Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-05-23
THE M|GHT|EST YET
Great Fighting Strength Of the Three
New Battle Ships.
PLANS OF TEE NAVY DEPARTMENT
Will Have High Speed and Unusu-
ally Heavy Batteries.
r m tn n W II n O
LATEST IMPROVE ENTS
Copyright, 1900, by R. c. skerrett.)

Copyright, 1900, by r. G. Skerrett.)
After fourteen months of elaboration
| and as many changes the Navy Depart
| ment has finally settled upon the principal
characteristics Of the three big battle ships
authorized by Congress in March of last
year.
Many things have contributed to the de-
lay, but the principal difficulties arose over
the questions Of single or superposed tur-
rets and the use either of Harveyized armor
| or that treated by the now accepted i'm
provement of the famous gun founder,
Krupp. With these obstacles removed the
plans Of the new ships have matured with
in the past few days, and 1t will now be
only matter of few weeks before every
thing will be ready for the contractors
bids.
The battle ships Georgia. Pennsylvania
and New Jersey will be the most formid-
able fighting craft yet designed for any
navy and decided advances upon the best
Of our own battle ships now built and
building.
Recent Development.
The evolution Of the typical battle ship
Of today has been by mighty strides within
the last ten years, and the craft we were
pleased to dignity with that term but a
short while ago is hardly to be classed with
the monsters now coming forward to hold
the front lines Of sea-going defense. We
have increased the displacement by hai1
again. have added to the speed four knots
nearly a third more than decade ago
while in offensive equipment and might
we have completely changed them. From
slow-moving, heavily armed masses we have
developed a type typical of the modern
prize photographic of rapid motion ana
able to deliver stunning blows with re-
markabe frequency. while being able TO
OF maneuvering-and over all its vital parts
We have spread thick layers of peculiarly
toughened steel having enormous powers or
balistic resistance.
In the matters of feet tons knots and the
like the Georgia. Pennsylvania and New
Jersey may be described as follows: They
will he 44O feet long-that is. just one
twelfth of a mile in length: they will be
seventy-five feet wide at their maximum
breadth. and, upon displacement of 14,5oo
tons. will draw twenty-four feet of water
which is two feet less than ships of like
weight building abroad. They will be able
to make nineteen knots an hour, and their
compliments will consist. each, of quite
COO officers, seamen and marines.
Powerful Batteries.
Extensively the ships will be developments
Of the original Indiana class. bettered by
the presence of heavier rapid-fire guns and
profiting by the other Improvements in guns
of the biggest caliber. The main battery
twelve-inch breech-loading rifles and eight
up-to-date eight-inch rifles. The secondary
or main rapid-fre battery will be composed
of twelve powerful SiX-inch guns. and the
tertiary or auxiliary battery will be body
of no fewer than forty rapid-fire pieces. of
which twelve will be fourteen-pounders,
a dozen others will be three-pounders, six
others will be one-pounders, eight others
will be of the deadly automatic type, and
the two remaining will be effective field
pieces.
The twelve-inch guns will be housed in
two turrets located fore and aft OF the SUI
perstructure on the main deck and ten and
eleven inches of kruppized armor will shell
ter them from an enemyS IRE. Inc eight
inch guns will be mounted in pairs in four
turrets of six-inch steel placed at the four
main corners of the superstructure. These
eight-inch guns are arranged to bear ahead
and astern, so that either a fleeing or pur-
suing foe will have to bear the brunt of
four eight-inch guns and two twelve-inch
guns In broadside the same enemy would
have to stand the same force supplemented
by two twelve-inch guns. All of these guns
have wide arcs of fire. The secondary bat
terry of twelve powerful six-inch guns is
mounted on the gun deck-six on each side
and they are so arranged that they, too,
command wide arcs of fire. Firing as fire.
quently five times a minute-even better
might be done-they would each, in that
time, hurl 500 pounds of hardened steel
with power enough 10 penetrate over six
inches Of face-hardened armor a mile away.
1t wouldn't be pleasant to contemplate fac
ing the murderous fire Of half dozen such
weapons, especially when backed by the
slower but still too frequent blows of the
eight and twelve-inch rifles.
The Smaller Guns.
OF the auxiliary battery, the force of 3
and 14-pounders, twenty-four pieces in all,
Is a menace to life anywhere but behind the
stoutest walls Of STEEL and even then one
need not feel secure If there be the smallest
opening through which these small proJec-
tiles could enter. Firing from ten to thirty
times a minute, and each shot an explosive
SHE'LL these guns could keep up perfect
shower Of pitileSs death-dealing pro1ect1leS
into the yawning ports of the great guns.
through tho stout but unprotected skin OF
the forward and after living spaces. and in
and out and down and by the most I'M
dreamed-of passages they will carry their
burden of destructiveness and death. The
torpedo boat that chooses to take her
chances against such fire Is practically
inviting certain humiliation.
OF torpedo equipment the ships will each
have four underwater tubes. two on each
side firing from behind the protecting walls
of the water-lne belt
Well Protected.
The armor protection will consist pri-
marily of a water-line belt eight feet high,
three above and five below the water line.
reaching from bow to stern. Throughout
the major part of its run, L., from points
abreast the two Pinch turrets this belt
will have a maximum thickness of eleven
inches and from thence forward to the stem
and aft to the stern 1t will gradually taper
to four inches. Above this heavy belt and
throughout the space occupied by the six
6-inch guns on each side the sides will be
guarded by six inches of Krupp steel. The
A. Founders forward and aft the gun
deck and up in the superstructure will be
locally sheltered behind two inches Of hard
ened steel The engines and other vitals be-
low water will be housed under protective
dook reaching the whole length of the shin.
Where 1t rests on the inner upper edge of
the thlckest part of the water-line belt 1t
will be an inch and half thick, and where
it slopes thence to the bow and to the stern
it will be twice as thick. Heavy athWart