Naval History and Heritage Command

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ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY, SHOWING THE CONDITION OF THE NAVY IN THE YEAR 1831.

COMMUNICATED, WITH THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE, DECEMBER 6, 1831.

Navy Department, December 3, 1831.

To the President of the United States:

Sir: The Secretary of the Navy respectfully submits a report of the transactions of this Department during the past year.

Under its general superintendence, the employment of the public vessels for the protection of our commerce, the erection of dry docks, the improvement of the navy yards, the purchase of timber and stores for future use, and the preservation of live oak, have been the most prominent objects of attention.

Many minor subjects connected with the interests of the service have received due care; and the results of the whole will be presented to your consideration with all practicable brevity.

The naval force in commission has consisted of five frigates, eleven sloops, and seven schooners; but, of these, four small schooners, purchased, and temporarily used in guarding our live oak, and in making surveys of the coast, can hardly be considered as a permanent portion of the establishment, while the relieving vessels necessary to keep up a complement in the different squadrons, have, in this and former years, by going out before others returned, added somewhat to the number and expense of those actually enumerated as in commission.

Our force abroad has been divided between the Mediterranean, the West Indies, Brazil, and the Pacific. From the first station, the Java, the Fairfield, and the Constellation have returned, the former taking the Cape de Verd islands and Liberia in her way homeward. An account of her cruise is annexed, as it may be interesting to those specially engaged in African colonization. (A.)

The Java, on a minute survey, was found to be very defective; and, having been built of inferior materials, expensive repairs on her are not deemed judicious. As she bears the name of one of our trophies during the late war, it is recommended that an appropriation be made for purchasing timber to rebuild her, and another, for a similar reason, to rebuild the Cyane. A frame has heretofore been obtained for the Macedonian; and an appropriation to finish one of these vessels, whose names are so intimately associated with our naval glory, could be expended with much advantage the two ensuing years. (B.)

Last August the Constellation was ordered home from the Mediterranean, after the close of the cruising season, as the usual term of absence would expire next spring, and a large saving of expense would be made by her winter-

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ing in this country. She recently arrived, a few weeks earlier than anti- cipated, and in excellent condition, and, after the discharge of her crew, was immediately placed in ordinary.

The John Adams is the only vessel which has been added to that station.

The squadron there has been usefully employed in its ordinary duties. At this time a part of it, having lately been engaged in transporting our former consul at Algiers to his new situation as chargé to Constantinople, is supposed to be in the Archipelago, waiting the result of the chief object of that mission, and watching the consequences to our commerce of the late disturbances in Greece; another part is under orders to carry from Gibraltar our diplomatic agent to Naples; and a part of it, as recently directed, is presumed to be on a new cruising ground, extending into the Atlantic along the coast of Portugal and her neighboring dependencies. In consequence of this last increase of duty, and the novel state of our relations with the Ottoman Porte, as well as the agitated condition of other portions of Europe, it would seem expedient immediately to increase our naval force in that quarter of the world. To effect that object, and others hereafter mentioned, and at the same time to ensure in our navy a continuance of the requisite skill and experience in navigating ships of the line, a sum sufficient to put one in commission is included in the general estimate for the ensuing year. (C, Nos. 1 to 15.)

The squadron employed in the West Indies has discharged its accustomed service with fidelity and success, no piracies whatever having been there perpetrated on our commerce; the slight disturbances near Porto Cabello, Hayti, and Havana having been promptly looked after; and the health of the crews and officers in our public vessels having been, with a few lamented exceptions, uncommonly good. The only changes in this squadron have been the substitution of the Vincennes for the Peacock, and the Fairfield for the Natchez, on account of greater dispatch and economy in preparing the relief vessels.

