268 



PROSPECTS OF STEAM NAVIGATION. 



) commerce, they are still more exceptionable when considered with reference 'o 

 the purposes of national defence. It is undoubtedly a great power with whii 

 to invest a vessel-of-war, to confer noon it the faculty of proceeding at will anu 

 immediately, in spite of the opposition of wind or tide, in any direction which 

 may seem most fit to its commander. Such a power would surpass the wild- 

 est dreams of the most romantic and imaginative naval commander of the last 

 century. To confer upon the vessels of a fleet the power immediately at the 

 bidding of the commander to take any position that may be assigned to them 

 relatively to the enemy, or to run in and out of a hostile port at pleasure, or fly 

 with the rapidity of the wind past the guns of formidable forts before giving 

 them time to take effect upon them are capabilities which must totally revo- 

 lutionize all the established principles of naval tactics. But these powers at 

 present are not conferred upon steamships without important qualifications and 

 serious drawbacks. The instruments and machinery from which these pouvrs 

 are immediately derived are unfortunately exposed in such a manner as to ren- 

 der the exercise of the powers themselves hazardous in the extreme. It needs 

 no profound engineering knowledge to perceive thnt the paddle-wheels are 

 eminently exposed to shot, which, taking effect, wo Id altogether disable the 

 vessel, and leave her at the mercy of the enemy ; >nd the chimney is even 

 more exposed, the destruction of which would render .he vessel a prey to the 

 enemy within itself in the shape of fire. Bui besides these most obvious 

 sources of exposure in vessels of the present form intended as a national de- 

 fence, the engines and boilers themselves, being more or less above the water- 

 line, are exposed so as to be liable to be disabled by shot. 



Such are a few of the many defects incidental to the present form of steam- 

 ships as applied to the purposes of national defence. 



When long ocean-voyages are contemplated, such as those between New 

 York and the ports of England, there is another serious obstacle, which is es- 

 pecially felt in the westward trip, because of the prevalence of adverse winds. 

 When the vessel starts on its lo;ig voyage, it is necessarily laden with a large 

 stock of fuel, which is calculated to meet, not merely the average exigencies 

 of the voyage, but the utmost extremity of adverse circumstances of wind and 

 weather to which it can by possibility be exposed. This fuel is gradually 

 consumed upon the voyage ; the vessel is proportionally lightened, and its im- 

 mersion diminished. If its trim be so regulated that the immersion of its 



( wheels at starting be such as to give them complete efficiency, they may, be- 



) fore the end of the voyage, be almost if not altogether raised out of the water. 



\ If, on the other hand, the efficiency of propulsion in the latter part of the 

 voyage be aimed at, they must have such a depth at its commencement, as to 

 impair in a serious degree their propelling effect, and to rob the vessel of its 

 proper speed. Under such circumstances, there is no expedient left but com- 

 promise. The vessel must start with too great and arrive with too little im- 

 mersion. There is no alternative, save to abandon altogether the form and 

 structure of the present machinery', and to awaken the inventive genius of the 

 age to supply other mechanical expedients, which shall not be obnoxious to 

 these objections. 



Although no one who has lived as long and witnessed so many disappointed 

 hopes and fallacious anticipations in the progress of improvement as I i. 

 will be very forward to commit themselves as to the results of projects which 

 still exist in a state but partially tested by experience, I cannot refrain from 

 giving expression to a strong hope and confident anticipation that the cpc 

 at hand which will witness a great advance in ocean-navigation, and a 

 conferred by science upon the arts not equalled since the invention o: 

 steamboat and the safety-lamp. 



