The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-04-10

Following these two ships in Importance
is a group of six sister ships, two of which
are already very familiar TO the people of
New York. They are the Almirante
Oquendo the Cardinal Cisneros. the Gaia
lima, the Princesa de Asturias, the In
fanta Maria Teresa and the Niscaya. The
Maria Teresa represented Spain at the
Grant memorial services lest year. and
lay for some time off Riverside Drive in
the Hudson river, and the Vizcaya visited
this port Immediately after the Maine dis
aster.
Each of these ships is of 1000 tons dis
placement and 20 knots speed. They are
provided with a belt of Pinch steel. a
the top of which is a 3-inch protective
deck. AZ each end of this belt an armor-
ed tube rises to connect with a barbette
of 10l5-inch steel. and in each barhette is
an 1-inch armor piercing gun. Between
these guns is battery of 5.5-inch quick
firing guns.
Against these speedy ships We could OPP
pose two powerful first class battle ships.
the Indiana and Massachusetts, the ar
mored cruiser Texas and four powerful
monitors, the Puritan, Terror, Amphitrte
and Mtautonomoh In point of guns and
armor the advantage would be vastly in
favor of the battle ships and monitors
though they would be offset by the speed,
hardness and ability to use the ram of
uuei
there could be little doubt of the issue In
heavy guns the seven American ships have
eight 13-lnch, ten Pinch, twelve 10-inch
and sixteen S7inch, a total of forty-six ar
NOR piercing guns against total of twelve
11-inch guns on the SIX Spanish ships. This
superiority, however, would be greatly Off
set by the murderous discharge of the sec.
ondary rapid-fire batteries of the Spaniards
which would comprise sixty 512-inch guns
AGAINST W or1 ,a1y. ,.,r,Trr
with fourteen 6-inch and eight finch guns
The result of such a duel would be that
the unarmored ends of the central second
airy batteries of the Indiana, Massachu-
sets and Texas would be blown away
while the armor belts of the Spanish ships
would be pierced and the ships either sunk
of disabled
Thus far, however, we have taken no
note of two other novel and hitherto I'M
tried elements, which would at least fig
ure prominently in such a battle If they
did not prove to be It's deciding factor We
refer TO the armored ram Katahdin, of the
American fleet, and the deadly torpedo
boat destroyers of the enemy. That Kat
ahdin is a vessel of 2,150 tons and Is knots
speed, whose sole duty is to ram. For
this purpose she presents but little OF her
bulk above water. and that which is WIS.,
ible Is curved and armored plated with a
view to DETECTING the shells of the enemy
| She is quick In turning, and 1t would be
an extremely difficult task for a warship
to elude or sink her before the fatal blow
was struck
The six destroyers, Audaz Osado. Ter
ror, Furor, Pluton and Proserpina are the
fastest and most formidable of their class.
They have a speed of 80 knots, and carry
two discharge tubes for the deadly White
head torpedo. AS they are unarmored
they can be easily sunk by gun fire, and
for this reason they will rarely make an
unsupported attack in the OPEN In line
OF battle, however, they will be certain to
play very important part. Sheltering
themselves behind the advancing ships,
which they can easily do on account of
their small size, they will rush out at the
opportune moment and fire their torpedoes
at the enemy. So greatly is the torpedo
dreaded that the hostile fire is certain to
be drawn away from the battle ships and
concentrated on the destroyers in the eff
fort to sink them. This diversion will be
OF great value to the fleet possessing a tor
| pedo fotilla, and many easily turn the tide
of battle at a critical moment. We have
nothing of the size and speed of these 400
ton destroyers which we could send
| against them, unless it were the Porter
and Dupont, of % knots. Our torpedo
boats would be too small to accompany a
fleet on the high seas.
AHe posseSslon OF a numerous torpedo
hotilla by Spain goes far to restore the
balance which, on account of our bat
tleships and monitors, would be strongly
In our favor in a pitched battle, and IL
Is the knowledge of this fact which rem
ders the sailing of a fotilla for the
| West Indies a matter of the gravest con-
Germ to this country. The ffotilla con-
ststS of six torpedo boat destroyers and
six torpedo boats conveyed by couple
| stripped of their guns and torpedoes
and they are being nu-sed across the
water by the larger boats, which are
ready to give them all necessary assist
ance. The flotilla in its present condi-
ton is as helpless as a brood of duck
lings, and it is no doubt the knowledge
OF this fact that has led Spain to hurry
them across the water In time of peace
1t will be noticed that in the foregoing
comparison we have taken no note of
protected cruisers and gun boats, for
| the reason that these have theoreti-
! caDy no proper place in a battle be-
tween armorclads. OF protected cruisers
Spain has two of 5000 tons, three of 5000
tons, and three of 1000 TONS besides
some older wood and iron ships of less
value. Against these we could at present
oppose on the Atlantic two protected cruis-
ers of 1850 tons, one of 1000 tons, one of
| $500 tons, one of $500 tons, three of / $50
| tons and sixteen of from ], 900 to 1,500 tons.
In torpedo gun boats and craft Of I'M
der 1000 tons displacement Spain is
stronger. She has fourteen torpedo gun
boats of from 500 to $50 tons dssplace-
ment and 10 to 221a knots speed and over
ninety small gun boats many of which,
| however, are obsolete We have three
gun boats of less than 1000 tons dis
| placement, among which is included the
! Vesuvius, with its pneumatic guns for the
! discharge of dynamite shells.
Should the war be prolonged our navy
would rapidly increase in strength. The
| Oregon would reach eastern waters and
| in a few months we should have the
| powerful battle ships Kentucky and
Kearsarge in commission, TO be followed
later Nv that celebrated trio, the Ala
| bama Wisconsin and Illinois. Our tor
pedo feet would grow apace, and it
\ would not be long before we should have
an overwhelming superiority upon the
/ seas.
THE CAT ABOUT TOWN.
/ Observations on the Habits of Lon