SAVY, UNITED STATES. 



55'J 



port captured, and here blockade running was 

 more successful than at any other. For various 

 causes Cape Fear River is more difficult to 

 blockade than any port on the coast of the 

 United States. The two main entrances are 

 forty miles apart, and these two are subdivided 

 into several others, each of which affords an 

 entrance to vessels. The water shoals gradu- 

 ally and regularly to the shore-line, and numer- 

 ous isolated batteries are erected along the 

 coast ; so that a blockade runner of light draft 

 is not under the necessity of making directly 

 for the entrance, but can, by the lead, run 

 close under the land protected by the batteries, 

 and pass in over the bar at leisure. When 

 coming out a steamer will select her own time, 

 thus securing every advantage ; and she can 

 pass either up or down the coast before mak- 

 ing an offing, or she may proceed straight out 

 to sea, trusting for her escape to the night and 

 favoring darkness and mists, and the fact that 

 she is under full speed, whilst the steamers 

 blockading must have low steam. Almost 

 every vessel employed in violating the blockade 

 vas constructed in England with great skill, 

 ; egardless of cost and with sole reference to 

 this object. They derived great advantages 

 by having depots of supplies at Halifax, Ber- 

 muda, and Nassau. 



At "Wilmington alone, however, sixty-five 

 steamers, the aggregate value of which, with 

 their cargoes, scarcely falls short of thirteen 

 millions of dollars, were captured or destroyed 

 in endeavoring to enter or escape. 



On the interior rivers of the country the 

 department also early commenced to put afloat 

 a large fleet. It comprised more than one 

 hundred vessels. They were to a great extent 

 boats that had been employed in the carrying 

 trade, but which were purchased, strengthened, 

 and fitted for war purposes. They were neces- 

 sarily inferior to naval built vessels in strength, 

 lightly armed, and more liable to disaster. 

 To insure a systematic and vigorous execution 

 of the duties devolving upon this squadron, the 

 waters traversed by it were divided into ten 

 naval districts, each under the command of an 

 experienced naval officer. The vessels in each 

 district had their appropriate field of duty, but 

 at the same time they were held ready to sup- 

 port each other when occasion required, and 

 could be readily concentrated upon any emer- 

 gency. The principal rivers thus traversed 

 were the Mississippi, lower Ohio, Cumberland, 

 and Tennessee. The effect of their operations 

 on the Mississippi has been to break up the com- 

 binations of the enemy, and sever their organi- 

 zations. On the other rivers, peaceful citizens 

 have been protected and partisan bands dis- 

 persed. 



The tabular statement on p. 560 exhibits the 

 number and description of vessels that have 

 been constructed, or put in the course of con- 

 struction, for the navy since the institution of 

 active measures for the suppression of the re- 

 bellion. Some of them have been built by 



contract; others by the Government, in the 

 several navy yards. If there is added to the 

 number those constructed under similar circum- 

 stances, and within the same period, that have 

 been lost by shipwreck, in battle, &c., viz. : the 

 sloops Housatonic and Adirondack, and the 

 iron-clads Monitor, AVeehawken, Keokuk, In- 

 dianola, and Tecumseh, the aggregate would 

 be 210 vessels, 1,675 guns, and 206,755 tons. 



Picket-boats, and small craft built for espe- 

 cial purposes, are not embraced in this state- 

 ment. 



Various classes of vessels have been con- 

 structed to meet the peculiar exigencies of the 

 service. A class of small heavily-armed pro- 

 pellers was needed at the outset, and twenty- 

 three were constructed as gunboats, after the 

 type of the Unadilla, Penola, and "Wissahickon. 

 They maintained a good reputation to the close 

 of the war. They were well adapted for guard- 

 ing the coast. A Mrger description was needed 

 for ocean service, &i.d four vessels of the class 

 of the Ossipee, mounting each two guns of 

 eleven inch, were built. There were also four 

 vessels of slightly less tonnage constructed, 

 carrying the same armament of which the 

 Kearsarge is a type. The Shenandoah is a type 

 of six vessels mounting each three eleven-inch 

 guns, all of which sustain a high reputation. 

 The heavy guns mentioned constitute the prin- 

 cipal armament of the several classes named, 

 but they each have in addition from two to six 

 guns of less calibre. All of these vessels ara 

 screw steamers, suitable for sea cruising; but 

 the shallow sounds and bays, the rivers and 

 bayous, often narrow and tortuous, required a 

 different class drawing less water. To turn in 

 these frequently restricted channels is difficult, 

 and sometimes impossible ; the necessities of the 

 case, therefore, suggested the principle of a 

 fighting vessel with a double bow and a rudder 

 at each end. TAvelve paddle-wheel steamers 

 of this class, of which the Port Koyal and 

 Sonoma are types, were constructed. Others 

 of the same class were the Sassacus, distin- 

 guished in the attack on the ram in Albemarle 

 Sound, and the Metacomet, conspicuous in Mo- 

 bile Bay. One of this class was sent round 

 Cape Horn to San Francisco, where she is on 

 duty. 



Of the monitor class of vessels only two, 

 the Dictator and Puritan, are proposed for sea- 

 service. Four turreted vessels have been built 

 of wood and cased with iron, thus differing 

 from the original monitors, which are exclu- 

 sively of iron. One of them, the Monadnock, 

 has performed her trips from Boston to Hamp- 

 ton Roads with entire satisfaction. Her draught 

 of water is twelve feet, and with two inde- 

 pendent screws she has a speed of ten knots. 

 Four other similar vessels of a still more for- 

 midable and invulnerable character are build- 

 ing. The only other sea-going iron-clad ships 

 besides the two turreted vessels above men- 

 tioned, are the New Ironsides and the D'mder- 

 berg, a casemate vessel. 



