The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-08-13
Our Ships and Some Others

From the North American Review.
 Again we boast. The battleship Penn sylvania has been put into commission in our navy. That, however, is not enough to say of it. We are assured with ingenious and persistent iteration that it is the most powerful in the world. True, there are others of far greater horse power; but the Pennsylvania is the most powerful. There are others of far greater speed; but the Pennsyl- vana is the most powerful. There are others which carry heavier guns; but the Pennsylvania is the most powerful. There are several which surpass the Pennsyl- vana in all three of these respects; but the Pennsylvania is the most powerful We hope that it is true
 The Pennsylvania is undoubtedly 8 magnificent ship We wish there were two dozen like it in the navy. But to the mere landlubber there does seem req son to ask for further proof than a mere say SOL of it's superiority over the , several vessels of the Queen Elizabeth class It is admitted that the Pennsyl- vanias guns are of only IA inches cali bre, against the Queen Elizabeth's 15, but it is insisted that the former are of as great range and as effective as the latter. That may be, but if so it is very surprising and puzzling to the layman. If 14-inch gun is as effective as a 15, then is 13 as good as a 14, and a F as good as a 13 and so on down the scale? If so, we shall presently find our selves declaring, according to one of Euclid's aXioms, that a 2-inch gun is as effective as one of 15 inches.
 A similar line of argument applies to the matter of speed. The S1,5oo horse power of the Pennsylvania drives it's 31, 400 tons at the rate of 21 knots, while the 5S,000 horse power of the Queen Elizabeth drives its 27,500 tons at the rate of 25 knots. We are told, 1t is true, that speed is not the prime consideration. Perhaps not. But it is an important considera- ton, and, other things being equal, it is decisive consideration. Superiority of even a single knot would mark one vessel as superior to another if they were equal in all other respects. Superiority of four knots is far too wide a margin to be overlooked.
 It is boasted that the Pennsylvania has oil-burning engines, which increase her radius of action 40 per cent for the same weight of fuel over coal burning vessels. That may be quite true. But we must remember that the Queen Elizabeth and all the six vessels of it's type also have oil-burning engines, so that we can claim nothing better than equality with them in that respect. It is said, too, that the Pennsylvania is the most heavily pro- tected ship in the world, with an armor belt 1872 inches thick. But the Queen Elizabeth and more than a dozen other British ships also have 131k inch armor. so that in that particular. also, our best claim is nothing more than equality. The Pennsylvania is not "the most heavily protected". but merely one of the most heavily.
 So in the last anlyasis this is the state- ment of the case: The two ships are equal in defensive armor, and in steamine radius. But the British ship steams a knots to the Americans 21, and throws main broadsde of 17.600 pounds in 15-inch projectiles to our 16,SOO pounds in 14-inch projectiles. How the Pennsylvania can be the more formidable, with 4.76 per cent inferiority in weight of broadside and IS per cent inferiority in speed, is "one of those things no fellow can find out" at least without more lucid and convincing demonstration than has yet been given