The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1898-05-17
sERs OF
b Different Types and the Pur-
poses for Which They ARG m-


r.. &. skerrett in Detroit Free Press.
Now that war is upon us, it Is be-
coming that every one should have q
lair understandings of the types of yes,
sells mustered In our defense, and
know, too, something OF the duty cut
out for each.
OF the battleship and the monitor,
nearly every n has u proper cOucep-
tioD, and, too, of the torpedo boat, but
OF the three types of cruisers, there Is
only confused general knowledge.
The term cruiser used to apply, in
the days of sailing ships, to the fri
gate, the type next most formidable to
the old Notwithstanding, and was in
tended to compass the speedier of the
heavier fighting craft delegated TO the
particular service Of hunting up the
enemy or preying upon his mmerc
and, with certain technical modifica-
tions, practically all Of our large, swift,
unarmored vessels of the late war
were 30 classified. The gunboat was
hen and now is the small vessel of
moderate speed and gunpower un-
marked for special service by any
peculiar characteristics OF either Of
Tense or defense.
With us, the guuboat has o maxi
mum displacement or total weight Of
something just over ITO tons ard u
J VI CoO bOuS , VIC SdSGluS buu
Machias representing the major eX-
IRENE and the little Bancroft repre-
senting the minor extreme.
Otthe simple, or unprotected cruiser
type, we have three; the Detroit, Mar
blehead and Montgomery each of Il
trile over 1900 tons displacement.
When these vessels were first design
ed, they were officially known as gun
boats, but the navy department wisely
la thai a limit mpSt ha lr, M =, nNn,n-
where, and, placing the gunboat limit
OF size to craft under 1000 tons, tho
three vessels at once uccame dignitied
as cruisers. Besides their promised
speed and their fulti.lment in reach
ing over Is knots reasonably made
them, deserving Of the title ia con
junction, with their pretty heavy bat
tertes of rapid-fre guns.
The simple or unprotected cruiser,
In common with gunboaSs, has no pro-
lection in the shape Of armor for her
" vltals," as her engines, her boilers,
, and her magazines are called. Sue
has "a water-tight deck, though, Of
l moderate plating, which extends from
side to side and from bow to stern,
l completely roofing owe the "vitals."
2 Whlle not proof against even moderate
shot, this deck prevents the admis-
: sion OF water below which may come
L in through breaks in the plating above
. this deck, and in that materially aids
y In preserving the stability of the craft
I II pierced by shell just above the water
line, but near enough to admit water
In careening. So far as possible, coai
u is placed above this deck and agaiDs,
. tie sides as a oulwark against the
attack OF an enemy; and while tho
coal remains there 1t forms u good de
Tense to guns ranging from one-poun
Qpr5 To S"lX.DOnn1prS Tho nJroilr.f
u shields borne by some OF the guns OF
Il the armor placed aeout some of the
gun ports Is not considered protection
To the craft herself and while either
Il may be present. on a simple cruise, the
. fact that her vitaIs rcmaln undefcndeC
= makes her an unprotected cruiser.
. The protected cruiser is the next ad
! vance upon the simple cruiser. Here
again, we have ii water tight deck, bu
. this time it Is supplemented with ;
. coat OF mail, and may range on the fla
. portion from one inch to two and .
hall inches. and vary on the slopes a
3 the sides from one and u hat to foul
and three-quarter Inches. This armoi
. presents "a objective front to shor
passing through the sides and threaten
u ing the magazines and the motiv.
power, and, Of course, gives the vesse
: the power of standing up before Graf
= capable OF dealing IA certain destruc
u ton TO the simple cruiser. Again
y n coal Is slowed along the sides anl
. aeove and below the water-tight pro
tective deck ; and a new defense in tn;
shape OF q band Of cellulose stand,
ready TO take the first shock OF attach
= and 10 plug automatically by its owl
swelling all shot holes admittins
. water. OF course, il is not proc
. against explosive shell, which may
dtsplace 1t rather than merely pas,
through it.
y OF tho protective cruiser type, the
olympia Is by long odds the most typi
cal vessel in our service. Aside from
her hull protection, the guns Of he,
' main battery, four S.inch guns, ar,
mounted in Two t%urrets, an ail.arount
: shelf -, unequaled by any ship Of lik,
class and SIS In the world and som
y notion Of what this and the othel
. phases of this 5 800 ton ships defen
. sive qualities constitute may bt
gathered hen 1t is realized that she
!. could stand up and give q good &C
y count OF herself against either the
l British Powerful or Terrible. ships 0
over Ia, 900 tons displacement
= The armored cruiser, represented
u in our service by the New York and
Brooklyn. is the protected Cruiser bat
. tered by slightly heavier &'mor On her
. protective deck, slightly heavier armor
. about her turreted guns, and the pre-.
!, sence of q band of water-liue vertical
! armor and plating Of from three to
= four inches on her sides just above
. this heavy belt. This water-line
armor is placed amidships, and reaches
fore and aft throughout the region oc.
! cupied by the vitals. AS can be seen,
the armored cruiser Is a larger and
heavier protected version of the pro-
= tected cruiser, and, again, able to with
stand the blows hat would render an
unprotected or even % projected
cruiser defenseless in @ very short
while. She has great speed-in the
case OF the two vessels named. fully %
knots, and she is, as the old wooden
irigate was, the next most formidable
craft to II battleship. In battle she
may take her place in the line and
bear with the slower but more power
full ships q fair share of the enemy's
attack but her especial service will be
to look up the enemy's armored
cruisers-not ba~ttleships-.or the larger
OF her protected cruisers, and give
battle with u reasonable assurance of
victory.
The armored cruiser is the cavalry
man of the sea. and to vessels of this
class will fall that service demanding
| 1ash fnrpa anP nnioLron.a ~ o.,.