The herald., 1896-05-10
An Ideal Fighting Machine Equal
to Any Afl0at
TER POWERFUL ARMAMENT
.erpedoes That Travel Thirty Miles an
Hour
- an Engagement Lasting Thirty Minutes
the Marine Terror Can Hurl Forty
Tons Of Metal

The fine new battleship Indiana, the
pioneer ship of her class, Is now at the
Brooklyn navy yard. Hundreds of peo-
pie interested in fighting machines OF
the floating type have inspected the snip
since her arrival at the yard, ana all ol
them found something to marvel at and
to admire.
When the Indiana went overheard
from her builders ways in Philadelphia.
the claim was made that the ship would
float when commissioned the superior
of any vessel of her type. Many battle
ships have been added to the navies of
the world since then, but navy officers
are still of the opinion that the Indiana
can meet any of them. and on more than
equal terms, and she will doubtless hold
that pre-eminence until she is compelled
to share her distinction with her sisters.
the Massachusetts and Oregon. both OF
which will soon be ready for service
The Iowa. which represents a still later
type, is expected to outclaSs the first
trio of battleships.
But if the equal to the Indiana in the
Qualities that the naval seaman loves,
those whose lot it will be to go to sea in
her will be satisfied, unless very differ
ent type of men from those who sail the
Indiana To the officers of that ship,
the Indiana represents an ideal type.
PhenOmenally steady in SeaWay, her
guns can be worked in almost any sort
of weather. and what is unusual in a
steady Ship she has not the loggy. slug
gish movements which one would eX-
pect but rises to the seas with buoy
ant though easy motion.
When one remembers how the Cap
tain, the first of the English armored
battleships, turned turtle in the Bay of
Biscay in a moderate sea, and how one
Of England's very latest battleships ran
before gale for three days, fearing to
bring her broadsde to the swell for a
single instant lest she might experience
the fate of the Captain. one can appre-
ciate the enthusiasm with which the In
diana's crew regard the storm -defyinS
qualities of their superb vessel.
And these same regard with equal
equanimity the qualities of their vessels
as man. -ofwar. That she is. and her
character is written in every sinister line.
The veriest tyro in marine affairs would
never mistake her for anything but what
she is. Fashioned for receiving terrific
blows, she can nevertheless inf1iot as
much damage as she receives, if not
more. Her armor is better distributed,
and there is more of 1t than is carried
by battleships of foreign navies. Besides,
1t is of better quality, all of it being OF
the Harveyized nickle steel. a metal ad-
judged by experts to be the best for
armor purposes Eighteen inches of this
armor protects the sides. and the bar
bettes are II inches in thickness. Tur-
rets 16 inches in thickness shield the
big 13-inch rifles.
The ship carries in her main battery
four 13-inch rifles. mounted in pairs, one
pair in a turret aft. the other in similar
turret forward. The weight of each tur-
ret, with its two guns, is 800 tons. The
turrets measure forty feet in diameter,
and have height of ten feet.
The eight-inch rifles are likewise
mounted in pairs of four turrets. The
four six-inch rifles are protected by the
steel of the armored sides.
In the secondary battery are twenty
six-pounders and six ne-pounders.
These have no armor protection. and are
distributed about the central superstruc-
ture and in the lighting tops. In most of
the new ships the smaller guns of the Sec
ondary battery are fitted with steel
shields varying from one to three and
half inches in thickness. But the navy
department was not slow in accepting
some of the lessons that We're to be
learned by study of the encounters be-
tween the naVies of Japan and China.
1t was noted in many instances that the
shields proved to be a source of danger
rather than a means ofprotection. Shells
that would have whiZzed harmlessly
past had there been no shields in num-
erous cases pierced the thin sheets of
metal and exploded among the gun S crew
with disastrous effect. The department
therefore concluded to dispense with the
shields on the lndiana's light guns.
and mounted the pieces on the top of
the superstructure in plain view and
wholly unprotected. The chief danger to
their crews in time of action will be from
machine and small-arm fire but so long
as the battleship is not outnumbered
and retains the use of her powerful main
battery 1t is not likely that an enemy
will be able to get within effective small
arm range.
Some statistics regarding the capabil-
tiles of the 1ndianas S guns We're obtained
yesterday from officers of the ship. From
either broadside the following weight of
metal can be thrown at one discharge:
Total
Wight of Wight of for
Number Missile. Charge Caliber.
OF Guns Calibre Pounds Pounds Pounds
IL inch LOO $40 A,40D
Z inch $50 125 1000