Evening journal., 1891-04-02
WE WOULD NOT BE In IT.
Italy's Navy Is a Most For
midable One.
HER GREAT WAR SHIPS DESCRIBED
Uncle sam Has One Armored Vessel TO
Meet King Humbert's Fleet and she Il
the ola Monitor NIIantonomai-yYl What
Commodore Ramsay Says.

the old Monitor Miantonomah-- What
Commodore Ramsay says.
NEW YORK, April 2-Nobody really ex
poets to see the powerful fleet which Italy
has been collecting for good many years
sent 20 enforce demands against th,
United States Still, when friendly rela
tions that have subsisted for generations
between our own country and foreign
power like Italy are suddenly broken of
by that power, the disposition IS natural
to size up It's fighting strength and to find
oat what 1t is capable OF doing Italy has
ailoat and in service seven huge armored
hattleships Of displacements between TO-
500 and 1900 tons Their characteristic
feature is a great development OF CUR
power and speed at the expense OF abstain
ing, TO large extent, from the use OF sid,
armor where some other systems employ
Il as protection to stability.
Their plating is wholly used TO protect
the motive power, the magazines. the biz
guns, and their gunners. Each one oi
these vessels carries in It's main battery
four Armstrong breechloadng guns OF
about l1-inch ealiber, and weighing from
l0l 70 1903 tons.
Great nattery Power aud Speed.
The maximum speed Of the slowest ni
ale big ships Is fifteen knots and that OF
the fastest is above eighteen knots. Suci
combination OF battery power and speed
IN armored vessels makes them very formi
dahle.
The pioneers Of this fleet are the DuiHe
and Dandolo, built years ago They are OF
q little over 900 tons displacement, and
are 3i0 feet long by Ga feet beam and q
feet draught. Their engines are 200 in
dicated horse power give them about III
teen knots speed Their maximum thick
ness OF armor nc the water line Is twenty
two inches. Each carries four 1Oi-ton
Armstrong guns, besides twenty rapid frs
and machine guns in the secondary bat
terry and four torpedo tubes Next come
three other vessels Of the same general
type-the Andrea Doria, the Francesca
Morosini and the Ruggiero di LAURA
These vessels cost about s4,000,000 each
They have displacement Of 10,s00 tons
and their engines were designed to give
them sixteen knots But the Ruggiero 4.
LAURA developed II 900 horse power al the
maximum and reached seventeen and
half knots. These three vessels are each
BPS feet long and o. beam and 27 draught
Their turrets are protected by fourteen
inches Of armor, and each ship carries -four
lO3-ton guns, besides two 6-inch, with 2.
pieces In the secondary battery and five
torpedo tubes.
Most Formidable or All.
The last two Of these seven ships. the T,e
| panto and the Italia are the most formi
dableofall They have a length OF 400 feet
by beam OF "A feet, and a draught Of 27ls,
| the Lepanto reaching a displacement OF
| 1850 tons, and the Italia $500 The ex
ternal armor Is placed on citadel i07 feet
long, and descending about six feet below
Il the water line The maximum thickness
Of the armor on the breastwork Is eighteen
| inches, and on the armored tower nineteen
inches. In the main battery of each vessel
there are l03-ton guns, supplemented by
eight 6-inch guns
In the secondary battery there are forty
| guns with four torpedo tubes The Ie
| panto on trial developed the extraordinary
| speed Of eighteen aud two.ffths knots
| while the Italia reached maximum OF
| eighteen knots. BY dispensing with side
armor these vessels have thus attained n
very high speed and both Of them carry
their guns high up. They cost a, 4,sOOOOl
each. To this formidable feet will soon
be added the Re Umberto, the Stella and
the Sardegna, all now under construction.
They resemble the Italia type.
Eleven More Armored Vessels.
In addition to these ten leviathans, italy
has eleven other armored vessels OF from
| 2, go 20 6,254 tons displacement, but they
need not be mentioned even by name, SC
incomparably inferior are they in armor
armament and speed The two largest
auft tlt.sT
each having 81 inch armor and carrying
batteries Of one 25.ton and six lS-ton guns.
The others carry smaller batteries, and
have from four 20 five inches Of armor.
Whatever Italy can do with her iron clads
she win do with the great vessels first
enumerated. But Italy has also n fine array
Of fast armored vessels or commerce de.
strOyers.
There are az least dozen Of them rang.
ing in speed from fifteen to twenty-five
knots an hour and are all heavily armed
The best ship Of this class Is the Piemonte.
which has obtained the ordinary maximum
speed of over twenty-five and a quarter
knots, and carries battery Of six 6-inch
and six 4,7-inch Armstrong rapid fire guns.
OF these her builder has said that thev viii
throw twice as great an aggregate weight
Of shot and shell within a given time as
the battery Of any other ship now afloat,
not excluding the monsters Of six times
her size
A Most Formidable Array.
Mere mention will be enough for other
war ships Of Italy, although she has, ex-
elusive Of those not completed, about fifty
fighting vessels besides the torpedo boats,
which number more than hundred,
about fifty being seagoing craft. The
transports and home service ships bring
the total number Of craft above two hun.
dred and fifty.
Italy, therefore, is seen to have provided
herself with a powerfdl fleet OF first class
battleships in armament and speed, aided
by several very fast unarmored cruiser
and an abundance OF torpedo vessels. II
must be noted that the draught of her
really formidable ships being from twenty
seven to twenty-eight feet, the number OF
harbors and of channels that they could
safely enter on this side of the ocean is
necessarily limited Most Of her heavy
warships also, like the Duilio, the Dando
10 and the three vessels Of the LAURA class
are deficient in coal endurance, but with
the appliances now in vogae this lack
could be partly made up by coal carrying