New-York tribune., 1901-01-30
LBY TEL scRAFH TO THE TRIBUNE. !

vrsshinCtOn. Jan. -3.-NO development Of
-asrer Importance has occurred in the history
s,.be new steel Navy Of the United States than
- signaIized to-day in the accord reached by
- authorities on a typical American battleship
s.gqn wholly unlike anything abroad and far
-.,srfor in every hghting essential to any vessel
. :. projected by ary foreign Power. The agree
.r+ Of the naval admiraIs and rategical and
,srr1lction experts involves a marked step for
he prire military consideration of uniformity
/. records the complete triumph OF that dis
.rtivelv American device the superposed, or
s,gr gun rurret, aud II insures wider radius
- effective action than that OF any heavily ar
-,o-ed vessel in the world.
seven Of the most formidable warships de-
signed by any nation Immediately affected
tv to-day's decision, FIVE of which have been
l., under contract by the Navy Department in
b4 last month, and the other two are provided for
Nv the current Naval Appropriation bill. to cost
srogethsr, when commissioned in fighting trim.
shout S50O000OO.
IMPROVED SUPERPOsED TURRETs
rmay be recalled that the naval experts were
nearly two years in designing the five battle
sbips-the Pennsylvania, the New-Jersey, the
Georgia the Virginia and the Rhode Island
and that finally. after the differences arising
IN the Board Of Construction had been consid-
arpd
nv other ranking officers Of the service, a COM
prorise was adopted, by which three ships
should be equipped with the superposed turrets
having go degrees arc, OF fire similar TO those
constituting such g radical innovation in arma-
n,euts that had been installed on the Kearsarge
and the Kentucky. This device gave enormous
concentration Of fire as we'll as permitted the
use Of the four Pinch and their superposed two
oouples Of S-inch rifles full play on both broad
sides There were four more eights on these
sbips. placed in pairs in eIliptical turrets
each beam having $50 degrees arc Of fire. To
the other TWO vessels were also given four
twelves and eight eighrs each. with the twelves
IN the usual single story turrets fore and aft Of
-hA citadel On the centre line, but the eghts were
installed in pairs in four elliptical turrets. one
m each corner Of the citadel, and these had an
arc fire Of only 145 degrees. The main battery
Of each OF the Eve ships was further increased
by twelve 6-inch rapid fire rifles, making it
extensively superior 70 any proposed by a naval
Power
This compromise satisfied none Of the tao
ticans. VINO had taken part in the contest, and
with a view Of prohung by further experiments
with The Kearsarge and the Kentucky, which
might result in the vindication of the Yankee
ingenuity which produced the two story turret
and its irresistible concentration OF propecLlles
or in demonstrating its unsuitabiity for open
sea fighting, a saving clause was inserted IN
each of the contracts by which within six months
after stening the Government retained the right
10 change the number, calibre and arrange
ment Of guns and their accessories
UNPRECEDENTED BATTERIES
The battery decided upon to-day for the i've
ships building and for the TWO in the Naval bill
consists Of four 12-inch four S-inch and sixteen
6-tnch guns which surpasses anything hitherto
proposed for a single ship. in any navy. The
S and l2s are superimposed and there are
eight Is IN each broadside. Twelve of these IS
are on the main deck, level with the rs
and OF these four are on the corners OF the
quadrilareral citadel, with dead fore and art
these corner guns is one Of the remaining tour
Sc well protected by armored classmates rms
remarkable and absolutely homogeneous bat
terry Of 6s is rapid nre, eacn gun nrlhg three
tines q minute. II is the new pattern naval
8 the latest Improvement Of the ordnance eA-
perts and is as much superior TO the old . OF
ias- vear and earlier as q 13-inch gun is TO an
S It's length is 30 canbres, or 3uo inches, ana
with the new snokeless service powder, us l! w.
pound projectile starts from the muZZle Win
the velocity Of 5000 feet a second, lnsIeao oi
2Gp0 feet the best obtained by its predecessor
Each of these sixteen guns on the new battle
ships viii pierce, at the rate OF three times d
minute all the aTraor Of any battleshlp ever
built except that Of turrets and citadeIs- In
other words the new naval . VIII easily per-
forate over five inches OF the highest class
KruppiZed arnor at two miles range more
than six inches at one mile, more than seven
inches half mile, and each gun VIII 90 Ihis
every twenty seconds.
The tncaIculable advantages OF this homogene-
Gus battery and its tremendously destructive ef-
fect are augmented by the fact that II Is 70 he
uniform on seven magnificent l0OUO ton ships;
but in the opinion OF many able officers, scarcely
less n0Uab is the saving in weight accomplished
by the new arrangement. which VIII add ooo
tons 70 the coal bunker capacity Of each ship.
This fuel viii increase their cruising radlus py
ls0O miles, and enable them TO keep the sea.
away from coaling stations, at least another
week. Three hundred tons of coal means
whole day sailed in q straightaway run across
the Atlantic and perhaps three days in the
event Of hurry orders 20 proceed from san Fran
cisco 10 Manila. And beyond all that has been
accomplished in reha abilitating the American
Navy unequalled type has been adopted
that whip, unit for unit, any type yet pro-
posed aside from all considerations OF the
American personnel.
0pp0cTTToR To uOpF RANE TAY4TTON