The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1894-07-21


The Minneapolis is a sister ship to the
trfple-screw racer Columbia, which re-
Gently earned for her builders a premium
Of $4,000. Like that vessel. the Mn
neapOlis Is intended as commerce ue-
strOyer, pure and simple In bOtn, bat-
terry power has been SACRIFICED 10 enc
CINE power, and neither ship carries
AN armament that would warrant her
commander In giving battle to anything
more formidable than "A second or third
rate cruiser.
The Minneapolis and vessels Of her
class are specially intended 70 capture
and destroy the merchant ships Of an
enemy and the battery Of eleven high
powered guns which the Minneapolis VIII
carry is'adiudged TO be sufficiently large
20 enable her 20 conquer any armed ueI-
chairman which she might encounter.
The main battery Will consist or TWO six
inch rifles. mounted forward: one eight
inch rifle. mounted on pivot carriage
aft. and eight four-inch rapid-hre guns.
In tie secondary battery Will be twelve
siX-pounder rapid-hre cannon, four one
FOUNDERS, and four GatlingS The yes
sci has also been fitted with i've torpedo
tubes. There Is one on each bow ana
quarter and one fitted in The stern.
7 he ship is driven by three sets OF
triple expansion engines, all of the same
size. Each engine IS Ia "a separate wa
ter-tieht compartment. and Is absolute
Is INDEPENDENT OF the others. The side
propellers are - feet in diameter, ana
are 3 feet above and II feet forward ot
the middle propeller which IS slightly
smaller than the twin screws. The diam
cter Of the middle screw is IL feet. The
pitch Of each propeller is p feet. All
are three-biaded and are Of manganese
bronze
Tie engines which drive the twin
screws ore situated forward of the one
which revolyes the middle one. The en-
zines are Of the triple-eXpansio type
The high pressure cylinders measure -
inches in diameter The intermediate -
inches, and tho low pressure ~ inches
he stroke of engine IS ~ inches.
steam is supplied by eight double
ended return-irc tube boilers These are
lJ"+ feet IN diameter and 20 feet in
length. There are also two smaller boil
erS, which are used for running the dy-
namos. distiilers. and electric fans The
boilers are designed 10 carry a steam
pressure of lGO pounds
An important feature of the engine
room equipment is the group Of eighteen
blowers, which are used when the yes
SCI is speeding under forced draught.
commenting upon this vessel and her
annual SAYS that while forced draught
mas been lrroNOcabiy condemned and
justly termed AN invention of the evil
one by a British Admiral. il has. never
theleSS, been adopted with inexplicable
inipruience by almost every naval pow
ct, ms system, Lord Brassey SAYS. has
ruined many boilers and laid uD many
1hips ana withal ala not take into ac-
I"uIl tHe actual conditions Of "a naval
battle. Many officers he saws. have
claimed that forced draught cannot be
used "a action, because the stokers would
hoy au0" every esress from the stoke
nora 20 De closed AZ the most critical mo-
ment ln the life Of the ship
re minneapolis carries sixteen OF
t'rd brasS"ys discredited blowers I'm
me main iireroom ana has IN addition
one for each of the auxiliary firoroons
an ldeJ Of the vast amount OF ma
emery the vessel is freighted with can
9D ""d li9m TIE statement that IN adj
dlll'h To he' main engines. she carries
Two iyuaW0e, eight ventilatiug engines
t'-lt -h)lstiuS engines engines for
h'iH'iHs AMMUNITION. ana engines for
s'geiiinns' engines for disulllng. engines
Tor the Ice machine, engines for the
steam winohes and for hosting boats
aui ii complete system Of fire ana wreck
lus pumps The boiler surface is canal
20 nearly one ana one-f fourth acres.
The coal hunkers hold 200 tons of coal
ana are ntted with overhead railways
hy which coal IS carried from the bunksrS
to 'hr hrerooms. With her normal supuly
or -.'" TONS me vessel can steam 1000
mics NJ am average speed OF ten knots
The Minneapolis was known as Cruiser
40. Is. She was built by the Cramps or
lhiliHel phia from Navy Department de-
si- Sae is ln every respect home
blit cruiser. Her hull was dcsigned by
tAc Bureau OF Construction. under the
,,i ieryislon, OF Commodore Theodore T.
v, i's''il hiiA l4Nt iNNtIS ana engines We're
planned by the Bureau OF steam Engi-
Decrng. under the direction Of CommO-
lore Melville The vessel Is ~ feet long
5e feet beam. and has mean draught
of - feet inches. Her normal displace-
meut Is 7 55O tons
The hull is built or Open-hearth steel
and. Ike eyeryt thing else about the vessel
l- of domestic manufacture. In the 1J3
Water-tsht compartments into which the
hun is .iVided is a reserve or huoyancy
which cannot easily be overcome A nickel
steel protective deck runs the entire
length OF the ship. This armor is 2Ia
inches thick forward and art ana inches
thick amidships There is also a Golfer
dam - feet high and feet wide. filled
with cellullse. which runs the entire
length OF the vessel over the protected
deck.
The contract price Of the ship. cxclu-
sive of armament was S2GD.ooO Her
contractors We're required 10 guarantee
that the speed developed on the official
trial should not be less than q Knots
per hour during q four hours cOnsecu-
tive run. For every quarter OF knot
above that speed it was agreed that the
contractors would be given "a premium Of
$4,000, and for every quarter Of q knot
short of the guaranteed speed the build
ers were 10 pay Il forfeit ~ $4,000.