Imatges de pàgina
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difficulty, under circumstances which would interfere with our coasting trade, whilst sloop-of-war and smaller vessels could be built with greater comparative facility under such circumstances.

The preparation of a considerable number of steam vessels, ready to defend our great estuaries, to aid in the operations of our other naval force, and in the concentration or movements of the military force, as circumstances might require, is believed to demand serious and early attention.

Having due regard to these and other considerations, the board propose that the force to be prepared, ready for use when circumstances may require it, shall consist of fifteen ships-of-the-line, 25 frigates, 25 sloops-of-war, 25 steamers, and 25 smaller vessels, and that the frames and other timber, the copper, ordnance, tanks, and chain cables shall also be prepared for 10 ships-of-the-line and 10 frigates.

The force proposed to be prepared, ready for use, will employ and can be manned by the 30,000 seamen and others which have been considered available in a state of war. The materials for the ten ships-of-the-line and ten frigates will constitute a necessary reserve for increasing the number of those vessels, should they be required, or for supplying losses from decay or casualties.

To estimate the amount necessary to prepare this force it is proposed to ascertain the whole probable cost, including ordnance, by the average cost of similar vessels already built, (steam vessels excepted,) and of materials already procured, and then to deduct the value of the present force, and all other present available means.

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Deduct from this sum the value of the present force and avail

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3, 315, 000

30, 315, 000

12, 555, 000

17,760,000

In presenting any estimate for the amounts which may be necessary to place the different navy yards in a proper situation, the board can do no more than give very general opinions, as the objects of expenditure are foreign to their own professional pursuits, and they have no civil engineer to whom they can refer for the necessary detailed information.

From a knowledge of the cost of works hitherto completed or in progress, and of the wants at the respective yards for the proper peservation of materials, and for extending the means for building, preserving, repairing, and equipping

vessels, they are satisfied, however, that the public interests would be greatly promoted, and, in fact, absolutely require an average annual expenditure of $500,000 for years to come upon the different yards.

In New York the necessity for a dry dock is severely felt already, and its importance will increase with any increase of the navy. This, with its dependencies, will require nearly a million of dollars. At Pensacola, which nature has designated as one of the naval keys of the Gulf of Mexico, and of the immense commerce of the valley of the Mississippi, large expenditures will be necessary to secure adequate means for repairing and subsisting a naval force upon that station, and thus prevent the many evils which would be severely felt in a state of war, if the vessels were obliged to resort to the Atlantic ports for ordinary repairs or supplies of any kind. In other yards there are objects of great and urgent importance.

Generally the proposed arrangements for the preservation of all materials and vessels should precede their collection or construction. Whilst, therefore, the board propose $500,000 as the average annual appropriation, until the yards should be placed in proper order, they would also state that appropriations of $700,000, annually, for the next four or five years, and a less sum than $500,000 afterwards, would, in their opinion, be most judicious.

The next subject for consideration is the nature and extent of force proper to be kept employed in a time of peace for the protection of our commercial interests, and to prepare the officers and others for the efficient management of the force proposed for a state of war.

Our commerce is spread over every ocean; our tonnage is second only to that of Great Britain, and the value of articles embarked is believed by many to be fully equal to those transported by the ships of that nation. In the safety and prosperity of this commerce all the other interests of the United States are deeply interested. It is liable to be disturbed and injured in various modes, unless the power of the country, exerted through its naval force, is ready to protect it. It is therefore proposed that small squadrons should be employed upon different stations, subject at all times, however, to such modifications as circumstances may require.

Of these squadrons, one might be employed in the Mediterranean, and attend to our interests on the west coasts of Spain and Portugal, and southward to the western coast of Morocco and Madeira.

One in the Indian ocean to visit, successively, the most important commercial points east of the Cape of Good Hope, to China, then to cross the Pacific, visit the northern whaling stations and islands, cruise some time upon the west coast of America, and return by way of Cape Horn, the coast of Brazil, and the Windward West India islands.

