The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1904-10-24

The war in the Far East has brought
two facts to the realization of the pub
lie, first that the command of the sea
depends upon armored ships, and Sec
ond that the number of armored ships
afoat is comparatively few. At the OUT
break of the war, the newspapers talked
of Russian fleets in the East of from
forty to sixty vessels. but later, when
the public realized that Admiral Togo
was holding the sea with half a dozen
battleships backed by eight armored
cruisers, it became apparent that the
former statements, even if literally
true, were meaningless and misleading.
Protected cruisers and torpedo boats,
however numerous. cannot remain
aAoat on the high seas unless backed by
a sufficient number of armored fighting
ships. When the battleship line is
broken, the smaller craft are without
a base, and are run down singly, or
scatter to neutral ports to disarm.
With this object lesson before Us
there comes an increasing interest in
the question of our own battleships.
How many has the United States ahoat
How many is she building? Where
does she stand in this respect in COM
parison with the other Powers?
The first two questions are easily an
swered. AS to the third it will be well
to state at the outset that comparisons
of naval strength are largely a matter
- h,,.Ik
years ago may still figure on the navy
lists as battleshin. but such has been
the improvement in guns and armor in
the interval that she is scarcely half
the strength of battleship just COM
pleted With nations that built ships
at about the same time comparison is
easier, but the United States and Japan |
began to build battleships long after the |
European nations, with the result that |
they have little or no obsolete material, |
and their navies as whole are more |
modern.
The Uniteo States has at present |
twelve frst-class battleships in commits
sion. OF these the Oldest are. the In
diana, Massachusetts, and Oregon,
in 1893.
These are ships with low freeboard,
but with much heavier guns than any
foreign ship of their day. In fact their
four I3-inch guns and eight 8-inch guns,
with an IS-inch Harvey belt represent
an armament and protection not to be
iesp: sed by the aewest type of battle
ship. Their weak point is their lack of
speed and coal endurance.
Our next ship was the Iowa $500.
Here the freeboard is high, giving bet
ter seagoing qualities, and the arna-
nent. speed and coal capacity are prac-
.icaIly the same as the Indiana class.
These four battleships, the second
lass battleship Texas. and the two ar
nored cruisers New York and Brook
yn were the armored ships with which
We fought the Spanish war In 1893 we
the sister ships Kentucky and
xearsarge. These ships had novel
feature in the shape of superposed tur-
-ets. Instead of the four 8-inch tur-
cts. two on a side, of the Indiana and
iowa, we discarded two turrets and put
he other two on top of the I3-inch
urrets. This enabled these ships to
,rinQ as manv guns TO bear IN broad
,ide duel as the Indiana. that IS four
3-inch and four S-inch, while the
weight saved in discarding two turrets
vas, in the Kentucky class, put into an =
,rn;dships battery of flve-inch guns.
Shortly after the Kentucky class fol-
owed the Alabama, Wisconsin and
Illinois. Here there was a new de-
,arture. The distinctive S-inch gun of
he American navy was abandoned, and :
ship was built strictly after English
models. twin tunnels and all The Eng
;sh caliber of guns was adopted, the
artery consisting of four 13-inch and
ourteen 6-inch GUNS.
The Maine, Missouri and Ohio were