Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1893-04-21
Tho Columbian Naval Review.

The most formidable and efficient
fleet OF war vessels the world ever
saw was reviewed by Queen Victoria
on the occasion of her golden jubilee
in 1887. Cheers from 10000 men
manning 100 British ships was the
music that greeted her as the royal
yacht passed the long lines of fight
ing craft, the most terrible the
ingenuity Of man had then devised.
In a few days there will have gathered
at Hampton Roads, and later in the
Hudson, at New York, the most
efficient fleet that the American
people have yet beheld. In the pro-
posed Columbian naval parade we do
not expect to match the levlathans of
her Majesty's squadrons, but we do
expect TO show the most perfect fleet
of unarmored but protected steel
cruisers that any nation has yet built
for the destruction of its enemies
commerce.
To convey general idea of the
character Of our new navy it may be
said that its ships are classified as
armored cruisers, unarmored cruisers,
battle ships, monitors, gunboats and
torpedo boats. To such craft in case
Of need we could add about twenty
old-fashioned iron and wooden vessels
still doing pretty good service. AS it
happens we shall not display our
greatest naval strength in the
approaching parade. Six battle ships
are building, but no one is yet ready.
These redoubtable ships are the
Maine, Texas, Indiana, Massachusetts
Oregon and Iowa. Some of these
great ships will carry 1s-inch guns
and have their sides protected by
eighteen inches of nickel steel.
Reasonably swift, too, will be these
masses OF iron and steel, for their
speed will be between fifteen and
seventeen knots.
Akin to these monitors in destruct-
i've force will be the Monterey, re-
Gently tried at San Francisco, and the
doublc-turreted monitors Miantono-
moh, Monadnock, Amphitrite, Ter
ror, and Puritan. But it is the
lighter craft that are to do the flag
honor in the review, and these are
the ships, all under 5000 tons, that
will be watching parade signals from
the Philadelphia, flagship of Rear
Admiral Gherardi: Baltimore,
Chicago, San Francisco, Charleston,
Atlanta, Miantonomoh, Yorktown,
Concord, Bennington, Dolphin,
Vesuvius, Cushing, Newark, Ban
croft.
Assembling in Hampton Roads,
with one or two exceptions, this fleet,
divided into two squadrons, Rear
Admirals Benham and Walker COM
manding, escorting the score of ships
Of foreign powers which will partici-
pate in the review, will proceed to
New York, arriving April 26, and
taking up position off the river front
in places assigned the American and
visiting vessels. On the following
day President Cleveland and dis
tinguished company will review from
the deck of the Dolphin this great
fleet of nearly forty ships. The home
contingent would be larger were not
the Boston needed at Honolulu, and
were work further advanced on such
new vessels as the Columbia,
Minneapolis, Brooklyn, Cincinnati,
Raleigh, Detroit, Montgomery,
Marblehead, Katahdin, Machias, and
Castine. However, one new crack
ship may perhaps be found in line,
and this is the New York, whose
trial trips have been thus far so salts
factory.
To overlook the presence of the
gallant strangers whose ships will
give the international character to
this great naval review would indeed
be objectionable. In fact our guests
promise to out-number us and become
the drawing card of the show, though
neither England, France, nor Italy
will send one of those gigantic battle
ships which we have not yet
duplicated and which are literally
world beaters. However, the leading
naval powers of Europe are to be
represented in no little force. Eng
land orders to the review her North
American squadron, and detaches
from her Mediterranean squadron the
cruiser Australia. France, Germany.
and Russia will each send a small
fleet, and the South American and
some other of the powers will do
what they can to glorify this
Columbian year. But the two ships
that will eye one another like the two
unmatched and biggest boys in
school are her Majesty's Blake and
Uncle Sans New York, the former
of 5000 tons and the latter not far
behind. Secretary Tracy calls the