New-York tribune., 1909-10-10
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.
Continued from third page.

twentv-one knots. and while the arrnor Is
heavier than that OF other vessels OK her elasS
the battery fire viii be so superior that the orol
nary or improved Dreadnought cannot stand
against her. Results may be uncertain when
Germans design huIIs or engines. but theY nave
little to learn about heavy guns. Their pest e1-
merits have been experimenting for a long period,
and whether or not they have introduced I5-ihcn
or 14-fnch guns. they may have obtained com
bination Of main and secondary batteries which
will enable the Segfried 70 outclass the British
Dreadnoughts-even the improved Neptune.
Similar results in cruiser-battIeships are eX-
pected bv Mr.. Wilson, whose views are ex-
pressed in ''The Daily Mail" The Germans
started off with building Invincible with m
creased tonnage. more powerful engines ana
more formidable battery. and theoretically the
Won der Tam when launched was as good as
the best armored cruiser under the British nag
The next undertaking was the producuoh OF
cruiser-battIeship designed to be superior IN
every respect to the best afOat under any nag
Two Of these super -Invincibles are now under
construction in German shipyards and little is
known about them, as the measurements and
forecasts of horsepower and battery FIRE nave
been concealed as state secrets Of the highest
Importance In order to outpace the BRUSH m
vincibles they must have sustained sea speed
of more than 261z knots and it is safe 70 assume
that there will be engines Of 10000 horsepower
and a displacement of 22,OI0 tons. The design
ers are expected to produce a 2S-knot battle
cruiser that will sail around the British feet and
expose it to a destructive battery fire II they
succeed in outcIassing the Invincibles there Will
be loud lamentations in England over the de-
cline Of national prestige at sea, and feyerlsh'
hystericaI agitation for a more powerful navy.
England however, has not yet been beaten, even
if some of the most pessimistic critics OF the
Admiralty expect that defeat is in store for her.
The Indefatigabe has been heightened and
brOadened, her displacement has been increased
to Is, 80 and her turbines are designed for a
speed of % knots; and the Admiralty experts
are talking vaguely about making the next ar
mOred cruiser as big as the Mauretania and
forcing speed of more than 2S knots.
When the British Admiralty is making
strenuous fight for sea power it is not likely
either to admit that the German warships are
better than its own or to relax its efforts 20
perfect its costly marine mechanism If the
Neptune be a poor match for either the Sieg-
fried the BeOwulf the plans for the two bat
tleships recently ordered at Greenock and Jar
row will be altered and British super Dread
noughts will be launched with batteries superior
in striking energy and rate of fire to those now
afOat. If the Indefatigable lags behind the Ger
man super-InfexibIes in speed 2S-knOt armored
cruisers will be speedily designed with marine
engines exceeding in horsepower the maximum
obtained in the rival navy. The process OF
knocking out the IeviaJhans now under
struction Will not be protTacted one when two
energetic and jealous rivals are bent upon sur
passing their achievements and plume them
selves upon commissioning battleship
armored cruiser a year after the keel is laid.
The cost of the competition will increase stead
lily from year 10 year, for hulls as big as the
Lusitania or the Mauretania are not cheap. nor
can 10000 horsepower be economically OBJ
tained, nor can guns capable of hurting 1,2jO-
pound shells be bought for a song. super
budgets will have TO go with the super Inflexi-
bles and the uper-DreadnOughts. Maritime
tons will take the blood out of the taxpayers
in this ruinOus strife. and when the naval ex-
perts have said their last word they Will have
TO wait for q stUpendOusly destructive war be-
fore they know what all this experimental
mechanism is really worth. l. NE