ARMORED VESSELS.

[NOTE.-Engine weight of the following vessels does not include engine stores.]

Two 6-pdr. R. F..
Two 3 pdr. R. F.
Two 37mm R. C.
Two Gatlings.

Two 6-pdr. R. F..
Two 3-pdr. R. F.
Two 37mm R. C.
Two Gatlings.

Two 6-pdr. R. F..
Two 3-pdr. R. F.
Two 37mm R. C.
Two Gatlings.

Two 6-pdr. R. F..
Two 3-pdr. R. F.
Two 37am R. C.
Two Gatlings.

Two 6-pdr R. F
Two 3-pdr. R. F.
Two 37mm R. C.
Two Gatlings.

| According to lines; weight furnished by Bureau of Steam Engineering, 546 tons.

From the above table it will be observed that, so far as armored ships. are concerned, the subject is yet to be treated in a broad way by the Department and by Congress. At the present time the conditions are such that everything necessary to a first-class fighting ship can be produced and furnished to the Department in this country as soon as in the course of construction any element or feature is required; but this has never heretofore until the present time been true, and therefore the consideration of the subject has been necessarily postponed by the Department until the present time.

In the above table the double-turreted monitors will not be ships of a high class. Their completion was recommended by the Department solely as a choice of evils, the question which was presented being, whether several million dollars which had been spent upon them should be thrown away, or the balance necessary to complete them be appropriated.

UNARMORED CRUISERS.

From the foregoing statement it will be observed that the efforts of the Department in ship construction have necessarily, since March, 1885, been devoted to unarmored vessels; and as to these, the Department is able to report that when the ships in course of construction and those authorized shall have been completed, the United States will rank second among the nations in the possession of unarmored cruisers, or "commerce destroyers," having the highest characteristics, viz, of a size 3,000 tons and upward, and possessing speed of 19 knots and upward.*

The importance which has been placed upon this branch of naval armament will be appreciated from the statement that England and France possess 65 vessels of the class known as unarmored cruisers. The attention of the world was attracted to the destructive effect which was produced upon the commerce of the United States by the cruisers fitted out under the auspices of the Confederacy in the war of the rebellion. The total tonnage of the registered vessels of the United States had risen year by year until, in 1861, it amounted to 2,642,628 tons; and between 1861 and 1866 it was reduced to 1,492,926 tons, or, in other words, to the point which we had reached in 1849, from which declinewe have never recovered. The insurance war risk upon American vessels during the war rose in exceptional cases to as high as 25 per cent. Sir Charles Wilson, director-general of the ordnance survey of Great Britain, recently stated that

"If there is one point clearer than another in the history of commerce it is this, that when a state can not effectually protect its carrying trade in time of war, that trade passes from it and does not return."

And Lord Charles Beresford, lately a member of the board of admiralty, in the same connection stated:

"To-day one-half of the people in England would absolutely have no bread to eat but for the food that comes in over the sea. It is a matter of life and death for you to protect the commerce, and you have not the ships to do it with."

We can not at present protect our coast, but we can return blow for blow, for we shall soon be in condition to launch a fleet of large and

"For list of such vessels see Supplement, p. 44.

fast cruisers against the commerce of an enemy, able to inflict the most serious and lasting injury thereon.

The one characteristic which an unarmored cruiser must possess is great speed. She must be able to escape from iron-clads and outrun, so as to overhaul, merchantmen. If slower than iron-clads she could not keep the sea, and if slower than merchantmen she might as well stay in port.

An examination of the condition of the Department in 1885 regarding the production of power by machinery showed clearly that the matter required most careful investigation and thorough consideration before entering upon new work. There were pending in March, 1885, contracts for the construction of the machinery of the double-turreted monitors Puritan, Terror, and Amphitrite. The contracts were entered into in 1883, Specifications were furnished by the Bureau of Steam Engineering. From an examination of the characteristics of the machinery of those vessels, as shown in the last table, it will be seen that the weight of the machinery as compared with the resulting power is as follows:

This machinery was at least a quarter of a century behind the age. Tested by the amount of power produced by it, and making allowance for nature of trial, etc., the best that could be expected would be an average of 2 indicated horse-power per ton of machinery. At that rate, in order to obtain a 19-knot ship, the machinery would require the entire tonnage displacement of the ship.

An examination of the state of the art in 1835 led to the conclusion that the machinery of naval vessels ought to be so designed as to produce 10-horse power for each ton of machinery; and it was determined to make that the standard, and to enter into no contracts that were not based substantially thereon.

Plans of machinery were purchased abroad, which upon trial had approximated that result. Bidders were authorized to bid upon the plans thus submitted to competition, or were permitted to submit their own plans, but were obliged to guaranty the results determined upon by the Department under severe penalties for failure and with compensating premiums in case of attaining better results.

It results that all the contracts for the construction of ships which have been entered into since March, 1885, call for the production of power by machinery equal to the highest standards. The efforts of the Department in this matter have been cordially seconded by the bureau chiefs; and it is believed that, at the present time, the Department has reached the point where entire reliance can be placed upon it for the production of war vessels equal in character to those of any other country.

a Speed to be fixed by the Secretary of the Navy.

b Cost, exclusive of armament and speed premiums, not to exceed $1,800,000. e Cost, exclusive of armament and speed premiums, not to exceed $1,100,000.

d Cost, exclusive of armament and speed premiums, not to exceed $700,000.

e Cost, $260,000. To be built by contract in accordance with terms of act approved August 3, 1886.