Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1909-11-20

ness Of experts President Roosevelt
| paid enough heed to the s&-ictures to
call naval court TO pass on the points
OF the new battleship. and in several
particulars an adverse finding was
made II was then too late TO change
| the North Dakota and Delaware, but
notifications were made In the de
signs OF subsequent vessels. Despite
minor defects, however. these two are
certainly the greatest fighting ships in
the American navy, IL not IN the world.
They are Of 10000 tons displacement
or $1,000 at full load. and the speed Is
Il knots, which WIS bettered by both
ships in actual tests, the North Dako-
Ia making 22.25 knots an hour; length,
5lS feet inches over all: beam, So
feet inches; draft, q feet; armor. 8
feet wide and II inches thick; engines
on the North Dakota on the turbine
system. novelty in battleship con-
struction; armament, ten twelve-inch
guns, arranged TO be fred in one broad
side on either side the ship, a superb
ority over the British Dreadnought:
fourteen quick firing five inch guns;
four quick firing three Founders; four
semi-automatic one pounders; two
three-inch field guns; two one half inch
machine guns; two twenty-one-inch
submerged torpedo tubes.
Will Scare the Man In the Moon.
To layman that would seem enough
artillery TO sink a fleet, tear down a
city. wipe out an army or make the
man in the moon jump sideways. For
example. each Of the twelve inch guns
throws a ball weighing $50 pounds a
distance OF twenty miles and is capa-
BILE of being shot twice per minute
AS for the smaller artillery. the FIVE
inch guns would have been considered
giants few years ago.
The Delaware and North Dakota are
different in appearance from any other
battleships in the American fleet. They
have high decks in front. enabling
them to be fired when the vessel is at
rapid speed or In a storm. Each has
two skeleton masts made up of a
have already been installed on a few
of the larger ships. 1t Is almost i'm
possible to bring these masts down,
as they can be shot through and
through and still stand firm.
OF the American Dreadnoughts yet
to be completed the Florida and Utah
are still larger than the Delaware and
North Dakota. The displacement of
each of these vessels will be 2l,5oO
tons. The keels of both were laid
early this year, the Florida at the
New York navy yard, the Utah at the
works of the New York Shipbuildlng
company. The length of these two
vessels will be about the same as the
Delaware and North Dakota but with
three feet greater width and one and
half feet more draft There will be
the same number of twelve inch guns,
with two more five inch and several
more smaller pieces. There are also
improvements in the way of armor
and other points criticised by the
board of experts on the North Dakota
Both the new vessels will be run by
turbines. The Florida and Utah will
be completed no later than 1911.
The Two Biggest of All.
1t would be supposed that with these
two marine monsters the limit In bat
tleship construction had been reached
But still another pair authorized in
1909 and just contracted for will dwarf
all the rest. They will have the enor-
nous displacement of 10000 tons.
which is at least 1000 tons heavier
than is known to be contemplated by
any navy on earth. Their armament
will also be greater, each carrying
twelve twelve-inch guns. all arranged
on center line. to be fired at one
broadside. Their length is to be 554
feet. which is greater than the height
of the Washington monument; beam
% feet 3 inches, draft % feet 6 inches.
or more than thirty feet greater length
and eight feet greater width than the
giant North Dakota and Delaware, now
being commissioned. AS the keels of
these vessels have not yet been laid,
1t is hardly probable that they will be
completed before 1912 or 1913 They
are to be named the Arkansas and the
Wyoming and are being built by the
New York Shipbuilding company and
by Cramp & Sons respectively.
With the construction of the Flor
ida. Utah. Arkansas and Wyoming.
Uncle Sam will have eight Dread
noughts, fourteen battleships of more
than 10000 tons displacement and thir-
ty-fOur battleships in all. This takes
no account of the armored cruisers,
many of them almost as heavy. or of
the numberless types of other fighting
vessels. The millions Of first cost in
the construction Of these ships is but
a small part of the expense For ex-
ample, it is estimated that one broad
side from the Utah, including both
twelve inch and five inch guns, which
can all be fired simultaneously. will
cost $1S,400, enough money to buy $685.