Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1898-04-02

C.O
main battery; no armor.
The Newark, 1890, and San Fran.
cisco, 1889, 1876 knots, twelve 6-inch
guns in main battery; no armor.
The Baltimore, 1888, 1900 tons, 20
knots, four 8-inch and six 6-inch guns
in main battery no armor.
The Charleston 1888, 4,040 tons,
1872 knots, two 8.inch and four 6-inch
guns in main battery; no armor.
The Boston, 1894, 3,1S9 tons, Is
knots speed, two S-inch and six 6'inch
guns in main battery; no armor.
The Marblehead, 1892; of 1000 tons,
II knots, nine 5-inch guns in main
battery no armor.
The Vesuvius, $50 tons, 22.5 knots
speed, torpedo tubes and two quick
fire guns.
There are, besides, thirteen torpedo
boats of all classes from II to 27.5
knots, and with from one to three
tubes and from one to forty-four guns
of the quick.fire type, one ram of 17.5
knots speed, suitable for harbor de-
fence.
In the above list the steam yachts
Hermione, Sovereign, Columbia, Almy
and Alicia, together with the tugboats
P. H. Wise, Storm King, Argus, Ed
ward Luckenbach, Walter A. Lucken-
bach, Peoll and Winthrop, purchased
yesterda y, are not taken into account.
The yachts vary in size from l45 feet
to 1S0 over all, and in burden from
302 to $50 tons. The tugboats were
among the most powful and speedy of
those engaged on the East Coast.
In addition to the above there are
the recent purchases, the two cruisers,
Amazonas and her sister ship, the
Breu, to be named the New Orleans
and Albany, respectively, and two tor
pedo boats, torpedo boat destroyer
and the yacht MayAower.
The Amazonas and her sister ship
are of $500 tons displacement and u
500 indicated horsepower. They are
$50 feet long, have 43 feet 9 inches
beam and have maximum draft of
16 feet 10 inches. They are driven
by two propellers, have 44-inches OF
armor over their gun positions, and
protected decks three inches in thick
ness. Their armament consists of six
6-inch quick firing guns, four 4:7-inch
guns, ten 6-pounders, four l-pounders
and four small rapid-fre guns. Both
vessels are estimated to steam 20 knots
per hour, have three torpedo tubes and
carry 700 tons of coal as their normal
supply. ,.-.-. - ....
The United States, therefore, could
send to sea a fighting fleet composed
of four 6rst-class battleships, two
second class battleships, four armored
cruisers, ~ unprotected cruisers, two
torpedo boat catchers and Is torpedo
boats. With the exception of the tor
pedo boats, there are only seven of
these vessels capable of making 20
knots, and two of them are merely
commerce destroyers, whose province
it is to run away from armored cruis-
ers or battleships.
The United States also has six effect
i've, heavily armored, but slow, harbor
defense ironclads; IA single turret
monitors, most of which are unfit for
any service two cruisers (Atlanta
and Chicago), so torn to pieces in pro-
cess of rebuilding as to be unfit for SER
vice for long time, 16 small cruisers
and gunboats, one despatch vessel, 16
old wooden and iron frigates and
sloops, whose usefulness would be very
limited, and 19 hulks and receiving
ships. There are also eight tugs and
one transport.
Spain has, in addition to the power
full fighting fleet described above, two
battleships (repairing), two coast de-
fence monitors, Is cruisers of steel
iron and wood armed with modern
guns; 81 small guuboats of steel, iron
and woad, with all patterns of arma-
ment; six transports, two surveying
vessels, seven tugs, ten steam and sail
ing vessels in the training service and
six unserviceahle hulks.
The personnel of the United States
navy is composed of 13,46O officers
and men of all rating, while that of
Spain is 24,700.
A comparison of the fighting squad.
rons of both nations (Which is really)
the true naval strength,) will show
that while the United States possesses
more battleships and harbor defence
monitors, Spain far exceeds us in
the number of armored cruisers and
torpedo boats. The Spanish vessels
have in addition the great advantage
of uniformity of speed of high rate,
making it possible for them to shun
action with the battleships, and to
choose such position as they might
desire in dealing with our vessels ex-
cept the Brooklyn, New York, Min
neapolis, Columbia and Olympia.
The fact that the unfinished condi-
ton of our coast defence would neces-
state the keeping of a large per GEN.
tum of our heaviest ships in home
ports, would also be Of advantage to
them, for with their superior speed and
the fact that we have not nearly sutfi-
cient ships to guard a third of our
unprotected ports, would permit OF
their attacking unprotected points al