Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1895-11-29
EWBATTLESHI
Bids Will Be Opened on the Last
Of the Month for Two Fight
w. ing Vessels.
They Will Undoubtedly Have
No Superiors in Any Navy
in the World.
One to Be Called the Kearsage
in Honor of the Famous
Old Craft.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 23.-On the lasl
day Of this month bids will be opened
at the navy department for the con
struction Of two great battleships, Nos
5and 6, one of which will be c%hristeneC
the "Kearsarge,' to perpetuate the
name of that famous old craft. Thei1
cost is not to exceed 81, 900, 900 each, ex.
elusive of armament, and if a reasonable
bid is obtained, one must be built on
the Pacific coast.
With IL, 800 tons displacement, 1O,O0(
horsepower, is knots speed, 1858 feet il
length and ~ feet beam. these will be
largest ships i'll our navy; nevertheless
they will draw but 20 feet Of water will
all stores and coal aboard, or two feet
less than the battleships already built
and so muy be more readily docked and
a enter shallower harbors.
Novelty in Gun Arrangement.
A great novelty in these new vessels
Will be III the arrangement Of the guns,
for the principal battery of ID and s..
inch rifles will be placed in double-decB
turrets, while no less than IA rapid fire
guns VI IL Stll1OlCS WILL w u1SCIlU'
uted around each ship. The 13-incb
guns and the doublc-deck turrets wer
adopted at the instance of the ordnance
bureau and against the Judgment OF
Chief Constructor Hichborn. The ar.
MOI protection is comp.ete-of Harvey.
lied nickel-steel-l4 inches thick on the
barbettes, increasing to II inches on
fGn foon of tl,n 10 ;,ol %,r,oA, 1niy
on the waterllne belt and 5 inches above
Oh the sides and OH the top of all IL pro-
tective deck 234 inches thick inclined tc
defect shot. Thick bulkheads are also
provided to cut off Il raking fire, splin-
ter bulkheads are placed at exposed
points and back Of the waterline armor
will be coiferdams filled with American
cornpith to exclude water in the event
that It shot does perforate all armo1
plate.
Will Beat All Foreign Ships.
A comparison Of these vessels with
any foreign battleships built, or build.
ing will, in every case, be to the advan.
tlge of the United States vessels, which
carry heavier guns and more of them,
heavier armor, more widely distributed
and protecting more thoroughly the
vitals Of the ship and gun crews. Thei1
normal speed of IL knots will be less Oh
paper than that Of most foreign battle
ships, but it should be noted that this
speed will be obtained with a very
moderate forced draught and without
unduly pushing the engines, so that it
may be expected that at any time this
speed can be duplicated by our vessels,
while it is notorious that foreign battle.
ships never again approach their trial
speeds.
Battery of Rapid Fire Guns.
Perhaps the most novel feature of
these vessels and the one which is dis
tlnctly i'll advance Of other battleships,
is the overpowering battery Of IA 5-inch
rapid fire guns thoroughly protected by
SIX inches Of the best armor. The s.
inch gun is the largest calibre which
can be fred with great rapidity, and
the protection given these guns is such
that it could be penetrated by but few
OF the guns carried by the opposing bat
tleship. Experience in the recent war
between China and Japan indicate
clearly the power of the rapid fire guns,
and also that to enable such guns to do
their beft work, they should have more
protection than has heretofore been
given them.
These vessels when completed, with
all their armor and armament, will cost
IN the neighborhood Of s., 900, coo.
The time which will be allowed the
contractor for the completion of these
vessels is three years.