THE AMERICAN NAVY ITS SMALL BEGINNINGS

New Zealand Tablet, 30 July 1908, Page 11

THE AMERICAN NAVY ITS SMALL BEGINNINGS

The American Navy, which had its beginning a century and a-quarter ago, and was then established purely for defensive purposes, will be represented at Auckland next >veek by sixteen battleships and a fleet of auxiliaries. At the reception' to the officers and men at Los Angeles,. California, Bishop Conaty, in proposing the toast of the United States Navy, " referred to "its, establishment and development. He spoke in part as follows : ' It is a long cry from the Irish O'Briens'.of Machias in Maine, who in the days of the Revolution won the' first battle on the seas, "The Lexington of the Sea," to the Virginian' Evans' -at Fort Fisher,' at Santiago, and now the honored guest, the proud commander of the greatest fleet that ever sailed the sea under the" orders of one man. - It is a history full of manliness and duty— full of glory and renown. In examining that scroll of honor between these two great periods, covering as they do 133 years of our national history, we are proud to- find among the heroes of our naval life the representatives of all the great nations whose children have made the bone and sinew of our glorious Republic. Barry' and Jones, Perry, Deicatur, Lawrence," Farragut, Porter, Dahlgren, Franklin, Melville, Dewey, Schley, and Evans' are types of the brave men who 'have defended and maintained our political rights, and made this Republic the best the world has ever known. The presence in our Pacific waters~of the mighty ships of our Atlantic fleet is not lor us merely" an occasion of joy and pride, but it very strongly localises our attention upon the responsibility of our navy to "preserve; pea'ceF* develop our trade, and defend our rights before the world.'' -Our-? fleet is thoroughly American, its ships, its officers, and its men ; ' and in it is represented every section of the country. " *-*":-• ' As we look upon these great instruments of modern war* "- fare and realise the strength that comes to us from their protection, one cannot fail to go back to the" early beginnings of our country and to the first days of our naval history; Jeremiah O'Brien and Dennis O'Brien were two. Irish boys of Machisg^ in Maine, who under the inspiration of the news from Lexington captured an English sloop in the harbor, manned it, and with it defeated the Margaretta, winning the first naval battle, w.hich our history has honored with the title of " The Lexington of the Sea." Captain John Barry, of the ship Lexington, was made captain of the New United States Navy by Washington in 1775, and is said to be the first commodore of anything in the shape of a navy. We are familiar with the story of Barry and Jones and Hull, and we realise that even in these modest beginnings the character of our seamen went far toward determining the issues of the Revolutionary War.

' The Civil War found the country unprepared in matters of the sea, but merchant vessels were changed into ships of war, and the merchant marine furnished the trained men, through whose skill and bravery so much strength was given to the salvation of the Union. At the close of the Civil War our navy was among the most powerful in the world, but it consisted mostly of woQden ships. The time had come for a larger and better navy, which would have all the spirit, of '76, of 1.812, and of '61. President Arthur in his first message said that every consideration of national safety, economy, and honor imperatively demanded a thorough rehabilitation of. the navy. The American Republic had ceased to be a power .confined to" its own States— it was reaching out toward, a place in the world Powers. The wooden ships had yielded to those joi steel," and the ship of three thousand tons to "that of five thousand tons. The new ships were built in our own country, and the steel was entirely ,'of domestic production. The White Squadron was "the first great demonstration of a modern efficient navy. " Then came the battleship and protected cruiser, "the. torpedo and dynamite boat. " -'

1 In 1892 the lowa came with its thousand tons and its brave, noble-hearted commander, the beloved 'i-Bob " Evans. Battleships became more huge, until at present monster ones of twenty thousand tons are being built for our navy. Our senior Senator from California, Senator' Perkins, Jn ' a recent speech in the Senate! made the statement that in July of last year the navy of the United States consisted of 325 vessels, of which 285

