The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-05-22
PAGES II TO 20.


tive DAVIS of arnor-ciada2 The Buascar
was of but . 1o1 tons disbursement and a
spccd of NJ knots ana me armor plates
were but four inches thick on her hull
ana ave ana ona-baIf on her gun turrets
The two Chiifan cruisers had a disDlace-a
mont Of only Q $50 IONS eacb and a sDeetI
of m Knots Their arnor p,ate was nine
inches thick ON the sides taperlng 20 four
ana one-bolf "a tbt. ends while the central
battery was surrounded bv an S-inch
shield The heaviest guns in the fight we're
o-ineb n,uzzle-loadars This was no rest OF
tho modern fighting machine.
Tho Rritfeb red1ction of tbe forts of
Alnxandri, in 1882 was an equally ones
sided and indecisive affair. There were
nroctisalIv no barbor defenses in the bay.
ana tb4 FORTS oul shore were eomDaratively
ain,sv ana their ordnance was inferior 10
that of the Eritlsh Hcer. in which the mosG
formidahle vessel was tho old Inaexiple.
win her tWentv-four inches of arnor ana
her 16-inch guns. II was only question
of openine fire and kecping II up until the
place gave way. In the French bombard-
ment of Foo-Chow in 1884 only inferior yes
sells were engaged ana the Chinese re-
sistance was impotent They had few
tornedoes but used Them Without effect
The next event worth noting in naval war
fare As the revolt Of Admiral Meilo against
the authority OF President peixoto Of Bra
zl I'm the harbor Of Rio Janeiro. Septem-
her 1893 Rlello had command of the Aqui-
daban. a battleship OF 1850 tons. with a
compound armor belt aron faced with
stoeD eleven inches thick. ana a principal
armament of g-nch guns with him were
the Almirante Tamaudare an unarmored
cruiser Of 4.l65 tons displacement and
light armament. some small cruisers and
gunboats. and three torpedo boats The
navy faithful to Peixoto was inferior and
scattered abroad at the time. but befors
the conflict was over in March 1894 he
got together a fieei containing the rather
heavily armored and armed Riachuelo OF
500 tons. and armored BENJAMIN Con-
slant, 2750 tons. and several smaller ves-
sells But the contest was for the pos
session Of ports and points, on shore ana
there was no direct engagement betweer
tho naval forces
The nearest approach 10 a test OF naval
fighting appliances came IN the battle Of
the Yalu, or of Hai-Yan-Tau. in the war
between China and Japan. In 1895. but how
far thats came from being a serious test
can be seen by briefly recalling the events
and the forces engaged China had two
rather powerful barbette ships. the Ting
| Yuen and the Chen Yuen, of 1890 tons
/ each, with 1i-lnch armor belts and 3-inclI
| protective steel decks and a heavy arma-
ment OF Pinch guns. with these were
three much smaller armored ships-less
| than 3 900 tons each-and three stin small
| er cruisers and gunboats and a small TO-
! tllia of torpedo boats.
The largest vessels In the Japanese feet
were three unarmored cruisers OF 4,277 tons
! each ana their heaviest ordnance consist
/ ed of 6-inch guns. There were three ar
mored vessels with these-one of 37l8 tons.
! with a 7-inch armor belt and some ~
inch gums; one OF 2450 tons 4IS-inch ar
NOR belt and no guns over 47-inch CALI
Der and the third of 200 tons. 4I5-inch ar
NOR and small guns only. There was all
so a van squadron of four unarrnored yes
sells. only one of which was Of considera-
bic size. (415O tons) This one carried no
guns over 6-inch caliber but there wers
two gunboats. each of which had two 2
inch guns The naval machinery of the
Chinese was superior 10 that of japan. but
it was ill-supplied with ammunition and
badly handed. Each shin acted independ-
/ emily while the Japanesa squadron was d.
rected as whole ana operat-
| ed with GOODNESS and slsil The Chinese lost
FIVE vessels out of fourteen and the lam
anese fleet was little damaged. To the ma
| val attack ubon Port Arthur there was liz
lie resistance while at Xyei-Hai-Wei there
was q desperate effort AT defense on tho
mart of the remnant of the Chinese feet
| but q was homeless The Ting Yuen. with
Two smaller. vessels was sunk and the
Chen Yuen and slx smaller ones were cap
tured. The Chinese navy was practically