The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1897-11-27
THE NAVY and ITS NEEDS.
Secretary Long Makes His Annual
Report.
THE EFFECTIVE FIGHTING FORCE
OF THE NAVY.

Need Now Not of More Ships But of Docks
Increased Force and Ammunition
The Reserve List.
Washington. Nov. 26-The annual re-
port of Secretary Of the Navy says present
effective fighting force of the Navy con-
sists of four battle ships of the first class,
two battle ships of the second class, two
armored cruisers, 16cruisers, Is gunboats,
six.doubleaturreted monitors, Zone ram,
one dynamite gunboat, one dispatch boas,
one transport steamer, and five TORPEDO
boats There are ander construction i've
battle ships of.the first class, 16 torpedo
boats, and one submarine boat.
There are ca other naval vessels, includ-
ing those used as training, receiving, and
naval reserve ships, tugs, disused single
turreted monitors, and some unservice-
| able craft.
There is, further, the auxiliary fleet.
ih1s consists, first, of more than 90 sub
sldlzed steamers which comply with the
requirements of the postal act of March
o 1881, with regard to their .adaptability
70 naval service, and to an armament of
main and secondary batteries; second, of
very much greater number Of large
merchant marine steamers, which can be
awaited OF at any time of need
Ihese auxiliaries, ranging from 1900 to
~ oo tons, will, if occasion require, form
powerful fleet of ocean cruisers, capable
OF swift and formidable attack upon an
| ene1ny,s commerce. Their great coal Ca
paolty will also enable them to remain a
long time at sea in search of the where
abouts Of hostile vessels.
| Inc country is to be congratulated
upon the results obtained in the rebuild
ingsof the Navy. While its ships are not
as maryland it is not necessary they
should be-as those of some other great
powers, they are, class for class, in power
speed, Workmanship, and offensive and
defensive qualities, the equal of vessels
built anywhere else in the world.
The vessels under construction should
be completed during the coming year,
except the five battle ships which will
probably not be ready for service before
the latter part of 1899. OF the latter the
lKearsarge and Kentucky are nearly half
completed. About three quarters OF their
| armor has been delivered, q part of which
| has been secured in place on the ships.
| The other three, the Alabama, Illinois,
and Wisconsin, were begun subsequent to
the last annual report. With the excep-
! ton of a small amount of diagonal CASE
mate armor, which the ship contractors
| have agreed TIC furnish at the price fixed
| by law, it viii be necessary to prelirni.
narily accept them without armor, in &C.
cordance with the terms of the contract
| for their construction.
| The ships are so designed, however, and
the contract SO drawn that this can be
done without much other EN- barrassnent
to the Government than the delay in their
| final completion. But this, of course, is
great embarrassment, practically max
| ing these vessels useless meantime to the
| Navy. To prevent this, provision should
| at once be made for obtaining the arInor
necessary to their completion. In this
connection it may be said that Congress
at its last session appropriated sum of
money for the armor for the battle shi ps
| Alabama, Illinois, and Wisconsin, but
provided that the price should not exceed
an average of $500 per ton. In response
to advertisements, the two companies
| which now manufacture such armor re-
| piled that they were unable to furnish 1t
at that price. AS result, the final COM
pletion of these vessels will beldelayed.
| In compliance with the direction of
| Congress, that plans and estimates for
| the establishment OF an armor plant be
prepared, the Department appointed an
armor-factory board, composed Of officers
| selected with especial regard to their TT
ness for this duty. They have made a
| careful investigation of the problems
presented, and have visited some sof the
principal steel and iron manufacturing
points in the country. The result will
no troy cd 10 3v, iaJ
report.
Work on the torpedo boats has not pro
ceeded as rapidly on the whole, as the
terms of the contracts made by my prede.
cessor require. The number of these
boats contracted for in the last two years
has induced some contractors to enter
into competition for their construction
such work but no reason appears for
doubling that the contracts will be full
filed in every respect except that Oh time
GUNBOATS.
An important addition of light draft
and composite gunboats to the effective
force of the Navy has been made since the
last annual report. At the present time
the three light draft gunboats built at
Newport News are in active service, as
are all the composite gunboats except
the Princeton, which will probably be
completed in February. These vessels are
a valuable and necessary force, and will
be especially effective in maintaining our
interests in foreign waters, especially in
times Of civil disturbance The first cost
of all these gunboats was low, aggregat-
ing about So, 900, 900 for the nine. or not
more than the cost of single first GLASS
armored cruiser. The cost of their main
tenanoe also, particularly in the case of
cessive, and the reports of their trials. as
well as the opinion of officers in COM
mand of them, have been distinctly
favorable
The composite gunboats are the first
which have been designed and completed
under the provisions of the general order