Morning journal and courier., 1891-04-03
ITALY,S NAVAL POWER.
Not Equal to That of England and France but Very Formidable.
 TE'rom the New York World

From the New York World
 As naval power Italy does not, of course, stand in the same first class rank as England or France, but at the same time she has some of the most efficient war ships in the world. Her fleet, according to the latest available information, consists of about twenty-two armored ships, ten of which are of the most modern construc- tion, with displacement each of over Il ,000 tons. Their speed is fully equal to that of ships of their class, averaging be- tween fourteen and sixteen knots. They are armed with Armstrong breech-loading rifles with calibre of from thirteen to sixteen inches. In addition to these she has an unarmored fleet of ten or twelve cruisers and as many gunboats, all built within the last ten years. Several other cruisers and gunboats are also in course of construction.
 When the Duilio, one of her line -of-bat- tleships, was finished sixteen years ago she was the most formidable war vessel then afloat. Two years later the Dandolo, her twin, was launched. Both attracted the attention of naval officers all over the world, and elaborate reports were made upon them by our own naval authorities. Both the Duilio and the Dandolo have since been surpassed by France and England, but the improvements made in them leave them very little behind their rivals of a more modern date The Duilio has a displace- ment of over II ,000 tons, and her coal ca pacity enables her to steam at ten knots an hour nearly 1000 miles. If driven her speed is upward of fifteen knots Built of iron and steel, with water-line armor belt of 211 inches thick, together with armor on her turrets IS inches thick; her length, $40 feet II inches; beam, 64 feet II inches, and draft 26 feet inches. She carries four 17.72-inch 100-ton muzzle- loading rifles, three S.7-inch breech-loading rifles | and fourteen machine guns. In addition | she is equipped with torpedo tubes for | throwing the most improved missiles of this character. Her engines are 7,500 horse power. This description applies equally to the Dandolo.
 Two other formidable ships, twins also, are named the Lepanto and the Italia. The displacement of the Lepanto is nearly 14, 900 tons. The material used in her con- struction is steel, and above the water line she is protected by belt of compound armor. This armor amidships is six adel it is nineteen inches. Her length is 400 feet six inches: beam, "A feet, and draught 31 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 Lepantc
 are superior to those of the Duilio. The
 17.72-inch gun ot the former vessel, with
 $50 pounds of powder, throws an armor
 piercing projectile of 2,000 pounds and
 contains bursting charge of 32 pound.
 of powder. The shell is the same weight
 but the bursting charge is 72 pounds. Tn,
 breach-loading 17-inch rifles require a fir
 ing charge of 300 pounds of powder. Tn,
 17.72-inch projectile on leaving the gun il
 capable of penetrating nearly 2s inches O
 wrought iron and the Finch projectile 8
 inches.
 These big battle ships are supplemente' , by the Andrea Doria, the Francesca Moro ] sini and the Ruggiero di Lauria. The de
 sign is in a general way similar to that o
 the Duilio. Among the old armored yes sels is one of 4.376 tons, four of 200 ton 2 each, two of $500 tons each, two of gro 3 tons each and one of 2,200 tons. Nearl , all these are antiquated.
 Italy has also some magnificent cruiser [ One of them, the Piemonte; has di t placement of 2,500 tons. Three hundre