The morning times., 1897-01-03
SOME SHIPS THAT CAN FIGHT
Vessels of the American and Spanish NavieS Compared
The D.ns Are in Pretty Good Shape
to Make Trouble. mn;

fn Spain and her navy. In 55S Spain pre-
nared for battle the largest sea fleet ever
heard of. 1t consisted of l30 vessels of a
total OF 81, S6S Tons, mounting 2,43l guns
and carving 80, 900 men. Wind, weather,
bad seamanship and the English fleet CT
fectively destroyed this famous Spanish
armada. What little prestige was left
was given death blow at Trafalgar ia
1905.
A few wears ago a dispute concerning
the ownership of the Caroline Islands
brought out, among other things, the fact
that Spain really possessed no force afloaO
worth spea king OF, and it was equally ap-
parent that she was in need OF one If she
hoped longer to preserve her autonomy.
Accordingly a naval policy was inaugu-
rated, the essential features being, first,
the protection OF the home coast, and, sec
ond, the protection OF her colonial pos
sessions. The home coast is 1890 miles
long, bald, mountainous and difficult Of
attack.
The principal ports are Ferrol, Carta-
gena, CadiZ and Barcelona, all naval depOts
and all more or less protected by fortif1-
cations but not powerfully. The colonies
are the Canary Islands and Fernando Poln
the Eastern Atlantic Ocean; the Palawan,
Philippine. Ladrone and Caroline Islands
in the Pacific ocean, and Cuba and Porto
Rico in the West Indies
ships She Needed.
In order to protect the flag and TO demon
strate to the world her ability TO do So, SPAN
published few years back thcfollowingde-
cree OF thC force she considered necessary TO
be kept on duty at home and abroad; For
the peninsula and the adjacent islands, IL
ships, 20 gunbaats and GO torpedo boats If
various sizes To man this home fleetit was
estimated that 7,7C0 sailors were needed
and 2, 800 marines.
For the South American station one
cruiser was thought to be sufficient, with
lis men and 23 marines. For the west
coast Of Africa cruiser, 2 eunboats and
shout 200 men, and forthe eprotectionofthe
Caroline and the adjacent islands : cruisers,
IL gunboats, : torpedo boats and 5000
sailors and marines. For Cuba and Porto
Rico ten years ago il was suspected 10y
Spain that to safeguard her interests 4
cruisers, "a gunbuats and torpedo boats,
with total omplement Of /, 400 men and
200 marines, would be ample.
1t cannot be denied that III rclabilitating
her navy along the line pi opposed Spain has
succeeded in securing some ships that are
as Q, od as are To Toe found aflnat any where
else in tie woIld. The one battleship She
possesses is the wclI HI own P,layo, OF TO-
600 tons, huilt ten years ago in France.
The ship is formidable both in attack and
in defense For the former she has a pow
erful ram and battery consisting Of two
25-inch modern high power rifles, mount
ed in barbettes-one forward the other aft
OF nineteen inches of steel; two 11-imh
rifles in armored sponS0ns; one 6-inch rifle
IN her bows, and welEe 4.7-inch rapid-fire
guns in broadside. Besides these guns Of
the main battery there are dozen smaller,
constituting her secondary battery, and
there are ixtorpedo
The Pelayo.
The defensive powers OF the Pelayo are
also excellent. She is provided with a
steel water-line belt, varying in thickness
from eighteen inches in the wake Of the
machinery and boilers tapering in thick
ness to twelve inches AZ he bow and stern.
Her speed today is about sixteen knots.
During the past year this battlcship has
had her boilers generally repaired and re-
tubed at the Ferrol navy yard, and is ready
for active service The condition of the
vessel is excellent, the only defects being
due to faulty dCsignin certain particulars
viz, insufficient protection for the four Z
inch guns, lack of Subdivision Of the space
over the protective deck, and the small coal
supply, only 600 tons.
Battleships are built with the object in
view OF fighting hostile battlcShips on the
high seas, and, therefore. the highest tai
ents of constructors and designers are
called into requisition TO make the type
as nearly inlpregnablc as possible. But, as
tie many different classes of battleshipS
show, there is a wide divergence Of opin-
ion as To the best way to insure this su-
periority. Size Of gun, cmplacemcnt, armur
distribution. speed and coal supply are
some Of the points in controversy, and until
battleshp meets battleship to fight TO the
death the questions at issue viii doubtless
never be satisfactorily answered.
Our Own Battleships.
In the United States navy we have a type
Of battleSlip in the Indiana class of about
II 900 tons displacement, analogous TO the
Pelayo Notably heavy are the batteries
emplaced on these new firSt-class battleShips
Of ours. Tie oregon, the Indiana and the
Massachusetts carry each the tremendous
armament of four l3-inch, eight S-inch and
four G-inch guns.
IN the way OfprOteCtiOn the thiCkest side
armor is to be found in partial belt pro-
tecting only the vitals OF the ships This
armor, Of HarvcyiZed nickel steel. is / 8
inches thick. The big guns, more than a
foot in diameter OF bore, are mounted in
side OF 17-inch steel turrets, and the g.
inch battery is protected 10y 8 inches OF
the same metal The speed of our vessels
is about ] 3 2 knots and the normal coal
supply only about 400 tons This coal
supply, though small, is sufficient for per
forming work in our offshore waters.
1t would by no means, however, enable
our battleships tosteam across the Atlantic
But 1900 miles can be steamed over by
battleships by filling them up with an extra
supply of coal, and this contingency is pro-
rided for in theinterior arrangements ofthe
vessels
Another splendid ship in the SpaniShnavy
is the armored cruiser Empcrador Carlos V.
IneNternal appearance she resembles closely
our armored ship the New York, of the same
type. though the spaniard is trifle larger,
being 9,100 tons to the New York's ; 800.
The Carlos Y. carries two / inch gunsin lar.
bettcs ten inches thick; eight 8 i pinch
rapid fire guns, and four finch rapid firers,
together with powerful secondary battery
of rapid fire and 3-pounder guns. Her
protective deck is six inches thick, and her
sides are partially plated with two-inch
steel. The coal supply of this ship--nearly
1,S00 tons-is worth noticing. 1t should
enable her to make easily 10, 900 miles at a
ten-knOt gait. The Carlos v is not vet