The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1901-05-09
LITTLE JAPAN'S NAVY.
FORMIDABLE FLEET OF BIG
BATTLEsHIPs BUILT.
hsaay fos saa Conniets-Abls to Protect
Home Interests with the Squadron
Assembling With Pomp ana cHeam-
stance Is Far Ease

stance in Far East
one OF the most notable surprises of
recent years has been the rise Of Japan
from a condition considered to be
hafdly civilized to the position Of one
q the great powers of the world In
part this is due to the admirable or
sanization Of her army and the ex-
pioits q her navy ia the war with
emma. The japanese feet was handled
WIN aa andacity and skill that startled
professional observers all over the
Worid The want of a sufficiently nu-
mefous feet prevented Japan from re-
tanning the fruits Of victory, but her
government at once set to work to
create a navy adequate for the pur-
poses Of japanese policy. The result is
seen IN the splendid squadron which
Japan win soon have assembled in the
tar east AT the battle Of the Yulu,
Sept H. 1884. which disposed Of the
Chinese squadron. the japanese had IL
vessels aggregating Sc. .264 tons. against.
~ Chinese ships OF 24.s75 tons and four
torpedo boats. The Chinese squadron
comprised two armorclads. the Chem
luen and Tlng-Yuen, OF 7.4S0 tons
each, superior to any individual vessel
of the japanese squadron, the largest
ships in which were three Of i,S0O
tons; the Malsu-shlma. the flagship
the ltsuku-shima. and the Hashidate
Their inferiorlty in armor protection
was compensated for by their formi-
dable armament but they were not
able TO venture into close quarters
with the two Chinese ironclads, and
the Matsu-shima was so badly dam
aged that the Japanese admiral had
20 transfer his flag during the action
20 the Hashidate The net result Of
the fighting was that four Of the Chi
nese ships were sunk and several cap
tured. and three japanese vessels were
more or less seriously injured In the
less than seven years that have
elapsed since then the Japanese navy
has made enormous strides. It's first
line IS now composed 0f six battleships,
including four Of the most powerful
Of their class aioat They are the
Shiki-shima. Hatsuse. Asahi, and Misa-
Ia Of l4.900 tons and l4.500 horse pow
EN-, with speed OF lS.5 knots The only
thing that can be said against them
is that they are furnished with the
now condemned Belleville boilers. The
other 4 ) battleships are the Yashima
and Fuji-Yama OF 12.500 tons. 14.l00
N-.~... .,r....r.. anil 10 lr,,ofe un.n1 Tho
six belong 70 the English majestic
class. but are more modern and have
many improvements They form a
compact squadron in themselves SUI
perior 10 that OF any other
power in the far eastern seas.
The armored cruisers number six and
belong 10 one class In size. being OF
$3.50 tons. 10000 horsepower. and
22.07 knots speed. -Four of them, like
the four great batteships were built
ii England. the other two coming from
Germany and France The two latter
have Belleville boilers. They am ma
neuver with great facility, and are lit
tie inferior in fighting value TO battle
ships. The protected cruisers number
IL. ranging from 2700 to $500 tons
with horsepower of from 6.l00 to l5.-
600. and from 1876 to % knots speed
-Four are OF the newest designs. and
with their speed and armament form
a valuable complement Of the preced-
ing armored cruiser squadron. Two.
the Takasago and Yo-shimo. are Of
English build. and the latter by the
rapidity OF her fre did great execution
among the Chinese ships at the Yalu.
The other two. the Kasagi aud Chitose.
are OF American construction. Of the
other protected cruisers the only ones
Of European build are the ldzumi for
merly the Chilean Esmeralda. con-
structed in England and the Sai-yen,
built In Germany and captured from
the Chinese at the same time as the
Chen -Yuen. coast defense ship, re-
named the Chin-yen. The japanese
have also 3 numerous destroyer and
torpedo-boat h0lilla Of the most mod
ern build. the desiroyers being Y in
number Their gunboats and unpro-
facted cruisers are now. of course be-
hind the age and ft only for coast
guard and customs service among the
islands The great feature OF the Jap
anese lighting feet is the equipment Of
the heavier rapid-iire guns in each
ship. This Is the result Of the lesson
OF the Yalu. where the victory was
largely due to the shower Of projectiles
thrown into the Chinese ships. In the
event Of Japan's finding herself at
war with one Of the European powers
Il Is questionable whether any Of the
suuadrons now in the far east could
make head against the fleet the Japan
49, have created since 1884 Chicago
Journal