The Mt. Sterling advocate. (Mt. Sterling, Ky.) 1890-current, 1896-05-05
Speed Of Our Battle Ships.

The good half knot by which til,
Massachusetts, has beaten her sistei
ship is another proof of the excellen
speed we may expect from this class
although their contracts guarantee
only 10 knots. And there is goot
reason to believe from some prelimi
nary work of the Oregon that she viii
be quite worthy in speed of her Allan.
tic coast mates, while the Indians
steams so well in regular service as tc
give the impression that she could re.
peat the Is: 81 knots of her trial trip OF
surpass it.
Speed is not the prime factor in
these three coast-line battleships for,
since their purpose is to fight rather
than to run. the emphasis with them
has been laid upon armor and arma-
ment, rather than upon speed and
coal endurance. Yet neither of
these latter features has been neglect
ed, and the trial runs of the Massachu-
setts and her mate show that they
have all the speed we could ask. OF
course, with battery power and pro-
lection at the maximum, as in their
case. all the additional speed they can
ge; is valuable, since they are expect
ed to. cruise wherever they may be
needed, though primarily coast-line
ships.
In the case of the Iowa, Is knots is
the guarantee, as she is of little
different type, the seago:ng battle
ship. She has considerably greater
engine power, with about 1000 tons
of additional displacement, and nobody
will be surprized to find her beating
IL knots on her trial. Her battery is
not as heavy as that of the Massschu-
sets, as she carries four 12-inch guns
where the latter has four 13-inch, and
six 4-inch guns where the latter has
four 6.inch. The water-line belt, too.
il IA inches thick, against the Is
inches of the Massachusetts. But she |
has higher sustained speed and a
greater steaming radius, and she has
also a greater length of belt armor and
her heavy guns are carried higher.
The question now arises whether
the six new ships of the line should not
be well up to the standard of the
Massachusetts, in speed. The Kear-
sarge ard Kentucky are classed as
'seagoing, coast-line battle ships" on
Chief Constructor TICHBoURN's list,
as if uniting the Iowa and Indiana
classes. Yet we find that while the
indicated horse power of the Iowa is
designed to be 1000, that of the
Kearsarge and her mate is only TO-
200. 1t is true that the horse power
Of the Indiana class was fixed for
3 900, but they are of 1921 tons less
than the Kearsarge. |
Besides, the Indiana actually devel-
Dped 9,73S horse power, and the un-
official account of Saturdays trial
gives the Massachusetts, over 10000 |
Perhaps the Kearsarge and her mate
will, in like manner, surpass the horse
power for which they have been de-
signed. At all events il wonld he
worth while to keep up in the four
newest vessels the speed which the
The Indiana class has reached. 1t
mas thus far been said that Is knots
)nly would be exacted of them. II
nay be well 10 remember, however
hat, the premium system for extra
speed has now been abandoned, no
extra OUTLAWS by the contractors to
secure such speed.
For vessels designated to operate in
he same squadron, uniformity in the
various classes is now much priced.
Il we could feel that our nine first
lass battle ships could all be relied
lpon for trial speeds of from 15:5 to
10 knots at the lowest, the result
would be gratifying, not only in the
practice exercises of as many of them
Is might be contained in the same
leet, but in their operations in actual
campaigning against an enemy. The
'esults of the trials of the Indiana and
he Massachusetts, are not only salts
actory in themselves, but also shed
light on the problem OF what horse
'ower must be given to their success
RS in order to achieve about the same