Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1892-08-05
Description of the Vessel.

Cruiser No. IL, when completed, will not
only be a triumph of shipbuilding, but will
embody all the essentials of propulsion,
ofensiveness and defensiveness which have
long been recognized as combining the fac
tors necessary to maximum efficiency in
naval architecture. She is termed the
7OOO-tOn, three-screw commerce destroyer"
in the Congressional Appropriation bill.
She is primarily designed for speed, for
her chief function will be to sweep an
enemy's commerce from the seas. TO do this
she must be able to overhaul in an ocean
race the swiftest passenger steamships. The
transatlantic record being five days, nine
teen hours and five minutes she must break
1t down to five days and fraction of an
hour. A combination of perfected ma
chinery such as has never before been de-
signed will accomplish this end.
The cruiser is full of intricate mechan-
ism and has ten boilers, six of which are
double ended, 1515 feet in diameter by 81 Il
feet long. Two others are III feet in di-
ameter by 1917 feet long, and the remaining
two which are single ended, are ten feet IN
diameter by eight feet long.
The boilers are made of steel and carry a
pressure of 100 pounds. Eight of the largest
are built in air and water-tight compart-
ments, into which is forced draught Of 216-
500 cubic feet of air per minute when run
ming at full speed.
The engines are three in number, consist
ing of vertical, triple expansion cylinders,
and drives a separate screw. Under full
pressure. each of the three screws should
turn at the rate of 1913 revolutions per min
ute Ninety revolutions was the ma ximum
Of the City of Paris The cruisers shafts
are made of forged steel l6.5 inches in di-
ameter.
The vital portions of the vessel are pro-
tected by an armored deck inches thick
on the slopes and 81 inches on the fat. The
gun deck will be infinitely subdivided by
coal bunkers and store rooms. The bunkers
not used for coal will be filled with a patent
substance of such solidity as to form wall
feet thick, and having all the advantages
of an inner and supplemental armor.
In the event of an emergency this patent
substance, the nature Of which is kept secret,
can be used for fuel. Forward and abaft Of
the coal bunkers the cofferdam will be filled
with a water-excluding substance similar to
woodite.
In the wake of the eight four-inch and
machine guns the ships sides will be ar
mored with four and two inch plating. The
six-inch guns, which are four in number,
will be mounted on the open deck and pro-
tected by heavy shields attached, as In the
new ships, to the gun carriages.
The coal capacity of the cruiser is 1000
tons. At ten knots speed per hour this will
give her an endurance of 100 days radius
of action of 90, 24O knots, and she will be
able to steam around the world in 100 days
without recoaling, thus breaking all records
for speed, economy and capacity.
The batteries of the cruiser will consist Of
four six-inch breech-loading rifles, twelve
six-pounders, rapid firing; two machine
guns, enc field gun and six torpedo tubes.
She will have two signal masts.
The new cruiser is eminently superior to
any other ship in the world. The Blake,
the finest ship in the British navy, is the
nearest approach to Cruiser No. II.
1t was stipulated in the contract with the
Cramps that the vessel, in all its parts
should be of domestic manufacture.
A sister ship. Cruiser No. -. is construct
ing by the Cramps. Her contract was
awarded August II, 1891. the Cramps bid
being 81. 745, OCO, less So, 900, which they
threw off Both vessels will ne Identical III
character except that No. - VIII carry
heavier battery.