Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1892-12-31
MONSTER Ships OF VA
A Rritash vessel Of EnoE1o0 49,!
which Can steam Eighsssn

which Can Steam Eightssn s. s
The Royal Sovereign, the lar
warship in the world, has JUST -. =.
her trial trip with the officers o.
British admiralty on board. hef
placement is 14,150 tons ana -
speed, which was kept up Tor tn5s
hours was 1871 knots per hour. r.
largest and fastest vessels OF t9
French navy, the Admiral Rauo1n
and the Formidable, are 3 OOv So..
less and their speed is three Knos
less Our battle ships-the 1nd1ans
the Massachusetts, and the oregon
are 4, 600 tons less and their estimateo
speed is three knots less Italy ~
five ships afloat whose displacemens
Is nearly as large as that Of the R0yat
SOVEREIGN and whose speed Is sup
posed to be the same. The Commef-
cial Gazette says this extraordlnaSy
naval development is the chief cans
of the impoverishment OF Italy ana
of the crushing weight OF taxation u
that kingdom. Neither Russia nor
Germany nor Australia nor Spain haq
any ships that will compare In size q
effectiveness with the Royal Sovers
eign. The latter compares cuziou1iy
with other warships and the leadln9
mercantile steamers Of the maritime
nations. The crack ship Of the Br1teo
navy, the Inflexible Is nearly S,00g
tons less in displacement than the.
Royal Sovereign. She is 800 feet IN
length and IS feet beam, as against
$50 feet in length and Is feet beam
in the Royal Sovereign. The great
Italian ships are 400 feet long by -
feet beam. But when 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
lust passed under the American fia0s
are $50 feet long by 63 feet BEAM
They are 200 or $50 feet longer than
the types of English and French bat
tie ships before the Royal Sovereign
and II feet narrower. In them the
proportion of beam to length Is 49,
while in the battle ships it is less than
6. or about the proportion which was
usual in the ships built in the for
ties.
If the Royal Sovereign, with her
depth, had been as narrow as the City
of Paris, there are few ports which
she could have entered. Her armar
ment reflects the progress OF naval
gunnery. The Italian Italia, Duilio
and Dandolo, which were built be-
tween 1876 and 1884, carry 100-t0n
guns; the British lnflexible carries
8O-ton guns: the French Admiral
Baudin and the Formidable carry
75-ton guns, but the Royal Sovereign
only carries elton guns, and our three
battle ships carry Aston guns. The
reason of the reduction in the size Of
the guns is, first, the difficulty OF
handling enormous masses OF metal
with efficient rapidity, and secondly,
the apprehension that DO vessel can
be built so as to endure the concus7
sion of the fire of very heavy guns
without her plates splitting and part
ing. The best opinion now Is that
guns not exceeding forty-flve tons In
weight would be more effective In &C
tion than guns exceeding that weight.
There is very little doubt that the
Italia and Duilio would wrench
themselves apart in action long be-
fore they had destroyed their enemy.
The projectile thrown by the Royal
Sovereign will weigh 1000 pounds
and that thrown from our Massa-
chusetts is 1000 pounds Such mis-
siles will do quite as much damage II
they strike an object as a missile
weighing a ton or nearly ton.