The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1898-08-10
CRUISER VESUVIUS.
HER VALUE HAS BEEN coNcLusvELY
PROVEN.


Naval Omosrs who Formerly Doubted Nov
Her Strongest Advecatss-Proos Of Hs
: Efhciency Given a santiago-shs Ma,
Throw 0uncoston ~ Havanas Morrs.
| Some Of those who have not believed
In the valueo Of the dynamite cruiser We.
suvius as an instrument Of naval war.
fare are now among her strogest ad.
vocates since her wonderfully effective
work against tho defsnses Of Santiago
Admiral Sampson reported that the
ship had thrown charges OF guncotton
ashore with the most satisfactory re-
suits and that her value In operating
against Notifications has been Of the
highest character.
For years. ever since the completion
Of the vessel, in fact. the navy has been
divided as to her usefulness in war
time, and until some practical expert
ments could b made 1t was argued
that H. would be foolish to build more
ships Of her type. She was one Of the
early ships completed for the navy and
the fastest in the service for many
years. but she was always regarded as
a failure except by few officers who
had tested her and had the amplest
confidence that she would do every
thing she was designed for.
Her one great defect is her inability
to turn rapidly, but this Is owing to
her extreme length and narrow beam.
It 10 difficult for her to turn In a radius
Of less than 400 yards. although pro-
vided with twin screws. Naval officers
have pointed out that another defect
10 the fact that her three tubes are
stationary and can DO trained only by
the rudder. To train them therefore
is sometimes difncult matter In heavy
seaway. Down off the Cuban coast.
though. tho reports show that she has
had apparently little trouble In hitting
her targets and backing out Of range in
short order.
No opportunity has been afforded
until the present. her advocates say.
to prove the real efficiency of the ship.
and the trials that have taken place
heretofore were OF such a nature as to
prove nothing except the accuracy Of
her fire. Several years ago an extend
ed series Of trials was conducted OF
Port Royal and elaborate reports were
made to the navy department, and tho
conclusion reached was that the Vesu-
vius was not OF much value to tho
navy. Now all officers are willing to
admit that she Is wonderfully eff
6cient boat for certain classes OF work
and that her tubes have done more de-
struction to the outer harbor OF San
tiago than bombardment by the en-
tire fleet could have accomplished In .
day. While 1t Is an expensive process
Of inflictlng destruction, the experts
agree that 1t really costs far less than !
firing many broadsides Of heavy shells
against Notifications.
The tubes Of the Vesuvius are Of Is
inches calibre. but she has never yet
fred the full charge they are capable Of
throwing. Sub-calibre charges Of S, 8,
and 1O-inch projectiles. containing
from 200 to 500 pounds of guncotto1,
we're used in the attacks on Santiago's
1efenses, and 1t Is not regarded Dis
probable that higher charges will be
hereafter used by the ship.
Captain Sigsbee is one Of the strong
'st believers in the Vesuvlus in tho
lavy next to Lieutenant-C Commander
'eaton Schroeder, who commanded her
or several years. One Of the first
messages sent to the navy department
Ifter the Maine disaster was request
hat the Vesuvius be at once ordered to
Havana. II there was to be any trou-
lie with Spain 1t was thought the We
uvius could do more effective work
y tossing several projectlles of gum
otton into the city than larger YES
els could in bombMdment. The We
uvius was at once prepared for SER
ice.