The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1911-10-05
ARGENTINA OWNS
LARGEST WARSHIP

LHI0LJI WHOJHIT
PHILADELPHIA, September 90
Ranking as one of the greatest war
ships ever constructed for any govern
ment in the world, the Argentine bat
taleship Moreno was launched today
from the yard of the New York Ship
building Company at Camden, n. J
The only other vessel eqaul her now
ahoat is her sister ship, the Rivada.
via, recently launched by the Fore
River Shipbuilding Company at Quincy,
Mass. The Moreno was christened by
Sonora Isabel Betbeder wife of Rear
Admiral Onifre Betbeder, president of
J the Argentine naval commission, as
proxy for Sonora Josefa Figueroa AL
corta, wife of the President of the
Argentine Republic, who had been Sc
lected as the sponsor, but was unable
to come to this country.
A large company of invited guests
saw the giant ship take her first
plunge into the Delaware river, the
birthplace of many other big war
ships. Among the many guests were
| Senior DR.. Romulo S. Naon the Argen-
tine minister at Washington, and his
staff; Rear-Admiral Betbeder and the
members of the Argentine naval conf
mission, high officers in the American
Navy, representatives of shipyards and
steel companies in the East.
Moreno a Great Ship.
The Moreno, named after Mariana
Moreno, famous figure in the history
of the South American Republic, rep
resents the last word in the present
! day of the development of the 12-inch
gun battle-ships. She is greater in
point of length and displacement than
the Utah and Florida, the greatest
ships now in service of the United
States Government, and these two
giant American fighters outrank any
ship afloat in any other foreign navy.
The Utah and Florida have a displace.
ment of $4,000 tons, whereas the Mo
reno when completed will have 27,6O0.
According to the figures given out
by the builders, the Moreno and Riva-
davia are even larger than the dread
nought New York, and which will have
displacement of $1,000 tons. British
designers are working to out-strip any
of the huge fighting machines, plan
ming the Queen Mary, with a displac-
ment of $4,000 tons.
The great strides made in battle
ship building will be realized when
lit is remembered that the original
Dreadnought built by England, and
which is the unit for the modern
fighting ship, had displacement of only
$4,000 tons.
Will Carry TweIve-Inch Guns.
The Moreno will carry twelve Il
inch guns. Her contemporaries in this
respect are the Arkansas, built in
Camden; the Wyoming, constructed by
the Cramps in Philadelphia, neither
of which are yet in commission; the
Austrian Viribus, the German Thur
Iinger, the Japanese Kawachi the Rus
sian Sevastopol, the Brazilian Sac
Paulo, the Italian Dante Alighieri and
the French. Courbet and Jean Bart.
The Bart was launched yesterday.
The next step forward in battle
ship building so far as armament is
concerned is a reduction OF two in the
number of main guns, at the same
time increasing the caliber to fourteen
inches. The r-Dreadnaught New
York will have ten 14-inch guns, and
a ship of the same class is under con-
struction in Great Britain. The More
no under her contract will have to
develop twenty-five and half knots.
She is expected to develop 10000
horsepower, while the engines in the
New York are designed to develop
go 900.
The Moreno and Rivadavia are 595
feet long over all; the Utah and Flori-
da are 521;6. The Argentine ships
have breadth of ninety-eight feet and
will have a normal draft of twenty
seven feet Each battle-ship will cost
about $12,OOO,OOO.
CRUDE ELEVATOR A MONEY!