Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1891-11-05
ooMpARIEa TIE TWO ArIEs.
Sixteen American Vessels Ready for Ser
yice--Chili's Fleet.

vice--ChllfS f1eet.
The question arises as to Just what the
United States could do in the event Of war
being declared with Chill. The United
States has navy of 16 serviceable ships.
When the President, the other day, asked
Secretary Tracy to furnish him with list
OF war vessels that could be got ready in 80
days for fight, the secretary replied to the
effect that he had these 16 vessels in fairly
good condition, and that they could be got
in condition to proceed to CHILEAN waters
! III that time. IL asuEH
The Baltimore is already at Valparaiso.
It was some of her men who were murdered
down there. The Boston is now en- route
for Valparaiso. us is the Yorktown. The
San Francisco is at Callao. She has been
| ordered back to San Francisco. She will
there 20 on the dry dock and be repaired.
She has been at sea for some time and is
not in very good condition.
/ The Newark, now fitting out at Boston,
could be ordered to proceed almost imme.
| diately. So could the Petrol, which is here
| in New York waters.
Besides these vessels, the Philadelphia,
| Kearsarge and Concord of Rear Admiral
Gherardi's command: the Chicago, Atlanta
and Bennington of Acting. Rear Admiral
| Walkers command could also be got
ready. The Atlantic is also on her way to
| South American waters.
The Thetis, the Mohegan and the Ranger
are at san Francisco and would swell the
| number. Besides this fleet, there is the
new monitor Miantonomah, which was
put into commission only the other day.
She could be ordered to the scene of the
trouble and could do good work Her four
ten-inch guns could do a great deal of
damage in Valparaiso, though at least five
miles off the coast.
The Gillian navy consists of 80 fighting
vessels. Besides. the government has the
| power to subsidze the fine steamships Of
the North American Navigation Company,
a passenger line of steamships owned by
| Gillian capitalists These steamships could
be manned and armed and would form
| quite an important addition to the fleet.
They are SO built that long-range gun
could be placed on each one of them. They
would serve in time of war, however, more
us transport ships.
The Ch1lian navy proper consists of
three battleships, three armored cruisers,
two torpedo cruisers, five coryettes,
one dispatch boat, five gun boats
and Is torpedo boats. Tie largest
battle ship is the Captain Pratt She is of
$500 tons. She was built but recently, and
cost e30l 600. She is 1928 feet long and has
breadth of beam of ~ feet. She has a
coat of armor u inches thick in her. She
carries four 2icentimetre breech-loading
| rifles and eight l2-ccniimetre breech-load-
| luE Jlllts. CllG uTuWh ~ leet ~ lilcneS Oh
water. and has speed Of 10 knots an
hour. She is, therefore, one of the strongest
and most dangerous battle ships atloat
| The next largest battle ship is the Almi-
| rante Cochrane of $500 tons, and built of
| iron. She has q coat of armor 8 inches
| thick. She is 210 feet long, and has a
breadth Of beam of As feet 9 inches. Be-
hind her arnor she has n inches OF pack
ing a total protection, therefore, of nearly
| 10 inches. She carries four Armstrong
9-inch breech-loading rifles and two Arm
strong finch guns. besides rapid-firing and
Gatling guns in her tops. Each Of her
9-inch guns weighs IS tons. She draws 10
feet inches of water and has speed Of
Is knots. This vessel took prominent
part i'll the war Just ended, and, with he
sister ship, the Encalada, captured tn {
little Huascar. The Encalada did good
work in the war between Peru and Chill
| Single-handed she kept the two vessels at
| bay. doing great damage. II was her cap
| ture that turned the tide OF war against
| Peru The Huascar is of but 1880 tons.
| She is 200 feet long and IS feet broad. She
has an armoro of II inches. She is Of iron
and has bow Of solid brass drawn to q
| very fine edge, SO that she is invaluable as
n ram. She carries two l0-inch Armstrong
| guns In turret 51 inches thick. and two
40pounders fore and art. The sister
cruisers the Presidente ErrazuniE and the
! Presidente Pinto, completed within the
past year, are qs good as any of the vessels
of their kind in the United States nav:
They are of 2060 tons burden, and built
Of steel and coppered. They each carry
two l2inch breech-loading guns and four
others of slightly smaller caliber,