The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-05-01

The Rodgers. the third boat authorized
under the act. put out to sea a week ago
from the Norfolk navy yard to test her
guns. and on Thursday left for Key West
to join the blockading squadron.
The new 10o-foot torpedo boats Gwfn
and Talbot. built by the Herreshofs, are
9-knot boats. They have been finished
only a few weeks. Each has two torpedo
tubes and several one-pounder guns. The
Talbot has made I'll knots and the
D.s. These little craft will probably not
be sent South. but will prove great OBJ
stacles to any Spanish cruisers attempting
to reach New York harbor through Long
Island sound.
The Morris. the first of three boats OF
the 22ls-knot class. was accepted last
week after her trial at Bristol. She il
11 feet long and has a bunker capacity of
y tons. On her trial trip. on April Is, she
attained a speed OF 2tis knots. She differs
from her predecessors in having an over
hanging. outward curving bow like a
steam yacht. instead of the vertical stem.
The Stiletto. the navy's first torpedo boat.
Is an s~sl1-foot boat. built in 1886 by the
Herreshons and rated at 49, knots. She in
attached to the Newport torpedo station
as a practice boat.
Abroad we have purchased two torpedo
boats-the Somers and the Marley. The
latter. a Yarrow E-knot. 62-foot boat. IL
already here. having been brought from
Enkidilu on DOdru a freight SNIP Sue Will
prohably not be equipped with torpedo
tubes. but will be used as a despatch
boat. The Somers is still in English wa
tiers.
The dynamite gunboat vesuvius. equip-
ped with three l5-inch pnematic guns. is
not a torpedo boat. but she ranks with
the torpedo boat in effectiveness. The
Holland submarine torpedo boat will
probably be added TO the navy. as the
trials have demonstrated her value. The
Holland boat. even though she never fires
a shot. will be a terror to hostile ships.
To the list of torpedo boats ready for
service should be added the new con-
verted yacht Mayfiower. the first torpedo
boat destroyer in the navy.
Eight new torpedo boats and three tor
pedo boat destroyers will be put In com
mission within the next few months. The
destroyer Bailey. now building at Morris
Heights. is expected to develop a speed
of % knots. She will be a5 feet long. 10
feet wide and have a depth of hold Of II
feet > inches. Her engines are to develop
$500 horsepower, more than half that OF
the Umbria. Her armament will consist
OF four six-pounder rapid-ire guns and
three torpedo tubes. The Goldsbvrough h
building al Portland. Ore. and the
Stringham at Wilmington. Del The latter
will be the biggest torpedo boat destroyer
in the navy. having a length Of rs feet.
The Goldsborough will have "A length OF
Isl teet = mCheS-
The Rowan. a 26-knot torpedo boat. 1soss
feet long. has Just been launched at Sc
attic. Other torpedo boats building are
the s-knot. l0o-foot Mackenzie. at Phila-
delphia. nearly finished. the 20-knot. iesi~
foot Mckee. at Baltimore. to be- turned
over 70 the government within a few
days: the siz-knot. lfS-foot Knox. at
Portland. Ore: the 2a-knot fss-foot Da-
Wis. at Portland. ore: the 0-knot. 2lo-
foot Farragut. at San Francisco: the 9is-
knot. ~il5-foot Craven. at Bath. Me-. and
the @is-knot. lf7-foot Dahlgren. at Bath.
Me. Added to these Is the submarine boat
Plunger. TO be sent on her trial trip with
in a day or two.