NAVY 



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NAVY 



The Modern Navy. The navies of the Great 

 Powers are the result of centuries of study and 

 experience. They contain the most perfect in- 

 struments of warfare and the most highly trained 

 bodies of men of any organizations in the world. 

 The greatest development has occurred since 

 the War of Secession, and the first step in this 

 development was the introduction of the iron- 

 clad warship, the first battle between vessels of 

 pe being fought in Hampton Roads, Va., 

 March 9, 1862 (soo MONITOR AND MERRIMAC). 

 After this battle all naval powers began to con- 

 struct armored warships, and the progress since 

 the adoption of this type of vessel has con- 

 sisted chiefly in making larger and stronger 

 ships and in perfecting the ordnance which con- 

 stitutes their armament. This includes increas- 

 ing the size of the guns and the perfecting of 

 the machinery for operating them. The most 

 powerful battleships of the dreadnaught type 

 now carry 16-inch guns that will throw a shell 

 weighing nearly a ton sixteen miles. The fol- 

 lowing comparison affords a good illustration 

 of the progress in naval construction and equip- 

 ment. One of the most noted naval battles in 

 American history was the Battle of Lake Erie 

 in the War of 1812, in which Commodore O. H. 

 Perry destroyed the British fleet under Com- 

 modore Barclay. "The combined broadsides," 

 says a naval authority, "of all Perry's fleet on 

 Lake Erie scarcely weighed as much as a single 

 shell from one of our big turret guns." 



Battleship. For a full description of battle- 

 ships the reader is referred to the article WAR- 

 SHIP. This article deals with battleships only so 

 far as is necessary to an understanding of the 

 different classes of ships that constitute a mod- 

 ern navy. The big-gun ships upon which the 

 navy chiefly relies in battle are of two classes 

 battleships of the first class or dreadnaughts and 



<irtad naught battli 

 The pre-dreadnaughta differ from the dread- 

 naughts chiefly in their armament. Instead of 

 carrying all big guns and torpedo defense guns, 

 tluv carry ^onie big guns and some smaller 

 guns. Next to the pre-dreadnaughts come the 

 armored cruisers, which are faster and carry less 

 armor anil smaller guns. The light cruiser is a 

 fast ship; it is used for scouting purposes, and 

 in war, for destroying commerce. Following 

 the classes described come torpedo boats, de- 

 stroyers, transports, colliers, hospital ships and 

 supply ships, -the ships of each class having 

 their special work, and all classes being neces- 

 sary to a completely developed navy. 



Personnel. The strength of a navy is usually 

 rated according to its number of ships of dif- 

 ferent classes and the number and size of its 

 guns. But such estimates are often at fault, 

 because they do not take into consideration "the 

 man behind the gun." As we have already Re- 

 marked, the men of the navy are the most 

 highly trained body of men in their country's 

 service, but the training in some navies is much 

 better than that in others, and ships with an 

 inferior armament often disable or destroy ships 

 of a heavier armament, because the inferior 

 guns are operated by better marksmen. A 

 good illustration of this fact is seen in the de- 

 struction of the Spanish fleet off Santiago, Cuba, 

 in the Spanish-American War. The marksman- 

 ship of the Spanish gunners was so poor that 

 practically no damage was done to the Ameri- 

 can ships, while nearly every shot from the 

 American ships was effective. The best of ar- 

 maments in the hands of unskilled men is prac- 

 tically useless. For this reason each naval power 

 tries to raise the men of its navy to the highest 

 degree of efficiency. See NAVAL SCHOOLS OF IN- 

 STRUCTION, page 4093. 



Navy of the United States 



Early History. The navy of the United 

 States came into existence in 1775, at the be- 

 ginning of the Revolutionary War, and con- 

 sisted of a few small vessels armed and manned 

 by New England seamen. Its first service con- 

 sisted in blockading the port of Boston and 

 capturing a number of British ships. A naval 

 commission was appointed ' by Congress the 

 same year, and the government immediately 

 began the construction of ships of war. At the 

 close of the Revolution, the American navy 

 consisted of sixty-four vessels carrying 1,242 

 guns, besides nearly 800 privateers. The ships 



built by the colonies were the equal of any war- 

 ships of the time. After the Revolution the 

 navy was allowed to decline, but interest in it 

 was revived in 1794, and the construction of 

 several men-of-war was ordered. Among these 

 was the Constitution which became one of the 

 most famous of American ships (see CONSTI- 

 TUTION, THE). 



In the commerce war with France and the 

 war with the Barbary pirates, the navy won the 

 favorable recognition of European nations and 

 gained for the new republic considerable dis- 

 tinction. Nevertheless Congress again returned 



