Los Angeles herald., 1905-10-30
ADMIRAL EVANS WANTS
LARGER BATTLESHIPS
WOULD MAKE 1900 TONS THE
MINIMUM
Eighteen Knots an Hour He Considers
the Greatest Speed Necessary for
These Powerful War Vessels-Can
Be Easily Maneuvered
Special to The Herald.


WASHINGTON, Oct. 29.-Rear Ad-
miral Robley D. Evans, commander-in-
chief Of the North Atlantic fleet, is a
strong advocate of the construction Of
battleships of at least eighteen thou
sand tons displacement, and as much
heavier than that as is necessary to
accommodate the necessary batteries,
armor, machinery and equipment.
The largest American battleship yet
authorized are the sixteen thousand
ton Connecticut class Rear Admiral
Evans views on this subject as well
as all others connected with the SER
vice, command attention. In his pres
ent position he commands the most
powerful and homogeneous fighting
force ever gathered together under an
American flag officer. He commanded
the Iowa at the battle of Santiago, and
for two years subsequently was COM
mander-in-chief of the Asiatic fleet.
He is the only rear admiral who has
commanded the most important two
fleets Of the navy, of which he is gen.
orally conceded to be the leading sea
officer. For seven years he has fa-
vored both greater displacements and
more guns of large caliber.
IT favor the construction of 1S,000-ton
battleships." Rear Admiral Evans said
tonight, provided they are large
be the minimum. The displacement is
to be determined by the batteries she is
to carry and the hardness of the ship.
The naval constructor should be told
what batteries the ship is to carry and
It's general dimensions with reference
to hardness. He must then give the
necessary displacement for the accom-
mediation of that battery, with the ne
cessary hardness, speed and coal en-
durance.
"In every case there should be at
least division of four battleships of
the same speed, dimensions, battery
and tactical qualities.
High Speed Not Wanted
$50 far as the speed is concerned, I
do not want more than 1S knots, and
when I say this I mean Is knots an
hour maintained sea speed.
"Many officers are advocating speed
Of % knots an hour for battleships, but
I look with great apprehension upon
the merging of a battleship into a
cruiser. In such case you lose the
good qualities of both types. In the
one case you lose the fighting qualities
of a battleship and fail to get the speed
of the cruiser, and in the other case you
sacrifice the speed of the cruiser and
fail to get the endurance of the battle
ship.
without discussing the claim of tao
tical advantages for the faster squad
ron made by the advocates of great
speed, it seems clear to me that the
sacrifice is necessary in guns and ar
NOR to produce the faster ship is so
great that she must inevitably be whip
ped by the slower ship, which can and
will have better armor protection and
carry heavier guns. Under such condi-
tions tactical advantages disappear,
for whatever position the faster fleet
may take, tactically speaking, the ves-
sells will be subjected to a fire of guns
heavier than their own and they will
necessarily carry the lighter armor.
"I would increase the displacement
of the 16,00O-ton ships Michigan and
South Carolina, authorized by the last
congress but not yet designed, to the
point of displacement which would en-
able them to carry main battery Of
12-inch guns alone.