The St. Louis Republic., 1904-12-18
Radical Change From Present
Policy Will BE Made in Ar
mament of Vessels.
PLAN POWERFUL DEsTR0YERS
These Boats Are TO BE Built With
Il View to Unprecedented Ef
ficicncy in Rough
Weather.
EEPCRLIC SPECIAL

| REPUBLIC SPECIAL.
| Washington, Dec. II.-Ra1!cal changes
| from existing policies VIII lie made in the
| armament OF the three rev battlesh!ps
! which Congress VIII authorize a this ses-
| Sio-i. The report Of the Board of Nara!
/ Cons:-u ctton IN review % the building rec
concentrations of the General Board deals
! with this subject and Is now before Score
! tarv Morton. The revised estimated cost
! of ships desired IS:
Three hattleshIps. each Ceo0 81 257 90
| Five scout cruisers. each. 2.g9o,n n.gH, 90
Ivso s,tiadre,, c9iIicrs. easa. i.i;ao.9 @.J.goo
! SIX torperiO boats. e4ch....... lyv,NU "tE'"'2
Total 20 go
The present proposition OF the Genera
| Board as to batte-y." says the report, is
that the new battieships shall carry at
least four 12-inCh guns in turrets, and as
| many other heavy guns OF not less than 10
inch c4!iber as may ne possible omitting
| entirely the intermediate battery and loav-
ing the secondary battery unprotected by
| armor, while the smoke pipes, air ducts
etc, are TO be protected II possible, as
far az the upper deck by heavy a-mor
The Bureau OF Construction now has IN
| course Of preparation designs OF three ar
rangemcnts OF battery. intended to embOdy
the ideas above noted, with the exception
OF the heavy arr1or far snokeplpes. the
weight OF which is pr0hi5itiye In vie" ot
the other qualities deemed essential.
ADVANTAGES OF HEAVY GUNS.
Certain definite advantages due to
.arge number OF heavy guns are not dis
putel. and the present trend OF naval
opinion seems to be in the direction of
sGCh & battery. In view Of the opinion ot
the General Board upoa this point anc the
present tendency in foreign naVleS the
Board OF CONSTRUCTION is Of the opinion
that II is eNpedient to develop battle
ship carrying a battery OF the general de-
scription proposed by the General Board.
In this connection. however. il seems
proper TO remark that such battery ar
r.ngeInent Is by no means new or un-
tried. and that as one of the more recent
Instances 1t may be noted mat Germany m
signed more than twelve years ago. for an
armament on this principle.
Among the disadvantages c' the con-
centrat tion Of the battery III guns OF large
caliber. orlittins the intermediate battery.
MAJ be mentioned the difficulty of obtain
Ing suitable space for the magazines OF
serious Increase IN tensile stress on the
upper deck. which. in one of the designs so
far treated, involves an increase of nearly
lCG per cent, and the ronut!!iZatiCn for BAT
terry of the large a.-lnored area aInidships.
this Grfnor being, Inv ever, absolutely rec
"ssary for the profession of the stability
and machinery.
With reference to destrovers. the Cen
er1l Hoard recommends 4 tria, displace
ment of 40 TO 40 tons. similar to those of
later Truxtu!l. the TruXtun being consid-
cred desirable type. In that opinion this
board concurs; but it should be pointed out
that the trial DISPLACEMENT Of the Truxtun
class averaged ie5 tons. and even then they
were tried under special condit'o.s which
hare, have been customary, with these high
deep load displacement OF the T'ruxtvn
class is nearly 10 tons, and in the opiriou
or the Board ot Construction the time has
come to try these vessels under conditions
more nearly approximattng service condi-
tons and carrying larger loads
STRENGTH OF DESTROYERs.
The board also notes that the General
Board considers the new destroyer should
oe boat of very strong construction. for
safety and efficiency in rough weather. I,
should DC pointed out that there seems 70
oe s1i.e nlisarprehenSion as regards the
st3enStn and seaworth!Eess OF our DESTROY
ers. 1t can hardly be said Of any- vessel
that It IS immune from disaster under any
conceivable conditions or stress of condi-
ions: but there Goes not appear to BE- anv
reasonable doubt as to the safety of ax
.s;lng torpedo-boat Gestroye-s when p,op-
erly handled H>'
lfuNtun- Whipple and Wordan are AZ
somewhat heavier construction than o;h-r
vessels built upon tie contractors .iescr
noGtpIv the Lawrence ana the NacDSn
3uEh. The main STRUCTURE OF the Truytuu
"hipp!e and Worden weighs ahoiI. I'M
IONS. as against 123 tons FOR the I.auranCa
and MacDcnoCsh. vessels OF nearly i,ir1ti-
cal Dimensions i-'-'''t-
The board does rot attach much I'm
portance OF torpedo boats Of the type rec
commended by the General board halne of
tne tn opinion That their snhere OF action Is
700 limited. and .preferrins a ;arge and
t.,ors srticeaoie boat. even 10 the extent
q limiting such constructions 70 yesssls nf
ti!e DESTROYER class This would leave 70
Euo.1h.ine Sdo.1 .i hGats and our present torpedo
1.,; n"a.S 'l.i oelensn cf the coast, to which
MIST necessarily he confined '''