The Brazilian station, notwithstanding the political commotions in its neighborhood, has presented little active employment for the squadron. The utmost security to our navigation in that quarter has existed, except a The Brazilian station, notwithstanding the political commotions in its recent, and, it is believed, unprecedented claim, which has been made to disturb our vessels engaged in seal catching at the Falkland Islands. To guard against the ill consequences of this claim to our commercial interests, prompt measures have been taken, so far as the subject comes within the purview of this Department. From that station the Hudson has returned home; and not having been built of live oak, she is in a condition rendering the expediency of repairing her very doubtful. The Vandalia is soon expected here; and both the Lexington and Warren, sent to relieve them, have probably, ere this, reached their destination. Our force in that region will soon be strengthened by one of the schooners now building, and whose small draught of water will render her employment on that coast highly beneficial. Preparations are making to send more vessels in that direction, should circumstances require and justify the measure; visiting, among other places on their way out, Para and the principal ports on the northern coast of Brazil, where the amount of our commerce, and the agitated condition of the country, make the presence of some of our public vessels judicious, and where none have shown themselves since the late war.

In the Pacific no occurrence of much interest has happened since the last annual report. The Falmouth has been ordered to join that squadron in-

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stead of the St. Louis, and the Potomac in place of the Guerriere; and which last vessel, it is gratifying to announce, arrived two days since, safely, in Hampton Roads. Directions have been given to the new commander on that station to keep one of his vessels constantly employed in cruising among those islands in the Pacific to which our whalemen and merchantmen resort for either supplies or trade. Unfortunately for the credit of our bills of exchange in that quarter, the Department early in the year felt compelled to refuse payment of some of the drafts by its former agents; and an attempt was made to improve the forms of transacting business there, and to lessen the expenses of providing for the squadron, by sending out a purser to make purchases, and to take charge of the stores and provisions for the whole. Sufficient time has not yet elapsed to test fully the success of this experiment, though the arrangement has required and recently received some modifications to promote its efficiency.

In consequence of a most wanton outrage upon the American ship Friendship, on the northwest coast of Sumatra, the Potomac was ordered to proceed to the Pacific by the way of the Cape of Good Hope; and from the caution used in her instructions, and from the energy of her commander, favorable hopes are entertained of procuring some indemnity for that barbarous and piratical injury. She has also been ordered, after leaving Sumatra, to touch at Macao, and communicate with Canton. The great value of our commerce in India and China, exceeding five millions annually, and its constant exposure, with many valuable lives, to insult and rapine, furnish a strong appeal to the government for the protection of a naval force. Should appropriations be made for the ensuing year, in conformity to the estimates, it will enable the Department not only to strengthen the squadron in the Mediterranean, and extend its cruising ground with success, as before suggested, but to guard more efficiently our navigation on the coasts of South America, and provide a sufficient force to visit occasionally the Indian and Chinese seas. Another beneficial change can also be accomplished, by thus having it in our power to keep one vessel-of-war fit for active service at the shortest notice, within our own waters, ready to be dispatched to any weak or endangered point of our relations in any quarter of the world; and when not so wanted, to be employed on the home station for purposes of protection to commerce, or of discipline to the navy, as the interests of the country may appear to require.

A list of the different vessels now in commission, with their several stations and commanders, is subjoined. (D.) It is due to those having special charge of the ministerial duties of this Department, to add, that the strictest attention appears to have been paid to the prompt and thorough repairs of all our force destined to foreign stations; and that, in point of strength and perfect equipment for useful service, the vessels of the United States in commission were probably never in superior condition.

The construction of the two dry docks has advanced with great rapidity during the past year. Both are now nearly completed, except the removal of the coffer dams, and the finishing of some of the gates and steam machinery. They present to the eye specimens of stone masonry seldom rivaled in beauty and solidity. The expenditures on each have been about $500,000; and by the 4th of next July, it is hoped that some of the public vessels requiring repairs may be safely docked in these useful, economical, and splendid conveniences for our naval establishment.

For greater detail on this subject, and on the purchase of materials under the act of Congress for the gradual improvement of the navy, reference can be had to the report annexed, (E.)

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A personal inspection, during the past season, not only of the dry docks, but of all the navy yards except that near Pensacola, has caused, to the head of this Department, high gratification at the prosperous condition of most of them. The building of storehouses and sheds for the reception of materials, collected formerly for the gradual increase, and now collecting under the appropriation for the gradual improvement of the navy, seems conducted with a great regard to durability and convenience.

Experiments have been recently commenced, with a view to settle beyond further controversy the best mode and places in this country for depositing, seasoning and preserving the different kinds of timber in most general use here in naval architecture. Whatever differences of opinion may once have existed in Europe, or may now prevail in America, on this subject, it is believed we possess the means of removing them so far as regards our own service.

