The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1916-06-23
FIVE NEW U. =. BATTLE CRUIS-
Frs WILL BE KINGS OF
SPEED.
TO MAKE IS MILES HOUR
Addition or Fast Boats Brings The
American Navy To Fore
Again.

thing that can whip her can catch
her and nothing she can whip can es-
cape her!
This sums up the power of the type
of battle cruiser to be added to Uncle
Sans navy when the congressional
program is carried out. There will
be five or more OF them.
The United States is the only big
naval Power today that does not poss-
ess one Of these swift sea monsters.
For several years this country has
hesitated, still welded to the battle
ship and the dreadnaught. Mean
time, England Germany and Japan
have built fleets of these new naval
terrors and America has been left
FAR behind.
Now, however, we are going to
make up for lost time. The five ships
already authorized by Congress will
outsteam and probably outshoot any
thing now afloat.
Cost 500, 1000, 900 Each.
They will be six knots an hour
saster than anything Of their class in
either the British or German navies
and twenty per cent larger than any
first-class fighting craft known to
have been projected up to the open
f,nu 80 Tho LNurnnoaO
The new American battle cruisers
will cost more than $20,O0O,000
each, have a speed of thirty-five
nautical miles an hour, a displace-
ment Of $4,000 tons and an arament
of ten 14-inch or eight 16-inch rifles.
Americas coast defense problem
is like that of no other nation. This
is the only large naval power having
coasts on two oceans. Experts have
declared the battle cruiser, with its
speed and wide cruising radius, is the
ideal means of keeping an enemy
from our shores.
In twenty-four hours these cruis-
ers could be almost 1000 miles off
our coast. In forty-eight hours they
could reach the Panama Canal.
Germany Catches England
These figures are approximate, as
only practical tests can give definite
idea of the efficiency of such ships.
However, 1t is easy to see that they
could come to grips with an enemy
long before the enemy got within
striking distance of our shores.
Battle cruisers also solve the prob
lem of catching up with our proper
place among the navies OF the world.
When Great Britain began to build
such ships Germany was quick to fol-
low her and build them almost as
fast.
Germany matched Great Britain s
ten battle cruisers just before the
war with nine of her own.
This country's five battle cruisers
will be matched against Japan's four
but will be more powerful than any
possessed by the island empire.
Light Armor Only Weakness.
The battle cruisers one weakness
is its comparatively light armor
Naturally, weight must be sacrificed
for speed. and the protective sheath
ing has to be reduced.
In battle. however, the dread
naught hangs on like a bulldog. but
the battle cruisers game is to strike
swiftly and make a getaway like a
savage wolfhound.
1t can infiict punishment upon a
heavier ship and dash out of range
in time to save itself. AT least this
is the theory upon which its friends
base their arguments.
When the battle cruiser is out
matched and decides to save itself,
no battleship or dreadnaught can
catch 1t. Nothing can trouble 1t but
another cruiser of the same speed and
gun powder.