Page 600
Page 600
572
Page 600
Appendix No. 9.
UNITED STATES.
State Papers, p. 80.
burden, Nassau and Belize might be treated as subsidiary; in that case absolute dependence should not be placed on them, nor too valuable a mass of stores collected there.
Nassau, however, seems a very suitable place for the repair and refitting of the Mosquito fleet, which would be necessary in southern waters. The shallowness of the harbour would be no detriment. in their case, and they might find it difficult in bad weather to get as far as Bermuda, Halifax, or even Jamaica; as a matter of fact, Nassau is looked upon by the Americans as the most irritating of our possessions near their coast.
A few words may be said on the class of ship required in American waters, but we have no intention to trench upon subjects which can only be properly treated by naval officers. Captain Washington, in his Report, estimates the number and classes of ships required for the blockade of the northern ports and estuaries, and the measures taken by the North against the South ("Naval Encyclopædia") form a guide for how much more would be needed on the southern seaboards, and there is the record of our own wars, and the warning of the "Alabama." It is with regard to the inshore work that the impression derived from a perusal of American State Papers and Engineer Reports, may prove useful:-
"The coasts of the United States throughout its vast extent has but few points which require to be defended against a regular and powerful attack. A considerable portion of it is inaccessible to large- vessels, and only exposed to the depredations of parties in boats and small vessels of war."
The class of vessel called for by the Northern Government on the outbreak of the Civil War, for employment in southern waters, is thus described in the "Naval Encyclopædia" :-
<<
Agreeably to the conditions named by the Navy Department, the following problem was pre- sented an iron-clad vessel, of small dimensions, capable of navigating the southern rivers, and absolutely impregnable against the ordnance possessed by the Southern States.
"The draft of water being thus limited to about 11 feet, impregnability could only be insured by nearly immersing the hull, as high freeboard and impregnability would have called for an amount of weight incompatible with light draught and small tonnage."
Moreover, in the preface to Sir Thomas Brassey's recent work, "The British Navy," he instances the United States' coast as a typical example of shallow waters, requiring vessels of light draught.
We must, however, guard ourselves against being carried too far in one direction by this kind of generalization. The unceasing labours of the engineers in harbour improvements have greatly modified, although they cannot radically alter, the natural conditions.
At the present time, New York, Philadelphia, New Orleans, San Francisco, and many of the northern ports, are, as far as mere depth of approach is concerned, accessible, some to the largest imaginable, and most to nearly the largest, iron-clads. If it is considered that as the channels of trade now run, the four cities mentioned probably absorb three-fourths (New York alone one-half) of the imports, exports, and customs revenue of the whole Union, and that their capture would go very near to terminatinng the war, and thus rendering all other classes of ships superfluous, it can scarcely be said that the field for the employment of the heaviest iron-clads is limited.
The depths artificially obtained vary from that required for the smallest river boats to that suffi- cient for the largest sea-going ships; but taking into consideration the arguments for both deep and light-draught ships, and the fact that certain standards appear when possible to be aimed at, we venture upon the following classification of ships as regards draught of water :----
17 feet and upwards;
Under 17 feet; Under 12 feet;
Under 4 feet.
1. As has been already pointed out, there is ample employment for the first class, and their heavy guns, against the best defended and richest cities.
2. A large proportion of the ports of the second rank in the north, and the first rank in the south, are accessible to ships drawing less than 17 feet, and these would include nearly every place seriously defended, and requiring to be attacked by very heavy guns.
3. The attainment of a depth of 12 feet may be regarded as the standard aimed at in harbours of the third rank in the north, and, as has already been said, a vessel drawing about 11 feet was considered the type of ship generally adapted for southern waters.
4. The next standard, that of 4 feet, is not an arbitrary one, but is quoted because that depth is a frequent standard sought for in the shallow southern bayous; it will be recollected this depth was mentioned more than once in describing the internal approaches to New Orleans.
Of course, the above classification-and, indeed, any other-is open to criticism. It might be instanced that the present Delaware-Chesapeake Canal has only 10 feet of water, less than our third class, and much more than our fourth, and so on. The classification is intended rather as a suggestion of general types than as a hard and fast division.
From what has been said above it appears, at the first blush, that as the last three classes-those for ports of the second and third rank in the north and for the internal water communications of the south would have to deal with less than a quarter of the trade of the Union, a fourth of the total tonnage would appear enough to devote to them; but the extent of ground they would have to cover must be considered, and also the rapidity with which commerce would flow to any unguarded channels, as soon as its main routes were blockaded.
Having given our views of the means to be employed against the States, we shall close this paper with a review of some of the areas, which would repay attack. We shall not again refer to the arsenals and dockyards, which have all been mentioned by name.
Along the whole coast there is more or less ship-building, fishing, and coasting trade, and trade in lumber and marine stores. Of the two latter industries, Bangor, in the north, and Wilmington, in the south, may be quoted as the most important of the minor cities. In the north the rising manufacturing towns are numerous all along the coast, with a commerce in corn and general produce, and here also
1
{
i
t
£
1
1
E
t
ន
C
a
ន
I
T
a
а
V
$
F
a
$
ន
$1
W
fc
a
P
Il
la
tl
01
in
3.A
Page 600
Page 600Page 601