were ready for sea, 22 of which are battleships. There are 2081 officers, 34,062 enlisted men, and 8414 officers and men in the marine corps. The total displacement of the vessels of the navy is 611,616 tons. He also made the statement that we are appropriating from to annually for the purpose of dredging our harbors and improving them to accommodate foreign ships. Is it not strange that some who are opposed to subsidising American, shipping are perfectly willing'to expend this money for the benefit of ' foreign trade?' Father of the American Navy. Paul Jones has figured in a score of romances, but ' Dashing Jack Barry ' — a phrase used often "by an old Philadelphia lady whose mother had met him often — has scarcely been celebrated by that art which prejudices us for good or cvil — the art of the novelist. In Philadelphia the" older folks told that he had ' lived either in Spruce or Chestnut street, and that his country place was called Strawberry Hill ; that he was a devout Catholic, fond of the play, not much of a horseman ; that he was quick to resent an affront, that he made a beautiful bow ' — this was the reiterated assertion of the lady whose Irish mother had met him at General Washington's — and that is all we know of him socially. John Barry was born in Ballysampson, in Wexford. Evidence points to the date of his birth as in August, 1739. During his boyhood he lived in Rostoonstown, in the same parish as his birthplace. Like many of the Irishmen who went young to America, Barry did not trouble himself to keep a record of dates in his early time. It is supposed that he went to Philadelphia when he was about the age of fifteen. It was not difficult for a young and energetic youth to find a place. As a seafaring man in those rough and adventurous days he won a reputation for courage and skill, and commanded many ships. In September, 1775, he was in command of the Black Prince. This vessel belonged to John Nixon, whose grandfather, Richard Nixon, a Catholic, had gone to Philadelphia in 1686. (Mr. Griffin notes that it was John Nixon who read the Declaration of Independence to the people of Philadelphia on July 8, 1776.) In the autumn of 1775, when Great Britain had resolved to coerce the colonies, the Continental Congress was forced to lay the foundations of a navy. There were men in England who looked on the menace of the Mother Country as brutal and monstrous. It meant to them an attempt of a powerful kinsman to use his great strength against a child of his own blood. Among these was Lord Effingham, who resigned his commission in the British Army rather than fight against the Americans. To men like Barry and Jones the struggle meant a great chance of being honored by a poor country with all the chances of war against it. On December 7, 1775, Barry was appointed to the command of the Lexington. This was a high compliment. The fate of a nation, the destinies of many individuals, depended on the wisdom, boldness, cool-headedness, and untiring force of Barry and the little group about him. On the same day — December 7 — John Paul Jones was appointed by the Committee of Congress lieutenant of the Alfred, which was formerly Barry s merchant vessel, the Black Prince. Barry was without doubt the first Catholic officer to be enrolled in the small navy of the United States. Of Barry's exploits as naval commander either on sea or land much that is worth remembering is duly recorded. Bluff and loyal to duty, he feared no man, and was, in spite of his ' beautiful bow,' no courtier. Barry's conduct in 1778 — this after the Battle of Port Penn — excited the admiration of General Howe »o such an extent that he offered Barry twenty thousand guineas and the command of a British frigate if he would desert to the side of the King. ' Not the value and command of the whole British fleet,' said Barry, ' can seduce me from the cause of my country.' When hailed by a British man-of-war he replied, ' I am Saucy Jack Barry, half Irish, half Yankee. Who the devil are. you?' John Barry captured the Edward, the first British war vessel taken by a commissioned officer of the United States Navy. In 1794 he was named senior officer, with the rank of Commodore. He sleeps his last sleep in old St. Mary's Catholic cemetery, in Philadelphia. In Philadelphia his memory is honored by a statue in front of Independence Hall, and San Francisco is anxious to pay him a like distinction. COMPOSITION OF THE VISITING FLEET, AND THE COMMANDERS. First Division. — Rear-Admiral C. S. Sperry. Connecticut, 16,000 tons, Captain H. Osterhaus. Kansas, 16,000 tons, Captain C. E. Vreeland. Louisiana, 16,000 tons, Captain R. Wainwright. Vermont, 16,000 tons, Captain W. P. Potter.

Second Division. — Rear-Admiral W. H. Emory. Georgia, 14,948 tons. Captain H. McCrea. New Jersey, 14,948 tons, Captain W. H. Sutherland. Rhode Island, 14,948 tons, Captain J. B. Murdock. Virginia, 14,948 tons, Captain S. Schroeder. Third Division. — Rear-Admiral C. M. Thomas. " Minnesota, 16,000 tons, Captain J. Hubbard. J Maine, 12,500 tons, Captain G. B. Harber.Missouri, 12,500 tons, Captain G. A. Merriam. Ohio, 12,500 tons, Captain C.'W/ Bartlett. Fourth Division. — Rear-Admiral J. H. Dayton. • Alabama, 11,552 tons, Captain T. E. Vender. Illinois, 11,552 tons, Captain J. M. Bowyer. Kearsage, 11,520 tons, Captain H. Hutchins. Kentucky, 11,520 tons, Captain W. C. Cowles. Nebraska, 14,948 tons, Captain R. F. Nicholson. Auxiliaries. Arethusa, 6158 tons, Commander A. W. Grant. Culgoa, 6000 tons, Lieut.-Commander J. Patton. Glacier, 8325 tons, Commander W. S. Hogg. Panther, 3380 tons, Commander V. S. Nelson. Relief, 3300 tons, Surgeon C. F. Stokes. Yankton, 975 tons, Lieut. Gherardi. Saved the Navy's Honor. In connection with the expected arrival of the American Fleet at Auckland, the following story will be of interest : — Every graduating class at Annapolis leaves behind it the fame of certain heroes in the line of physical prowess or mental endeavor. One of these heroes was George Dewey, a fine, manly, athletic youth, the pride of the boxing and fencing masters and the terror of all bullies. In Dewey's class was a youth of an excellent bent for applied mathematics, but so tender of physique that he often suffered from the rough horseplay of his elders. Dewey took the boy under his protection, and the two became fast friends. They swung their hammocks in the same watch on their graduating cruise, and when the ship touched at Liverpool obtained permission to run up to London on a day's leave. By rigid economy the two had scraped together a little more than £2 apiece, and they landed in the English capital arrayed in spick-and-span new uniforms. A round of sight-seeing had reduced their combined capital to two sovereigns and their return tickets when their boyish appetites announced the hour of noon. With the cautious economy of his ancestors, the Scotsman suggested a chop-house, but nothing but the best would suit Dewey, and he accordingly steered his chum into the finest hotel he could find. The two seated themselves at one of the tables and scanned the menu with a magnificent air. The first item that caught their eyes was strawberries and cream, and this, with its reminiscence of home, they proceeded to order. Now, the time was winter, and strawberries from the hothouse are expensive in London, so it was small wonder that the other guests who had learned the order looked inquiringly at these specimens of the jeunesse doree of the American Navy. An Oxford lad who sat next them seemed particularly impressed, and turned his large eyes upon them with awe. The strawberries were good, and all went well until the obsequious waiter returned with a bill for £1. The Scotsman nearly collapsed, but Dewey noticed the eyes of the Oxonian upon him, and, turning superbly to the waiter, ordered two more plates. The middies left with empty pockets, but haughtily conscious that they had saved the honor of the American Navy.

The owner scratched the favorite horse, The punter scratched his head, And gazed j&istracted to the course Then to his friends hie said : * Thds punting may allure, but not As other things allure, And I would sooner put my lot On Woods' Great Peppermint Cure.'