Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1899-03-24

A Washington dispatch say
the plans of the three big bat
tleslips authorized by the nava
appropriation bill just passec
are being worked out. The gen
eral features of the ships have
been defined, subject to the ap,
proval of the secretary. The bat
tleships will be 900 tons larger
than the Maine and the Missouri
class, Of total displacement oi
1850 tons, making them by
far the largest ships in the
American navy, aud about equal
in dimensions to the best type of
battleships now being construct
ed abroad nder the new prac-
tice. Though larger than the
Maine, the ships ", Ill be laid on
almost the same lines, being only
a little greater in every dimen>
sion. They will carry four IL
inch guns in turrets. This cali
bre is an inch less than the guns
carried by the Oregon, but by
i'm proved design they will be al .
most equal iii penetrative poW>
er. The 8 inch guns Of the Ore
gon type, ALTHOUGH they did very
effective work at Santiago and
Manila, have been abandonded. i.
But instead of 8-4nch guns the
new ships will have no less than
sixteen o~lnch calibre, all rapid
fires and twenty six Founders.
The speed of the ships will be
eighteen knots, an advance of
two knots over the oregon class,
but just equal to that of the new
Maine. For protection against
the enemy's shot, the battleships
will have one belt of armor
seven feet six inches broad, run
ming clear around the water
line, three feet six inches above
and four feet below.
Altogether there is a notable
absence of new features in the
desigas of the battleshlp, which
fact, taken in connection with
the small amount of progress
reported in the designs for the
Maine class, may be indicated
that our naval designers have
very nearly approached the iden-
tical battleship in their work.
AS far as hese-particular ships
are concerned, the fact that the
navy department is limited to
$500 per ton in the purchase OF
armor makes it impossible to
build them in the absence of
further Legislation and the de-
partment will be Obliged to con~
tent itself with the mere pre-
paration of detailed plans dur
ing the coming summer.
The six cruisers of the unar>
mored type provided fer can,
however, be built, as Chief Con-
str actor Hjch born has already
been working out the designs
upon lines approved by the
board of bureau chiefs. 1t is the
purpose Of the navy department
to pace contracts for these ships
the earliest possible moment.
They represented type of cruis.
er which would be of the great
est value just now for our for
eign service. The planS call for
vessels of about 1900 tons and
the ships will be inprov d Mar
bleheads, SO to speak, being 600
tons larger than the ships Of
that class, and with better bat
teries and more coal capacity.
A most important conside ration
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 tor many months without
being under the necessity of
seeking a drydock. The battery
will be made up of six 5>inch
guns for each ship. The cost is
to be considerably more than
that of the Marblehead, which
was 1904 900, for the amount al
lowed by Congress was $I,I4I,
500 each. This difference is ac~
counted for by the many i'm
provements made in the Mar
dlehead's designs, notable one
being the use OF water tube
boilers, giving much greater
speed and economy.