Litchfield enquirer., 1879-07-24
our Navy.

An article in the Uuited Service Quartcrl,
 calls attention once more 10 the condition O
 utter neglect into which our Navy has fallen
 Quoting the words of Admiral Porter, that ou
 commerce and sea-board 'iie al the mercy 0
 any freebooting country that may choose t
 assail them, It offers facts to prove that alarm
 ing statement literally true. Though next [.
 Great Britain in our commerce, our war navl stands elghth in the list of war navies as re gards tonnage tenth, as regards weight o metal. We have 10 linc-of battle ships of thu
 first class, and no war cruisers. Our wholl Navy consists of 10 ships for coast defense
 and II for defense of lakes and rivers. Com ing to matters of speed and offensive and de fcnsive power, our marine is fearfully made quate to cope with the rst-class armored yes sels of the period
 In the first place our vessels are the slowes war ships of which there seems to be any re cord. The Miantonomah" makes eight knots on hour: the British Devastation, fourteen. It is fair to estimate that foreigr iron clads, in short, can make nearly if ne quite double the speed of our own Another curious fact is that the s'Miantononah" con suines twice the fuel used ny the "Devasta. tion" in generating the same amount of pow era fact which alone stamps the Robeson regime as an abominable and most expensive failure. This superiority of speed would be enough of itself to settle the relative efficiency of our Navy. IL would give French or Eng | fish ship of war the option of fighting or not | fighting at it's pleasure; and, in case of an engagement, would give it the chance of fight ing at precisely such distance as it should choose.
 The armament of the American monitor is simply antcdiluvian. Our best guns are 8mooth-bore Dahlgrens throwing a 450 tb spherical shot; with range of 300 yards, and perfectly harmless to ships of the Devastation class at any range. In opposition to snch old- time artillery as this, the British ships of war have their 8l ton rifle guns; and the Italians, their hundred ton guns. The Chief of Ord nance has vainy recommended to Congress the substitution of breech-loading rif1ed cannon for the antiquated type of piece now in use. The result of such a substitution would be- as he states, to extend the range from 800 to $500 yards-such being the difference between the rife and the smootll-bore carrying ball of the same weight. One can readily sec what would b2 the effect of this inferioriiy of arnla- mont faLon in f.onunction tl,n ipfariortv ,,f speed above stated Any irst-ciass foreign vessel, fighting tho slOw-going ''Miantonomah," :" would simply take position out of range of it's smooth -hores, and quietly hammer it in pieces.
 h defensive power, Our monitors approach scarcely nearer to that of the hest modern ar nored ships than ir speed 0r effectiveness of armament 'rhr Miantononah has turrcts casnd in arayor ten inches in thickness, and six inches of ArnOr OH Oj:i"r cEpo5u,.. parts of the vessel. This is poor reliance compared with the 24 inches of arn!Or on the turrets of some If the foreign ships, and the heavy armor of their sides, Here, as everywhere, the Ameri- can fleet is way in the rear of the receqt i'm provemeats abroad. Our apparent position of eighth in the list of naval powers of the wrld is probably far above our real position We could moi meet Russia, Turkey, or Spain ;; probably not even Denmark or Brazil on the ocean; aud it is more than doubtful whether, with our almost obsolete coast defences, we could saHe New York from capture in case of war wih any European second-rate naval power Says the review, in the article un3cr consiiUEation.
 Briefly. 1t nlay be said that forelgn-artior,ii vessels can steam farther and more econonli- caiiy than our own; are better bnilt ard equipped; can select their position for engage ment. and at a distance where no shot of OTIS can reach them; can sink the best ships we have, and are impregnabe, even within ;:.c ranges of the best American guns. We haze few ships and many useless guns, and this with 9 mercantile tonnage the second in the world. Cur shins cannot engage forts nor si- encn thou: cHnn0t r"sist p~Hicctles of any ordinary kind. nor meet the enemy under the varying conditions naval warfare imposes : they a~n not fast enough to choose the time or place of action nor can they carry coals or stores, nor transr rrt tro Nps to any ocean; they are not fitted with p2nctrdtiTc nor crushing ram-pONer nor can they impress the heathen, for they cannot get to him.
 Can we afford such neglect as this, in view of the constantIy-recurring danger of contest with some of these vastly superior navies of the old world? It m;lst be remembered that the danger is not that of tAc old system when he question was merely one of the control of the high seas. The impenetrahle, ,armored ves- sel of modern construction could force it's way into any one of the chief ports of the country, and lay our most important cities under con- tribution Were war to break cut with even So inferior power as Spain, we should have to rely on the torpedo for the defence of New York, and experience has hitherto shown this to De an extremely uncertain reliance.