The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-07-18
THE TWO NEW BATTLESHIPS.
a DisnGreement as to Armament in
the Board on Construction.

the board on Construction.
Rear Admirals O'NeH. Melville. and
Eowies, composing the majority Of the
Board on Construction, in their report on
the plans for the two new batuesh.ps just
made public by Secretary Long criticise
the minority of the board consisting Of
Rear Admiral Bradford and Captain Sigs-
bee for advocating superposed tuTTcts
containing 12-inch and S-iHch guns. and
auxiliary batteries of Fights and skies
Plans Of the type of battleship recon-
meuded by the majority are appended u
the report. which also contains tables to
show that the character and arrange
ment Of the maJorfty-s battery are sd
perior to those features of the battery
prepared by the minority.
The board says it has been unable 20
reach a unanimous agreement concerning
the armament and its disposition, and
now makes this preliminary report in or
der that progress may be made upon some
definite designs.
The plan of the battleship as submitted
is as follows: Length. $50 feet: beam. IS
feet, mean draft. "A feet 6 inches; dis
placement, 1850 tons. The hull viii weigh
about 5.oo0 tons, while he protective ar
nor will be about 800 tons The total
coal capacity viii be about 1900 tons: to-
tai load displacement. 1890: deep load
draft Of 26 feet inches 10 knots speed,
and an Indicated horsepower of 10000
The battery recommended by the ma
joTity is TO consist Of pinch guns in
? I0-inch armored turrets % finch guns
in classmates. and % 3-iaCh guns Eight
Of the finch guns are enclosed in indi-
vidUal armOr on the upper deck and /
I. on the gun deck firing ahead and astern
The remaining y guns are located on the
gun deck in a central Casemate battery
/ The machinery is protected by q I0-inCh
armor belt, tapering to / inches fore and
aft beyond the machinery. space. and the
other protection consists of armor : and
! s inches thick. except on the 12-iuR tur-
rets where it is 10 inches thick
The main difference between the ma
iority and minority of the board arose
over the battery and its arrangement The
majority is opposed to the further use of
superposed turrets and it recommended a
/ uniform caIibre of inches for what may
/ be termed the auxiliary battery in pref
/ erence to mixed battery Of S-inch and
/ 6-inch guns favored by the minority IN
/ its comparison of the two plans. the ma
/ jOrity makes the point that the use OF the
/ superposed tUrrets. favored by the minor
( ity. exposes guns to disablement by a
/ single shot and by the mounting of the
/ L G-inch guns in single casemate renders
them all liable to be placed out Of ac-
/ ton by a single large shell, charged with
/ high explosives.
/ Attention is also called to what Is
/ claimed to be a very important adVan-
tage in the majoritys plan for providing
for twenty 3-inch guns. as against eight
/ of that caIibre provided for by the minor
= r.. -FrTT 4# ne
fire Of ships that participated il the bat
. tie Of Manila IS Submitted To show that
/ S-inch guns not mounted in turrets on the
I Baltimore and Boston gave greater rapid
/ ity of fire than the S-inch turret guns Of
( the Olympia It is claimed also that At
the battle Of Santiago there were only
/ thirty hits u1de by the 319 projectiles fired
/ from the S-inch guns The majority ar
CUES at length in favor Of the proposed
/ finch guns. which, il contends far ex-
/ coed the S-Inch guns IN the extent OF their
I range and the fairness Of their projeCtory.
( The majority holds that in providing for
: uniformity Of character simplicity Of
/ mounting. and separation CT guns il has
/ presented a vessel more powerful than
that yet built or projected by any Power.
A table IS submitted to show that the
twenty finch guns Of the majority plan
I wiz throw 4 125 pounds OF metal a minute
/ from each broadside. and that the twelve
S-inch and twelve G-inch guns provided
/ Tor by the minority while capable OF
( throwing 4,5e5 pounds CT metal d minute
from one broadside, can throw only $500
| pcUnds Of metal minute from the ether
/ broadside- All the main battery guns.
! except the Iz-inch of the ma iority's ship.
{ will throw S 80 pounds Of metal in a min
ute. while all the main battery guns. eX-
cept he Pinch Of the minority ship. VIII
throw. SO pounds Of metal in a min
! ute. Rear Admiral Bradford is preparing
the report Of the minority.