1862 Civil War A SUGGESTION TOWARDS A NAVY. By GEO. T. MAY

Description: [109] A SUGGESTION TOWARDS NAVY. By GEO. T. MAY. New York BEADLE AND COMPANY, No. 141 WILLIAM STREET. 1862. A SUGGESTION TOWARDS A NAVY. TO forbear, from motives of diffidence or delicacy, the expression of ideas, that might by possibility be of a nature to benefit, is not, I conceive, any part of good citizenship. Trusting then to a full consciousness of perfect honesty in the motive, to the fitness of the time and occasion, and to the kind allowance of my friends and fellow-citizens for whatever imperfections there may prove to be in the attempt, the design, or the accomplishment of my object, I venture to publish some convictions that have, for the most part, long since fixed themselves upon my mind on the subject of Our Navy. Nearly thirty years' knowledge of ships, and some degree of devotedness to the pursuit of improvements in nautical art and science, perhaps give me some title of right to feel the interest I do. But whether or not, I shall be well satisfied if these pages aid in drawing due attention to a highly important subject, too long neglected. Whether my own peculiar views prove acceptable or not to the very few amongst us who are well-informed with regard to it, matters not much. In any event, I shall have done what I believe to be my duty. When we remember that about half a century has elapsed since the United States have had any use for a Navy, in the full sense of the term, it is not greatly surprising that it should have received so little care and encouragement from the country; especially in these later years of defection and treason. Individ. uals, however, have not failed to see that the day must come when there would be risk that the eyes of the nation might be rudely opened to the gross laxity of its conduct in this matter. At times, now and then, for the past ten years, spasmodic efforts to supply the temporarily felt want of vessels of a particular class, or to satisfy a starting conviction in the national mind that something or other was necessary to be done to sustain a degree of respect for our own amongst the flags of first-class nations; these have undoubtedly added, from time to time, many fine ships, such as they are, to the national fleet; some of these, indeed, excellent of their kind. But when we bring under consideration the vast, the life-or-death efforts, that have been made by other powers within the same period of time to develope their navies upon the broadest basis and to the highest possible pitch of improvement in every direction, we see at once how really insignificant is all that we have done. A navy, indeed, upon the broad basis of a line of battle, we have never had. And after all, it must be understood and admitted that this is the only true criterion of naval power. Wherever the strongest line of battle can be set and held, there is the supremacy of the seas. And wherever the next best can then be drawn out, there is the ability to hold that supremacy in check. True, that large numbers of small vessels, as privateers for instance, may greatly harrass and annoy, and perhaps, aided by extraneous causes, might worry out a foe; as guerillas may, by possibility, force a well appointed army to retreat from the face of incessant petty annoyances. But for the repulse of an enemy afloat in force, such as would come to blockade our coasts, bombard our cities, capture depôts and ravage the shore, in the event of a sudden war

Price: 19.99 USD

Location: Schwenksville, Pennsylvania

End Time: 2024-12-12T00:00:57.000Z

Shipping Cost: 4.63 USD