The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-05-23
MAJOR DOMo" ON
CRUISER DETROIT.

mounted on the deck of the superstruc-
ture, three on either side, and one
1-pounder is placed on either side Of
the pilot house trained forward. The
other two 1-pounders are in the Eight
Ing tops" on the military mast, about
twenty feet above the dsck, one trained
forward and the other aft. The vessel
| is also plentifully supplied with small
! arms, cutlasses, etc.
IS WELL PROTECTED.
The Monterey is twin-screw, steel
armored monitor of 4,0S4 tons displace-
ment. In fighting trim the displace-
raent is 1880 tons. The length be-
1 tween perpendiculars is $50 feet; over
all, 262 feet inches. 1t is II feet
l from keel to main deck, and the mSan
| draught of 14.9 f;et, leaving freeboard
| of 2.3 feet The barbette armor Is 13
| inches thick and the turret armor is
8 inches thick.
The light draught enables the Mon
terey to choose her own fighting wa
ters. She is short enough to be easily
handled, making complete turn in
five minutes. and broad enough for
| water as to present limited target to
the shots of the enemy's guns, and 50
we'll protected with armor as to pre-
vent her engines or guns being dis
abled by the heaviest ordnance.
The bow is ram-shapcd and has been
strengthened fer ramming purposes.
The thickness of her armor belt is 13
| inches and her speed is thirteen knots
an hour. The steel belt armor extends
the entire length of the vessel, from 2
feet inches above the cruising load
water line.
DEVOID OF WEAK SPOTS.
The Monterey is devoid of the struct-
ural weaknesses which made the moni-
tor class of vessels unseaworthy, par
ticularly in the matter Of the overhang.
which presented to every ocean wave
target that could not be missed. She
was built in the Union Iron Works,
San Francisco, where she was launched
April 28, 1890, on the occasion of Presi-
dent Harrison's visit to the Pacific
coast. Her cost was $1,62S,950 The
vessel was named by President Harri-
son, who held that in view Of the fact
the Pacific coast it should have name
of local historical significance. AS the
first state government California ever
had was formed at Monterey; as the
Bear flag was raised there by pioneers;
as ore Of the great battles of the Mex
lean war was fought at Monterey the
president selected that name for the
vessel on Christmas day, 1885,
SLOW BUT SURE
Some officials of the navy department
discount the Monterey's qualities be-
cause Of it's slow travelling rate It is
not known whether the monitor will
proceed to the Philippines with an es-
cort or alone, but in any event it will
be absolutely necessary to make a stop
at the Hawaiian islands for fuel, be-
cause going at its utmost speed it's
ponderous furnaces will consume all
the coal which the decks and bunkers
will hold.
Neither Secretary Long nor the
strategy board entertains any fear that
the Spaniards will attempt to intercept
the monitor, but even in the event of
such a contingency the Monterey will
give a good account of itself, being
capable of withstanding an attack from
more than one warship, which would
probably be sunk before it perished
But it cannot be conceived that the
Spaniards would fall upon a monitor
With fleet unless by accident. and
therefore Secretary Long believes the
monterey will make the trip unmo-
Tested.