The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-07-17
Evolution of the NAVY

Unprotected wealth invites aggres-
sion. -
In that sentence he gave to Congress
the advice which President Madison
failed to give more than one hundred
years ago-the advice which, had it
been given and acted upon, might have
averted the War of 1912.
Congress was for economizing, and
all economical measures were directed
toward the navy. It was only when
African pirates had forced America to
pay more tribute than it would have
cost to build a navy, and the warning
powers of Europe had made commerce
almost impossible, that the opposition
to a naval force raised by the President
and strong faction in Congress, was
overcome and money was voted for the
rebuilding of new navy.
On April 80, 179S, the Navy Depart
ment was created and Benjamin Stod-
dard was made Secretary of the Navy.
Of this new navy it is the frigate
Constitution which is most famous to-
day.
If it had not been for the intuition
of Captain Isaac Hull in command of
coming to keep the Constitution in port
for fear she would be destroyed, and
running away from those orders, the
decisive battle of the War of 1912
would not have been fought-at least
not on August Il, and with the Guer>
riere.
GA bunch of pine boards,' was the
sneer of the British seamen until after
@IoE ho+ h,,+ RrIt
ish subject known to show anything
but awe and respect for the fighting
proclivities of the Fbunch of pine
boards
At the close of the battle the Guer-
riere had been completely destroyed,
twenty-three out of her crew of 272
had been killed and ffty-six wounded.
The Constitution lost seven men out
of 46S, with only seven wounded, and
the good old frigate was as fresh for
British gun.
"By -, that vessel is oursi''
shouted Captain Hull as soon as the first
broadside from his guns had been fired,
and every man on board fought to
make his words come true.
On the lakes as well as on the sea
y
and Oliver Hazard Perry's deeds in
commanding the squadron on Lake Erie
and Lake Champlain really saved the
Northwestern territory to the United
States.
''To windward or leeward they shall
fight today" is the utterance of Perry
which best expresses the feeling of the
fighters of 1912, and it was this spirit
that routed the British at every stand,
captured their fleet, made the Indians
desert their flag and brought the war
to close with the palm of victory
lying in the hands of America.
A hero of this period who is as dearly
beloved by the sailor as Perry, is
Thomas Marlborough. Macdonough was
in command when the American forces
routed the wellington Invincibles
backed by the British feet on Septem-
Der IA, 1914, in the face of what looked
like certain defeat.
Only to keep the pirates in subjec-
ton was the navy needed from the close
of the War of 1912 until the Civil War,
but the very fact of it's existence made
it possible for American commerce to
flourish
In 1914 Congress proposed upon the
recommendation of Robert Fulton to
build a steam warship or a floating
battery. as it was called. The expert
ment was successful, but the vessel
never saw active service, for a few
years after she was launched her mag
azine exploded and she was destroyed.
From time to time ships were launch
ed, but until 1912, when the Missouri
and Mississippi were completed, the
old sailing vessel was the favorite of
old seamen.
The Mississippi served during the
war with Mexico as flagship of the naval
forces and carried American diplomats
here and there in the interests of I'm
Gle Sam.
With the building of the Princeton
under the direction of John Ericsson,
the world was given its first screw
propeller warship. Ericsson S invention
was rejected by England before Amer,
lea adopted it and made possible the
evolution of the modern ship
1t was to the British that America
owed the growth of her navy in the
ffties, for at that time England again
began reaching out for possessions in
A way that convinced Congress that