The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1898-05-19

THE CAPE VERDE FLEET
AND THE OREGON"

IHkGAPE VERDE fLkkI u w.
am rug aoprsogs "A fleet Of armored cruisers and torpedo
boat detroyes which recently set sail
from the Cape Verde Islands? Has it gone north to effect a junction with
tire second division Of Spanish ships now about to sail from the mainland'
Is t 900 its way to cruise along our northern coasts and inmct what damage
10 can upon our less strongly fortified cjths2 VIII it attempt to make
Porto Rico aud shelter itself inside the harbOr mines and beneath the guns
Of the Notifications and await there the arrival OF the second sluadOui or
su now of the coast Of Brazil, strung out in scouting order across the
truck Of the .Oregor waiting 10 close in. m sighting her and crush the
ship by the sheer force OF numbers
There has been much fear expressed that the last is the move which
has been undertaken, and that, before any reinfOrccments can reach her, the
buffalo c"NtetrU7, , will tndherself confronted by an overwhelmingly
superior force 1t seems to us, however that, in spite Of the tempting op|
pUtuuty presented to get rid OF one Of our four frtdass batteships, the
cost o' victory will appear too great TO warrant the attempt Leaving out
which would only invite destruction by coming with range Of the 1l-inch
guns fthe Spanish cruisers We think that the tremendous offensive and
defensive powers Of the "Oegon" should enable her tosink one or two of
the enemy and seriously cripple the others before She was sent to the bot
tom, for it goes without saying that no American flag viii ever be struck
in the present war
The Spanish fleet consists Of four cruisers: the CrIobal Colon, Oquendo
Maria Teresa and Nzcaya. The first ship is we think, the best Of the four
and. taken an around, is perhaps the most formidable, though by no meausI
the largest in the Spanish. She is an Italian built ship Of $50 tons and
20 knots speed, and carries a complete belt from stem to stern of Ginch|
IIaryeyIzeda steel. while above this sd continuous amored redoubt of Ginch
iaycyized steel which protects a battery Of ten 6Inch ]Upid-arlug guns
Above this again is another battery Of six 47Inch mpd-aring guns pro-
lectea with Pinch plated and revolving shields. The heaviest armament
consists Of two l0Incb amorplering guns in 6-inch barbettes. There kaI
secondary battery Of ten 6.pouuders and ten LDoundes. The three others
are sister ship" Two OF them are familiar to residents Of New York, the
Maria THesa having lain in the North River during the Grant dedication.
and the Nzcaya visiting this port shortly after the Maine was destroyed.
Each ship is Of 1000 tons displacement and twenty knots speed. with al
3inch deck, l2inch waterlne belt and 1I inches Of steel protecting the
guns. Each is armed with two llInch guns, ten 5!Inch Qucl-fre
and fourteen Gpounders and IpounderS The three destroyers are of
400 tons displacement and 30 knots speed.
Now, wlnt has the Oregon to oppose to the four cruisers 1--WE VIII sup
pose that the Buffalo and the Marietta can take care Of the destroyers) n a
upon the high seas? To the two IOInch and six 1lIuch amor-
piercing guns with a total energy Of l34,5OO foottons. In addition to this.
with four 8inch guns OF 1000 foot-tons energy, and If on two sides. She +,
could reply with eight Sinch guns OF $4,000 foottons combined energy. In
ibtty to pierce the yitas OF the enemy it will be seen our ship has an
Of $4,000 toot-tons over the combined Spanish fleet. In respectI
protection the Oregon is even stronger than she is in heavy gun fire.
To reach her la-I0cn guns, the lltnch shells of the enemy must penetrated
III least 10 inches of face-haTdened IaTeeyzCd STEEL To get into the engine
boiler rooms they must pass through eighteen inches Of the same pro-
Now, the spanish ll-tnch gun Is barely able to penetrate Is inches
common steel at 1000 yards Hhe probable lighting range. and If can do
yhts only fit strikes at right angles to the surface Of the target and If the
plate is Of ordinary quality. The Orgons steel armor, however is
acehardened, and would easily break up Or resist complete perforation by
shells as might strike normal to the surface, We are now speaking of
he yltals and the main gun positions and. turning to the Spanish cruisers,
we find that they have only 1I and - inches Of the inferior grade of armor
l. e, inferior to our Iaryeylzcd stee9 to oppose to our 13.inch guns, which
ue capable OF penetrating 20 inches OF steel at 1000 yards. Now, these
because Of their excellent protection, could fight for hours with little =
likelihood Of being disabled, and the question arises what would become oIi
he Spanish barbettes and watcnlne belts IN the meantime? Under ueI
EXCELLENT Workmanship which ChaRcterzes our gunnes, It is safe to say T,
hat Il a stand-uD fight o amy duration the Oregon would disable every
gun Of the enemy and place her l3-ncb shells in the yitals Of every
ruBcr =
There are other element Of strength and weakness, however, which
must be considered. In the matter Of heavy m~pd-frlng guns, the advant- 7
gc would be the other way, the cruisers being able to open fire from one ,
roadside with five VInch, fifteen 54-nch and three 47inCh mpd-arers 7
Taking the average assumed speed Of fire per minute for each type of gun, r.
he energy Of the metal thrown by the cruisers in one minute would be about =
co. 600 roottons against 10000 foot-tons for the sow.frers of the OREGON H.
10" N"NNN N" 'NNNNNE RANA8 NNbN NIlGlN AUl Vie WIueI E
y of the Spanish gunners and the part or parts Of the Oregon against =,
it was directed, 1t would be harmless against the l7-inch barbetts, -
he l5inch turrets or the l8inCh belt. II It were directed against the thin
lating beneath the Sinch gun barbetts the guns would, Of course be nut a.
ut Of action. The real danger would be that It would be aimed at the I'M ~
morcd ends Of the vessel beyond the arnor belt, which would be blown -
way and admit water above the protective deck, throwing the ship off an +,
ven keel and interfering with the working Of the main guns.
The greatest danger however to the Oregon would be from the ram
nd it is probable that the swift cruisers would close in from opposte sides
the effort to deliver the fatal blow before they had themselves received a
blow from her powerful guns. It's certain she could be sunk BY HI
lese tactics, but it is more than probable that she would cripple all of her
antagonists and eventually take one Or more Of them with her to the he
)ttom, by
Unless the Spanish naval authorities are criminany ignorant Of the O.
Citing powers Of our individual ships they already foesee that the sink. co
g of the Oregon would be worse than fuuless victory, and would criphe dc
cr first line Of battle beyond all future hope of meeting our fleet success pc
lily in a general engagement. There would be nothing left for the W.
ipped ships but to get home to the dry dock as best they could and IL aD
Guild be months before Spain would be ready for active operations pc
All the probabilities point to combination Of the late Cane Verde a
uadron with the home squadron which is gathering at Cadiz. This will
obaby include the battlcship Peayo, 1900 tons; the armoed cruiser as
rios Y, 0235i the Csneros Catalina and Asturas 1000. three sister tn
Ups to the YRcaya; the protected cruisers Alphonzo Kill and rpnanto ee
90 tonsi and the two reconstructed iron batteshim NumancIa and Vic. ca
ria, Of 1900 tons, which have been reengined and armed with modern tn
batteries Not all Of these ships are Immediately available. hpt
m a careful comparison Of foreign references to their condition. H1ooks rs ~
they would be ready for sea In two or three weeks. In vlew Of tho
eat strength Of the fleet, it's not likely that Spain will send out her sbips
RA4