Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1895-12-28
OUR CHANCES IN BATTLE
In Ships at Sea England Outnum-
bers Us q to /.
United States Resources Are as
ExhaustIess as the Earth.
Uncle Sans Commerce DestrOyers
Are tho Hes: Ia the World--
Engiand's Strength and
Weakness. q


Weakness. .
New York, Dec. 20.-In a war with
Great Britain the United States would
have q tremendous advantage In their
geographical situation, but on the high
seas the advantage would be on the
side OF the enemy. Roughly speaking.
the British navy is to the American ma
wy az 4 to /, or even more, in fighting
strength.
A general understanding of the com
parative strength of the two navies may
be reached by any layman through a
perusal OF the facts and figures shown
below. Tha the United States Is la
mentally weak in battleships-tne
great engines Of war that nave been
called floating fortresses-cannot be de-
MED. England has nearly forty first
class battleships, against which we
have but one IL commission, the Indi-
ana. But. in addition to the Indiana,
we have the double turreted monitors,
Amphitrite and Miantonomoh, and the
coast defense vessel Monterey, the last
named now in California waters.
The Oregon and the Massachusetts,
sisters of the Indiana, can be made
ready for service in three months, as
they lack only their armor, while the
iowa, larger and more formidable, can
not be placed in service under q year
and a half.
All the English battleships, however.
could not be sent L tight the vessels or
the United States and attack American
cities, for the interests OF England are
so great and so developed that she must
perforce look well TO the protection OF
her own territory or territories which
she does not want other nations to OBJ
tain. A consideration Of the present
situation with regard to Turkey, and
also in connection with China and
Corea, will show the meaning OF this
statement.
In armored cruisers-vessels OF par
ticular advantage in destroying COM
merce or protecting outlying posses
sions-Great Britain Is not 80 strong as
the United States. She has OF this char
aoter Of ship the Blake (Which partici-
pated In the Columbian naval ceremon-
les at Hampton Roads and New Yorl9,
and the Blenheim, while u compare
lively similar vessels are the New York
III
however, that the New York Is superior
to either the Blake or the Blenheim, and
the Brooklyn is said to be superior to
the New York.
Next in ~formidability England has
even belted cruisers of the Australian
class. They are slightly smaller and
have less horse power than the Maine.
which Is also superior to them In bat
terry, as is the Texas. The Texas, while
officially denominated a second class
battleship, may be placed in this COM
parison.
Our Unrivalled Commerce Killers
In a wal with Great Britain the great
advantage which the United States gov
eminent possesses In having such YES
sells as the Columbia and the Minnea-
~polis-known as first class cruisers
cannot be overestimated, They are
destroyers pure n simple,
and have been not improperly desig-
mated the pirates. Great Britain's first
class cruisers are Of this type and are
the same size as the Columbia n Min
neapolis, but have horse power OF $4,000
only, as compared with the 81 1000 horse
power Of the American terrors of mer-
chant vessels.
The additional horse power gives the
pirates an excess Of two knots an hour
In speed over their British counterparts,
which also carry less coal, and, for that
reason and the others given, they would
not be so serviceable In protecting Brit
ish commerce as the Columbia and Min
neapolis would be In destroying 1t.
England has nine of these ships. The
recent speed trial Of the Columbia from
Southampton to New York shows of
what these two vessels are capable, and
It Is maintained that they can overtake
the CanB. ania and L~ucania-the fastest
ships Of the English merchant marine
If the race should begin within sight
Ing distance.
To revert for a moment to battleships
Of the Indiana class. Great Britain has
the Admiral. the Arson. the Benbow.
the Camperdown, the Rodney, the Nile
and the Trafalgar. All these are larger
and faster than the Indiana. but she Is
superior IN battery and In armor. and
could probably vanquish any one of
them. Great Britain has also a number
Of first class" battleships constructed
last year, Of which the Centurion and
Barfeur, with 10, 800 tons displacement
and 1900 horse power. are samples.
But these, likewise, do not compare with
the Indiana class in armor m arma-
ment. The only battleships Of the Brit
ish navy which do SO compare are those
Of the Royal Sovereign class. completed
within the last year or two. and Of which
there are nine.
They have 14.150 displacement and
II, 800 horse power each. The side armor
Is Of the same thickness as that Of the
Indiana. They have tour Ct ton guns
and 10 six inch guns while the Indiana
has four Is inch, eight 8 inch and four
8 inch guns. showing great superiority
In this respect.
In addition to these. England has re-
Gently completed the Magnificent and
the Majestic, battleships Of IA, 900 tons
displacement and II. 900 t.orse power,
They are more highly arTnored than the
vessels Of the Royal Sovereign ella So,
Great Britain has likewise a number OF
old time battleships. which would hard
ly be servicable against the United
States. There are about forty battle
ships Of all classes, as stated, that could
be brought into service.
In similar cruisers Great Britain has
about ten Of the Baltomore class, OF
which we have the Baltimore, the Phil
adelphia. the Newark and the San Fran
cisco. England has nothing like our
Olympia, but Ii completing three cruis-
srs OF her class. Six English vessels
compare with the cruiser Charleston
and this class In the United States navy
may be said to be augmented by the At
iantic and the Boston. which. however,
while good fighters do not possess sufi-
eient speed. j.
The Raleigh and the Cincinnati of our
navy are all that we have to balance
against twenty sever cruisers, Of the
same class possessed by Great Britain.
She also a nine to three Of the Detroit
class Of cruisers, but all these are as.
signed to duty In Australian waters
where she has likewise one of her belted
cruisers. The comparison Of eight to
three Ii observed with reference to ves-
sells OF the class of which our gunboat
Yorktown In q type.
Concerning smaller craft, Great Brit
ain has about thirty-ive Of the torpedo
gunboat type. ranging in size from 500
to 1000 tons. the majority being 800 tons.
The principal role Of these vessels would
be In operations against United States
torpedo boats. but II Is not probable that
they would be brought to America. OF
tho torpedo boat destroyers. England
haa ahout fwnutv covoplot>I ana >Ac.x