The buildings for accommodation to the officers of yards, reported in the surveys and plans of A. D. 1828, are in progress where most needed, and, in connexion with the storehouses, sheds, wharves, walls and ship ways, require, annually, such appropriations as can be expended without a neglect of more urgent duties. An increased estimate, to advance all these improvements, is presented for the ensuing year. (C, No. 9.)

The discontinuance of some, and the establishment of other navy yards, have been subjects of previous communications from this Department. But no sufficient reasons can be discovered by me to warrant the former measure at this time; and the latter measure should, in my opinion, depend much, though not entirely, on the future increase of our naval power.

Among other contemplated improvements in those plans were rope walks at some of our present yards. All observation and experience in the navy show that in nothing does it suffer more at this time than from bad cordage. The impositions in the quality of the hemp, in the manufacture, and in the tar, are numerous, are difficult of detection, productive of injurious delays when detected, and, when not detected, exceedingly hazardous to the safety of both crews and vessels. Indeed, the reasons seem more powerful in favor of making our own cordage, than of building our own vessels, or manufacturing our own blocks and anchors. An estimate is presented for the erection of two rope walks at appropriate sites. (F.)

The vessels in ordinary have been, at most of the yards, covered, so as to shelter them effectually from sunshine and storms, and to render their security from decay much greater than heretofore. It is a gratifying circumstance that most of these vessels, as well as all those upon the stocks, are in a condition highly creditable to the persons who planned and executed the present mode of preserving them; and that, by proper care in future, until put in commission, no probability whatever exists of much further decay in the important portions of their expensive works, or of any decay in those portions composed of the invaluable material of live oak. (G and H.)

The three new schooners, authorized to be built under the act of Congress of February 3, 1831, were commenced, one at the yard in this city, one at New York, and one at Charlestown. They are all nearly finished, and the first named on a plan seldom before attempted. If successful, it may prove a source of much economy and utility in the construction of vessels of the lower classes. She has been called the Experiment, and the others the Enterprise and Boxer.

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The whole purchases of timber and stores, under the act for the gradual increase of the navy, and which remain in deposite at the yards, are over a million and a half in value.

The amount of purchases, under the act for the gradual improvement of the navy, in deposite, is nearly half a million.

The amount of property on hand for repairs, is almost a million.

The ordnance, provisions, &c., amount to upwards of a million and a half more.

The paper annexed (I) will present any further detail desirable on this subject. By this, it will likewise be seen that the property belonging to the navy has rapidly increased, and is increasing. Some new regulations in probably be introduced into the rules for the service now undergoing a revision. The object will be to ensure ample security to the Government, strict care of its interests, and the greatest precautions against waste from accident or neglect.

The real estate, as well as the personal property, belonging to the navy establishment, is very valuable, including navy yards, hospital grounds, sites for magazines, and their respective buildings. The titles to some of these, and to parts of others, are in dispute; and the evidences of the titles to some are not collected and preserved together. It would be very conducive to the security of this estate, and render the transaction of business concerning it more expeditious and satisfactory, if the examination of the titles, and the various controversies about the estate, and if the collection and preservation of all the documentary evidence of those titles, were devolved upon one of the law officers of the government.

The act of Congress of March 27th, A. D. 1804, makes the commander of the yard at Washington the navy agent for this Department. In the changes since adopted respecting navy agents, no separate and permanent one has been appointed at this yard; but the duties have been performed by the commander without giving any security by bonds, and without the usual check of an approval of his purchases by another officer. The duties of agent to the Department were never specially imposed on him in practice, till the past summer. This last change has been made in compliance with both the letter and spirit of the last act of Congress, and has contributed to public convenience, by the saving of time and labor to the officers of the government, and to those having business to transact with it. It is recommended, for the obvious reasons before suggested, that the duties of navy agent to the yard and to this Department be hereafter separated from those of the commander of the yard; and that the usual responsibility, and a just compensation, be annexed to the former office. (C, No. 7.) Indeed, the whole system of compensation to navy agents, whether permanent or temporary, has for many years depended so much upon large and arbitrary allowances, very questionable in some particulars in point of principle, that further legislation on the entire subject seems highly proper. A new arrangement in respect to the drafts by our agents on two foreign stations, and in respect to the payment of the drafts drawn on all of our foreign stations, when payable in London, has lately been concluded on terms much more advantageous to the government.

