The times., 1898-07-26
THE PELAYo.
Last of All Her Fighting Ships Left
tn Suafu


to Spain,
At the time of the outbreak of tho
present war with Spain mention was
made of the formidable battleship Pc
layo, but more acquaintance with the
craft and the history of her late cruise
to Suez and back has removed all feel
ings of anxiety. and IT is safe to say
that not a captain of one of our bat
tleshps would hesitate TO attack the old
vessel.
In the Pelayo-her only battleship-
Spain possesses a fighting ship which,
in theory, at least, is formidable enough
to call for all the mettle of our sailors
and for the full power of our big ships
If the Spaniards send her TO this shore.
We say lin theory because there are
several reasons why the Pelayo cannot
be accepted offhand as being as effect
i've as great ship of her type, armor
and armament naturally should be.
The qualifications as to her power
and usefulness against our battleships
are her age, the question as to the real
strength of her armor apart from its
thickness, which is ample) her real speed
in service conditions and the bearing OF
her old-fashioned interior arrangements
for the handling of the modern guns with
which she is armed.
In appearance she is a fine vessel Her
INES express enormous power and the
number OF her turrets and soonsons
make her look like a dangerous craft 10
meet. If she is as able as the Spaniards
believe she overmatches the American
battleship Texas in all points She has
more armor than the Iowa and is faster
than the Indiana
The disposition of her guns, especially
In her main battery. is radically wrong
and cannot be corrected. II was based
on the French principle, hastily adopted
by that hasty nation of increasing the
safety of each heavy gun by putting it
INTO turret or sponsor of its own. That
idea was good enough as far as reducing
the danger of injury in action was con-
cerned, but 1t had the serious disadvan-
tage of reducing the offensive power OF
the battery. The Pelayo cannot concen-
trate her fire like any of our battleships,
nor can she cover the same arc OF fire
without excessive maneuvring.
She carries four heavy guns in single
barbettes one forward, one aft, and the
others sponsoned in each broadside When
she was built, away back in 1887, almost
long enough 10 deserve the title anti
quated. she was armed with the big
Spanish-built Hontosia rifles of u-inch
ana Finch caliber. The Hontoria tyne
Is that of the guns carried on Ceryera's
squadron, and the Spaniards say that
they are the best guns of their size in
the world Their quality never has been
demonstrated as has that of the Water
Yiict. Bethlehem, Midvale, Armstrong ar
Krupp guns.
"hat looks like a confession on the
part or the Spaniards that they NAV
nave been mistaken about the Hontoria
guns is the fact that since they have
been preparing the Pelayo for real SER
vice they have dismounted the big guns
and put in their places new French
Canet guns of only 9-inch caliber. II is
sald that they are far superior TO the
larger cannon and that they can do more
damage. They have a test record OF hay-
ing pierced thirty inches OF steel at rbe
muzzle- This is a remarkable achieve.
ment. and the installation of these guns
makes the Pelayo more formidable in her
main battery than she was with the
heavier armament. The Spaniards have
improved her also in the direction of in
cFeasing her battery of quick-fire guns
greatly. Judging from her design She
should be able to carry particuIarIy
large battery of this kind. so thar in
armament she may be better prepared 10
nght modern battleships than she is in
protection.
Her protection was ample-in 1887 Bur
this Is a time of lightning changes in
naval design, and it has come to pass
lhdt IO inches of nickel steel is better
TO-DAY than 10 inches OF even the hest
OF ordinary modern steer. All the big
guns carried on the American ships were
made Tor the purpose of smashing nickel
steel armor from 16 TO Is inches thick
Would the Pelayo, with her old-fash
ioned armor of III inches. he able to
Withstand the impact of the American
i3-inch armor- piercing. chilled steal
shell? Against guns smaller than "a. -
or inches the armor may be effective.
Tor 1t is thoroughly put on, betting her
completely. Her bulkheads are protected
with l5.7 inches. and her parbettes are
faced with Ill inches.
She has been fitted with modern i'm,
proyements wherever il was possible. OF
course. the original derecJs of design
could not be corrected. anc nothing could
overcome the fact that she was built In
1887 when naval needs were not consid
cred TO be exactly the same as they are |
considered today. But in other respects
she is ''up 10 date Her boilers and ma
chinery are new and good, and she should |
be able TO make her full estimated speed |
of sixteen knots an hour. Her coal ca |
pacity is fair, and she has a steaming
radius as large as that of most of our |
battleships.