Omaha daily bee., 1901-01-12

II
American national vessels. The United
States. launched at Philadelphia July 10.
1871. was the first Of these new cruisers
and q description Of Il will apply TO the
other ii-gun Americans ships OF tho period.
lt was built of the finest material for ship
construction, with extra heavy tlmbers and
lofty masts. IL was armed with "a 4-poupd
ers in its main deck battery--a kind OF gun
freely criticised by the English. who used
only 1S-pounders on the main deck-aud
carried a crew OF about 400. whore English
vessels OF the same class we're manned by
crew OF about 35o In short. It was an
experiment. sneerei az By the British as
being top-heavy, overarmed and over
manned. but II was built under the super
vision of the commodore who was to com
mand II. Not long bolt VAS driven or a
plank shifted except under the critical eye
or its future master. and Il proved In the
wars with France TripoN and England
what its designers had claimed for it-that.
separately. IL would he superior TO any
European frigate Of the usual dimensions,
would. it assailcd by numbers. be able to
lead ahead could go into action on It's own
terms, and, finally. in heavy weather.
would he able 20 ight a double -decked shin
on equal terms
Vessels ot the line OF hattleship class.
like "thc swift Sailing Independence. ard
OF the gunboat type, like the Wasp. Hornet
ana Pelican. 5o!ncd the United states and
constellation types in forming tho nucleus
| Ter the American navy and so stout IVES the
! construction or these old fashioned wooden
! sailing ships AMI so admirably were they
/ cared for that many OF them took a formda-
Die part years later, not only in the war
! or 1916 with NeNico but actually, as late
/ rs 1851, in the war cr secession. Indeed tho
! lpo-year-cld Constitution ma still bo seen
! in is berth at the Portsmouth navy ward
ard ihc Constellation. of the same asc, was,
| until quite recently actively employed as
a practice vessel for the naval cadets.
beginnings of steam
Steam was hrst applied to American
naval uses in 1Sil, when trc paddic wheel
vessels Mississippi and Missouri were con-
sidered the finest men -of-var aGcat. and
the first American war ship 10 urc the screw
propeller was the Princeton in 1914. As
sails gave way to steam for the motive
power or hGhtlng ships. other improvements
followed. both in construction and move
ncnt rs guns became heavier their num-
Der on shipboard decreased. aud we 20 from
the seventy -four-gun independence OF 1919
to the two-gun Monitor of 1862 The latter
vessel, with its heavy guns and armored
turret, could easily have blown the former
out or the water, and was probably the most
formidable fighting craft afloat at the time
OF Its encounter with the Merrmac Dur
ing the later years OF the civil war the
Monitor played the part OF a battleship and
bore the real brunt OF the attacks on such
fortified positions tho approaches TO
New orleans, Mobile and Charleston, ably
seconded by steam frigatcs like the Wabash
Brooklyn and Hartford, and corvettes OF
the class OF the famous Kearsarge After
the close OF the civil war the navy was
neglected and permitted TO fall into such
state Of inef1ciency that the two Chilian
battleships, Blanco Encalada and Almirante
Cochrane, had war been declared at the
time of the Gillian imbroglio in 1851, could
have destroyed the whole American naval
force and placed our scaboard cities under
the alternative of tribute or destruction.
Had war been declared against Spain at this
, time the American navy would have been as
completely overwhelmed as was that OF
, Spain in 1898.
The Modern Navy.
board OF officers 10 advise in regard
. to the construction OF the new war ships
, was appointed by Secretary Hunt ia 1881;
, congress readily fell in with the sugges tlon
! and today, from the nucleus OF four ships,
. the "a, Il. c. D. of the new navy, Atlanta
Boston, Chicago and Dolphin. all the mod E
n ern vessels We possessed in 1885, we now
- have a naval strength of twenty eight hat 5
tleships, including modern monitors. eight
armored cruisers forty-fou cruisers sew
enty-three gunboats and ffty-three tor
n pedo boats and destroyers. inclusive OF
r. vessels contracted for but not yet in
n commission, and exclusive of hospital, col
n lier, refrigerator, repair and supply ships
- and other vessels which are not actual
| fighting craft Among the most remark
:, able OF all tho types OF American fighting
= craft are the Holland submarine boats, the
II only class OF torpedo vessel that promises
y utility In actual warfare.
h At the beginning OF tho nineteenth cen
It tury our vessels of tho Constitution clas,
!, were armOred with long wenty-four- pound
ers on the gun deck and thirty two poundeI
n cannonades on tho quarter deck and fore
!, castle, the latter weapons having little penc
tration, but great smashing power. Tn,
frigates built from 1921 to 1S47 carried
a thirty-two Founders and short eght-inci
l. guns. The explosive shell was used fol
= the first time during the war with Mexico
r. though in 1889 experiments were mad,
.. with n hollow none explosive shot. whicl
y was found TO possess great smashin,
power, with low velocity. In 1889 Ericsso,
N brought TO this country twelve-!ncl
3" wrought iron gun. strengthened by IN
shrinking on of the best American thre
and one half inch wrought iron bands, bu
the explosion Of gun Of this kind on tn
= Princeton in 1874 (by which were kille
/ Secretary Of State Upshur. Secretary o
/, War Gimer. Captain Kennon and Coone
s. Gardner) gave setbacl; to the introduc
tion of heavy guns on American ships, an
IN 1t was not until the civil war that guns a
IA large as eleyen-inch were used on cur wa
m ships.
improvements In Armament.
The armament OF American men OF WA
m in 1855 consisted principally OF eleven an
nine inch smooth boros and eight linen muy
zle-loading rifles. As late as 1885 there wa
- no plant in the United States capable
~ making forgings for a modern ride OF NOR
st than siX-inch caliber while steel shaftlE'
as torpedoes, armor and machine guns had
d. be purchased abroad Today America
machine shops are turning out guns up
sixteen inchos calibcr and articles OF n
IN above enumeration which arc the admir-
m tion OF the world = Yankee inventlo
which makes possible n reverse motion