The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1898-04-12

1 VI AEUWnUGHk ~ xV2I0}> A1s0 HcS bSS-@ -
dered to CArtagena unfinished. she has
| Z displacement Of Ann tons. II = fese
| long Is feet beam and ~ feet IL inches
| draft, and has speed Of sixteen knoeA
| ahe has . steel belt Of In inches. In
| cfeased to lsk at the gun positions and
| four-inch steel deck. Her armament
| consists OF two l&s-inch fory-efGht ton
| guns. one forward and one ait, IN pro-
tectsd turrets; tvo u-inch guns. similarly
| disposed. enc keinch, twe.ve &S-inch. 1tx
| Quick-dre and twelve machine guns, on
| spcnsoned barbettes on the sides. The
battleship viteria. 100 tons. has been
used rs q training ship. and has speed
with fighting masts and some new srma-
ment. but cannot be regarded n formid.
able. The cruiser Emperador Carlos W.
on the other hand. - = powerful vessel
OF AIS tons. which can carry 100 tens OF
ceal and make twenty knots an hour. She
g $50 feet long. 81 feet beam and Is feet
draft. has q twelve-inch belt of Harvey
steel (ten inches at the gun posltions) and
1 six and one-ouarier inches OF deck plat
Ing. Her armament consists of two IL
+. inch guns. single. In fore and aft turrets.
eight s.5-inch Quick-fre guns. four So
inch. two 2.7-inch. four 22-inch and six
machine guns on the barbettes.
There are six Of the 7.ooo-ton armored
cruisers Of the A,mirante Oquendo type
that vessel, the Cardinal Cfsneros, the Ca
taluna, Infanta Maria Teresa, Princess de
Asturias and the vfxcaya. To these the
Cristohal Colon. Of $50 tons. must be
added. These 7.0o0-ton cruisers are nearly
alike. being abou, 3a7 feet long, 81 feet
beam and p feet draft. They have L.
inch armor belts (ten and one-half at gun
poxtionsl. two and three inches Of steel
deck Plating. twin screws. 400 tons Of
coal supply. and make twenty knots On
hour. Their ornaments differ in detail.
oRn vvo $A<aI ~r sA~~.u< -
the Almirante OQuendo, taken as sam
pie, consists OF two 11-inch and ten 65-
inch Hontoria guns, eight 2.3-inch and
and eight I4-inch Quick-fre and two
machine guns. They have each six
torpedo tubes. The Cristobal Colon is Of
slightly smaller dimensions and lighter
armament. and has but six inches of
armor plate. The first-rate fighting force
Of the Spanish navy. then. lies in this
one belated battleship and eight fne
armored cruisers.
We have to leave out our Ave formidable
il525-ton batt.eships - Kentucky, Kear-
sarge. Illinois. Alabama and Wisconsin,
which are either still on the stocks or but
newly launched, and not ready for service
We have. then. the four battleships.
Iowa. n.S40 tons; Indiana. 1o.2SS; Massa-
chusetts, 1925; Oregon. 10 ,2SS (now on the
Pacifc); the two armored cruisers, Brook
lvn. S.2l5 tons. and New York. $500 tons;
the protected cruisers Columbia, 1885, and
minneapolis, 1875; the second-class battle
ship Texas, 6.315 tons: the double-turret-
Cd monitor Puritan. $3.50. and the pro-
teeted cruiser Olympia. $50 tons (now
on the Asiatic station). Here are e.even
vessels aAainst the Spanish nine. but,
counting out the Texas and the Puritan,
which IN slow and rather a harhor-defense
than sea lighting vessel. and setting the
nine effective nrst-raters against the
Span'sh nine. we outclass them in every
thing but speed. The battleships have a
speed OF only sixteen or seventeen knots
an hour. but both classes OF cruisers are
fast. The Brooklyn and New York are
credited with twenty knots. tho Columbia
with 228 and the Minneapolis with twen-
ty-three. Our first-class battleships have
arrnor belts Of fourteen to eighteen inches
thick and three-inch deck plating but the
fast cruisers are not heavily armorad car
rying belts OF about four inches OF steel,
increasing to seven at the gun positions.
Tho armaments of the battleships arc
heavier than those of the Spanish cruis-
era Take that Of the Iowa az an exam
pie II consists OF four l2-inch. eight s.
inch. six finch (rapid ffre), twenty g.
FOUNDER, six 1-pounder and four machine
guns. The armament OF the armored
cruiser Brooklyn Is eight S-Inch. twelve
pinch trapid hre). twelve 6-pounder. four
1-pounder and four machine guns, and
| that of the New York Is substantially
equivalent
When 1t comes to those of second rate. or
less than ECO tons displacement (down to
2.0Oo) we are far ahead of Spain. She has
the Alfonso Kill, 5000 tons: the Lepanto
4.S2s; Reina Christina. $50: Aragon, s.342;
Castillo. 3.a42: Navarro, s,3fs: Alfonso XII.
1850. and Reina Mercedes. 3090 These are
unprotected. OF moderate speed, except
Alfonso XIII. and the Lepanto, which are
credited with 20 knots. Their size and ar
mament fairly correspond with the indi-
Gated tonnage. The heaviest guns Of the
Alfonso XIII. and the Lepanto are 7.s-inch
Hontorias. and those OF the Aragon typo
e.2-inch Hontorias or 5s-inch Krupps. Cor
responding to this list of second-claSs
cruising vessels we reckon the following
sixteen, OF 1900 tons or more: Chicago,
Loo tons; baltimore. Ana: Philadelphia.
4Ssl: Newark. A09s: San Francisco 409e;
Charleston. 800: Lancaster. $3.50: Cincin-
natl. 3.2f3. Raleigh. SAB; Atlanta. 5000:
Boston. 1900 (all protected cruisers): the
Monterey barbette turret low freeboard
monitor; the 1Cantonomoh. Amphitrite.
Monadnock and Terror. double-turret mon
ifors OF $3.50 tons each The monitors are
OF course armorcd and heavily armed. but
are not fast. and arc for defense rather
than for cruising
Spain r. reported to have bought the Giu-
seppe Garibaldi from Italy. and abe has for
some time been trying to buy the Carlo
Aioetto. IHeSe dfe Dotn nFxt-claa0 arm.
ored cruisers. the former Of $50 tons and
the latter $500; they both have six inches
Of Harvey steel In their armor belts. and
make 20 knots an hour. To offset this ac-
QUESTION. actual or possible. we have the
twAnew Brazilian cruisers. and are neso-
tiating for more. These cruisers which
have been renamed the New Orleans and
the Albany. are OF the secord-class each
having a displacement Of SEQ tona and a
speed of 20 knots.
But we have large number OF cruisers
and monitors. which In our classification
are called third-rate vessels ranging from
1.oe 70 3.o0o tons. and Spain has scarcely
anything corresponding to IL. She has
nothing between 1000 and s001 tons. while
the United States has the cruiser Hartford.
$50 tons: the harbor defense ram Ka-
tahdn. 2,i55: the unprotected cruisers De-
trols. Montgomery and Marbiehead. OF 2nse
tons each. and the single-turret monitors
Ajax, Canontcus. Mahopac Manhattan and
Wyandotte. OF e.ion. The monitors are slow,
but carry 'so ls-lnch guns each The
cruisers have a high-speed capacity and a
good armament OF IN e-fffcb psyra and