The times., 1898-06-29
CRUISERS AND BATTLEsHIps.
The Present War VIII Demonstrate
Their Respective Values


Their Respective Values.
What will the coming sea fghtshow to
be the most formidable style OF warship
Of all the armed vessels upon which the
nation pins it's faith? This is the -ques-
tion to which the whole world awaits
a practical answer. To Obtain the answer
it will be necessary to spill much blood
and send millions of dollars worth OF
property 10 the bottom OF the sea. but no
practical lesson In warfare was ever
learned without an expenditure of this
ding is inevitable. the most might as
well be gotten out of it.
The designers of fighting ships have
theorized beautifully. They have had so
many years Of peace in which to plan
and scheme that it is natural that they
should believe that the art of designing
and building floating fighting machines
has been brought TO perfection. They
have graded the strength OF the naval
craft from the big battleships to the
saucy little torpedo boat. according TO all
the best teachings of the art of war,
which Includes such apparently unwar-
like maxims as that there are times
when the right thing 10 do Is 10 run away
and to keep running until you are out Of
the enemy's reach.
Those who fight and run away viii
live to fight another day is an adage
that has been improved upon by cur
naval designers. Their revised version
of the proverb, the revision of which
fighting craft. is Those who run away
without fighting will live 10 make some
other craft tight or run away
IL would be folly for cruiser to at
tack batt,eshlp. for the reason that the
battieship is supposed TO be invulnerabIe
10 the attack OF the guns that cruiser
usually carries. On the other hand, 1t
would be absurd for a battleship to chase
cruiser that was beyond gunshOt dis
tance. for the cruiser would walk away
from the batIieship in a trial OF speed
This is the principle upon which modern
vessels of war are built Where armOr
is lacking. speed is there. so that the adj
vantage Of the numbering battleships
may be Offset by the cruisers speed
a battleship is a floating fort. mass
of steel. protected all around with plates
of the hardest metal procurabls- Around
her most vulnerable points are eighteen
inch arznor plates of Harveyized steel.
her deck is a steel casing from three to
nve inches thick Her guns are placed
in revolving steel turrets, the metal OF
which is from fifteen 10 eighteen inches
thick. The guns of a battleship are the
I heaviest made She is a big floating
/ fortress, against which the guns of small
! caliber viii be useless She cannot
make speed therefore she must be able
I to defy anything that comes against her
except a vessel of her own class. relying
solely upon her guns and her arruOr 10
| keep afioat and send the other fellow 10
/ the bottom
Besides the turrets wherein are the
/ big guns a battleShip has what are
| known as secondary batteries in which
are guns OF lighter caIiber- Nothing
must be Ief1 10 chance, and a battleship
/ that has only its own strength TO look to
Z for protection must be fitted with small
guns to sink the dreaded torpedo boats
against whose attacks the great thir-
| teen-inch rifles might prove. too slow and
ponderous.
Take away this secondary battery.
! leaving only the great guns in their tur-
rets. and with the deck nearer the wa
/ ter's edge. the battleship becomes a
/ monitor a class OF vessel that experts
/ maintain is more useful than d battle
/ ship for coast-defense purposes The
/ monitor is a poor vessel IN rough sea.
| and can only make a speed Of about thir-
/ teen miles an hour, but she IS hard
/ vessel to hit. presenting very small
i mark by reason Of her low freeboard and
] possessing. with her guns. tremendous
! effective means of defense
! A cruiser IS armored with but three or
/ four inches of steel She carries guns OF
a lighter calI5er than the battleship. the
! S-inch rife being about the maximum size
| of her armament \ battleship with its
/ Is-inch guns could settle the fate OF i
/ cruiser with one broadside, while the
! cruisers guns would be harmless against
/ the battleship's thick hide; but the cruiser
! can make twenty-five miles an hour 10
| the battleship's eighteen 50 that an alert
commander is safe from the big fellow :
heavy guns.
Faster even than the armored cruiser
and lighter as 70 gun metal, is the pro-
tected cruiser. which usually carries one
heavy S-tnch gun and several finch and
lighter rapid-tire guns The armored
cruiser is protected as to her deck. bat
little but the coal that IS stored around
the most vulnerable parts protects the
rest Of the vessel. She can make a speel
several miles an hour faster than the ar
, mored cruiser and so has her running
abilities TO count on in a meeting will
a more powerful ship
/ Gunboats and torpedo boats are tbs
smallest types Of war vessels The gun
boat is a small cruiser drawing very lit
tie water and built for river service. AM
to go where the bigger boats could no
without grounding. Torpedo boats car
beat nothing with the few rapid-fiTe gun
they carry. except boarding party. The.
are intended solely TO sink ships will
their one weapon-Jhs torpedo. Whethe
they are to be feared or laughed at is
moot point Many naval men say the lat
ter, as they are easily disposed of. AM
cannot get near enough to be daugerOu
in these days OF searchlights-
But the question of their harmlessnes
or usefulness. like that of the whole sys
tenn ofsnaval designing. remains for prac
teal lessons TO decide.