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

.d'Sumenf. BY having proportion Of
these Glasses Of ships of war, the inner squad
ron, az g0Grda costa, may he Composed of
the ships OF the line, and a few of the SO
gun ships. tor rcpeaters and i1ok or shias.
Hence 1t would produce one of two results,
either that the enemy would be Obliged TO
abandon our coast or bring ON it "A much
greater force, at least double our number
ut OF which they will be obliged tn keep
on our coast superiority at all he h p yards
OF the sea ; and at great additional ex-
penSc and RISK II transports, tn prcvisio,, &
water then,. But should they, from other
circumstances, be unable to keep up this
superiority on ouv coast. the door will be
Kept open for the irgress and eg,css of our
crmzcrs, and their priZes, while our other
classes Of ships may be sent IN pnrSuit of
their smaller cruiZers and Commerce.
The observations will appl, to all future
wars in which we may be engaged with the
maritime powers, but as we might more
frequently be engaged with the Ba,bary
powers, the frgatcs and 10 gun ships, would
be better adapted to that species of war
tare. They have nn-ships of the line The
ships of the line could then be laid up in CT
binary, dismantled and preserved at a small
expense.
Q~rStion S. Would not the erection of
docks FOR the repairs OF our vessels produce
81 at saving i'll Expense, labor, and risk;
and would not docks greatly expedite the
reiit;ing of cur ships,
.4nazver. A dry dock agreeable to Plan
furnished the Department sometime since,
to be freed from water by pumps or drains,
viii be iudispen sable for the reDair # shlps
OF war, and will be the lcas, expensive Nv
OF repairing the bottoms If our ships, and
viii expedite tie fits in point OF time one
to ten.
Argnment--A ship of war wanting re-
pairs done t. her bsitonI, or C pDering must
be turned down one side at timc to urder-
so that repair !; therefore, to prepare a ship
Tor that process requires thai all her upper
masts should be taken down, and ali her
guns, stores, water casks, ballast, ammuni-
ton, &c should be taken out-which leads
to 5'redt toss, 7caste and iabOr and the
time occupied in the process will be from
two to three weeks, and as much more time
Will be required to re-gig, e-equip. and re-
place her gnns, stores aud other materials
Inc pre- ar lion to dock a ship Of warcan
he done In twelve hours. All that i, neceG-
sary TO be done, is to take out the guns, and
pump the water out of the Watel casks
and when in dock, the repairs of her bot
tom Can Progress on both sides az the same
time. Sh onid ship of war require tho
ro1gh repair thr .ugh9ut. it can never be eff
tectaaily done bu, ~ dock for instance.
are liable TO have the fine form Of the bot
tom spoiled, by hoggipg, spre atiing or warp
ES, winch Will materially AFFECT their sail
Ing. Ships wanting thor UGH repairs re-
PAIRS recuire all the plank stripped off in
side an outside, their beams, knees and
clamps taken odt these are all they have
t bind their frames together, and thereby
preserve their shape but when stripped
of them to make room for the new, they
"A IN In 4 .;,rLe
and body of timber being in the fare and
afle'' end, at which pl ces there is no pres
sure nE7vGrds cans q by the water Is those
ends are sharp ; the two extremes of the
ship are liable to sink in the water, while
the body or middle of the hip, rises with
the mfi7v0rd Treasure OF 7vat-r. The next
consideration in repai ing tn, bottoms in the
water, though not OF such >f'al Importance,
is not unworthy G serious attention the
bo'tiug in the It m ought to be driven from
the oitfSide but y hen repaired afoat they
are under the necessity of driving them from
the inside hence the cotton will not be so
strong, nor So well secure d
Tie time for answering the several ques-
tions propounded TO me iu your ietter Of the
18th inst. being very short and great deal
being required by NV other avocatons will,
trust, be sufficient apology for my not go
ing more largely and infinitely into the SUBJ
ject, rs also for any ina curacies which I
may have committed. | will therefore close
this communication with an expression Of my
hopes that, whatever MY b. propus d by
the naval committee to Congress on this
subject, they viii strongly recommend to
their consideration the necessity of having
what they propose for the increase Of the
navy, of the best seasoned materials, which
WILDE b far tn chcape I, < b. longer in q
state for active service. frost their past
eXperen viii prove to their satisfaction
.his position, that The best materials are al
WAYS the cheapest, and that slow increase
is better than hasty and temporary one.
have the honor TO be,
Very respectfully, Sir,
Your obedieut servant,
CHAS. STEWART.
ION. p. HaniKtoH
We aggree with Captain Stewart in the
yilhin statement. in all i5s parts.
ISAAC HULL.
e.. MORRIS.
Sbihs offhc u. State8' WavV, l'9s, %.
United States, A., commissioned l1zo.
& put in service ''''
Constitution, ~. 1893
Constellation, ~, 1898
Congress, early, Sc, commissioned & ! zoe
pat in service s ''''