Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-04-10
The Two Navies Compared.
On. Y. Times.)

In case OF a naval war between Spain
and the United States, the effective fight
ing in direct battle on the sea must take
place between the iirst-rate armored
vessels Of two Powers, and il will pc
well TO see how they compare in this Kind
of eouipment. The modern battleship is
mainly a fighting machine, Intended 10
carry heavy defensive and offensive arm
ament and TO accommodate a large com
plement 70 work machinery and guns
with speed for manoeuvring and not FOR
chasing or running away. Some of the
cruisers are quite as large q 8 some first
rate battleships and as heavily armed
and armored but they are built more for
speed.
Spain has but one effective battleship,
tn. Pelayo, which has been fitting with
new boilers and undergoing some change
of armament at Toulon. and has been or
dered 70 Cartagena unfinished. She has a
displacement Of $500 tons, is $50 feet
long CO feet beam, and q feet IL inches
draught and has a speed OF 10 knots.
She has a steel belt Of II 81 inches, in
creasing TO 10 Ii at the gun positions. and
a four-inch steel deck. Her armament
consists OF 2 l25-inch, forty-eight-ton
guns one forward and one aft, in pro-
tected tlrrets; 2 eleVen-inch guns, SINH
larly disposed: l 6.2-irch, i 4.7-inch,
ouick-fre and 10 machine guns. on spon-
soned barbettes on the sides. The battle
ship Vitoria, 1850 tons, has been usei as
a training ship. and has speed or 1niy
II knots. She has been fitted with hSnt-
ing masts and some new armament, but
cannot be regarded formidable. The
cruiser Emperador Carlos v, on the
other hand. is a powerful vessel OF 9.235
tons. which can carry 100 ton OF coal
and make 20 knots an hour. She is $50
feet long. 81 feet beam. and . feet
draught. has a twelye-inch belt Of Har-
vey steel, Gen-inches at the gun posi-
tions) and ii inches OF deck plating.
Her armament consists of eleyen-irch
guns, single in fore and aft turrets,
55-inch quick-fire guns, 3.9-nch, 81
inch, 2.2-inch, and six machine guns on
the barbettes
There are six OF the 7,O00-ton armored
cruisers of the Almirante Oquendo type
that vessel. the Cardinal Cisneros. the
Catalina Infanta Maria Teresa, Princess
de Asturias, and the Vizcaya. To these
the CristObal Colon, of $50 tons must
be added These 7o00-ton cruisers are
nearly alike, being about 81 feet long,
81 feet beam, and p feet draught. Ihey
have Pinch aTmOr belts 10 IL az gun
pOsitions) TWO and three inches of steel
deck plating, twin screws, 1870 tons or
coal supply and make twenty knots an
hour. Their ornaments diner IN detail,
but are practically equivalent Ihat OF
the Almirante Oquendo, taken as a sam
ple consists Of two Linen and ten OBJ
inch Hontoria guns, eight 2.Z-lncn, ana
eight l.4-inch qulck-iire, ana TWO macnlhe
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. Inc
frst-rate fighting force OF the Spanish
navy, then, lies in this one beIated bat
tleship and eight fine armOred cruisers.
Iar ms CORRESPOND
IN In We have 10 leave out our nVe Tor
midable IL ,525-ton battleships, the ken,
lucky kearsarge, Illinois, Alabama, and
Wisconsin, which are either sun on the
stocks or but newly launched, and not
ready for service. We nave, then, the
four battleships-Iowa, n,S4O tons; In
diana. l0.2S8; Massachusetts,, lO,ZS9; ore
g0n. lO2SS NOW on the Pacific; the two
armored crulsers-Brooklyn 9.2l5 tons
and New York, $500 tons; the protected
cruisers-Coiumbia, 1870, and Minneapolis,
1875; tho sec0nc-claS5 battlesnip Texas,
8 SIS tons; the douole-turreted monitor Pu-
ritan. 6o60, and the protected cruiser
Olympia, 5,1SO tons NOW on the Aslauo
station. Here are eleven vessels against
the Spanish nine; but, counting out the
Texas and the Puritan, which is slow ana
rather a harDOr-defence than a sea fight
ing vessel, and setting the nine effective
first-raters against the Spanish nine. we
outcass them in everything but speed.
The battleships have a speed OF 0hly 10 or
II knots an houri out Doth cl19seS Ot
cruisers are fast. The Brooklyn and New
York are credited with % knots, the Co
lumbia with 22.S. and the Minneapolis with
%. Our first-class battleships have armor
belts of fourteen TO eighteen inches thick
and three-inch deck plating but the fast
cruisers are not heavily yrmored, carry
ing belts OF about four inches OF steel, IN
creasing 20 seven at the gun positions
The ornaments OF the battleships are
heavier than those OF the Spanish crui-
sers. Take that OF the Iowa as an ex-
ample: In consists OF four i2-inch, eight
S-inch, six finch rapid-flre). twenty six
Founders, six l-poundar. and four ma
chine guns The armament OF the ar
mored cruiser Brooklyn Is eight s-inch,
twelve 5-inch Qapld-hre). twelve D.