The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1903-03-13

one armored cruiser originally provided
for in the house bill
In the hearing before the house com
nlittee Rear Admiral O'Neill, president
of the board of construction. presented
a memorandum from the board of con
struction on the subject of the size OF
ships in which the question of sea
Worthiness. displacement, draught.
s.eed armor and armament and coal
supply were treated. introducing 1t
with views of his own. Admiral O'Nelll
stated that the Oregon class of 1O.2o0
tons trial displacement were designed
in 1890. followed by the Iowa, of II, 563
tons displacement. in 1892 the k0ar-
sarge. Of 1888 tons, in 1885; the Maine.
of L. 800 tons, in 1898; the New Jersey,
of $4,000 tons, in 1900 and the Louisiana.
of 1900 tons, in 1902. Some idea Of
the formidable character Of the vessels
of the Louisiana's class may be formed
when it is noted that their dlsDlace-
ment will be considerably more than
half again that Of the Oregon. which
the people of the United States aTe
accustomed to regard as pretty good
shi2-
TO 90 back to the Oregon class he
said. would be about like putting up
electric for horse cars. What IS neces-
sary in battleshi3 is concisely stated
by him as follows:
THE first quality in a battleshiD is
seaworthiness, without which she can
not keep the sea or use her guns in
rough water If our battleshiDS are to
be effective they must urSL OF all nave
good seagoing qualities and carry large
supplies of ammunition. provisions and
coal. In order to engage an adversary
that they may encounter they must
have powerful batteries. be well pro-
tected by armor and have good sea
sneed These elements are all repre-
sented by weight, and the capacity OF
a vessel to carry weight in hull which
shall be staunch, strong and we'll
designed determines to a large extent
the value of the shio for naval Dur-
poses. Large displacement means great
powers of offense and defense and great
endurance if the design is we'll worked
out, whereas small displacement means
the contrary"
He further noted the total cost of the
Oregon 1O. $50 tons displacement. was
will cost 81 500, 900. a difference of only
1924. 962 for ship 5000 tons heavier
The board of construction, in pre-
pared statement, designates the propo-
sition to return to 1900 ton ships AS
an unwarfanted proceeding. 1t IS
pointed out that to prepare new designs
for 1900 ton ships would take at least
I a year and cause delay of this period
in the construction of the vessels They
would have the armOr and armament
of armored cruisers instead of those of
first class battleships, but they would
have speed of only the battleships, so
that they would be- in a measure, a
/ hybrid with the worst and not the best
1 qualities of the two contributing classes.
The board evidently looks forward to
1 the construction of even heavier SHIPS,
for it says. in our 10000 ton battleships
we are still far from the size where IN
crease of displacement does not result
in corresponding increase in power
An interesting comparison IS given be-
tween the Oregon and the Connecticut.
4 showing the great superiority Of the
I Connecticut to the oregon, both as to
speed. seagoing qualities. coal supply.
armor and armament me arInor OF
the Connecticut covers a space of about
1927 SQUARE feet as against 2.229 square
feet for the oregon. In fact, the Con
necticut had more armor below the
1 water than the total area of the armor-
ed side of the Oregon. In summing up
the comparison between the oregon
class and the Connecticut the board
holds that there can be no question that
/ in the latter ships the increase of mill
1 ta1y power is fully in proportion to the
increase of displacement or even greater
in proportion while the cost was not IN
creased in proportion to the displace-
ment.