National Republican., 1883-10-27

p ially the draught; and they would absorb fol
l'' y ,outrh such large proportion OF the per-
- i'l "l the navy that active service couid only
v VAR. .Nied by the most urgent necessity Tor spe
G IL work.
"a % necessity would under no conditions
SO in time OF peace, which is the normal state
o. the mtiou. 10 warrant them then, their spe-
al service in time Of war must be one certain to
.rrur aud uhe that corll not be performed by
"r vessels, Now, thCse extremely nigh speed
packets make up tnr less than the one hundredth
-,., 60" octnn team tonnage of the world,
E,on II IniS nuiHtrrGin rnrt were considered of
sufficient Importance for the special considera-
non, " is ABSURD to suppose that such valuable
material would in time of war maintain their or
dinary commercial methods and lines of travel.
TIC ,Hso with which they could secure immunity
~ transfer to n neutral nag, the security which
Gould and und Ubtediy would be furnished
through convoy or an entire suspension Of service
ur alteration pf uaiic are considered the best
grounds possible for leaving them out OF account
In laying down the elements oil feet construction.
The vulnerable commerce OF the enemy, and
thc rnc, which, II struck, VIII cause the greatest
speed stcumers vessels with which ships If the
DOLPHIN class are thoroughly competent 10 deal
under any or all circumstances. such being as
turedly the case seems conclusive, that since for
tue cost of one Of these immense vessels. eight Of
the Dolphin class could easily be built and kept at
sen 10 plausible reason exists for the introduction
oi The type INTO the service. Tho cost of building
aud itiH out one Of these very large vessels
would beat least as great as that OF all seven Of
the ships which we have recommended. Very
respectfully K. w. Shuieldt, rear admiral UiIited
sHlc, navy, plealdent of the board; Henry steers,
ialR architect, member; Miers Coryell. marine
engineer, member Alex Henderson, chief engl
hccr United states navy, member j. a. Howell,
common1cr United states navy, member; Edward
W.Nufy. lieutenant United States navy, member;
+. /. Fcrnald, naval constructor United States
navy, member.
Tho naval advisory board has made its final
report to the secretary of the navy under the
act of congress of Aug g. 1882, requiring it to
report as to tho wisdom and expcdicncy of
hN Tnrrnr
Amphitritc, and Monadnock. In December
last the board reported that it would be
wise and expedient to finish the monitors at
once, and in January OF this year it submitted
another report recommending changes in the
construction of the Puritan, accompanied by
plans in detail and an estimate of the cost of
completion. The report submitted to the
secrt tlry of tho navy yesterday recommends
further changes in the plans for completing
The Puritan, and presents detailed designs ac-
companied by estimates of cost for the COM
pletion Of the Terror, Amphitrite, and Mo-
nadnock.
With respect to the Puritan, the board re-
ports that it has found in carrying out its own
recommendations that it is necessary to re-
duce the coal supply of the vessel by 100 tons.
In making the drawings for the turrcts and
loading appliances it has been found prac-
ticable to reduce the internal diameter from
% to 10 feet; and the reduction Of
weight caused by this and other changes
has made it possible to considerably
increase the fighting power and efficiency Of
the vessel by increasing the thickness of the
deck armor throughout by nearly one inch,
by increasing the thickness of the sido armor
for 1s1 feet amidships by one inch for u
depth of three feet six inches, and by increas-
ing the thickness of the turret armor by one
inch.
The board estimates the cost Of completing
tho Puritan as follows: Hull, S0jj,3i2; ma
chinery, Sl3S90; ordnance, $l72,250; total
cost 81 l,1il 4S2.
With r'gdrd to the Terror, Amphitrite, and
Mona 'ck, the board recommends that the
d rrets be of tho roller-base pattern, with
central ammunition supply, and arrange
ments for independent loading at any pont
that tie armament consist of four l0.inch
high rtrerrd lrrcch-loading raed guns, with
hydrali loading and recoil mechanism
with ILL., inu guns, small arms, torpedo and
clcctr" "ii'j'S similar to those recommended
for th' i'nrj'un. 1t recommends that the
arinor for Ic tur70ts and sides be either steel
or steel .arcl. The following estimates of
cost nr;n.nglnv tho recommendations
Terro? !laii, si2T255; machinery, 81 800
or'iuvnc'. 1850; total cost, S7S5, 1858
Amphtrite-!iull. S6J955i; machinery,
&ii,ID ordnance, $lij,450; total cost, $707-
rGi.
Man dro"k-Hull, $7ol,44o; machinery,
Sll 30; ordnance, Sl5l, ,l25; total cost, $51i,-
90.
Ihc r'lort concludes with the statement
that b re tests of targets, presenting
Clark (" Grii.c.ivr turrets, should result in u
connendntion Ot his system for the monitors
the Clara tGrrets could e'uscd instead of tho
roller bass turra;s without affecting the esti-
mates Oi the cost.