fall of the rebel organization.. Like other rebel cruisers which had plundered our commerce, the Stonewall was without a port.

Acting Rear-Admiral Godon, who had received orders to command on the Bra zil station, and was on the point of sailing, was directed to proceed immediately, with a force hastily collected and placed under his command, in search of the Stonewall, which, it was understood, designed to appear on our coast. He sailed from Hampton roads on the 16th of May, and arrived off Havana on the 28th, having in his command the Susquehanna, Chippewa, Monticello, Fahkee, and two turreted vessels, the Monadnock and Canonicus. Shortly after his arrival, the Stonewall was delivered over to the Spanish authorities by her commander, and our government was advised that Spain would place her at the disposal of the United States. It being unnecessary for Acting Rear-Admiral Godon to remain longer on this special duty, he left Havana June 6th, returned to Hampton Roads on the 12th, and on the 21st proceeded, in pursuance to previous orders, to Brazil The English screw steamer Sea King, built in Glasgow in 1863, early attracted the attention of our officials in England as one of the class of rovers which, like the Alabama, Florida, and Georgia, was destined to prey on American commerce. But the English authorities professed to be incapable of detecting anything wrong in this vessel, and she finally sailed from London on the Sth of October, 1864, with clearance for Bombay. On the following day the steamer Laurel sailed from Liverpool with officers, men, and guns, and went to Madeira The Sea King soon appeared off Madeira and signalled to the Laurel, when the two vessels went to a barren island in the vicinity, and on the 17th of October a transfer of officers, men, and guns took place; the name of the pirate was changed, and thenceforward became known as the Shenandoah. J. I. Waddell, a renegade American naval officer, assumed the command and proceeded at once on a piratical cruise.

An official communication of the 18th of October informed the department that the crew of the Sea King, as well as that of the Laurel, were all British subjects, that many of them belonged to the Royal Naval Reserve, and that some forty or fifty of the Alabama's men were among them.

Throughout the whole period of the rebellion these exhibitions of the manner in which the English authorities exercised neutrality were witnessed. On one occasion two persons secreted themselves on the U.S. steamer Tuscarora at Queenstown, with a view, it was suspected, of entering our service, and the British gov ernment was on that occasion greatly exercised lest some violation of neutrality or breach of the foreign enlistment act had taken place which would work harm to the rebels. A less anxious solicitude appears to have been entertained of breach of neutrality when whole crews were enlisted for the Shenandoah and other rebel piratical cruisers which sallied forth to plunder American commerce. Before leaving the Atlantic the Shenandoah succeeded in destroying several vessels, and was next heard of in Melbourne, Australia, where she was received and entertained with great hospitality and furnished with ample supplies and repairs for the long cruise upon which she was about to enter. On the 8th of February she is reported to have left Melbourne, and was next heard of in the

North Pacific ocean and the sea of Otrecht, where she attacked and captured twenty-nine unarmed whale-ships, of which twenty-five were destroyed and four were bonded. Although notified by some of his victims that the rebel armies had surrendered and that the rebellion was suppressed, Waddell gave no heed to the intelligence, but continued his work of destruction until four months after the fall of Richmond, when he was advised by an English vessel that Lee was on parole and Davis a prisoner.

The English government, in the exercise of all that neutral tenderness and care which it had manifested for the rebels from the beginning of the insurrection, when finally compelled to admit the extinguishment of the rebellion, made special reservation to protect the rebel piratical cruisers, and particularly the Shenandoah, which was an outlaw, without country or home other than England, after the prostration of the rebel organization. Warned by neutral England, whose subjects constituted almost her entire crew, that the organized insurrection was annihilated, the Shenandoah had no alternative but to seek again the shelter and protection of that neutral power where she was built, and from which she was armed and manned. Under the name of Sea King she had cleared and sailed as an English vessel, with an English flag and an English crew, and as late as February she stood on the books at the Register's office of British shipping in her original name, and in the name of her original owners. Such may have been the case when the pirate was warned that he had not the pretext of a rebel organization to soften his crime, and that he was an outlaw. Of all her captures not one was ever sent in for adjudication, and I am not aware that she ever entered the port of any country but England. It was fitting, therefore, that she should return for refuge to the country of her origin.

