she had been on the stocks,
that her security would have required repairs at a large
cost, and it was deemed economical to launch her. She
has been put in commission, and is a splendid addition
to the navy.
The construction of the four steam-ships of war autho-
rised by the act of Congress of the 3d of March, 1847.
is in a satisfactory state of progress. The Saranac, built
at the navy-yard at Kittery, has been launched. The
Vowhattan at Norfolk, the Susquehannah at Philadel-
phia, the San Jacinto at New York, may be launched
and ready for sea in the course of the next year. In
the models and construction of these war-steamers, and
in the manufacture of their engines and machinery,
great care has been taken in the skilful execution of the
work, and in a careful inspection by competent officers
to make them worthy of the service, and I doubt not
they will fully meet the expectation of the country.
The appropriations by Congress for so important an
addition to our naval force have been liberal, and the
officers, mechanics, and constructors, have exerted them-
selves to prove that we can be as successful in the con-
struction of steam-ships of war, as we have been in the
sailing of the navy.
There are unfinished on the stocks, at the several
navy yards, four ships of the rates of 74-guns, and two
frigates of 44-guns. They aro securely sheltered, and
it has: not been considered judicious or consistent with
the interest of the service to launch them. They are
so near completion that they can be readily launched
and fitted for sea service on the shortest notice, if public
exigencies shall require. The vessels in commission
during the past year have been employed as follows:
In the Pacific, the ships of the line Ohio and Colum-
bus, razee Independence, frigate Congress, sloops Ports-
mouth, Warren, Cyane, Dale, and Preble, with the store-
ships Erie, Lexington, and Southampton. The Colum-
bus, Captain Wynam, bearing the broad pennant of
Commodore Biddle, arrived in the United States on the
13th March last, and was placed in ordinary. The frigate
Congress, Captain Layalette, having been in commission
more than three years, has been ordered home, and may
be expected to arrive in the coming spring. The Ports-
mouth, Commander Montgomery, arrived in the United
States on the sth May last, and was soon again ready
for sea. The Cyane, Commander Dupont, arrived at
Norfolk the 9th October last, and has been placed in
ordinary. In the month of May last, the Preble, Corn-
mender Glynn, sailed from the west coast, with orders
to take to China Commodore Geinenger, commander of
the East India squadron, and after having performed this
service, to return to her station. The sloop St. Mary,
Commander Crowninshields, on the 11th April last,
sailed from Norfolk to join the Pacific squadron.
With a view to the regular supply of the squadron in the
Pacific, and to furnish means for transportation of
invalids, or men whose time of enlistment may have
expired, and who desire to come home, orders were given
ome months since that one of the three store-ships
attached to that squadron shall sail, on her return, to the
United States, semi-annually. Under this arrangement,
one will be with the squadron, one on her way home,
and one will he going out with fresh troops.
The Erie has come home, and, under Lieutenant-
Commanding M`Blair, has sailed to the Mediterranean
by the Cape de Verds, with stores for the African and
Mediterranean, and the Fredonia, Lieutenant-Command-
ing Neville, has sailed from New York for the Pacific.
When Commodore Biddle left the station he was suc-
ceeded in the command of his squadron by Commodore
Shubrick, and he was relieved, at his own request, by
Commodore Thomas Ap Catesby Jones, who assumed
command in the month of May last. Commodore Shu-
brick was authorised by the Department to detach him-
self from the squadron, and return home across the
Isthmus ; but ho deemed it to be his duty to remain on
board the Independence, and is now on a cruise to the
Sandwich, Feejee, and other islands in the Pacific, where
the presence of a ship of war was considered of great
importance to the interest of American commerce. The
Independence may be expected to reach the United
States early in the spring of the next year.
