New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1909-10-11
DREADNOUGHT RACP
Costly Competition The End Il
an Sight.
London. Ootos.- /.

ship or armOred cruiser. with turbine eng,.
and Pinch guns. Is the most experiment. II
well as costly warship ever designed ana II
resources for defence or attack are canasl II
vast expansion from rapid processes OF fn,
tion and readjustment Of weights and barr.
power. The Super readnought is ai-..
knocking out the Dreadnoughts, aIthOugb - IL
three Of them have been launched and u
entire class Of battleships and cruiser-b,..
ships IS that only n few advs,
nations have experimental with them
possess the mechanical plant requisite for a.
structing them II Is the naddest raes
modern times, and hardly more than a d.
OF the dozen Dreadnoughts and Invinciblss =,
ing the water within four months ,go II
Japanese and one is French. The remains.
nine are German and British Ave under y
flag and four under the other; and everv =
is so markedly superior TO the vessels Of h
same class launched within four years =.
justify the name Of SPECIFICATIONS III
Super Invincible, whether Admiralty ex-s-
claim the distinction or not Was there q.
so extraordinary a duel? Not a shot ia a.
and only the taxpayers blood IS shed; vst
warfare is so destructive that the new al.
are dfscredited by superior designs as 81
as they are commissioned. and if they :,
not prenatureIy "scrapped'' they are vlrtusr
outcIassed. II
The HeIgoland as the Siegfried is now knorI
in Germany, is something more than anoc.I
Nassau or Westphalen. II is not an atts-~
to reproduce at KEEL the original Dreadnoua,
with improved engines and readjusted battszz
so much as an undertaking 70 outclass
battleships now afloat- It has been follou.,
this week by the launch of a sister shin II.
OIdenburg, or Ostfriesland. at WilheImshsvs 1
and third. the Beowulf, will be ready for Il.
water at Bremen before Christmas Tia
measurements and details Of engine poxs,
caIibre Of guns and arrangement Of the BAL
teries are naval secrets which are carefuly
concealed, yet without doubt these three bal
tIeships are superior in so many respects "a
the original DreadnOUght as TO stand by them
selves The hulls have been heightened and
broadened, the displacement and engine DOVE,
have been considerably enlarged. the arnor |
has been strengthened, and the primary and /
secondary batteries have been rearraugsi /
and materially improved in striking powes l
and defensive resources against torpeas /
warfare. Before the end of the year tive
armored cruisers will be in readiness for
launching at Hamburg. and these are al l
ready proclaimed by British alarmsts as
Super nfexibles. superior in displacement /
engine power, battery IRE and manoeuvrns 1
capacity TO the best cruiser battleships d. /
signed by the Admiralty experts here Ger
tainIy they Will be the largest war vessels aaoat
and if they obtain the projected maximum 1
horsepower Of 10000 they will be the tastes. 1
leviathans. II the forecasts of the experts aEs 1
fulfilled, these five German warships viii 50
far surpass the six Dreadnoughts and InAsz-
ibles already completed or under cOnstructl1
in the Hamburg, Bremen and KieI shipyaFds /
as TO render the earlier vessels fairly al
tiquated
On the British side the Neptune has been !
launched at Portsmouth this week and the n
defatigable viii be. in the water at DevoupOt
next week. one the best Dreadnought and The
other the best InhexibIe designed BY the naval i
experts; and during December two more bstts-f
ships, the Colossus and the Hercules viii be I
we'll in hand for their first dip at JarrOw and On
the Clyde. The Neptune's tonnage will exceed Il
10000 and her engines viii have $1,000 horse 1
power. and her Pinch guns viii be heightened /
and finch guns viii be substituted for Z
in the subsidiary battery. with tubes /
for carrying a 21-inch torpedo i've or six miles
1t will be the most formidable DreadnOught o. |
Super-Dreaduought in the British navy. yet The |
land. the Ostfriesland and the BeowuIf will each /
be superior to IL in striking force, broadside nls
and weight Of metal. for there will be dozen
Pinch guns in place Of ten. and the secondary
battery will be more formidable. If the Neptuns
falls below the German standard, either in stris
ing power of more destructive guns at Longer
range or in a more serviceable subsidiary lat
terry. the ornaments of the Hercules and the
2 ~1,a ma rfrrTTT
now known in the British navy. In the sams
way If the interchangeable be outclassed by ta'
two armored cruisers which are soon 10 Be
launched at Hamburg. twenty-eight-knot q
even thirty knot super Indexibles with 152-inca
guns Will be deliberately laid down in BrlIisa
dockyards.
With engines running up 10 10000 horsepo"e,,
and ornaments of 13-inCh and 14-lnch guns ~.
2f-inch torpedo tubes projected the Dreadnous..
race Will soon be confined To nations WIA~- -
raise the money required for the coStliesl vs.
ships ever known. There are now only SIX e0lR1.
itOrS, Great Britain, Germany, America fIaLSSSs
Japan and Brazil. and fast Is the pace -
America is likely to be left in the field before 's
as the only rival of The TWO le3uCiS- 49,
DreadnOuGhtS and Super-ID heNioleS, "As.~
built in Germany or in England, VIII N.Y. nv VA
crushing weight of taxation The cost ~ -
StruCtiOn is steadily rising with the pIVsl.o4 a.
invention; the average life of warship = ~
Ginning even more rapidly. and the hlstl"'.
of the fleet involves greatly increased eNgS- -
owing to the necessity for a highly Jralhvu -
sonnet The Neptune launched this weeA. -
resents an investment of $100oG,eo0 IoF my -
and the ship may be out Of 0a'v ~
course of a few years under stress oi S = ~
competition between Germany ana III. - r,bn
LIBERAL government. with the help or -
Fisher. succeeded in etfeCtinS cohSldIl9ss 80, m
auctions in ordinary maintenance oS - Ssviag
useless ships. concentrating fleets anu -sTtss5
nav and pensions of officers and men ,-rd
economics viii eventually be lost m the 81 ,aye
service of a more scientifically ofSai-oS' t-air.
The burdens OF efficient maintenance 80 t. nj
inc increase with the cost of ConSruc'oNn- 80.
armament Super budgets so WIN '''0
and super InvlnCtbles ,avsa
The experimenting goes ON and Ihe - Ar,
are bled without naval war oetNSJIL oirs
class powers to decide the controversies ~.
Experts are not aSreed either here or = 81
many on the relative merits OF l--'-, 81!
inch GUMS md ~ 4