New-York tribune., 1896-05-25
AMERICAN SHIPS CRITICISED
AN ENGLISH EXPERT OPINION OF THE
NEW WAR VESSELS.
DEFECTS ALLEGf

OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES COMMENT on THE
coLUMBIA's GREAT RUN-EFFEcr-
IvENEss or FIRE.
rpY TELEGRAPH TO -HE TR1BrNE.l
Washington. May 2i-Lord Brasseys NaVai an
nual' for 1895 was received to-day at tne navy ~
partment where some OF Its contents nave AZ
tracted particular attention. especially chap'e'
which makes unfavorablc reference to this coun-
try's newly designed battle-ships. the kearsarse
and the Kentucky. Another chapter Of the oooK
which provokes comment by naval experts is ono
which refers rngenerous.y 10 the run oil the W
lumba from Southampton to New-iorK. 'n'iu'
chapter which advances new theory as 10 the
manner of determining the effectiveness oi Hlc
of ships meets with criticism braSsey
Annual contains an account. with editorial com
ments. OF naval progress in England and abroad
In the chapter entitled Progress Of Foreign Ma
yies" appear references to the kearsarse ana
Kentucky These vessels are described bTlehE an"
their Dimensions cost etc. arc given In some ue
tail the character. thickness and location oil 'le
armor the number and type Of guns, are set forth.
II is in relation to the novel plan OF pacing the
s-nch guns above the 13-nch guns I'm the form OF
A superposed turret that the Annual crltcises
American plans The chapter descriptive OF the
naval progress OF the United States opens WIN
these sentences:
As a consequence Of the Venezuela incident and
20 20 res1Iutjors have been moved In Congress for
the Increase OF the Navy. Is therefore Gear tna'
the feelings aroused by the events OF last year
though of a superficial character VIII lead 10
marked augmentation Of the naval strength OF the
great American Republic
Il IS said that tho most interesting features IN
the history Of the Navy OF this country during tho
last year are the voyage made by the columbia
across the Atlantis at the mean speed OF over
eighteen knots, and the laying down OF the battle
ships Kearsarge and Kentucky. The AnnuaI says
that the designs FOR the Kearsarge and the Ken
lucky contain some rather curious Innovations
Then follows description Of the ships Comment
ing thereon the Annual" says:
These ships are very strongly built. speed being
sacrificed to protection and coal capacity. On tr.s
point the American archiiects der s~htlre.H ~ r'"" .
those of Europe. The chief feature deserving a.
ention is, howeyer the formldanie Srmanen OF OF
the ships The large guns Dy ,he - S.,l 81
mounting them I'm superposed turTeis. are dlVldee'
each containing four guns: the movements OF "hIc @
are controlled by "A single pivot Those VINO arc
system Of distributing guns on board oatte-snips' i
that is II the plan ot mounting theni IN pd!tE
in two turres VIII nor ran 10 pom p oHisc,,on
Americans have ADOPTED an cen nloIe ~ 80
able system in thus putting four eggs IN me same
basket. inasmuch as a successful shot from INC
enemy might disable four guns at once.
Moreover in the mode % construction rendered
necessary by the placing OF one turrre nTpn n o in M
lower turret has to he reduced. which is equally
open criticism. Finally the conceniration oi
the principal guns in two stations anords sroThh qh
for another even more important oDlectoh Inc
being
ment. mistake in the aim might cause me "nole
OF the projecte miss the mark. owing 10 sud
den lurch or other movement u tho ship. II
should be forgotten that If IL not AWAY. easy
to point gun satisfactorily In a closed turret ana
also that everything tending TO complicaie IN"
working Of the guns in action VIII be serious
drawback. Special efforts have been made IN the
constructors department at Washington, where
these vessels were designed 10 give them sieadine's
OF platform
The Annual Is no; generous in speaking Of the
Columbias great run from Southampton to New
York 1t says:
A most interesting experiment was tried with
the commerce destroyer Columbia. which took part
IN the naval display at kiel. and which VAS the
subject % mos. divergent criticisms there. on tho
26;h OF July she sailed from southampton. and
proceeding at fri Sped. reached Sandy HOOK on
six days twenty-five. hours AMI forty-nine min
utes. The distance was 3.ije miles. Her average
sPpeciivciy. -. 4So 81. iss 49, s,3 ana sac mies
Natural drausht used throughout the run j.
may be added thai the boilers sho""1 signs oi
strain. and that some difficulty wss experienced
IN keeping up tho continuous s,nppH oi Goa! rom rom
the bunkers 20 the siokehoi": Th' outcome o' 70
experiment that the Columbia was proved 10
be incapable OF maintaining a speed approNimai"
10 that OF the !ars" Atlantic strtW.Hlps NN rlp
OF war she has beaten the record but .nasmuch as
the original .dea had been thai "h' saond ne caph-
bic Of giving chase 10 man -'"am'Tf IN cannon ~"
said that sae has proved a success ON her iflai'
She had steam -2S knots hrr OCEAN speri ~.
therefore, - Knots les. than accorded 20 her :" tn"
naval handboOks.
The chapter In the Annual" on effectiveness %
fire has provoked no Ntile uniayorlbie comment
among experts at the Navy Department. The ar
gument OF the Annual" Is IN effect that the vessel
having the greatest number OF guns can discharg"
the greatest total energy OF nre per minute. \
table Of rectang.cs IA given showing under this
theory th- relative powers of the principal ba;uc-
ship, 0; Europe and iac Kcnrsarge Of this country
American naval officers contend mat the kearssrg~
and her sister. the Kentucky. Will. when complci
ed, be the mos powerful but not the speediest. hgsi-
the Kearsarge as below the English Majestic and
Magnificent. the French Ch,riemasne. The German
le tl fsI 4
~. Frsncb Ca rb" ' 1fnJ the Italian 81 Unn rbc
batteries OF the Kearsarge and oi the vessels which
she is made to be Inferior To IN power are as ioI-
lows:
The Kesrsarge-Four l3-lnch guns four s-inch
guns. fourteen J-inch rapid-hre guns. and thirty
The Majestic has four l2-nch guns twelve e-lnch
rapid-fre guns, sixteen l2-pouniefs and twelve
The Charemagne has four lLs-nch guns. ten 81
inch rapid-nre guns. eight 3s-inch rapld-nre guns.
sixteen 47-nm. guns and fourteen 3-pounders
The Ersstz Prdssen has four si-inch guns. e!sh-
teen 5s-inch guns twelve 35-inch guns and twelve
The sisso Veiky has four Finch guns PIX s-lnch
guns. and twenty eight smaller pieces.
/ guns. and twenty-f -four smaller pieces.
The Annual" gives the total energy OF fire OF each
$751; on u the @ Maes,ic and Maemaccn sss ss5 on tho
Charlemagne, 4l9l2; on thc Ersat2 Prtss-n i6jst
on on the Siss2 Nelky 2s''Zs' on ne Poltaya SAiS'l
| whose heaviest guns are OF the iO-inch type Is
here that for tho purposes for which she is -
be constructed. fighting against heavily armored
ships the Kcarsarge clearly outcasses any Of the
vessels named above. They contend that tho argu-
! ment in the Annual" Is misleading. theoretical
! multiplication Of gun energy when the fire la
from small rifles which viii not pierce the thick
Harveyized nickel steel plates and that while I'm
given time rapid-hre guns OF smaller caiibre Will
discharge more shots. and In that sense develop
greater energy the fire will De less effective against
the armored part Of battle-ships than few shots
| from the great l3-nch guns which the kearsarge
| will carry.
SENATOR MILLS WAVED POETTC.