The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1909-06-03
New u. s.
Battleship
Mississippi


tons displacement and carry the max
imum armor and armament and have
the maximum speed compatible with
this limited displacement. In the pre-
vious year two battleships, the Con
neticut' and Louisiana" had been
authorized; but Ian their case the dds
placement had been set by Congress
at 10000 tons, On ths more generous
allOwancethe naval Constructors we're
able to provide an armament consist
ing of four 12imchl guns, eight
S-inchltwelve finch, and twelve S-inch
The protection consisted OF water
line belt from to IL inches In thick
ness, 12inches of armor ON the II
inch gum turrets and 6 IL inches on
the S-inch gun tuTrets, and the speed.
wdth1 6 800 horse power, was Is knots
Coal bunkers were provided with
capacity of 2,275 tons.
With ship with above character
istics before them, the naval con-
sstualctors were presented with the
problem of seeing how many of its eff
fectives elements tthey could retain in
a ship of 5000 tons less displacement.
The result is seen in the two sister
ships, mississippi" and Idaho.
Their length is 375 feet, beam n feet
and mean draft "a feet inches. as
against $50 feet length, rs feet 10
inches beam, and "a feet 6 inches
mean draft in the case of Connect
cut" The distribution of the ar
NOR is as follows: There is water
line belt 8 inches in thickness amid
ships, which extends from stem to
STERN and gradually reduces to
thickness of inches at the ends.
Above the belt the sides of the
ships are protected by inches Of
armor to the level of the gun deck,
and the Finch gums mounted upon
the gun deck are also protected by
z inches of armor. The protective
deck, which is located at the level of
the top of the main belt armOr, is
L 1-2 inches thick ON the flat portion,
and inches in thickness where it
slopes down to a junction with the
bottom of the armor belt The r.
inch gun turretS are protected by II
inches of armcr on the front plate
and inches on the sides and rear.
The 9-inch gum currents carry IL
inches of armCT ON the fron5 plate
and inches elsewhere
The battery for a ship of $4,000
TOMS displacement is usually powerful.
1t consists of four 45-caliber 12-inch
gums, mounted I'M two turrets forward
and aft These gums are of great
length, measuring As feet from breech
to muzzle; and although the bore is
- inches, they are so long that, in
the deck view of the guns on our
front page. this length, assisted by
the fore-Shortening of the photograph,
makes the gun look like the proven
bal pipe stem The intermediate
battery consists of eight 45-caIibsr g.
inch gums, mounted in four turrents
on the main deck, in the positions
shown in our photographs. The axes,
both of these and the 12-inch gums,
are about 25 feet above the water
On the gun deck is battery of eight
Finch guns mounted in broadside, two
of which can be trained dead ahead
and two dead astern. They are pro-
tected by side armor of z inches of
steel and by circular gunshields fit
ting Snugly in the opening, which are
6 inches in thickness. For torpedo
defense a dozen 3-inch rapid-fire guns
and fifteen smaller guns are mounted
in various suitable positions through
out the SuperStructure and bridges
There are two submerged torpedo
tubes for firing the new 21-inch tur-
bine-driven torpedo.
So far, so good. The powers of
defense and attack are represented by
the guns and aTFmor are very formi-
dable for the ship of this size. When
we come, however, to the question of
speed and coal supply, there is Sc
rious falling off as compared with
the Connecticut" the bunker capa-
city being reduced from 2,275 tons
to 1900 tons; and the speed, which
in the case of the Connecticut was
1878 knots on her trails, Falls to
I'LL knots in the mississippi" 1t
is when we consider this question
of coal supply and speed that the fol-
ly OF Congress, I'M arbitrarily limiting
the displacement to $4,000 tons, is
evident. In these days of 10, 20, and
21-krot battleships, the possession of
only IL knots speed practically re-
Iegates the mississippi to the posi-
ton OF a secon1-class battleship If
she took her place in line with our
own "Dreadnoughts, . their speed in
battle would be limited to the Is or
at most Is knots, which would prob
ably be the best that the "MiSsis-
if called upon suddenly during the
xlOng period of wear and tear inniden-
tai to a naval campaign. AS a matter
of fact, she would prove to be some
thing Of a handicap to the average
battleships of the pre-" Dreadnaught"
period, such as the Connecticut and
New Hampshire" CIR the 10 knot
vessels of the Georgia" class. 1t is
quite conceivable that in some critical
maneuver of sea fight, in which the
possession of knot or two of addi-
floral speed was OF vital Importance,
the 17-knot idaho and mississippi"
might prove to be a decided handicap
upon the remainder or the fleet
This, however, is pure theorizing,
anil the chances are that df the Mis-
sissippi" we're ever called upon to
cast loose her guns for an engage
p1n orlH she W0aU71 ha q h1n a r loo OF mill,