This table, although incomplete, gives for the above fifteen ships, during a period of less than twenty years, the cost of _timber alone_ used in their repair, an average of about $400,000 each. More timber than this was used, in all probability, upon the same vessels, and paid for out of the funds appropriated "for such as may be ordered in course of the year to be repaired." But the amount specifically appropriated for timber for these fifteen ships, would, in every twelve or fifteen years, equal the entire _first cost_ of the same items. If we add to this amount, the cost of labor required in the application of timber to the operations of repair, and take into consideration the expense of other materials and labor, and the decayed condition of many of the ships at the end of this period, we should not be surprised to find the whole sum _expended_ under these heads to equal the first cost, even within the minimum estimate of seven years. The whole cost of timber used for hulls, masts, and yards, in building between 1800 and 1820, was L18,727,551; in repairs and "ordinary wear and tear," L17,449,780; making an annual average of $4,560,158 for building timber, and $4,273,371 for that used in repairs. A large portion of the vessels _built_ were intended to replace others which had been lost, or were so decayed as to be broken up. But it may be well to add here, the actual supplies voted for the sea-service, and for wear and tear, and the extraordinary expenses in building and repairing of ships from 1800 to 1815. =============================================================== | | For the wear|Ext. Expenses| For entire | | Year | and tear of |for building,| sea-service. | | | Ships. |repairing,&c.| | |---------------------------------------------------| | 1800 | L4,350,000 | L772,140 | L13,619,079 | | 1801 | 5,850,000 | 933,900 | 16,577,037 | | 1802 | 3,684,000 | 773,500 | 11,833,571 | | 1803 | 3,120,000 | 901,140 | 10,211,378 | | 1804 | 3,900,000 | 948,520 | 12,350,606 | | 1805 | 4,680,000 | 1,553,690 | 15,035,630 | | 1806 | 4,680,000 | 1,980,830 | 18,864,341 | | 1807 | 5,070,000 | 2,134,903 | 17,400,337 | | 1808 | 5,070,000 | 2,351,188 | 18,087,544 | | 1809 | 3,295,500 | 2,296,030 | 19,578,467 | | 1810 | 3,295,500 | 1,841,107 | 18,975,120 | | 1811 | 3,675,750 | 2,046,200 | 19,822,000 | | 1812 | 3,675,750 | 1,696,621 | 19,305,759 | | 1813 | 3,549,000 | 2,822,031 | 20,096,709 | | 1814 | 3,268,000 | 2,086,274 | 19,312,070 | | 1815 | 2,386,500 | 2,116,710 | 19,032,700 | ---------------------------------------------------------------