The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-05-17
The Fleets Compared.

If must be confessed that the prOba-
bilities of an early naval battle in the
Atlantic ocean or Caribbean sea are
decreasing. A battle will be fought If
either Sampson or Schley can get with
in shooting range of Cervera; but with
the latter able to sail at the rate of 20
knots an hour while neither of the
American commanders can 60 faster
than Is knots 1t is clear that accident
alone can bring about a meeting unless
the Spaniard elects to have one.
such a meeting would be viewed with
intense interest by on-combatants as
well as bolligerents, for it would
answer many questions that now per-
pleX the constructors Of armor-clad
warships The displacement of Samp-
sons fleet is $4,000 tons; Of Schley's,
"a 900; OF Cervera's, 1900. OF large
ordnance the Spaniard has six i1-inch
and two 1O-inCh guns, against four l@-
inch, eight Pinch and eight lO-inch
guns on SIMPSONS fleet, and four l3-
inch and two Pinch guns on Schley's.
In secondary batteries the dispropor-
ton is even greater Sampson has
twenty-five and Schley sixteen S-inch
guns, against forty 5la to 6-inch guns
for Cervera; yet while here the Span
ish heavy ordnance stops, Sampson also
has four 6-inch, nine 5-inch and twen-
ty-six 4-inCh guns, and Schley has
twenty 6-inch, twelve 5-inCh and ten
4-inch guns Roughly speaking, Samp-
10 of
metal to CerVera's one pound; and
Schley's, two to one. Even the lone
Oregon, which the Spaniard may try
to intercept. has 3.OO4 foot-tons of en-
ergy in excess of the combined energy
of the Spanish fleet, and, barring acci-
dents and torpedo boats. could prob
ably defend herself successfully against
Cerveras four cruisers.
In protective armOr the contrast pre-
sented between the fleets is likewise
marked. The thickest point in the ar
NOR belts Of the Spanish ships is 10
inches with a coming tower resist
ance of II inches. Sampson and Schley
each have a battleship with lS-inCh
armOr and coming tower resistance
equal to 20 inches; while i'm Sampson S
command are the Iowa with 1i-inCh
armor and the three monitors with ar
NOR belts ranging in thickness from
to II inches, and in SChley's is the
Texas with Pinch armor on paper
our armOred cruisers, the New York
with finch armOr and the Brooklyn
with 3-inch. look weak, but it must be
remembered that the armor plates on
the American ships are made OF the
hest Harveyized steel, which even our
own high-power guns cannot splinter
while the Spanish armor is of Com
posite' steel, proved by tests to be
brittle and easily knocked to pieces.
These figures, TO say nothing of our
admittedly superior gunnery, so well
demonstrated at Manila, Matanzas and
San Juan, sustain the belief that the
Spanish admiral will not invite fight
He may be cOrnered, but if he is il
win be through his own stupidity, fOl
the sea offers ample room in which a
20-knOt fleet can get away from two
pursuing 1J-knOt fleets. A naval battle
on such a scale would he immensely
interesting and Instructive hut the
chances seem to indicate that it is not
To- be. The present experience may
teach us one thing however, and that
is that speed in a navy is fully as es.
sential as shooting power. If we had
a few fast armored cruisers like the
Nizcaya this war would soon be
brought to an end, on the ocean al
least.