In the 1834, Secretary of the Navy Mahlon Dickerson reported to President Jackson of a need for an additional dry York and funding to experiment with new steam power. President Jackson put his support behind the Secretary of the Navy and recommended that Congress fund both plans for a dry dock at the Brooklyn Naval Yards and funds for the Navy to examine and employ the steam engine devised by Benjamin Phillips of Philadelphia.
At the time, there were dry docks at both Boston and Norfolk and Secretary Dickerson reported that they were "deemed indispensable to a speedy and economical repair of our larger vessels", but not sufficient for the needs of the navy. Dickerson wanted an additional dry dock and suggested that New York was the ideal situation because of the great commerce there and the facilities which would make both recruiting seamen and procuring materials easy. In addition, there were many skillful mechanics and laborers in New York. In 1835, Secretary Dickerson assigned Loammi Baldwin, Esq. to make examinations for a suitable site. After a "long and laborious examination, Mr. Baldwin proposed that the dry dock be constructed in the Navy Yard at Brooklyn. Mr. Baldwin completed the survey of the land in 1838 and construction on the dock began in 1840. In 1851 President Millard Filmore reported that the “stone dock in the navy-yard at New York, which was ten years in process of construction, has been so far finished as to be surrendered up to the authorities of the yard". In 1975, New York City dedicated Dry Dock #1 of the Brooklyn Navy Yard a city landmark.
Other than a patent for a steam engine and a mention in a Congressional act, I could find little information about Benjamin Phillips. In the Secretary's report, Dickerson noted that the power of steam was primed to "produce as great a revolution in the defence of rivers, bays, coasts, and harbors, as it has already done in the commerce". Dickerson did not see steam powered vessels as ones that could cross the Atlantic, but rather as a formidable defense system along the coastal waters. In his report, he included an interesting comment that because of the geographic limitations of the steam powered vessels there was a good possibility that rather than seek wars overseas, nations may turn to defending their homeland instead. Dickerson wrote: "Should, therefore, the application of steam become a part of the system of maritime war, it is a consolation to reflect that it will greatly diminish the frequency as well as horrors of such war, inasmuch as it will hold out much greater advantages to the defending than to the attacking party, and take from the aggressor in a great degree his hope of success, and, of course, his motive for action."
Here is President Andrew Jackson's words from the State of the Union summarizing Secretary Dickerson's report.
"When we reflect upon our position in relation to other nations, it must be apparent that in the event of conflicts with them we must look chiefly to our Navy for the protection of our national rights. The wide seas which separate us from other Governments must of necessity be the theater on which an enemy will aim to assail us, and unless we are prepared to meet him on this element we can not be said to possess the power requisite to repel or prevent aggressions. We can not, therefore, watch with too much attention this arm of our defense, or cherish with too much care the means by which it can possess the necessary efficiency and extension. To this end our policy has been heretofore wisely directed to the constant employment of a force sufficient to guard our commerce, and to the rapid accumulation of the materials which are necessary to repair our vessels and construct with ease such new ones as may be required in a state of war.In accordance with this policy, I recommend to your consideration the erection of the additional dry dock described by the Secretary of the Navy, and also the construction of the steam batteries to which he has referred, for the purpose of testing their efficacy as auxiliaries to the system of defense now in use."
For additional information on the history of the Brooklyn Dry Dock, please visit http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/0895.pdf
References
Presidency.ucsb.edu. 2020. Second Annual Message | The American Presidency Project. [online] Available at: <https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/second-annual-message-7> [Accessed 9 June 2020].
Presidency.ucsb.edu. 2020. Sixth Annual Message | The American Presidency Project. [online] Available at: <https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/sixth-annual-message-2> [Accessed 9 June 2020].
History.navy.mil. 2020. Annual Report Of The Secretary Of The Navy - 1834. [online] Available at: <https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/a/secnav-reports/annual-report-secretary-navy-1834.html> [Accessed 9 June 2020].
History.navy.mil. 2020. Annual Report Of The Secretary Of The Navy - 1835. [online] Available at: <https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/a/secnav-reports/annual-report-secretary-navy-1835.html> [Accessed 9 June 2020].
Loc.gov. 2020. In Act Authorizing The Secretary Of The Navy To Make Experiments For The Safety Of The Steam Engine. [online] Available at: <https://www.loc.gov/law/help/statutes-at-large/23rd-congress/Session%201/c23s1ch160.pdf> [Accessed 9 June 2020].
S-media.nyc.gov. 2020. Landmarks Preservation .Commiss:I.On. [online] Available at: <http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/0895.pdf> [Accessed 9 June 2020].
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