As a part of the plan for the gradual improvement of the navy, the attention of this Department has, for some years, been turned to the rearing of live oak, and to its preservation, when found growing on the public lands. About a

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quarter of a century ago it was estimated that the full growth of between four and five hundred acres of timber trees was annually requisite to keep the British navy in its condition at that time; and such is the rise in value, as well as scarcity, of good building materials in the progress of high agricultural cultivation, that the royal forests of England, preserved for public purposes, have sometimes been considered one great foundation of her naval greatness.

The plantation of trees, commenced a few years since in Florida, was not deemed a proper subject of further attention by my immediate predecessor, more, however, it is presumed, from doubts about the legality and necessity of that particular measure, than about the utility of careful attention to either the growth or safety of our live oak generally. No expense in respect to the plantation has yet been authorized by me, except such as seemed indispensable to secure the benefits of previous expenditures. A more extended plan of agents and vessels for the discovery and preservation of such live oak as is now growing on the public lands, was devised last winter, dividing the seaboard from the St. Mary's to the Sabine into seven districts, with an agent in each, and stationing three small vessels at proper distances on the coast, to aid in the same object, and in the survey of the bays, navigable creeks, and rivers of that region. This plan had advanced so far in May, that it could not be at once discontinued without much loss. The measures necessary for a fair test of its merits have therefore been completed; its benefits, if answering original expectations, will soon be developed, and, whether failing or successful, the trial, it is hoped, will lay the foundation for full information as to the quantity and location of this kind of timber, will assist the government in the reservation of those public lands where it abounds, and enable the Department hereafter to recommend a substitute less expensive and equally efficacious. In the paper annexed (J) is a minute detail of the proceedings on this subject.

Intimately connected with the interests of the service are the purchase and use of iron tanks in all our vessels in commission; they are now prepared only for ships of the line and frigates built out of the fund for the gradual increase of the navy. The convenience derived from them in ballasting, the increased capacity they leave for stores, the greater security to health in the quality of the water, all conspire to render a specific appropriation for this object very desirable, and in the end economical. (K.)

The building of steam batteries is another subject of much interest. While such astonishing improvements are making in the application of steam, it would be improvident to overlook its probable importance hereafter in maritime warfare, or fail to keep pace with other naval nations in any new means of attack or defence. The experiment made here soon after the successful introduction of this power, in the building of a steam frigate, was, perhaps, equal to the state of skill in the use of the power at that period. As that frigate, however, has been destroyed by accident, and as the machinery since obtained for other steam vessels-of-war is not the best now extant for such purposes, it is recommended that an appropriation be made, to enable the Department to exchange it, or to purchase new and more appropriate machinery, and to erect, soon as may be, two steam batteries of twelve heavy guns each, on the most modern and approved models. (L.)

The improvement of the navy depends so much on the character of its officers and seamen, as well as on its vessels, docks, yards, and building materials,

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that your attention is invited to some circumstances calculated to exercise in that respect a favorable influence. It would hardly be useful or decorous to dwell on former recommendations from this Department in respect to many important changes, chiefly as regards rank and pay, a limited peace establishment, a naval academy, further discriminations in favor of sea service, additional provision for hospitals, the abolition of such a large and vexatious system of discretionary allowances, a division of the duties of the Naval Board, a change in the powers of pursers, and in the mode of making purchases for the medical department. Most of these recommendations have my decided approbation. In addition to them, the state of the service imperatively requires the adoption of a few alterations connected with the instruction on shipboard of young officers, and with the welfare of some, who are highly useful in their stations, though acting in subordinate capacities. Thus, it is believed that greater benefits of education to the youthful midshipman, while at sea, could be obtained by a more liberal compensation to schoolmasters, and sedulous attention to the purchase and preservation of nautical books and instruments; that the important class of sailingmasters, as they are not in the line of promotion, will soon become extinct without emoluments more nearly equal to what can be commanded by them in the merchant service; that the carpenters and sailmakers are paid much less than those not in commission; and that the wages of gunners and boatswains are entirely insufficient. It happens that the moral and religious benefits anticipated from the employment of chaplains, in our vessels abroad, though earnestly desired, cannot be fully obtained by the Department, in the present condition of that class of officers. This misfortune occurs, in part, from the bodily infirmities of a majority of them; but so far as it springs from the smallness of their number, and the inadequacy of their compensation, it is hoped that Congress will furnish a remedy.

