Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-02-02
inc ouestion of Coast Defenses.

The Question of Coast Defenses.
The question OF coast defeuses is gradu.
/ ally receiving the attention which 1t de-
serves. The board, composed 81 civilians
and officers OF the army and navy, winch
! was appointed by President Cleveland
under the authority OF the act OF March
9, 1885, to examine and report at what
ports fortincatons are most urgently re-
qured. and what kind OF defenses are
best adapted 10 each with reference to
armament, recently submitted the results
Of its work 10 the President.
The board makes it very clear that
there is an imperative necessity for be-
ginning the work OF coast defenses at
once. The property that is exposed to
easy capture and destruction is worth
billions OF dollars, and a hostile feet
would be able to levy contributions upon
our seapOrts TO the amount Ofhundreds OF
millions Of dollars. The impression that
has been entertained that the war vessels
of an enemy could be prevented from en-
tering our harbors by means OF tOrpedoes,
channel distractions, and hastily con-
structed earthw0rks is shown TO he
erroneous. There are no guns in this
country that are powerful enough to drive
proiectiles through the armor OF the great
war vessels which are now beng built,
and there are no wor here which are
capable Of constructing them. AS for
torpedoes, and other distractions to the
entrance to harbors, the means for remov-
ing them are so great that they offer but
temporary resistance.
The Kind OF Qualifications that are needed
must be capable Of resisting shock Is
4 times as great as that which our forts in
1860 were capable of resisting. At that
time the largest gun in the service was a
! lo-inch smooth-bore Rodman, the energy
Of whose pi ojectile was 20O0-iOot tons.
/ The guns in use now are capable of giving
a shock of 45,000-foot tons, and others are
being built whose energy will equal 81, 900
foot tons.
II we should become involved in q dii-
! fculty with foreign power who possesses
an irOn-clad navy there wou d be no time
given US to prepare o receive the enemy's
ships. Within very few days our de-
ienseless seaports, with their vast &C
cumulatons of wealth, would he at the
mercy of the enemy. The loss to us
would in all probability be many times
greater than the cost of constructing
the necessary defenses.
The board has made very careful esti-
mate of the cost of defenses for eleven Of
our principal seaports, and Savannah is
not of the number. The amount of their
estimates is not small. 1t is $126, ST., 800,
divide d as follows For masonry and earth
work S3l ,S33,0 900, srmor for forts SIC, 300.
COO, structural metal $500, 900, guns and
mortars $2S,554, 900, carriages S9,4l1 800,
floating batteries $1S,s75, 900, submarine
mines $4,334. 600. torpedo boats 9,720, 900.
1t would cost almost as much more, per-
haps, to provide defenses for the other
important ports.
IL is worth noticing that the board
emphasizes the fact that there are no
facilities in this country for constructing
guns Of the first class or armor plates Of
the thickest kind. The plants for con-
structing guns and plates must be pro-
vlded by the government. unless a sufl-
cient inducement to provide them and do
the necessary work is offered to private
individuals.
1t is apparent that to properly fortify
our coast is a much greater undertaking
than it was thought TO be before the re-
port Of this board was made; but great as
it is, there does not appear TO he any way
TO escape it. The nations OF Europe, and
even OF South Am RIGA. are building for
midabe navies, and it is too much too ex-
pect that we shall always remain at peace
with all of them, In the case OF a dis
pute with any of them at the present
time we are not in a position to assume
an aggressive attitude. Without a navy,
and with our great seaport cities exposed,
our foreign policy must necessarily be
tmid, and even weak.