The home squadron continued under the command of
Commodore Perry until the 20th November last, when
the Department, in view of his impaired health, yielded
to his request to be relieved of the command, the duties
of which had been very arduous, and satisfactorily per-
formed. Commodore Wilkinson, on that day, assumed
the command. During the past year the squadron con-
sisted of the frigate Cumberland; sloops, Albany, John
Adams, Georgetown, and Saratoga; of the steamers
Mississippi, Spitfire, Vixen, Scorpion, Waterwitch,
Scourge, Iris, Petrita; of the schooners Reefer, Peterel,
Bonito, Flirt, Mahones, Falcon, and Tampico ; and of
the bomb vessels Atna, Stromboli, Vesuvius, and Heels,
with the store-ships Relief and Electra.
The frigate Cumberland, bearing the pennant of Com-
modore Perry, arrived in New York in July last, with a
considerable number of cases of fever on board, and
finding that it did not abate, but assumed a more malig-
nant type, it was deemed unsafe to send her again into
the tropics until she could be thoroughly broken out in
a cold climate. She has been put in ordinary. The
frigate Raritan, Captain Page, has taken her place in the
squadron. The John Adams, Commander Adams, ar-
rived at Boston in September last, and is undergoing
repairs. The steamer Mississippi, Commander Mac-
kenzie, returned to the United States in April, and is
undergoing repairs of her hull and machinery. The
Vixen is also undergoing repairs. The Petrita was
wrecked in the Gulf of Mexico. The Water Witch and
the Iris are at sea. The store-ship Relief has sailed with
stores for Brazil, and the Fredonia to the Pacific. The
other steamers and vessels enumerated have been sold,
and the proceeds paid into the Treasury. They were
purchased for special service in the Gulf of Mexico
during the war, and were not suitable to general naval
purposes.
In the squadron on the coast of Africa, commanded
by Commodore Bolton, the sloops Jamestown, Com-
mander Mercer, Portsmouth, Commander Armstrong,
Decatur, Commander Burne, and brigs Boxer, Lieute-
nant-Commanding Bell, Porpoise, Commander Gordon,
and Bainbridge, Commander Slaughter, have been em-
ployed. Commodore Cooper sailed in the sloop York-
town, Commander Marston, on the 22d of November,
with orders to relieve Commodore Bolton in command of
the squadron. The Boxer arrived in Philadelphia in
May last, and being condemned on survey, as unworthy
of repair, was sold. Commodore Bolton has orders, on
the arrival of his relief, to proceed in the Jamestown,
and relieve Commodore Reed, in command of the naval
forces of the United States, in the Mediterranean Sea.
i
There have been employed, during the year, n the
Mediterranean, under Commodore Reed, the frigate
United States, Captain Smoot ; sloop Marion, Com-
mander Simons ; steamer Princeton, Commander
Engel ; schooner Taney, Lieutenant-Commanding
C. G. Hunter, with the store-ship Supply,
Lieutenant-Commanding J. Lynch. The Marion,
having finished her cruise, arrived at Boston in the month.
of September ; the steamer Alleghany, Lieutenant-
Commanding W. W. Hunter, has been ordered from the
Brazil station to the Mediterranean ; and the frigate
Constitution, Captain Gwynn, has sailed for the same
station. On the arrival of his relief, Commodore Reed,
having finished a long cruise on the coast of Africa and
the Mediterranean, has orders to return home in the
frigate United States. In consequence of our being
compelled to discontinue the depot at Mahon, it becomes
necessary to supply the squadron by means of store'
ships. The storeship Supply, Lieutenant-Commanding
Lynch, was sent out with a full cargo of stores,
in the month of November, 1847. Having de-
livered them to the several ships of the squadron, from
time to time, as they were required, she is on her re-
turn home; and the Erio has been loading, and sent out
to continue the service. Commodore Reed has made a
temporary arrangement for landing stores, for the squa-
dron at Spezzia. There are some objections to this
place as a depo!, on account of its position, and in the
present very disturbed condition of Europe, it is un-
certain whether the arrangement will be permanently
continued.
Ou the tout of Bail, under the command of Com-