Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1861-10-04
For the Enquirer.
Tut tHe 1HqE"TO
R,g Guns md Little Ships.

States Was tried, condemned, and aoanuoneu'
4 Navv for a free people, on this continent,
though separated from the other naval powers
hv 2 ooO miles ofstormy seas, so far from beng
Considered of no avail, came to be regarded aS
the strong right arm Of the nation. Let Us
mt despise the lessons Of experience.
Circumstances alter eases, anu ctrc1h,
stances have greatly changed, it is true, Dut
thew call upon us now more loudly, Tor a nav
than ever they did, when We were Josneu ~
Yankeedom.
In this change Of circumstances, o sea'ial!is
and Wedding people have been brought IN
coter,ninous relations with us. They haroor
the most embittcred feelings Of luminosity 10,
wards rs, They are ~piratical in habit, tanat1cat
and overbearing in disposition. In the plo.
gress Of the war, or in its sequences, we 'I.s
have it in our power to 6TeaG the 0ac@ u ~ ~
free States, and in that event, following up tllt
advantage, and yielding to the dictates o.
craftsmanship, we may bring influences lh'o
play, which will slough OFT the Ne" hnglana
States, and leave them, with one or two otngr:'
the sole representatives Of the famous 'on,'
versal Yankee Nation But even in that event.
their bad manners and peddling propcnsitles
will bring them on ship board into our waters,
and whether our policy shall require Us TO
adoot non intercourse with thcui, or seek 10
establish with them commercial relations, sue
cess, safety, and self-respect, will, in any
event, obviously require Navy instrumcntallty
unless we have q Navy to watch and to pun
ish them, these Yankees will rob negro quar-.
trrs, and dcfraud our revenue hf Adlt"m, ana
and there will be no help.
So whether We shall extend, before this war
is done, our borders from tho sea to the lakes
or not, in either contingency, We shall want n
navy for peace, and oh how badly we want it
nov for war
I'm this change Of circumstances, 1t SO nap
pens that the navy which We most require Is
for smooth water and shallow places. Such
nm orc. consisting of small vessels, can he
quickly and chcaply built. We want at once,
a navy for 0lr rivers, and creeks, and bays,
and sounds Il navy consisting chiefly Of yes
sells that. for the most Part, will only be re-
uuired to keep the sea for n few days at time.
i smooth water navy, then, is the navy we
most want for this war and the present
a shell from Il riled cannon. as 4 Palxhan gun,
wi,L. when rightly aimed, tear q hole in the side
Of the largest ship sufficient to sink her IN n &c"
minutes. Actual experiments made III france
have shown this to be 50. There they TOOK al
old II, and after mailing up about the decks
wooden images to represent the crew in hctnai
position for battle, she was placed OIL rs n
TARGET. One single nine inch shell, striking III
the side and exploding, tore a hole through
which a horse aud cart might be driven, and
with the s~plintcrs knocked over llO OF the
wooden crew that were nailed to the deck
In the opinion Of I'LL the officers present, She
would have foundered had she been at sea.
It should not he inferred from this that
every shell which strikes 4 ship is bound
to sink her. The true relation OF 4
shell to u ship, is that Of the musket shot I"
the soldier in battle. Every minnie ball that
strikes doesn't kill the soldier; but i man that
is struck with 4 minnie ball is apt 10 be disc
blcd. and liable to be killed. SO it is with the
ritIed shell and the ship. If either be hit III
the right place, the man and the snip are
alike done for.
la the duel the small man has greatly the
advantage over the large one, his antagonist.
lie is harder to hit, and can shoot rs hard as
the strongest. So with a big ship and a little
one-the little one is harder to hit and the
bic one, having thicker sides, is easier TO hi,
and easier to sink. Hence the new Navy dog
ma, big guns and little ships"
Led away By the example Of France ana
England, and not approaching the differences
of circumstances, VIC hear, in Navy circles,
much talk abont iron clad and shot proof
ships. We have, we are constrained to say,
but little fancy for, and less faith, in them, at
hest. Certainly steel clad ships are, ut pre-
sent. not The ships f"r lis. Throwing ont All
considerations Of cost, our reason Tor prefer
ring biz guns in little ships, to steel platei' Il
rates, may be sufficiently indicated by the Sug-
tr,estions conveyed in the following question
Snpposc We build a ship that is really shot
urnof-wil! not tho Yankees do the same =
Then, wien two Of these ships meet, how arc
they to fight? TO fire into each other Is nst-
less, for they are ball proof. We are thus
bronsh, TO hoartling-to the handling OF the
stink pots" and bce-hivcs of the a%nclen's,
and to the hand.to hand conflicts of the olden
time. Moreover iron clad ships are ln%icldy
and very costly.
0ur smooth waters and the improvements
OF the day enable US to send out 4 class OF
vessels that shall PRESENT little more than a
feather. edge rs a target to the enemy, and,
thrrcrorc he more invulnerable than
the best shot proof that we can build. a
,lit,lc ship" intended for the Chesapeake Bay,
the Sounds Of the South, the mouths OF the
Mississippi. or the harbors Of Texas, Tor cX'
ample, need not be moro than 90 or % feet
broad, and with coal, crew and gun ab0artl
. or 3 feet out of water. Now, why may not
our officers in such 4 vessel engage at long
taw with their rifle gun the largest ship OF the
cncmy-the Minnesota, for instance? From
her we can shoot as fur and rs hard as the
Minnesota. The Minnesota can shoot %oitcner,
it is true; but that advantage l.; more than
made up by the difficulty Of hitting our little
shin with her feather edge turned to the enc
my. Let US appeal ID figures and examples
10 enable us to make ourselves clear
From the conditions Of the problem As we'll
rs from the nature Of the case, as it actually
would lie, We, with our big guns and little
ships, would watch our opportunity and nj.
WAYS be the attacking party. Head On, we
would approach the other on her beam The
cross section of a vessel 20 feet broad and =
feet out Of water measures 40 feet. Forty
square feet then would be the size Of the target
to be presented on our side. This, ut the dis
lance Of two or three miles, for some Of Our
guns can send that iar, would be literally 4
feather edge that the enemy would have TO lirc
at
On the Olncr NallH, tHc ulluctlSIoHn VI liie
Minnesota arc not far from 300 feet IN length
and ~ feet above the water - thus
presenting Il target, broa'lSlde on, OF
5000 square feet, ~ "r hHHfFeh anu
Gfty times the SiZ. ri ours. 10 make the
chances equal between the Lwo, the Minnesota
should fire 100 times To our once but so far
from that, she has not rllled guns to fire ten
times 10 our once.
In practical illustration, we have but to
remind our readers of the exploit of the "uar-
mony," a little bit of a tug, with the frigatc
Savannah, of Newports News, the other day.
She went with her one gun, took up her pc
sition at the distance Of one or two miles and
nut several shot into the enemy, disabling his
big gun, and retiring at the end Of an hour or
two, without being touched once. Now, here
is''a;blackboard demonstration, and the question
may be asked, why not have little "Harlpo.