Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1886-12-09
THE NAVY.
Important Features Of Secretary
Whitney's Report
The Departments Experience In Baiidtns
Crnisers-How Money Has Been
Used-Resume of tho Past
Years Operations.

WASHINGTON, Dec 4-The annual report OF
the Secretary of the Navy foc the year 1880 was
made public to-day, and from 1t the IoiioNins
est are made. The report has the following on
the subject of the
ADDITIONAL NEW CRUISERS:
The experience Of the department in its
first attempt at the creation Of modern vesseis
of war has been such as to excite the greatest
concern and disappointment An examination
of the facts with reference to them Demon
strated that an entirely new departure was
necessary in undertaking further similar con
struction. The one characteristic which an un
armored cruiser must possess is great speed.
This is determined by the function which she is
expected to perform in modern warfare. She
is commerce destroyer" She must
be able to escape from ironclads ana
outrun. so as to overhaul. mer
chantmen. II slower than ironclads she could
not keep the sea, and if slower than merchant
men she might as well stay in port THIS di-
vision OF ships by the functions which they are
expected to perform is one of the things which
has come about of recent years. When it be-
came impossible to concentrate IN one snip
both the greatest speed, strongest armament,
and the highest defensive power, without
reaching tonnage displacement wholly out
Of the question, the division into classes, &C
cording to the functions which they were ex-
pected to perform, came about. Unarmed
cruisers have become distinct class. and the
characteristic absolutely Indispensable to this
class is very great speed.
When the Dolphin, Boston, Atlanta and Chi
cago were projected and the contracts for their
construction entered into, it was well known
what speed ought to be attained and what
weight and character of machinery per ton OF
displacement was necessary to obtain it. Com
mercial vessels had at that time attained
speeds ranging between sixteen and nlneSeen
knots, and cruisers were being built in other
countries. or had already been built, attaining
the same speed
The Dolphin and the Atlanta having both
been completed, and having had trial trips. it
is possible to compare them in their results
with similar vessels built contemporaneously
elsewhere. The Dolphin. of !, 800 tons displace-
ment, can be compared with the Alacrity and
Surprise, English dispatch vessels OF /, 400 tons
each, and the Milan. French dispatch vessel
OF $50 tons, all built contempora neously. The
Dolphin was designed for Z, 800 indicated horse
power, the Alacrity and Surprise each 3.000 and
the Milan $500. The highest mean horsepower
developed upon trial was. in the case of the
Dolphin. less than 2.aO0. of the Alacrity, alb,
of the Surprise, 3,079; of the Milan, 4.13a The
highest speed of the Dolphin. resulting from
several trials, was ISL knots. running light of
the Alacrity. 1875 knots; of the Surprise IFS
knots; of the Milan. 1874 knots.
The Atlanta. the sister ship to the Boston,
can be compared with the Esmeralda, the
Gicfanni Bausan and the Mersey. All three
wire built in England: the Esmeralda for
Chill. the Giovanni Bausan for Italy and the
Mersey for the English Government. The At
lanta is of 3, 900 tons displacement; the Esmer-
aida 1920; the Giovanni Bausan, 3.0Gs, and
the Mersey, $3.50 The Atlanta was designed
to attain an indicated horsepower of $500. the
Esmeralda and the Giovanni Bausan each s.
500. and the Mersey 6.0o0. The trials had of the
Atlanta indicate that her engines will develop
less than 1850 horse power. while the Esmer-
aida developed 5000, the Giovanni Bausan g.
$50. and the Mersey {. 6a6. The maximum speed
of the Atlanta will be less than Is knots. while
that of the Esmeralda was 1928 knots. the
Giovanni Bausan It's knots: the Mersey It's
knots
These facts are stated without any intention
of locating responsibility or blame upon any
person. 1t is impossible to ascertain where it
should be placed But they indicate q simple
abandonment on the part of the department of
any attempt to reach the conditions which
should have been attained and the failure on
the part of the contractor to reach the limited
results expected by the department. In con-
siderins the matter OF constructing
the additional vessels authorized by
department to exhaust every effort to avail
itself of the most advanced thought and
knowledge attained by and other
countries upon the subject The machinery Of
from that of merchant ships: and as no modern
war vessels have been for many years built in
this country by our Government, up to the time
OF those just referred to- it seems probable. on
comparing results attained by the department
in its first effort with those reached in other
countries, that important advances had been
made elsewhere in the methods of attaining
great speed and power which it hal become
necessary for us to utilize. For twenty years
the principal market fsr modern war vessels
has been England. Russia, Germany, Italy.
Chilli, Brazil. Japan have all procured in the
English market war vessels recloned among
the best in their respective fleets Great eff
forts have been made in most of these coun-
tries to develop ship construction at home, but
not without first ayailing of the latest products
attainabie elsewhere as basis upon which to
build their own subsequent improvements and
developments.
THE NEW ARNoR-CIADS
Congress, at its recent session, authorized
the construction of two iron-clads of about g.
600 tons each. The subject has been referred
to the bureaus of construction. steam engineer
ing. equipment and recruiting and ordnance to
take the necessary steps to prepare plans for
the letting. The department has also deemed
il wise to offer TO all approved naval architects
and ship builders opportunity to compete |
with the work Of the department in the design
for these new ships. and the sum of $4,000 has |
been offered as compensation for any accepted |
drawings to be the subject of subsequent agree
ment. There are many distinguished architects |
who. of late years. have had much greater ex-
perience in new work than the hberality of our |
has made il possible for our own to |
enjoy, and in starting upon the creation of a |
new navy the department has no embar- |
rassment in desiring to avail of the best |
talent anywhere to be found in placing the |
new work upon par with the best OF |
other countries, from which point it is entirely |
safe to predict that the ingenuity and talent of
our own countrymen will suffice to keep us in |
the front rank for future work
No time will thus be lost. even il no designs |
are submitted or accepted. for the process of |
preparing necessary plans is going on stimuli |
aneously in the department.
THE ARNoR AND GUNS FOR THE MONITORS /
AND THE ARN0R-CLADS
Congress also authorized the President. in his /
to direct the completion of the /
monitors, and made provision /
With reference to the armor as follows:
That the armor used in constructing said /
.rmcred vessels and for completing said moa-
tors shall be of the best obtaiaable quality. !
md of domestic manufacture. provided con- /
racts for furnishing the same in reasonable |!
lime. at q reasonable price, and OF the required /
quality can be made with responsible parties
Such armor shall be accepted only after pass
ng such tests as shall be prescribed by the
Secretary of the Navy and inserted in the con-
racts
In constituting the statute for the purpose of
lscertaining what, within the view of Congress
,houId be construed a reasonable time" il |
vas deemed 10 necessarily imply such time as
would be required to perfect in this country an
plant adequate 10 the creation of the
,-ofnet desired, inaSmuch modern arrnor
.ithe- OF steel or compound. able to stand the
ests which would be prescribed, has not IN 10
he present time, been made in the United
states. and for fair competition in its manu-
acture a reasonable time would be the time