Page:The Development of Navies During the Last Half-Century.djvu/323

 as long as they were able to perform the ordinary duties of a war vessel in peace time. An effort was made in 1863 to build fast cruisers, and some of 4000 tons and 340 ft. long were designed. But, as we found with the 'Mersey' and 'Orlando,' such dimensions and powerful machinery were incompatible with a wooden hull. The American vessels similarly failed to fulfil expectations, and their existence was a short one. In 1870 Congress decided that the fleet should consist of ten ships, rated first class, of 3500 tons, and twenty of the second class, of 2000 tons. But this abstract resolution was not made concrete by voting the necessary money to carry it into effect, and little was done beyond selling some old vessels. Money received from this source, and a small amount granted by Congress, enabled the naval depart- ment to build a few vessels during the next few years which kept the navy going; but in 1876 a fine vessel called the 'Trenton' was launched. Though just under 4000 tons, she had the moderate length of 260 ft., with 45 ft. beam. There was no attempt at high speed, but at full power she could steam 14 knots, and had besides considerable sail area. The armament was composed of eleven 8-in. rifled guns. She was a fine vessel, well suited for cruising in distant seas, but unfortunately was wrecked at Samoa in the hurricane from which the 'Calliope' alone escaped without injury.

In the meantime no new ironclads had been built, and when in 1880 the country was ripe for a considerable augmentation of the fleet, the first want was seen to be that of efficient cruisers. As it was determined