The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1812-12-12

| X can require no subtlety to enforce the
ldis,inctiun between defence and offence
Neither can it require argument to prove,
that the hrst ought not to tie abandoned as
being more than luc's worth though tie
other may be deprecated AS the consuin-
mauon OF wickeslness. Limited tn the vi
OF defence and protection, the committee
directed their chairman to aai, leave of the
House "a report a bill To increase the navy
OF the United States.
DOCUMENTS
NAVY DEpAk rMENT,
1SM November, 1912.
SIR,
HAVE the honor of transmitting
herewith, Tor the information OF the COM
mittee OF the House of Representatives, OF
which GU are the chairman, certain pa
pers marked n. Il E. end ID.
From the paper A. it appears that 76
gun ship mounting So guns, discharges in
enc round 3iIo lbs. OF Cannon bail; that i ~
gun irIga,e. mounting 81 guns, discharges
IN ore round lisa lbs. ct cannon bali that u
70 discharges at enc b"oadsiGe 1883 lbs. &
that a ~ gun friga;e, discharges at one
broadside IA lbs Of ball. The question
then arises, what is the intrinsic relative
force of a &c and A.
Suppose two d. gun frigates should be
brought into combat with a 70 one ON the
ter /; each tiigatc presenting a broadsidc of
7%s lbs. of ball, will have to contend against
battery OF 1888 lbs. As IA lbs. is TO 1858
lbs. so would be the relative metal of ~ &
2 large al gun frgates difference against
NE irigatcs S44 lbs. weight of metal. 1t is
| obvious then, that two Al gun triga,es could
not Contend with &c, with he least ;,roba
bili;y of success.
Suppose a third frigate, attacking alter
| nf..tx- - -.
should join i'll the comba while two of til.
flig'tes should be operating ON one quarter
/ wiki a difference III weight Of metal againsi
them # 100 lbs, the third frisate would be
contending on the II her, with \ difference d.
| gainst her of ia lbs.
| 1t might be observed that the frigates
would all attack on one quarter & then with
22S2 lbs of metal, they would have to con
| tend with only 1858 lbs having a difference
IN their favor of GA lbs. In reply it may
DC observed, that frigates could not take
suon position on any one quarter rs
would enable them to bring all their broad
sides to Dear nj once upon All object MOVING
| through the water with as much celeril,
as hemseivcs-moreo, er frigatc would
| always AVOID the broadsIde of a 76-for one
well directed broadsde from 76 at close
shot, would inevitably blow her out of the
water. Witness the Randolph with the Var
mouth. Fligates would attack in various
DIR ctions, Change their posit frequently,
q avoid the tremendous battery OF a 70 as
mach as possible.
Besides, "A &c is built of heavier timber, is
mtrinsicaill much stronger than a frigate,
III all her works. and can sustain battenng
much longer and with less mi ury. A shot
which would sink frigate, might be re-
ceived by 76, with but little injury-it
might pass between wind and water through
a fr!gate, when it would stick in the frame
of rs.
All things considered, it must be admit
tea that one rs gun ship mounting SO, is
qnaf In Combat to three frigates noun
| ting 90 guns. Admitting this equality, u
Their questions present themselves for con-
| ~ideration-aud
lst. What is the relative expense OF
building and equiPpmg these vesselss
81. What is the relative numbers other
| crews?
| Sd. What is their relative annual eX-
| pense in actual service
| o ascertain the eXpence of bull
ding and equipping frigate,
| we will take The actual Co.'S of
| one OF our largest, VIZ. the
President which was s $780,
9lO d friga e would then cost s 220,91O
| HE COS, OF Il rs cannot be So ca
| silly aSCertaIned ;-iowever,
from The papers B and e, we
may, think, estimate the eX-
pense of building and equip
ping 76 at not exceeding S 333, 900
The construction then of force
| in trigates, equal in combat to
rs gun ship, would cost S662, ESQ
| Making in this view a difference
in favor Of the 76 of S $40, $50
AS then S 323,0O0 is to S 662.730
| SO would DE the relative eX-
= pense of building and equip
ping 76, and force in fri
| gates equal to 70. making
| difference i'll favor IF the rs of 6 800, $50
BY the paper A, it appears that a 76 re-
cures TO man her $50 men, and that A
requires 420. To man three ~ gun fri
gates, or force in tr,gates equal to 76,
would then require 1860 men and in this
respect we ind difference in favor nf the
70 OF 61O men that is, $50 men on board
OF 76 can direct as much force as 1860
can OH board of three fr,gates.
AS to the relative expense, we
have heret fore estimated the
annual cost of a frigate of
Al guns at S 10000
and rom the bestinfortma-
ton we can obtain upon
thesubject, the annual ex-
i pence Of 76 will not exceed $500, Tic
The annual expense tneU of three fri
gates, or force i'll frigatcs equal to 76
would be $685. 600; while rs would not