Waterbury Democrat., 1900-12-07
BATTLESHIPS.
Bids for Building New Ones Were Opened To-Day.
SHIPS AND 6 CRUISERS,

hattleships to Be Named After Penn
 sElvania, Georgia, New Jersey, yir-
 gInia and Rhode Island-They will
 Re of Large Displacement, and Work
 On Them Will Be Pushed Rapidly to 1 Completion.
 ashingtOn, Dec 7-Bids wera | opened at the navy department to-day t"I tue construction of five new bat | HeSh!pS and six armored cruisers az | &re&atnG q total displacement of 15t,-
 o'o tons. and comprising the largest 1 'olSl%hhleht of material for the navy l ever contracted for al a single bidding. 1 ne three hattl@ShipS authorized by the 1 act of March. 1899. were peyer con-
 'ra''"u for. owing to delays in the pro- 1 'uFrillent ot armOr bids. in the com 1 9i'uon ol drSignS and controversy as
 'o whether the new SuperimpoSed tur- ' ret should be used in their construc- ton. Inability to reach q satisfactory i CcncIuSion in regard to the sheathns | "'!aScu construction in the three arm 1 ofpu CfulSrrs authorized by the same | acts. These points have been adjust cd
 The five new battleships. namely. the | - 'li> iN't4lI't. NPW Jersey, Georgia, | Virginia and Rhode Island. are divided
 into two classes to compromise upon
 the controversy as to their turret sys-
 telhS. Three are to be Sheathed and 1 toppefed and will carry Superimposed l tSirf"tS; the other two are to be un- | HH"a'hcu vessels. having the ''quadri- l lateral arrangement Of eight inch tur- | rtti. 10 meet the contingency that
 me hIdS may be in excess of the au- 1 'h"Ilzrd cost the bidders sere, how 1 ever, invited to submit plans in each
 ease for both sh2athed and unsheathed | Shll'S. Nh"athed vessels are to be of 1 lA.unG tons diSplacemcnt with q length ! 0I -f3J feet, breadth cf T6 feet 10 inches ! anu greatest draft of 26 feet. The un-
 sh'athed ships are slightly smaller and ! on the sam" length are Ih inches nar-
 roWrr and 40n tons less displacement
 Both classes of battleships will com | pare with any in the world not only atloat huT projected. for they will have
 I speed of at least 10 knots and hour. | which is expected to run up 10 191a. q 1 great pace for a battlPsnip which will | Dc maintained by twin screw engines
 of l9.tOo horse power. supplied by
 tWrnty-foul. water tubes.
 The radical difference in the battle- 1 ships to the outward appearance will 1 lie in the turrets Each ship will carry
 l
 the extraordinary length of forty cali i pres or twenty feet in the bore. of the 1 new type just turHcll out by the ord 1 nance bureau. and superior in efficien-
 cy to any tWClVc-inch gun in the world
 and at least equal tOsthe thirtaen-inch 1 guns which have marked the maximum c!llihre in the American navy. In the ! three ShCathcd vessels q pair of eight | inch guns will he mounted on top of ! 1 other cight-inch guns will be diStrib- uted ill two turretS amidShipS on these l two vessels. The unShpathed vessels
 will have all of their eight-inch guns | mounted in four independent turretS. l one placed at each corner of the ob- | long SupprStructure. Both classes of i vessels will have q broadside of twelve
 SiN-inch rapid fire guns on the main
 deck. besides twelve fOurteen-pounders
 and twelve two-pounders. and q num- ! Der Of automatic guns. making the bat 1 tery mO"I formidable than any afioat. In the matter of defensive power the | battlcSh hips of both classes are unSur-
 lstSSed. carrying an eight-foot wide
 watel. line belt of armOr. eleven inches | thick. over tn" VitalS of the ship, taper
 ing to four inches at the ends,
 The SiN-inch guns will be placed be- 1 hind the projections of six inches of
 solid hardened steel and the turrets 1 will vary from ten to eleven inches in l thickness. A curved turtlehack pro
 tpctive deck and q cOfferdam belt all
 around tile water line stuffed with eel
 luloSc. will afford further protection.
 Electricity will he used in the battle l ships to much greater extent than in 1 any other ships afioat and the use of wood will be restricted to the mini l mum.
 The six armored cruisers represent | the highest development of the naval | constructors art. for Chief Constructor | HichhOrn has not only managed to de-
 sign in them ships as fleet as any for | eign navy can boast. bat has endowed l them with the qualities of battleShips 1 at many points. Three of these ships
 are to be sheathed and three are to be
 unsheathed. Of less displacement
 than the battleships. 500 tons in the 1 casa of the Sheathed and 13.400 in the l case of the unSheathed cruisers. these
 vessels are still considerably longer. | being 502 feet on the water line. with
 breadth of seventy feet and a draft
 of twenty-siX feet six inches. Quad l ruple twin screw engines of 23,00O
 horse power supplied by thirty boilers will propel these great ships at mini
 mum speed of twenty-two knots per
 hour. and with capacities for 1000 tons l of coal in her brnkerS their endurance 1 will Surpass that of any similar foreign | vessel Each cruiser will carry four eight inch guns in Hichborn balanced | turretS, four siX-inch broadside guns.
 besides the usual secondary battery. ! Six inches of hardened steel will ex
 tend in q belt around the ships. seven
 feet six inches broad. and the guns in
 the citadel and superstructure are pro- l portOnately protected.
 A heavy Di0tprtiyp deck and cOffer
 dam belt complete the protection.
 CIGARETTES WITHOUT STAMPS.