One in the Pacific ocean to attend to our interests upon the west coast of America; keeping one or more vessels at or near the Sandwich and other islands which are frequented by our whale ships and other vessels, and, in succession, cross the Pacific, visiting the islands and southern whaling stations, China, and other commercial places, and return, by the way of the Cape of Good Hope, to the United States.

A squadron upon the coast of Brazil, or east coast of South America, might be charged with attention to our interests on the whole of that coast, and upon the north coast so far as to include the Orinoco. If a ship-of-the-line should be employed on this station, it might be occasionally sent round to the Pacific. A squadron in the West Indies and Gulf of Mexico will be necessary for, and may be charged with, attention to the protection of our commerce amongst the West India islands and along the coast of South America, from the Orinoco round to the Gulf of Mexico.

A small coast squadron upon our Atlantic coast might be very advantageously employed in making our officers familiarly and thoroughly acquainted with all

our ports and harbors, which would be very useful in a state of war. The vessels would also be ready for any unexpected service, either to transmit information or orders; to reinforce other squadrons, or to visit our eastern fisheries. Besides this cruising force, it is recommended that a ship-of-the-line be kept in a state of readiness for service, men excepted, at Boston, New York, and Norfolk, and used as receiving ships for the recruits as they are collected; this would give the means of furnishing a considerable increase of force with a very small addition to the current expense.

For the nature and distribution of this force, the following is proposed:

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Considering this force with reference to its power of giving experience to the officers, and qualifying them for the management of the force proposed for war, it appears that for the force proposed to be actually employed at sea, in peace and in war, the peace force will require and employ about two-thirds the number of commanders of squadrons; about one-third of the captains and forty one-hundredths of the commanders and lieutenants and masters, which the proposed war force would demand, and midshipmen sufficient to supply the additional number of these last classes which a change to a state of war would require.

Supposing the foregoing force to be that which is to be kept in commission, the next question is, what force will be necessary to keep afloat, to provide the necessary reliefs? The board believe that this force should be the least which will answer the object proposed, as every vessel when launched is exposed to a decay which is much more rapid than when left under the cover of a tight shiphouse.

We have already six ships-of-the-line afloat, which will be fully equal to our present wants, when they are repaired. A reserve of three frigates may be required, but only to be launched when the necessity for it shall arise; for the sloops-of-war and smaller vessels, it will probably be sufficient to merely keep

up the cruising force as proposed, except some extraordinary demand should arise. The force of steam vessels proposed, when distributed at Boston, New York, Norfolk, and Pensacola, would probably meet all the demands of a state of peace, and furnish useful schools for officers, to prepare them for the proper management of others, when they are required. The force to be kept afloat. then, will be assumed at six ships-of-the-line, eleven frigates, fifteen sloops-ofwar, four steamers, and ten smaller vessels. The annual amount necessary to keep this force in a state of repair, and to supply the wear and tear of stores of cruising vessels, is estimated at $950,000.

The estimated expense of the force which is proposed to be kept in commission, exclusive of the repairs as above stated, and for the pay of officers at navy yards, rendezvous, receiving vessels, of superintendents, and civil officers at all the shore establishments, and at the present cost of those establishments, is:

For pay of officers and seamen in commission, superintendents and
civil officers, and all others, at all the establishments, about..
For provisions...

For medicines and hospital stores
For ordnance stores, powder, &c...
For contingencies of all kinds..

Total for the navy branch...

$2,500, 000
750,000
60,000
120, 000
390,000

3,850,000

If the marines are continued as a part of the naval establishment, instead of substituting ordinary seamen and landsmen for them in vessels, and watchmen in navy yards, and transferring the marines to the army as artillery, as has sometimes been suggested, the sum of about $400,000 annually will be required for that corps.

To determine the annual amount which it may be necessary to appropriate to prepare the vessels and reserve frames and other materials which have been proposed, some time must be assumed within which they shall be prepared. Believing that reference to the ability of the treasury to meet the probable demands upon it, for all the purposes of the government, must necessarily be considered in determining what amount may be allotted to the navy, the board have examined the reports of the Secretary of the Treasury, and respectfully propose to establish the ordinary annual appropriation for the navy, including the ordnance, at seven millions of dollars.

