The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-08-23
A FLYER OF THE SEAS.

A New Cruiser Which In Many Re
spects VIII Resemble an Atlantic
Liner
The current number of HdrpeY's Weekly
prints the following account Of the new
7,3OO-ton protected cruiser, the detailed
plans Of which are rapidly approaching
completion in the navy department. The
naval appropriation act authorizing this
vessel, approved June 80. 1890, required her
TO be a protected cruiser of about 1900
tons displacement. at a cost, exclusive of
armament, not 10 exceed 81, 10000. and to
have a maximum speed of not less than
81 knots" The Secretary Of the NAVY
determined to make the vessel a com
merce destroyer par excellence, and,
this decided, il naturally followed that
the greatest possible speed and coal endur-
ance must be obtained. Extreme gun
power is unnecessary for a vessel of this
type, and she requires only sufficient pro-
lection to make it certain that she can stand
any punishment liable to be inflicted upon
her by any ship which it would be her duty
to encounter in time of war. In view of
the fact that the most recent of the ocean
'greyhoundsn can maintain at sea a speed
of 20 knots, it was decided that this vessel
mus nave u susldAueI eed : pceu OF at least
81 knots, and a maximum speed, to be
maintained for a few hours only, Of %
knots.
The following are the general features
embodied in the design: Length of load
water line, 400 feet; beam extreme), So
feet; normal mean draught, % feet; corre-
spending displacement, 7,400 tons sustained
indicated horse power, 10000; coal capacity,
1000 tons. The main battery to be carried
by this vessel is composed Of four 6-inch and
eight finch guns, with about twenty small
rapid-tire machine guns. The buoyancy and
stability Of the vessel at the water-line is
assured by the protective deck, hav-
Ing maximum thickness on
the slopes of four inches, the same
as that of the Baltimore, and by
belt of water-excluding mineral. The in
ternal arrangements and fittings Of this YES
sci do not differ greatly from those of the
smaller protected cruisers already built or
building for our navy, such as the BaIti-
more, Philadelphia, etc. The most novel
feature Of this vessel consists in the employ
ment OF three screw propellers, each driven
by an independet triple expansion engine,
instead of the two propellers which have
been used on war vessels for many years.
The adoption of the three screws was
primarily necessitated not by the high
speed of the vessel, but by the enormous en-
ouIhHco TequTeu Oh ueT.
The ordinary cruising speed of such ship
would be about ten knots, and at this speed
but one OF the three screws would be used
to propel the ship, the other two being I'M
coupled and allowed to revolve freely.
Under these conditions the single screw will
be much more efficient than would be
twin screws, thus effecting a reduction in
the horsepower required to propel the ship,
and corresponding reduction in the coal
which must be burned to obtain the power.
Hence 1t follows that on her full coal supply
of 1000 tons this vessel is expected to steam
for 100 days at the rate of ten knots per
hour. giving her total endurance OF &c. 100
miles. In other words, the new cruiser
would be able to steam distance about
equal to the circumference of the earth
without recoaling.
In general appearance she is not unlike
many OF the newest transatlantic liners,
and at distance, with her three smoke
stacks and high pilot house, might easily be
mistaken for a merchant steamer. The
tthree-screw feature has not yet been prac-
tically tested on any large vessel bur will
be on french cruiser, the Dupuy de LONE,
recently launched. On small torpedo boats
it has been tried successfully, and Chief
Engineer Melville is very sanguine of its
complete success on this vessel About 400
men and officers will be required to fill out
the complement of this ship, the larger
number In the epgineer's department., aud
she will be fitted as flagship, having che
quarter galleries common to the old ships of
the line and frigates, and now being re-
vlved III our navy as in that OF England.