The evening times., 1899-04-24
GROWTH OF THE
AMERICAN navy
Forty.eight Warships Now
Under Construction.
The Contracts Distributed Among
Fourteen Firms.
Names of the New Sea Fighters and
the Prices to He Paid
for Them.

The completion with few months OF two
| great battleships. the Kearsarge and the
Kentucky. serves to call attention to the
remarkable rate at which the American
Navy is growing at the present time. Ex-
! cept among naval officers who watch this
progress. few persons realize that forty
| eight warships are now under construction
! for the United States, involving expendi-
| lures under existing contracts aggregating
| $33. 1896. 600 for hulls and machinery alone
These vessels when equipped ready for sea
| will have cost over $4,000. 900. Eight OF
| them are first-class sea-going battleships
as good as any afioat without taking into
account the superiority of the gunners,
machinists, and officers to man them. Six
teen are torpedo boat destroyers averaging
| twenty nine knots speed. four are heavy
| harbor defence monitors, one is a sister
cruiser to the New Orleans. and eighteen
are torpedo boats.
One OF the most notable facts about this
vast construction undertaking is its dis
! tributon. exhibiting the great change that
has taken place in the shipbuilding indus
try since, at the organization of the new
navy, the first four ships were built by a
single firm. Today fourteen American con-
Germs are building ships for the navy. and
OF these twelve are scattered along the At
lsntic coast from Maine to Virginia, and
two are on the Pacific, at Portland and
San Francisco. The sheathed cruiser alone
is foreign built She was bought on the
stocks from Brazil when the war with
Spain became inevitable, because Brazil
would not sell one ship which the Unted
States desired without disposing of others
at the same time.
The Navy Department needed the ANA
zonas, il for nothing else than to prevent
Spain from getting her. The N.tch roy.
a. valuation of $4,000, was made a
part of the deal and after thorough
overhauiing has bscome the useful Buffalo.
The AmaZonas. barely completed. cost
81, 42?, 215, and was Immediately put to
good service as the New Orleans. being
the only American wa:ship in the war pro-
vided with smokeless powder for all bat
teries. Her sister ship. the Almirante
Abru. was then only few Iibs at the Els
wick yard. al Newcastle Tyne, but the
Navy Department cheerfully took the con-
tract off the Brazilians' hands at the rate
of s1,205,0o0. and. by adding 100000 to
tina, amount, will soon have fine cruiser
in the Albany. recently launched.
The American built ships now in various
price for hull and machinery alone, are
distributed among the shipyards as fol-
lows:
~ the Bath Iron Works. Bath. Me-The Con-
necticut (monitor). $50. 900: the Dahlgren 49,
knot torpedo boat). slg4.0D1: the Craven go
knot torpedo bodO. sl9i.OJ0; the Chesapeake
UFaininS ship. sii2.600; the Bagley (2sknot tor
pedo boat), sl6l,0)O; the Barney (2S-knot torpe
ia boat. s!6l.O9D; the Biddle (2s-knot torpedo
boaD, sl6l.O10; total, 81 $1,000
At George Iawcy & Sons. South Bosion-The
Biakely t26knot torpedo boaD. sl5a, 400; the De-
long (36-knot torpedo boat) SEQ 100: total s3ls
$40
At Fore River Engine Company Weymouth,
Mass.-The Lawrence (S0-knot destroyerl, S2sl,-
oO1' the Nacdonoush (5Oknot destroyer. $751;
AT the Gas Engine and Power Company and
Charles l.. Seabgry Il Co. (cousDlidatedD Norris
Heights, y. Y.-Thc Stewart (2Jknot destroycr).
$4,000; the Bailey tS0-knot torpedo boaO. S2lO,-
coo: total, S4G2.Op0.
At Lewis NNon's tCrescent ShipyarN Eliza
bethport \. J-The Florida (nlonitor), ss25. .g01:
the Nicholson t2dknot torpedo boat) sl65. 900:
the o'Brien t2d-knOt torpedo boat, SIG. .oo1:
total. 81, $500
At William Camp & Sons Ship and Engine
Building Company. Philadelphia The Alabama
thattleship). s2.65).0D0: the Maine (battleship)
S2,ss5,0O0; total, 50, ,5S5 600.
At the Nefe & Levy Shipbuilding COMPANY
Philadelphia-The Bainbridge (Z9knot DESTROYER
s2sS.0o0: the Barry (20knot destroyer), s2sS 0ol;
the Chauncey (2oknot dcstroyer). S2s3, 600: total
$4,000
At the Harlem Il Holingsworth Company vii
mngton, Del.-Thc Hopkins (29-knot destroyer).
sol 900; the Hull (29knot destroyer). 500. .OaD;
the StTingham t3O-knot torpedo boar. $3.50, 900:
total. Ssls,0DD.
At the Columbian Iron Works and Dry,.ock
Company, Baltimore-The Tingey (sG-knot tor
pedo boat). sl6e.G00; the Piunger (s-knot sub
marine boaO. sl590o0; total s3ls0oo.
At the Maryland Steel Company. Sparrow
II
s2s6,0oo the whpple (39-knot destroyer. $685.
900: the worden tS0Anot destroycD, s2s6. 900;
total. Ss5S. coo.
At the William r. Trigg Company. Richmond.
Na.-Thc Dale (2S-knot destroyerl, 500. 900; the
Decatur (2s-knot destroyer). sa6o. 900: the shur-
brick t26knot torpedo boat). sl2o $50; the Stock
ton C26-knot torpedo boap. sl2o $50: the Thorn
ton t25knot torpedo boat, Sl2o..50; total, $780,
$50.
Al Newport News Shpbuilding and Drydock
Company, Newport News, Na.-The Kearsarge
tbattleship), S2,25G.910: the Kentucky tbattle-
ship, $1,000 600; the Illinois fhatt,eship) 50 595,
900: the Missouri (hattleship), s.. .ss5. .0O0 and
the Arkansas (monitor), Ss5oo00; total, $40. .Si0,-
OJO.
At Wolff & Sewicker Iron Works. Portland Or.
The Goldsborough C30-knot torpedo boat, s2li,-
coo.
At Union Iron Works (Scott's), San Francisco.
Tie Wisconsin (battleship), S2.67l.95O the
Ohio (battleshp), S2,sgs.0O0; the Wyoming
(monitor). ssI5.oOO; the Paul Jones (eo-knot de-
stfOyer), SZsJ.pp. tnc ferry lzJ-hnot uestroycrD,
s2s5. .Ooo. and the Preble (29-knot destroyer).
s2s5 600; total. s7,S03,95o
This is a gratifying showing but in less
than a year the capacity of the largest of
these plants will be taxed when the plans
are completed for the twelve ships author
lied by the last session Of Congress. and
perhaps there will be new competitors for
the work. OF the latter vessels nothing
has been done about the three battleships
and three great armored cruisers because
of the impossibility of contracting for their
armor within Congress Limitation of price.