The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1875-12-07
OUR NAVY.
Annual Report OF Secretary Robson.

Annual Report of Secretary IL obeson.
NEW YORK, Dec. 6.-Secretary Robeson's
report of the naval service for the year shows
the number of vessels now in the navy to be
147, carrying 1895 guns, and are of 152, 492 tons
measurement. Of these, 26 carrying nominally
266 guns, are sailing vessels, of which number
four are in use as training and practice ships;
2 are assigned to states as school ships; 3 are
hospital ships; 8 are coal, store and supply
ships; 6 are receiving ships; are laid up, use
less, and one, the old New Orleans, remaining
as has been the case for the last half century,
on the stocks at Sacketts Harbor The Con-
stellaton 10 practice ship. These ships are
mere representatives Of the navy OF the past.
The steam vessels of the navy, as distln-
gushed from the iron-clads and torpedo ships.
number in the whole 90, of which, however, 70
are tugs EMPLOYED as towing, ferry and torpedo
boats at the various navy yards, or IN use as
surveying vessels or in the service OF the fish
commission; 20 are in ordinary at the yards on
the Atlantic or at Mare Island; three, the
Gettysburg, Despatch and Tallapoosa, are used
as freight and dispatch vessels; three more are
in commission as training and receiving ships,
at all times ready for service, and the remain
der are il commission on the several stations
or at various navy yards, ready for USE Of
these wooden ships IS are in fact new-the
Trenton. Adams Essex, Enterprise, Alliance,
Alert, Huron and Ranger being the eight new
sloops built under special appropriation, and
ten others-the Monongahela, Tennessee, Mo-
hican, Swatara, Vandalia, Marion, Quinne-
besg, Galena. Nipsic and Tallapoosa-have
been rebuilt with live oak timber and supplied
with substantially new machinery. Besides
such of these new ships as are in commission,
30 others, including the largest and most eff
ficient ships of the navy, are as cruisers or
training ships and u of the remainder, though
requiring more or less repairs to boilers and ma
chinery, could if needed be put in condition for
service as soon as sailors could be enlisted to
man them.
Our iron clad fleet consists of 26 vessels,
classed as follows Three, the Massachusetts,,
Oregon and Colossus, are of a class and in
condition to be of no service, are not launched
and consist only of wooden frames with sin
gle exception much deteriorated by time and
their unfinished armor and machinery are
stored in navy yards The remaining 20 consist.
ing of 81 vessels Of the monitor type and two
iron torpedo ships, are all efficient vessels of
their class and very powerful both for defen-
sive and offensive operations. Near our shores,
five namely double turreted monitors, Amphi-
trite, Monadack, Miantonomab, Puritan and
Terror, are in process of complete repair, re.
quiring from four to six months to finish if
pushed, while the remaining IS, consisting of
the Roanoke, the two torpedo ships, Alarm
and Enterprise, and fifteen single turreted
monitors, namely, the Ajax, Canonicus, Co.
manche, Catskill, Dictator, Jason, Lehigh,
are all in good condition and ready for any ser
vice at any time. This makes 80 available
ships, including IS iron-clads and two torpedo
boats. Our cruising stations remain the same
as last reported in number and desigation.
The Secretary refers to the affair at Tripoli
and the movements of the different squadrons
in various parts of the world, and the success
full efforts of our admirals to keep our flag re-
spected. The Secretary says the ships of the
European and South Atlantic stations are
within call and could reach our shores in less
than month should their services be needed.
By utilizing all these means we should be able,
if required, to bring into actual service on our
shores in very short time feet of at least
40 cruisers, carrying over 800 guns, besides Is
iron-clad and two iron torpedo ships. Con-
siderably more than one half of this force is
already in commission and the remainder
might be put into service as rapidly as their
crews could be enlisted and organized.
On the subject of navy yards the report
states that for the past few years no appropria-
tionS for new buildings or other works of i'm
provement have been made for several of them
and the small amount appropriated for repairs
and preservation has proved insufficient to
keep the buildings, stock and wharves in that
thorough state OF repair and efficiency which
should characterize all public works. An ap-
preparation is asked for building a boundary
wall on the west side of the Boston navy yard
and appropriations to supply new buildings for
several 10 the yard now unfit for the purpose
for which they are used are asked.
The Secretary renews the recommendation
New York navy yard in its site and territory.
In this yard nothing has been done beyond the
current repairs. During the past year a new
building for equipment purposes at the New
London yard has been completed and the
wharf accommodations much enlarged. An
additional appropriation for the continuance of
permanent improvements at New London is
recommended.
The department has deemed it advisable to
resume the enlistment of boys to serve till
reaching q years of age under existing laws.
He repeats the recommendations of his last re.
port as to the necessity of securing before it
passes entirely away as great quantity as pos
sible of our sea shore live oak.
The Secretary says that the navy is now in a
stronger and more efficient condition than it
has been at any time since the commencement
OF your administration. 1t is not very strong
in number nor in the classes of its ships, but
what there are of them are in as good
condition as it is practicable to keep such
materials of war under various and trying con-
ditions to which they are in the nature of their
service constantly exposed. A far larger pro-
portion than usual of our wooden ships are
ready for service. Our iron-clad feet is eff
Gent. Our storehouses are fairly stocked with
ordnance, equipments and supplies, and we
have on hand fair supply of the best material
for the building and repair of ships.