The Sea King, alias the Shenandoah, entered the Mersey on the 6th of November, and her pirate captain, in a formal letter to the English minister, surrendered the vessel to the English government.

ENLARGEMENT OF THE NAVY YARDS.

Our navy yards are, all of them, of limited area, and wholly insufficient for our present navy. Not one of them presents the full requisite conveniences and facilities for promptly fitting out in a rapid and efficient manner more than a single vessel at a time. Vessels which ought to be repaired in three months are often detained for a year, and officers ordered to their ships which should be ready for sea have been kept waiting for months, at great expense to themselves and to the country and to the injury of the service. There is not a public yard where an iron vessel can be constructed, an iron plate made, or where shafting can be forged, or steam machinery manufactured, except on a moderate scale; nor, with the exception of Mare Island, in California, and Norfolk, have we a navy yard with sufficient room to erect the necessary works for even present wants. England, besides her great public navy yards, with which ours can bear no comparison, possesses even several private establishments, in each of which there are more mechanical appliances than are possessed by our whole

country. Attention is invited to the interesting and instructive report of Chief Engineer J. W. King upon the dock yards of England and France, communicated to Congress at its last session.

Any future wars in which we may be involved must be of a maritime character, and unless we make in due season adequate preparations requiring no inconsiderable expenditure and time for their completion, the country will not escape mortification, and reverses, and serious disasters.

The most formidable iron-clads are those of the class of the "Passaconaway." The turrets of these vessels, which are fifteen inches in thickness, and the machinery, which is of a power to drive them eleven knots an hour, is plain and of moderate size, and yet they cannot be constructed and sent to sea in three years. So it is of all work out of that ordinary routine for which our establishments, public and private, are exclusively designed. The immediate, indispensable, and truly economical remedy for all this disadvantage is to enlarge the navy yards at Boston and New York, to complete the yard at Mare island, on the Pacific, rebuild those of Norfolk and Pensacola, and sell the present restricted grounds at Philadelphia after establishing a yard of sufficient capacity at League Island or some other proper location on the Delaware. With these extensions and improvements, and a proper establishment at some point upon the western waters, our naval position will be so strengthened as to constitute an additional safeguard against expense and perhaps war.

I have omitted any recommendation in regard to the yard at Kittery, because there are serious objections to it as a naval station, on account of its proximity to the ocean, which renders public property there insecure. Should, it however, be decided to improve the station as a public ship yard, the acquisition of Seavy's Island, as recommended by the chief of the Bureau of Yards and Docks, should be carried into effect. But the value of the island has been recently greatly enhanced and its acquisition rendered difficult in consequence of a road which passes through the yard, and a bridge connecting the island with the yard, which has been, in my opinion without due consideration, authorized by Con- ' gress. If the yard itself is not to be abandoned, the road and bridge should, in justice to the public interest, be discontinued, and Seavy's Island secured.

CONSTRUCTION OF NAVAI. vessels.

At the beginning of the rebellion the department was without appropriate vessels for chase or blockade. Steamers of the Colorado class could enter no harbor south of Hampton Roads but Port Royal, and even those of the Hartford class could enter but few of the blockaded ports.

All the vessels constructed before the war possessed only moderate steam power, but had nearly full sailing qualities. Had the department expended its energies at the commencement in efforts to construct vessels of magnitude for war purposes, with machinery capable of making fifteen knots per hour, as has been earnestly urged, we could scarcely have completed one such vessel before the date of the fall of Wilmington. The department, without attempting impossibilities, directed its energies to accomplish what was practicable.

After procuring a supply of vessels for the blockade, by purchase and con

struction, the next pressing want was an iron-clad or armored ship, capable of operating in our waters and going in all weathers from port to port. On a public appeal to the mechanical ingenuity of our countrymen, this want was supplied by the Monitor, a turreted vessel, which, as soon as completed, vindicated its capability, and the model thus projected has been adopted and extensively copied abroad. This class of vessels stands as the undoubted and acknowledged best defence of our shores against any naval armament at present in existence. Different types of turreted vessels-all of them improvements in some respects on the original model-have been constructed. Several of the light-draught vessels of this class, drawing but eight feet of water, completed since the adjournment of Congress, have gone from Boston and other points to Philadelphia and Hampton Roads; and one has made a voyage to Charleston, S. C., where she is stationed and performs with entire satisfaction all the duties required of her.

