The morning call., 1894-01-27
OUR NEW NAVY.

The new cruiser Montgomery. which
was huilt NJ the Columbian Iron Works at
] Baltimore aud made her trial trip off New
/ London. Canu.. on January 70. Is pro-
/ uouneed success. She exceeded the
<peed required by her contract by about
/ two knots, her rate OF speed being, when
/ corrections were made, rather over than
under ~ knots.
The Montgomery Is the third OF the
9J\<Aton cruisers which have been built
Uoder the act OF September Z. 1SSS
Her sister ships. the Detroit and the
Msrblehead, have been some time In
commission. They are all three twin
screw steel ships, schooner rugged, with
lishI protective decks covering their
vital parts. The engines are triple ex-
pAnStou. On The trial trips with steam
pressure ef It's pounds the average revolu-
lions Of the engines were $50. The main
battery consists Of eight o-inch and two
6,tueh rapid IA guns. II need hardly be
sdded TIA. these are not hattle-ships, but
are intended for general cruising purposes.
The list Of the ships of the United States
navy is in itself naval history OF the
country. Leaving out tugs and torpedo
boats we have still thirty-three wooden
SulHS, OIL WHICH uiu6 hlS eaiAAbE NOoSS'o'
Seven are rated as unserviceable, includ-
ing the Hartford. which Is to be RENTED
with new battery and new machin-
cry, and the old fighter Constitution, In
which so many naval officers first learned
the lesson of naval warfare. Seven are re-
ceiyiug ships, among these the.old wabash
and the Minnesota, whose n anne recalls the
memorable fight at Hampton Roads. The
Niagara, winch laid the Allan tic cable,
has been dropped from the navy register
been sold and broken up. The old James
town and the Portsmouth. whose portraits
appear IN so many marine pictures, are
still doing duty, the former as Quaran-
tine hulk, the latter in the training squad
ron of the naval school.
The list of fourth rates, which includes
seven little vessels of from $50 10 900 tons,
embraces the dynamite gun vessel Vesu-
viuS and other craft which might do good
service in shallow waters. The fleet of
third rates comprises thirty-three vessels.
many of which bear historic names.
Nine of these are single turret monitors.
including the Comanche at Mare Island.
To this class the Montgomery and her
sister ships belong. as also the Bennington.
SUuCOIQ duQ l. "a hlUh MuiCH MClO
the earlier ships of the new navy, likewise
the Thetis and the Ranger. which have
long been familiar craft in this bay and
at Mare Island.
Tbs register only counts two vessels in
The list of first rates ready for service. the
New York and the Columbia of $3.50 and
1850 tons respectively. one an armored the
other protected cruiser. The other first
rates are the battle-ships, most Of which
are still on the stocks, the Iowa, with
tonnage OF II. 296. the Indiana, Massachu-
setts and Oregon. with 10, 200 tons disDlace-
ement, and the Maine and Texas of some
thing over 5000 tons each. Then the
Brooklyn, an armored cruiser of 9l53, and
the Minneapolis OF 1850 tons displacement,
are building at Philadelphia. The Olym-
pia. which recently had her trial trip at
Santa Barbara, the cruisers San Francisco,
Baltimore, Chicago, Philadelphia, Newark,
Atlanta. Boston and Lancaster will, with
the double turreted monitors Mianto-
nomoh, Monterey, Puritan, Amphitrite,
Monadnock and Terror, cons titute the fleet
of second rates.
The battery carried by the first rates is
as large rs modern gunnery considers
available for actual warfare. The Iowa
carries in her main battery eighteen guns,
the other 10,000-tOn battle-ships sixteen
each. The Brooklyn will carry twenty,
the Columbia, which is not yet commits
stoned. only eleven. Gunners now regard
rapidity Of fire OF no less importance than
number of guns or caliber. 1t may be
said roughly that the navy of the United
States, when the vessels now on the stocks
are completed, will comprise thirty for
midable ships of war. besides as many
third rates and an indefinite number of
j torpedo craft and small gunboats.