The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1898-06-06

Produce the Cruisers-The Torpedo
Hoat and the Destroyer.
In these days of war talk there are
n great many expressions in common
use by persons who have no clear un-
derstanding of their meaning This is
especially true of naval affairs, the
Technology of seamanship being al
ways more or less confusing TO lands
man. One constantly hears persons
gunboats, battleships and monitors,
without any distinct idea Of the diffel-
ence in the various types of vessels Of
which they speak so Familiarity.
There are ten principal classes of ves-
sells in the United States navy, distin
guished one frons~another by the diff
ference in their uses and by their
strength and speed. The general prin-
ciple underlying their construction is
that vessel which Is not strong
enough to fight one of her own size
must be fast enough to run away. Any
vessel which is inferior in armament
and no compensating superiority in
speed is outclassed. The same is true
of any vessel which is equal in arma-
tnent but inferior in speed to an adj
Nersary.
The size of vessel IL measured by
Its displacement. This displacement is
the number Of tons of water she will
push aside to make room for herself.
Va vessel of 10000 tons will take engines
of a certain weight and power to drive
her at a given speed, and the larger
the engines the larger the boilers and
the greater the supply of coal required
Now, if it is necessary to give this YES
sci heavy protective armor and big
guns, the additional weight of this
equipment must be saved somewhere
else, and usually in the engine room,
reducing the speed Of the vessel. Fol-
lowing out this principle, it will be
found that the fastest ships carry the
highest armament and that those
which carry the biggest guns in their
batteries and the thickest armor on
their sides are comparatively slow, the
extreme variation among vessels of the
same displacement being about eight
pr nine miles an hour
In the matter of attack and defence,
vessels are distinguished by the num-
Der and weight of the guns they carry
and by the distribution and thickness
of their armor. Protective armor is of
Two kinds, that which surrounds the
guns, SO as to protect them from the
enemy's fire, and that which protects
the motive power of the ship, so as to
prevent the engines from being render
ed useless.
The maximum of guns and armor
I and the minimum of speed are to be
found in the first-class battleship,
which is simply floating fortress, so
constructed that she need never run
away, but can stand UP and fight as
long as her gun turrets will revolve.
& The general plan of construction in a
battleslip is to surround the engines,
boilers, and magazines with a wall of
IIarveyized steel armor eighteen inches
or SO thick and seven or eight feet
high, which extends about four feet
below the water line and three feet
above it. This arrnor belt is not only
on the sides of the ship. but is carried
across it fore and aft, Immediately in
front of and behind the space occupied
by the engines and magazines, and the
whole affair is covered with solid
steel roof, three of four inches thick.
Outside this central fortress and ex-
tending from it clear to the bow and
stern at each end is a protective deck
OF steel, three inches thick, which is
placed several feet below the water
1 line Everything above this deck and
outside this fortress might be shot
away, and the vessel would still float
and fight.
On the roof of the fortress are placed
The turrets containing the big guns.
The largest of these guns, 13-inch cali
bre. weigh about sixty tons each, and
will carry shell weighing LOO pounds
about twelve miles. The turrets are
circular, as rule, large enough to hold
two guns and are made Of face-hard-
ened steel from fifteen to eighteen inch
es thick. They revolve within a bar
bette or ring Of steel eighteen inches
khick which protects the machinery by
which the guns are trained. Further
back on the roof of the fortress are
bther and lighter turrets made of s.
Inch steel and carrying 8-inch guns
and at other places are stationed rap
adly-f1ring guns Of lighter calibre, pro-
tected by thinner armor than that in
the main belt.
IL I'LL ILLS 6GCOIQdly DdllSIy 10 sup
ped off, leaving nothing but the tur-
Eets with the big guns, and these are
brought down close to the water, and
the armor belt is reduced to seven OF
eight inches in thickness, the type OF
vessel known as the monitor is reach
3D. 1t is simply battleship on a re-
Huced scale. Such vessels are very slow
and cannot stand rough weather, or
Recount of their low freeboard. This
speed of monitors is seldom more thar
twelve or fourteen miles an hour, and
they are intended to act in coast de-
fence, usually in connection with shore
batteries. The best types in the navy
are the Terror and the Puritan.
THE speed of a battleship is about
eighteen miles an hour The best speci-
men in the navy is the Indiana, de-
clared by its admirers to be the most
powerful battleship afloat.
Second-class battleships, like the
Texas, are smaller vessels, usually
about 1000 TONS and they have a much
lighter armor belt, about twelve inches
and do not carry so heavy an arma-
ment as ships of the f1rst-class. TIL
Maine was a second-class battle
ship. Her largest guns were of 10-incf
calibre; her armor was twelve inches
thick and her turrets were eight inches