The United States Transition From Age Of Sail - 1621 Words

The United States Transition from â€Å"Age of Sail† to Steam and Steel Navy William Hunt, the secretary of the Navy in 1881, once wrote: â€Å"the conditions of the Navy imperatively demand the prompt and earnest attention of Congress. Unless some action be had in its behalf it must soon dwindle into insignificance.† Without technology advancements or change, the Navy would soon fall apart. The â€Å"Age of Sail† lasted from about the sixteenth century through the mid-nineteenth century. It was a time in which our nation was fighting with wooden ships stacked with canons, and underdeveloped technology. Slowly, this started to change. As a country, the need for change began in the mid-nineteenth century, before the Civil War. The first of these†¦show more content†¦Although it was â€Å"innovative† it was not optimally efficient, nor abundant. â€Å"In 1815, the entire United States naval force consisted of 18 warships – the USS Independence, a 90-gun ship-of-the-line, 5 frigates, 2 sloops-of-war, 7 brigantines and 3 scho oners† (Potts). The entire U.S. Navy consisted of eighteen warships which they soon realized was not enough and motivated them to advance their technology. After the War of 1812, to aid sea commerce and whaling fleet efforts that followed the whale migration around the globe, the United States needed new ships to fight the British. The first USS Yorktown was commissioned in 1840 and it was the most advanced ship of its time during the â€Å"Age of Sail†. It included three masts, eighteen sails, tactically placed canons, lifeboats, and anchors. While the U.S. were launching this vessel, Great Britain was rapidly advancing their technology into a steel and steam navy. The Napoleonic Wars left Great Britain as the most powerful naval country in the world. No two of their rivals combined came even close to competing with the Royal Navy. With that, the United States Navy was inspired as well as threatened by the technology advances, and they too sought change. Time was not the only factor that was decisive on the progressions. The need for new and more efficient methods was the driving factor. Robert Fulton, the builder of the first s team-powered warship,