It gives me much pleasure to observe that the occurrence of courts martial is becoming less frequent; that your resolution to protect the oppressed, whether seamen or officers, and at the same time to carry sentences into full and final effect against those clearly convicted, and that the salutary alterations in punishments recommended during the past year, are beginning to produce a beneficial influence.

Notwithstanding the high wages and great demand for seamen in merchant vessels, the naval service continues popular. No difficulty has been experienced in obtaining crews seasonably; indeed, the recruiting rendezvous were closed some months ago, and in the meantime, till more men were wanted, they made repeated applications for the rendezvous to be reopened. Much care has been exerted to promote the welfare of our seamen. Whenever their terms of service expire abroad, they have, for some years, if not consenting to re-enlist, been sent home at the public expense. But the latter course is attended by inconvenience and cost, arising mostly from short differences in the periods of service in a large crew, and for which the most effectual remedy would be found in Congress authorizing men to be enlisted not only for three years, but, if sailing to a foreign station within the first year, then to extend three years from the time of sailing. Two orders are annexed, (M, 1 and 2,) which have been issued during the past season, chiefly with a view to ameliorate the condition of this class of men. Besides these, other attentions, of late years, to comfort in their dress, to greater dryness and warmth in their apartments at sea, to new securities against disease, and

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better accommodations while sick, appear to have excited increased and permanent attachment on their part to that service in which they have helped to cover their country with such durable glory.

Many useful changes in the naval code, as to the punishment of offences, have before been urged; and, in addition to them, the power to order courts in yards and vessels within the limits of the United States, in the same way as on board public vessels at sea, would be a great convenience.

The discontinuance of the marine corps, or its transfer entirely to either the army or navy, has been the subject of former recommendations from this Department. In the present fluctuating condition, without any imputation on the character of the officers of the corps, frequent difficulties in relation to pay, allowances, trials, and orders, are necessarily happening; and part of which proceeded to such an extent as to require a special resolution of Congress in 1830, and a particular provision in the appropriation bill of 1831. But by placing this establishment, as in former years has been proposed, wholly under navy discipline and laws, most of these difficulties might, in my opinion, be obviated, all the present benefits of it to the service retained, its increase in numbers rendered unnecessary, its old associations preserved, and much greater economy, harmony, and energy infused into its operations, without derogating at all from the respectability and usefulness of the corps. Should the system recommended in the document annexed, (C, No. 12) be fully adopted, the saving is estimated at over $40,000 annually. But in that event, the officers not needed should, in justice, be transferred to the army, and the saving to the government would then fall short of that amount. In its hospital and staff departments alone, a change of less extent as to officers would save to the public more than $10,000 annually; and a portion of the expensive call for new barracks, presented in the estimates of the present year, would be rendered unnecessary. The appropriation, at the last session, for those at Philadelphia, was so expressed that the officers of the Treasury did not feel authorized to allow the expenditure.

The condition of the navy pension and navy hospital funds, they being under the charge of other officers in connection with the Secretary of the Navy, will be made the subject of a distinct report by the commissioners, with a view to great, and, in my opinion, very salutary changes in their future management. The state of the privateer pension fund the past year is disclosed in the annexed report. (N.)

The large supply of lead in the hands of the government, as rents from the public mines, being three or four millions of pounds beyond what has been used by the War Department, and the great quantity needed in the navy being annually, for ten years past, about fifty thousand pounds, induce me to recommend that from those rents a quantity equal to our naval wants be yearly set apart, and placed at the disposal of this Department.

The deaths, dismissions, and resignations, the past year, are detailed in the list annexed. (O, No. 1 to 3.)

