New-York tribune., 1900-04-12
TREMENDOUS WARSHIPS.
PLANS FOR THREE FORMIDABLE BAT
TLESHIPS PRACTICALLY COM
PLETED
Tpy TELEGRAPH TO THE TRIBUNE j
PLETED.


Construction to-day practically completed the
general plans for three of the largest and most
powerful battleships yet designed for the Amer
lean Navy and when Secretary Long returns
from Colorado on Saturday the final details of
the circular to contractors calling for estimates
will be placed before him for approval and
issue.
The ships, which are to be called the
Pennsylvania, the Georgia and the New-Jersey.
will dsplace Is. 900 tons each. which Is 4.OGO tons
greater than the Oregon: Will be over 100 feet
longer than that famous fighter, and have at
least three knots greater speed They will be
as much more formidable than the earlier steel
ships of the new Navy as they in turn COM
pared with the wooden sailing fighters Of forty
years ago. Every feature Of their design shows
that naval progress in the last decade, even to
those who have watched it, has been Incredibly
marked and rapid
When at the of the with Spain the
new Maine was designed with the avowed pur-
pose Of making her we'll matched opponent
for any possible enemy, a displacement barely
more than $4,000 tons was given to her. with
length of 3SS feet and 70 feet beam.
The new Pennsylvania class of vessels trial
displacement, with 1000 tons of coal left ashore,
carrying only two-thirds of her ammunition and
other heavy stores, will weigh nearly 14O00 tons
feet longer than the Brooklyn, and the beam will
be 10 feet, against the Brooklyn's 90
TO HAVE CRUISER SPEED.
In battleship speed the development is
marked. That of the Oregon was sixteen knots,
of the Maine eighteen knots and of the Pennsyl-
vania will be twenty knots, sustained rate which
will enable her to overhaul most of the worlds
best cruisers and give her superior tactical
power to any opponent approximating her often
sive and defensive strength.
The arnor protection of the vessels also
represents distinctly advanced practice such as
would have been utterly impossible with the
ordinary steel when dependence had to be placed
on face hardening, and excessive weights pre-
vented the application of an arnor belt beyond
the most sensitive vitals of the ship and left the
smaller guns of the main battery wholly
posed. The Pennsylvania main waterllne belt
of Kruppzed plates will extend eight feet wide
from stem to stern, nine inches thick along the
machinery spaces, tapering to five inches thick
ness at each extremity, and averaging seven
inches thick its entire length. Above this
the entire gun deck, with its broadside of ten
rapid fire SKIES, becomes practically redoubt
16O feet long from turret to turret, covered all
over with six-nch Kruppized plates, which
tinue higher up on the superstructure at various
points to protect the uppermost guns OF large
calibre. Here abaft the midship battery cover
ing the after quarter are TO be mounted two
At the same level on the starboard and port
forward corners of the six-nch casemate.
redoubt. will be placed two electrically controlled
balanced turrets, each containing pair of g
inch breech loading rifles. having of fire
from right ahead to % degrees abaft the beam
Below on the main gun deck the ten SKIES
five In each broadside, sweeping of 10
degrees, the forward two being sponsoned to
shoot dead ahead.
The great guns are the four twelves mounted
In pairs in turrets fore and aft the keel line
These turrets elliptica balanced, with in
1irn1 fyaIo and he f,,y nr
fire.
FAR SUPERIOR TO THE OREGON.
To meet the doubt that may be raised at this
point regarding the 12-nch guns OF the Pennsyl-
vania being possibly less powerful than the
13-inch guns of the Oregon. It is only necessary
to say that the muzzle energy developed by each
13-inch gun of the Oregon was 30. 627 foot tons.
shot out Of the muzzle with an energy Of 1926
foot tons. The velocity remaining In the Ore
CONS projectile at two thousand yards would be
1905 feet a second, and 2.450 with that of the
Pennsylvania at the same distance.
Throughout the Pennsylvania has been de-
signed not only to whip the Oregon with COM
parative ease, but to whip anything aioat on the
globe or building in any shipyard at this time.
Each Of the 12-inch guns Of the Pennsylvania
will fire once in every ninety seconds, each of
the four S-inch, which more powerful than
the earlier 10-inch guns of the Navy, will fire
a round every fifty seconds, and the great bat
tery of ten 6-inch guns fire their 1OO-pound
shells three times minute.
Distributed about the superstructure, each pro-
tected by shields of sufficient area to protect
their gun crews, are dozen Of the 3-inch cali
bre 14-pounders recently designed by the ord
experts to riddle sneaking torpedo craft
Their rate of fire is six minute. Besides there
dozen 3-pounders. which average ten shots
a minute
Each Of the ships OF the Pennsylvania class
will cost $7.0OOOOO. OF which 100000 is for
hull and machinery, $1,750O00 for armor.
S1,5O0,OOO for guns and the remainder for am
muntion and stores. Their complement will be
fifty officers and five hundred men. and on their
20OO-ton bunker capacity they can steam
straightaway from San Francisco to Manila.