CHAPTER II 



Overwhelming naval supremacy of England when Ameri 

 ca declared war against her Race identity of the com 

 batants The American navy at the beginning of the 

 W ar Officers well trained Causes tending to make our 

 seamen especially efficient Close similarity between 

 the British and American sailors Our ships manned 

 chiefly by native Americans, many of whom had for 

 merly oeen impressed into the British navy Quotas of 

 seamen contributed by the different States Navy yards 

 Lists of officers and men List of vessels Tonnage 

 Different ways of estimating it in Britain and America 

 Ratings American ships properly rated Arma 

 ments of the frigates and corvettes Three styles of 

 guns used Difference between long guns and carron- 

 ades Short weight of American shot Comparison of 

 British frigates rating 38, and American frigates rating 

 44 guns Compared with a 74 



DURING the early years of this century Eng 

 land's naval power stood at a height never 

 reached before or since by that of any other nation. 

 On every sea her navies rode, not only triumphant, 

 but with none to dispute their sway. The island folk 

 had long claimed the mastery of the ocean, and they 

 had certainly succeeded in making their claim com 

 pletely good during the time of bloody warfare that 

 followed the breaking out of the French Revolu 

 tion. Since the year 1792 each European nation, in 

 turn, had learned to feel bitter dread of the weight 

 of England's hand. In the Baltic, Sir Samuel Hood 

 (so) 



