File:The naval history of the United States (1896) (14784139262).jpg

Identifier: navalhistoryofun02abbo (find matches)
Title: The naval history of the United States
Year: 1896 (1890s)
Authors: Abbot, Willis J. (Willis John), 1863-1934
Subjects: United States -- History, Naval To 1900
Publisher: New York, Dodd, Mead and company
Contributing Library: University of Massachusetts, Boston
Digitizing Sponsor: University of Massachusetts, Boston

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Secretary Whitney was able to state in his report of 1888 thatupon the completion of the ships under construction, the United Stateswould rank second among the nations in the possession of unarmored cruis-ers or commerce-destroyers possessing the highest characteristics—namely,size of three thousand tons and upward and a speed of nineteen knots, andmore. The vessels, inclusive of the monitors, completed and uncompleted,then composing the navy, were as follows: The Dolphin, Boston, 828 BLUE-JACKETS IN TIMES OF PEACE. Atlanta, Chicago, whose keels were laid in 1883; the Charleston,Baltimore, Newark, Philadelphia, San Francisco, protected cruis-ers, whose keels were laid in 1887 and 1888; and the gunboats York-town, Petrel, Concord, Bennington, whose keels were laid in 1887and 1888. In addition to these, there were under construction the dyna-mite cruiser Vesuvius, with a guaranteed speed of twenty knots an hour,and a first-class torpedo-boat with a speed of twenty-three knots an hour.
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DYNAMITE CRUISER VESUVIUS. Besides these, five protected cruisers had been authorized, but were not yetin process of construction. The Baltimore, Charlestown, Yorktown, and Petrel weregiven their trial trips in 1889, and were accepted by the Navy DepartmentThe trip of the Baltimore, in particular, was a brilliant success. Thehorse-power proved to be in excess of the contract requirement, and herhighest speed for one hour was 20.39 knots—this result being then unpar-alleled by any war-ship in the world of the Baltimores displacement. When Benjamin F. Tracy became Secretary of the Navy, in 1889, hecalled attention to the fact that, while the United States had secured a num- BLUE-JACKETS IN TIMES OF PEACE. 829 ber of excellent vessels of the cruiser type, it did not as yet possess an effi-cient navy. He pointed out that the country had two widely separatedocean frontiers to protect, and that there was only one way to protect them,namely, by two separate fleets of armored battle-ships.

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