Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1891-04-02
Italy as q Naval Power.


stend in the same first class rank as Egg
land and France, but at the same time she
hiss some of the most efficient war ships in
the world. Her feet, according to the lat
est available information, consists OF about
| twentl l-two srmored ships, ten OF which are
OF the most modern construction, with dis.
placement of II 900 tons each. Their speed is
fully equal to that Of ships of their claes,
averaging between fourteen and sixteen
knote. They are armed with Armstrong
breecb-losdiDg rifles. with calibre of from
Is to IL inches.
She has also an unarmored q set Of ten or
twelve cruisers, and as many gunboats. all
built within the last ten years. Several 9TH
er cruisers and gunboats are also In course
Of obstruction.
When the Duillo, one Of her lns-of-battle
ships, was finished, sixteen years ego, che
was the NC 81 formidable war vessel ffJst.
Two years later the Dondoo, her twin, was
launched Both attracted the attention of
naval officers all over the word, and elabo
rate reporte we're msde upon them by our
naval authorities. Both the Dnilio and the
Dondolo have since been surpassed by Franc
and England, but the improvements made
on them leave them very little behind
| their rivals of a more modern date. The
Duillo has @ displacement of over II 600
| tons, and Der coal capacity enables her to
team at ten knots aD hour Oearly 1000 milee.
! II driven her speed Is upward Of Is Knots.
She Is Of iron and steel with wa @ -ljne ar
| MOI belt 21l inches thick, together With
| rmor on her turrets eighteen inches thick;
| her length Is $40 feat IL inches; beam ga
| feet 8 inches, and draft 26 feet inches.
| She carries four II 70 inch 100-ton muzz g.
| loading rifles, three AZ inch breech loading
| riff IS and fourteen machine guns. 10 addi-
tion she s equipped with torpedo tubes for
throwing the most improved missiles OF that
character. Her engines are 1900 horse-
power. This description applies equally to
i the Dondolo.
Two other formidable ships, twins also,
are named Lepanto and Italia. The dis
placement of the Lepanto s nearly IL, GOO
| tons. The material used In her construction
Ia steel, and above the water line she is pro-
teoted By belt Of compound armor. This
srmor amid-ehips is sixteen inches thick,
| while on the citadel 1t is nineteen inches.
Her length Is 400 feet 6 inches, beam, "a
feet, and drsught, 81 feet. Her highest
speed is nearly nineteen knots an hour. and
| at the rate of ten knots she can carry coal
sufficient to make nearly 5000 miles. The
turret guns of the Lepanto are superior to
those OF the Duilio. The 17.72.inch gun Of
the the former vessel, with $50 pounds OF
powder, throws an armor piercing projectile
Of 1000 pounds and contains q bursting
charge of thirty-two pounds Of powder. The
she'll is the same weight, but the bursting
charge is 70 pounds. The breeoh-loading IT,
inch rifles require firing charge of900 pounds
OF powder. The 17.72-inoh projeotile on
leaving the gun Is capable of penetrating
noarly % inches Of wroughtiron and the IT,
inch projectiIe 33 iaches
These big battls-ships are supplemented
by the Andrea Dorls, the Fromeseo, Mo-
roslni and the Ruggiero or LAURA. The
design is, In general way, similar to that
of the Duilio.
Among the old armored vessels Is one Of
1876 tons, four OF 420O tons each, two OF $500
tons each. two OF 200 tons each and one OF
2200 tone. Nearly all these are antiquated.
Italy has also some magnificent cruisers.
One of them-the Piemonte-hss disPlace
ment OF $500 o1s, three hundred feet
length, with draught Of Is feet. She car
ries most efficient battery of rapid. firing
guns. Her horsepower is 1900, and her
speed averages 81 knots She can carry
| 6 900 tons of coal, and steams 13 900 miles at
| 10 knots an hour.
Italy adopted shrewd policy in the con-
struction OF her navy. When our monitors
and iron-olsds during the civil war revolu-
tionizsd the old order OF naval architecture
sll over the world Italy allowed the other
European governments to lead the way In
construction and entered upon the work of
reorganization herself when she had the
most improved models and types ready at
hand. The result is that at less cost she
has secured a navy not &c very far inferior,
so fer as the number of ships goes, 20 any
| one of them.
The United 8 ates has only one ship that
could for moment think OF opposing the
great ba.tle-ships Of LAZY. She Ia the Mi
antonom an. Italy has chips capable OF
i frnn ho