Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1899 American Edition.djvu/83

FORCES AND LOSSES OF NAVY Ixi off the coast of Massachusetts, made respectively an average speed of 22.81 and 23.07 knots per hour. The vessels are sister ships, and the following description of the Cohnnhia will therefore serve for both. Her principal dimensions, etc., are: Lengtli, 412 ft.; beam, 58 ft.; mean draft, 23 ft.; displacement, 7375 tons ; indicated horse power, 20,000, with a maxinmm of 23,000 ; coal supply, 750 tons ; maximum coal stowage, 2000. She has a double bottom and a protective deck, which rises from 4-|- feet below the water-line at the sides to 1 foot above amidships, except at the bow and stern, where it slopes down below the water-line, 'jlie protective deck is 4 inches thick on the slopes and 2\ inches thick elsewhere. There can be also a wall of patent fuel 5 feet thick opposite the boilers. The motive power consists of three sets of triple-expansion vertical inverted direct- acting engines, each placed in a separate water-tight compartment. Each set of engines drives its own screw. One screw is placed amidships at the extreme stern just above the keel ; the other two are set one on each quarter, considerably forward and outboard of the midship screw and 4| feet above it. For long distance, economical cruising the midship screw alone will be used, the other two being uncoupled ; for medium speed the twin screws under each counter will be worked, the midship screw being uncoupled ; for full speed all three screws will be driven at their highest power. Her nominal cruising radius is 26,240 miles. Forces Engaged and Losses of American Navy in Different Wars The data relating to the Revolutionary War are necessarily incom- plete ; they are based on the Battle Calendar of Maclay. The killed luimbered 449 and the wounded 463. In the naval battles of the War of 1812 there were 394 killed and 838 wounded. In the naval battles of the Mexican War (1845 to 1848) 21 were killed and 119 wounded. The war allow^ance of the navy was 10,000 men, but it was never filled. The peace allowance was 7500 men. In the Mexican War the operations of the naval forces consisted mainly in landing parties and bombardments. The statistics of the loss of life due to disease, wounds, accidents, drownings, etc., cannot be furnished. The losses of the navy during the Civil War (1861 to 1865) were re- ported by the Surgeon-General of the Navy as 4588. The Secretary of the Navy has reported the casualties during the War of the Rebellion as : — Killed 1,406 Wounded 1,638 Missing 176 3,220 The difference in the two reports is probably owing to deaths from in- cidental causes and otherwise, not accounted for by the Secretary. The figures cannot be verified with absolute accuracy, but it is thought they are substantially correct, and that discrepancies are comparatively few. The average force of the navy for the four years of the Civil War was 38,000 men. There were 6000 officers, the average during the war being 4500. The casualties of the navy during the late war with Spain are shown in the following table : —