Corps of Engineers, and
appropriation for the same. Should war ever occur between the United
States and any maritime power, torpedoes will be among if not the most
effective and cheapest auxiliary for the defense of harbors, and also in
aggressive operations, that we can have. Hence it is advisable to learn
by experiment their best construction and application, as well as
effect.

Fifth. A permanent organization for the Signal-Service Corps. This
service has now become a necessity of peace as well as war, under the
advancement made by the present able management.

Sixth. A renewal of the appropriation for compiling the official records
of the war, etc.

The condition of our Navy at this time is a subject of satisfaction.
It does not contain, it is true, any of the powerful cruising ironclads
which make so much of the maritime strength of some other nations, but
neither our continental situation nor our foreign policy requires that
we should have a large number of ships of this character, while this
situation and the nature of our ports combine to make those of other
nations little dangerous to us under any circumstances.

Our Navy does contain, however, a considerable number of ironclads of
the monitor class, which, though not properly cruisers, are powerful and
effective for harbor defense and for operations near our own shores.
Of these all the single-turreted ones, fifteen in number, have been
substantially rebuilt, their rotten wooden beams replaced with iron,
their hulls strengthened, and their engines and machinery thoroughly
repaired, so that they are now in the most efficient condition and ready
for sea as soon as they can be manned and put in commission.

The five double-turreted ironclads belonging to our Navy, by far the
most powerful of our ships for fighting purposes, are also in hand
undergoing complete repairs, and could be ready for sea in periods
varying from four to six months. With these completed according to the
present design and our two iron torpedo boats now ready, our ironclad
fleet will be, for the purposes of defense at home, equal to any force
that can readily be brought against it.

Of our wooden navy also cruisers of various sizes, to the number of
about forty, including those now in commission, are in the Atlantic, and
could be ready for duty as fast as men could be enlisted for those not
already in commission. Of these, one-third are in effect new ships, and
though some of the rem