Evening star., 1896-03-02

htl
Old turreted monitors or any. of III. old
cruiser class, either of wood or iron though
doubtless some Of them might be moderate
~ sefflceabe in a war with any but d first
class naval power.
Fighting Gapncfty of Some Sh;,..
referring to the fighting capacity oil come
OF the ships in commission, Comnodo.e
H!chhorn says:
THE Indiana. Oregon, Massachusetts and
Iowa are battle ships and the finest of their
class afioat Tney can fight on even terms
with any ship that was ever launched and
IN my opinion they are superior to ~ per
cent OF any vessels with which they may
ever come i'll contact. The New York,
brooklyn and Maine are armored crujs.rs
They have neither the offensive nor aaf.n
sive qualities of the battle ships but they
arc superb lighting machines, and would
render magnificent service in the event of
hostiiities. The Texas is a second-rate bat
tie ship. while the Miantonorroh Amnhi
trte. Terror, MOnadnoCk, Monterey and
iuiilan are coast defense vessels of the
monitor type, carrying heavy batteries ct
IL ana l:i-inch guns. and capabIe of de-
Tending; our harDors against the hest snins
IN the world. Their area of resistance is
so small that a distance of two miles
II would he difficult to hit them, while ,i,y
cou!i rain a fuSllade of shot and shell
against the sides of the great battle ships
with which they might be engaged The
ships have given you. which are ciassed
n(f
necessarily lighting ships eXcept wnar ni.
ted against vessels of their own tyne In
this respect they have no super:ors in The
British or French navies.
The Spanish Navy.
The Spanish ravy has but one vessel
that compares with our battle ships. That
Is the Pclayo, which has about the same
displaccmen!. thickness of armor and speed.
but carries in her main battery two twelve
and TWO elevcn-inch guns as against four
thIrteen-inch guns on ships of :he
class you mention. They have three mod
ern second-class battle ships the Al,ni-
rante Oquendo. Infanta Maria Teresa and
\1zcaya. of tWD tons displacement and
twenty knots estimated speed. launched in
1899 and 1891. The Cardenal Cisneros.
Catalura and PrinceSa de Asturias of
6t4S tons displacement and the same esti-
mated speed. are still under construction
All six arc of the same general tyne with
narrow water line belt of twe!ve-nch
armor. and carry two eleven-inch guns in
ten and half-inch armored barhettes. and
Ten nFe-lnch guns protected by shields
They Eave one ship, the Emperado Carlos
V, of the type Of the New York. having
5000 tons displacement and twenty knots
estimated speed, launched in 1885 and not
yet completed. She has no side armor
except a two-inch casemate around the
upper battery. but has an armor deck of
the same thickness the New York's
She carries two elovcn-nch guns as against
the six eigh:-inch guns of the New York
ard eight five ard one-half-inch and four
fcur-inch guns, as against twelve four-iach
guns of the New York.
besides these, the only armorcd ships
in the Spanish navy are the Nurlancia and
Nitoria, of 1000 tens displacement, launch
ed in 1863 and 1865. and carrying muzZle-
loading guns, and the Puig- -Cerda a small
monitor. built in 1874. All except the lat
ter are fitted with torpedo tubes. OF mod
ern unarmornd ships. they have the Alfonso
NIL and Lepanto. of about 5000 tons dis
placement and twenty knots estimated
sreed. carrying four .eight-inch and six
fCuf-inch guns: the Alfonso NIL Rena
Christina and Reina Mercedes, designed
for transports, of about 5000 tons dispIa. .e-
ment and seventeen knots estimated speed
carrying six three-tenths-inch guns; seven
gunboats of the Infanta Isabel class. Of
1,1:O tons displace ment, carrying four four
inch guns, and fourteen small gunboats Of
about 800 tons displacement. each carrying
two four and seven-tenthS-inch guns. six
of them being of what is known as the
'torpedo-catcner' class, with high speed
Besides these, they have few old wooden
ships and about forty-fve very small gun
boats of no fighting value, and have built
a number of small vessels for Cuban serv-
ice since the present troubles there COM
menced. Thy have thirty-eight first-class
and three sacond-class torpedo boats and
four vidette boats. but few, if any of them,
could make the ocean voyage"
A summaI. of the fighting value of the
two fleets follows: