The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1862-01-15
The rssa,.ss Navy and our own.

The British Navy and Our own.
Donald Mckay, the American ship build
er, furnishes to the Boston Commercial Bill.
letin a letter in regard to the British Navy,
which has at this time peculiar interest. =
He says that the British Government has
now ahoat five iron-cascd ships ranging from
% to 40 guns, and from 500 to 1880 horse
power each. OF these two have made trial
/ trips-the warrior attaining the high
speed Of l41 knots, with all her armament,
stores and provisions aboard The .sBlack
Prince" has attained higher spe d than
the warrior" In addition to these, two
other iron clad vessels are building, and six
others are to be built. Five wooden ships
are building, designed to be appropriated.
The cost of these vessels will be some thirty
nine million ofdollars. They are to be afioat
within year. The French Government
will by the same time have ailoat twenty -onc
clad ships
In reference to our ability to compete with
these immense naval preparations, Mr.. Nc
Kay says
at would be well for US to build, in one
year, feet of 500 10 800 men-of war ships,
from gun-boa up to the largest class Of
iron-cased frigatas. 1t is well known fact
that we built, in one year, the astonishing
number of 2,03l vessels an1 stca ners, of all
classes, measuring toy ,ther $50, $50 tons
A large number Of these vessels were as
large as the biggest class OF lrigates hithelt,
constructed. What we have done once we
may do over ag lin, and working at the same
rate, we would be able alone in our merchant
yards to turn out, in one yea', 5S3 ships of
l 900 to IS each. In our six navy yards,
where the choicest materials are stocked for
building Ace, Of 100 ships, 60 more men
of.war ships might be built in one year, ma
king a total of GAS men. war ships of II
classes, varying in their armament from to
60 guns. M,re than hundred ofour great.
est engineering FIN; would complete all The
machinery necessary to pat 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 ship building
States. and as late as 1860 they only built
(coinbinedD one full rugged ship, while the
northern States built 10 ships Of the same
description. That is to say, in plain words,
all the seeded States combined did rot
build even .onc per cent Of the sea-going
ships built in the United States. 1t is true,
on very urgent occasion, in greet emer-
gency, our country could largely increase
her navy in very few months, with very
powerful descriptions of vessels, if they
would proceed as folows: Cut down all
our line of battle ships one or two decks,
case them with five-inch iron plates, put
battery ofthirty or farty guns ofthe heavi-
est calibre on board Of them, and moor them
across the entrance Of our harbors Plate
our frigates with shell proof iron plates, and
to make up for the additional weight put
into them, do away with their armament on
the upper deck Transform one hundred OF
our best sea going merchant steamers into
so many fiigates, sloops, dispatch and gun
boats of speed superior to any man of.war
ships ct produced. Among our large clip
per ships and traders, more than FIVE humid
red may be found that are capable to be
transformed into 80 many efficient sailing
sloops and frigates. Their length varies
from 2sO to 800 feet, their breadth, from 40
10 80 feet aud. whenever the arc cut down