NAVY, UNITED STATES. 



603 



Condenser surface 12,000 square feet. 



Diameter of propeller 21 feet. 



Pitch of propeller 27 to 80 feet 



Weight of propeller 84,580 pounds. 



Capacity of coal-bunkers 1,000 tons. 



Actual horse-power 5,000 horse. 



Nominal horse-power 1,500 horse. 



Some interesting facts and statistics concern- 

 ing the comparative healthiness of iron-clads 

 and wooden vessels are given in the report of 

 the Chief of the Bureau of Medicine and Sur- 

 gery, which accompanies the annual report of 

 the Secretary of the Navy. An examination 

 of the sick-reports, covering a period of over 

 thirty months, shows that so far from being 

 unhealthy, there was less sickness on board 

 the monitor vessels than on the 'same number of 

 wooden ships with an equal number of men, 

 and in similarly exposed positions. Not less 

 valuable testimony respecting the offensive 

 power and seaworthy qualities of iron-clads of 

 the type of the Monadnock, which is double 

 turreted, carries four guns, and has a tonnage 

 of fifteen hundred and sixty-four tons, is af- 

 forded in a report of Admiral Porter, written 

 soon after the fall of Fort Fisher. Speaking of 

 the conduct of the monitors in a gale off New 

 Inlet, he said : " The smaller monitors, Mahopac 

 and Canonicus, at times almost disappeared 

 from sight, and the commander of the former 

 vessel complained of discomfort, owing to the 

 decks leaking ; but the vessels were in no danger 

 at any time. As to the Monadnock, she could 

 ride out a gale at anchor in the Atlantic Ocean. 

 She is certainly a perfect success, so far as the 

 hull and machinery are concerned, and is only 

 defective in some minor details, which, in the 

 building of these vessels, require the superin- 

 tendence of a thorough seaman and a practical 

 and ingenious man. The Monadnock is capable 

 of crossing the ocean alone (when her com- 

 passes are adjusted properly), and could de- 

 stroy any vessel in the French or British navy, 

 lay their towns under contribution, and return 

 again (provided she could pick up coal) without 

 fear of being followed. She certainly could 

 clear any harbor on our coast of blockaders in 

 case we were at Avar with a foreign power." 

 Elsewhere, in the same report, he says, that in 

 a tight the Monadnock would prove more than 

 a match for the New Ironsides, which has been 

 considered the most powerful vessel in the 

 navy. A further test of the sea-going qualities 

 of the Monadnock was afforded in her voyage 

 around Cape Horn, for the purpose of joining 

 the Pacific Squadron. In the roughest weather 

 she behaved in a manner to excite the admira- 

 tion of all who witnessed her performances. 

 " In the long seas of the Pacific," says Com- 

 mander Eodgers, "I observed that the Monad- 

 nock took very little water on her decks, rising 

 above the waves easily and buoyantly." He 

 further reported that her machinery worked 

 well, with the exception of a temporary disor- 

 der in one of her condensers, which was soon 

 repaired ; and also that she made good speed, 

 sailing at a maximum rate of a hundred and 



ninety-five knots a day, and a minimum rate 

 of a hundred and fourteen. 



The navy yards now in active use are those 

 at Kittery, Me. ; Charlestown, Mass. ; Brook- 

 lyn, N. Y. ; Philadelphia, Pa.; Washington, 

 D. 0. ; and Mare Island, Cal. ; besides those at 

 Norfolk, Va., and Pensacola. Fla., which suf- 

 fered considerably during the time they were 

 in the hands of the rebels. Secretary Welles 

 complains that they are. all of limited area, and 

 insufficient for our present navy. "Not one 

 of them," he says, "presents the full requisite 

 conveniences and facilities for promptly fitting 

 out, in a rapid and efficient manner, more than 

 a single vessel at a time. Vessels which ought 

 to be repaired in three months are often de- 

 tained for a year, and officers ordered to their 

 ships, which should be ready for sea, have been 

 kept waiting for months at great expense to 

 themselves and the country, and to the injury 

 of the service. There is not a public yard 

 where an iron vessel can be constructed, an 

 iron plate made, or where shafting can be 

 forged, or steam machinery manufactured, ex- 

 cept on a moderate scale ; nor, with the excep- 

 tion of Mare Island, in California, and Norfolk, 

 have we a navy yard with sufficient room to 

 erect the necessary works for even present 

 wants. England, besides her great public navy 

 yards, with which ours can bear no comparison, 

 possesses even several private establishments, 

 in each of which there are more mechanical 

 appliances than are possessed by our whole 

 country." Entertaining such opinions, lie 

 recommends the enlargement of the yards at 

 Charlestown and Brooklyn, the rebuilding of 

 those at Norfolk and Pensacola, the comple- 

 tion of that of Mare Island, and the transfer of 

 that at Philadelphia to League Island. Con- 

 gress, however, has taken no measures to carry 

 out these suggestions, and the outbreak of a new 

 war, a few years hence, would find the coun- 

 try as inadequately supplied with proper navy 

 yards and facilities for building or repairing 

 ships as at the commencement of 1861. 



The Naval Academy, which in 1861 was 

 temporarily removed from Annapolis, Md., to 

 Newport, E. I., was in September, 1865, re- 

 stored to its quarters in the former place, and 

 at the close of the year contained four hundred 

 and fifty-one midshipmen. In October Admi- 

 ral Porter succeeded Commodore Blake as 

 superintendent. The present buildings, designed 

 originally for one hundred and eighty midship- 

 men, being wholly inadequate to accommodate 

 the large number of pupils, additional buildings 

 and grounds are imperatively needed. The cost 

 of these is estimated by the late superintendent 

 at $800,000. The Secretary of the Navy, in view 

 of the temptations thrown in the way of students 

 by the location of the school in the midst of a 

 large town, recommends some other site on Ches- 

 apeake Bay. The report of the board of visitors 

 for 1864 shows that many of the boys entering 

 the school have neither the mental nor physical 

 qualities to fit them for the naval service, and 



