New-York tribune., 1903-04-05
EVOLUTION OF OUR NAVY.
PROGRESS Since Civil War Began-The
New Battleships.

Tb. NAVY DAnartment has issued the circular de-
scribing the three 16.ooo-ton battieshps reoun,.S
authorized by Congress. the bids for which WIN DC
opened on June g. The vessels Will De requiieu :"
make is knots speed but will be accepted at a re-
duced price If they make only 1113 knots
Those officers who were in the Navy at the pe-
ginning of the Civil War well appreciate the au-
vance that has been made. When in 1861 the guns
of Sumter opened fire upon United states vessel
and thus summoned the people of the North 10
arms In defence of the Union, the Navy consisteu
of forty-two vessels in commission, ana most U.
these were on duty in distant seas. The NUMBER Ok
marines and seamen In the navy was about 8.ooo'
of whom there only 207 seamen ayaiiaoie at
all the naval stations and receiving ships. Inc
force at it's command being wholly inadequate the
Government called into requisiton the commercial
marine and contracted with builders for the con-
struction of vessels. arrangement OF absoIute
necessity for at the beginning of the war II was
without an establishment of its own wherein Z"
shaft could be made for a steam vessel or pia'e
for ironcad. In December, 1867 4zi Vesseis "et0
In commission of which 123 had been constructed'
in December 1863 the number was 5sS. and IN De Si
cember 1864 there ell These vessels were u f
ded be@ etae at9 or 6ockade
l. 1864 the number Of vessels captured as bns %
barks So brgs e52 schooners III sloops ana frd11 m
yachts and small boats. The net pr~oceeds ~ IRON. a
Rg pze sae ef %aa 81 @
banog to sneed fne to pay all which
crued and yielded annual income sufficient ,I tIr
out drawing on the national treasury.
The modern warshp is the complete Iruluon ai1 ~
triumph of many branches OF the great SCieHCS VI
naval engineering and by contrast one Is enap!eu
the new navy 1t has a total of 153 vessels of all
classes, there being of batteships, coast ueleios
ironclads and armored cruisers a totiti u iouf
more than the entire navy list of April, lsel
The first steam war vessel In tne WoIlu aS MoS
called the Demalogos, or Fulton the First, and was
designed by Robert Fulton, Duilt Tor tne Chieeu
States Navy. She 156 feet long, 90 1eet peai
and 20 feet depth of hold She was not competed
until just after the close of the war OF Is So nc AZ
she never saw any active service. and was de de-
stroyed by an explosion of her magazine IN los
Her battery consisted Of twenty small snooln
guns several of them having been captured from
the British. One of the largest vessels OF the
ent navy the Kearsarge, is 1868 feet IN length. q
feet beam and dsplaces u,525 tons. Her main pat
terry consists of twenty-five steel ri1es from
five to thirteen inches calibre. The second steam
vessel was the Fulton. somewhat longer tman na
the first one and had speed of twelve knots The
engineer who designed her machinery and super
intended it's construction became her cnie1 en-
eneer when she commissioned and later De
came the first engineer-in-chief OF the navy, ne
was Charles H. Haswell living and resident
of this city. -, :,
1t was through the necessities OF the civil war
that the impetus came for naval construction ana
the beginning Of the evolution or the modern WaI
vessel. A new dawned for the navy IN 1885,
when the navy was begun. The Atlanta Bos-
ton Chicago and Dolphin were laid down from
designs offered by the advisory board. Since then
with improved machinery. 1t has been "a duel be-
tween guns and armor, as Admiral Melviile mas
so apty termed it. for fast as one is built on
plans that far surpass the preceding one, some
inventor comes forward with an Improvement
Progress has been so rapid that hardly is one YES
sci completed design before improve
ments have been suggested that render the pre-
ceding cne relatively out of date.