Omaha daily bee., 1898-10-02
PRIDE OF AMERICAN NAVY
New Battleship Illinois Expected to Eclipse
All Its Companions.
LARGER THAN ANY NOW IN THE SERVICE
Construction Department Profits by
Experience with Others Ships
Launching of the Monster
to Occur Tuesday.

WASHINGTON, Oct. Next Tuesday at
II o'clock there will glide off the ways
at the yards of the Newport Shipbuilding
company the biggest, most powerful and
probably the most general effective battle
ship in the United States navy. This will
be the Illinois, which is expected by the
naval designers TO be worthy god-child OF
the state whose name 1t bears. Larger by
thousand tons than the Oregon; larger than
the Iowa, now the biggest battleship in the
service, the Illinois is still so designed that it
will be able to enter any harbor open to the
smaller battleships, while in the matter of
speed it will rank with any of them. The
most striking difference between the Illinois
and the battleships now in service Is the
high freeboard OF the former, enabling 1t
to fight it's guns from their great elevation
above the water in seas so heavy that the
guns of the lower vessel would be sub
merged and useless. Splendid seagoing
powers are also expected to result from
this increased freeboard, by which is
meant the height Of the hull above the
water line.
Some of the details of the great ship,
which vary in many important particulars
from the existing types, are given in the
following description prepared by Chief
the Illinois are as follows: Length on load
water line, 36S feet; beam, eX-
treme, seventy-two feet two and
displacement of 1885 tons, twenty
three feet six inches; maximum displace-
ment, all ammunition and stores on board,
1926 tons; maximum indicated horse
power (estimated), 10000 probable speed,
sixteen and one-half knots normal coal sup
ply, 800 tons; coal supply, loose storage,
1900 tons; full bunker capacity, 1,40O to
| 1900 tons. Complement Of officers, forty;
seamen, marines, etc, 449.
Battery Power.
The main battery will consist OF four
! thirteen-inch eech-loading rifles in Hich-
| born balanced turrets, oval in shape and
placed in the center line Of the vessel, and
fourteen sx-inch rapid-fire guns. The
/ secondary battery will consist OF sixteen
| six FOUNDER rapid-fre guns, four one
! FOUNDER rapid-fire guns, two colt guns and
two field guns. 1t will carry four torpedo
tubes. The thiTteen-inch guns have an arc
OF fire OF 1875 degrees on each side OF the
center line, and the siX-inch an arc of 90
| degrees on the broadside, with the advan-
! tage OF those on the upper deck of a direct
| fire ahead and astern. Any injury TO oI
near either of these six-inch guns will be
confined to It's own compartment, as a one
half inch splinter bulkhead separates each
OF these guns from its neighbor.
The armor belt, which extends from the
stem to abaft the after turret. is to be
sixteen and one half inches thick at the tor
and nine and one-half inches thick at the
bottom except at the forward end, where Il
will be tapered to four inches at the stem
This belt armor will extend from four fee
below the normal load line to three anC
one half feet above it and will maintain tht
full thickness amidships between the tur,
rets and for the distance occupied by tn,
engines and boilers. Diagonal armol