The San Francisco call., 1899-10-27
DIFFICULTY IN
SECURING ARMOR
Work on Warships Is
Delayed.
Special Dispatch to The Call.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 26-The Navy De-
partment has made public the report of
Rear Admiral Charles O'Neil, chief of
ordnance. Admiral O'Neil goes at some
length into the history of the present
difficulty in obtaining armor suitable for
the new battleships and cruisers. Con-
gress last year limited the price cf armor
to S40O per ton. AT this price no accept
able bids were received, but proposals
were recently invited for armor for the
three new battleships Of the Maine class.
the four harbor defense monitors of the
Arkansas class and the three battleships
and three armored cruisers. The total
amount Of armor necessary for the seven
vessels authorized by act Of Congress, ap
proved May T. 1898, was $4,000 tons. Only
one firm put in a bid, and that at $3.50 per
ton. 1t was ascertained on inquiry that
these bidders had no manufacturing plant
whatever, and the bid was not considered.
The difficulty IN quality and price or
armor arose in the desire of the depart
ment to secure plates of what is gener-
ally known as the krupp process, which
is deemed much more satisfactory than
use on American warshipS. The con-
tractors claimed that 1t was impossible
to supply this armor for S400 per ION, and
the department, in order to avoid q delay
in the completion of certain vessels al
ready contracted for was obliged to con-
tract in August and September of this
year for a comparatively small amount
of armor, aggregating 226S tons for the
vessels Of the Maine class and for the
four harbor defense monitors
There remain still to be contracted for
q ASS tons for the other vessels. In order
not to delay the completion of the vessels
Of the Maine class beyond contract date,
Admiral O'Neil says that 1t will be neces-
sary to make contracts for the remaining
suggestion that the ordinary face
hardened armor should be used in the new
vessels, and urges that the matter slould
be laid before Congress as soon as it as
sembles, and that 1T be urgently requested
to make such provisions in the early
days of The session by joint resolution or
otherwise as will enable the Navy De-
partment to make contracts not later
than January, 1900, for the best quality
of armor that can be obtained. The same
should also be done, he says, for the six
armored vessels authorized by. the act of
March 3, 1899.
The question Of Government armor
factory, he says, should have no bearing
upon the supply Of armor for the Maine,
Ohio and Missouri, as it would be i'm
practicable to obtain armor from such
source in time to complete these vessels.
He says in conclusion that is 1t quite evil
dent that the building of armored ships
of war must be soon discontinued by this
Government unless the Vexed question of
the supply and cost of armor can be oIs-
Admiral O'Neil notes that new type of
gun has been completed for the navy this
year and will be ready to test soon. It Is
fourteen-pound three-inch rapid-fire
rife intended as a part of the armament
of the new "destroyers, and probably
Will form important part Of the
secondary battery Of future battleships
and large cruisers. 1t Is a particularly
powerful gun of it's size, and is calculated
to have a penetrating power of over an
inch and a half of Harveyized steel at
5000 yards.
Complete batteries, main and secondary,
together with ammunition and ordnance
outfits have been already shipped to
Hongkong for the former Spanish vessels
Isla de Luzon, Isla de Cuba and Don Juan
dc Austria. There is an interesting
paragraph devoted to automatic and
machine guns. A new type. fully auto
matte, three-pounder gun, has been tried
with promising results. It has possible
fire of seventy shots per minute COM
pared with forty shots per minute for the
Mention is made in the report of the
joint small arms board of the army, navy
and marine corps, which considered the
adoption of uniform caliber rifle for the
three branches of the service. Admiral
O'Neil says that while there is no fault
to be found with their decision to adopt
the army caliber (30) together with the
Canular cartridge of the navy owing to
the time that would be consumed in the
experiments with the new cartridge, his
bureau has decided to adopt the army rifle
outright in the purchase Of the additional
guns now needed. The report says the
new smokeless powder now in use in the
navy is equal to tie smokeless powder
estimates for the ensuing year are S6,-
503 1A