, 1898-08-19
NEW AMERICAN NAVY
CONSTRUCTION OF FIFTEEN YES
Sells TO BE RECOMMEND
ED TO CONGRESS.
Speed Will Be Sacrificed to Coal Car
rying Capacity. in Order That the
Ships May Be Able to Make the
Voyage From San Francisco to
Manila.

Nldulld.
Washington, Aug. lS.-A naval pro-
gram for presentation to congress. in
yo.yiDg the immediate construction of
fifteen warships, has been adopted by
the naval board of experts to whom the
subject has been referred by Secretary
Long. 1t provides for three sea-going
barbette turret ~battleships of 13, 900
tons displacement and a minimum of
eighteen and a half knots speed when
the vessels are loaded to their deepest
drought, or an average speed above
nineteen knots under ordinary cruising
conditions; three tirst-class armored
cruisers of 10000 tons and twenty-five
protected armored cruisers of
5000 tons displacement and
twenty knots speed, similar to the
Maine type. but highly improved, and
for six protected cruisers of $500 tons
and sixteen knots.
The reduced speed of the ships, which
IS uniformly about two knots less than
that proposed at the preliminary meet
ing of the board on Tuesday, was
brought about by the desire to secure
unprecedented ran&c of action on ac-
count of the increased responsibilities
of the United States in The Pacific and
the certainty that these vessels, or most
OF them, would be required to make up
the fleet in that ocean,. The sacrifice of
speed to endurance was made with a
view of securing vessels of at least 5000
miles radius, or capable Of steaming
straightaway from San Francisco to
Manila and Samoa.
The board decided that the Pacific,
rather than the Atlantic. would be the
seat OF future naval operations. and
while great sacrifices to get speed could
be made in the vessels attached to the
outer line Of national defense on the
east coas Of the United States, abnor-
nal coal capacity and high economy
were prime rec. iisrLes az long as dis
rtant possessions to the westward re-
quired protection. All the vessels. how
ever, will be as speedy as the fastest
vessels now building abroad and they
Will be eminently more practicable in
endurance. strength and formidability.
The main battery of each of the bat
tleships will be composed of four 70
inch rifles in turrets on the center line
fore and aft. similar to those of the
Iowa, and the secondary batteries will
mount fourteen and sixteen rapid-fire
6-inoh guns. In addition to these there
will be unusually large auxiliary bat
lteries of assorted FOUNDER sizes, both
~quick-fire and semi-automatic. The 49,
inch guns of earlier ~battleships have
been put aside in new designs on ac-
count of their great weight and because
it will be necessary to increase materi-
ally the length of the 12-inch caliber to
meet the requirement that smokeless
powder exclusively be used hereafter
in the navy.
The firSt-class cruisers will be COW
cred with armor from bow to stern and
will be armed with four S-inch guns in
turrets and ten to twelve 6-inch rifles
in ~broadside. They are to be superior
in every way to any ships afoat in the
world today.
The ~second-class cruisers, as at first
proposed, were to be 5000 tons each,
but the board added 1000 tons to them,
to be utilized wholly in coal carrying
capacity. They will have two S-inoh
guns and ten to twelve 5-inch rapid
firers. The details of the six smaller
vessels are lot yet determined upon,
as all the energies of the board were
first directed to the heavier vessels.
All the ships will be sheathed. They
will all have quadruple expansion en-
gines and water-tube boilers. and with
the exception Of the smaller craft they
will be equipped with underwater tor
pedo tubes.
The smaller cruisers will have a
steaming radius of 10. 900 knots at a
ten-knot rate. The second-class will
nearly APPROACH this radius. The first
class cruisers will be able to go 10, 900
knots and a minimum Of 5000 knots ts
fixed for the battleshlps.