The sun., 1893-02-20
1us IxDraxa
The r:oue~r OF Our Cecrt-r.s.e Rattle shsr
II Asort Ready 20 Take To- the Water,

4
| IL Asost Ready 20 Tahs to the Water.
WASHINGTON. Feb. 1a.-sscrstary Tracy will
sec one OF his desired objects accom- pished in
the launch OF tho Indiana before the expira-
ton OF his term Of ofilce. Her sister shlps. the
Massachusetts, and the Oregon. tho former
building inthe PHILADELPHIA yard and the lat
ter at San Francisco. ought also to be in the
water by this time. MS tho contracts OF nll three
require their completion next November. But
tho wsil-known delays In furnishing their
material. which will prevent that stipulation
| from oeing carried out. may also protect the
builders from the time penalties prescribed,
and Secretary Tracy. who has tax en- n special
pride In these splendid results OF his admins.
tration embodylng many OF its points Of
| progress in armor and guns will DO GLAD to
zee even one OF the three vessels leave the
ways though with not week to srare before
| the 4th OF March.
| In MA flrst report after nc 'eptInC offlce Mr..
tracy proposed new departure In naval con-
struction, to consist OF building battle ships,
armored cruisers. and fast unnrmored com
| merce destroyers fur larger than any ever he
lore contemplated in this country One Of the
hrst fruits OF this policy wns the authorization
by Congress- OF the In iiana and her two mates.
under the act OF June 30 1890. With an en-
| ergV and despatch wholly unprecedented in
| tnis country. the general designs for these
| three steel ships. although so far In advance OF
ANYTHING known here. were ready on the very
day the act authorizing them was approved.
and on the day following July I. 1890. the ad-
| vertisements Inviting pronosals for their con-
struction were issued The detailed plans
were completed with the same activity. and
during the summer no one connected with the
| bureau OF Con struction or the Bureau OF Steam
engineering received leave OF absence. On
Oct 1. exactly three months after the ships
wero authorized. the bids for constructing
them we're opened.
Tho Union Iron Works OF San Francisco oil.
Tered to build one for S3.24O.00O. or two for
| S6.4O0OOO: tho lusdon Iron and Locomotive
Works. also OF San Francisco. to build ono for
s12I50OO: tho Bath Iron Works. ono for 3d.
$4,000; the Cramp and Sons Company OF Phia-
| delphia. one for S2.Uo0.0OO. and the or two
Tor 50. 100000 The latter also bid 3d. l2U. .OUO
for ship twelve feet longer than in the de-
partment's plans. which were followed ex.
ior the other two. This last STD lid. T being W lover
thnn that OF any other bidder. was accepted
@ @SuI!t on o. near the Pscie coast. il it could he
view Of the bid OF the Iramrs. agreed to bUia
thS Oregon; also adding twelve feet. for 81
nnd as s was sos q as
MErancseo M material only obtunable in the East
s 2h hefs tSs mon, Ts ,hs
| hrst Of them @ will be launched Her keel was
u.
The Indiana is stee! coast. line battle ship
I'M. aiine, IN extreme breadth 9f Una.. and mean
200 tons. The advance made in this respect is
visible on netting that the disnlacsment Of the
She is designed for sen service in oil weatiers.
| while her draught is suited to work in our
Asdescribed By, Chief Constructor Wilson. tho
st hal Il protected by belts Of heavy
hTOunu lne DAsO6 OF the armOreu reuOuptS.
the whole including about IS per cent Of the
are heavy water nroteetiye decks .s s"n HE.
ing 6 at the sides to A., feet below the water.
Coal bunkers are Worked % over the the belt I deck. s:
! and belts oi Understanding material are
he 'Nnss 81 hs mDr deck
tending rom red9ubt to redou 1t. the sido is
projected by ilve inches Of steel
A feet below the water line. Of is-inch armor. nor
Rising from this ut each end are armursd re-
armored freeboard OF is foot . inches. These
turrets are inclined. ! 7 inches thick. aud pow.
Of the turre!s is 20 inches The side armor MTeor
belt Is backed by, q INCHES OF wool. two
aSeve the h"s So Se inches esa Of
nrmo. m proteTEtGn Of st TIe S.ineh guns have
and st Of
inches. The 6-inch guns arc protected by 5
o. and have d snner
which the amnnnition OF three guns is set up.
The o-pounders. when mounted between
them elsewhere they have the usual service
shields. The, 1-nrounders are rrotscted by2
inches and aS the ends the under water decks
are z inches: These decks are made up Of
with the remaining thie kness ali In ono p atc
Of steel armor armor There is q iO.inch armored
teetnc tho Voice ppes eIscro ,aHS Wres "f rr" mnJ
steering connections.
cnSrs breeeh rcs 81 sour srbt 'hsh s1sn M
breech loading rides. four G-inch breech lonI-
Ing rifles. twenty 1;pounder rapid-fre guns.
and six torpedo tubes or guns. This represents
awsicht OF tournament superior to that .; any
powers. The l3-inch guns are ~, feet above
,hS ,W water and have great arcs Of tain. The
water. and all fire across the centre line. The
neh I Gups arr mEnntSd 2t feet abcye
middle line. These guns can pierco at two
.he crua.rs rpan 9 the
They can be brought into action early in tho
sngagsment t on account ;,h OF ,hsIr great height
lighter arnored md unnrmored pnrts OF tho
hoavor battle ships. Speciai attention has
THpid; efficient: h and thoroughly protected sup
her mates the features Of battery power and
armor protection have been greatly emEhn-
sized. AightihG ship. as has often been said,
sired qualities. none OF which can he carried
TO their highest point. Accordingly the stress
caused some dmin,ition in two other points,
speod and radius o! action. Her engines,
which. rs usual. are OF the tw screw. vertical,
trple-expnnsion typo. are to dsvelop 800
horse power. and are to glvo her a spsed Of |
lG2 knots at the maximum. and an avera ga
or sustained sea spo-d Of Is knots. In the |
Iowa. the fourth battle ship OF nearly 1000 |
Goa l-carrying capacity have been increased.
and consequently we find not SO thick amor
Iowa. In fact is tho first vessel Of a new class
the coast line battle ships.
OF the Indiana and her mates Recretary
Tracy said. in his report for 1890 that in thsss
battle ships the DEPARTMENT confidently asserts
that the United States will become possaasad
OF thrso vessels OF the highest power. whose |