The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1891-09-15
THE FLEETS or THE GEAR.
Tho Armnsients which Have Becn Ere
pnrea tor the rtiRcL Sea aud tho Baltic.

TIL, Armament. which Have Been Pre-.
pared tor the rtinck Sea aud tho Baltic.
WASHINGTON. Sent. 12.-There is one fact
that. under ordinary circumstances, shonld
furnish n roa-onnblo guarantee that no Eu-
ropenn war would DO undertaken Voluntarily
by Russia before 1893 Sho has decided that
her troops must be roarmei W til u repeating
rifle. In order to put them on an equal footi X
with those of hcr ncichbors; and this change
could hardly Us com plotel in less than eich-
teen months or two yeas But nsrossiblc of.
so;s to this motive for deiay We have tho en-
thusiasm stirred up by the Franco Enssian
alliance an tho oyigsnciss OF tho Dardane!les
incident which Nigh. precip tate hosiiilties.
whatever lhssia's Interest to postpone them
Mean whilo tho growth Of Russias fleet has
attracted attenlioa. A glance at her GcoGrapli-
icnl position shows thnt her naval fotc,s In
homo waters. exclusive OF those In the Pacific.
are divided into ,hoss OF tho Baltic and those
OF tho Black. which are too distant 10 effect n
junction in case OF cod. Moreover. 9th forces
nrc under restrictions which MS Sir j.. j. Reed
phrases ii, ap; roach nearly in the conditions
OF blockades In the Blark Sc tho letters are
those of the Bosrhoins forts and tho European
treaties from which she is now stru -Eling 10
FREQ herself IN part In tho Baltic tho block
ale ia that which ia enforced by nature nearly
hall tho year. With her nccus omed energy.
however. Russia has cons'rnctel n navy dur
ing tho last twenty-five years suited TO her
especial moods. she logan with series OF
monitors launched during tho latter part OF
our civil war. Next followed the Admiral
class. consisting Of four turrot shiBs OF about
300 tons displacement third step in nd
vance was fur nished bv tho circular coast do.
fence ships. or floating batteries. OF tho 1'o-
roifka class. THOR displacomont ~ about
$3.50 tons. tho speed about eight Knots. and
tue armament two Alton b. eech leaders aud
four smaller pieces.
But one OF Russas chief contributions in
naval construction wa. made later in tho form
Of armo.eu cruisers combining high speed
with good protection aud IN effective battery.
The General Admiral. launched In 1873 was
the pioneer Of this class. She was built OF
iron. wood-sheathed under water and COP.
pered She was OF 4.t3S tons displacement.
steamed 10 knots. carried LOCO tons OF coal.
VIII az epd41anse ., nearly Gono miles at 10
live deck. TLis WINS u 9reat advance "a pre-:
yious types. and the system was taken w and
Passing now to the last live years. and to the
S ss .a ani t Tehssms 70 sa1sRsd
1856. aud the Sinope in 1887: These three bat
VIII nes rom IS
to l2tnchss thick; ami have 3:inch protec-
tive deck. Their batteries consist Of SIX H.
in redSn6t formei By ii.inch S armor. besides
seven G.ineh rifles on The gun dseS. and 10.
The wo
ls.knot ships, but at tho trial Of the Sinope the
~ Sneh H By
year, ago. at Sicolaisr was iannehei The
ior liz BaSi Sea feet. st snother iaid do%n
at Sehastopol is the battlsshIp st. George the
coGneneed q, Ricoiaie While Il Is rep repcrs s
that Q new batt!eshiD has been planned for
I yaEf 81
rular ships Novgorod and Popoii, with their
IN the Bsep ssa net are six
zunb9ats. the Donetz, nraletz Teretz. Kuba:
,ns G:lueL guns; They are oi light drausSt.
as 81 Ssns sd In 5
u protected cruisers need not have special |
In the Baltic fleet. besides the four armor.
'lads OF the Admiral class. now OF little i'm. |
I Ss pa and he roia,sS a%d so on there is
s four on 'U guns Tbsre
sop % 5000 tons. and with speed Of iif,sen
!, Il aFnor; Among these Is ne Admiral Mach.
sn t ,o nn9 nave
complete belt Of steel armur from ak to four.
!a.teIS q .So Jour S seohH. siRhs
inch and four S'..incb. the l2-inch. guns
1ssss xSsh
are e9 %o 81 wp sh Mention
,elt, eighteen knots OF speed, AMI two S.inch
'n ;Sa f9 ,n G.inea guys Of NE GbanEoot.
umn which is 10 10 followed BY one similar
ut ~ probably igrger: the Nayarin. q turreted
!Nas e snSs: nsS
he NnrlE. which will be Of 10000 IONS with
rmor belt Of medium thickness. q speed OF
md heavy armament ot four s.inch and six
cen C.inch rapid-tire guns.
nd fastest is the Admiral kornloti. OF 1000
ons built At s. Mazare The 0re about the
rase Being the tenth Of tie IL
olunteer fleet. She obtained The nnprece.
: enl 6 average speed. under natural drsught.
hda are q %SaS tons 5000 horse p pe~ Sss
amJat Merkuria class. a.0o0-ton unprotected
, 1nlsSrs VERY noticeable IRE TIE thee
s .p.,, YET carving 5-inch water-j inc belt.
sns6sS sSl1sr r dam AL Finch and gineh
Yacht foie s. 81 eog ions sy snd
r r;Ts knots can be used In war time us u
Put IN her torpedo craft Russia has perhaps
ltrnduced Ly schichnn. OF $50 tons. Is one OF
Ae fastest vessels In the world. having made
Nehty-six and half knots per hour. The |
x. in ana Saken. torpedo Ruuboats OF GOO tons |
Ih protective deck and 100 tons OF coal pro-
,etion. have speed Of twenty knots aud carry
X tubes. The kazarski. also constructed by
c cnthan Lo l.ns made twenty-one knots. and
oMn 1T tNieoiasi besides two others TO be
ne hnncrih is wepty-one-knot torpedo
ONT built by him for Russia. Six forredo
outs a. building. four for the Baltic and two |
=, n re R Black. of eighty.oEe tons eneb. Two.
. ater destined siaht Tor TWENTY-FIVE knots Last
+ sI tho t Eiael; Sea iIeettwo e be Sniit at
dol IN short. Russia has u very powerful |
eet OF torped" craft. both boris and cr,is.rs
ay'ng very, high speeds. Taxing the Baltic
40 q, ne ElacK seas together. The tornado craft
~ sorts. bu II and building. must, accord.
y 70 me in!ormntion. nenrly equal, II they do |
y exceed l3n IN number. and they are nro
ue WIN officers md mon who are we'll :
"'pteu Iur this peculiar service.
aging the Foundation Of the Grant Mo,u.
meEt. =