The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1898-03-03

THE WHITE SQADRON.
Fighting Strength of the United
States Navy as Compared With
That of Spain.
{ Atlanta Constitution.

The possibility of serious interna-
tional complications, growing out Of
the recent destruction of our battle
ship Maine, in the harbOr CT Havana.
naturally arouses fresh interest in
the fighting strength Of our Ameri-
can naval outfit.
OF course the frightful disaster
which has overtaken the Maine,
whether due to Spanish foul play or
to some internal accident, tends to
weaken public confidence in the secu-
ritv afforded by our battleships, and
to bring distrust upon the entire
white squadron. Nor is this to be
easily avoided when the country is
suddenly confronted with the specta-
Gle of seeing one of its gigantic iron
clads converted into mere doll rags
bv reason of some mysterious explO-
sion. In such mishaps as the one
which now confronts us is it not
proper to apply the old adage and
Judge of the entire squadron by the
power of resistance which the Maine
has manifested, or rather failed to
manifest?
While this question is bound to
ari in the public mind, it is well to
note that the Maine, although cost
ing the government somewhere in
the neighborhood of $780, 900, does
not appear in the catalogue of our
frst-class battleships. Since its total
displacement aggregated only 1852
tons, its proper designation is that
of second-class battleship. Our
tirst-class battleships, with fine ton
mage in each case, are nine in num-
Der as follows: The Kentucky, II, 1925
tons; the kearsage, II .525 tons; the
Illinois, II ,525; the Alabama, II, 525;
the Wisconsin, 1925: the Iowa,
11,41O; the Oregon, 1O,2SS: the Indi-
ana, 10, 2SS; the Massachusetts, 1O,-
2SS,
TO summarize the fighting strength
of the white squadron, it includes nine
tirst-class battleships, two second
class battleships, two armored cruis-
ers, thirteen protected cruisers, three
unprotected cruisers, one armOred
ram, six double turreted monitors,
thirteen single turreted monitors,
ten gunboats, six composite gun
podlS, I'LL CC pCNlll 1ldSS SuhpoalS,
twenty-five steel torpedo boats, one
wooden torpedo boat, five iron cruis-
| ing vessels, eleven sailing vessels,
| six tugs, eight wooden steam vessels
and six wooden sailing vessels. In
the aggregate there are al different
naval pieces in the white squadron,
only fourteen of which are obsolete
| and unfit for service in the event of
war. SO far as the resistive power of
our battleships is concerned, it is
safe to say that in spite of the disas
trous experience of the Maine, there
is no country on the globe, which
can boast of superior engines Of war.
OF course such countries as Great
Britain and France are provided with
more of them, but they are not of
better workmanship.
But what of Spain's naval outfit?
This question is certainly pertinent
in this connection. Most of Spain's
naval engines are out of date. She
has only one tirst-class battleship
which is worthy the name-the Pc
laya-and even this falls considerably
short of our smallest one, it's dis
placement being only $500 tons. One
apparent advantage which SPANS
fleet has over ours is in the number
of armored cruisers. While her fleet
contains seven of these cruisers, ours
contains only two, viz, the New
York and Brooklyn; but this advan-
tage is partially overcome by the
superior equipment Of our cruisers.
The New York and the Brooklyn
carry seventy-four monster guns, the
Spanish cruisers carry POS smaller
and inferior ones On good authority
the statement is made that Spain has
no sea. going coast-defense ships,
while this country has six, carrying
thirty heavy guns and tifty-two light
guns. Of non-sea-going coast-defend-
erS Spain has only two, while this
country is credited with fourteen.
OF protected and non-protected
cruisers. Spain has only five, while
the United States has sixteen. In
the number of gunboats and torpedo
boats available for use in the event of
hostilites, the United States is also
ahead of Spain.
From this hastv review of the two
squadrons, it is evident that the
United States possesses every advan-
tage over Spain, and that if war
comes, as now seems imminent, it
will be the latter power which will
have everything to lose.