The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-03-12

From the Philadelphia Bulletin.
At the present time a great number
of American citizens are asking. with
some anxiety, how the United states
navy compares, i'm fighting strength,
with that of Spain. This is question
about which naval experts in America
and Europe differ somewhat. the facts
are sufficiently Interesting ard imp
purtant to make ii worth while to give
them in detail.
tn to within few years ago Spain
had no navy worthy of the name. In
1857. however-a little later than the
date at which our own scheme of naval
rehabilitation began--the Spanish gov
ernmcnt entered ON an extensive pro-
jcct Of naval construction and reor-
gani2atiun. As result of the cXecu-
tiun of this policy, Spain has today
navy which. though of moderate size.
is compact, formidable and homogene-
Gus. She possesses in all ten armored
fighting ships. equipped with the lat
est appliances of maritime warfare,
fast and well armed.
The most important ship of Spain.
her only armorcd ship of the line. is
.the Pelayo, built i'm France. Her Of
fensive armament comprises a strong
ram, two 12.6-inCh rifles mounted in
barhettes Of nineteen inches of steel,
two ll-inCh ritles'in armOred spOnsons.
one 6-inCh rifle i'm the bow and twelve
4.1-inCh rapid-ire guns in broadside.
There are besides several machine guns
and six tubes for launching Whitehead
torpcdOcS Her defence lies in an ar
morCd watcr-line steel belt, from sew
entecn to eleven inches thick. She dis
places nearly 10000 tons of water and
carries 500 tons of coal. on her trial
she made 1913 knots. Her cost complete
is said to have been only $3.50, 900.
Next in Importance is the first -Class
nrmored cruiser Emperador Carlos V.
She carries two 1l-inch guns in bar
bette towers, forward and aft; eight
612-inch rapid fire guns, four 4-inch
guns four 6-pounders, four 3-pounders
and two machine guns: also six tor
pedO tubes. Her complete protective
deck is six inches thick on the slopes
and half that or top. The outside
armor plating is 167 feet long. five and
three-quarters feet broad and two inch
es thick. Her barbette towers are
nearly ten inches, and the ammunition
tubes are nearly eight inches thick
Her coal supply is very large-1.77O
tons-estimated to take the ship $4,000
miles at a ten-knot speed. Her dimen-
sions are: Length. $50 feet; beam. 81
feet; draught 2i.5 feet. Her dispace-
ment is 9,100 tons
BELTED CRUISERS.
Then there are six powerful belted
cruisers of about 1000 tons each-the
Viscaya, which has just made a visit
to New York harbor; the Infanta Ma
ria Theresa, the Almirante Oquendo,
the Catalina the Cardinal Cisneros
and the Princess de Asturias. These
armored cruisers are built of steel,
with double bottoms and bulkheads
Each is $40 feet long, with a greatest
breadth of beam at 65 feet and a mean
draught of water of 221a feet. The ar
mament consists of two 11-inch rifles,
one forward and one aft, mounted in
harbette turrets and ten 5la-inch rapid
fire guns, mounted i'm bToadsde. so that
two of them can be trained to fire
right ahead and two astern. The sec
ondary battery comprises eight Nor
denfeltS, eight HOtchkisS and four mi
trailleuses and there are eight torpedo
tubes. Each of these cruisers is pro-
tected by an armor belt twelve inches
thick and six feet broad, which ex-
tends for distance Of 3l5 feet amid
Slipo' bplNtt W al HtdNN Ddckllls OF SIX
inches of teak wood There is also a
protective deck of steel covering the
whole ship, two inches thick on the
flat and three on the slopes. The bar
hettes for the heavy guns are ten inch
es thick, and where the ammunition
tubes are above the protective deck
they are made of eight inches of ar
NOR on her trial trip the Infanta
Maria Teresa made 2O.24 knots, devel-
oping l3,722 horse power.
These vessels were built in the Span-
ish shipyards at Ferrol Cadiz and
Barcelona. OF later design are two
fine cruisers, both armored. which were
originally built in Italian shipyards.
These craft, which have only very
lately been ready for service, are nam
ed the Christobal Colon and the Pedro
D'Arragona. They are of 6,6S0 tons
each, with armored belts and steel nro-
jective decks. They each carry a BAT
terry of two ten-inch rifles. fore and
aft, in armored barbettes: ten siX-inch
rapid-tre guns besides the customary
number of machine guns and weapons
specially adapted for beating off tor
pedo craft.
Then there are two fine unarmored
cruisers or 1000 tons each, the Lepan-
~ hiu lilt -AllOuSo NIL. craft. close
ly resembling our own cruisers. like
the San Francisco and Philadelphia
These vessels are of 5000 tons each and
carry main batteries Of four 7.S-incb
rifles and six 47-inch quick firing
guns
Spain has also three fairly good steel
cruisers of about 5000 tons each. the
Alfonso XII, Reina Christina and RE-
ina Mercedes. These each carry siv
6-inch rifles.
TORPEDO CRAFT.
In torpedo craft she is strong Re.
sides the smaller torpedo boats for
coast and harbor service she has sev.
eral of the modern type of sea-goinp
destroyers, and a squadron of TORPEDO
gun boats, whose chief features are as
follows: Length, 100 feet; breadth. 2.