The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-05-31
KEAnsARGE AND KENTUCKY.
The view nntdeshiDs Nearing Com
pIetion-
From the New York Eve uing POST.


From the New York Eve ming Post.
Washington, May 27.-Navy department
officials confidently expect 20 be able TO
nut the two new battleships Ike arsarge and
Kentuekv in commission during the com
ing summer. The two vessels are al
Newport News. Va. They are practical
" completed except for oortaiE. finishing
work on the inside All the arE.or is now
in Mace. the last shutterplaie having been
dtted. il is learned within the aast lew
days
The batteries for the two ships are GEM
plete in every detail. he guns however.
with the exception Of the tutreL r aes, VIII
not be mounted until jusI before commits
sioning. On the trial irips equivalent
weights viii be substituted IN a AuinOef q
the gun positions
Preliminary tests made OF the mechan-
ism Of the turrets have proved very sat-
isfactory. The turrets of the keafsarse
and Kentucky are superimposed. Ald inc
reports on the working Of the new - stern
in actual service are being looked lof-
ward TO- expectantly. by naval Objects.
The power employed for turning the tuF-
rets hosting ammunition, and operating
gun-working machinery is electricity Al
though considerable skill is demanded for
the proper care of electric mechanism, eN-
perience has shown that on those ships
where electricity is employed 10 consider
able extent officers and men rapidly adapt
themselves to the new conditions, no mat
ter how novel or intricate their character.
The hammers Tor the heavy turret guns
of the Kearsarge and her sister ship win
be a simple form of telescope rammer
capable of being worked by hand or BY
electric power IN the early types Of
United States battleshps hammers for tur-
ret guns have been operated by hydraulic
power. These hydraulic hammers are now
being replaced by new contriyaHce
known as the hydro-pneumatic rammef
With the exception Of the heavy turret
guns, all rifles on the Kearsarge and Ken
lucky are of the rapid-fire type. The ut
tings for the guns are Of the most improV-
ed form. Every gun, save the SMALLEST
calibred weapons, will be supplied with
telescope sights. In addition 20 the tele>
scopic sight, there viii be furnished TO
ship in It's place in case of acioent, an
auxiliary horizontal bar-sight.
Heretofore the sighting arrangement for
turret guns on United States vessels has
been confined 10 the sighting hoods. The
hoods are paced above the turret just ovA'
each gun position. The officer or gunner
who is directing the firing occupies a sad
die rugged up in the sighting hood Sits
cut in the sides of the hood enable him 10
see beyond. The hoods, as a rule. are the
weakest parts of the turrets and ii is cal
culated that a blow from a 6-inch projec-
tile would destroy any sighting hood Il
fairly struck, and while the guns and tur-
fet would remain intact the means OF
sighting would have disappeared. To OBJ
Viate any such disaster the ordnance off,
Gals have arranged TO fit to the urret
guns of the two new battleshps a bar
sight, TO be used through a slit in the main
turret armor. The bar sight will be in ad-
dition TO the telescope sight in the sight
ing hood.
The l-pounder guns of the Kearsaree
ana her sister vii! be drawn, Il is said
from LOT consisting of 100 heavy auto
matte guns recently completed at The
Washington gun foundry. Tests made OF
these new guns record a rate of fire of $50
shots per minute. The 1-pounders will be
utilized, however, merely for boat-guns
since the ordnance officials do not deem
weapons of this calibre as of appreciable
value in The economy of a battleship. The
6-pounder guns of the two new ships will
employ only armor-plercing shell Ii has
been found owing to the facilities for
manufacture at the present day, that steel
shell possessing armor-piercing properties
can be turned out practically as cheap
as common she'll
The Kearsarge and Kentucky are the
last Of The battleships TO be given 13-inch
guns. Ihese weapons weigh, each, sixty
and one-half tons, and four 13-Lnch guns
are allowed per vessel. In the turrets
mounted above the 13-inch guns S-inch
weapons will be carried. Hereafter Pinch
guns viii constitute the heaviest weapons
10 be mounted on United States vessels.
The new l2-inch gun of the American navy
Weighs only seven and one-half tons less
than the 13-inch rife, but the reduction in
size and in the weight of turrets, as de-
manded for the smaller gun, Is very great
Owing to the Introduction of smokeless
powder il IS possible to obtain power of
penetration for the capped Pinch shell,
weighing 500 pounds. which Is deemed suf-
ficient for all practical requirements of
to-day. II IS not doubted that the new ~
inch guns of the United States are able
to overcome. at 1900 yards, the armor that
is now carried by any ship afioat.
The crew compliments for the Kearsarge
and Kentucky will number Sill men for
each ship independent of some twenty
commissioned officers per vessel 1t is un-
derstood that for fully one year after
first going in commission the new craft
Will be retained in home waters If any
defects then develop they can at once be
made good.