The times., 1898-05-17
A FLEET OF wARsHIps.
Composed of a Variety of Types Of
Vessels.

description of feet of warships pre-
prepared by a naval officer
When, sixteen years ago, the rehab-
ilitation of our Navy was begun the
type of vessel decided upon was the
cruiser. Unquestionably financial rea-
sons had much to do with this determ-
ination; on the other hand, it should
be said that a war Of chase presents
many attractive features to an isolated
nation like ourselves. To prey on the
enemy's commerce and drive it from
the sea, to ravage. his coast at unpro-
tected points, and TO wage minor wars
in distant waters, appears easy of ex-
ecution
But the true sphere of the cruiser,
generally speaking, is far wider and
more important than above indicated.
She must be able to perform the duties
of scout, of Il patrol, of lookout;
she must be the eyes of a fleet; she
must be the means of keeping squad
rons in touch with one another, of as
certaining the movements of the en-
emy. of preventing surprises, of dis
seminating information and Of insur-
ing the efficiency of blockade. These
multifarious duties can be efficiently
performed by many kinds of cruising
certain particulars characteristics.
The scout, for instance, needs TO be
a vessel Of the highest order of sea
keeping qualities, to be able to scour
the high seas far from land, for from
a base and far from succor. Great size
is des.deratum, great coal carrying
speed is a sine qua non. Even her
armament must be subordinated to
these, for her duty is primarily to as
certain where the enemy is, and hav-
ing done this, to hasten at topmost
speed 10 impart this information to
the fighting fleet. How admirably
suited TO this work are the four Amer
lean Line ships now in our Navy is ap-
parent to every one conversant with
their size and speed and coal endur-
ance.
Patrol ships have a service to per-
form nearer home, and less exciting,
though perhaps more dangerous, since
they must watch the safety of our
coast. Patrol cruisers must be well
armed, and their crews alert and well
drilled, for they are expected TO give
battle to any intruder who might ap-
proach their best. There are many
points along a coast that a daring
enemy might strike for singly or in
couples, to make a sudden raid, throw
a few shells into a town, cut out mer-
chant shipping, or work mischief OF
some sort These descents in force
must be stopped by force; hence the
need of establishing such a strong cur
don along our coast at distance Of a
hundred miles or so offshore, that it
cannot be broken through.
The auxiliary cruiser, together with
the Navy cruiser, is expected TO PIT
the requirements of the situation
though the former should have the as
sistance Of the latter, because the aux
isary cruiser. having her boilers and
machinery above the water line, is
more liable TO damage from the en-
emy's fire. The auxiliary cruiser is
the merchant vessel converted for
the nonce into a man of war; she IS
given a good armament and some
Slight protection along her water line
in .he wake of the boilers and ma
chinery How valuable a fighter she
will make is problematical, depending
perhaps on the skill of ner commander
and the lack of it in her opponent.
Ii cannot be denied that the regular
ly designed cruiser is the hes kind oI
ship to perform war duties, whether
scouting, patrolling, skirmishing, or,
with the fleet. fighting. Indeed, for
some of these services IL would rot be
safe to employ an mproFised ship as,
for instance, on the sidrniish line. The
skirmisher belongs 70 tae fleat; he is
on guard ahead and on :he flank IF il,
in close touch with il, precisely as the
skirmish line in an army belongs TO
the main body He :nust b. able Il
hold his own. firing. lighting ana
eventually falling back on the heavy
ships, where he must take his station
and coQtinue his aggresSivenesS.
ID ,Irs,, t.,
unarmored vessel which, from the ma
ture of the duties assigned her. l. ust
| be fast, must have a good ccal sup
ply and must be well armel Like ali
! fighting vessels. she should be divid-
ed into several watertight COM
partments. SHOULD have double bot
tom, and SslloEld be protected with Il
steel deck at the water line, covering
her vitaIs3 and magazines Her main
battery should be composed of guns of
the rapid fire type, so mounted that
clear fire ahead and astern is secured.
The smaller rapid fire pieces should
be numerous, to protect her against
torpedo Boat attack, and also to en-
able her to operate against the per-
sonnel and exposed parts of a larger
antagonist. The armament, however,
must be largely determined by the
displacement, and this, in turn, is de-
pendent on the work demanded.
A cruiser, often spoken of as a pro-
tected cruiser, is not an armored ship,
this term signifying that a ship has
vertical armor, but the protection of
the cruiser is horizontal, in the form of
a steel deck covering over the interior
of the ship at her water line, and curry
ed down at the sides. 1t is often five
or six inches thick on this slope, and
] 70,
crown. All recently constructed cruis-
ers are protected. The unprotected
cruiser is a cruiser without this steel
deck, and the partially protected cru:s
er has the steel deck over only engines
boilers and magazines.
An armored cruiser, always so des-
ignated in contradistinction to a cruis-
er, is a type of ship midway between
the cruiser and the battleship. Some
times she inclines more to the one than
to the other or, to state the same fact
differently, often the cruiser, with tur-
rets and armored gun positions, is
virtually an aTmored cruiser, and fire.
quently the battleship, with dimin-
ished armor and increased speed, is
practically an armored cruiser. The
title armored cruiser indicates quite
well what is expected of this type of
war ship-to cruise and to fight. She
must, therefore, have good speed, large
coal capacity, moderately thick armor
and an excellent battery.
The greatest divergence of opinion ex-
lists concerning the two last. Our ar
mored cruisers, the Brooklyn and New
York, have side armor of three and
four inches thickness; the Spanish ar
mored cruisers have belts of twelve in
ches thickness. Our largest guns are
Of eight inches; the Spaniards carry
guns of eleven inches. The ships OF
both nations have a cruising radius OF
approximately ten thousand miles