The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1853-05-18
Steamers and Clippers.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE NEW YORK HERALD.
Ca nrrRuf,

UNITED STATES REVIEW OFFICE
251 Broadway, N Y, May II, 1853
srR-In your issue Of yesterday you made reference
to an article in the United States RereU entitled The
United States and the United Kingdom" From the
necessity of condensing your material you boiled it
down. to the following brief epome: the writer" you
say alfecs to disregard sailing vessels, and rests
his hopes Of defeating the British navy, and subuga
ing Great Britain the superior excellence Of
steamers
Unconsciousy you have fallen into singular error
The article in question is dametrcay opposed to the
interpr citation you place it, indeed had You quoted it
correctly it would have been strong additional argu
far from being Old foggysh in tone, it is if thing
in advance of the day at least may conclude when
the HERALD advocates the same position
You WILL trust, set right in this respect, espe
cially by doing you compliment yourselves and
adopt the udcious opinion of the reviewer who, from
the greatness thrust him, must certainly be worthy
of imitation.
We enclose the article in estnso and place it at
confident it will have justice and appreciation
at your hands. Very respectfully,
CONDUCTORS OF THE UNITED STATES RAVEN.
From the United States Review, Of May, 1851
Great apprehensions have been felt and expressed n
regard to the six hundred steamers, it
stated, England possesses many Of which are by
this time only calculated TO figure in the navy list among
the old huks OF antiquity 1t to be the prevailing
opinion that she has only to put many soldiers she
pleases board, and the coast Of the Uuited
States both on thu Atlantic and Pacific But should
be borne in mind that steamers o;cupy the place of
of of the old stamp and that the actual
pava force Of England has not increased since the late
war 1t has only changed its nature and remains yet
to be whether the change win be advantageous.
This species of force has never been tried through all
the vcisstudes Of war, and its efficiency is yet to be
tested It answer very well against the feeble
tons Of the East but has not yet encountered Old Iron
sides. The only occasion in which steamers were
brought into collision calculated to try their capacity
for defensive offensive war; except agans the Chinese
and Bornese pirates the attack of the French Squad
San Juan do Uloa, where the steamers were so
maued that they were obliged TO withdraw out Of the
We repeat It remains yet to be whether all
things considered they superior means of defence
annoyance to the old class of ships of As
following, usual headlong in the track Of England
who finding herself inferior in the old mode Of warfare
this important subject little critically 1t involves
question of the highest moment, namely, whether
the United States shall in great measure abandon that
decided superiority, and adopt in which for aught
know that superiority may be transferred to enc
N.Y. therefore becomes question Of vital importance
whether all things considered steamers superior
to the old class Of ships or whether any advantages they
greater defects which experience viii make manifest.
In the first place. they can never become efficient cruis-
ing vessels on the high seas from their ncapacty to
fact nov pretty well demonstrated that their speed
der canvass cannot compete with ordinary sailing vessels
end Of every three weeks There has as yet been no
successful attempt TO combine speed under steam with
fast sailing under canvass. The two steamers Mis-
souri, and Mississippi the most efficient and perfect
constructed to certain knowledge, mainly in
tended to ascertain far possible the praecabity
Of this combination. But the experiment was not salts
factory, and we believe the combination impossible
In the second place. in all great exgences Of battle
Storm this class Of vessels must rely their engines
alone Their machinery being their sole dependence is
greatly exposed to the fire Of enemy who would Of
course aim at it most especially because to disable
would be decisive Of the contest In addition to this the
management Of the engine requires wa.chfu attention
cool self possession and self command in the heat Of
action, which might not always fall to the lot Of
gneer who perhaps for tie first time is placed in such
predcament 1t is clear that the result of the conflict
would depend more on the engineer than the command
ing officer.
In the third place. those who have been accustomed to
watch the movements Of steamers must have that
they compete with vessels under if there
is thing like sailing breeze in putting about or in
any ordinary evolution except that Of stopping short and
going backwards. IN order to make circuit, they
quire far tne well space, than sailing
sells and this Of itself is most serious If not decisive
disadvantage in the mannuvres Of a sea fight.
In the fourth place. they must Of necessity be greatly
inferior in the number Of guns to old fashioned maui
ofwar because large portion Of their space is occupied
by machinery and fuel The English have sought to rem
edy this by guns Of greater cabre aud weight by hollow
shot Of vast size and other cxpedients equally ingen