The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1892-01-26
CAPTAIN PRAT.

The Almirante Cochrane, constructed OF
Iron, is Of 8 500 tons burden, 30 feet long
45 feet 9 inches beam and the belt OF armor
Is inches thick. Behind this Is ~ inches
OF packing, so that a shot, In order to
reach a vulnerable part. would have to
pierce thickness OF 1574 inches. This
warship Is armed with four 9-inch breech-
loading rifles, each weighing ls tons, and
two 7-inch guns OF the same description,
all Armstrong. besides number OF rapid
fire guns and Gatling guns In the tops.
She draws 10 feet inches OF water, has an
indicated horse power OF 1920 and can
steam 1s knots day In and day out. Her
cosl-carrying capacity enables her to
steam 1900 knots without replenishing
her bunkers.
In the war with Peru the Cochrane was
In several engagements. and she and her
sister ship, the Encalada, captured the
Huascar. The Encalada, 1t will be re-
mem bered was sunk while In possession
OF the insurgents last summer by the
Government torpedo cruisers Lynch and
Condell.
No vessel in South America has such
historic name as the little Huascar. Her
single-handed battle with the Blanco En-
calada and the Almirante Cochrane was
the first fight in the world between iron
killed on the Peruvian boat and Admiral
Grau OF the Peruvian Navy was decapi-
tated by a piece of shell while looking
through a slit in the turret. The capture
OF this ironclad turned the war In Chili's
favor.
The Huascar Is OF 1900 tons dis splace-
ment, is 200 feet long. 80 beam and her
armored belt is ~ inches thick. Two 10
inch 1917 ton Armstrong guns are in a
turret that is 51l inches thick and she
carries two 40-pounders fore and at. The
guns in the turret are Armstrong;, but
are muzzle-loaders. The Huascar has an
individual horsepower OF 1850, a 10 foot
6 inch draft and can steam eleven knots
an hour Her bow is one solid mass of
iron and Is drawn to n very fine edge, thus
making her very valuable as a ram.
The two latest cruisers are the Presi-
dente Errszuriz and the Presidente Pinto
Both have been completed within a year.
and they are as powerful as anything OF
their class I'm the United States Navy.
Each vessel Is of 1850 tons burden, 26S
feet long and 50 feet beam. They are
built OF steel and coppered. Each has an
Indicated horsepower OF 5,4J0, and can
steam 10 knots an hour. TER great coal
capacity enables them TO steam for 4 500
knots at the rate OF IL knots an hour.
Each cruiser Is armed with two l2-inch
breech-loading guns and four guns of
somewhat smaller calibre.
The cruiser Esmeralda has become IA
nous because OF her connection with the
Itata case. She Is also OF recent build
and is moro formidable than the two
sister ships, because she can, when
pressed, make over 20 knots an hour. She
Is also somewhat larger being 8, 900 tons
burden, go feet long. and 40 feet beam.
The Esmcralda is built OF steel and the
plating Is one inch In thickness above the
water line. She carries two l0-inch brsech-
loading rifles and six 6-lnch OF the same
The former weigh 25 tons each, the latter
4 tons, and all are Armstrong;. She also
has three torpedo tubes.
Then there are the torpedo cruisers Al
mirante Lynch and Almirante Crudell
Their efficiency was we'll demonstrated In
the sinking OF the Blanco Encaada during
the late Civil War. The five corvettes are
also effective fighters.
The Chilien Navy has eleven first-cass
torpedo boats. each OF 20 tons and each
capable OF making % knots an hour. They
are OF the latest design and the officers
have become experts in handling them
There are also two smaller torpedo boats
OF 80 tons each lying In the harbor OF VAL
paraiso.
The gunboats are five In number and
are each OF 42O tons burden. They are
used only for coast defense, bnt-ate eAe-
worthy and could put out o. case OF need
Chllians are born sailors. That narrow
llttlo strip Of land that nestles under the
Andes ls washed It's entire length by the
Pacific, and between the northern point
aud the southern are dozen or more
splendid harbors. AZ tho outbreak OF the
Cbil-Pcruyian war fourteen years ngo
the former power vas in sad need OF eli-
cient officers TO man their vessels and
several Engpshmea were. engaged. In