The sun. (Wilmington, Del.) 1897-19??, 1898-05-01

will be invaluable in night attacks.
Her shell is of 3-l6-inch steel. She is
lT5 feet long, III feet beam, and draws
3! feet Of water.
In addition to small armament of
one-pounder rapid-fire guns she carries
three torpedo tubes, two broadside and
one stern. Four officers and sixteen
men make up her crew.
Then there is the Dupont, sister boat
to the Porter, inferior to her only in her
coal capacity. The Porter has a bunker
capacity OF fifty-six tons, the Dupont
iorty-six.
The normal coal supply carried by
these boats is nine tons The Gushing,
the first of our modern torpedo boats, is
with the blockading squadron. She is
1878 feet long, has an extreme breadth
of 1905 feet, depth of hold 9.2l feet, and
draught AS feet. With two separate
quadrrp!e expansion engines she attains
speed of twenty-three knots.
Her bunker capacity is thirty-seven
tons, and her radius of action 5000 miles
at ten knots an hour.
Another old boat with the squadron is
the Ericsson, the smallest torpedo boat
now in our service. Her length is only
l20 feet, but has speed of twcnty-four
knots.
The other torpedo boats off Havana
are the Foote and Winslow, two of the
three boats authorized by the act of July
26, 1894.
They each have a speed OF "a. knots,
although Spanish torpedo catchers would
find them speedier than this should they
attempt to catch them. The bunker
capacity of each is fifty tons Their
1000 horse power engines run with little
vibration.
The Rodgers, the third boat authorized
under the act, put out to sea week ago
from the Norfolk Navy Yard to test her
guns, and on Thursday left for Key
West to join the blockading squadron.
The new lO0-foot torpedo boats Gwin
and Talbot, built by the Herresshoffs,
are 20-knot boats. They have been
finished only few weeks. Each has
two torpedo tubes and several l-pounder
guns. The Talbot has made 2l.l knots
and the Gwin 2O.9 These little craft
will probably not be sent::Sc nth, but will
prove great obstacles to any Spani !
cruisers attempting to reach New York
harbor through Long Island Sound
The Morris, the first OF three boats of
the 22I-knot class, was accepted last
week after her trial at Bristol. She is
l47 feet long, and has a bunker capacity
of % tons. On her trial trip, on April
Is, she attained a seed of n knots
She differs from her predecessors in
having an OyerhaEging, outward curving
bow like steam yacht, instead of the
vertical stem. The Stietto. the navy's
first torpedo boat, is an IS! foot boat,
built in 1888 by the Herreshoffs, and
rated at 1872 knots. She is attached to
the Newport torpedo station as a practice
boat.
Abroad we have purchased two tor
pcdo boats-the Somers and the Manley.
The latter, a Yarrow l7-knot G2-foot
boat, is already here, having been
brought from England on board a freight
ship.
She will probably not he equipped
with torpedo tubes, but will be used as a
despatch boat. The Somers is still in
English waters.
The dynamite gunboat .Vesuvius,
equipped with three l5-inch pneumatic
guns, is not a torpedo boat, but she
r.lnks with the torpedo boat in effective
ness.
The Holland submarine topedo boat
will probably be added to the navy, as
the trials have demonstrated her value.
The Holland boat, even though she
never fires shot, will be IL terror to
hostile ships.
To the list OF torpedo boats ready for
service should be added the new con-
verted yacht Mayhower,. the first tor
pedo boat destroyer in the navy. She
has speed of seventeen knots, and car
rles torpedo tubes and rapid-fre guns.
She is now in Southern waters.
Eight new torpedo boats and three tor
pedo-boat destroyers will be put in COM
mission within the next few months.
The destroyer Bailey, now building at
Morris Heights, is expected to develop
speed of 80 knots. She will be 2O5 feet
long, 10 feet wide, and have a depth of
hold OF IS feet 5 inches.
Her engines are to develop 5000 horse
power, more than half that of the I'm.
bria. Her armament will consist of four
6-pounder rapid-firc guns and three tor
pedo tubes.
The Goldsborough is building at Port
land, Ore, and the Stringham at Will
mington, Del. The latter will be the big
gest torpedo-boat destroyer in the navy,
having a length OF 225 feet. The Colds
borough will have length of l9l feet
inches.
The Rowan, a 26-knot torpedo boat,
ITO! feet long, has just been launched at
Seattle. Other torpedo boats building
are the 2O-knot, lOO-foot Mackenzie, at
Philadelphia, yearly finished; the 20
knot, lO6!-foot Mckee, at Baltimore, to
be turned over to the Government with
in a few days; the 224-knot, l4G-foot
Knox, at Portland, Ore; the 22I-knot,
l4G-foot Davis, at Portland. Ore; the 30.
knot, 2lO-foot Farragut, at San Fran
cisco; the 3O!-knot, 147-foot Craven, at
Bath, Me-, and the 30I knot, l4S-foot
Dahlgren, at Bath, Me.
Added to these is the submarine boat
Plunger, to be sent on her trial trip
within day or two.