New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-10-23
Cruisers and Their Varied Duties
o Thev Haze Gwn American Macy Since Paul nes Ranger crossed Inc
atlantic in I'LL The Huge Dnoen Vessels No~ Under Construction

ships ar. planned for h.svier FIR. sstern
than the English have bow fire, and in the
Dogger Bank action the English suffered Q,
tho result Of this even II they had the salts
faction Of seeing the Germans run away
Several Of these great English and German
ba.tlc.cruisers were destroyed in the Ju,lsnd
fc.t. the English ships apparently showing
defects in their armor. What new ones have
been built has not been made public
When now we come TO consider the plans
Of our own new ships that have just been be
Gun. we can be we'll satisfied with the fact
that they arc TO he larger. faster, more heay-
lie armored and with a heavier battery than
ANYTHING we know Of publicly a. least.
abroad. our new ships have been pictured
repeatedly They are very long vessels, with
many tunnels, with two mssts, and With =
battery Of ten b-incb guns and eighteen
5-inch guns. They are to ne $50 feet long
(leO feet longer than the Lion, and longer
than the Thirty-third Street front Of the
Pennsylvania Station. 30 feet beam, and rill
draw 30 feet Their speed is 10 be 80 knots,
faster than anything afost to-day, except de-
stroyers. They will dsplace COR weigh ~
800 tons, that is, twice as much as the old
battleship New Hampshire, and more than
the dreadnought Pennsylvania. Sucn dimen-
sions are past all comprehension for one not
familiar with the huge modern ocean liners.
And, finally. these great ships arc to be driven
by electricity. That they will be successtu'
we cannot doubt, but when they VIII be ready
for action is another matter, probably not
for year or more. For the welfare OF he
world it is to be hoped that long before that
time we shall have decisively defeated Ger
MANY. and once for all crushed out all mill
tarism.
Thus have cruisers grown since Paul
Jon.s's Ranger crossed the Atlantic in l177.
Larger and faster and more powerful every
type of warship has become, and huge a.
arc the shells that are fired into modern
ship in action. unless a magazine is exploded
il is wonderful how much il takes to destroy
or sink such vessel.
But One Outcome for Germany
There is a tendency to criticise our var
preparations for their slowness; but those
who feel this way must remember that We
disregarded the patriotic appeals OF koose-
veft and Taft and Stimson and General WOOD
and many others, and that We only began TO
get ready when we declared war. The dis'
appointed Germans, in their insane rage
are wreaking unmanly vengeance on women
and children. but as they commit these IN
human deeds they must look with nervous
ness on their own dwindling resources o.
men and supplies. For they know that thou
sands of young, active, fresh, intelligent
Americans are preparing 70 fight them on
sea and land. and that Americans in untold
numbers ere coming as the Allies reserves,
backed by a country with its endless re
sources as yet untouched by the strain OF
war. There can be but one outcome to the
war. a crushing German defeat II the con
duct of the East Prussians in 1914 is any
criterion of the German civilian nerves, think
what will happen when the Allied forces get
across the German frontier, or even close 10
il. Fear, now born Of guilty conscience,
will make the Germans dread vengeance IN
kind. although they know full well that no
Allied force would suly its colors by any
such acts. Sometimes it looks, even now, as
though those high in authority IN Germany
were considering how they can let 90 OF tns
bulls tail with least danger 10 themselves
Great "a our resources are, we must prepare
for long, hard struggle, and be ready 70 race
MANY losses; but we, as a nation, can with
ont boasting assert that we do not in thi.
var intend to recognize the word "impossi-
BILE"
For US who live on the sea coast the navy
is naturally Of the most intense interest, put
every American wants 20 know about II. me
motto of the Marine Corps is EVER fAl H.
Full: that of the navy could we'll be EVER
READY" We Americans know, too, that
our navy always does the right thing IN
the right way, at the right time.