The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-06-19

Ut any oIuGE ulbIlCNh AAAkeNo W NNe Wv
TO the President. of Sandy Hook, for
the purpose OF having n social Hte-d-tetc."
That Capt. Dacres at the time of tho
action had not changed his opinion Is clear
from the following facts: On the 10th of
August. or nine days before the engagement,
the Guerriere captured the American brig
Betsy. commanded by Mr.. orne. Mr.. orne was
on board the Guerrero when that frigato met
the Constitution, and says: II soon saw from
the popularity Of her tho Consttution'sl sails
and from her general appearance that she was
without doubt an American frigato, and COM
munioated the same to Capt. DaoreS. He imme-
diatoly replied that be thought she came down
too boldly for an American, and soon after
added: 'The better no behaves the more honor
we shall gain by taking him." Even after the
action. when Capt. Dacres and his officers had
been several days in the Constitution, thus hRv-
ing an excellent opportunity of comparing tho
two ships, he still entertained tho Same view,
and Immediately on landing wrote that " the loss
Of the ship is to be ascribed to the early fall Of
her m~izzenmast." This conviction was still moro
forcibly stated by Capt. DRcres several months
afterward In his defence before q court-mar-
tial, whom no said: II am so we'll aware that
tho SUCCESS Of my opponent was owing to for
tune that 1t Is my earnest wish. and would DO
tho happiest moment of my life. to be once
more opposed to tho Constitution. with the same
officers and men under my command, in q
frigate Of similar force to the GUERRERO"
Mr.. Maclay has laid HE hand on an even more
decisive contradiction of James's statement with
reference to tho unprepared condition Of the
British frigates. Twelve years after the action
between the United States and the Macedonian
Capt. David Hope, who had served in the Mace
DOMAIN as First Lieutenant, wrote to his former
commander, Capt Garden: Dear Sir: l have
just received your letter in which you mention
that Mr.. James, in his Naval History. has
stated that you knew the ships crew Of the
Macedonian was. for want of practice, deficient
in eunnery. That statement 10 certainly totally
unfounded, as in no ship in the British service
could there have been moro attention paid to
the practical part Of gunnery than was done by
you to the crow Of the Macedonian. The men
were not only we'll trained, but the greatest at
tention was paid to every department relating
to the guns. In fact, everything was done to
mako the Bhip In all respects ready to meet
the enemy. AS to the state of discipline on
board, that has boon so strongly vouched for
by the sentence of the court-mArtial. where
tho evidence was xamined upon oath.
that any comment OF mine would be unnec-
essary."
Another method Of accounting for tho Brit
ish naval disasters in the war of 1912 was
that of comparing the ships engaged by means
of tonnage. BY this method tho English writer's
have tried to make out that American frigates
were from 40 to 80 per cent. larger than their
antagonists. Mr.. Maolay contends that ton
mage, as determined in those days. by no means
gave an accurate idea of the force of warships.
The system of measuring was, he declares. that
half tho breadth OF the vessel at the broadcast
part was to be considered the depth. Three
ffths of the breadth was to DO deducted from the
length Of the vessel, the remainder to be multi
piled by the breadth. and the product to be null
tiplied by the depth. and tho result was to be
divided by 95. This was an arbitrary rule
adopted for tho purpose Of escertaining some
thing on which to gauge tho collection of
revenues, and was designed primarily for
merchant craft. Applied to such vessels.
1t gave o tolerably accurate idea of the
dimensions. as merchantmen were built on the
Same general lines. but whom applied to Eng
lish and American built frigates tho formula
obviously lacked fairness, as nearly all the
British ~frigates involved In the war of 1912 were
"full-built." the deck plans bearing . strong
resemblance TO o modern canal boat, while tho
American frigates were constructed on much
finer lines, their deck plans showing q decided
taper from the broadcast part of the deck toward
both the bow and the stern. The deck plan of
tho British frigate showed that the extreme
length of the deck was maintained nearly the
whole distance between the bow and the stern.
Besides this, tho rake of the stem and
the stern posts of tho American frigate
was greater than in the case of its British
antagonist. From measurements taken at the
Custom House In Baltimore in 1912 it was
shown that q merchant vessel built on the plan
of the Macedonian registered 800 tons and was
able to carry 400 hoEsheads of tobacco, while q
ship of the same tonnage. but built moro on tho
lines of the American frigate. could carry only
100 hogsheads. 1t is undoubtedly true that
the American forty-four-Run frigate in the
war of 1872 was from ten to fifteen feet
longer than tho British thirty.eight-gun-
frigate, but, owing to the rake of the
stem and stern posts in the American friRate,
not a single extra gun could be put into
tho broAdside, there being just fifteen ports to
tho side in both the American and the
British ship. Another matter upon which
some stress has been laid by English writer's
Is the heaviness OF the metal carried on
the American ~frigates. 1t is q fact that the
American vessels were armed with 24-pounders
On the main deck. while the English ships car
ried only 1s.pounders. At the time of the war
of 1912, however. the use of 24-pounders as the
main armament Of ~frigates was largely expert
mental. with the weight of experience and
authority against them. English commanders
insisted that 24-pounders were too heavy and
could not be worked as etfectually as lS-pound-
ers. 1t Is undeniabl0 that our three friRates of
the forty-four.gun class were overweighted. and
the experiences Of the first battles in which
they were engaged disclosed the truth to their
commander. In tho first actions OF the war the
Constitution carried nfty.nve guns in all. with
q total weight In shot Of 1,4ol pounds; be.
fore the close of the war her armament
was reduced to htty-one guns. having a
total shot weight Of 1887 pounds. The
United States In her action with the Macedonian
carried ffty-four guns to the EnRlishman's
forty-nine, but on returning to port six of the
United States's guns were landed, as 1t was
found that their great weight had caused tho
frigate to become hoggod. or broken. backed.
The third of these ~frigates. tho President also
reduced the number of her guns to ffty-two,
but even this was not sufficient to prevent her
from becoming hogged, and undoubtedly over.
weight was the cause of her being overtaken
by a British squadron In 1878. In comparing
the weight OF metal carried in American ships
OF war with that borne on English ships, 1t Ia
also important to remember that the actual
weight of American shot at the period was con.
siderably below its nominal value, that the shot
themselves were of such poor iron that thoy fire.