Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-06-11
BIDS FOB THE NEW NAVY.
the UNION IRON WORKS OF SAN FRAN
CISCO IN THE LEAD.

One OF the Vessels TO be the Largest Ever
Constructed by the United States -
None of the Contracts Have Yet Been
Awarded,
WASHINGTON, June 10.-Bids for over
81, ,oO0, 900 worth Of new naval vessels were
opened at the Navy Department to-day az
noon. The vessels bid for were OF three
distinct types, and there was considerable
excitement about the contest between the
rival ship builders engaged in the war
of competition. The largest OF the
three vessels-in fact, the largest vessel ever
designed for the United States navy Is
known officially as the armored cruiser No.
2 (the Marne being No. y, and popularity
as the s, ,10o-ton vessel. She belongs to the
class of swift cruisers, and is very close TO
the battle ship in that it is provided with
moderately heavy armor belt besides pro-
tectiye deck. The armor will be about
four inches thick and the curved pro-
tective deck, six inches thick. She
will be armed with six S-inch and IL
4-inch breech-loading rifles, is to develop
16, 600 indicated horse power and speed of
20 knots Her dimensions are: length $50
feet, breadth Ga feet ~ inches, depth in
hold Il feet inches.
The other large vessel is designated
cruiser No. 6, and is to have displacement
of 5, 800 tons. She has no armor, but is pro-
vided with deck AZ inches thick. Her
main batteries consist of two S-inch and ten
4-inch breach-loading rifles. She is to make
20 knots an hour, with 13,500 horse
power. This vessel is to be of about the
same type as the Baltimore, Philadelphia,
Newark and San Francisco except that her
tonnage is over ], 900 tons greater than any
of them. 1t Is generally expected that the
builder who is awarded the contract for this
vessel will lose money, as there is just as
much material to go in her as in some OF the
larger cruisers. The appropriation limits
for the three vessels are as follows: Armored
cruiser So, 500 900, protected cruisers u ,sO0,-
900, practice ship $3.50, 900.
The bids for the armed cruiser No. were
first considered. They were as follows: For
the vessel, according to the plans and speci-
fcations prepared by the Navy Department:
The Union Iron Works, of San Francisco,
So, 100, 900; William Cramp & Sons, of
Philadelphia, So, ,150 900; the Risdon Iron
and Locomotive Works, of San Francisco,
So, 450, 600. The Union Iron Works and
Cramp & Sons also submitted bids for this
vessel according to their own plans and
specifications. The formers bid was
So, 900, 600 and the latter's g. 9S5. 900. The
BIDS Tor the protective cruiser NO. b
were next received. There were but two,
each from the Union Iron Works, OF San
Francisco. They proposed to construct the
vessel according to departments plans and
specifications for 81, ,796, 900, and according
to their own plans and specifications for ST.
100000. Two bids only were received for
the practice vessel as follows: F. W.
Wheeler, of West Bay City, Mich, at
SPAS, 600; Samuel M. Moore & Co., of
Elizabethport, n. j., at S250,0o0. These
were both in accordance with thesdepart-
ment's plans. There will be no awards for
several weeks yet.