The sun., 1896-10-24
VIEW Bnr41sH oRUrsEns.
I-prsveusuts On the Niobo aad Taisot
Types-Conparisons with Our ships.


Tv,s.-Co.p.risons with Our ships.
The Diadem, whose launch has bccn briefly
noted in TIE cable despatches, is one OF four
vessels commonly known as the Niooe or An
dromeda type, from which Great Britain
hopes for good results. They are protected
cruisers of II, 900 tons, or just ope-half more
than the Columbia and Minneapolis,our largest
protected cruisers.
But the Admiralty has recently ordered
second quartet of improved Siobes, namely
the Argonaut, of J. & G. Thomson, Clydebank;
the Ariadne, of the Fairfield Company, Glas-
gov; the Amphitritc. of the Naval Construction
and Armaments Company, Barrow-in-Furness;
the Spartiate, to be built at some Government
dockynrd, with Maudslay Sons Fields
engines. They are to have a length Of ass
feet, q beam Of 90, and q moulded depth of
3gsi, with a Displacement OF ll.ooo tons st
25a feet drAught
These ships are to have q forecastle and
boat deck. but no poop. They Will carry Six
teen 6-inch rapid-hre guns, twelve heavy l2-
Founders. and two lighter ones, three 3-pound-
ers, eight Maxims and three torpedo tubes. OF
which the one at the stern Is above water. The
entire armament, II will be observed, consists
OF rapid-nre guns The protective deck Is
four inches thick at the maximum. and has a
Tho chief difference between the Diadem,
pears es to be IN the d maeRinePy chi The latter are to
have two sets of four-cylinder, tripe-expsn-
engines a two of The & inches nnd Wo
"a inches each with u common 4s-inch stroke
In order to economize space. instead OF having
the high pressure cylinder forward, the int"r-
mediate next, and the two low-pressure art. II
10 proposed 70 put low.pressure cylinder az
iutions Instead Of Ito. as in the, Diadem; and
$4,000 ineicated horse rower VIII be produced
instead OF l6.50o. although the speed is only
expected to be increased from 2oi4 to "9s.
knots. The Beleville boilers will also be
modified little, with a view to impr owed cir
culatlon and To economy in use.
1t does not appear that for SO great dis
placement these vessels have either remarka-
BILE speed or remarkable gun power. Compari-
sons are not accurate unless the conditions un-
der which forced drauGht is used are taken inio
our Olympia, of only $50 tons displ acement,
developed on trial 1913 indicated horse
pSTe and reached che ,o2s nnot. s ha borss ass
power and 22. knots. and that the Minneapo-
lis. also Of 1913 tons. showed "o.Se2 horse
With So many rapid fire guns the weight of
metal which the new British cruisers can throw
within a gwen time Is undou bted.y great. yet
6-inch calibre whereas our Olympia carries
four s-inch guns besides ten 5-inch.
1t may be added that three new cruisers of
what Is X own as the improved Talbot type
are according TO a recent decision OF {. Ad-
mralty. to be built at Portsmou h. Devonport.
or 40 feet longer than the Talbot 81 feet in
breadth. and OF about 5000 tons in displace-
ment. The aim will be to give them greater
ing capacity than the Talbot has. They will
have the B-lleville boilers. and are TO de. .elop
10000 horse power, with 20 knots speed. Here
also there is a falling short of what We get with
the Olympia. OF rather less displacement. The
new vessels, however, are. according TO the
to % have wood hs and =, COP S
without docking longer than ours.