The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1898-06-01
MODERN SHIPS OF WAR.


Complicated Machinery Crowding in
Them from Stem to Stern.
While In one sense all warships nro
bsttleships, the craft which Tears that
technical mama Is steel structure usual
~ about $50 feet Ion q, 20 feet wide. and
4a feet deep. She weighs, with everything
on board, about II, 600 toas. Her engines
can propsl her at about 10 knots Yer
hour Her guns, about 40 In ali. vary IN
calibre from the huge 18-inoh. throwing
q projectile OF ll50 pounds. to the little
dattling or 20 inch, throwing q bullet
weig hing about three -tenths OF an ounce.
To protect her engines and Rpps. and TO
insure the buoyancy and stability OF the
ship she carries steel armor VARYING
from 20 1S inches In thickness, and,
finally. she 10 tho abiding place OF some
300 men.
Her chief characteristic Is the predomi-
nance OF guns and armor, al compared
with speed and coal carrying capacity.
In which respect she IL the opposite OF
the cruiser.
The cruiser preys on IN enemy's COM
merce and swoops down upon his coasts;
therefore she must have speed and endur-
ance-speed to enable her TO oatoh the
swiftest ocean greyhoundG and endur-
aDoe. which means c0al-carrying capacity
enough to let her steam around the
her bunkers. The Minneapolis. for example
can steam At % knots per hour, and
about half Of her entire weight ID that OF
propelling machinery and coal.
The battleship, on the othsr hand, 10
pure fighting machine. Her normal
enduranos IL about 1000 miles In the
Iowa one-half of the total weight 10 that
OF the ship herself. thres-tenths is guns
and armor, and only two-tsnths engines
and COAL The cruiser is not intended to
light any vessel more powerful than her.
self. She runs from . battleship. The
battleship lights anything sfioat.
Now, what sort Of struoture is this :
"A huge steel honSycomb-frnmes and
ribs and plates and braces In every d.
rectlon. Look at the intricable tangle
of them In the shattered Maine. No more
great expanse OF deck with the tiers Of
guns In diminishing perspective, as one
sees In the old wooden frigates and three
272 OF them In the Indiana. Little steel
boxes and big steel boxes-boxes inclos-
ing guns and boxes inclosing engines,
and box for the helm and labyrinthins
passages In and out Of and around them
whore daylight never gets; and endless
doors doors, d9ors-S54 wAter-tight door
and hatohss on the Indiana, every one of
which somebody must look after and see
closed when the chip goes into action.
Else why compaf tments II you cannot
kept them separate, so that II water comes
In from ram, thrust or torpedo or shot,
you Can conhne it to one or two cells and
90 prevent the ship from dllinR. There
are moro oomphrtu ents in some of the
smaller cruisers-the Cincinnati has lS7;
but cruisers run and battleships DO not.
In this assem- blage Of cells IL placed
jammed Is q better word-one Of the most
complicated aggregation OF mechanism
that have ever been brought together.
There are fiom hundred to q hundred
and fifty steam cylinders In the multifa-
rious engines; not so many as In the
oruiserA perhaps. The Columbia has 1874 !;
but the Colum bia keeps ont OF the way or
1S-inch shot. The battleship Iowa has 152
The New Ironsides the most powerful
fighting vessel In our navy, at the close
Of the war. had three.
What steam does not do electricity does
There are wires everywhere The dyna-
mos are running constantly, for the closed
steel boxes get no daylight and must be
lighted, while with equal oonstancy the
blowers draw out the foul and forco in
the fresh air. But on all Sides there is
machinery. Machines work the guns ;ma-
the helm; machines pr0pel and pump the
ship and feed the boilers and drive the
dres; machines hoist ammunition, boats,
and anchors: mAohiues find the position
of the enemy; machines TRANSMIT orders
from the captain TO every part of the
structure; machines make the light; ma
chimes condemns the drinking water and
cool It; maohiuea themselves propelled
by other machines on hoard, 90 out under
water to blow up the advsrsary-Inde-
poucout