Cabinet report on naval revival

THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA

               The circulation of this letter has been strictly limited.

            It is issued for the personal use of………………………………

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C. (04) 135

1st JANUARY, 1829.

CABINET

REVIVAL OF THE NAVY

Memorandum by the

Minister of Finance

After a private meeting with Simon Bolivar, the Central Government wishes to have a summary of the present situation regarding the state of the Colombian Navy.

Background to recent events

2. In a decree of December 7, 1826, Bolívar decommissioned the Naval school, abolished the Ministry of the Navy, and slashed the budget for all navy and marine affairs by more than half. This was due to financial constraints.

Classification of Ships

2.        The Colombian navy is comprised of a variety of vessels, ranging in size as well as manoeuvrability. A general categorisation of the ships are outlined before:

a.                A ship of the line, or man-of-war, the biggest and most heavy ship that currently sails on the oceans of the world. With a number of cannons ranging from 60 to 140, reinforced hulls, three masts and between two and three decks, and with crews numbering in the hundreds, usually around 700 men, it is a formidable fighting machine that carries an entire army’s firepower. These vessels are used for direct naval combat, usually fighting in lines facing each other.

b.                A secondary class of vessels is the frigate. Although smaller than a ship of the line in theory, frigates remained formidable ships. They were faster than their more heavily armed counterpart but still generally had two decks and at least three masts, their hull was however not reinforced like the ship of the line. While useful in direct battle, frigates were usually used for escort missions.

c.                 Smaller ships like corvettes, brigantines and schooners were also used in battle in different missions. The corvette is a 20-cannon vessel, with around a hundred crew, in larger formations, it was used as a messenger between ships of the line or as a forward scouting unit. When operating on its own, corvettes were capable of raiding commerce, but lacked the capability to face larger vessels or threaten port cities. Brigantines and schooners were very similar, both were small vessels used for raiding, they lacked the manpower and firepower to be properly efficient when facing larger ships, but they could easily threaten commerce with raiding operations, as they would easily outpace any commercial ship.

d.                 Gunboats are very small ships, usually with a single artillery piece, while extremely fragile, they would be used in large numbers to threaten both larger vessels and fortifications.

3.       The current state of the Colombian navy is composed of a ship of the line, a frigate, six corvettes, five brigantines, 10 schooners, and 13 gunboats.

4. The navy is split into two main fleets:

• The Atlantic Fleet, composed of 1 ship of the line, 3 corvettes, 3 brigantines, 5 schooners, and 7 gunboats are currently docked in the Puerto Baranquilla, Santa Marta province, Magdalena department in Venezuela.
• The Pacific Fleet, composed of 1 frigate, 3 corvettes, 2 brigantines, 5 schooners, and 6 gunboats.

5. After a comprehensive review of the navy, none of them are in a operable state and combat readiness. It will take


Plans for future operations
6.     Bolivar has announced his desire for the revival of the Colombian navy to increase the Republic's security and commercial interests, against European meddling in the Americas, as well as the Peruvian threat.


7.        As outlined by the 1828 Economic Report, current naval expenditures are as followed.

Venezuela: 398269

New Granada: 622296

Ecuador: 224026

Total: 1,244,593

It will cost an additional 550,000 pesos to bring the Pacific Fleet to a state of combat readiness.
It will cost an additional 600,000 pesos to bring the Atlantic Fleet to a state of combat readiness.


8.         Moreover, in regard to port facilities, measures should be taken to increase the production efficiency of arsenals (for guns, anchors, and all metallic items), docks, rope manufactures (extremely important), and sawmills (although there is enough wood for timbers in the country).


9.         There is a very small number of trained officers (8), with no school to train more people due to financial constraints. The officer curriculum should be updated to reflect the latest developments in naval doctrine, note the Battle of Trafalgar 1805.

J.M.C.R

1st January, 1829.

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Distribution: –

Cabinet members de la República

Senior civil and military officials in the Republic of Colombia