Bisbee daily review., 1909-03-09
FLOR|DA'S
 KEEL ID BE LAID TODAY
Anniversary of the Battle Be- tween the Monitor and Mer- rimac Designated By Navy Department

WASHINGTON, March S.-Tomor- row. the anniversary of the historic battle between the Monitor and the Merrimac, has been fixed by the navy department as the date for laying the keel of the 100000 ton battleship Flor. ida at the New York navy yard. The event will be attended with consid- erable ceremony under the supervis- ion of Rear Admiral Goodrich and Ma val Constructor Baxter.
 The construction of the Florida will be followed with more than ordinary interest by navy department officials, partly for the reason that sbc- will be the first battleship to be built at one of the government navy yards since the Connecticut, flagship of Rear Admiral Sperry on the recent trip around the world. was turned out from the New York yard. The old question as to whether the big ships for the navy can be built as cheap ly and as efficiently by the govern ment at its own yards as by private shipbuilders is still mooted one. The construction of the Florida at the New York yard may settle the controversy, for almost simultaneously with the laying of her keel there has just taken place at the Camden yards of the New York Shipbuilding company the same initial step In the constrdc- tian Of the battleship Utah. The Flor ida and the Utah will be sister ships. That it BiN be a race between the shipbutding company and the govern mcnt navy yard to turn out the speed fest ship in the shortest time is d. ready made plain by the announce ment of the New York Shipbuilding company that they inteDd to establish a. new record for time in the comple- ton of the Utah
 While the government has cut the time for work on the Utah and Flor ida considerably lower than has been the custom for battleships it is ex. pected that the builders of both yes sels will pare of at least onehaIf q year from the requirements. Should they succeed, the shIpDuHding records for heavy fighting vesseis would be endorsed with a new redletter entry.
 The Florida and the Utah will be sisteE ships of the North Dakota. nov being completed at Quincy, Mass, ana the Delaware, recently launched ai Newport News. These four ships will form an ind0miiable squadron. Com pared with the battleships. completed or under construction, of the navy oi any foreign country. they will surpass all.
 The Florida is to carry as heavy ar
 nor and as powerful armament as any known vessel of it's class: will have Q speed of twenty-one knots which is believed to be the highest practicable for a vessel of this type and class, and will have the highest practicable radius Of action.
 The arrangement of her main bat. tery guns is such as 10 permit i broadside fire 25 Der cent greater than tbat of the broadside fire of any
 battleship now built. Her defensive
 qualities. other than those dependent upon aTmor protection. are such as to give the maximum degree Of pro tection to all the vital portion by
 means of unusually effective compart-
 mental subdivisions, so that in con junction with her armor protection the defensive qualities of the Florida ar Q expected to be distinctly superior D those of any battleship hitherto d. signed
 Her armament will consist of Il main battery of cen twelve-incn breeehJoading rifles and her second ary battery will be fourteen 5-inch ! rapid-lire guns, -four 3-Dounder salut. ing guns, fOgf 1-pounder semi-auto-- matic guns. two 3-inch field pieces and two machine guns. In addition
 she will carry two submerged ton pedO tubes.