Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1861-12-30
BRITISH AND AMERICAN NAVAL
AFFAIRS

IN ngiano, communicates 70 the Commercial
Bulletin some statements In regard to the
British navy, which at the present time are of
much interest. Mr.. Mckay says that the build.
ing Of any Of the common class Of men OF. war
ships has been almost entirely abandoned for
the moment, and the energies OF the Govern.
ment are directed exclusively to the erection
Of aset Of irOn-cassd ftiSates and ships. rs
tangins- from q to 40 guns, and from 500 to
80 horse power each. Their names are War
tior, Black Prince, Defence. Resistance, and
Hector: OF these only the Warrior and the
Black Prince have had their trial trips, on
which the first named vessel realized, with all
her armament, stores and provisions on board,
the high speed Of lat knots. The Black Prince
had obtained even a higher speed than the
Warrior. The experiments on the Warrior
have plainly shown that her sides are practi-
cally impenetrsble to the heaviest shot, which
settles the question Of the superiority of iron
cssed ships.
In addition to the above, two other iron-cased
ships are building, and six others are to be
built, three Of them having been ordered
already. Besides these thirteen iron ships FIVE
wooden ships are building in the navy yards,
expressly designed for being armor plated
All OF these irOn-cassd men-of-war are to be
ready for sea by the end Of next year Their
cost will be about thirty-nine millions of
dollars. The French Government will also
have BY the same time, afoat, twenty iron
cased ships, and all the principal. and even
minor powers Of Europe, are constructing a
large number of these powerful ships
These are startling facts and demand the i'm.
mediate attention Of the Government and
people. Our navy at the present moment
hardly ranks with the second-rate European
powers and is entirely inadequate to maintain
our rank and dignity among the foremost
nations Of the earth. That Mr. Mckay appre-
ciates the crisis in which we are placed AT
ahilikv 70 mild -,
letter:
II would be easy for us to build, in one year,
feet Of 500 to 800 men-of. war ships, from q
gunboat up to the largest class of iron-cased
frigates. It is q we'll known fact thst we built
IN one year the astonishing number of 4, ,034
vessels and steamers Of all Glasses, measuring
together 583, ,450 tons. A large number Of
those vessels were as large as the biggest class
OF frigates hitherto constructed. Whit we
have done once We may do over again, and
working at the same rate we would be able
alone in our merchant yards to turn out in one
year 5oS sAips OF 600 tons each. In our six
Navy Yards, where the choicest materials are
stocked for building a feet Of loo ships, 90
more men-Of-War ships might be built in one
year, making q total of 643 men-of-war ships
OF all classes, varying in their armament from
to SO guns. More than q hundred Of our
greatest engineering Arms would complete all
the machinery necessary to be put in these
ships in less than year. Our capabilities and
facilities Of building ships have not in the
least suffered by the loss Of the Seeded States.
They never were shipbuilding States, and az
late a. 1850 they only hailt [combinsd) one
fall igged ship, while the Northern States
built lie ships Of the same description. That
is 70 say, in plain words, all the Seeded States
combined did not build even one per cent of
the ses-going ships built in the United States
Ii il true, on very urgent occasion, Il q
great emergency, our country could largely
inereae her navy in few months with very
powerful descriptions Of vessels, if they would
proceed ss follows:
Cut down all our line-cf- battle ships one or
two decks, case them with Eve inch iron plates,
put battery Of 80 or 40 guns Of the heaviest
eslibre on board of them and moor them scross
the entrance Of our harbors. Plate our heavy
frigstss with she'll proof iron plates, and to
make up for the additional weight put into
them, do away with their armament on the
upper deck.
Transform enc hundred Of our best sea-going
merchant steamers into 50 many frigates,
sloops, despatch and gun boats Of q speed
Among our large clipper ships aud traders
more than i've hundred may be found that are
capable to be transformed into 30 many Efficient
sailing sloops and frgates. Their length
varies from go to 300 feet, their breadth from
40 to 81 feet, and Whenever they are cut down
q,
capable Of carrying an armament varying from
twenty to hfty heavy guns, according to their
respective capacities. Twenty or thirty Of our
best and largest clipper ships might very well
be transformed into powerful screw frigstes-
as for instance the Great Republic, which ex-
ceeds in her dimensions the largest English
ffty gun frigates, while her shape for speed Is
inoomparably superior.
The scantling Of all these ships is well known
to be larger than that Of the best and stron gest
Een-of-war ships Of our navy.
Among the barks and brigs there are
certainly 400 TO 500 capable Of receiving an
armament Of from to 20 guns, and more than
thousand Of our large coasting schooners
that have breadth Of 28 to 80 feet and over,
and form never surpassed for speed, can in
afev weeks be transformed into men-of-u W ar
schooners. armed with one pivot gun of the
heaviest description in the middle, and two to
four 32-pounders at the ends. These vessels
have q very large stability, and the scantling
Of their tmbers, eto., is by 20 per cent,
heavier than that Of the common men-of var
schooners.
This fset of about 1000 vessels of war can
(uorking with all the natural energy of our
nstion) be turned out in less time than four to
six months, and il would be sufficient to protect
our coast, and meet the first storm.
Time would be % gained 10 build feet ct
TO represent our great nation, and to make our
fag once more respected in all seas Of the
glsbe.