The daily morning journal and courier., 1904-04-16

militant virtues of the big smooth-bores that the British admiralty in the late seventies procured hfteen-inch smooth-bore in this country and sub jeeted it to target firing in competition with their own Armstrong and Whit worth muzzle-loading rifles. The ex- periments thus made effectually settled the question in favor of the rified pieces. Even then we did not fully discard the smooth-bores, but contented ourselves with a converted muzzle-loader of eight-inch calibre, which was construc- ted by the insertion If rified tubing in an eleven-inch smooth-bore. These converted rifles, which were really quite effective, had begun to displace the nine and eleven-inch smooth-bores as broad side guns on our warships when the breach-loading rifle came on the stage.
 The naval breech-loader came into fashion with the first ships of the new navy, but it was not until well into the nineties that the rapid-fre variety was introduced into the main batteries of our warships. All of the British four teen thousand-ton battleships Of the Royal Sovereign class, which were completed some time before our ten thousand-ton Oregons were commits stoned, carried six-inch quick-firers. and
 they were the last British ships to be
 equipped with the old, numbering thir- teen-inch turret guns. Our battleships
 of the Illinois class, which are twen-
 tieth century ships, were the first American battleships to receive six-inch
 rapid-firers and the last to retain the
 obsolete thirteen-inch guns.
 The three Massachusetts battleships
 had main batteries of slow-fire guns throughout. Their amidship guns con
 sisted of eight-inch and four six-inch pieces. The later Iowa was given twelve-inch turren guns and six four inch rapid-firers instead of the six-inch
 slow-firers, while the eight-inch guns of the earlier battleships were retained. Our naval authorities seem to have repented of their concession to Euro pean ideas in the Iowa case regarding the calibre of the big bow and stern tur- ret guns, as the thirteen-inch giants were reinstated on the Kearsarge and Kentucky and were retained on the later Alabamas. The batteries of the
 two ''K'' ships retain four of the eight
 inch guns and include fourteen five inch rapid-firers. The Alabamas have
 omitted the eight-inch breech-loaters entirely and have amidships batteries of fourteen six-inch rapid-frers. The Maine, Missouriand Ohio-the latter not yet completed-have twelve-inch turret guns, which are much more owerful than the old thirteens, and have utilized the weight gained by the change by adding two sixp-inch rapid-fire guns to their main batteries and by increasing the power of the secondary guns. the sixteen six-pounders of the Alabama giving place to six fourteen-po and eight three -pounders.
 The three Maines are the first of our battleships to receive the improved Krupp armor. which has greater irlvul- nerability than the harveylzed plating
 The increased resisting power of armor thus obtained has called for a cores bonding increase in gun power. Recog- nizing this necessity, the sixteen thou sand-ton battleships oftheKing Edward class of Great Britain are to receive 9.2- inch quick-firing guns in place of g portion of the usual six-inch amidshir ordnance, while we, in the Virginia and
 Rhode Island class, have reinstated the
 eight-inch guns of the earlier battle
 ships. These new guns, however, are
 much more powerful than the former
 ones, and are practically rapid -firers, as
 they can be aimed and fired about three I times as fast as could those with which
 the Oregon and Brooklyn battered Ger
 vera's ships. It should be noted, also
 that in these five ships of the Rhode Is-
 and class the six-pounders of the secon-
 dary batteries have entirely disap- 1 pearedto give place to twelve three-inch
 (fourteen-p -pound) guns and twelve 1 three-pounders
 These five battleships, some of which
 ought to be finished toward the close of 1 1905, are more up to date than any ships
 now afioat, but they will be inferior as 1 fighting units to the Connecticut and
 Louisiana, of still later design The
 latter are sixteen thousand-ton ships
 and are to carry twelve seven-inch ra- pid-fire guns in place of the Rhode Is- ] lands twelve six-inch rapid-firers
 Their three-inch guns will also be in-
 creased to twenty. These two vessels will have greater offensive power than
 even the British sixteen thousand-ton
 King wards.-Providenc Journal