560 NAVY, UNITED STATES. 



COMPARATIVE STATEMENT OF THE NAVY, DECEMBER, 863 AND 1864 



i! 



671 



r >ss 



83 

 26 



101) 



DESCRIPTION. 



No. of 



guns. 



No. of 



ton*. 



Total navy, December, 1864. 

 l navy, December, 1863. 



4,610 

 4,443 



Actual increase for the year 



26 Total losses by shipwreck, in battle, capture, &c., during the year. 



167 

 146 



Actual addition to the navy from December, 1863, to December, 1864. 



312 



510,396 

 467,067 



42,429 

 13,084 



55,513 



VESSELS CONSTRUCTED FOR THE NAVY SINCE MARCH 4iH, 1861. 



DESCRIPTION. 



gf 



7 Screw slooops, Ammonoosuc class, 17 to 19 guns, 3,213 to 3,713 tons each 121 



llScrew sloop Idaho, 8 guns, and 2,638 tons. 8 2,638 



8 Screw sloops, spar deck, Java class, 25 guns, and 3,177 tons each 200 25,416 



2 Screw sloops, spar deck, Hassalo class, 55 guns, and 8,365 tons each 50 6,730 



10;Screw sloops, clippers, single deck, Contoocook class, 13 guns, and 2,348 tons each 130 23,480 



4 Screw sloops, Kearsarge class, 8 to 12 guns, and averaging 1.023 tons each 40 4,092 



6 Screw sloops, Shenandoah class, 8 to 16 guns, and 1,867 to 1,533 tons each. 74 8,584 



2'Screw sloops, Ossipce class, 10 to 18 guns, and 1,240 guns each 28 2.480 



8, Screw sloops, Serapis class, 12 guns, and 1,380 tons each 96 1:^040 



4'Screw sloops, Resaca class, 8 guns, and 831 to 900 tons each 82 3,462 



8|Screw sloops, Nipsic class, 7 to 12 guns, and 593 tons each , 71 4,744 



23,Screw gunboats, Unadilla class, 4 to 7 guns, and 507 tons each , 123 11,661 



9|Screw tugs, Pinta class, 2 guns, and 850 tons each 18 8,150 



2!Screw tugs, Pilgrim class, 2 guns, and 170 tons each 4 840 



13; Paddle-wheel steamers, double-enders, Octorara class, 7 to 11 guns, and 730 to 955 tons each. 98 11,024 



26 Paddle-wheel steamers, doubje-cnders, Sassacus class, 10 to 14 guns, and 974 tons each 272 25,324 



7 Paddle-wheel steamers, of iron, double-enders, Mohongo class, 10 guns, and 1,030 tons each 70 7,210 



1 Paddle-wheel steamer, of iron, double-ender, Wateree, 12 guns, and 974 tons 12 974 



141 1,442 175,986 



IBON-CLAD VESSELS. 



2 Sea-sroing casemated vessels, Dunderberg and New Ironsides 28 8,576 



3 Sea-going turret vessels, Puritan, Dictator, and Roanoke 12 9.733 



4 Double turret vessels, Kalamazoo class, 4 guns, and 3.200 tons each 16 12 800 



4 Double turret vessels, Monadnock class, 4 guns, and 1,564 tons each 16 6 258 



1 Double turret vessel, Onondaga, 4 guns, and 1,250 tons 4 1,250 



4 Double turret vessels, "Winnebago class, 4 guns, and 970 tons each 16 8,8SO 



8 Single turret vessels, Canonlcus class, 2 guns, and 1,034 tons each 16 8,272 



9 Single turret vessels, Passaic class, 2 to 4 guns, and 844 tons each 21 7,596', 



20 Single turret vessels, Yazoo class, 1 to 2 guns, and 614 tons each 85 12,280 



2 Single turret vessels, Sandusky and Marietta, 2 guns each 4 953 



3 Single turret vessels, Ozark, Neosho, and Osage, 2 to 7 guns each. 13 1,624 



2 ; Casemated vessels, Tuscumbia and Chillicothe, 5 and 3 guns respectively 8 768 



62 189 | 73,088 



Total 1,631 I 249,974 



Tonnage. 



In its iron-clads the department has experi- 

 mented by the construction of different classes 

 and sizes, both in wood and iron, propelled by 

 one screw and by two screws working independ- 

 ently of each other. In its most recent construc- 

 tions of the Hiantonomah class, a wooden vessel 

 with Ericsson turrets, a high rate of speed, per- 

 fect ventilation, impregnability, and the enor- 

 mous battery of four 15-inch guns, have been 

 combined in a vessel of 1,564 tons, and drawing 

 only twelve feet of water. These vessels are 

 free from the disadvantage of fouling, which so 

 greatly reduces the speed of iron ones. 



In the steam vessels nearly every variety and 

 type of engine, of valve gear, of rate of expan- 

 sion, of surface condenser, of screw propeller, 

 and of boilers, have been thoroughly tested. 



A very extensive series of important experi- 

 ments has been instituted by the department. 

 Nearly all the kinds of coal of the seaboard 

 States have been the subject of careful experi- 

 ment, with a view to ascertain their compara- 



tive value for naval purposes. Petroleum haa 

 also been tested as a substitute for coal in 

 naval steamers. As opinion appears to have 

 settled upon the horizontal and the vertical 

 tubular boilers as the only ones proper for na- 

 val service, the department has had one of each 

 kind manufactured for the purpose of accurate 

 experiments, to determine their respective mer- 

 its. These are now in progress. A commis- 

 sion of nine persons eminent in physical sci- 

 ence has been appointed to devise the proper 

 apparatus, and make the necessary experiments 

 therewith, to ascertain by practical results the 

 economy of using steam with different degrees 

 of expansion. 



A school for boys has been established on 

 board the old frigate Sabine. It is, with some 

 modifications, a revival of the apprentice sys- 

 tem in existence some years ago. Measures 

 have also been taken to carry into effect an act 

 of Congress of 1863-'4, which authorizes the 

 education at the Naval Academy of cadet en- 



