The San Francisco call., 1903-12-28

The aim of Great Britain to possess
battleship navy equal to that of two
other powers is involving vast out
lay of money, but the position is as
sured for the time being at least, by
the purchase of the Chilean vessels
Constitution and Libertad. The pres
ent relative standing of the several
navies in battleships and tonnage dis
placement is shown in the foregoing
table:
The totals include ships building. The
chief conditions would work out as fol-
lows: Great Britain and Japan, "A
ships of 974, 900 tons, against France and
Russia combined of IS ships CT TAI 900
tons, or Germany and Russia 65 ships,
of 745, 900 tons.
In the purchase Of the two Chilean
battleships, Constitution and Libertad,
the British navy has acquired ships
that are superior to any turned out in
any navy on a like displacement The
new ships, although only of 1880 tons,
are far superior to the Canopus class
of six ships of 1850 tons, built two
years ago. which averaged in cost $4,
100000, with guns aboard and ready for
sea. The price paid for the two Chill
can ships was 81, $50, 600 for each. The
trial speed of the Canopus class aver
aged 1926 knots, whereas the Chilean
ships made 20 knots and one of them,
the Libertad, steamed at an average
speed of 17z knots for twenty-seven
consecutive hours The Constitution
was built at Elswick and the Libertad
at Barrow. The ships are identical in
all essential particulars, carrying main
batteries Of four 10-inch and fourteen
rs inch guns, while the Canopus class
of vessels each have an armament OF
four 12-inch and twelve 6-inch guns.
The armor belt has a maximum thick
ness of inches in the Chilean ships
against inches in the Canopus class,
and the coal capacity of 1000 tons ex-
ceeds that of the British ships by $50
tons The Constitution and Libertad
will probably be sent to the China sta
tion. for which service their draught
of less than twenty-five feet makes
them preferable to larger battleships.
FOUR BIG TORPEDO BOATS
Thornycroft at Chiswick, England, is
building four large torpedo boats fer
the British navy. The first of these,
named Kennel, was launched December
4. The boats are $40 tons displacement,
1000 horsepower and contracted to aver
age 2512 knots during a four-hours
run, carrying a load of 125 tons. They
are 225 feet in length, % feet 1012 inches
beam and 10 feet 2 inches draught, and
carry an armament of one 12-pounder
and five 6-pounders.
The French Minister of Marine has
obtained consent of the Chamber of
Deputies to materially change the de-
sign of the Ernest Renan, an armored
cruiser, to be built by contract at La
Seyne AS first planned this ship was
to be a duplicate of the Leon Gambetta,
building at Brest which is of 1850
tens, $4,000 horsepower and twenty-five
knots speed. The new plans provide
for vessel of 1862 tons, $4,000 horse
over and twenty-three knots speed,
and a main battery of two 9.45-inch and
twelve 64S-inch guns, against four 7.63-
inch and sixteen 64S-inch carried in the
Leon Gambetta. The cost of the latter
is estimated at S., 720. 600, which will be-
increased to $6,2O0 900 in the new ship.
The armored cruiser Victor Hugo, a
duplicate of the Leon Gambetta, is be-
ing rapidly built at L'Orient dockyard.
The keel was laid last March, and the
ship is calculated to be completed dur
ing 1905 Its cost, including armament,
is s., 800, 900.
The Turkish cruiser Abdul Medjid.
built by Cramps, made a successful
trial December 10, making 22.4 knots in
one hour and averaging twenty knots
during a run Of six hours. The latter
performance just covers the contract
stipuIations and is all that could be ex-
pected. In the General Information Sc
ries issued by the Office of naval intelli-
gence Washington, it was enormously
stated that the speed of this cruiser
was to be twenty-four knots with 1900
horsepower The official who compiled
this data evidently overlooked the fact
that a vessel of 5000 tons required not
less than 10000 horsepower to drive her
at a speed of twenty four knots, as
shown in the trials OF the Russian
cruiser Novik The Abdul Medjid is
3c77 tons displacement, $50 feet length.
AZ feet beam and 1512 feet draught, car
rying two six-inch, eight 4.7-inch and
six 1.8-inch guns. The speed of nearly
not likely to be exceeded by the Abdul
Hamid, a sister ship, under construc-
ton at Elswick, which was launched
two months ago.
NEED OF JUNIOR OFFICERS.
The present first class of the United
States Naval Academy, consisting of
sixty-five members, is to come up for
examination for graduation on Febru-
ary /, which is four months earlier than
usual. 1t is a foregone conclusion that
the entire class will pass and be as
signed to service on cruising ships. as
the navy is short of Junior officers. Two
years hence they will be examined for
promotion to ensigns, the interval being
a probation.to establish their fitness for
the service. On March l there will be
$50 vacancies at the naval academy, for
which there will be no less than 1000
candidates, and the "cramming" schools
are doing a good bushes in Washing
ton and other large cities at rates vary
ing from 50 to 81 an hour. Some i'm
portant changes in the regulations for
admission to the naval academy will go
into effect in 1904 The minimum age