Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-06-02
Six Cruisers Are Authorized
by Congress.
THE BEST OF THEIR KIND
Their Construction Will Mark New
Era in the Naval Affairs of This
C0untry---Their Armament and
Speed---NameS of the Ships.

New York, June "A special to the
Tribune from Washington says: Agree
ment has finally been reached after sew
eral months discussion by the naval
construction board on the details of the
six fine cruisers, the Denver, the Des
Moines, the Chattanooga and the Calves
ton. the Tacoma and the Cleveland, au-
thorized by congress on March 3d. and
official announcement for the benefit OF
ship builders will be issued in a few
days. The approved vessels are of the
Raleigh type. heavier in armament ana
with protection, with much wider RADIUS
of action, at a sacrifice OF two KNOTS
speed, but with added comfort for the
men and comparative independence OF
dry docks. Their displacement is almost
the same as that of the Atlanta class,
but they are to have the great advantage
over those pioneers of the new navy OF
higher freeboard and twin screws. Conn
pared with them they show the marked
evolution in warship designing which has
taken place in Is years and with the IN
creased use of electricity for auXillarles,
the sheathing of the submerged hull, the
substitution of high pressure water tube
boilers and the absence of combustible
materials of construction, the cruisers
constitute a distinctly new type in the
! American navy and one that is not sur
passed in any ship 50 far deslsheu
| abroad.
| Utility for offensive purposes IS the
characteristic Of the Denver class that
object having been kept sharply ~ view
4 in the design as superior 70 All Other
desirable qualifications. The luxurious
\ officers quarters Of early American naval
vessels which have astonished foreign
| officers, will be conspicuous for their alb
sence. One Of the most remarkable
! features Of the new design is the large
displacement adopted congress having
| allowed only four vessels of the Detroit
class The board has added fully 900 tons
and thereby taken the vessels out OF the
category of gunboats and made them
+, full fedged seagoing fighting ships. Ihe
general dimensions of the new ships are
| as follows: Full load displacement, tons,
34OO: length, 292 feet; breadth, 43 feet;
greatest draught, loaded, 1876 feet; coal
! bunkers, capacity, 700 tons; coal on trial
47O tons trial draught, 1876 feet; trial
displacement, $50 tons; speed, 16 knots;
horse power, 4500; battery, 10 tive-inch
rifles, eight six-pounder rifles, two one
FOUNDER rifles, four machine guns and
one shield gun. The maximum time per-
mitted for the completion of the new
ships and their delivery to the govern
ment is "a months, with penalties for de-
lay at the rate of $500 per day for the
first month, $400 a day for the second
month and 5000 a day the remainder.
The battery of these ships shows what
faith the experts have in the fve-ineh
calibre of SO calibres length, burning
smokeless powder. Two of these guns will
be mounted on the upper deck, one for
ward and the other aft having ranges in
all directions. The others will be dis
tributed. four on each side of the deck
below. The entire battery, with the six
and two o-pounders and machine guns, will
weigh 9S tons, and the magazines will
be supplied with 1853 tons of ammunition,
larger quantity in proportion to the
size of the ship than has ever been pro-
/ vided heretofore.