used monies meant for the repair of older ships to make newer ships from almost completely new materials, keeping the name of the older ships, and often making ships larger and replacing wooden hulls with iron. Congress and reformers were critical of Robeson overstepping the law in terms of making new ships by "repairing" older ships. Although he was criticized for overhauling 15 to 16 ironclads costing $4,000,000, navy historian Charles Oscar Paullin stated that under the circumstances of the Virginius Incident that took place in 1873, Robeson's overhauls were "proper and advisable". Departmental control (1869) Robeson's predecessor Sec. Borie, Grant's first appointment, had let the Navy Department be run by Rear Admiral David D. Porter. Borie apparently did not have any interest in running the Navy Department and let Porter have unprecedented authority. All orders from the Naval Department had to go through Porter's office to be approved. Porter was an autocratic administrator, who made as many as 45 "arbitrary and extravagant" changes in only two months in the Navy Department. According to historian Paullin, Robeson, however, after his appointment in June 1869, assumed strong leadership of the department, and Porter's dogmatic control immediately ended. Sec. Robeson was not willing to be Porter's subordinate, as Borie had been. Porter was almost barred from the Navy Department Office building, only visiting four times during Robeson's tenure. On November 16, 1870, Robeson wrote Porter a letter specifically stating Porter's limited authority, and Porter was told to report regularly to Robeson's Naval Office in writing. According to historian Donald Chisholm, both Rear Admiral Porter and Rear Admiral Daniel Ammen, a close friend to President Grant, influenced Robeson's decisions as Secretary of Navy. Robeson's first annual report to Congress in 1869 was heavily influenced by Rear Admiral Porter. Norfolk riot (1870) During the Reconstruction Era, Secretary of the Navy Robeson arrived in Norfolk, Virginia, on November 1, 1870, and he was saluted by naval warships in the harbor. His purpose was to speak for and support Republican Rep. James H. Platt's reelection to the U.S. Congress. During the stump speech ceremony in honor of Platt, Robeson forcefully advocated Republican Radical Reconstruction. Robeson, in his scholarly way, on the steps of the Norfolk City Hall, spoke on the Republican Party's achievements of successfully defeating the Southern Rebellion; ending the "barbarism of slavery"; elevating millions of African American freedmen by giving them citizenship, full suffrage