The operation of such annual appropriations may be seen by the following recapitulation of the proposed heads of expenditure:

For the force in commission and its dependencies, as before stated $3, 850, 000
The average appropriation for navy yards.

For the repairs and wear and tear of vessels.
For building vessels and purchase of materials.

Total for the navy proper..

For the marine corps.

500, 000 950, 000 1,300,000

6, 600, 000
400, 000

7, 000, 000

By the adoption of this gross sum for the navy and its dependencies, and the other items as proposed, $1,300,000 would be annually applied to increasing the number of our vessels and the purchase of materials; and, with this annual expenditure, the deficiency of $17,760,000 would not be supplied sooner than between thirteen and fourteen years, or at about the year 1850. The board consider this as the most remote period at which the proposed force ought to be ready, and are of opinion that it might be prepared much sooner, should Congress deem it necessary or advisable to make larger appropriations than have been suggested.

The board have expressed the opinion that no more vessels should be launched than are absolutely necessary to meet the demands for the force to be kept in commission; but, as a necessary consequence, they recommend that the other additional force should be in such a state of readiness that it may be launched and equipped by the time that men could be obtained for it. This arrangement renders an early attention to the completion of all the building-slips, ship-houses, and launching ways at the different yards, so that the ships may be built, and that our docks, wharves, workshops, and storehouses should be finished; that our ships may be equipped with the greatest economy and despatch whenever they may be required.

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Before concluding this report the board would respectfully offer some remarks upon the form of the appropriations, and suggest some attention to existing acts of Congress.

By the separate acts for the gradual increase of the navy; for the gradual improvement of the navy; for building and rebuilding different vessels, altogether seven in number; each appropriation is rendered separate and distinct, although the general object is the same, and requires the use of the same kinds of materials. It is necessary, in conformity to the law of the 3d of March, 1809, that the vouchers, receipts, expenditures, and accounts of each should be kept separately; and, in strictness, no article purchased for one can be applied to the use of another, however desirable or economical such use may be.

It is suggested, therefore, for consideration, whether it might not be very advantageous for Congress to determine, by some general act or resolution, the number and classes of vessels which the President might be authorized to have built, or for which materials might be procured, and then appropriate specially the amounts which might be devoted to those objects, and for keeping the force afloat in repair, under the general head of "For building and repairing vessels, and for purchase of materials and stores."

The adoption of some such plan, and removing the special restrictions which now exist, and requiring, as at present, detailed estimates for the current repairs and reports of proceedings in building vessels and for purchase of materials, would, it is believed, greatly simplify and diminish the number of accounts at the Treasury Department and in all the navy yards, without infringing in any degree the principle of special appropriations; would furnish to Congress all the information they now receive, and would enable us at all times to use those materials which are best prepared and most appropriate for the different objects for which they might be wanted.

The board beg leave, also, respectfully to state their opinion of the necessity for the services of a competent civil engineer for the navy to furnish plans and estimates for all hydraulic and civil objects, and to have a general superintend ence of their construction under the direction of the department. The particular character of these works requires the supervision of such a person, not less from motives of economy in the ordinary expenditures than from the more important consideration of their proper arrangement, solidity of construction, and durability.

All which is respectfully submitted.

Hon. M. DICKERSON,

Secretary of the Navy.

JNO. RODGERS.

A.

Upon the supposition that the naval force to be so prepared that it might be equipped for sea at short notice shall consist of 15 ships-of-the-line, 25 frigates, 25 sloops-of-war, 25 steamers, and 25 smaller vessels; and that the frames and other durable materials shall be provided for 10 ships-of-the-line and 10 frigates as a reserve. The following statement shows the total number and character of the armaments which the whole force will require, the number which can be furnished from the ordnance on hand, and the number which will be still required:

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