Omaha daily bee., 1896-03-08

that collision blows are the most fatal IN
ships. The Katahdln IL built for that pur-
pose solely. She has a thick steel deck VI
armor capable OF resisting the attack Of or
dinary guns. Her PROV Is Of solid steel and
weighs fourteen tons OF itself. Her ram In
slender as well as sharp. The idea OF that
Is that she may draw away when she has
struck her antagonist a blow and not be car
ried down when the injured vessel goes
under. The Katahdin carries two small rapid
firing guns for use In case of attack by tor
pedo boats. Her speed Is about fifteen knots.
She will not hesitate to attack any vessel
that floats. She has more than seventy
water-tight compartments and numerous
pumps for use In case OF injury to herself in
collision. She draws only fifteen feet Of water
and thus Is in some measure independent OF
channels In harbor defense. Numerous de-
scriptions OF her have been printed recently.
IL Is only within a short time that II be-
came generally known that this country was
building a submarine torpedo boat
ana anu, that within a year the craft
submarine boat is az yet unnamed.
She is to run on the surface at the rate of
sixteen knots an hour; awash. that is, with
only the observation turret and smokestack
showing, at the rate of fifteen knots an hour;
submerged completely. at the rate Of eight
Knots an hour for six hours at a stretch.
When running under water storage batteries
are the propelling power. When running
awash or on the surface steam is used. When
about to dive the smokestack 10 dropped
inside the craft and all openings are made
tight. Compressed air furnishes breathing
atmosphere. Paddles that resemble in prlnci-
pie the feet OF a duck are the means by which
the diving is done. The boat can be made
to dive twenty-five feet in twenty seconds
when running on the surface and in ten
seconds when running awash. 1t carries
Ave torpedoes, which are to be discharged
against a hostile vessel. When II is not de-
sirabld to come up in the presence of an
enemy a camera lucida, which Is nothing
more than a pipe about eight inches in diam
eter with a lot OF mirrors In II, Is poked
up out OF the water and a view of the sur
roundings is obtained. The vessel has sat
ished every requirement Of the Navy de-
partment. II she is the success which it
is reasonable to think she will be, no man
cf-war in existence would dare to come into
a harbor she was known to be guarding.
Thus there are four types of vessels that
the United States have that no other nation
possesses. They all grow out Of the policy
that this country needs a navy chiefly for de-
Tense. For this purpose these vessels can
not be equalled; for offensive purposes they
are Of little value. That of itself tells a
story of the policy of this nation toward
others.
Much has been said about the possibilities
Of bombarding New York by a hostile fleet
lying eff Sandy Hook. This is practically
impossible. Owing to the difficulty of ele-
them could not be made to shoot more than
eight miles. That would be from eight to
ten miles from New York City. II the We
sUv'us, katahdin or the Holland boat were
in the harbor not one boat Of a hostile fleet
would dare to venture inside the harbor.