New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-12-12

lowing Armor, t0rpedoes, heavy rapidh IRE guns
morplercing shells. smokeless powder, high eA-
plosves.
The progress, both In ships and in ordnance. by
which the United States emerged from its condition
heplessness at sea- and by the employment OF its
own resources, has disanced It's more experienced
competitors, marks an epoch in the naval develop
ment, not only of this country, but of the world.
VESSELS AUTHORIZED BY TIE PRESENT CON-
GREss.
The LID Congress at Its first session. by act ap-
proved July 49, 1892, authorized the construction OF
one armOred cruiser ard scagoing Datueship'
Designs for these vessels have been prepared by the
Department in conformity with tlie provisions OF the
act, and proposals for their construction were invited
by advertisement on september %. 1892 ten weeks
after the passage of the act. All, 49,
The law provides that the new cruiser which mas
received the name OF the Brookyn, shall be OF the
same general type as the New-1ork and while he
general design OF that vessel has been followed the
has been increased by about LOCO tons,
making possible great Improvements sn seagolng 2uali,
ties, coal endurance. and disposition and weight OF
armament. In the new structure forecaslie deck
has been added t1e treeboard forward has been IN.
creased eight feet. and the forward sinch gun turret
correspondngly raised The enlargement o. the free
board increases materially the seagong ehcieacy OF
the ship permits the working Of the guns In the Tor
greater comfort for the crew by providing
By narrowing In the slips side amdshipe. In the
form known "timlting home a complete fore
and aft fire has been seemed for the broadside turret
guns. Additional advantages gained by ibis form Of
The sides are an eaaer curve Of stability and decreased
weight Of h,Al, compcpsatinc in a measure for the
additional weight nccessitaicd by the increased free
The changes In the battery show a marked improve
ment over the New-York, being gain OF two Inch
guns and substitution Of twelve 5-inch, rapid
fire guns for the twelve 4.nca guns ~ me New W.,
York. The secondary battery is also increased by
four 6pOunders
The 5nch guns are mounted In pairs in four turres,
one forward and aft the mode line, and on
on each Side amidships The guns in The forward and
after rre have train Of 80 degrees while the guns
In fla broad "a 20
10 right astern Of 1s0 degrees. BY this Arrangement
Of battery II is possible to concentrate six SINGH guns
astcrn. or five abeam, as In the case Of the New,
York Moreover. The axis of the guns in the forward
turrets is more than eight feet higher than that OF the
corresponding guns OF the Nev-York, enabling them
to be fought In almost any weather md giving them
ag g! at cose m The nh guns are pro-
tected by fixed segmenta shields four inches thick,
fragments OF shells exploding between decks splinter
bukheads IL inches in thickness have been worked
between the 5inch gun stations
Although the indicated horse power OF the engines
Of the Brooklyn is the same as that Of the NeWf3rk
TO obtain approximately the same maintained sea
speed.
cent greater than hat Of the New York and the capacity
of the bunkers Is increased nearly 30 per cent h,e
easily 60 from New-ioTk TO san Francisco with
Comparing the Brooklyn with the most recent types
Of arTnored cruisers OF foreign services. the Depart
mcnt feels perfect confidence in asserting that her
orcns,c defensive qualities greatly surrANs thosc
In the soasoing batlcship No. l, which has been
named the Iowa as in the new arm1red cruiser a
the addition Of forcastlc deck with increased free
board forward. and all is attendant advantages.
nnie from that Of the coasi-ne batcships Indiana
Massachusetts and Oregon the principal change being
due 10 the increased frecboard. Four Ginch guns
have been replaced by SIN finch rapid fire guns, re-
sung in marked improvement In rapidy Of fire:
Another change has heen made by the substitution Of
the u inch gun, weighing a. tons. for The l3lnch,
IN manipulation. since this change was made by the
Department in August last, the British admiralty have
being governed in this decision by the same consder1
the water-lne belt has been increased than %
per cent, while additional protection has been afforded
10 the guns by splinter bulkhcad each
side Of IL" Gun station on The gun drck Inc maximum
Ing considerable increase in horse power.
In order 10 allow for the wei glt taken up by these
changes. the side armor has been made Il inches
armor ample grounds furnished by the greatly
increased efficiency Of the armor itself under the
processes adopted by the Department.
The normal eoal supply Of this vessel has been
ncroasSd more than 200 tO2s oyer that OF the ina
The sides arc somewhat narrowed H. TO give greater
spgar rangS to her battery WHILE diminishing the
Comparing the Iowa with the Indiana, find that
she has Creator length Of beam and more than 1000
defensive power. coal endurance speed. together
with the ability T. work th' forward 13-inch gln> In
almost any conc ton Of sea render her design as q
seagOlng battle ship marked Improvement over that
OF the three cOasline battle ships.
ARM1E.
No work which the present administration Of the
Navy Department has been called upon to perform
has demanded and abs )rbing attention
r mas s"Wn more decisive ana laF-reach
Ing results s, than ne dcvelopcnept Of armor
un and the velocity Of the probe tile apparently
o regulated a 10 give an easy victory 10 the pate
acnrefs il seems always 70 have been arranged that
all the competing plates should prove superior 10 the
ne conroveIsy was the question which plate wa least
injured h' tie attack. The imported armor OF the
Hi,aAlononoh .a' received an Inspection test qpon
fulfilled, but no comparative test, Of any Kind had
ever been made In this country. and the Cove nncnt
va. u'iclo:e P1clhg us tniic rrlialc' upon the r.
ports Of sOcaled trials abroad. Upon a,ccraning
these facts the Department determined to make it.
own trials, and III order that il might b. hamperci
hy no restrictions as 10 the character and complete
ness Of ils experiment. it purchased outright test
plates both Of the allslcel armor Of lie Cruo and Of
The compound armor OF sheffield.
In The mean lime in the year 1880. the Depart
ment had directed its attention and inquiries 10 the
possibilities OF nickel stcel "a a material for armor
The question had been raised by the reported re
fore the IRON and Steel Tnsnic in May p Of that l Year
ana although the po ibe Application Of thi, ma or a
10 the armor plating Of ships confined I'm the re-
port Of Riley investigations t. pc Native suggest
and discussion The promise held cut seemed too
70 b. ignord by Government requiring 20 900 tons
NJ amor f,r II. nov Gnct r. va iberauno, H..
ermircd Notwithstanding tn novel and eXperimen'al
RI ar1cjcr Of the crprs that when the all steel and
compound plates tested third plate OF nickel
steel Shd receive trial under identical conditions.
This test plate was ordered Of the best foreign
facturc.
The result OF this determination was the trial at
Annapolis on September 1922. 1880. which has since
bocOm, famous NOtWith, tandng the rcmOn~tIances
Of the armor manufacturers who represented that the
use OF the inch gun. hitherto unknown in foreign
trmor trials. against Plates OF the dimensions in ques
ton would destroy all the plates and AFFORD no test
for comparison, II resolved that the experiments
a il1xiF and that tho f.lafe nj
least the worst plate Of the lot. whichever it might
be. should be tested 10 destruction. The results are
well known. The shots not only perforated but shat
tered the English comp nnd plate and the all,tcei
plate was broken into four separate pieces held TO
gethcr only by the Sorraed edges Of the ruptuied
tcria; white the nickestcel, though slightly more
pencrablc than the last, remained absolutely IN
cE,cked. the aicrturcs made in II being plugged by
the projeclilc, and the integrity Of the plate a. the
covering of ships side was practically perfect nj