NAVY DEPARTMENT, January 24, 1861. SIR: I have the honor to communicate to the special committee of which you are chairman some further information in reply to the fourth inquiry of the resolution of the House of Representatives which you transmitted to me on the 12th instant. On the 21st of May, 1860, orders were given to prepare the Richmond as the flag ship of the Mediterranean squadron, in place of the Macedonian which had been recently ordered home. On the 18th of July the Susquehanna was substituted for the Richmond, in consequence of some delay in completing her machinery. On the 21st of August she was ordered to proceed to Vera Cruz and remain there for a short time as part of the home squadron, it having been deemed necessary to increase our force in that quarter. On the 31st of August the Richmond was ordered to be prepared as the flag ship for the Mediterranean, and set sail from Norfolk on the 13th of October. The disturbances in Sicily and Syria having rendered it expedient that the Mediterranean squadron should consist of at least three shipsof-war, orders were given to the Susquehanna to join it, and on the 18th of October she set sail for Vera Cruz accordingly. On the 1st of September, the Cumberland, then at Portsmouth, N. H., was ordered to be prepared as the flag ship for the home squadron. On the 28th of September orders were given to prepare the Vandalia for the East India squadron, in place of the John Adams, soon to return home; the Saratoga for the African squadron, in place of the Marion, to comply with treaty provisions, and the Germantown for the home squadron. The Macedonian, on the 15th of November,. was ordered in place of the Germantown, as she required to be docked, and the dock was occupied by the Pensacola. The Macedonian and the Cumberland were to take the places of the Preble and Savannah, which have returned home, and the Sabine, which was soon to return.. On the 24th of December, 1860, the St. Louis was ordered from Vera Cruz to Pensacola. On January 9, 1861, the Sabine was ordered from Vera Cruz to Pensacola. On the 5th of January the Macedonian, at Portsmouth, N. H., was ordered by telegraph to Pensacola. On the 8th, she was instructed by telegraph to touch at Tortugas on the way, as Fort Jefferson there needed attention. On the 5th January orders were telegraphed to the Crusader, at Pensacola, to proceed immediately to Tortugas, and on the arrival of troops to return to Pensacola. These orders were intercepted at Mobile. It being reported that the Crusader was seen approaching New Orleans, she was instructed by telegraph to proceed immediately to Pensacola, where she would meet her orders, having left there on the 2d of January. She is supposed to have returned to her station on the coast of Cuba, as she came to Pensacola for repairs. On the 3d of January the Brooklyn, at Norfolk, was ordered to take in her supply of ordnance and ordnance stores, and drop down to Hampton Roads. On the 7th, she was ordered to the bar off Charleston, with orders to the reinforcements on board of the "Star of the West" to return, if they had not gone into Fort Sumter, and to render her any aid she might require and return to Hampton Roads. She was instructed that it was not deemed expedient that she should attempt to cross the bar. She has since returned to Hampton Roads. On the 3d of January, Commodore James Armstrong, then in command of the Pensacola navy yard, was ordered to be vigilant to protect the public property, and to co-operate with the troops in Fort Barrancas. These orders he received, and subsequently, on the 12th, surrendered the navy yard to commissioners of Florida, who demanded it at the gate with a regiment of armed men. To the several additional inquiries addressed to me on the 21st I will answer: 1st. That there is no naval force within the limits of the United States in a condition "to be put under imraediate orders for service in the protection of the coasts," &c., except the steamer Brooklyn, 25 guns; the steamer Wyandotte, 5 guns; and the storeship Supply, 4 guns, reported to be off Pensacola; the frigate Sabine, 50 guns, and St. Louis, 20 guns, the latter probably at Pensacola, and the former on the way there; and the storeship Relief, 2 guns, at New York, under orders to the coast of Africa with stores for the squadron there. The following is a statement of the vessels of the navy in ports of the United States, their condition, the time in which they can be prepared for service, &c. At Portsmouth, N. H. Santee, frigate, 50 guns-ready; can be fitted for sea in 4 weeks. Dale, sloop, 16 guns; requires repairs, which will take 3 months. Marion, sloop, 16 guns; requires repairs, which will take 3 months. At Boston, Colorado, steam frigate, 40 guns-ready; can be fitted for sea in 2 weeks. Minnesota, steam frigate, 10 guns-ready; can