The Wheeling intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1903-1961, 1915-08-07

Ane ufta4uduEnt and the pre-
dreadnaught baftie ship Is that the
latter g. a mixed battery shlp. 20 far
~ ia main armament H. concerned
for example. our dreadnaught Penn
tylFania has twelve if-inch guns In
her main battery. while the pre-dread-
raught Minnesota has four isdnch
end eight o-inch In that battery and
lNelVe inch IN her intermediate nat
terry Both ships have a secondary
battery OF lighter guns for defense
AGAINST torpedo craft Again. there
mas been rapid growth In the size
o. these ships. the displacement OF
the Pennsylvania being 3i.400 tons.
a. compared with $4,000 for the Min
nesota. The uniform calibre Of the
heavy guns OF the dreadnaught and
her great size give marked advant-
ages In battle tactics and concentra-
ton OF FIRE.
The Battle Cruiser
Modified Dresdnausht
The battle cruiser f. a modified
dreadnauEht IN which. IN order TO in
stall heavier and more powerful ma
chinery for greater speed. the thick
ness OF the armor and the numbar.
cut not the calihre. OF the main bat.
tery guns have been reduced. Thus,
the dreadnaught Iron Duke-which is.
or was, Admiral Jellicoe's flagship
Is a ship OF $4,000 tons Displacement
and Il knots speed. carving ten "a >
inch guns In her main battery. and
having II inches Of armor on the belt
amidships and 10 inches on the gun
turrets. AS compared with her. the
battle cruiser Lion. OF 26.350 tons. has
seven knots more speed. but carries
only eight - 5-inch guns. and has only
9-inch belt and 3 inches on the tur.
rets.
The latest British dreadnaughts are
intermediate In speed between the
battle cruiser and the typical dread.
n"ught, ana the guns are fewer but
larger. than in the latter. Thus. the
hye ships OF the Queen Elizabeth
class have "a displacement OF $500
Tons and speed OF % knots. and
carry eight i5-inch guns in the main
battery. The thickness OF the turret
amor r. Il inches: that OF the belt
is not publicly known. The tenden.
cy In this design toward greater bat
teship speed rs. however. noteworthy
and important
II should be borne in mind that the
battle cruiser Is, in no sense an
'armored cruiser OF the type so Isop-
ular In all navies ten years and more
ago. Take our Montana class. the
most powerful armored cruisers ever
Quilt; their displacement Is l45OO
tons; their speed % knots. They
carry four lO-inch rifles In turerts in
their main battery, and sixteen 6
inch and twenty-four 3-inch guns in
their intermediate and secondary bat
teries. The maximum thickness of
armor Is inches on the belt and 3
inches on the turrets Modern prog.
ress has made such ships obsolescent
In all navles. With their relatively
weak mixed batteries. thin armor. and
low speed they cannot face battle
cruisers; they are too slow TO scout in
company with 30-knot light cruisers
and destroyers. and they cannot pro
tect trade routes from such faster, al
though lighterarme and less protect
ed. raiders as the German Linden.
Designed primarily 20 guard steamer
lanes and TO capture merchantmen.
their gun power and armOr are now
both too great and their speed too
small TO make them effective in these
days OF change.
The Characteristics OF
The Battle Cruiser.
The essential qualities OF the battle
cruiser are: large size. and-as com
pared with the baIleship-a speed
about one-third greater. heavy long
range guns fewer In number but the
same I'm calibre. and armor slightly
less In thickness Let us consider
briefly the relations and effect OF this
combination.
First. as to size A ship OF large
displacement Is proportionately much
more powerful than one OF small size.
This follows from the Reou.etrical
principle that the surfaces OF similar
solids vary as the squares OF like lin
ear dimensions. while the volumes
vary as the cubes Of those dimensions.
In ship. these surfaces represent
the dead weight'-that Is. the hull
and decks-while the volumes cor
respond with the useful WEIGHTS" or
those OF armor. armament. and pro
polling machinery Thus. the dread
naught Pennsylvania Of 81 400 tons is
500 feet long and the old battleship
Oregon 90 2Ss tons) has a length ~
34s feet. The cube OF 500. divided by
the cube OF 34s. g. about FIVE. that Isl.
the Pennsylvania is equivalent In use
ful weights to about FIVE OreEons. al
lhough her displacement is only about
three times az great
Again. other things equal the short.
or ship r. for given gun power the
more compact and flexible vii be the
Meet formation This In a great ad-
vantage in battle tactics tince. not
only can manoeuVers be executed in
less space and time but there b. "a
much greater concentration OF fire. per
mile ut hect length Eight PcunsyI.
vauias in hne-ahead formation
spaced 500 yards from the centre 81
each ship 10 that OF the next. will
make a column about two miles Ions.
with a possible concentration OF FORTY.
eight l4-inCh guns per mile Assume
the Oregon's four 13inch guns 10 bel
replaced by four modern I4Iuch. dis
regard her sinch battery as unaval.
able az the given range. and take tho
spacing az 900 Yards Then. t1 ref
the same fleet uoWer-qG gums would
require - OreEons ln fleet five rfirs
long with possible concentration Of
about ~ guns per mile
Finally. large displacement has a
further advantage ln that the biz shin
can be fought more effectively in a
neavy sea. since she not only holds
her speed better. but gives o. stcad,rr
gun platform than the small vessel
since high speed requires an nGIrd
weight of DropolIng machinery which.
in slower chip. could be- devoted fo
suns and armOr. Dr. has been "a moot
point since steam entered rarIrr Adj
mlral Manan c0ntended that speed 90
iH best la less valuable factor fn
a baitrahip than frhuur power and
that "a must be- Kept severely fr Ha
proper place ri slbordIrlUou u tho
deFIrn OF haffIrshipa ON OBJ. other
hand. Captain William Sims. q.
", rIvcs tho uruur.fI1rahIr rHrar.
taECH ~ speed In fleet action. fFY..