Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1898-05-12
TYPES OF WARSHIPS.
Differences in Armor and Guns o.
Various Classes.
Principle Of the Classification General Plan
Of the Floating Fortress Called a Battle
ship.

| In these days of war talk there are
a great many expressions in common
! use ny persons who have no clear I'M
derstanding of their meaning. This is
| especially true of naval affairs the ter
minology of seananshiD being always
more or less confusing TO a landsman.
One constantly hears persons talking
slibly about ironclads, cruisers. gun
boats, battleships and monitors, with
out any distinct idea of the differences
in the various types of vessels of which
| they speak so Familiarity.
There are ten principal classes OF
vessels in the United States navy, dis
| tingushed one from another by the
differences IN their uses and by their
strength and speed. The general prin-
| ciple underlying their construction is
| that vessel which is not strong
enough to fight one of her own size
must be fast enough to run away. Any
| vessel which is inferior In armament
| and has no compensating superiority
| il. speed is outclaSsed. The same is
true of any vessel which is equal in
armament but inferior in speed to an
| adversary.
The size of vessel is measured by
| its displacement. This displacement
| is the number of tons of water she will
| push aside to make room for herself.
| A vessel of 70. 000 tons will take engines
of certain weight and power to drive
! her al Il given speed. and the larger
| the engines the larger the boilers and
The greater the supply of coal required
| New. if Il is necessary to give his YES
sci heavy protective armor aud big
| guns. the additional weight of this
| equipment must be saved somewhere
else. and usually in the engine ROOM
reducing the speed of the vessel. Fol
| lowing out this principle, it VIII be
found that the fastest ships carry the
| lishtest armament. and that those
which carry the biggest guns in their
batteries anu The thickest armor ON
their sides are comparatively slow. the
extreme variation among vessels of the
same displacement being about eight
or nine miles an hour
! In the matter of attack anG defence.
| vessels are DISTINGUISHED by the num-
| Der and weight of the guns they carry
and by the distribution and thickness of
their ormcr. Protective armor is of
! two kinds, that which surrounds the
guns, so as TO protect them from the
enemy's ire. and that which protects
the motive power OF the ship. SO as to
| prevent the engines from being rem
| dered useless.
The maximum of guns and armor
| and the minimum OF speed are to be
found in the first class batt!eship,
which is simply a floating fortress. so
constructed that she need never run
away. bur can stand up and fight as
| long as her gun turrets will revoVe.
| The general plan of construction in a
! hattleship is TO surround the engines,
| boilers. and magazines with a Wall of
| HarVeyized steel arrlor eighteen inches
OF 50 thick and seven or eight feet
| high, which extends about four feet
| below the water line and three feet
| above it. This armur belt is not only
| on the sides of the ship, but X carried
| across it fore and aft, Immediately in
! front of and behind the space occupied
| by the engines and magazines. and the
| whole affair is covered with solid
steel roof three or four inches thick.
|
! tending from it clear to the bow and
stern at each end is d protective deck
/ of steel, three inches thick which is
| placed several feet below the water
| line. Everything above this deck and
I outside this fortress might be shot
| away. and the vessel would still float
and fight.
on the roof of the fortress are placed
| the turrets containing the big guns.
| The largest of these guns. 13-inch cali
| bre, weigh about sixty tons each, and
Will carry shell Weighing 100 pounds
about twelve miles. The turrets are
circular. as a rule, large enough to
| hold TWO guns and are made of face
| hardened steel from fifteen to eighteen
inches thick. They revclve within a
| barbettc or ring of steel eighteen inch
IS thick which protects the machinery
by which the guns are trained F'urth-
ct back on the roof of the fortress are
other and lighter turrets made of S-inch
steel and carrying S-inch guns and at
| other places are stationed rapid fire
guns of lighter calibre, protected bv
| thinner armor than that in the main
| belt.
If all this secondary battery is
stripped off. leaving nothing but the
turrets with the big guns and these
are brought down close to the water.
and the armor belt is reduced to seven
or eight inches in thickness. the type
OF vessel known as the monitor is
reached. 1t is simply a battleship on
a reduced scale. Such vessels are very
SLOW and cannot stand rough weather
on account of their low freeboard The
speed Of monitors is seldom more than
twelve or fourteen miles an hour. and
they are intended to act in coast de-
fence. usually in connection with shore
batteries. The best types in the navy
are the Terror and the Puritan.
The speed of battleship is about
eighteen miles an hour. The best speci-
men in the navy is the Indiana, de
clared by its admirers to be the most
powerful battleship ahoat
Second-class battleshios like the
Texas. are smaller vessels, usually
about 1000 tons and they have a much
lighter armor belt, about twelve inch
es' and do not carry SO heavy an arma-
! l0fnt SllnS Df a frct ,lo r,l.,