The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-04-10
IN CASE OF WAR.
THE STRENGTH OF AMERICAS AND
SPANS NAVY.
From the Scientific American.

peaceful methods. it is likely that if hos
tihties come at all they will come quickly.
Ii is equally certain that the issues of
war would be determined upon the sea,
and a brief comparison of the fighting
strength of the two navies will be just
now of special interest.
Could we defeat Spain upon the high
seas? 1t is safe to say that there is not
a citizen of this country that doubts for
moment that we could. To the lay.
mind the task of annihilatlng the Span
ish navy appears not only certain, but
easy; to the professional mind, as rep
resented by the men who design and fight
our ships. the task appears equally GER
tain, but by no means so easy of accom-
plishment
1t is better to over rather than under
estimate an opponent, and it is best of
all to rate him at his true value; hence
we may as well admit at the outset that
Spain would go into the war, as far as
her ships are concerned, with a homoge-
neous. compact and very formidable feet
-one which, If properly handled and
bravely fought would be by no means
unworthy opponent for the powerful
ships of the United States navy. Each
fleet would be strong where the other is
weak, and taking the two fleets as they
stand, swift, heavily armored cruisers
and deadly destroyers against mighty bat
tie ships and more lightly armored cruis-
ers, the issue, judged independently of
the men behind the guns" would be by
no means so certain as is popularity sup
posed. The man behind the gun, how
ever, would be the controlling factor and
1t is the supreme confidence of the Amer
lean public In the pluck and discipline of
the crews and the skill and daring of our
naval officers which renders 1t so conf
dent of final victory
If war should come, 1t would be the OBJ
ject of Spain to obtain a decisive naval
victory at the very outset, Cuba being the
objective point of both combatants, the
war would probably be carried on in Gu
ban waters. The almost insuperable diff
culties of coal supply would prevent any
delay in risky attempts upon our new well
defended seaports. The same difficulty
would render it to Span's advantage to
wage an aggressive warfare and deal as
early as possible an effective blow in
general engagement. The approach of the
powerful battleship Oregon, from the Pa
cific, would prompt such a policy. 1t is
more than likely that numerous squad
ron, comprising all the powerful armored
fighting ships of the Spanish navy end
their recently completed torpedo boat de-
stroyers, would be despatched to give bat
tie to our combined fleets in the neighbor-
hood of Cuba.
We win suppose that only the armored
ships would be placed in the first line of
battle, and, for the purpose of compari-
son, we will suppose that all the modern
armored ships of Spain would be sent over
in the effort to win a decisive battle.
The Spanish line could boast of only one
first-class battleship, the Pelayo. She is
9,900-ton ship, OF 16 knots speed, carrying
two 121s and two 11-inch guns in 11-inch
steel barbettes placed high above the wa
ter line. She has a 177-inch steel belt
along the whole water line, and her sec
ondary battery con tains nine 51a-inch rap
id-fre guns. She is a good ship but pos
eesses the fatal defect of having no armor
protection between the barbettes and the
belt On this account, high explosive
shells bursting beneath the barbettes might
easily put them out of action. To the Pc
layo we would oppose the Iowa, of II, 40
tons, carrying four Pinch guns, eight g.
inch guns, and a secondary battery of four
6-inch guns. She is protected by a A-incn
belt, and the main battery is protected
from the turret roof down to the belt with
10 inches of steel. She is thus larger and
more heavily armed and armored than the
Pelayo, and, saving the chances Of a mod
ern sea fight, should easily silence or sink
the Spaniard.
With the exception of its one first-class
battIeship the Spanish line of battle would
consist Of a magnificent fleet of eight
swift heavily armed and heavily armored
cruisers, similar in size, speed and power.
and admirably adapted to act together
In a concerted fleet action. There is no
nation in the world that possesses such a
fleet, not even England, and the fact that
the ships are all built to carry the large
normal coal supply of 1900 tons would
seem to indicate that they were built for
lust such an emergency as now confronts
them.
The most important and largest Of these
ships is the Carlos V of 9,235 tons and 20
knots speed. Her curved deck plating Is
ga inches thick, and her secondary bat
terry is protected by continuous belt OF
two inches of STEEL She carries two H.
inch guns disposed in two barbettes of 10
inch steel, and a secondary battery OF
eight 51a-iuch and four 3.9-inch rapid-f1re
guns Against her we could oppose the
Brooklyn, which closely resembles her in
many points She is of $3.50 tons displace-
ment, PIG knots speed and is protected
by a steel deck six inches thick on tho
steel extending in the wake of the engine
rooms and boilers. She carries an excep-
tionally heavy battery of eight S-inch guns.
protected by 515 and inches of steel, and
a secondary battery of twelve 5-inch rapid
fire guns Unless a lucky shell from the
great 11-inch guns OF the Carlos should
find its way into her engine or boiler
rooms, she should prove more than
match for the Spaniard.
Following the Carlos V in Importance
is the Crislobal Colon, built in Italy, whose
sister ship the Varese, the Spanards were
very anxious to purchase from Italy. This
is a most interesting ship, and il is a
question whether, In spite of her small
size-6, $40 tons--she is not more formda-
BILE than the Carlos V. The remarkable
feature of the ship is the extensive armor
protection, which is so complete as 10 en-
title her to be called a baUleship rather
than cruiser. A 6-inch steel belt which
completely protects a battery of ten 6-inch
rapid-fire guns, and above this is another
battery of 6.7-inch rapid-fire guns. The
main battery consists of two 1O-inch arm
or-piercing guns in 6-nch baroetes. The
speed is the same as that of the other
crulsers-20 knots. Against this boat we
could oppose the New York, a smaller
edition of the Brooklyn. She is of $500
ions displacement, q knots speed, and Is