The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1892-10-17
BIG SHIPS.
The Royal Soveraign and Crack War YES
sells of yarieus Nations.

The Royal Soveraign and Crack War Yes
sells of yarieus Nations.
The Royal Sovereign, the largest warship
in tine world, has just made her trial trip
with the ~oficers of the British admiralty on
board, says the Cincinnati Commercial Ga
zette. Her displacement 10 IA, 100 tens, and
her speed, which was kept mp for three
hours, was 1871 knots per hour. The largest
and fastest vessels of the French navy, the
Admira Baudin and the Formidable. are
1000 tons less, and their speed il three
knots less. Our battleships-the Indiana,
che Massachusetts and the O~regon-Sre
1000 tons less. and their Estimated speed
ia three knots less. ITALY has hve ahips
uioat whose displacement is nearly as
large MS that of the Royal Sovereign. and
whose speed 10 imposed 10 be the same.
This extraordinary naval development Is
the chief cause of the Impeachment OF
Italy and of the crushing weight of TAXA
tion in that kingdom.
Neither Russia nor Germany nor Austria
nor Spain has any ships that Will compare
in sizs or effectiveness with the Regal Sow
ereign. The crack ship of the British navy,
the Inflexible, 10 nearly 5000 tons loss In
displacement than the Royal Sovereign. She
ia 800 feet in length and seventy-nys feet
beam, "a against $50 feet in length and
s~eventy-hve feet beam in the Royal Sow
ereion. Thu great Italian ships are 400 feet
long by seyenty-four feet beam. bat whcn
we turn TO the crack merchant steamers OF
the day we find that the City OF New YORK
and the City of Paris. which have 1ase
passed under the American flag, are 900 feet
long BY sixty-three feet beam. They are
200 TO 26O feet longer than the types OF the
ENGLISH and French battieships before the
ROYAL Sovereign and twelve feet narrower.
In them She proportion Of beam to length IS
$50, while in the battleships ~ Is less than
ak. or about the proportion which was
usual in the ships built iii the '40s.
The ROYAL Sovsreign's armsment reflects
the progress of naval punnery. The Itai-
ian. Italia, Duilio and Dapdolo. which we're
built between 1876 and 1884, carry l00-ten
guns, the British Inlexible carries eighty
ton euns; the French Admiral Baudin and
the Formidable carry seventy-ive-ton guns;
but the Royal Sovereign only carries sixty
seven- ton guns and our three battle ships
carry 70 ty-hve-tcn guns. The reason of
the reduction in the size of the gun is, first,
the difficulty of handling enormou masses
of metal with sufficient rnpidity, and sec
ondiy, the apprehension that no vessel can
be built SO as to endure the eoneussien of
the fire of very heavy guns without her
plates splitting and parting. The best
opinion now is that guns not exceeding
forty five tons In weight would be more
effective in action than guns exceeding that
weight. There is very little doubt that the
Italia and Duilio would wrench themselves
apart in action long before they had de-
stroyed their enemy. The proiectile thrown
by the Royal Sovereign will weigh 1900
pounds, aud that thrown from our Massa-
chusetts 1000 pounds. Such missiles will
do quite as much damage if they strike an
object rs q missile weighing a ton or nearly
a ton.