Arizona republican., 1906-05-20

isiana are known as sea going battle ships with two 12-inch and four S-inch turrets. For their protection and safe ty the armOring of these vessels is
 unusually heavy and extensive. while their bulkhead arrangements are such l as to insure them against sinking un- der almost any imaginable conditions
 There is a water line armor belt ex-
 tending from stem to stern For
 third of the length of the belt amid ships the armor is 14 inches thick at
 the top and nine inches at bow and
 stern. Above the main belt. between the main barbettes, there is a contin-
 uous wall of side armor seven inches ] thick. At the ends of this armor. l bulSheads of seVen-inch steel extend
 athwartship connecting with the main | batteries.
 The coal bunker and the main pas ] sage bullIhead doors on the Connecti- cut and Louisiana, as we'll as the arm ored matches of the protective deck,
 are operated by electricity. Each of these doors and hatches has an electric motor which is started from central emergency station on the bridge.
 During an engagement. or on the ap- proach of dangtr of any kind. the ,.f- | ficer of the deck can turn a wheel and know that every compartment d, or vital % the ship < safety has been closed by its electric motor This i.. the Long Arm system that the navy has adopted for rcarly all the nex cruisers and wm-sl,ps. It makes uTr warships practically unsuitable by assuring that their watertight doors
 "ill be closed in rln7c to keep the ship sfloat in spite Of Punctures below the waterline.
 United States naval construcsprs have been the first to learn and arpIv the lesson of scores of disasters. lue to the fact that 0uIkhead doors. ccl,ld not be closed by hand in time to save the ship. The naval authorities are taking no chances with vessels that cost millions and which may some day stand between the victory or defeat of American sea forces.
 X continuous protective deck from one to three inches thick ten-:nch armor for the main barbettes, I2-inch armOr for the main turrets and S-inch armOr for the four S-inch gun tur- rets completes the protective features of these ships.
 Extensively as well as defensivelv. the Connecticut and Louisiana will be sDlendidly equipped even for this day 8 four l2-inch guns in two turrets. two on each broadside. The emplacement Of these guns IS such that the two Tor ward turrets have an arc Of fire front dead ahead to a point we'll at of the beam, while from the aft pair If tur- rets gun fire may be directed forward Of beam to dead astern. Firing through casemates on the gun deck Is a Dow e-- ful battery Of twelve Finch guns. Tho Finch pieces are something new in ordnance, having exceptionally high velocity and penetration.
 To this formidable array Of heavy guns is added twelve 3-inch rapid frers. the same number of three pounders. and fourteen machine guns distributed on the superstructur,4. bridges and fighting tops It was not intended originally the the ConneCti- ! cut and Louisiana should carry any torpedo tubes. but afterwards it was decided to add four such tubes L. their equipment.
 Among the many other lessons Of the | Russo-Japanese sea fights, it was shown that better protection was needed for officers directing a warshiT- !. in action. The Connecticut and Lou | isiana will be as safe in this respect i as a man-or-war can be made The forward coming tower Is protected by | nine inches of Krupp steel and the aft ; coming signal tower, located belOrV the aft bridge has five-inch armor
 Keen interest has from the first sur rounded the Louisiana and Connecti cut on account of the unusual coudi- tiOns under which they were built . what developed into a ship building | race began when the government de l cided to construct the Connecticut a the Brooklyn navy yard, giving the | contract for the Louisiana at the same | time to the Newport News company
 The Louisiana was launched Q month ahead of the Connecticut, but Ii the score between them lately narrow ed down to two or three per cent. The Il reason why the race cannot be deffn- Il itely decided one way or the other is that allowance must be made for q number of factors that do not appear in the official progress figures. The II Louisiana is undoubtedly in the lead, II but the builders of the Connecticut II have explanations for this, one being Il that congress has not provided men Il and material as rapidly as the build CTS could have used them.
 But one thing is certaln-both gov and private yards have made splendid records on the Connecticut and Louisiana. It is equally certain that the normal time for the building of a battleship would not have been reduced from A to 50 months if there had been no contest. This was world beating performance until Great Brit ain launched the Dreadnaught in four months with every prospect of com pleting this new sea monster in a year and a half.
 TO LITERATURE.