The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-01-30

No development of greater Importance
has occurred in the nistory OF the new
steel navy of the United States than that
signaIized in the accord reached by the
authorities on typical American battle
ship design. wholly unlike anything
abroad and far superior in every fighting
essential TO any vessel yet projected by
any foreign Power. The agreement OF the
naval admirals and strategicaI and con-
struction experts involves a marked step
for the prime military consideration OF
uniformity. It records the complete tri-
umTh OF that distinctiYely American device
the superposed, or four gun, turret, and
it insures a wider radius of effective &C
ton than that of any heavily armored yes
sci in the world. Seven of the most for
midable warships designed by any nation
are Immediately affected by their decision,
five of which have been let under contract
by the Navy Department in the last
month, and the other two are provided
for by the current Naval Appropriation
bill, 10 cost altogether, when commits
It may be recalled that the naval ex-
Perts were nearly two years in designing
the FIVE battleships-the Pennsylvania, the
New Jersey, the Georgia, The Virginia.
and the Rhode Island-and that. finally.
after the differences arising in the Board
on construction had been considered by
the Dewey Board OF Military Policy, and
by other ranking officers of the service,
compromise was adopted, by which three
ships should be equipped with the super
posed tUrrets having go degrees arc, Of
FIRE similar TO those constituting such a
radical innovation in ornaments that had
been installed on the Kearsarge and the
Kentucky. This device gaze enormous
concentration of fire. as well as permitted
the use Of the four 12-ineh and their su-
perposed two couples Of S-inch rifles full
play on both broadsides. There were four
more SIS on these ships. placed in pairs
in elliptical tUrrets on each beam. having
$50 degrees arc of fire. To the other two
vessels were also given four I2's and
eight SIS each, with the 12's in the
usual single story turrets fore and aft Of
The citadel On the centre line but the
IS were installed in pairs IN four ell
iiptical turrets. one on each corner of the
citadel, and these had an are FIRE OF emily
40 degrees The main battery Of Each Ct
The i've ships was further increased by
twelve 6-inch rapid fire rifles. making il
extensively superior 10 any proposed by
naval power
This compromise satisfied none Of the
tacticians. who had taken part in the con
test, and with view of proiting by fur
Their experiments with the Eearsarge and
Kentucky, which might result in the vim
cicatlO1 Of the Yankee ingenuity which
produced the two-story turret and its ir-
reststible concentration Of prOieCtIles or
in demonstrating its unsUitability for open
sea fighting. a saving clause was inserted
in each Of the contracts by which within
six months after signing the Government
retained the right TO change the number
calibre, and arrangement Of guns and
their accessories.
The battery decided upon for the Eve
ships building and for the two in the Ma
val bill consists of four Pinch four s.
inch. and sixteen 5-inch guns, which sur
passes anything hitherto proposed for a
single ship in any navy The SIS and 12's
are superimpoSsd. and there are eight 6's
IN each broadSide. Twelve Of these 6's
are on the main deck, on a level with the
12's. and OF these four are on the corners
Of the quadrilateraI citadel with dead
fore ana aft fire. and an arc Of $50 de-
grees. About each OF these corner guns
IS one Of the remaining fer IS, well pro-
tected by armOred caseuateS. This re-
1narkable and absolutely homogeneous
battery Of 6's IS rapid fire. each gun firing
three times & minute Il Is the new pat
tern naval 6. the latest Improvement Of
the ordnance experts, and IS as much Su
perior to the old Of last year and earlier
as a 13-inch gun IS 10 an s. Its length is
50 calibres, OF 500 inches, and with the
new smokeless service powder, its 100
pound prOiecIile starts from the muzZle
with the velocity Of 1900 feet a second,
instead OF 1900 feet. the best obtained by
its predecessor
Each Of these sixteen guns on the new
bsttleships viii pierce at The rate of
three times a minute, all the armOr Of
any battleship ever built except that OF
turrets and citadeIs- In other words, the
new naval VIII easily perforate over
five inches Of the highest class Kruppizsd
armor at two miles range, more than six
inches at one mile. more 12an seven
inches at half a mile. and each gun viii
do this every twenty seconds.
The incalculabIe advantages of tbs
homogeneous battery and its tremendous
destructive effect are augmented by the
fact that il IS to be uniform on seven
magnificent Il. 000-ton ships; but, IN the
opinion of many able officers, scarcely
less notable is the saving in weight ac-
eOmplished my the new arrangement,
which will add geo tons to the ccal bunk
CT eapacity OF each ship. This fuel will
increase their cruising radius by 1880
miles and enable then TO keep the sea
away from cOaIing stations at least an
other week Three hundred tons OF coal
means whole day sailed in a straigh-
away run across the Atlantic. and per-
haps three days II the event Of hurry
orders 10 proceed frcTn san Francisco TO
Manila And beyond all that has been &C
complished IN rehabilitating TIE Ameri-
can Navy an unequaled type has been
adopted that can whip, unit for unit, any
type yet proposed aside from all con
EideratiOns of the American personnel.