The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1899-11-13
NEWS OF FOREIGN NAvIEs.

NEWS OF FOREIGN NAvIEs.
A torpedo boat for the Italian navy has
been launched from the yard of
Schichom, at Elbing, which is to have
a speed of SO knots.
The submarine boat Narval was
launched at Cherbourg October 20, her
keel having been laid June 1 last year.
The boat is 106 tons, Ill feet inches
In length, u feet 2 inches beam and a
speed of u knots on the surface, and s
knots when submerged is anticipated. She
Is fitted with four torpedo projectors and
will carry two officers and crew of
nine.
Rear Admiral Betollo, Italy's Minister
OF Marine, recommends that the navy
needs no larger battle ships than of 5000
tons, a size which would make then dis
unctvely coast defense vessels. AS suit
able batteries for such ships he suggests
eight S-inch, eight G-inch twelve p
Founders and twelve 6-pounders, besides
SIX torpedo tubes Their speed Should be
z to % knots, with coal sufficient for 5000
TO 10000 knots at 10-knot speed.
a torpedo cruiser named Agordat was
Iaunched October u at CastelIamara. The
vessel is 1920 tons, fitted with eight Blech-
power, calculated to give a speed of %
knots There is little or no wood used
IN her internal fittings, for which steel
ana aluminium have been substituted. The
battery consists of fourteen 12-pounders,
Two machine guns and two torpedo tubes.
Inc Agordat is the only vessel of her
type In the Italian navy.
Cordite and smokeless powder has en-
tlrely superseded ordinary brown powder
in the British navy. The former was in
troduced in the service in 1898, and is now
used for both large and small ordnance.
It's ballistic power is four times that of
ordinary brown powder, and in these days
OF rapid-hre guns economy of space and
weight of ammunition has become of
vital Importance. The use of cordite has
also been largely extended in the land
service, and where guns and ammunition
have to be transported over rough roads
and mountains every pound of weight
saved adds so much more to the efficiency
of the gun. A few comparisons of the
relative weights of brown powder, used
as the old charges, and that of cordite.
now used for ships guns, will show the
gain in using the latter: Thus the old IL
inch, using 295 pounds brown powder and
a shell Weighing IA pounds had pene-'
trative power of 1873 inches of iron at
1000 yards. The new 12-inCh wire-wound
rifle uses nearly 169 pounds of cordite, q
shell weighing $50 pounds and will pene-
trate 29.4 inches of iron at 20O0 yards The
American 6-inch rifle burns a to AZ
pounds brown powder, the shell weighs
100 pounds and has no greater penetration
than the British gun of like caliber which
uses a charge of cordite weighing less
than Is pounds.
Official data and dimensions of the
Japanese battle ship Shikishima, recent
ly built at the Thames Iron Works, are
as follows: Length over alb 43S feet;
length on water line, 400 feet breadth, -
feet inches; mean draught, q feet 8
inches; displacement, 1880 tons. She is
fitted with twenty-five BelleYille boilers
and twin-screw engines, developing 1900
horsepower, which gave a speed on her
contract by over half a knot The armor.
of Harveyized nickel steel, extends along
the water line from stem TO stern, 8
inches thick in wake of central battery.
tapering to 4 inches at the ends. The
belt extends feet 6 inches below and ?
feet inches above water line. From
thence to the upper deck the armor is 6
inches in thickness. The protective deck
fat is 80 inches above the water line
and 3lk inches thick on the slopes within
the citadel, outside of which it is 2 inches
thick, and the main deck is l inch. The
citadel, or central battery, is 250 feet in
length, with inch bulkheads at ends,
and subdivided between main and upper
deck by twelve bulkheads. The main
battery Of four Pinch 40-caliber guns
are carried in 14-inch barbettes and four
teen 6-inch quick-firers are located in
eight water-tight classmates on the main
deck and six classmates on the upper
deck, all protected by 6-inch armor and
having Pinch armor backs. The second
airy battery embraces twenty 12-pounders
and twelve 6-pounders, in addition to
which are five torpedo tubes, four above
and one below water. Her normal coal
supply is 700 tons, with a bunker capac-
ity of 1000 tons, and her complement
will number IA. including an admiral and
thirty-eight other officers. The vessel
was built within two years and is now
passing through a series of exhaustive
trials on the coast of England. She has
turned circle at full speed in minutes
l6 seconds, heeling only five degrees, and
the British Journals have nothing but
praise for what they consider a superior
battle ship to any yet built for the
Queens navy.