The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1899-08-17
NEW NAVY OF THE
UNITED STATES
ONE Surprising Facts and Figures
Based on Official Reports
F0RTY-EIGHT NEW VESSELS.
VIII BE Contained ia the Naval Regis
ter-Ail Are Now in Course of Con
struction or the Work will be
Undertaken Very shortly
F0RTY-EIGHT NEW VESSELS.

! II there was one lesson that was taught
by the war with Spain It was the value
! OF a navy and the United states govern
ment has not been slow to take advan-
tage Of the knowledge that it obtained by
this experience in actual warfare. Lord
Brassey in his review Of the late unpieas-
antness emphasized the fact that all the
| United states needed was more good SHIPS
/ TO have an ideal navy for no question
could be raised as to the ability Of the
/ men engaged in her sea service.
The officers Of the Spanish navy had
/ been taught 10 look upon their duties
! az chiefly of social character taeF
/ smoked their cigarettes. drank their VINE
and made themselves agreeable 10 the
ladies' with whom they came IN contact
but when they came 10 active service
| were woefully deficient even II their con-
/ duct was not open to the charge or utter
| iucompetency. They were brave but they
4 were not and never had been hghtinB
men and the destruction Of their Meets by
| the able officers and seamen or the amer
lean navy was the only natural result OF
their lack Of training.
/ Even with good men. however. navy
|
| 1lcapped and the navy Of the United
] States had too few good vessels Of this
character. There is no man who is bot
| ter able 10 pick flaws In naval work than
1 Lord Brassey and this was his opinion
OF the sea forces Of the United States.
Although he was one Of the first Der
sons Of note 10 express this opinion the
| fact that our navy was not in condition
to cope with a powerful and well-drilled
| force had long been known to the naval
authorities Of this country but the trou-
| BILE had been to persuade Congress 10
make the appropriation necessary TO car
ry out the plans that had been devised.
When the war came. however. economy
| I'm this particular branch Of the service
was no longer possible and when the war
! had ended the people had learned such
a lesson that they We're willing 10 spend
money I'm the Improvement OF their ar
| mored vessels. They had learned that
great battles are often fought on the sea
and that 10 win these battles good men
/ are not all that are needed. Good ships
must be provided and they arc now work
| ing TO provide these ships just as quick
/ as possible
Chief Constructor Hlchborn. in his last
| report, presented a few weeks ago, gave
! "a most encouraging account 81 the man.
| ner I'm which his work Is being carried
| out. He explained that the Kearsarge
| had advanced ninety-two per cent to-
| wards completion. the Kentucky 80 per
| cent and the Illinois 6S per cent. The
| Alabama IS SO per cent. finished and the
new Maine per cent The Wisconsin
/ stands at % per cent, the Ohio az IL per
! cent. and the sheathcd cruiser Albany.
I which is being built i'm England, at so
per cent. The monitors are set down nj
and as ID
| boats were from 81 per cent, IN the case
Of the Dahlgren. 10 almost no per cent.
| The training ship Chesapeake Is placed
at 9S per cent and the submarine boat
plunger al s. per cent.
Except among naval men who have
| been watching the progress OF this new
navy with great interest there are few
persons who realize that there are for
ty-eight warships now under construc-
/ ton for the United States, for which the
aggregate cost for hull and machinery
alone is not less than s33. $500 When
| equipped and ready for service these ves-
sells win represent an expenditure Of not
less and probably much more than S50-
10000 Eight of these new vessels are
Grst-class battleships, fully as good as
any an0at I'm any navy I'm the world; six
teen are torpedo boat destroyers, with an
average speed of twenty-nine knots;
eighteen are torpedo boats one is sister
cruiser 10 the New Orleans. and four
are heavy harbor defense monitors.
To the experienced naval man an this
is very encouraging except I'm one partc-
ular for almost without exception there
is a feeling Of regret at the fact that we
are 20 have four more ships OF the OBJ
s0lete and thoroughly discredited type
known as the monitor. These ships which
he "a
FLORIDA. the Arkansas. and the Wyoming
are nothing but monitors. AT the time
when naval constructors were feeling
their way towards the realization OF their
ideal battle vessel this type might have
been regarded as modern.
To-day they are valuable only as curl
ositics and the four vessels that are now
being constructed We're ordered bv Con-
gress sitting upon its own judgment and
I'm defiance Of the opinions and advice
OF the men who had made sea fighting
their life study. The worst feature OF the
monitor is that they roll so quickly that
accurate shooting with their guns is an
inposslbiiity. After the engagement at
San Juan they were condemned By Adj
mral Sampson In his report TO the Secre-
tary of the Navy and there Is not naval
official of the modern school who will
not admit that their guns are out Of sight
I'm the trough of the waves more shan
half the time.
The greatest Indications Of the advance
ment that has been made in the con-
struction Of fighting ships may be seen
I'm the Maine. the Ohio and the Missouri
In these remarkably fine vessels the con-
structors will take advantage OF the ex-
perience obtained during the late war and
some OF the good features that have here
tofore been restricted to foreign warships
Will be embodied I'm them. These adj
vancements will be shown IN the speed
and armament of the vessels.
The one defect that may be found with
the vessels that are about ready for
service is their low rate Of speed. There
are war vessels building for foreign pow
ers that will show is or more knots,
whereas our new vessels cannot exceed
l6 knots. In the Maine and her sister
ships. however. this defect will be OBJ,
Waited and they too will be able 20
steam at the rate OF IS knots. To ac-
compush this il has been necessary TO
give them an increased length of I'D feet,
in order TO make room for the more row
erful machinery required.
The other innovation. which practi-
cally doubles her value as a lighting ship.
Is the introduction of smOkeless powder
and other Improvements in ragid-aring
ordnance The Pinch guns that Will Zoe
used will be Of great length and will
show the high velocity at the muzzle OF g.
coo feet per second, the same velocity
being called for In the G-inch rapid-Gre
guns. The muzzle energy Of the J.
inch gun will be fSN1 foot tons as
against 25.9s5 foot tons for the i2-inch
guns of the Iowa, and 33e27 foot-tons for