The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1898-04-09
TheIwo Nayies Compared.

ihe'lWo NayleS OomPe Fed.
Spain has but one effective bat ,leship,
the Pelayo. which has been httei with
new boilers and undergoing some change
of armament at ToulOn, and has been or
dered 20 Carhagena unfinished. She has
a displacement OF $500 tons. is $50 feet
long, 66 feet beam and "a feet IL inches
draught, and has a speed of is knots she
has a steel belt OF l79& inches. Increased
20 1874 at the gun positions, and a four
inch steel deck. Her armament consists
of two l2.5-inch forty-eight-ton guns. one
forward and one aft, in protected turrets;
two 1l-inch guns, similarly disposed; one
62-inch. twelve 4-5-inch. six quick-fire and
twelve machine guns. on sponsoned bar
bettes on the sides. The battlsshiD Vi
toria, 7.250 tons. has been used as q train
ing ship. and has speed OF only II knots
She has been fitted with hghting masts
and some new armament. but cannot be
regarded as formidable The cruiser I'm
perador Carlos c., on the other hand. is
powerful vessel OF 1926 tons, which can
carry 1900 tons Of coal and make 20 knots
an hour. She is $50 feet long, 81 feet beam
and p feet draught. has a Pinch belt OF
Harvey steel 90 inches at the gun posi-
tom and ga inches of deck plating. Her
armament consists OF two 11-inch guns,
single, in fore and aft turrets. eight S.
inch quick-fre guns, four SS-inch, two
2-7-inch, four 2.2-inch and six machine
guns on the barbettes.
There are six OF the 1900 ton armored
cruisers of the Almirante Oduendo type
that, vessel, the Cardinal Cisneros, the
Catalina, Infanta Maria Teresa, Princess
de Asturias and the Fizcaya- To these
the Cristobal Colon, of 6.S40 tons, must be
added. These 7,000-ton cruisers are nearly
alike, being about 347 feet long, 81 feet
beam and p feet draught They have
Pinch armor belts COZ at gun positions),
and inches of steel deck plating, twin
screws, 100 tons of coal supply, and make
20 knots an hour. Their armament dit
fer in detail, but are practically equiva-
lent. That of the Almirante Oquendo, ia
ken as a sample, consists of two u-inch
and ten 5.5-inch Hontoria guns, eight ~
inch and eight l4-inch Quick-fire and two
machine guns. They have each six tor
pedo tubes. The Cristobal Colon is Of
slightly smaller dimensions and lighter
armament, and has but inches OF armor
plate. The drst-rate fighting force OF the
Spanish navy, then, lies in this one belated
battleship and eight fine armoTed cruls-
ers.
able 11,525-ton battleships - Kentucky.
Kearsarge, Illinois, Alabama, and Wiscon-
sin-which are either still on the stocks
or but newly launched, and not ready for
service. We have, then, the four battle
ships, Iowa, II $40 tons: Indiana, 10 2SS;
Massachusetts, 10 2SS; Oregon, 10,2SS (now
on the Pacific; the two armored cruisers.
Brooklyn, 9,2I5 tons, and New York, $500
tons; the protected cruisers Columbia,
1915. and Minneapolis. 1875; the second
class bsttleship Texas. 6.315 tons; the
double-turreted monitor Puritan, $3.50
and the protected cruiser Olympia, $50
tons, (now on the Asiatic station) Here
are eleven vessels against the Spanish
nine, but, counting on the Texas and the
Puritan, which Is slow and rather a har-
bor-defense than a sea fighting vessel and
setting the nine effective first-raters
against the Spanish nine we outclass them
in everything but speed. The battleships
have a speed of only 10 knots an hour
but both classes of cruisers are fast. The
Brooklyn and New York are credited with
20 knots. the Columbia with 22.S and the
Minneapolis with %. Our frst-class bat
tleships have armor belts OF fourteen TO
eighteen inches thick and three-inch deck
plating, but the fast cruisers are not heav-
lily armored, carrying belts Of about four
inches of steel, increasing to seven at the
gun positions. The ornaments of the bat
tleships are heavier than those OF the
Spanish cruisers.
When it comes to those of second-rate,
or less than 5000 tons displacement down
TO 2,0O0) we are far ahead of Spain. She
has the Alfonso XIII, 5000 tons; the Lee
panto. 4,S26; Reina Christina, $500; Ara
gon, 3342; Castillo, 1892; Navarro, 3,342;
Alfonso XII, 5000; and Reina Mercedes,
rTrt,< - -,
speed, except Alfonso XIII. and the Lee
panto, which are credited with 20 knots
Their size and armament fairly cores
pond with the indicated tonnage. The
heaviest guns of the Alfonso KILL and
the Lepanto are 7S-inch Hontorias and
those of the Aragon type 62-inch HonJo-
fias. or 5.9-inch Krupps. Corresponding 10
this list of second class cruising vessels
we reckon the following sixteen of 3.C00
tons or more: Chicago, 4,500 tons; Bal
timore, 4,4l3 Philadelphia. 1924; Newark
409S San Francisco. 4,09S; Charleston,
s. 100; Lancaster, $3.50; Cincinnati, 2zI3;
Raleigh, 3,213; Atlanta, 1900; Boston, 1900
(all protected cruisers; the Monterey,
barbette turret, low free-board monitor !;
the Miantonomoh. Amphitrite. Monad-
mock and Terror double-turret monitors
of 1890 tons each. The monitors are OF
course armored and heavily armed, but
arenor fast, and are for defense rather
than for cruising.
We have the two new Brazilian cruisers
and are negotiating for more. These cru's-
ers. which have been renamed the New
Orleans and the Albany. are Of the sec
ond-class, each having a displacement OF
$500 tons and a. speed of . kno-s-
We have a large number of cruisers and
monitors. which in our classification are
called third-rate vessels ranging from
loo TO 300 tons. and Spain has scarcely
anything corresponding to it. she has
nothing between 2000 and 3, 900 tons. while
the United States has the cruiser Bart
ford, 2790 tons; the harbor-defehse ram
Katahdin. PISS; the unprotected cruisers
Detroit, Montgomery and Marblehead. OF
2.0SS tons each, and the single -turrct Hlo9l-
tors Ajax, Canonicus, Mahopac, Manhat-
tan and Wyandotte, Of AGO. The InoHI-
tors are slow, but carry two l5-tlch guns
each. The cruisers have a high-spee1 ca
pacity and a good armament OF TO 6
guns and smaller. Spain has few Cru's
ers OF a little over 600 tons-t1e Nelasco,
I,152; the Condo de Venadito. Don ADto-
r,fo Ia I-lfoa Don Imam do Au-r-fa IN