The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-03-08
Government Preparing Plans For
Three Big Battleships.
LARGEST IN THE NAVY
WILL BE IDEAL FIGHTERS IN
EVERY RESPECT.
Will Be Larger Than the Maine Glass
and Have Total Displacement of
$500 Tons-Cannot Be Built IN
til More Funds Are Provided For
Armor.

Washington, March 1.-THE plans fol
the three big battleships authorized b!
the naval appropriation bill just passed
are being worked out. The general fea.
| lures of the ships have been defined
subject to the approval Of the secre-
tary. The battleships will be a thousaiie
tons larger than the Maine and MIS-,
souri, class, of q. total displacement OF
/ 13, 500 tons, making them by lar inc
| largest ships in the American navy, anc
about equal in dimensions to the pesl
| type of battleships now being con-
! structed abroad under the new Drac-
tice. Though larger than the Maine
the ships will be laid on almost the
same lines, being only a little greater
in every dimension. They Will carry
each four 12-inch guns in turrets- rms
caliber is an inch less than the guns
carried by the Oregon but by improV
ed design they will be almost equal IN
penetrative power. The S-lncn guns OF
the Oregon type, although they did
very effective work at Santiago and
Manila, have been abandoned. But in
stead of S-inch guns, the new ships VIII
have no less than sixteen guns of 6-inch
calibre, all rapid-f1rers, and twenty
six-pounders. This battery represents
the ideal proportion between guns as
taught ny Tie tAkJCI ACIlCC VI Opi C'r--
feet during the Spanish war, and OF
the Chinese and japanese vessels dur
ing their late war.
The speed of the ships will be eigh-
teen knots, an advance of two knots
over the Oregon class, but just equal
to that of the new Maine. For pro-
lection against the enemy's SHOT the
battleships will have but one belt OF
armor, seven feet six inches broad,
three feet six inches above and four
feet below. It was originally planned
to have this armor sixteen inches thick,
but the designers have now reduced
the thickness to twelve inches. This
change was made in order to strength
en- the easements, which will be made
seven and half inches thick, instead
of five inches.
Altogether there is notable absence
of new features in the designs of the
battleshipS, which fact, taken in con-
nection with the small amount of prog
ress reported in the designs for the
Maine class. may be an indication that
our naval designers have very nearly
approached the ideal battleship in their
work.
AS far as these particular ships are
concerned, the fact that the navy de-
partment' is limited to $500 per ton in
the OIL II lHipOS-
sible to build them in the absenat of
further legislation, and the department
will be obliged to content itself with
the mere preparation of detailed plans
during the coming summer. The six
cruisers of the unarmored type prOvid-
ed for can, however, be built, and Chief
Constructor Hichborn has already been
working out the designs upon lines APP
proved by the board of bureau chiefs.
1t is the purpose of the navy DEPART
ment to place contracts for these ships
at the earliest possible moment. They
represent type of cruiser which would
be of the greatest value just now for
our foreign service. The plans call for
vessels of about $500 tons, and the
ships will be improved Marbleheads, SO
to speak, being 500 tons larger than
ships of that class, and with better bat
teries and more coal capacity A most
important consideration is they will be
Sheathed with wood over the steel hull
and fully coppered, enabling them to
keep the seas, even in tropical waters,
for many months without being COM
PEELED to seek a drydock. The battery
viii be made up of six 5-inch guns for
each ship. The cost viii De consider
ably more than that of the Marblehead.
which was 1914 900. for the amount al
lowed by congress was S1,141S00 each.
This difference is accounted for by the
many improvements made in the Mar
blehead's design, a notable one being
the use of water tube boilers, giving
much greater speed and economy.