Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1891-12-07
ANNUAL REPORT
or Secretary Of the Navy Tracy; New
Constructions Of the Past
Year.
Guns AND ARmoR PIERCING
PRoJEcrlLEs.
The Valparaiso lncideni.-Onr Dlplo'
matte War with ChIlc.--
Other Items.
ny TELEGRAPH to the Sgws.l
oun srIirs.
secretary OF III. Navy TrAcy's Annual
Eeport.


secretary OF the Navy Tracy's Annual
Report.
wAsIiiguToN, Dec. G.--Secretaty OF
the Navy Tracy, In his annual report,
snsaks firsl OF the new construction un.
ds,tnken during the mast year. OF
this by far the most important In, lac
,Avs. the protected cruiser No. 10, Of
1900 tons displacement, and "a sister
ship 10 No. IL. The peculiar advnn'
tarsa Of these two cruisers consist In
their extraordinary coal endurance
and their speed, Ia both Of which TO-
ppecis they have no equal among the
large cruisers Of the world. The Sec
onl vessel in point OF size AMI import
Ance l. the harbor defense ram, Of 2050
tons displacement, now being built by
the Bath Iron Works Of Maine. Pro-
tlosala for the construction Of q torpedo
cruiser Of 100 tons, authorized by June
30, 1850, were Invited, but no bid was
received.
On the armor question the secretary
notes the growth Of Its manufacture
here, etc., the trials which have been
fully reported before in these dis.
patches, etc. The tests, he says, were
more severe than ever applied nj foreign
trials, AMI the results were In tho
highcst degree satisfactory. Each Of
tho six plates manufactured In this
county was superior 10 the English
compound plate, while tile nickel
HArveyized plate and high carbon
nickel plate were superior 20 all foreign
plates.
Under ,hchead Of ordnance, the re-
report says that
Si5 GUNS ARE REQUIRED
10 arm the vcssols now In course OF
construction. on this number 1853 are
completed. The test was made OF the
four-lnch Tapid-iire gun with success
iul results. The number " heavy guns
was largely Increased during the past
wear and show marked Improvement.
The manufacture OF pight-inch guns Ia
IN advance OF the ships upon which
they will be placed. The ten.inch
"Miantonomah's" battery Is completed
aud placed on board. Four others mr..
ready for the" rerror," and the two for
tine "Aionierey" will shortly be hn-
ished. The first twelve-inoh gun, IS
calibIe. In completed aud now at the
proving grounds; three more are In
course " constTuction. The forgings
for the tube and jacket Of the first Of
the thirteen.inoh guns intended for the
armament Of ships OF the "ludinnan
class are completed. No sixteen-inch
guns are yer called for In the anna.
neniH OF the new ships. II they should
be found desirable the gun factory Ia
ready TO manufacture them, and de-
sigu for this calibor h. completed,
which, II IL believed, Il ffcp from the
serious defects that caused the failure
Of many guns Of the largest calibru.
Brown powder for general service
USE In the heavy guns continues 10
gives excellent results. The most inn
portnnt advance during the year Is the
development OF the smokcless powder
invented by Professor Monroe o. tho
naval torpedo station, the results cx-
ceUdiug the untioipations. With
charles Of half the weight Of those
used with oulinary powders tho ynloc'
iiy Increased nearly 200 feet n second,
with no increase Of chamber pressure
The powder contains no volatile con
ttitueulg, 10 not affected by repeated
heating for long periods, 10 uniujurel
even by boiling In water, yivc8 high
and regular yeloulties with moderate
and regular presume, and thus far hiss
shown all the essential requirement,
for high.glRss powder. This arcTc-
AIRY adds that II Is safe 10 say that
tWithina short timu the use Of oriin-
nry VunpOwder will bo abandoned In
calihYes Of six Inches and below.
Mention Ia made u the contract with
Dup1nts for 10000 pounds Of gun
cotton. The capacities u the gun
cotton factory In tho Torpedo station
have been enlarged, and In this respect
the resources OF the government sample
Of high explosive (emmirite) 10 also
touched upon. Mention Is made OF the
a. a - 80. a
that the possibilities OF these investigA-
lions point 10 extraordi mary develop
mpnts In the near future.
The firm manufacturing
ARMoR PIERoISG pROJEcTILEs
has made improvements aud the DIFF.
ference In the effective force 0f the
navy today, compared with the sltua.
ton a year ago, when II had not n sin.
gle pro)ectile that could pierce modern
amor, Ia incaleulnble.
The hopes held out In the last report,
ofth establishment In the Quilted
States OF new process Of manufacture
Ing forged steel shells, have been real.
lei, and contract made with the
United States Projootile Company OF
Brooklyn.
As to torpedoes, tho strenuous efforts
or The department resulted In the ca
Enlistment by the Bliss Company Of
Brooklyn OF plant for the manufac.
ture OF Whitehead torpodoes In this
country, and the contract entered into
last May for one. hundred ls.inch tor
pedoes Of the most recent type. IL IL
expected that successful experiments
with the Howell torpedo win ba made
soon, nnh the Hall torpedo Is approach
Ing completion. Tho three Patrick
torpedoes ordered three years ago have
been delivered.
Important work has been done In
the preparation for launching the
tubes and other details connected with
the use OF torpedoes, and the presen,
state OF the work Is such as To Justify
the belief that the torpedo outfits may
be Installed on our vessels within n
short period, and that the torpedo
equipments OF our navy Will soon
equal, II not surpass, those possessed by
other nations.
ON THE oltDNAECE EsTABLI5nMENTs,
the SECRETARY Gays that the develop.
mont Of the gun factory has continued
during the year. and many improve.
ments have been made. The growing
demands for the naval defense Of the