The Richmond palladium. (Richmond, Ind.) 1906-1907, 1906-10-14

rspid ms that OF the armored cruisers
above menti,ned. but they displace only
a,7oo tons, and carry OF the eight
inch guns, such as constitute the main
battery of each arinored cruiser.
On the stocks In New England ship
yards. but less than half finished. are
three thoroughly unique ships that are TO
be ehristeued. respectively. Chester. Biz
mingham and Salem. These are TO he
known as scout cruisers" from which
name their function In naval warfare ma.
readily be guessed. and the idea of having
such ships In the feet has been borrowed
by Uncle sam from Great Britain. where
several such craft have recently been con-
structed for the purpose OF keeping tab
on an enemy's fleet Since a scout cruiser
upon discovering the approach OF n hos
tile squadron must not only be agile
enough to evade capture. but must also
be qualified to race home and give warn
ing II goes without saying that speed
is prime requisite In such vessel. and
accordingly the trio OF new Yankee scouts
will each be fitted with engines Of 10000
horsepower. capable OF driying her
through the water at clip of % miles
per hour. or better.
The new scout cruisers viii be doubly
interesting, from tnc TACT tnat the navy
Department will try an innovation In
the means of obtaining speed One OF
the ships - the Birmingham - will be
equipped with ordinar. triple-expansion
engines of the same general pattern ~
those installed in all our warships for
years past, but the other two scouts will
be fitted with steam turbines. the newest
wrinkle In power producing machinery
and apparatus, such as has gained credit
for the exceptional speed OF the new
transatlantic passenger steamers OF the
Cunard Line. Two different styles OF tur-
bines will be tested In order TO determine
their comparative merits. The scout
cruisers will have a uniform length Of
40 feet. but their light construction can
be appreciated from the fact that each
will have a displacement of only $50
tons. Such a ship is expected to run
away rather than fight. and this type Of
cruisers only means OF self-defense will
be found In a dozen threeinch rapid-nrs
guns Inasmuch as the cruisers will draw
only about 16 feet of water. they will be
able to navigate I'm shallower water than
other wnrships OF large size.
Yet another tendency lately manifev@~
In the new policy for the deveiopmef-~
of the United States Navy Is found In
the increasing attention being paid to
submarine torpedo boats. Yankee In
ventors, with the proverbial ingenuity
OF the race. have produced decidedly the
best under water fighters that have been
evolved anywhere In the world. but Uncle
Sam, for one reason or another. has not
paid as much attention to these new ter
rors a. have European nations that have
not had available anything like inch good
examples. Latteriy. however. there haG
are well on the way to completion mt the
big shipyard at Quincy Point. Aasa..
and II is now proposed to devote fully
81 900, 600 to further construction In this
line ms soon rs our naval experts can de-
termine just which one of the several
inventors In the field Is offering the best
type of craft for work under the waves.
The recent tremendous Increase In the
United States Navy has caused the Of
hcials at Washington to be sorely put to
II to provide officers and men for all
these floating fortresses. 1t Is not mere
~ that there has been a heavy increase
In the number OF ships, but almost every
one of these newcomers requires almost
twice us many bluejackets >as were need
ed on the biggest battleship we had IN
service at the time OF the Spanish-Amerf-
can War. To remedy matters the Navy
Department is using every possible means
to encourage enlistment In the Navy. and
the enlarged Academy Mt Annapolis 10
graduating new officers ahead OF time. 10
order to keep pace with the demand Al
most equally serious is the need for nag
officers Of experience to command tho
fleets and squadrons Into which our grow
ing Navy must, by reason of Its size. be
divided. One result of the cry for more
officers Will be that In future, promotion
will be more rapid and younger officers
will be given the positions OF responsible
ity. WALDON FAWCETT-