be fitted for sea in 2 weeks. Mississippi, steamer, 11 guns-under repairs; can be fitted for sea in six weeks. Vermont, ship-of-the-line, 84 guns-requires repairs; can be fitted for sea in 4 months. Vincennes, sloop, 20 guns; requires repairs, which will take 6 weeks. Preble, sloop, 16 guns; requires repairs, which will take 4 weeks. Bainbridge, brig, 6 guns; requires repairs, which will take 3 weeks. At New York. Wabash, steam frigate, 40 guns-ready; can be fitted for sea in 2 weeks. Roanoke, steam frigate, 40 guns-under repairs; can be fitted for sea in 6 weeks. Potomac, frigate, 50 guns; requires repairs, which will take 4 months. Brandywine, frigate, 50 guns; requires repairs, which will take 5 months. Savannah, sloop, 24 guns; requires repairs, which will take 6 weeks. Perry, brig, 6 guns-under repairs; can be fitted for sea in 3 weeks, At Philadelphia. Pawnee, steam sloop, 6 guns-under repairs; can be ready for sea in 3 weeks. Water Witch, steamer, 3 guns-under repairs; can be ready for sea in 2 weeks. St. Lawrence, frigate, 50 guns-ready; can be fitted for sea in 3 weeks. Jamestown, sloop, 22 guns-under repairs; can be fitted for sea in 4 weeks. At Washington. Pensacola, steam sloop, not completed; will be in 6 months. At Norfolk. Merrimack, steam frigate, 40 guns; can be fitted for temporary service in 4 weeks. Plymouth, sloop, 22 guns; under repairs, which will take 4 weeks. Germantown, sloop, 22 guns; under repairs, which will take 2 weeks. Raritan, frigate, 50 guns; requiring repairs, which will take 4 months. Columbia, frigate, 50 guns; requiring repairs, which will take 6 months. United States, frigate, 50 guns; not worth repairing. At Annapolis. Constitution, frigate, 50 guns; can be prepared for sea in 3 weeks. 2d. All the vessels above named, except the Pawnee and Constitution, are dismantled. Vessels-of-war are nearly always dismantled immediately after their arrival in port, at the termination of a cruise. It is also customary to commence repairing them as soon as possible after their return, if the appropriations and other work will permit. The appropriations are reduced a million of dollars below the estimate of the department, and of the whole sum appropriated ($1,523,000) for repairs, &c., for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1861, there remained, on the 1st of January, the close of the first half of the fiscal year, the sum of $646,639 79 for the remaining half. Some of the sloops named above-the Dale, Marion, Preble, and Vincennes, and also the frigate United States-were so old and decayed that repairs on them have not been commenced, as it was under consideration whether it would not be more expedient to replace them with steamers. Of the ships-of-the-line the Vermont is the only one that can be fitted for sea as such. The department has recommended that the others be converted into steam vessels. The frigates Potomac, Brandywine, Raritan, and Columbia have not been repaired, as it has been proposed to convert them into sloops-of-war, as four others of that class have been, but the appropriations are not sufficient for that purpose. The other vessels mentioned in the list have not been put in condition for immediate service within the last month, because the number of vessels in commission is governed by the numerical strength of the officers and seamen of the navy. They are ordered to be fitted for sea only when required to relieve others returning home. 3d. There are several vessels abroad which may be safely ordered home for the protection of the interests of the United States, viz: the steam sloop Iroquois, in the Mediterranean; the steam sloop Seminole, on the coast of Brazil; the steamer Pocahontas, at Vera Cruz; the steam sloops Narragansett and Wyoming, in the Pacific; and the steamers Mohawk and Crusader, on the coast of Cuba. The two last named have already been ordered to New York. The steamers are selected from the vessels composing the several squadrons, because they are of light draught, and would be more serviceable on the coast and in the harbors. There are two steamers, the Mystic and Sumpter, and a steam sloop, the Mohican, all of light draught, and now on the coast of Africa, but they are effective in suppressing the slave trade, and their withdrawal would reduce the force on that station below the number of guns required by our treaty with Great Britain. 4th. The John Adams has not been ordered home, although the Vandalia has been sent out as her relief. The voyage to the East Indies is from four to five months, and orders will therefore be sent over land for the return of the John Adams in time to reach her by the arrival of the Vandalia. She is to be recalled, because she will have been absent from the United States two years on the 1st of June next. The department has endeavored, where it would not conflict |