The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1910-04-28
THE OLD NAVY.

We hear much of the old and the new
Navy, but l find myself at loss to tell
just when the old ceased to be and the
new began. Indeed, l am unable to tell
at what time the old Navy began. But
to tell at what time ships of war Sailing
ships were called a navy is not so diff
cult. Webster tells us that in olden
times a collection of any kind of vessels
that would float was called Navy. He
also tells US that though a ship is a YES
sci, vessel is not necessarily ship.
The first record that l find of Navy
is in LIST Kings, TX, 26-27-29, which reads
as follows:
"And King Solomon made a navy of
ships in Ezion- geber, which is beside
Cloth on the shores of the Red Sea in
the lard of Edom.
and Hiram sent in the navy his SER
wants, shipmen that had knowledge of
the sea. with the servants of Solomon.
"And they came to Ophir and fetched
from there all gold, four hundred and
twenty talents, and brought it to King
Solomon.
just at what time the first sea fight
took place ! am unatle to state But
the first use of ships as distinguished
from boats appears to have been by the
Egyptians, who seem to have been the
first to reach the western coast of India
and the first to navigate the Mediter-
ranean. But little is known of their
power on the waves, and however bril-
iant it might have been they We're soon
eclipsed by the men of Tyre, who laid
the seas under tribute and made their
city the great emporium of the Eastern
and European trade. They spread their
merchant fleets throughout the Mediter-
ranean. navigated Solomon's squadron
10 the Persian Gulf, and planted many
colonies, among which was Carthage,
which soon outshone the parent State in
maritime daring.
The Carthaginian fleets passed the Pill
lars of Hercules (Rock of Gibralter) with
no better guide than the stars, for the
mariner 5 compass had not vet been in
vented, and, it is believed, sailed south
ward to the west coast of Africa and
northward to the British Isles. From the
9Th to the 4th centuries, B. c., the Greeks
gradually developed the art of naviga-
ton and at the time Of the Peloponne-
sian war the Athenians appear to have
been slillful tacticlans, capable of con-
I'D &c h.
Greeks We're rather more warlike than
commercial in their nautical affairs In
the 18th century, B. c., Alexander de-
stroyed Tyrian power. transferring it's
commerce to Alexandra, which had a
fine harbor, and it became the center of
trade for the ancient world.
1t is presumed that Alexander had a
naval feet in the Red Sea, for it is writ
ten that after he had defeated the Per
sian army under Cyrus he sent one of
mis- admirals with strong fleet down the
Red Sea to the Gulf of Alden, across that
gulf into the Arabian Sea, across that
sea to the Strait of Armus, through that
strait into the Persian Gulf, across that
gulf into the River Euphrates "a river
that is several times mentioned in Holy
Writ, beginning Genesis 2, IA, Is and IS,
Deut, II and "a, Joshua IA, End Samuel
3-3, Revelations GA, 1912 then up
that river 80 miles to the mouth of the
River Tigris, up that river past the city
of Bagdad, $50 miles, to the city of
Mosul, which is across the river from the
ancient city of Nineveh, founded by Ash
er. son of Shem, Genesis 10-1D which
is in the very heart of Asiatic Turkey.
Their ships, or war galleys, were pro-
PEELED by oars. The power was furnish
ed by the galley slaves, who were chain
ed 70 their seats. Some of these crafts
were two hundred feet long, high at the
bow and stern, had two decks, and were
pulled by one hundred and twenty oars,
sixty On a side, with fighting crew of
seven hundred men. For thrilling de-
scription of one of these fights read Ben
Hur by Gen. Lew Wallace.
The nucleus of the British Navy was
started in the reign Of good King Alfred,
the Saxon. He used it to whip out the
Danes. 1t was simply galleys pulled by
oars, and there was no distinction be-
tween the army and navy They were
all oye, and so continued until the reign
of King Henry, the VIII. He it was
that gave the navy separate organiza-
zion and built sailing ships. some of them
as large as 800 tons. He built yards and
docks and established an admiralty.
Not much advancement was made in the
British navy up to the time of the Span
ash Armada, which was in the reign of
Queen Elizabeth Good Queen Bess,
wishing to increase the efficiency of her
navy by having bold, bad men in COM
mand Of her fleets to meet the Spanish
A rmada, sought out from the Buccaneers
two Of the most daring and intrepid of
them all, knighted them, and placed
them in charge of her fleets, viz: Sir
Admiral Drake and Sir John Hawkins,
and the result of that engagement shows
that she made no mistake. She made
many concessions to them in order to