Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1895-12-27
FIGHTING MACHINES.
THE NAyIEs or ENGLAND AND THE
UNITED STATES.
Their strength Contrastcd-The New
BattIcsbip simply ~ Fort--Cruisers
and Torpcdo-Bonts-Th Older YES
scIs-Intcrcstiag Encts.
Geslie's weokly)

While IL Is scarcely probable that war;
between this country and Great Britain
Will result from the differences over the
Venezuelan boundary dispute ana the
relation which the British claim holds 10
American domination on this Continent
IL is well TO consider what, IN the event
OF a conflict. would be the relative equip
mont Of the belligerents. The struggle
Of course. would be largely one OF battle
ships. and Il must be gratifying to every
American that. while this country holds
fourth place In the naval strength of the
nations. IL in a most important respect
ranks first. No battleships are peihg
built that equal ours. our cruisers sur
pass those Of every other nation IN their
class. and we have produced swift-goihg
commerce that are the won
der Of the world in ship-building. we
have produced other marvels in war
ships. and are IN q ositon TO acc cmpish
speedily still greater feats. Inc navy
consists OF about sixty vessels. OF WhlCh
one fourth are armored. We nave pu"''
or are building, excluding the Nesseis
provided for at the last session OF 'oi
gress. six battleships, six ooast-deiehCe
steel-clads two armored cruisers one
armored ram. thirteen protected cruisers
.isbteen eluboats and unprotected cruis-
ers. and a dozen torpedo-boats. That con
stitutes the new navy Of to-day OF the
United States
There was general surprise when II was
learned that our first modern Datueshlps'
which were one third smaller than the
battieships which England ana france
were building at the same une' were
the more effective fighters. SIX years
ago we could scarcely build a modern ar
mored cruiser a battleship required tie-
mendous armor plants, enormous TOOLS
and clever designers. none Of which APP
parently we had. But the resources OF
the American people have always peeh
equal 10 their emergencies, ana forthWi'h
our battleships began 10 appear anu
they not only equalled the best that other
nations were building, but passed thehn AT
a bound. The Indiana, Massachusetts
oregon. and Iowa are admittedly more
effective than the newest OF the EnsNsh
battleships. the Majestic and Masnihoeh''
These battleships are nearly one hall as
large AGAIN as ours, bat il has been dis
covered that ours are the better armed
and that Notwithstanding the great el-
fort Of the English 10 surpass the world,
they are behind us in quality
SIMPLY A FORT.
In order 10 make an Ineligible COM
parison il should be remembered that
battleship theoretically is simply foIt
of toughened steel placed on boat. IL
is a floating fortress. When the lhdlahd
was laid down the English Government
had Just decided to spend about slW'Vv'V',
on the upbuilding of their navy. Included
IN this programme were about ten nrst-
class battieships They are ipOpulaiy
known as the ROyal sovereign CLASS.
Irpon examination it was found that
only in the matter Of speed could the
English boats surpass our battlesnlps'
This was true also of the trench DAT
tleships that were being laid down. Inc
Indiana was designed to make only slA-
teen knots speed. but it is known that she
viii make nearly eighteen knots, ana
thus equal even the English boats IN
their strongest point
Let US see now what the Indiana could
do in a fight. That tells the story. AT
one discharge Of her guns size can throw
eT24 pounds of metal. The English snip
of her class can throw only z.74O pounds.
The Indiana can throw S299 pounds
ahead. and the Renown, which has been
taken as a similar type in the English
navy. can throw only l,2lS pounds aheau'
Astern, at a single discharge. the same
figures hold true regarding the two YES
sells Abeam, however, there Is great
difference in favor of the american boat.
The Indiana can throw $50 pounds Of
metal at single discharge, and the
Renown can only throw 2,51l POUNDS Win
a similar discharge. The fighting SUI
periority is therefore. plainly two 10
one in favor Of the American boat. The
Renown is nearly two thousand tons
larger than the Indiana, but The steaming
radius of the Indiana is 1900 miles, Whlle
that of the Renown IL only 5000 miles.
10 El.n f,f
the RenOwn carries only 500 tons. The
total nuzzle energy of the guns of the
Indiana. measured in "fOot-tons'-that Is,
the power 10 lift 50 many tons one foot
is 10000 against 1il, 600 for the Renown.
That states the whole case. Theoreu-
caily. the English boats are a knot and
a half faster, but really they have the
same speed. and the American boats can
whip the English vessels in stand-up
struggle two 10 one. This is all the nor
remarkable in view OF the fact that ioI
thirty years the English have been build
ing iron ad steel vessels, and yet up
10 1890 this country had absolutely no
facilities for the building Of any large
sea-gOing craft Of the battleship variety
A writer recently declared that the Iowa
would be king rather than queen of the
seas. She IS a vast improvement on the
Indiana class. When the English heard
OF TINS tlcg al once uftlicu lidt sH's
must try TO get at the head again. SO
they ordered two tremendous battle
ships-the Majestic and Magnificent-of
1900 tonnage each, and larger than any
that ever had been built, with the eX-
ceptlon Of the well-known unwiedly
Italian irOnclads. But again the English
are behind US. Even the Indiana class
are better fighters than these two will be.
These figures tell that story, too. The
Indiana throws 5000 pounds Of metal
where the Majestic throws So0O. She
draws four feet Of water less, and of
course that Is an immense advantage in
navigation. Her coal capacity is the same
as the English giants. Her armOr Is
twice as thick as the Majesics 1t is
difficult to see where the superiority OF
the English vessel lies In any respect.
She Is simply bigger. and that is dis
advantage. The English must try again.
CRUISERS.
Come now 10 armored cruisers. 1t has
been universally acknowledged that our
cruiser New York is immensely superior
10 anything afioat as an aggressive war
ship The only vessel comparable TO her
is the Blake and Blenheim type of the
English navy The New York is faster
than either. She has been run 10 her
full capacity under an enormous strain
in a thrilling trial trip. and came out
unlnjured in any particular The Blen-
helm ran for just one hour and four
minutes, when her boilers began TO leak
and the test Of her full powers had to
be abandoned. The Blake was never
tried under her full power of steam. As
a commerce-destroyer therefore. the New
York is superior in the chief requisite
that Of speed. when II comes TO fighting
the New York has a capacity OF tO.OV