...So successfully was this policy achieved that Secretary Whitney reported before leaving office that "at the present time the conditions are such that...Department in this country as soon as in the course ofvconstruction any element or feature is required; but this has never heretofore until the present...

...vessels heretofore authorised by Congress. From this list it will be observed that, so far as armoured ships are concerned, the subject is yet to be treated...postponed by the Department until the present time. In the table the double-turreted monitors will not be ships of a high class. Their completion was recommended...