502 



NAVY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Eoanoke, and proceed southward, having in 

 charge our interests on the Mexican and Central 

 American coasts, and in the West Indian Islands. 



" The East India, Mediterranean, Brazil, and 

 African squadrons, excepting one vessel of 

 each of the two latter, have been recalled. 



"The return of these vessels will add to the 

 force for service in the Gulf and on the Atlan- 

 tic coast, about 200 guns and 2,500 men." 



He also stated in his report that 259 officers 

 of the navy had resigned their commissions, or 

 been dismissed from the service, since the 4th 

 of March ; for which reason many of the ves- 

 sels were necessarily sent to sea without a full 

 complement of officers. Many, however, who 

 had retired to civil pursuits, had promptly come 

 forward in this time of their country's need, 

 and voluntarily tendered their services, while 

 many masters and masters' mates were also 

 appointed from the commercial marine. So 

 promptly did seamen present themselves at the 

 naval rendezvous of all the principal seaports. 

 under the authorized increase and abbreviated 



term of enlistment, that only one or two ships 

 experienced any detention for want of a crew, 

 and none beyond two or three days. Never, 

 as the Secretary states, has the naval force had 

 so great and rapid an increase, and never have 

 our seamen come forward with more alacrity 

 and zeal to serve the country. 



In the need of a substantial class of vessels 

 suitable for performing continuous duty off the 

 coast in all weathers, the department contracted 

 for the building of 23 steam gunboats, each of 

 about 500 tons burden, and made preliminary 

 arrangements for several larger and fleeter ves- 

 sels, in addition to taking measures for carry- 

 ing out the order of Congress of the preceding 

 session for the construction of T sloops of war, 

 with the addition of one more. At each of 

 the Northern navy yards, Portsmouth, Boston, 

 New York, and Philadelphia, two of this last 

 class were directed to be built. 



The following table comprises a summary of 

 the vessels purchased for naval service during 

 the year 1861 : 



Of side-wheel steamers, 9 were first-class 

 steamships, all of them costing from $85,000 to 

 $200,000 each, except one, the Alabama, which 

 was bought for $23,000. Among the steamers 

 were 18 ferry-boats and tug-boats, the former 

 purchased from the Brooklyn and New Jersey 

 companies. The Navy Department also pur- 

 chased, after August 13th, a large number of 

 old vesesls, for the purpose of loading them 

 with stone and sinking them at the entrance 

 of the ports of the Confederate States. These 

 consisted of 20 ships, 22 schooners, 16 barks, 

 and 1 brig, and their total cost was $160,205. 

 A considerable number of vessels, mostly large 

 steamers, were also chartered for the use of 

 the navy, for which, between the middle of 

 April and the middle of September, the depart- 

 ment paid the sum of $39,305 05. 



The armed vessels were almost exclusively 

 ordered, on entering into the service, to pro- 

 ceed to the Southern ports, for the purpose of 

 enforcing their blockade, and the result of their 

 operations is shown in the following summary 

 of vessels, captured and destroyed from April 

 23 to November 15. These are 7 ships, 12 

 barks, 9 brigs, 115 schooners, 8 sloops, and 7 

 miscellaneous, the last including the steamer 

 Salvor, loaded with arms, from Havana, and 

 bound to Tampa Bay. Most of these vessels 

 contained valuable cargoes, and three of them 



* One schooner named the Chotauk, formerly tho priva- 

 teer Savannah, prize to the Perry, was purchased at mar- 

 shal's sale for $1,250. 



were privateers. A few were recaptured prizes, 

 and were restored to their owners. The table 

 on the next page presents a list of the vessels 

 constructed at the navy yards, and contracted 

 for the navy during the year 1861. 



Iron-clad Vessels. At the close of the fol- 

 lowing table three vessels are introduced, be- 

 longing to a new class of war steamers. The 

 year 1861 will always be famous in naval his- 

 tory for the material change then first fairly 

 established in the construction of vessels of 

 war, by rendering them as nearly impenetrable 

 as possible to the heaviest shot, by means of a 

 coating of iron plates. The superiority of a 

 few guns of the heaviest calibre to the large 

 batteries of the older ships was then first gen- 

 erally appreciated, and the whole system of 

 ship-building in the navies of France and Eng- 

 land, as also of some of the minor naval pow- 

 ers of Europe, underwent a more complete 

 change than had followed the introduction of 

 steam. The building of wooden vessels was 

 entirely abandoned, except in some special 

 cases where they were to be covered with 

 plates of iron, and the day of old wooden 

 frigates and line-of-battle ships was looked upon 

 as having passed. But steam floating-batteries 

 were then no new invention. They were re- 

 commended as long ago as 1813 by Robert Ful- 

 ton, and one was built for the U. S. Govern- 

 ment after his plans, and completed soon after 

 the close of the war with Great Britain. An 

 account of this and of other steam-batteries 



