The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-03-08
Plans for Three Being
Worked Out.
NEARLY LIKE MAINE,
They Will Be the Largest
in American Navy.

Washington, March THE plans for
the three big battleships authorized by
the naval appropriations bill just pass
ed, are being worked out. The gen
eral features of the ships have been
defined, subject to the approval of the
secretary.
The battleships will be thousand
tons larger than the Maine and Missou-
ri class, of a total displacement of 49,
500 tons, making them by far the lar
gest ships in the American navy, about
equal in dimensions to the best type
of battleships now being constructed
abroad under the new practice.
Though larger than the Maine, the
ships will be laid on almost the same
lines, being only little greater in ev-
cry dimension. They will carry each
four 12-inch guns in turrets. This cal
ibre is an inch less than the guns car
ried by the Oregon, but by improved
design, they will be almost equal in
penetrative power The S-inch guns
of the Oregon type, although they did
very effective work at Santiago and
Manila, have been abandoned. But in
stead of eight S-inch guns, the new
ships will have 16 guns of 6-inch cali
bre, all rapid-fire, and 20 one-pounders
This battery represents the ideal
proportion between guns as taught by
the experience of our own fleets during
the Spanish war. and of the Chinese
Japanese vessels during the China
Japan war.
The speed of the ships will be IS knots,
an advance of two knots over the Ore
gon class, but just equal to that of the
new Maine. For protection against
VIE Gl,Cf II
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 originally
planned to have this armor 16 inches
thick. but the designers have now re-
duced the thickness to IL inches This
change was made in order to strength
en- the easements which will be made
seven and a half inches thick instead
Of five inches.
Altogether, there is a notable absence
of new features in the designs of the
battleships, which fact, taken in con
nection with the small amount of pro-
gress reported in the designs for the
Maine class, may be an Indication that
our naval designers have very nearly
approached the ideal battleship in their
work
The fact that the navy department
Is limited to $500 per ton in the pur-
chase of armor, makes it impossible
10 build these ships in the absence of
further legislation and the department
will be obliged to content itself with the
mere preparation of detailed plans dur
ing the coming summer
The six cruisers of the armored type
provided for can, however, be built. and
Chief Constructor Hichborn has al
ready been working out the designs up
on lines approved by the board of bu-
reau chiefs. 1t is the purpose of the
navy department to place contracts for
these ships at the earliest possible mo-
ment. They represent type of cruiser
which would be Of the greatest value
just now for our foreign service. The
plans call for vessels of about 1900 tons,
and the ships will he improved Mar
bleheads, so to- speak, being 600 cons
larger than ships of that class and with
better batteries and more coal capacity.
A most important consideration is
that they will be sheated with wood
over the steel hull and fully coppered,
enabling them to keep the seas even in
tropical waters for many months with
out being under necessity Of seeking a
dry dock. The battery will be made up
of six 5-inch guns each ship. The cost
is expected to be considerably more
than that of the Marblehead which
was $674 900, for the amount allowed
by congress was ST. 141,S00 each. This
difference is accounted for by the m9ny
improvements made in the Marble
heads designs, a notable one being the
use of water tube boilers, giving much
greater speed and economy.