The general estimates for the ensuing year are presented in the document before referred to, and marked (O, No. 1 to 15). In these an attempt has been made, in conformity to what is believed to be the true spirit of our institutions and the repeated wishes of Congress, to enable the legislative authorities to render the appropriations more specific, and to place the enumerated contingent fund in a condition to meet more nearly and promptly those demands upon it, so indispensable to the efficient operations of the navy. Although the whole expenses of the last year may not equal the whole

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appropriations and balances on hand for the naval service, yet the enumerated contingent, as in former years, has proved insufficient. The remedy, hereafter suggested to supply all past deficiencies, is considered preferable to any former practice of resorting to other specific appropriations.

In the mode of keeping accounts with persons responsible to this Department, so great latitude was, at one time, indulged in the transfer of appropriations from one object to another, that the disbursing officers stand charged with large and almost incredible sums under some heads, and credited with almost equal sums under other heads; but which balances cannot be legally settled without the authority of Congress. As this difficulty has generally originated more from carelessness than dishonesty, and, though censurable in principle, has probably caused no essential injury to the public, it seems judicious to allow, under the usual guards against imposition and loss, the privilege of an adjustment to the persons interested. No other course is perceived which will enable the accounting officers connected with this Department ever to close these transactions on their books, and to introduce, with full effect, an accurate and improved system. These unsettled balances now exceed seven millions of dollars. Again, by carrying the balances not expended from the contingent appropriations to the surplus fund, instead of reserving them, as in the case of pay, provisions, &c., to meet future claims, (and in the necessities of the service abroad, these claims cannot always be early received and adjusted,) the demands on those contingent appropriations in some former years have not only exceeded their amount, but cannot now be discharged from any surplus of other years. Nor should the deficiency be taken, as done at some prior period, from different heads of appropriation, without an express legal provision: nor can it be taken from any existing appropriation for arrearages, as none has been made the last few years. To settle these just demands, it will therefore be necessary to appropriate to the object the balances of all former years carried to the surplus fund, or to make a new appropriation of about $80,000. This latter course is the more definite, and seems due to all the claimants, and especially to the meritorious officers of the navy. To obviate this difficulty in future, it will only be necessary that the appropriations for contingencies should assume the form of those for pay and subsistence, without any increase of their whole amount; that these appropriations in other respects should correspond with the estimates for the present year, by throwing some of the enumerated items upon other and specific heads, and thus lessening the gross nominal sum for contingencies over $100,000; and that due vigilance be exercised in the Department to confine the demands on these appropriations within the limits of the sums provided. There will probably be, on the 1st of January next, an unexpended balance from all the appropriations of last year to the navy of nearly twenty times this $80,000; but it may all be required when the whole accounts for the year are closed; and if not, as before remarked, it would seem, on any correct principles of legal construction and of administering specific appropriations, not to be applicable to these old arrearages, or to different heads from those particularized, without the special authority of Congress. (P.)

If the system of making surveys of our coast by naval officers at great exposure and toil continues to meet public approbation, a specific appropriation to reward the extra services in that employment the last year, as well as any in future, to the amount of $2,000 annually, will be necessary.

It would conduce much to the convenience of officers in the navy, without incurring any great risk to the public, if this Department were empowered to

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advance the allowance for travel and transportation when orders are given for duty within the United States—the authority to do it now being confined to the case of orders for service abroad.

Under an appropriation made at the last session, the naval monument has been removed from the navy yard, in this city, to a site west of the capitol. The expense has not exceeded the estimate, although, in addition to the repairs, about two hundred dollars' worth of labor, not included in the estimate, will be required fully to compensate the contractor, if he proceeds to renew the inscriptions, besides giving uniformity of color to the statues. But this, as the appropriation is exhausted, must depend solely on the liberality of Congress. (Q.)

The general appropriation for the suppression of the slave trade has had but small demands upon it, in addition to the special charges imposed by Congress in favor of Armstrong and of Livingston's heirs. For information in relation to the expenditures the past year, and to the property of the United States in Africa, acquired by former expenditures on this subject, a document is annexed. (R, 1 and 2.)  This property may require some new legislation concerning its sale or preservation. Though an agent is still maintained at Liberia, the report from the commander of the Java, before named, contains all the intelligence received from the establishment at that place during the year, except a letter announcing the loss by piracy of a vessel in the employ of the colonists. From the nature of the transaction it may be questionable whether any hostile designs are meditated against the commerce of the United States by those who committed that outrage. But measures were immediately taken to obtain full information on the subject; and the earliest opportunity will be embraced to have that region of country again visited by one of our public vessels.

