The Constitution of the United States provides that the President shall
be commander-in-chief not only of the army but also of the navy. His
chief assistant in the management of naval affairs is the Secretary of
the Navy, who is also a member of his cabinet.
In 1898 the Navy Department of the United States was just one hundred
years old, having been organized in 1798 with Benjamin Stoddert as
Secretary.
The work of the department is divided among eight bureaus, as follows:
1. The Bureau of Yards and Docks, which is intrusted with the
construction and maintenance of docks and wharves, and with all civil
engineering work in the navy yards.
2. The Bureau of Navigation, which superintends the education of
officers and men, controls the enlistment of men and apprentices, and
directs the movements of ships and fleets.
3. The Bureau of Equipment, which attends to the manufacture of ropes,
anchors, cables, and other articles required for the equipment of naval
vessels, purchases coal for their use, and controls the Naval
Observatory.
4. The Bureau of Ordnance, which has charge of the manufacture of guns
and ammunition, also of torpedo stations and magazines.
5. The Bureau of Construction and Repair, which is charged with the
building and repair of small boats and of the hulls of ships, and
attends to the purchase of turrets and armor.
6. The Bureau of Steam Engineering, which directs the building and
repairing of machinery in any way connected with the ships.
7. The Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, which designs, erects, and
maintains naval hospitals and superintends their management.
8. The Bureau of Supplies and Accounts, which is responsible for the
purchase and supply of all provisions and stores, and of the accounts
relating to the same.
Each of these bureaus is presided over by an officer of skill and
experience, who, while he holds the office, has the rank of commodore.
The United States has navy yards at Portsmouth, New Hampshire; Boston,
Massachusetts; Brooklyn, New York; League Island, Pennsylvania; Norfolk,
Virginia; Washington, District of Columbia; and Mare Island, California.
At these navy yards ships are overhauled and repaired, machinery is
adjusted and renewed, and stores of all kinds are provided. Here, too,
on the receiving ships, the recruits are received and instructed.
There are naval stations at Newport, Rhode Island; New London,
Connecticut; Port Royal, South Carolina; Key West and Pensacola,
Florida; and Puget Sound, Washington.
At Indian Head, Maryland, is the naval proving-ground for the test of
armor and guns.
The Naval Observatory is at Washington, and was at first merely a depot
for naval charts and instruments.
In 1898, the highest officer in the American navy was the rear admiral.
The other officers in their order, ranking downward, were commodores,
captains, commanders, lieutenant commanders, lieutenants, lieutenants
junior grade, and ensigns. All these are known as officers of the line.
At the close of the year there were seven rear admirals, ten commodores,
forty-one captains, and eighty-five commanders.
The rank of rear admiral is equal to that of major general in the army.
A commodore is equal to a brigadier general; a captain in the navy
ranks with a colonel in the army; a commander ranks with a lieutenant
colonel; and a lieutenant in the navy is equal to a captain in the army.
The law provides that when an officer reaches the age of sixty-two years
he must be retired from active service. One who has been disabled in the
service, or who has served honorably for forty years and requests
release, may also be retired. Officers on the retired list receive
three-fourths as much pay as when on active duty at sea.
Rear Admiral Dewey will be retired on the 26th of December, 1899. In
1898 there were thirty-three rear admirals on the retired lists.
The officers while at sea receive more pay than when on shore duty. The
salary of an ensign at sea is $1200 a year; that of a rear admiral is
$6,000. The salaries of the other officers range between these two
extremes.
Previous to 1898 the number of enlisted men in the navy was limited to
ten thousand. These men are received for a period of three years; and
any one after serving continuously for twenty years may be assigned to
duty in the navy yards, or on board receiving ships, or to other duties
not requiring them to go far from home. All who have served thirty years
are entitled to admittance in the Naval Home. The wages of enlisted men
vary from $16 to $70 a month, according to the kind of work they
perform.
The law provides that seven hundred and fifty boys may be enlisted as
apprentices in the navy. These are received only with the consent of
their parents or guardians, and are required to serve until they are
twenty-one years old.
Besides the regular navy of the United States there is a naval militia
organized in eighteen states. This militia is under the general
direction of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy; and its duty in time
of war is to man the vessels designed for coast and harbor defense.
At the beginning of the year 1898 there were more than four thousand men
and officers in the naval militia. During the war with Spain, most of
these were mustered into the naval service and did duty on the war
vessels or in the signal service along the coast.
At the close of the year there were belonging to our government nine
battleships, all of which had been built since 1890. Four others were in
process of construction. The average cost of vessels of this class is
about $3,500,000.
Of other vessels in the navy of 1898, there were two armored cruisers
which cost $2,986,000 each; one ram, the _Katahdin_; six double turreted
monitors; thirteen single turreted monitors; seventeen protected
cruisers; four unarmored cruisers; fifteen gunboats; and ten torpedo
boats. Many other vessels of different classes were being built.
All these were in active service, or soon to be so. But there were also
several other vessels of the old-fashioned style which, although of
little use in battle, were valuable in the various peaceful enterprises
in which the navy is always engaged. Of such there were six old iron
vessels and ten wooden frigates, all propelled by steam, and seventeen
old wooden sailing vessels, some of which were used as receiving ships.
During the war with Spain, many temporary additions were made to the
navy. Eleven merchant vessels were bought or leased and converted into
auxiliary cruisers. Among these were the four fast steamers of the
American line, the _St. Louis_, the _St. Paul_, the _Yale_, and the
_Harvard_.
Twenty-eight yachts also were purchased and turned into auxiliary
gunboats or torpedo boats. Among these was the _Gloucester_, which did
such fine work during the destruction of Cervera's fleet. It had
formerly been a pleasure yacht belonging to Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan of
New York.
In addition to the vessels just named, the government also bought
twenty-seven tugs to be changed into gunboats or cruisers; and it
obtained seventeen steam vessels of various sizes to be used as
transports and for many other purposes.
Altogether the navy of 1898 comprised an imposing collection of vessels
of many kinds and of various degrees of efficiency. Of the work which it
accomplished we have already learned.
* * * * *
THE FOUR GREAT AMERICANS SERIES
Biographical Stories of Great Americans for Young Americans
EDITED BY JAMES BALDWIN, Ph.D.
In these biographical stories the lives of great Americans
are presented in such a manner as to hold the attention of
the youngest reader. In these lives the child finds the
most inspiring examples of good citizenship and true
patriotism.
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