NAVY 



4097 



NAVY 



to its policy of neglect and at the close of Jef- 

 ferson's administration the country was prac- 

 tically defenseless against a sea power. The 

 approaching trouble with Great Britain caused 

 renewed interest in providing the country with 

 sea power, and during the War of 1812 the navy 

 won world-wide distinction, owing chiefly to the 

 superior skill of the gunners. 



The War of Secession. Between 1815 and 

 1860 steam power replaced sails on all the im- 

 portant warships and the screw propeller finally 

 replaced the paddle wheel. There was also im- 

 provement in ordnance and other equipment. 

 At the beginning of the War of Secession the 

 navy comprised ninety vessels, only forty-two 

 of which were of service. The personnel con- 

 1 of 1,457 officers and 7,600 men. At the 

 close of the war it included 7,500 officers and 

 51,500 men; 208 additional vessels were con- 

 structed and 418 were purchased. The devel- 

 opment during this war which revolutionized 

 naval construction was that of the ironclad ship 

 of the Monitor type. The invention of the 

 Dahlgren gun was likewise a great step in ad- 

 vance in armament. During the war the navy 

 maintained an efficient blockade along 3,000 

 miles of coast, and captured or destroyed over 

 1,500 Confederate and British vessels. 



The Navy of To-Day. The resources of the 

 country were so nearly exhausted by the War 

 of Secession that for a number of years the 

 navy was neglected, and in 1881 it had only 

 thirteen vessels of the first rating and these were 

 constructed of wood. It had four ironclad 

 ships of the third rate and a few Monitors, so 

 from a naval point of view the country 

 was defenseless. This year the Secretary of tin- 

 Navy secured an appropriation for the construc- 

 tion of a number of armored battleships, and 

 since that date the plan to add two or more 

 ; s each year, with the required num- 

 ber of auxiliary ships, has been practically fol- 

 lowed, though the appropriations made by each 

 Congress have varied in amount. In the Span- 

 can War the navy rendered such effi- 

 cient service as to win the commendation of 

 all nations, and since the close of that conflict 

 it has been greatly strengthened by the addi- 

 tion of seventeen ships of the dreadnaught type.. 

 of these the Pennsylvania and the Ari- 

 zona at the time of their completion were the 

 most powerful battleships in the world. In ad- 

 u to thp dreadnaughts there were, January 

 1. 1919, thirty-one pre-dreadnaughts which ex- 

 perts claim were superior to any ships of thr 

 same class in the navies of Europe. The dread- 



257 



naughts and pre-dreadnaughts are named after 

 the states. 



In August, 1916, Congress made an appropria- 

 tion of nearly $453,500,000 for the construction 

 of 156 naval vessels and one coast defense sub- 

 marine, all to be undertaken before July 1, 1919. 



NAVAL GUNS 



Since 1914 Information regarding navy building 

 has been a matter requiring secrecy In every 

 European country. In August, 1914. the follow- 

 ing facts regarding the range and destructiveness 

 of guns were known : 



(a) 12-inch English, wire-wound gun: projec- 

 tile weighs 850 Ibs. ; 47,000 foot-tons energy at 

 muzzle; penetrates 11% inches Krupp steel at 

 3,000 yards (nearly two miles). 



(b) 12-inch English, wire- wound gun; projec- 

 tile weighs 850 Ibs. ; 62,000 foot-tons 

 muzzle; penetrates 9 inches Krupp steel at 10,000 



(about six mil 



(c) IS. 5-Inch English, wire-wound gun: projec- 

 tile weighs 1.250 Ibs.; 57.000 ' y at 

 iinr/.'.lo : poii-t r;it< -s 11 Inches Krupp steel ;it 3.000 

 yards (nearly two miles). 



(d) 11-inch German, Krupp grun : project Ho 

 hs 760 Ibs. ; 42.600 foot-t< v at muz- 

 zle; penetrates 11 inches at 9,000 yards (about 

 six mi 



() 12-Inch German, Krupp gun; pr- 

 weighs 9s 000 foot-tons energy at muz- 



zle; very little is kn\vn :ib<>ut tills \ve:ipn. 



</> 1 I -in. b <; rm:m nun ; pr.. , 



> Ibs.; muzzle energy and penetration un- 

 known 



(y) 12-lmh Tnlt.-d States gun: pr 

 weighs 8f. foot -tons energy at muz- 



zle ; ; * at 9,000 yards (about 



weighs 1,400 !b. ; 65.r. MS energy at 



muzzle. 



Since that date the great war with Germany 

 B construction of several hundred sub- 

 marine chosen, a new type of ship winch tin- 

 development of the submarine has made neces- 



