The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1901-01-15

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E:<~M4S&G0AeA3 ~ IN AOlSf5 sliESS III
III osE--INI the French
II 33l =aS war. But the
4, :, IT, ~ new republic
Il 7sS$3 IsssSss was too poor I
Il[5 Ss=z=-E to have an am
IN 1lAt bition to cope !
"a with European
il - 4.--Sl---.-- nations in the
= matter of sea
power and the navy was not deemed
able TO meet the British squadrons
afloat in 1872 When the war crisis |
came the strongest powers at Wash
.ington proposed to lay up; and disman
tie the fleet to save it from capture. IA
4 Lnckily there were two sailors at the
capital whose forte was fighting, not
talking, ana they opposed the humili-
ating scheme, These officers, Captain
Charles Stewart and Captain William
BainbEidge, spoke for the navy at large
when they said: .What are. our ships
for il not to attack and fight the one
my when The country goes to war? Iff
when war comes they are, all to be
laid up. il would be better to give up
altogether this pretense. of. a navy.
which seems to be only used in peace
time. when there is no real work for it
to. do No doubt il one of our ,frigates
falls in with the eenemy's, squadron it
VIII be captured. but the English frig-
ates do not always sallhl in sqYlaid ID
any more than iopslr Own. and I; one of
us meets one .of them alone 81 at sea we
shall be able to give 9, good account Of
! pnrsalyes, Let the frigatest 60 tn sea-
TO eshoM what they Gan DO, At worst
they can only be captured, and the
i country, will be nc, worse of than IA II
!, they were laid pm to rot in idilepess." z
The words were, brave, but, the tout-
look for the navy. was far from encour-
aging There WsFe but 2Yt. II oaeanp r, ships
/ to make good the promise. OF these Il
six were frigates and the rest sloops,
/, briggs and schooners. The British, then,
}aseeyer, Boosting that Britannia rules
the wave, had afloat 230 line Of bait
tile ships. carrying 60 to 100 guns EACH
i with about 600 vessels of smaller rank.
sliiThe war of 1912 was not fought out
on the sea. but Perry and MacD onough
On the lakes and cambridge. Lawrence,
Hull, Decatur and Stewart on the
ocean gave to the, Yankee sailors the
Il proudest trad itions Of the navy. The
Constitution, the Chesapea the Hor-
net md the President saved the honor
4 of lathe nation If they did not, save the
q state Hts'1i safi.iil seIsiE as7t;f;
7e1sUp to the middle OF the century or
until >1S4O to 1850, the warships Of the
~ iS a. nah ho tbov
had been for at least 200 years-that iss
sailing vessels ,FWsitli cumbrous masts
and sspars. First game the steam pad:
Il die wheel as an impro vement.t and this
was closelys followed blythe screw pro
pefleis fGuifs used In broadside were
adapted I'd fhrihg shellsa and afterward
Z rified. and tie ram, was added as a new
= weapon driven BY the Force iof steam
g Among the first screw frigates built
+, In 1855 was the famous lAferrimac,
4. which later became. the Conf derate
ram. These frigates were heavily arm;
led and ginl an ocean fight would have
their cost, hut In the civil war
g they were useless for service on river
g and coast waters, The screw sloops or
q war, however, built In 1858 gave and
took heavy blows in the fighting squad
rons Of the east! and the vest Among
Is these were the Hartford and Brooklyn.
foughtaon calamity after the
80; ironclads came into play ae M Il
In51S61 the government had but about
3Oeeffecti9ed war steamers. But three
times that number would have barely
sufiiced to- blockade the ports of the
rs Coated to say,,nothing ofprotect,
81 ing national commerce from the raid
asing ships flying the enemy's flag. A
navy had TOT be created, and it was
slowly created to suit the emergencies
of the times, THE result was that the
N United States went far. ahead Of al
i other, nations in improved vessels, Iand
! Y armament and, gave the world the
,Z,types WHICH, prevail at the end Of. thu
century Not alone vessels and guns
aBsbut nicholson lighting. are American
Tor the ohtgrowth Of American expert
/ ence and teaching IN the course of thu
civil war. The value Of; sea power t
u nation Is not the least Of these les
!, sons. for it was seen that with an AIDE
tg qnatef force ga fioat the government
4 could have subdued the Confederate!
q In six months. COD 10 asd sc lu;i 4
Il The variety ofsyesseis constructed b!
H9tkG United States during theodwa
4 SHOWED the incomplete ideas tprevallin,
Y among naval men the world 0vver a
( that time. Plated vessels had beel
I ! iused ID TIE Criimsan War ip 1885, bu
aotthe naval authorities. at Is ashhitnfSto1
asihad no, DECIDED views as tic. their value
After long deliberation ray board az
pointed TO investigate the subject o
fIs.ironclads frep6ftet' that,opintons differ
g ed among hasaf and scientific men a
Z q to the feasibilfty .of aironclad ships Q
'e war. war Itlwas held that they would b
formidable, ,adjppctss ~ land fortified
rnabie. cepeqwith rtsseperl
consWr4ed t9TIticaslgps of masonry.
However, this board selected thre
S0ssAitJS,Et Ell A,b ptlI Z et'Essd i, Z
Sroyorn mani in SrudyinU rhp mafferi a