Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1893-12-07
THE NAVY DEPARTMENT.
REPORT OF THE sEoHH-
rARY OF THE NAVY.
Secretary Herbert Satisfied with 'ne
Progress Made I'm Naval Consf
tion During the Past Year D"' Dc
Heyes That Mere should he Dons'

ton During the Past Year o"'
Heyes That Mere should he Dohs'
Washington, Nov. 30.-Seeretary oil tins
Navy Herbert begins his annual report
by stating that dnxang the past yea,
nine wax ships have been launched ana
six more completed. The results OF Tue
various speed trials, already familiar -
the public. are given. The progress thus
far made ia our naval Development Is
shown in tables, which give the number
and type of effective war vessels WINCH
this country will possess when those ne"
building are completed, and also u slniiiaf
list of vessels of the principal foreign
naval powers. The secretary requests au,
thority to devote the S450,Ooo aathorlzeu
for the construction OF a vessei silhiaf
10 the Vesuvius to the construction VI
three torpedo boats; and he also recon-
mends that congress should so increase
the limit of cost of the swift torpedo
cruiser authorized by the act OF June
80, 1890, as to enable the department.
TO have this vessel laid down during the
ext fiscal year.
Surveying the whole field, we hnd
much to be proud of In the knowledge
that we can furnish the material TOT,
and build, modern ships Of war as quick
ly and, without any doubt, as Wen as
any country in the world. l feel conn
dent that some Of our ~shipyards rival
the best in Europe" After q statement
showing the progress upon vessels now
being built, the secretary details the cost
Of the twenty-five vessels which have
.-.-IAnl sinna Anrnh 4 lSSl as
follows: Cost of construction, Sl9,S23,-
459.35; armament, $3,107, OO9.S5; outfit
under steam engineering, construction
and equipment, $1,4S3,oi5.95; premiums
s5SG,916.97; total cost of construction
including armament, equipment and pre-
Mullins, $50, 000,432.12 expended for re-
pairs since completion, S910,0oS.S3.'
The amount expended upon the twenty
three uncompleted ships is $40, ~Iol,oo6.oo.
Ordnance.
THE production of modern high-power
guns at the Washington factory is pro
crossing satisfactorily. The u plant
at this establishment is not surpassed
by any in the world, and increased ex-
perience has resulted during the past
year in still greater economy In oil
branches of manufacture. Up to the
present time there have been completed
for service 237 guns, ranging in Gambler
from finch to 13-inch, all of which have
not only proved successful upon trial,
but have also given results which show
conclusiyely that the general system OF
construction employed has no superior in
foreign countries"
INr,,,nnsifn onl pitrota hfrh axp1nSlVeS
have been experimental with during the
year and successfully fired from high
power guns up TO and including the u
inch caliber. A decorating fuse has been
used ia the shells charged with emnen-
site, with which excellent results were
obtained.
The manufacture of armorpiereing
projectiles in this country - now well
established. Exhaustive tests OF these
shells show concluSiyely that they are
equal, if not superior, to any armor-
piercing shell manufactured abroad. The
advent of Harveyized nickel-steel armor,
however, has so changed the conditions
Ct attack as to render the higher de-
yelopnent of armOr-piercing proJcctLes
absolutely essential.
The tests of armor plates during the
past year have been most important,
come exceeding in severity any ever at
tempted either in this country or abroad.
The results of these tests have been con-
elusive in demonstrating the desirability
of using the Harvey process for the
armor of all the vessels now under con-
struction. In one test, that of a 14inch
nickel-steel Harvey plate, the results
were remarkable. Against this plate
were fred four 1O-inch Hotter armor-
piercing shells, with striking veiocities
of 1,4T2, 1859, 1859 and 2,059 foot
seconds, respectively. All four of these
projectiles We're crushed on the plate,
the greatest penetration, which did not
exceed IL inches, being that of the last
shot which was fred at a fragment of
the plate weighing but A tons, with a
striking energy of j 4,115 foot-tons, or
B,34 foot-tons per ton of plate attacked
Ii is believed that such an energy per
ton of plate has never been used in any
test.
Regarding the yesuyfus
the secretary says: 1T is just possible
that the experim ents with the ffteen-inch
pneumatic guns now in course of con-
struction for the wal department may
not give such results rs to convince this
department of the value of the guns of
the Vesuvius for naval purposes. The
vessel has now been In the possession of
the government for three and one half
years, and in case experiments with pneu-
matte guns In the near future show these
guns to be of little or no value for naval
purposes, IL would be in the interest Of
economy to transform her into a vessel
available for efficient service with az lit
tie delay as possible. With this end in
view, l recommend that congress give
the department conditional authority to
transform this vessel into a torpedo
cruiser"
During the past year the available yes
sells of the navy have been almost con-
stantly employed, and the necessity for
their services in different parts of the
globe has been so continuous that the de-
partment has felt constrained to keep
vessels in commission which needed ex-
tensive repairs and should have been aid
up for that purpose.
Naval Policy.
Under this head Secretary Herbert says.
at was not his (Secreta-y Whitney,si
purpose, nor has IL at any time been tho
Intention of congress, to build a navy eouaj
to those Of such great naval powers "a
France and England, but 1t Is certaInIv
sound policy to maintain n navy az least
as efficient, when compared with others
as that which our country was I'm masses,
siou of In the days before the era OF moi.
ern navies, aud when our seaports were
deemed to be, as they certainly are not
now, amply provided with fortlications
fully up to the requirements OF the n.y.
Our navy has net yet come up 10 that
standard. We have now building only Pom