Thought I understood this post at first reading but I lost your line of thought when you started talking about allocating guns particularly to the Presideo? Fort Point is not fully loaded out by this point, quite a long way off but it has enough to defend its rear approaches.
The February 1862 report on the defences of San Francisco bay suggested that Fort Point didn't have enough to defend its rear approaches. Unfortunately, the wooden traverse circles of the eleven 32pdrs covering the land front curtain have warped- and the guns are below the crest of the hill behind the fort in the first place. As such:
'At the Golden Gate it is proposed in addition to the present defences... to construct the platforms of the 10-gun battery on the hill, and to mount ten 42-pounders thereon immediately... Commencing at Point San Bruno and extending to the San Pedro road, where the San José road intersects it, is a continuous chain of impassable mountains, with the exception of a narrow roadway lately cut out of the rock side, which is called San Bruno turnpike.
This road is susceptible of being defended by sharp-shooters and a few field pieces until they reach Visitation Point, a distance of about two miles. On this point batteries should be erected to guard against the enemy’s occupying the Guadalupe Valley. On the other extremity of these mountains, as has already been mentioned, the two main avenues or roads, the San Pedro and San José, connect, and passing around the spurs of the mountains on the west reach the city through the extensive valley called the Rancho Rincon de las Salinas. It would become very important to establish batteries at and near the junction of those roads. Good positions for that purpose have been observed on the spurs of the mountains near the Abbey House, where the road passes. As the San Mateo Valley intervenes between this road and the Pacific Ocean, it will be necessary to establish batteries near the Laguna de la Merced to prevent the position from being turned by an approach on the seashore.
The next important point to be protected by batteries will be on the west end of the Black Hill near what is called Shear’s Five Mile House. From the Abbey House to Shear’s two roads are constructed, the one diverging from the other until they converge again and unite at a point called Alemany’s. From what has just been said of the Black Hills it becomes evident that the city must be defended at these important points by a series of batteries so placed as to command the two main avenues leading to it and at the same time overlooking the three principal and extensive valleys extending from the bay to the Pacific Coast, within the chain of the San Bruno Mountains. In the general plan of defenses for Fort Point and the Presidio there are two heights in the rear of the fort which it is proposed to occupy by permanent redoubts; the absence of sufficient appropriations has thus far prevented their construction, but it is probable that some means will be appropriated this session of Congress for an early commencement upon them. These redoubts are intended to prevent an approach on Fort Point by troops landing in the vicinity of Point Lobos and are in consequence very much needed in the defense of that position.'
The Presidio is an existing fortification without guns. As such, I imagine they would use the 24pdrs to arm the Presidio temporarily, until they've built a couple of redoubts behind Fort Point and can transfer some or all of the guns over. In either case, they're not going to let them be put on commerce raiders and sent away. As you can appreciate from the fuller list, ten 24pdrs for the landward defences is actually pretty stingy.
Perhaps you could go through this a little more methodically and explain why you think the Union will allocate/allocated naval guns as you suggest at this point OTL?
In addition to Fort Point and Alcatraz, the February 1862 report called for 90+ guns in various temporary batteries. Unfortunately, as there are only 69 32pdrs/8in guns in store, you have to prioritise. The batteries I chose were designed to provide flanking fire at the Golden Gate, and then to make life difficult for a ship attempting to run up to Mare Island and destroy the naval yard there:
20 guns 'in a temporary battery on the beach between the wharf and the fort at Fort Point'
20 guns at Lime Point
20 guns at 'Black Point or Point San Jose'
10 guns on 'Blunt’s Point on Angel Island'
20 guns at 'on the point of Angel Island, called Stewart’s Point'
Guns at Yerba Buena
Guns at Point San Pablo
Guns at Point San Pedro
As an aside do you think the Union had trucks for all of these naval guns and if so of what sort?
The commander of Mare Island Naval Yard informed Brigadier-General George Wright that 'These guns have none other than the common ship carriage, and it may be necessary to construct carriages to suit them in the batteries.' Nevertheless, I don't think that San Francisco couldn't build the carriages required.
Given the absurd way Esquimalt and New Westminster go thier mail I am slightly surprised by the latter part of the wuote.
It makes sense when you think about it. Before the war, letters came across the isthmus at Panama, to be collected by a US ship and taken to San Francisco, then taken to British Columbia on another US ship. Now, mail has to be collected by a British ship at Panama and taken up the California coast to British Columbia. At the same time, letters are also being collected by British mailships at Panama and taken down the South American coast (Callao/Valparaiso). If Maitland stations himself at Panama, he protects a critical nexus for information to both sides of the continent. He can also receive news and orders from Britain far more quickly than if he'd been at Vancouver, react to them, and send orders to his ships further up the coast.
what did they do with the other circa 130 that don't appear on your list? Were they coppered at all? Why were the larger majority of vessels not mentioned? The situation is not clear.
The other gunboats are either in active service, or are in the steam reserves of the three main ports- Portsmouth, Chatham, and Devonport. They are coppered, though in most cases not rigged, armed or stored. The reason they weren't mentioned is that we were talking specifically about Haslar. The gunboats at Haslar are those which are in the worst state, which is why they are drawn up on racks with copper removed- and, in many cases, with strakes of planking removed to allow air to circulate. If you can meet your requirements out of the gunboats which are ready for service, it allows you time to repair and copper the Haslar gunboats and bring them into service as required.