530 



NAVY, UNITED STATES. 



The navigable waters of the globe, embracing 

 an area of over 140,000,000 square miles, are 

 divided, for the purposes of the operations of 

 the navy, into five cruising stations, the limits 

 of which are given in the CYCLOPAEDIA for 

 1869. The force on the North Atlantic Sta- 

 tion is under the command of Hear -Admiral S. 

 P. Lee, who relieved Bear- Admiral 0. H. Poor 

 on the 16th of August, 1870. It consists of the 

 Severn, the Congress, the Tuscarora, the Swa- 

 tara, the Nantasket, the Yantic, the Kansas, 

 and the Nipsic, with the tug Pilgrim, and the 

 iron-clads Dictator, Terror, Ajax, and Saugus, 

 and the Pawnee as a hospital-ship, making in 

 all 14 ships carrying 79 guns. The principal 

 headquarters of this fleet is at Key West, se- 

 lected as the most convenient within six hours' 

 sail of Havana, and in direct telegraphic com- 

 munication with Washington. Of this fleet, 

 the four monitors with the hospital-ship and 

 tug cannot be considered as cruisers, the latter 

 being stationed permanently at headquarters, 

 while the former are kept ready for emergen- 

 cies. The steamers Nipsic and Kansas are en- 

 gaged in special service connected with the 

 surveys of the Darien and Tehuantepec routes. 

 The Yantic, from April to July, was engaged 

 in making soundings in the waters of the West 

 Indies, in the interest of submarine cable com- 

 munication. The vessels of this fleet have 

 been largely engaged in cruising among the 

 West-India Islands, especially in the neighbor- 

 hood of San Domingo, to the government of 

 which republic the United States had extended 

 its protection under the terms of the pending 

 treaty of annexation. The waters of Cuba also, 

 owing to the civil war waging there, have de- 

 manded the constant presence of a portion of 

 the fleet. The waters of these islands embrace 

 an area of 600,000 square miles. The island 

 of San Domingo has a coast-line of over 1,100 

 miles, while that of Cuba exceeds 1,600. The 

 fleet in the South Atlantic Station is under the 

 command of Eear-Admiral Lanman, and con- 

 sists of only four ships, the Lancaster, the 

 Portsmouth, the Wasp, and the Narragansett, 

 mounting 41 guns. Owing to the disturbed 

 condition of affairs in Uruguay and the Argen- 

 tine Republic, the flag-ship and the commander 

 of the fleet have most of the time remained at 

 Montevideo. 



The fleet on the Pacific Station is under the 

 command of Rear- Admiral John A. Winslow, 

 who relieved Rear- Admiral Turner on the 9th 

 of September, and is divided into two squad- 

 rons, the North and the South Pacific, under 

 the immediate command respectively of Com- 

 modore William R. Taylor and David Mc- 

 Dougal. The first of these squadrons consists 

 of seven ships, the Pensacola, Saranac, St. 

 Mary's, Cyane, Nyack, Saginaw, and California, 

 carrying 88 guns. The second consists of five 

 -ships, the Jamestown, Ossipee, Resaca, On- 

 ward, and Mohican, carrying 40 guns. The 

 coast-line of the United States on this station, 

 including that of Alaska, is over 4,000 miles in 



extent, and the duties and responsibilities of 

 this fleet are of great variety and importance. 

 Besides a genuine protectorate of the persons 

 and property of the missionaries, citizens, and 

 traders, scattered on the coasts, and in the sea- 

 ports of South America and the Isthmus, and 

 among the islands of the Pacific, they include 

 a supervision of the interests of the Govern- 

 ment and people in the whaling and seal fish- 

 eries of the North, and of the commercial rela- 

 tions of the country with the islands and with 

 the East. The Saginaw has been engaged at 

 the Midway Islands in the operations there 

 carried on for the deepening of the channel at 

 the entrance of the harbor. The Mohican, 

 Commander Low, destroyed the pirate For- 

 ward, near Mazatlan, Mexico. This vessel, for- 

 merly a gunboat in the British Navy, sailed 

 from San Francisco in the early part of the 

 summer for the coast of Mexico, ostensibly to 

 engage in the oyster and fishing trade. Soon 

 after her arrival upon the coast, she was seized 

 by an armed party professing to act under the 

 order of a Mexican named Placido Vega, who 

 was formerly Governor of Sinaloa, but at the 

 time held no official position, nor had he issued 

 any pronunciamiento. A raid was made by 

 this party on Guaymas and much property was 

 seized by forced contributions from foreign 

 merchants, and an attempt was made to cap- 

 ture a conducta crossing from the interior to 

 the coast, but it was unsuccessful. The party 

 also had orders to attack La Paz and levy a 

 contribution. Trade was paralyzed on the 

 coast in consequence of these acts, and it was 

 commonly believed that these freebooters in- 

 tended to capture, if possible, one of the Pana- 

 ma steamers, and the Continental, belonging 

 to the North Pacific Transportation Company, 

 for the sake of plunder. Under these circum- 

 stances, Commander Low resolved to destroy 

 the Forward as a pirate. She was accordingly 

 surprised by boats from the Mohican while she 

 was aground in the Teacapan River and burnt, 

 and six of her crew captured and turned 

 over to the Mexican authorities. While en- 

 gaged in destroying her, Ensign Wainwright 

 and one man were killed, and six wounded. 



The fleet on the European Station is under 

 the command of Rear-Admiral Glisson, who 

 relieved Rear-Admiral Radford on the 10th 

 of August, and consists of the Franklin, Brook- 

 lyn, Richmond, Plymouth, Shenandoah, Ju- 

 niata, Saco, and Guerriere, carrying in all 129 

 guns. On the Asiatic Station the fleet is under 

 the command of Rear- Admiral John Rodgers, 

 who relieved Rear-Admiral Rowan on the 

 20th of August, and consists of the Colorado, 

 Benicia, Alaska, Ashuelot, Monocacy, Palo?, 

 and the Idaho (store-ship), carrying in all 88 

 guns. The Palos is a small steamer of 306 

 tons, and was fitted and armed for cruising in 

 the rivers of China. She joined the fleet during 

 the year, and made the passage from Boston 

 to Singapore, via the Suez Canal, in 73 sailing 

 days. She passed through the canal in 17 



