The Washington weekly post. (Washington, D.C.) 1878-1916, 1899-02-21

The new fighting vessels for which
Congress will appropriate money within
the next few days viii make the United
states a very formidable naval pow or, -
said chief Constructor Philip HichDorn
yesterday. When they and the other
ships now being built are finished. We
shall stand fourth among the nations OF
the world In respect 70 sea power. We
shall then have sixteen battle-ships, all
hut one Of them Of the first class. SIX
ecsble-turret monitors, four singie-turret
monitors, five arHored cruisers. hiteen
protected cruisers. and fifteen unprotected
cruisers. TO these three new protected
cruisers Cf tie olympia class, improved.
viii probably be added b. the naval Dill
now under consideration.
1T b. fully realized mat our new ma
tioi.sI policy calls Tor larger navy. and
IL would not be surprising If the next
Congress sh14ld make a further addition
10 our force IN the seas. Al present with
our existing naval programme completed,
We shall Dc ciCse behind Russia IN total
displacement and fighting efficiency. We
have jumped ahead Of Germany not"lth-
standing the astonishing activity IN mari
Kaiser's government, which last year &C
Il ally doubled the personnel OF It's ha'a.
service, raising the number Of men and
officers from -209 TO 1890. Italy comes
next 10 Germ3ny. but her war tonnage
IS made up largely OF huge ana un"ieidy
ships. armed with monstrous ls-inch guns
that are practically worthless. DOUBT Il
these vessels could safely venture out OF
the NediteTrar can.
when the fact is considered that only
a Few years ago this country was actually
Inferior TO China in strength on the seas
the progress We have made in this re-
card seems wonderful. The brand-new-
ness OF our navy is in itself great ad-
vantage. inasmuch as Il means that our
ships are thoroughly up 10 date AS iof
The vessels under construction and soon
TO be ordered, they will be the hnest OF
their typ-s IN existence. Take, tor eN-
ample. the new Maine, whose keel IS 10
be laid this week. She will be battle
ship TO be proud ola fighting machine
considerably more formidable than the
Oregon or the Indiana. Her armament
will be something tremendous, comprls-
ing four Pinch breech-loading rifles SIX
teen 6-inch quick-fire guns, twenty D.
pounder quick-fire guns, six l-pounder
oUIck-are guns. anG four Gatlinss.
THE materials for the missouri anu
Ohio have been got together, ana theS
will be begun at once. These are sisters
of the Maine. the three being triplets and
alike in all respects. Fully equipped anu
ready for sea. with stores and coal On
board. each of them will weigh 1850 tons
Probably YOU are aware that these are
a. al. l.. h.tt
contracted for by Uncle Sam. The ore
gen. Indiana. and Massachusetts weigh
only l0,2SS tons apiece, and the Iowa, our
biggest vessel of this type now afioat, has
a displacement-i E., weight-of 1870 tons.
The Alabama. Illinois. Kearsarge, Ken
lucky, and Wisconsin. all five now under
construction. will displace about 12,OO0 tons
each. The old Maine weighed only 6,6s2
tOns-a little more than half the avoirdu-
pois Of her namesake and successor.
improvements On the Old.
Now, il is worth while 10 call your at
tentiOn 10 some of the Improvements
which mark notable differences between
the battle-sbips we have atioat at present
and the new triplets of the Maine class.
Take notice TO begin with, of the eX-
traordinary number of quick-fire guns.
ing the personnel OF q hostile vessel-a
point that counts more for victory, as eX-
perieEce in maritime warfare mas proved,
than all else. Each of these three sea-
fighters. you will observe, carries forty
two weapons OF this death-dealing kind,
which discharge d continuous rain OF eX-
plOsive prOjecules, ana sixteen of them
throw shells OF siX-inch diameter. weigh
ing lou pounds apiece. The four fiTst-class
Eattle-ships which our navy now has in
commission carry only from tWenty-four
10 twenty-seven rapid-fire guns each. and
none Of these is bigger than six-pound-
ers.
The oregon, Indiana, and Massachu-
Sets each have four l3-inch rifles but in
Slead OF these the Maine triplets carry an
equal number of Pinch rifles This re-
cGcuOn OF caliber by no means implies a
decrease OF efficiency however. on the
contrary, the new style of Pinch eun.
using smokeless powder. is a more de-
structlve weapon than the old-stvle
4S-inch gun, and, with its mount weighs
twenty-five tons less-a very importa nj
POINT on WarShip. where every ton of
weight saved In this way means lust so
much more coal capacity or other Droror-
ichate advantage gained. The up-to-date
4--lhch oreechioading rife is Of extraordt-
nary lehsth. because the smokeless now
ger burns slowly, and, OF course. must he
'"''' ely cons uhtd-l. e., transformed into
gas before the proiectila Ies,,as tt'- =. y
2le. ''O Hu@-
90 Iar / have spoken only OF the su-
o''HslVe qualities of the battle
'Ps "'oso heeis are about TO be laid
il VIII be appropriate to refer IN
.'''' A'cp'iohaI defensive strength. Our
i'e Ddl'e-shlps at present in commits
S'0h nave each or them a Water-line
"lAloi Oet covering only the vitals of the
ue'"eth tdrrets. This belt is eight
cen inches thick In the Indiana class ana
fourteen inches thick on the Iowa. on
the Maine. Missouri. and Ohio il win h.
ieuuCed 10 twelve inches, but being Of the
new kruppized steel, il will be ouita a.
efficient 10 keep out project!Ies as sixteen
inches or even more OF the Harvevized
plating.
This, naturally, signifies a great say
INK IN weight, and by this saving ii is
made possible 10 protect with addifion,l
lour-!ECA armOr the whole of the forward
part OF the vessels. IN the battIe-sbips
now in commission there is 40 armor h
tween The forward turret and the bow. "a
10
died By rapid-firc guns on the other
hand. in the Maine tripletS a four-in.h
belt OF casemate armor extends an the
way from the after turret 10 the bow.
and thus nearly The whole Of the vessel Is
steel-clad. Diagonal armor runs inboa~d
from the external belts 10 the turrets. "a
as 20 inclose all the vitals of the shin
forming gigantic box OF steel. The
whole Of the upper part Of the craft might
be shot and burned away. and We; this
box would float, its roof being the steel
protective deck at the water-level be-
meath which are housed the machinery
and magazines.
defensive Qualities.
Each Of the Maine triplets Is TO lie ,ro-
Vided with two submerged torpedo tubes
the 'nrst OF their kind 10 be put into any
American warship-Which are for the ptir-
pose OF discharging FISH torpedoes under
water. Fired in this way they can be
aimed with much greater accuracy than
when thrown out into the air aad mad. Ia
dive In the direction Of a hostile vessel.
but you can easily realize how delicate
-