The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1901-06-15
LITTLE j a. AN NAVY.
g ORMiDABLE FLEET OF BIC
BATTLESHl9S BUILT.
Ready for Sea Confiicts- BILE to s rotect
Home Interests with the Squadron
Assembling with Pomp and Circum-
stance I'm Ear East

Assembling with Pomp and CircuIn-
stance In Ear East
One of the most notable surprises OF
7 from conditions considered to be
hardly civilized to the position Of one
of the great powers Of the world. In
part this is due to the admirable or.
ganization of her army and the ex-
ploits of her navy in the war with
China. The Japanese fleet was handled
with an audacity and skill that startled
professional observers all over the
world. The want of a sufficiently nu-=
merous fleet 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 will soon have assembled in the
far east. AT the battle Of the Yulu,
Sept. IT. 1894, which disposed Of the
Chinese squadron, the Japanese had II,
vessels aggregating 1924 tons, against
IL Chinese ships of "a ,975 tons and four
torpedo boats. The Chinese squadron
comprised two armorelads, the Chem
Yuen and Ting-Yuen, Of 7,43O tons
each, superior to any individual vessel
of the Japanese squadron, the largest
ships in which were three of 1890
tons; the Matsu-shima, the flagship,
the Itsuku-shima, and the Hashidate.
Their inferiOrity 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
to transfer his flag during the action
to 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 of six battleships,
including four of the most powerful
of their class afloat. They are the
Shiki-shima, Hatsuse, Asahi, and Misa-
Ka Of $4,000 tons and Il. 500 horse pow
er, with speed of 1876 knots. The only
thing that can be said against them
is that they are furnished with the
now. condemned Belleville boilers. The
other two battleships are the Yashima
and Fuji-Yama of 1880 tons, 14,100
horsepower, and 10 knots speed. The
class, but are more modern and have
many improvements. They form a
compact squadron in themselves su-
perior to that OF any other
power in the far eastern seas.
The armored cruisers number six and
belong to one class in size, being of
$3.50 tons, $4,000 horsepower, and
22.07 knots speed. Four Of them, like
the four great battleships, were built
in England, the other two coming from
Germany and France. The two latter
have Belleville boilers. They all ma,
neuver with great facility, and are lit
tie inferior in fighting value to battle
ships. The protected cruisers number
13, ranging from 2,7O0 to 4,8OO tons,
with horsepower OF. from 6,1OO to 49,
900, and from 1873 to % knots speed.
Four are of the newest designs, and
with their speed and armament form
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 fire did great execution
among the Chinese ships at the Yalu.
The other two, the Kasagi and Chitose,
are Of American construction. OF the
other protected cruisers the only ones
of European build are the Idzumi, 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
en-Yuen, coast defense ship, re-
named the Chin-yen. The Japanese
have also numerous destroyer and
torpedo-boat fiotilla of the most mod
ern build, the destroyers being IL in
number. Their gunboats and unpro-
tected cruisers are now, Of course, be-
hind the age and fit only for coast
guard and customs service among the
islands. The great feature of the Jap
anese fighting feet is the equipment of
the heavier rapid-fire 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
it is questionable whether any of the
squadrons now in the far east could
make head against the fleet the Japan
csc have created since 1894 Chicago
Journal.
Trade in Jack Rabbits.