The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1900-03-27

SAN FRANCISCO, March 27.-The bat
tlsship Wisconsin will go out for its Sc
ries o. trials within the coming week. The
vessss is row at the Union Iron Works
and is all but completed The machinery
Of this new sea fighter has been comp eteI
only a short time, but has already been
given several tests.
The heavy guns Of her battery are in
place and mounted. the last OF the four
thirteen-ineh guns being placed asst week.
So far all the working parts Of the war
ship have been given every satisfaction to
her builders. and ii is expected that she
will be fully up 10 the standard Of the bat
tleship Oregon.
The battieship Wisconsin is essentially
the same as the battleships Illinois and
Alabama. II is the same in hull and ma
chinery as the Kearsarge and Kentucky,
but different in armor. The Wisconsin's
details are as follows:
Length. 3gS feet; breadth. p feet 2iz
inches. draft, % feet inches; displace-
ment, 1,52S tons; speed. 16 knots; horse
power. 10000; coal bunker capacity, 100
tons; batteries (main). four 13-inch. four
teen 6-irch: secondary battery, sixteen g.
Founders four 1-pounders. one Colt gun,
two field guns; torpedo tubes, four White
head; armor (sides). top. 10 IL inches;
bottom, 9 - inches. waterline l3 "a inch
es; turrets. II inches. 10 inches; barbetteE,
10 inches, 10 inches; protective deck. slopes
forward 3 inches, aft 4 inches; fat 81
inches; wateTline protection. cocoa or corn
pith, cubic feet. 12.46i; complement, Off
GERS, 40; men, 449: contract price hull
and machinery. S2,674950.
The Wisconsin was launched November
last from the yards OF the Union Ifol
Works. in san Francisco She is from the
hands Of the builders Of the oregon and
the Olympia. The Wisconsin was author
lied in 1895. and the contract was let in
October. 1897. The keel of the shin was
laid in February 1898.
Naval officers call the Wisconsin an i'm
proved Iowa. The l3-inch rifles consti-
tuting the main battery OF the ship will
be mounted In couples in Hichborn tur
retS placed in the centre of the vessel. with
an arc OF fire OF 135 degrees on each side
OF the centre line. These with the I'M
usually large battery Of 6-inch rapid-fre
guns in broadside. each with an arc of 90
degrees. and her upper deck armament
capable Of firing directly ahead or astern
will make the Wisconsin a formidable
fighter
The heavy armor belt or the Wisconsin
extends from the bow beyond the after
tUrret and maintains its maximum thick
ness amidshins between the turrets and
over the entire space occupied by the en-
gines and boilers. Above the belt OF armOr
the sides Of the vessel form a casem2:e
Of five and oue-half inches OF steel
protecting the siX-inch gun positions.
Along the entire water line there is a belt
of hreproofed corn pith cellulose three feet
deep to prevent the ingress of water in
the wake of an effective projectile
Independent OF the numerous water-tight
pockets or cells forming the entire scheme
OF cofferdams. the inner bottom and hold
the platforms and splinter and berth decks
are subdivided into nearly 300 water tight
compartments for the accommodation OF
motive power and storage Of COAL provi-
siOns, and ammunition. They would also
protect the ship i'm the case OF damage to
its outer walls.
In addition to the driving engines. more
than eighty auxiliary engines will be dis
tributed through the ship for use in op-
Grating machinery
The height OF the freeboard forward is
twenty feet and at the stern thirteen feet
The floor Of the pilothOuse is forty-four
feet high. The forward thirLeen-inch
guns Will be twenty six feet above the wa
ter and the after guns ten feet. The six
inch guns are set from hfteen 20 twenty
two and a half feet above the water. and
the lighter guns from thirty 10 seventy
feet. Naval authorities agree that height
above water is an important element IN
the effectiveness Of a ships batteries
The Wisconsin is provided with biige
keels, which contribute to her steadiness as
a gun platform. Her searchlights command
complete all-round range Srom o height
Of twenty-five feet above the water