The evening times., 1901-04-24
Ohio AGREAT WARSHIP
Expected to Prove a Powerful Ad-
ditiGn to the Navy
A Description of Her Batteries and
Other Interesting Facts in COnnes'-
tion with This Floating Fcrt-May
Join Admiral Casey'S Squadron


tion with This Floating Fert-M"y
Join Admiral Casey's Squadron
Another powerful addition to the navy
will be the battIeship Ohio. the launching
of which President Mckinley and Cabinet
are to witness, and she is expected to join
the squadron Of Rear Admiral Casey be
fore the close of the present year
A sister ship of the Maine, building at
Cramps, and of the Missouri, building at
Newport News. the Ohio viii represent the
most advanced stage Of naval development
and viii have no equal afioat as a gun
platform Her battery VIII be marvel Of
power. and, while her guns VIII not be
mounted in superposed turrets, she viii
have most effective broadsides.
The occasion viii be the first where any
distinguished persons Of the Government
have Witnessed launches on the Pacific.
and the Ohio will be the first battle5hip
the President has seen launched
The Ohio is 5S8 feet long and y feet ex-
treme beam and on a draft of Is feet
inches displaces 1929 tons
The hull Is protected abreast of the boil
ers and engines by a side armor belt ex-
tending , feet inches above the load
water line and feet below it, having
thickness of II inches for depth Of feet
6 inches, tapering to ~ inches at the bot
tom Of the belt, and by the casemate ar
nor inches thick, which extends from
the side belt to the upper deck and is
worked from the centre Of the forward to
the centre of the after barbette.
In the casemate are placed ten Of the
e-iuch guns. Above this on the upper
deck. four Of the 6-inch guns are placed, in
the vicinity of which 6-inch armOr Is
worked far enough forward and aft tc af-
ford protection to the crews Of these
guns.
Protection is afforded The vitals of the
ship below the waterline by a protective
deck worked fiat within the casemate and
with slopes forward and aft of it. Golfer
dams are built on the protective deck from
the diagonal armor bulkheads to the bow
and stern in the vicinity Of the waterIine
and on the bexSh deck for nearly the
length of the vessel All of these Golfer
dams are fiIl1S With Cellulose-
The main battery Will consist Of four Z
inch guns plac ed In two balanced turrets,
and sixteen finch raDid-fire guns.
The turrets are turned by electricity
and the motors used for this purpose can
revOlve one Of these through 366 degrees
in one Tninute The armor Of both the
turrets and barbettes is y inches thick
Ten Of the 6-inch guns are within the
casemate. two others are on the berth
forward in 6-inch armored sponsOns. and
four are on the upper deck Those an the
sponsons forward and two on the upper
deck can fire directly ahead and the other
two on the upper deck can fire directly
asteru. in addition to having a brOadside
fire.
The secondary battery consists of six 5
inch rapid-fire guns. eight 6-pound rapid
fires. six l-pound raPid-hres, two Colts,
and two 3-inch rapid-fire field guns.
a new feature introduced in the Of
fensIve power of the Ohio is the sub
merged to: aedo tube. While they are not
new abroad. German warships having
been equipped with them for a number of
years. the ono class is the first of our
navy to be supplied with them. Prior to
her coustruc: ION many vessels Of the
navy were fitted with torpedo tubes above
the water-lile. The Ohio will have two
/ of these tubes, one on either side. situat-
ed about 50 feet from the bow and about
| 20 feet inches below the water-line.
The magazines and shellrOOms can stow
| 250 rounds of I2-inCf: ammunition, 800
rounds Of 6-inCh ammunition, 9,G91 rounds
! Of G-pound and 1900 rounds Of I-pound
ammunition. The forward magazines are
/ located immediately lDENdlu u IAlC w llth
| mo rooms and III: after ones Just aOaft
/ the engine rooms.
There are two military masts fitted with
| the usual signal yards, tops and top
/ nnasts Two tops are built to each Of
/ these masts. The armor Of the forward
| coming tower Is 10 inches thick, and that
| of the after or signal tower is inches
/ thick A steel tube Z inches in diameter
| inside and inches in thickness extends
| from the forward coming tower down to
| the protective deck, and protects the
/ voice tubes and telegraphs from tie com
| manding officer 10 the important stations
| in the vessel
| The Ohio viii carry fourteen boats, OF
| which one is; 4O-foot steam cutter and
another 36-foot steam cutter of the usual
| navy type.
| Hydraulic gear is used in steering the
| vessel and can put the rudder from hard
| aport to hard astarboard in twenty sec
1 onds when the vessel is moving at fun
| speed.
Four powerful searchlights. two Of
which are pI1ced on the top Of the pilot
| house and two on the nainmast above the
upper bridge. viii give warning Of the ap
| pTOach Of hostile vessels. and for night
| signaling the ship carries two sets of cleo
/ tT1c signaling apparatus
The normal coal supply Is 600 tons and