The record-union., 1898-03-25

of water less than the armored cruisers
New York and Brooklyn, which would
not combined be equal in combat to
one of the battleships. Light draft on
heavy displacement is only one of the
many valuable qualities of the battle
ships, though by no means the least.
THEIR ARMAMENT
Save the Indiana class, they carry
the heaviest batteries in accord with
modern naval practice, and with pri-
mary batteries fully equal to that class
they mount secondary guns in such
fashion as to make the combination al
most unequaled in naval architecture
The big rifles, four in number, are
mounted in two turrets, one sweeping
the entire sea from directly ahead, fully
half way astern, the other with equal
range. placed so as to command the
sea from either bow straight astern
These are of thirteen inch caliber yet
the British navy now confines it's guns
to twelve-inch. In inches the differ
ence seems small yet the American
gun has about % per cent more power
At this point in the armament of the
ships the American designers have en-
barked in a bold and enterprising ex-
pertinent, the result of which will be
awaited with interest by the whole
maritime world. Instead of descending
at one move from the heavy primary
battery to the. small caliber rapid-fire
guns, as is done in the case of cruisers
it has become the custom of naval ar
chitects to interpose a battery of me-
dunn caliber guns, six or eight-inch
guns for instance, and these are placed
in smaller independent turretS about
the ship. 1t occurred to the American
designers that if they could dispense
with the Weighty and ce-consuming
machinery attached to these turrets,
such as the turning engines and ma
chinery, Independent ammunition hoist
shields and the like, much more en-
CINE power could be placed in the hull
of the ship and much more armor could
be carried. They solved the problem
by rigidly attaching the &smaller tur-
rets, each containing two eight-inch
rlf1es, to the top of the big thirteen
men turrets. The plan had another
advantage than Notwithstanding Theo-
retlcally, it tended to a terrible con-
centration of the fire of the ship. Prob
ably the craft does not float that would
survive the awful impact from the four
guns of one of these combined turrets
upon one small section of it's hull. and
because they are trained in unison their
proJectiles must strike close together.
SPLENDID ARMOR PROTECTION.
with this saving in weight the de-
slSners were able to give splendid ar
NOR protection to the ships. All of this
afmor IS OF Harveyized nickeI-steel.
OF American invention, and the best
IN the world up to date, as is shown by
the many European efforts to equal it
by other processes of manufactures
Moreover, it is skillfully disposed so as
TO make every ounce of steel count for
the protection of the crew. The big
tufrets are seventeen inches thick in
'front.', diminishing in thickness to fiji
teen inches in the rear where they are
less liable to be struck because in ac-
ton the guns are supposed always to
be turned towards the enemy. The
smaller turrets above, for a like rea-
son, vary in thickness from eleven TO
nine inches
10 make sure no stray shot strikes
the ammunition hOists leading from the
magazines to the turrets, the former
are lnclOSed in tubes of hardened steel
ntteen inches in thickness Mounted
IN TINS fashion the guns are almost
lnVulnerable, from the eight-inch rifles
mounted high in the air with good
range and capable of piercing the walls
OF most armored ships at fighting quar-
ters 10 the big thirteen-inch guns that
can project their armor-piercing shot
q dozen miles across the sea.
AUXILIARY BATTERY.
The combination battery is supple
mented by a numerous auxiliary bat
terry of smaller guns perched on every
convenient point of the superstructure
All are rapid-fire or machine guns, for
the Navy Department has profited by
the lessons taught in the Chino-Japa-
nese war of the terrible power of guns
of this type. About four motions suf-
flee to load. discharge and reload one
of these guns, and in rapidity of fire
they are equal to three of the ordinary
navy hreech-loading guns The Iarg-
est are five-inch caliber. fourteen i'm
all, sheltered behind six-inch steel
walls to minimize the effects of an ex-
ploGint; shell in any compartment. Then
there are six-pounders, Founders
and Cuttings, mainly for the warm re-
clear deck or an open portfolio or
carthwoIk.
To facilitate this some of the ma
chine guns are placed high in the mill
tary tops, where they can rain bullets
down below. To protect the hull which
carries all of this offensive power, six
teen and one-haIf inches of armor is
placed along the sides, dipping four feet
INoIr1 1a
heavy bulkheads are disposed to pre-
vent any shot that may enter from
traversing. The engines, the vitals of
the ship, are covered by an arched steel
deck two and threequarter inches
thick, placed on an angle calculated to
defect and throw upward any project
lie.
PROPELLING POWER.
Under that deck lies 10000 horse
power of boilers. engines and other ma
chinery capable of pushing the vast
hull through the water at the rate OF
at least sixteen knots. a good speed for
q freight train on land, and besides
there are no less than eighty smaller
engines to hoist anchors, pull up boats,
drive Gynamos and otherwise help the
crew. The big turrets swing noiseless-
" and quickly by electricity, the larg-
est application yet made of electric
power in this way, and everywhere in
the ship, from winches and ventilators
to lighting and telephony, the electric
fluid plays a useful part.
The Kearsarge and the Kentucky are
500 feet in length. - feet inches beam
and % feet inches draft. They carry
normally 40 tons of coal. but may take
aboard 1910 tons, and oil officers, sail
ors and marines are required to navi-