The Washington union. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1857-1859, 1859-03-06


SIR la compliance with your orders OF the 10th inst
10 visit the 'Generll Admiral and examine her thor
oughly should Mr. Webb her constructor not object,
and report 10 the department whether IN her model
sructiou, machinery, rig appointments improvements
may not be found, features at least, which may
with advantage adopt have the honor 10 report that
We have made the visit and examination
AS the ship is but partially equipped, the masts
chlnery and armament not being on board cannot Al
this time fully embrace the requirements Of strue
tons
The model differs from that generally adopted
vessels OF similar class therefore not prepared to
recommend the adoption OF this model improvement
IN the form for such cssses OF ships ill the result per-
formance is known by a trial TIP at
The workmanship and disposition Of materials is excel
lent and fully equals that of amy vessels constructed by
government and may mention that In regard 20
location Of relatively the ports she is superior
from the fact of the armament having been determined
before building the vessel and thus the constructor had
definite knowledge OF the requirements to guide him ia
the construction We, therefore, recommend ia future
that the armament be always determined in service
before building the vessel
The armament OF the ''Generl Admiral consists of
sixty 63cwt. guns aud two OF Dahlgrens pivotguns,
each Of Is 900 pounds The material OF the carriages is
mahogany and they thoroughly built We recon-
mend mahogany for all gun carriages hereafter to be built
in the service.
From the plan we find the size Of the fore aud main
rigging TO be III inches which is greater than that
scribed for rstcls steamers. SO far this may DO
considered Improvement aud suggests the pro
prety of allowance book being modified TO in
the size Of the lower rigging, we'll as topail
Sheets braces, &C. of large steamers These vessels
our hrst-cass steamers, about thousand tons
larger than line -ofbattle- ships, while the rigging
prescribed for them the size Of that only for first
class sailing frigates
The engines are Of the ordinary back action type hay
ing two cylinders of inches diameter and 40 inches
stroke As the machinery is Ia detached parts in pro.
of being conveyed from the manuacory TO the ship
we can form but little idea of the detail arrangement
he int n maj
liar, which made to conform to the usages OF the
Russian service SUCH for example, as the large lockers
the betdeck Tor storing the clothing for the crew
who have TO provide themselves with sdfciency for an
entire crnise and on the orop deck additional lockers
to contain weeks provisions, while IN our service
clothing is served out when needed and provisions daily
issued Therefore this arrangement is unsuted to our
service
The crew are provided with convenences for bathing
and have We OF the opinion that the
health comfort and moral of seamen would be improved
ii taken for the above mentoned provisions
for the comfort of the crew in men-ofwar The
Closets however, in this ship necessarily placed
ON the spar-deck the usual head has been omitted,
but they cannot be thus placed in fgates without
interfering with the training Of the forward pivotgnn
The ssGenera Admiral has Reeds ventilator for the
purpose of removing the foul air in the ship by pipes
leading between every two beams the berth and oop
decks passing down between the timbers, connecting
with main pipe of large size in the hold running fore
and aft the vessel from thence drawn out of the ship and
discharged into the smoke pipe by fan connected with
the steam machinery. This arrangement II proved on
trial the purpose intended will add greatly to
the health of the She has also Browns capsans
and chain cable fixtures together with Harriss lightning
conductors inserted in the mass, with Hddens patent
aports and prisms in the upper ports Of the gun
deck these we recommend to be introduced into our
naval vessels
The construction Of the General Admiral reflects
great credit on Mr. Webb and also upon Capt Shester
Kofl the Russian officer who has supervised the work
We have the honor to be, very respectfully, your ODE
dent servants,
ANDREW H. FOOTE Commander.
W. t. EVERETT, Chief Engineer.
&. M. PO0K, Naval Constructor
b. i. DELANO, % H
Hon. ISAAC ToucEY,
Secretary of the Navy, Washington -1s7