Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1889-04-11
A MILLION TO DEFEND
Bids Opened al the Navy Department
For Coast Defense.
Which Will Cost Over a Million and a
Half Dollars.
she Will Carry a Rifle Weighing One
Hundred and Ten Tons.

WASHINGTON, April 3.-Great interest is
felt at the navy department today, in
opening bids for armored coast defenses.
Il was concluded generally that the figure
proposed (the lowest being 81 Ga ,OGOl
constituted fair price for the work and
the closeness of the bidding was remark
able. There are maay features of interest
about the new craft. The one connected
with boilers has apparently given much
trcu5le 10 bidders and may influence the
award of the contract. The specification
provides for two ordinary return, tubular
marine boilers of l,5C0 horse power, and
are required to be supplied by coil
boilers. These have been tried with great
success on yachts and IN modified form
by the French government, but their
use in naval vessels will
be largely experimental II they come
up TO expectations they will result in
large saving of space and weight. The
new vessel will be departure in design
from any vessel in the navy, and Captain
Hichborn, who is acting as chief of the
bureau of construction, is confident she
will be the most formidable vessel for her
displacement of any in the world and
able to compete with anything ahoat.
She approximates monitortype and is of
5000 tons displacement in cruising trim.
When she goes into action, by taking on
water ballast she sinks until her
deck is but sixteen inches above
water level. ard thus diminishing
the size of the target exposed to an OPP
ponent. The sides covering the machin-
cry are to be covered with Is inches of
armor, besides the protection afforded
by the coal bunkers. The barbettes
containing the guns are to be of 16-inoh
steel, and the deck will be of steel two
inches thick. She will be 261 feet long,
40 fl. beam, 14112 #. draft and will have
a speed of Is knots. At this speed she
can steam 632 miles, but at an ordinary
cruising speed about 8 knots. She would
travel 2722 miles without renewing her
coal supply. But the most remarkable
feature will be the tremendous power of
her armament. in the forward the
barbette will be mounted on turn
table and manipulated by hydraulic
power, she will carry 16 inch rife weigh
ing 10 tons and 40 feet long, one of the
largest guns af0at. In the rear of the
barbette, there will be & II il.Gh rifle
weighing 46115 tons. A Is inch dynamite
gun so feet long will project from the
carry six SO FOUNDERS, three 9 Founders,
two Founders and four 8 pourders, all
revolving cannons and rapid fire guns.
machine guns and electric search lights
on hollow steel military mast, will com
plete the ship which it will take 81 years
to build.
WASHINGTON, April 1.-While the vessels
ordered to s;omoa today are fair vessels
of their kind, yet they are by no means
equal to the three vessels which were
wrecked, and ere of antique type com
pared with the vessels of the German
East African fleet which have been Or
dered to Samoa.
The old Richmond is the largest of the
vessels that will go down. She was built
in Norfolk in in 1858, and is of 2,700 tons
burden, 227 feet long, 421a feet broad,
and 174 draft. Her speed Is set down at
80 knots when in trim, but she is doubt
less foul, and consequently much re-
duced in speed by her stay IN the
Sonth Atlantic waters. She IS com
manded by Captain A. N. Reed, with Lieu
tenant Commander Louis Kingsley
and Lieuts. W. Fl Everett, J. Fl G. Coffin,
F. II. Crosby, J. II. Robinson AID j. o.
Nicholson. Her com plement is twenty
nine officers and 321 men. The battery
is headed by II ten inch smooth bores,
one eighr-inch muZzle Loading rife, aud
one sixty pound breach loading rife, two
twenty pound breach leaders and soma
smaller secondary guns. The Alert is
1 600 ton vessel built by j ohm Roach In
1875. She carries 81 officers and 1877 men
and is rate / at 10 knots; is IT'S feet long
by 80 feet beam, draws 12I feet Of water
aud carries battery of one 11-inch and
9 inch smooth bores, $50 pound rifle
and four smaller guns in the secondary
battery. Her officers are commanded by
Commodore ohm D. Graham and Lieuts.
joint Garuin, F. E. Greene, J. T. Moore,
J. P. Parker, G. u. Bostree and W. G.
Fl 8nuum.
The Adams is rated at 375 tons. She
was built in 1876, at Boston, by Donald
Mckay. Her length is 185 fest, by 35
feet beam and IA feet draft. She is set
down as 8 knot ship. with battery Of
four nine inch smooth eores, one eight
inch muzzle loading rifle, one sixty pound
mUzzle loading rifle ano five guns ia the
secondary battery.
The detail for the Adams was com
pleted this afternoon. She will he under
the direction OF Commander Edwin /.
Wood ward. There will be DO new
orders, in ard to the Samoan effair,
given to the commanders of the vessels.
Admiral Kimberly will remain at the
A pia and will continue in command of
the quadron. The admiral has consid-
cradle discretion vested in him, and may,
TO considerable extent, exercise his own
judgment in reg ard to what shall be done
should anything occur to render new
instructions advisable, and that they will