Evening star., 1899-03-07
Will Be Forced to Take Inferior
Armor.
WORKING ON PLANS FOR THE VESSELS
Description,of Their General Equip
ment.
DESIGNS. FOR SIX CRUISERS

1t is announced with regret that for the
fl st time since the United States embarked
upon the construction of the new navy
the new ships will not have the best armor
in the world. 1t has been the boast of the
Navy Department that in all matters of
material, guns. armor and engines and ship
plate the United States naval vessels repre-
sented the highest development. The gov
ernment has done much to develop this
material itself, being among the first to
obtain the use of steel for the hulls Of
warships and to use ace-hardened armor.
Now it is said at the ordnance bureau
that for the new ships under construction,
at least for the three big battle ships,
Maine, Ohio and Missouri, the department
will have to accept armor inferior to that
which is now being placed on the best Eu-
ropean warships. 1t was supposed when as
the outcome of the bitter fight between the
Senate and House over the armor clause of
the naval appropriation bill the department
was authorized to pay s4G0 a ton for armor
for the six ships already contracted for
that this would secure the best armOr
That suppostion is not entertained at the
department, for the Secretary had submit
ted carefully prepared estimates showing
that the cost of the new gas process or
Krupp armor would be $545 a ton. There
fore, all that can be done is to take Har-
veyized armor at $4O0 a ton, involving the
sacrifice of 75 per cent of the battle ships
efficiency from a defensive point of view.
The officers point out that had they been
allowed to secure the stronger armor, with
the same defensive power, they would have
been able to save about . per cent in
weight as compared with the Harveyized
armor, enabling this enormous saving of
hundreds of tons to be aplpied to increase
of the power of the engines and guns of
the ship.
Working Out the Plans.
The situation has been accepted, however
and the plans for the three big battle ships
authorized by the appropriation bill just
passed are being worked out. The general
features of the ships have been designed
subject to the approval of the Secretary.
The battle ships will be a thousand tons
larger than the Maine and Missouri class,
of total displacement of 1850 tons, max
Ing them by far the largest ships in the
American navy, and about equal IN dimen-
sions to the best type of battle ships now
being cons tructed abroad under the rev
practice. Though larger than the Maine,
the ships will be laid on almost the same
lines, being only a little greater in every
dimension. They will each carry four 12-
inch guns in turrets. This caliber is an
lncn less than the guns carried by the Ore
gon, but by improved design they will be
almost equal in penetrative power.
The S-inch guns of the Oregon tyne al
though they did very effective work at
Santiago and Manila, have been abandoned
But instead of eight S-inch guns the lew
ships Will have no less than sixteen guns
twenty 6-pounders. This battery represents
the ideal proportion between guns as
taught by the experience of our own faets
during the Spanish war and of the Chinese
ana japanese vessels during their late war
The speed of the ships will be Is knots
an advance of two knots over the Oregon
class, but just equal to that of the new
Maine.
The ArmOr Belt.
For protection against the enemy's shot
the battle ships will have one belt of armor
seven feet six inches broad, running clear
around the water line, three feet six inches
above and four feet below. 1t was orig
1nally planned to have this armor sixteen
inches thick, but the designers have now
reduced the thickness to twelve inches
This change was made in order to strength
en- the easements, which will be made savep
and half inches thick, instead of five
lnches. Altogether there is a notable ab-
sence OF new features in the designs of the
pattle ships, which fact taken in connec-
uon with the small amount of progress re-
ported in the designs for the Maine class
may be an indication that our naval de-
slsnerS nave very nearly approached the
Ideal battle ship in their work. As far as
these particular ships are concerned the
fact that the Navy Department is limited
In the purchase of armor makes it impossi
Bile to build them in the absence of further
Legislation, and the department will he
obliged to content itself with the mere
preparation of detailed plans during the
coming summer.
The New Cruisers
The six cruisers of the unarmored tvue
provided for can, however be built and
Chief Constructor Hichborn has already
been working out the designs upon lines
approved by the board of bureau chiefs. 1t
is the purpose of the Navy Department to
place contracts for these ships at the ear
Hest possible moment. They represent a
type OF cruiser which would be of the
greatest value just now for our foreign
service. The plans call for vessels of about
$50 tons, and the ships will be improved
Marpleheads, so to speak, being 600 tons
larger than ships of that class, and with
better batteries and more coal capacity A
most important consideration is that they
VIII be sheathed with wood over the steel
hull and fully coppered. enabling them to
Keep the seas even in tropical waters for
many months without being under the ne
cessity of seeking a dry dock The bat
terry will be made up of six five-inch guns
for each ship. The cost is expected to be
considerably more than that of the Marble
head, which was S674 900, for the amount
allowed by Congress was 81, ,141 800 each.
This difference is accounted for by the
many improvements made in the Marble
heads designs, a notable one being the
use OF water tube boilers, giving much
greater sped and economy.