The Washington union. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1857-1859, 1858-06-01
THE NAVY OF THE UNITED STATES.

endcsyoring to give "sid and comfort to the Mormon
rebels H.
THE NAVY OF THE UNITED STATES.
We commented the other day upon the insufficient
cy of our army for the ardnous, Dispersed and va
red service required of it; and showed that while
the country had doubled in magnitude and in all the
elements of greatness during the last sixteen years
her arms Of defence had remained almost as they
were at the commencement Of this marvellous period
of industrial expansion. Turning to our navy, we
shall find the disparity between it's effective force
and the service required Of it greater than in
the case Of the army We shall not enlarge upon the
duties required Of the navy They are as universal
as our American commerce. They cover every ocean
and embrace every port and roadstead of the CONNER
cia world While its duties thus infinite let us
how diminutive is the navy itself 1t is easy mat
ter to enumerate every vessel that it embraces and
to count every gun that it carries. We have en-
deavored from the best information within reach at
the moment to make out statement Of it's vessels
ofwar and to append such remarks as will show the
available value for war purposes of each and every
one Of them: F 8@t
Sa;Ano Vessels IN C5nnassion and Ordinary
PennGylv0nla, lLU guns COIutupupi oV kuio Icid-
ware 81 guns North Carolina, "a guns Vermont, "a
guns
None of these are lit for in their present state
Each of them would have to be raced into 40 or
50-gun frigates None Of them have been to sea
for years. except the Ohio, during the Mexican war
The Constitution Potomac Brandywine Columbia
Raritan United States St Lawrence, Congress- Sabine
and Santee. ttt
These were all 50-gun frigates The Constitution
is undergoing repairs and is to be raced to "a
guns, s.inch and lO-inch- The Potomac, Brandywne,
Columbia, Raritan, and the United States require
large repairs, and only be made effective by be-
ing raced to soops of twenty -four guns The St.
Lawrence is in commission the Brazil station, and
would avail very little in active service. The Con
gress is large, fine vessel but is at present dis
maptled, and repairing, and cannot be made i'm
mediately effective for service. The Santee and Sa
bine are both new frigates of about 1000 tons, with
guns of Sinch and 32-pound calibre. They ara of
the old fashion, and by no means a match for the
English vessels Of modern build. q ltb
Cumberland a. on the coast of Africa; Savannah
"a in the Gulf Constellation "a in the Mediterranean
Macedonian, a. ready for sea, at Boston. 9a
All those are large fine ships, mounting very heavy
guns, and are of the class best calculated to do
good service in battle. e a.s3.A es HA2
Saratoga, 70, in ordinary Germantown, 49, in China
Portsmouth,, 22 on the return from China; St. Marys
~, in the Pacific s{.t 6
These are all first-cass vessels, large, heavily
armed, and capable of doing good service
Plymouth. ~ g. 3alssh
This is an ordnance ship and large, fine vessel
Falmouth. 20, in Brazil St. Louis, 20, in ordinary
- Nm. m A.
want, 20, in ordinary John Adams, 20, in ordinary
vincennes, 20, In the African squadron
These are al old vessels, built under the acts of
"a and 81. they have been largely repaired, and
are by no means frst-class ships.
Dale l6 ON the African station Decatur, l6, on the
Pacific Preble IT, practice ship Marion, 1s Afrina
These are email, old4ashionsd vesssls, not Of the
class Of ships required in modern service. - ~
Brig cambridge, 8. Africa; Brig Perry, 6, Brasil
Brig Dolphin, A, Cub.
These are very inferior vessels, and would be al
most useless in active service
II Cooper. u,
This vessel was bought for exploring service and
would be of little avail for war purposes.
"a Steam Vessels
Niagara, IL, in England r a1oke, 40, repairing !;
Colorado, 49, in the Gulf wab,sh 40, in the Gulf
Mcrrmack, Az, RACINE MINNESOTA ~, IN Emma
Franklin, 90 building Stevens building for harbor de
fence.
These new steamers of the largest size, mount
ing g. g. and 1O-inch guns, and would be afnh match
for any 100 gun-ships in the English navy. They
are all Screw Propellers.
San Jacinto, 49, on the return from China
This is . very fine and elective screw steamer
Hartford, Richmond, Lancaster, Norfolk, and Pensa
cola
These vessels, when aAoat, will form valua-
BE addition to the Navy, being large screw steam
ers averaging 1000 tons and heavily armed twill,
however require several months to get them ready.
a Despatch and Arctic, Ia ln y nsi es.t
9 These small screw steamers, were bought for
the coast service and are hardly fit for war uses.
Both are in the Gulf s .Sb srat 90
susquehanns, rs, in quarantine, New York Pow