Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-05-22
YET TO BE SOLVED.
QUESTIONS AS TO THE MERITS OF
MODERN WAR VESSELS.
WHAT they HAVE AIMED TO Do.
Distribution of the Two Great Quail
ties of Speed and Strength-BattIe-
pedo-Boats.



WASHINGTON, May A-What will the
coming sea-hght show 70 be the most
formidable style Of warship, of all the
armed vessels upon which the nation
pins its faithr This is the question to
which the whole world awaits a practical
enswer. To obtain the answer it will be
necessary to spiu much blood and send
millions Of dollars worth Of property TO
the bottom Of the sea, but no practical
lesson in warfare was ever learned with
ont an expenditure OF this kind, and,
anyhow. as the blood shedding is inevi-
table the most might as well be gotten
out Of it.
The designers of fighting ships have
shsorized 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 tho strength of the naval craft
from the big battleship 20 the saucy lit
tie torpedo-boat, according to all the
best teachings Of the art OF war, which
include such apparently unwarlike
maxims as that there are times when
the right thing to do is to run away and
keep running until you are out of the
enemy's reach.
JUDICIOUS FLIGHTS.
Those who fight and run away will
live to fight another day. is an adage
that has been improved upon by our
naval designers. Their revised version
q the proverb, the revision Of which
dates from the birth Of the ironclad fight
ing craft, is those who run away with
cut fighting will live to make some other
craft fight or run away"
It would be folly for a cruiser to at
tack a battleship. for the reason that the
battleship Is supposed to be invuinerabie
u the attack of the guns that d cruiser
usually carries. on the other hand 1t
would be absurd for battleship to chase
a cruiser that was beyond gun-shot dis
lance, for the cruiser would walk away
from the battleship in a trial Of speed
This Is the principle upon which modern
vessels Of war are built. Where arInor
IS lacking. speed is there, so that the
advantage OF the numbering batteship
may be Offset by the cruisers speed.
A battleship is floating fort a mass
Of steel, protected all round with plates
Of the hardest metal procurable. AROUND
Ter most vulnerable points are 1o-lnch
amor plates Of Harveyized steel; heF
deck Is a steel casing from 20 inches
thick. Her guns are placed in revolving
steel turrets, the metal Of which IS from
50 10 IS inches thick. The guns Of bat |
ueship are the heaviest made. she is a |
big floating fortress. against which the
guns Of small calibre would be useless.
She cannot make much speed, therefore /
fhe must be able To defy anything that
may come against her except a vessel OF
her own class relying solely upon her
guns and her arnor 10 keep afoat and
send the other fellow TO the bottom
THE BATTERIES.
Besides the turrets. wherein are the
biz guns. a battleship has what are
known as secondary batteries. In when
are guns OF lighter calibre. Nothing must
be left 70 chance, and battleship that
has only it's own strength 10 look 10 Tor
protection must be fitted with small guns
% sink the dreaded torpedo-boats. against
whose attacks the great l3-inch rifles
might prove too slow and ponderous'
Take away this secondary pattory'
leaving only the great guns In their tur-
refs. and with the deck nearer the wa
tors edge the battleship becomes
monitor a class Of vessel that experts
maintain is more useful than a battlesmp
Tor coast-defence purposes. The monitor
Is poor vessel in a rough sea- ana can
only make speed Of about thirteen miles
en- hour, but she Is hard vessel 10 MI.
Presenting a very small mark py reason
OF her low freeboard, and possossnie'
with her big guns. tremendously effective
means Of offence.
cruiser h armored with but three or
four inches OF steel She carries guns OF
2 lighter calibre than the bhttiesnlp' thS
Each rife being about the maximum SIZE
OF her armament. a battleship with ite
b1neh guns could settle the rate OF a
cruiser with one broadside, while the
cruisers guns would be harmless against