NAVY, UNITED STATES. 



535 



bel and David McDougal. The European 

 Station was commanded by Kear-Admiral 

 Charles S. Boggs, whose fleet consisted of the 

 Brooklyn, the Plymouth, the Guerriere, the 

 Wachusett, the Shenandoah, the Juniata, the 

 "Wabash, and the Congress, eight ships, with 

 139 guns. On the Asiatic Station were the 

 Colorado, the Benicia, the Ashuelot, the Alas- 

 ka, the Monocacy, the Idaho, the Palos, the 

 Saco, and the Iroquois, nine vessels, with 97 

 guns, under the command of Kear-Admiral 

 John Eodgers. 



There were, at the same date, 1,424 com- 

 missioned and 188 warrant officers on the 

 active list, of whom 687 commissioned and 

 92 warrant were on duty at sea, 484 commis- 

 sioned and 68 warrant on duty ashore, 202 com- 

 missioned and 26 warrant waiting orders, and 

 unemployed, 25 commissioned and one war- 

 rant on leave of absence, and 26 commissioned 

 and 8 warrant on sick-leave. There was one 

 admiral, David D. Porter, who was on special 

 duty at Washington ; one vice-admiral, Stephen 

 C. Eowan, also on special duty ; 12 rear-ad- 

 mirals, those not mentioned above as com- 

 manding fleets being L. M. Goldsborough, 

 commandant of the navy-yard at Washington ; 

 Charles H. Davis, commandant of the navy- 

 yard at Norfolk ; Thornton A. Jenks, Secretary 

 of the Light-house Board ; William Eodgers 

 Taylor, President of the Board for witnessing 

 the examination of officers under instruction 

 in the manufacture and use of torpedoes ; and 

 James Alden, sent out in January, 1872, to 

 take command of the European Squadron in 

 place of Bear- Admiral Boggs, recalled to the 

 United States. The number of commodores 

 on the list was 25, captains 50, commanders 

 90, lieutenant-commanders 164, lieutenants 

 135, masters 150, ensigns 69, midshipmen 114. 

 The grades of admiral and vice-admiral will 

 lapse with the death or retirement of the pres- 

 ent incumbents, and it is in contemplation to 

 abolish the rank of commodore also. Accord- 

 ing to an act of Congress passed in March last, 

 the staff-officers are hereafter to rank with 

 those of the line. The medical corps consists 

 of 15 directors with the rank of captain, 15 

 inspectors ranking as commanders, and 50 

 surgeons with the rank of lieutenant-command- 

 ers. The pay corps consists of 13 directors 

 with the rank of captains, 13 inspectors with 

 the rank of commanders, and 50 paymasters 

 ranking as lieutenant-commanders. Ten chief- 

 engineers also rank as captains, 15 as com- 

 manders, and 45 as lieutenant-commanders, 

 while first-assistant engineers have the rela- 

 tive rank of lieutenants or masters, and second- 

 assistants that of masters or ensigns. Of the 

 naval constructors, three have the rank of 

 captain, two of commander, and the others of 

 lieutenant -commander or lieutenant, while 

 assistant-constructors have the rank of lien- 

 tenant. Of the chaplains, four have the rank 

 of captain, seven of commander, and not more 

 than seven of lieutenant-commander or lieu- 



tenant. Three Professors of Mathematics are 

 to rank as captains, four as commanders, and 

 four as lieutenant-commanders. 



The expense of the Navy Department for 

 the last fiscal year was $19,265,240.52; the 

 appropriations for the current year amount to 

 $20,964,717.25, and the estimates for the year 

 ending June 30, 1873, fix the general expenses 

 at $19,925,507.02, as follows : 



Pay of officers and seamen of the Navy $6,500,000 00 



Current repairs of buildings, docks, and in- 

 cidental expenses in navy-yards, etc 1,046,000 00 



Pay of civil establishment in navy-yards, hoa- 



pitals, etc 388,78600 



Ordnance and Torpedo Corps 1,142,942 00 



Coal, hemp, and equipments 1,500,0 00 



Navigation, navigation supplies, etc 137,000 00 



Hydrographic work 28,500 00 



Naval Observatory, Nautical Almanac, etc ... 65,900 00 



Repairs and preservation of vessels 3,300,000 00 



Steam-machinery, tools, etc 1,650,000 00 



Provisions 1,587,600 00 



Repairs of hospitals and laboratories 25,000 00 



Surgeons' necessaries 50,000 00 



Contingent expenses of various Departments 



and Bureaus 1,307,000 00 



Naval Academy 193,408 25 



Support of Marine Corps 1,049,652 70 



Deficiencies of Marine Corps 3,718 07 



$19,925,507 02 



Besides this amount, $507,200 will be re- 

 quired for permanent improvements at the 

 navy-yards and stations. 



The operations of the Navy during the year 

 have been generally of the most peaceful char- 

 acter. Sixteen officers and 220 men have been 

 employed in the Coast Survey, and several 

 special expeditions have been on foot. 



A survey of the Isthmus of Darien, for the 

 purpose of ascertaining, if possible, a practica- 

 ble route for a ship-canal between the Atlantic 

 and Pacific Oceans, was begun under the direc- 

 tion of Commander Thos. 0. Selfridge in 1870. 

 Before the work of the party was interrupted by 

 the rainy season of that year, three routes had 

 been explored and found impracticable. These 

 were: 1. The Darien route, which, starting 

 from Caledonia Bay, proceeds to the headwa- 

 ters of the Sucubiti Eiver, following that river 

 to its junction with the Chucunaqui, thence 

 goes westwardly, across the " divide," to the 

 confluence of the Lara and Savanna Rivers, 

 and down the Savanna to the Pacific Ocean. 

 2. The Sassardi route, which, leading from 

 Sassardi Harbor, at the northerly extremity 

 of Caledonia Bay, up the Sassardi Eiver to the 

 dividing ridge, moves thence to the river Mor- 

 ti, a tributary of .the Chucunaqui, and thence, 

 by the Morti, Chucunaqui, and Savanna, to the 

 Pacific. 3. The route of San Bias, which, 

 starting from the gulf of that name, passes 

 through the valleys of the Mandinga and Mar- 

 mom Eivers, to the junction of the latter with 

 the river Bayamo, or Chepo, and thence 

 twelve miles by that river to the Pacific. (For 

 further details of the Isthmus route, see the re- 

 port of Commander Selfridge, on page 123.) 



A survey of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec 

 has also been made for the purpose of ascer- 

 taining whether a ship-canal could be con- 

 structed there. The expedition was under the 



