Report of subcommittee on visit to Naval Ordnance Proving Ground..
Inspection of grounds and instruments. - Firing Dolphin's 6-inch steel rifle.-Action of its
hydraulic carriage.-Practice with rapid-firing guns.-Comparison of foreign and
American made projectiles.-Cast steel unfit for armor and guns.-Experiments with
Folger high-power musket.
Statement of the Secretary of the Navy in reply to the resolutions of both Houses
of Congress for the appointment of committees on ordnance and naval
construction, July 12, 1884........
The capacity of steel-works to make steel for guns and armor.-The character and suffi-
ciency of machinery in navy-yards and in private works for the construction of guns,
engines, and ships.-The best method, whether by Government or by contract, and
the best location, for the manufacture and construction of guns, engines, and ships.-
Guns for the new cruisers.-Indorsement of conclusions of Gun Foundry Board.-
Armor, engines, and ships.-System of navy-yard labor.-Circular letter to steel man-
ufacturers in relation to armor required for the completion of monitors, and replies
thereto.-Letter of Navy Department to steel manufacturers giving information re-
lating to character, mode of manufacture, and comparative tests of armor.
Report of the British committee on the building and repairing of ships...............
The building and repairing of ships by contract.-Relative cost of dock-yard and contract
work. Incidental expenses. -Specifications.-Supervision.-Quality of contract
work. Relative time occupied in construction.-Advantages of contract work. - Re-
pairs under contract.-Repairs should be confined to dock yards.-Recommendation
to extend number of contract buildings.-Selection of firms.-Efficiency of dock-yards
should be maintained.-Armament.-Recommendations.-Repairs and refits.-Defini-
tion of terms.-Instructions to professional officers.-Practice of placing ships in
reserve. Proposed extension of practice of immediate recommissioning.-Proposed
reduction of extent of overhaul in some cases.-Question of repairing old vessels
requires to be carefully considered.-Obsolete character of some of the dock-yard
tools.-Memorandum appended by Mr. Samuda.
Form of contract used by the British Admiralty for building the hull of a ship.
British Admiralty specification for the construction of marine engines and boilers.
Tender for a set of steam-engines and boilers for a British war-ship..
List of spare gear for engines of 2,000 indicated horse-power.-Drawings to be supplied.
Form applicable to ship-building by contract (England)..
Conditions of tendering for marine steam machinery.
Contractor's specifications for a ship built for a foreign Government....
Twin armor-clad turret ship Riachuelo.-General statement of dimensions, armament, and
engines required, and estimate of wages.-Specifications.-External sheathing of
teak and zinc.
An English return of ships built and building for the British navy, 1880-1885.
Armored: Barbette and turret ships.-Unarmored: Partially-protected steam cruisers,
sloops, and corvettes; gun-vessels, gunboats, special-service and dispatch vessels,
scouts, and torpedo cruisers.-Their cost, armament, speed, principal dimensions,
and other particulars.-Vessels built in dock-yards and by contract.--Ship-building
programme proposed for 1885-'86: armor-clads, torpedo-ram, belted cruisers, scouts,
gunboats, and torpedo-boats.-Statement of total expenditures on ship-building from
1865 to 1884.-Armored and unarmored tonnage built in Her Majesty's dock-yards
and by contract and purchased from 1865 to 1884.
Extracts from Report of Gun Foundry Board....
Points called upon for a report.—Sources of armament supply, England, France, Germany,
Russia, and the United States.-Joint action between Government and private
firms. Best system of production that of France.-Mutual checks.-Examples of
partnership. Conclusions of board. -All history warns against a partnership between
Government and private firms.-Steel manufacturers should be called upon to supply
material.-Guns should be fabricated (machined and finished) in two Government
factories, one for the Army and one for the Navy.-Sites selected.-Approximate costs
of plant.-United States destitute of means of fabrication.-Supplementary report of
board.-Total cost of each gun factory.-As to best method of supply, board indorses
unanimously its previous opinion.-Specific recommendations indicating most advan
tageous appropriations.-Details of proposals and bids.-Estimates will complete
steel-producing plant, establish and equip the factories, supply guns for six and one-
half years, and inaugurate manufacture of steel in large masses in United States. -
Gun tools of size and power.-Few firms have reached position of excellence in their
production.