With a view to a more uniform and satisfactory administration of both the naval and civil branches of this Department, the rules and regulations, published in A. D. 1818, have been carefully revised and enlarged as to naval duties; and the different orders, circulars, and decisions, now in force in relation to the transaction of business between this Department and the officers of the navy, with other useful rules of a civil character in relation to the service, have been collected; in some cases amended, and in all condensed. The whole of these will soon be submitted for your approbation, and, if receiving it, will be afterwards laid before Congress. Their distribution and strict enforcement hereafter will, it is hoped, contribute to system in business, harmony in the service, and economy in the public disbursements. This last kind of economy, and not a diminution of the gross amount of naval expenditures, is all which probably may be expected under the gradual increase of our navy, the great improvements going forward in our docks and yards, the wider range and exposure of our navigation, and the present flourishing resources of the country, so well adapted to make due preparation in peace for the exigencies of future wars.

In this enviable state of the confederation, the estimates for the navy have been in some degree conformed to what is supposed to be the wishes of the people in respect to so important an establishment; and without any augmentation of officers not before sanctioned, and without the recommendation of any doubtful novelties in our expenditures, everything has been attempted which promises to insure, with frugality, promptitude and vigor, the promotion of the great ends of naval protection and defence. With much respect,

LEVI WOODBURY.

documents communicated to congress by the president at the opening of the first session of the twenty-second congress, accompanying the report of the secretary of the navy.

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[End of SECNAV Report]

Accompanying documents below

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DOCUMENTS

COMMUNICATED TO CONGRESS BY THE PRESIDENT AT THE OPENING OF THE

FIRST SESSION OF THE TWENTY-SECOND CONGRESS,

ACCOMPANYING THE

REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY.

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SCHEDULE of documents accompanying the Secretary of the Navy’s report to the President of the United States, dated 3d Dec 1831.

A. Copy of a letter from Captain E. P. Kennedy, in relation to his visit to Liberia.

B. Submitted estimate for the frigates Macedonian, Java, and corvette Cyane.

C. No. 1 to 15. General estimates for the service of the year 1832.

D. List of vessels in commission, their commanders, and stations.

E. Statement of progress made in the execution of the law for "gradual improvement of the navy,” including dry docks.

F. Submitted estimate of the expense of two rope walks.

G. Statement of vessels on the stocks, their condition, and the time and expense necessary to prepare them for launching.

H. Statement respecting the vessels in ordinary.

I. Statement showing the amount of stores, provisions, &c., on hand at the respective yards.

J. Abstract of instructions to live oak agents, the limits of the districts, and the vessels employed.

K. Submitted estimate for tanks to frigates and sloops-of-war in commission.

L. Submitted estimate for two steam batteries.

M. 1 and 2. Circulars respecting the commutation of the spirit part of the navy ration, assistance to vessels in distress, and punishments in the service.

N. Report respecting the privateer pension fund.

O. No. 1, to 3. List of deaths, dismissions, and resignations.

P. Submitted estimate of arrearages.

Q. Report on removal of the naval monument.

R. No. 1 and 2. Account of expenditures of last year for suppression of the slave trade; and List of United States property in Liberia.

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 A.

Copy of a letter from Captain E. P. Kennedy, in relation to his visit to Liberia.

 United States’  Frigate Java,

Hampton roads, 11^th May, 1831

 SIR: I have the honor to report my arrival here from Mahon, via the cape de Verds, Mesurado, and the West Indies. I left Mahon on the 8th January, arrived at Porto Praya on the 2d February, watered ship and sailed the 9th, and arrived at Mesurado the 18th same month. I am happy to inform you that I found the colony at Monrovia in a flourishing and happy state. I have no doubt but it will be the foundation of a great empire. I furnished the governor such articles as he required, with the exception of gun carriages, theirs being in a state of decay. I think iron carriages would suit them better than wood, the dry worm being very destructive there. The small schooner they have as a guard vessel, I think badly fitted, and too small. A fast schooner of 80 or 90 tons, mounting one long nine-pounder on a pivot, and two twelve or eighteen-pound carronades, with thirty men, would, I think, be sufficient to guard the coast against the piratical slave vessels. One of our man-of-war schooners would give great protection by cruising between the northern boundary of the colony and Gape Palma.

