Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1907-10-11

III 100, udNluS cOulllduu Vi the hdu-
ger, he harassed the coasting trade Of
Scotland and captured the Drake,
sloop superior to the Ranger in force.
Two years later, with a squadron of
five vessels, including the Bon Homme
Richard, of fifty guns, he captured
twenty-six vessels off the English coast
within month, and on September %,
1910, off Marlborough, took the Sierra
pis, of fifty guns, and Countess of Scar
borough, of twenty-five guns, after a
desperate engagement. The ships Rich
ard and Scraps were dashed together
and the fight was to finish. AS the
Richard and nearly all her crew were
obtained in France, the victory gave
Jones as much renown in that country
as in the colonies
The war of 1912, if not so creditable
to our army, gave great glory to the
American navy, which Worsted British
ships in nearly every engagement. At
the beginning Of the war the American
navy was held in great contempt, and
few British vessels were kept on this
side Of the Atlantic. British officers,
Intoxicated by their comparatively easy
victories over the French, Dutch, POr
tugueSe and Spanish, attacked Ameri-
can ships, regardless of disparity in
size, and often paid the penalty of their
cCnceit. In August, 1912, the American
fIigate Essex captured the British
In n month
the frigate Constitution captured the
Guerrero; in October the sloOp Wasp
captured the brig FrOlic, and the fri
gate United States captured the Mace
DOMAIN In December the Constitution
captured the frigate Java. During this
first year of the war American priva-
teers took no less than 800 British
prizes. On Lake Erie, in September,
1918, Commodore Perry, with a fleet of
nine vessels, carrying tifty-four guns,
! captured, after a fierce engagement,
British fleet of six vessels, carrying
| siXty-three guns. Earlier in the year
| the American sloop Hornet captured
| the British brig Peacock. The frigate
| the British frigate Shannon off Boston
! harbor, was herself taken, notwith-
| stanstanding Lawrence's dying order
| to his crew, Don't give up the ship"
| In 1914 this loss was made good by
| MacdonOugh's victory in the battle of
Lake Champlain, when the whole Brit
| iSh squadron was captured.
There were other victories which
were balanced by defeats. The Essex,
| for example, the Frolic and President
were taken by British vessels, but the
Peacock, the Wasp, the Constitution
and Hornet effected captures of British
| vessels. The war of 1912 showed that
| American vessels, size for size, were
| superior to the British in discipline, in
| equipment, in gunnery and in the spirit
| Of their crews. The civil war gave
rise to some notable engagements, such,
| for example, as the fight in Hampton
| Roads between the Merrimac and the
| Monitor, the battle in Mobile bay and
| the combat between the Alabama and
| the Kearsarge in the British channel,
| the two latter being in favor OF the
Union ships. The victory Of the Mont
tor, though not decisive, is famous as
having been the first engagement be-
tween ironclads. Various European
governments had before 1862 begun to
| place armOr upon Warships, but the
engagement in Hampton Roads speeded
the movement so that at present all
battleships and most important cruisers
now possess a covering of iron or steel
to protect them from hard knocks. The
investment of England in her present
navy is some $5O0,O0O,0OO-a mere
speculation, according to some author
tiles, as no one knows what her ships
are worth. The world, as a whole, has
some $1,25OOOO,OOO invested in metal
lie ships.-Baltimore Sun.