Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1894-10-20
THE MODERN BATTLESHlP.
striking Differences Between New and
Old style Ships of War.

Old style Ships of War.
In the old ships personnel was
everything; material was almost moth
ng. In the modern ships the condi-
lions are almost reversed and, while
personnel is still Indispensable as the
directing power, material has assumed
Such importance as almost to dwarf
H. To an engineer the consideration
Of the modern battleship is fascinating
for it is his creation throughout. He
furnishes the material, he fashions
every part, and without him its sue
rrSSful use would be impossible. We
lave the metallurgical engineer who
furnishes the material; the ordnance
engineer who makes the guns and ar
NOR; the marine engineer who builds
the main and auxiliary machinery;
the hydraulic engineer who supplies
the hydraulic apparatus; the electrical
engineer who inStallS the lighting
plant: and the naval architect who
builds the hull, for l count him an en-
Gineer as truly as the bridge builder is
one.
The hull must be strong enough to
carry guns. armor, coal and machin-
cry, to Withstand the stresses due to
heavy weather, and it must be almost
unsuitable. All these conditions make
it very complicated structure, with
lis numerous bulkheads and water
tight compartments. 1t has often been
said ;hat warship is a series of COM
promises. and study of the differ
rnceS of opinion of eminent designers
even ut the present time make this
very clear. Ever since the introduc-
ton of armOr there has been steady
fight between it and the gun, first one
and then the other being ahead. At
first ii was possible to armor the whole
side above water as well as to give
SPECIAL protection to the guns and ma
,h'nrry. but with the progress or ord
iiancc the thickness of armor requir-
ed to give adequate protection has be-
come so great that it is impossible to
armnr the vessel throughout her
length. This has led to the design of
r,n'ral citadel ships where the armor
: concentrated at the middle Of the
length. protecting guns, magazines and
machinery. leaving the ends almost
entirely unprotected. Many competent
critics contend however. that such
"r>sclS are very vulnerable and that
IN attack of the unarmored ends by
:apihtire guns in the region of the
water line would speedily let in so
Much water as to render the vessel
rnmanageable.
Probably few except those specially
interested in the design of naval YES
sells have any idea of the weight given
- armor in the battleship. and the fol-
loving summary of the distribution of
Weights in our sea-going battleship
The Iowa, will be interesting:
Tons
Hull ana httlnSS. ............ 4,540
Protection. including armor, pro-
tive deck and water-eXcluding
material ................. o6jO
Armament and fittings and am
mnnl'loh ........'...... looo
Machinery. stores, spare parts,
rtt.. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. lilo
coal at normal displacement. 49,. GO
Crew. equipment, outfit, stores,
etc. >. 325
l"ial. .....,.......... 1l,29O
From this it will be seen that al
most exactly onc-third of the entire
weight = gwen up to protection. The
distribution of armor in this vessel is
~ follows: Protection of the hull
against injury to the water line region
: to De secured by side armor belt
/ inches thick and 10 feet deep. The
:r.luSvrrSr armOr ut the ends of the
l'"li will be - inches thick. Barbettes
and turrctS for 12-inch guns will have
arnor II inches thick. and the ships
SD. from the armor belt to the main
geek. will have a thickness of >
inches An armored deck. inches
.l'ck. is TO extend forward and aft
rom the ends of the armor belt. The
coming tower will have 1O-inch az
nrr and will be connected to the ar
morrd-deck by an armored commune
cation tube inches thick. The bar
',rtlrS of the S-inch guns will be s
inches thick on the exposed side and
t; inches elsewhere. while the turret
elsewhere. while the turret armor will
W & inches thick. These turretS will
hav" armored supporting tubes 3
inches thick arranged to protect the
ammunition hoistS. The finch guns
nave shields I inches thick. Most
modern batllcships include the three
great weapons of attack. the gun. the
ram and the torpedo. and each is Il
machine in itself Special vessels
iavr been built in which one of the
last two is the only weapon. this fea-
:urc being carried out to the greatest
extent in the torpedo boat. which has
bcrn multiplied by the score in the
navieS of all tirst-claSs countries but
:hc United States. Only a few rams.
where that is the only weapon. have
been built thus far. although that ac-
"ompliShcd naval officer. Admiral Am
mrn. believes that fleets of rams should
form our principal class of vessels.
In the battleShip. the ram and the tor
prdo are regarded as secondary wea-
ponS. the main reliance being upon
r!lr gun. 1t is not hard to understand
why this should be so. The ram and
tn torpedo are effective only against
other vessels and they must be used ut
close range. the former by the very
nature of things. The gun is effective
IT long range and against fortified
ions as well as ships.
At one time it seemed as though the
increase in size of guns was to be with
out limit. and there are actually atioat
to-day number of guns weighing
weight. moreover. is that of the gun
alone. When its mount and fittings
are included the figures would be in
creased more than half. Experience
has shown. however. that this was
going too far. and the limit now ap-
pears to be alb )ut 49, inches calber
and 60 tons weight. Only Il few full
charges. comparatively. can be fired
from one of these monster guns be-
fore ii must be refined at great eX-
r"nSc. The exact number is not de-
Enit. l-nn 1,,,t is, Of