I left Mesurado on the 24th February, passed and looked into the islands of St. Croix and St. Johns, and arrived at St. Thomas the 26th March, where I watered ship, and sailed from thence the 11th April, run down the north side of Porto Rico, sent a boat into St. Johns, and communicated with the consul; proceeded from thence to Cape Francois, where I should have anchored, but was prevented by the weather, and not being able to procure a pilot; from thence I sailed through the windward passage, looked into cape Nicholas Mole, and run down the south side of Cuba, showing our colors in passing the different ports, and arrived at the Havana the 2d May. We have lost but two men, one from fever contracted in Africa, and the other with consumption. The officers and crew have been, and still are, very healthy.Shortly

ly before we left Mahon. all the sick of the squadron were sent on board the Java, I think amounting to sixty-eight old cases of rheumatism, &c. The sick list is now reduced to twenty-four.

I received on board the Java, at Porto Praya, five mutineers, at the request of the consul, to be delivered to the marshal, at Norfolk, with a protest and other documents, proofs of the guilt of the prisoners. Will you please to direct what is to be done with Silas Cooper, a quartermaster, ordered home as a witness?

                   I have the honor to remain,

                                      With high respect, &c

                                                        EDMD. P. KENNEDY

The Hon. John  Branch,

      Secretary of the Navy, Washington

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B.

Submitted estimate for the frigates Macedonian, Java, and corvette Cyane.

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C.

General Estimate-There will be required for the navy during the year 1832, to the unexpended balances that may remain on hand on the 1st January, 1832, the sum of three millions one hundred and forty-seven thousand three hundred and eighty-three dollars and twenty cents.

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ESTIMATE C.- Continued

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C.- No.1

EXPLANATORY ESTIMATE of the pay and subsistence of all persons in the navy, attached to vessels in commission, for the year 1832, being part of the first item of the general estimate.

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C, No. 2.

EXPLANATORY EXHIBIT of the Officers &c awaiting orders and on furlough, for the year 1832, being part of the first item of the general estimate.

C—No. 3.

EXPLANATORY ESTIMATE of the number, pay, &c., of officers, &c., required for five receiving vessels, for the year 1832, as part of the first item, of the general estimate.

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C--No. 4.

EXPLANATORY ESTIMATE of the pay &c.of the officers attached to recruiting stations and ordnance service, for the year 1832, forming part of the first item of the general estimate.

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C.- No. 5.

ESTIMATE of the pay and rations, and all other allowances to officers and others at  Navy Yards and Hospitals, for the year 1832, explanatory of the second part of the first item of the general estimate.

Notes.—House rent is estimated for naval officers in cases only where no house is furnished by the government.

Pay and rations of Surgeons and their Assistants are averaged under the law of 24th May, 1828.

*Directed February, 1830, by Secretary of War.

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C, No. 5.  ESTIMATE of pay and rations—Continued.

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C,No.5. ESTIMATE—Continued

C, No. 5.—Estimate of pay and rations—Continued.

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C,No.5

C, No. 5.—Estimate of pay and rations—Continued.

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C. NO.5.  ESTIMATE--Continued

NORFOLK

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C, No.  5  ESTIMATE—Continued

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C, No. 5.  ESTIMATE--Continued

BALTIMORE.

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 C, No. 6.

Explanatory estimate for provisions required for the navy for the year 1832.

At one ration per day, equal to 1,912,965 rations, which, including freight and transportation, and an amount necessary for the supply of fresh provisions, and. to cover all contingencies, at 25 cents each, will make the sum estimated in the third item of the general estimate, viz: $478,241.25.

In the above amount of $478,241.25, is included the sum of $49,066 for freight and transportation.

C, No. 7.

Explanatory of the fourth item in the general estimate for 1832.

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C, No. 8.

Data upon which the estimate for repairs, &c. of vessels in the year 1832 is founded.