In collecting this data the greatest care has been taken to only give such as is entirely authentic. For the most part it has come from official sources, and, wherever it has been necessary to make comparisons or to give opinions, the writer has in no case given his own independent ideas on the subject. The principal authorities, aside from official records, whose works have been consulted are: Reed, White, Dislere, Marchal, and De St. Bon, on Naval Architecture; Owens, Mayevski, Sebert, Müller, and Cooke, on Ordnance; Schleeman and Stotherd, on Torpedoes; and Von Billerbeck, on the iron-clads of the first decade.
Edward W. Very,
Lieutenant U. S. Navy.
Washington, June, 1880.
CONTENTS.
| PAGE | |
| Part I.—Fleets | [1] |
| Argentine Confederation, Austria, Brazil, Chili, China, Denmark, | |
| England (Armored Fleet, Unarmored Fast Cruisers), France | |
| (Armored Fleet, Unarmored Fast Cruisers), Germany, Greece, | |
| Holland, Italy, Japan, Norway and Sweden, Peru, Portugal, | |
| Russia, Spain, Turkey, United States. | |
| THE PRINCIPAL BATTLES OF TWENTY YEARS—1860-1880. | |
| Bombardments of Earthworks.—Hatteras Inlet, Hilton Head, | |
| Fort Henry, Roanoke Island, Fort Donelson, Fort Darling, Fort | |
| Hindman, Grand Gulf, Simonoseki, Kagosima, Fort Wagner, | |
| Fort McAllister, Fort Fisher, Danube Forts, Callao. | |
| Bombardments of Masonry Forts.—Fort Sumter, Forts Jackson | |
| and St. Philip. | |
| Passages of Forts.—Forts Jackson and St. Philip, Vicksburg | |
| Earthworks, Port Hudson Earthworks, Fort Morgan, Vicksburg | |
| Earthworks (second time). | |
| Assaults.—Fort Sumter, Fort Fisher, Korean Forts. | |
| Deliberate General Actions.—Memphis, Helgoland, Lissa. | |
| Dashes.—Passages of the Mississippi, Vicksburg, Charleston. | |
| Iron-Clads against Wooden Vessels.—Hampton Roads, Roanoke | |
| River, Albemarle Sound, Black Sea, Ylo Bay, Iquique Harbor. | |
| Duels.—Monitor and Merrimac; Alabama and Hatteras; Weehawken | |
| and Atlanta; Kearsarge and Alabama; Meteor and Bouvet; | |
| Almirante Cochrane, Blanco Encalada, and Huascar. | |
| Part II.—Naval Ordnance | [175] |
| Austria.—Tables of Weight and Measurement. Uchatius Construction. | |
| Argentine Confederation, Brazil, Chili, China, Denmark | |
| England.—Tables of Weight and Measurement. Woolwich Guns, | |
| Armstrong Guns. Gun-Carriages. Gunpowder. Cartridges. | |
| Projectiles. Fuses. Primers. Sights. Palliser | |
| Construction, Whitworth Construction, Vavasseur Construction. | |
| France.—Tables of Weight and Measurement. Guns. Carriages. | |
| Gunpowder Cartridges. Projectiles. Fuses. Primers. Sights. | |
| Accessories. | |
| Germany.—Tables of Weight and Measurement. Guns. Carriages, | |
| Gunpowder Projectiles. Fuses. | |
| Italy.—Tables of Weight and Measurement. Guns. | |
| Greece, Holland, Japan. | |
| Sweden and Norway.—Tables of Weight and Measurement. Guns. | |
| Nordenfelt Machine-Gun, Palmcrantz Machine-Gun. | |
| Russia.—Tables of Weight and Measurement. Guns. | |
| Peru, Portugal, Spain, Turkey. | |
| United States.—Tables of Weight and Measurement. Guns. | |
| Carriages. Gunpowder. Projectiles. Fuses. Sights. Accessories. | |
| Hotchkiss Machine-Gun, Gatling Machine-Gun. | |
| Small-Arms.—Snider, Tabatière, Krnka, Springfield, | |
| Peabody-Martini, Werndl, Mauser, Le Gras (Chassepot), Berdan, | |
| Remington, Hotchkiss Magazine. | |
| Recapitulatory Table of Naval Ordnance. Penetration Tables. | |
| Part III.—Torpedoes | [323] |
| Whitehead, Lay, Harvey, Menzing, French Towing, American | |
| Spar-Torpedo. Torpedo Vessels—Pietro Micca, Ran, Ziethen, | |
| Vesuvius, Uzreef, Alarm, Intrepid, Destroyer, Uhlan. Torpedo | |
| Boats—Thornycroft, Yarrow, Herreshoff; Ship’s Boats; | |
| Submarine Boats. Drifting Torpedoes. Defences against Torpedoes. | |
| Defensive Torpedoes—Frame Torpedo, Brooks’s Torpedo, | |
| Singer’s Torpedo, Barrel Torpedo. Torpedo Fuses. Clearing | |
| Channels of Torpedoes. Actions with Torpedoes during twenty years. | |
| Part IV.—Architecture and Construction | [355] |
| Architectural Development of the Unarmored Fleet; Chart of the | |
| Architectural Development. Constructional Development of the | |
| Unarmored Fleet—Wooden Construction, Diagonal Construction, | |
| Composite Construction, Iron Construction, Iron Sheathed with | |
| Wood. Architectural Development of Armored Vessels. Ratios of | |
| the Principal Elements of Iron-clad Vessels to their Displacement. | |
| Part V.—Personnel; Budgets | [397] |
| Argentine Republic, Austria, Brazil, Chili, England, France, | |
| Germany, Holland, Italy, Japan, Norway and Sweden, Russia, Spain, | |
| Turkey, United States, Denmark, Greece, Peru, Portugal. Table | |
| of Budgets of Sixteen Navies, from 1875 to 1880. | |