The Washington times., 1915-03-16
The Queen Eliza beth
Built to "Dig Out" Foe
New British Vessel Is Part Battleshp and Part Battle
Cruiser Designed for Offensive Operations.
California Nearest Craft to Her Type.
By JUDSON C. WELLIvER

| All the naval world. and all the world
interested in naval matters. has been
| watching the performance OF the British
battleship Queen Elizabeth, hammering
a route through the Dardanelles;
knocking into splinters the last rem
nants Of Ottoman power in Europe: put
| ting an empire out Of business with her
| 15-inch guns. 1,
And, watching the performance,
| Americans have been constantly asking
one another:
Has Uncle Sam any fighting craft
| comparable to the Queen Elizabeth?
Or is the old gentleman building any?
| And If not. why not?'
The answer seems to he that Uncle
Sam has no craft like the Queen ELIZA
beth that he is building none like her.
contempIates none, and doesn't think
he needs craft OF her tyne.
| There is room for wide divergence
| of opinion, and that divergence is likely
to gain expression during the considera-
| tion Of the naval estimates next year.
But for the present. at any rate. Amer
| ican naval policy is content to include
| no plans for vessels of the Queen Eliza
beth type.
First of Her Class.
The first question that comes up
among people with some knowledge Of
| naval types, concerns the exact quail
ties of the now famous British battle
| ship. She has been called battle
cruiser by some of the authorities, and
a superdreadnaught battleship by
others. On very high naval authority
1t can he said that she Is in fact just
about half way between battleship and
battlecruiser. But nobody on this side
the Atlantic knows just what she In
for the excellent reason that the Brit
ish admiralty has kept this entire
class of new ships very much in the
shade.
The Queen Elizabeth is the first of a
class Of six vessels practically identical.
Five Of them were provided by parlia-
| ment; the sixth was given to the empire
by the Federated Malay States. 1t is
| not known how many of this class are
| now in commission. The Queen Eliza
beth was laid down a month ahead of
! the Warspite, and 1t Is presumed that
the Warspite is by this tiple somewhere
in service. Right along after them came
the Valiant the Barham,. and the
has not yet been given name. at least
| So far as the naval authorities here
know. 1t is very sure that If not all
OF them are yet in commission, they all
will be very soon.
Perhaps the most pointed way to show
wherein this class Of ships differs from
the regular superdreadnaught battle
ships will be to compare the Queen
| Elizabeth with the California, which was
\ authorized by Congress last June. The
California, Mississippi and Idaho will
constitute the California class in our
| navy, and they are the last word in
naval construction of the fighting line
on this side of the water.
Comparison With California.
!
deal bigger ship than the Queen Eliza
beth. The Queen Elisabeth had 1900
tons displacement; the California will
| have 5000 tons.
The California will draw thirty feet
of water: the Queen Elizabeth draws
The California will have ninety seven
feet nodded breadth: the Queen Eliza
beth has only ninety-four feet;
| But now comes the other side of it.
the waterline. and ga feet over all !;
while the Queen Elizabeth is $50 feet
| over all.
The Queen Elizabeth Is built for
| speed, she IL longer, narrower, and
has less draft than the California.
Therefore. when the indicated speed
comes up for comparison. the expected
was designed for speed Of twenty
five knots, the California for twenty
one knots.
These trial-trip speed records are al
ways conservative, however. The Queen
Elizabeth Is said to have covered her
twenty-eight knots in good form. while
the California. If she Is "successful. -
will be capable of twenty-five without
danger, after she is thoroughly worked
out.
Now comes the inquiry into arms and
armor. The British government has
given out no information about the ar
NOR of the Queen Elizabeth. 1t is gen.
orally supposed that she has suine-
where from eight to eleven inches In
her main armor belt. The California
will have decidedly heavier belt,
| though the meager data that have been
| announced at the Navy Department do
not answer this question By compari-
| son with other vessels of her style and
| class, however, it Is made very plain
that the California will be much more
heavily armored than the Queen Eliza
beth: very possibly, her main belt will
be twelve inches against nine or ten
inches on the Queen Elizabeth. The
Queen Elizabeth has fourteen-inch ar
NOR on her turrets; it is presumed that
the California will have the same, or
possibly an inch more.
But 1t IL her armament that has Mt
tracted widest attention to the Queen
Elizabeth. She has eight 15-inch guns
while the California will have twelve
14-inch guns. The Queen Elizabeth
also has either twelve sixteen g.
inch gunsy the California will hav.
twenty-five 5-inch rapid irers.
The Queen Elizabeth has four sub