The double-enders, vessels originating in the peculiar necessities of this wardesigned to run head or stern first-were intended for operations in the rivers, bayous, and inner waters that pervade our southern coast, where it was important to avoid the difficulty, delay, and risk of turning round in narrow channels or under fire.

When these arrangements had been made, and the vessels immediately required were well under way, so as not to be interfered with or delayed by additional work, the department commenced the construction of a superior class of steamers of size and power sufficient to insure high speed. The most forward of these vessels could not be at sea until 1866. The delays and embarrassments which have been experienced demonstrate the importance, if not absolute necessity, of enlarging our principal yards and the need of a suitable establishment for the construction of engines and heavy iron-work, such as the department for three years has steadily urged upon the consideration of Congress.

FACILITIES FOR REPAIRING NAVAL VESSELS.

The naval expenditures, which have been moderate for the work performed, are larger than they would otherwise have been, in consequence of the insufficient means and limited area of the several navy yards. Without further provision in these respects the government must always depend, in a great degree, on private establishments for much of its work. This is not objectionable, perhaps, in the construction of new hulls and engines. The experience of the last four years has taught us the value and importance of efficient and reliable private establishments to aid the government in a great emergency. The promptness and energy exhibited at some of these establishments have been wonderful and of invaluable service. Until summoned to assist the government in the great struggle that was upon us, the ability, power, and resources of these private establishments were not known nor appreciated. They generally responded with zeal and vigor to the calls of the department, and their ability will, in all future wars, give reliable strength to the country.

In constructing new vessels and machinery, the government can always have the benefit of wholesome competition at private establishments. In making its contracts for new vessels and supervising their execution, the department will be

able to protect itself, but that cannot be the case as regards the constant and often extensive repairs required on vessels which have been in service. These cannot be made by contract, and opportunities for fraud and imposition in making repairs are so great that too many yield to them. Work is often slighted and imperfectly executed; disastrous delays intervene; sometimes the job will be skilfully nursed by more extended and elaborate repairs than are necessary. The charge for materials and labor must of course be, to a considerable extent, at the discretion of those who make the repairs, and it is not surprising, perhaps, that they have frequently been exorbitant, notwithstanding all the vigilance and efforts that were exercised to protect the government.

True economy would be promoted were the government to have the necessary workshops and machinery to execute its own repairs in all cases. Almost all of the machinery and engines for the navy have been constructed at private establishments, and they must continue to be so constructed until the government shall conclude to change its policy. In the manufacture of heavy shafting and machinery for our naval vessels, which are to cruise for months, and often for years abroad, it is important that we should have the most substantial workmanship and the best materials, so that the government can safely rely on the strength and durability of its naval representatives, however remote from the country, and the officers and crews should be enabled to feel a sense of security, so far as human skill can impart it, in the floating homes which the government may provide.

A failure in the motive power of a steamer when on a cruise or far removed from establishments where the necessary repairs can be made, is a calamity against which every precaution should be taken.

LAYING UP OF THE IRON-CLADS.

The iron-clad vessels, so formidable in war, but unsuited for active service in peace, have been laid up, ready to be brought forward at any time for active duty should circumstances require. No provision having been made by Congress for a suitable dock-yard or station in fresh water, where alone iron vessels can remain and be preserved, and there being neither room nor accommodations for them at any of our present contracted yards, the department was under the necessity, until Congress shall make provision, of selecting a suitable place for the purpose. Fresh water being an indispensable requisite for the preservation of this class of vessels, and an interior location from the sea-board being almost equally indispensable for the purpose of safety, I had no hesitation in selecting League Island as possessing these advantages in an eminent degree. The board of naval and scientific gentlemen appointed in 1862, in pursuance of an act of Congress passed on the suggestion of the department, to select a site for a navy yard for iron purposes, while entertaining differing opinions as to the most eligible location for a navy yard for general objects, were united in favor of League Island "so far as iron vessels are concerned." There is probably no site to be found in the country presenting so many circumstances in its favor for laying up our iron-clad fleet. Removed from the coast, and with fresh water, League