New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-10-23
Blu Gherardi Dacis

INV. deck with q couple of inches oil s'"e''
and the guns had shields to keep out ttaR
mcuts Of shells Rut side armor tney no"
none. The duties Of modern cruiser a'e
the same as those of the old frigate' eve"
IN fighting other cruisers. The earlier steei
cruisers had often very fair speed and hsd
sufficient bunker capacity TO enable tnem ~
remain at sca for considerable length OF
time As the power Of guns Increased ana
as greater speed became essential, the naval
constructors began TO design larger sh'Ps
and to give them some kind OF armor protec-
ton.
And thus il came about that we constructed
a few ships of the kind known as armoren
cruisers The New York 1881 had ner
s.nch guns in turrets and well protected, out
of all our early ships the Brooklyn launched
IN tse3 was the most advanced OF her day.
Larger than the New York, she was an eH,
..llent example of a moderate sized armored
cruiser. OF 5000 tons displacement, she had
battery of eight 8-inch guns in turrets
and twelve 5-inch guns. and speed OF TWEEN
tv-tvo knots. She had no equal abroad
Those of the early cruisers which are still IN
commission are valuable vessels for our navy
az conyoys to merchant and troop ships, as
nine LAYERS. as patrol boats and in many
! other ways.
Our First Rate Armored Cruisers
We built goodly number of cruisers, large
and small hut il was not until 1903 and 1900
that we launched two types of vessels tnat
were for their day first rate armored cruis-
ers. The earlier six ships OF the west VIZ
ginia class Il refer to them by their Origins.
names were OF 1900 tons, with speed OF
over twenty-five knots. They carried as a
O trn
fourteen 6.inch guns. Their armor was not
v.ry heavy, but they had great freeboard
that is, the deck was high above the water
and thew were fine sea boats. The Montana
class of four ships, of l4,500 tons, had as a
battery four l0-inch guns and sixteen o-incn
guns. Their speed was the same as that Of
the others, but they had more, II not heavier
armor protection. Now, both these classes
of cruisers were and still are, as far as they
still exist. fine ships, and even handsome IN
appearance az modern warships go. lhey
are a little over 500 feet long, with four very
tall tunnels, and originally two pole masts
Zone has been replaced by lattice mast !.
Thes. vessels would have been as successful
in their day as were the modern German cruls-
ers in the present war as commerce raiaerS'
only the fastest ocean steamers could nave
ESCAPED them. To-day they are still most
valuable as conveys and in many other ways;
hut not for battle use, IS are the Engish
and German batte-cruisers'
Rv comparison with contemporaneous Ter
man ships we we're, in 1905, far superior;
hut Great Britain, at about the same Time
Rod constructed at least one class OF vessei
that was superior in armament and speed u
the West Virginia and yet OF the same TON,
rao, refer to the Achilles class, Launched
in 1905. OF 1850 tons, these ships are 4oo
feet long but wider and of greater draft
than our ships. They carry battery OF SIX
e2-inch guns and four 7.o-inch guns ana
have speed Of over twenty-three knots.
II will be recalled that by 1906 the Dread
noupht had been launched and the wnoie
theory of arming battleships had oeen
changed. Very naturally, it occurred 70 naval
constructors to arm cruisers also with only
bir guns. and the English, in 1907, put TINS
into practice first, producing the lnvinciole'
the Inhexible and the Indomtable. But even
hor. the English stumbled somewhat, for
many of their battle-cruisers, me as ,ney
were. we're not by any means perfect ano' as
sor .rmor. were inferior to the German snips
~ the same type One of the latest Engllsh
battle-cruisers, the Lion (l910), Beatty
, famous flagship, is Of $500 tons, is 600 feet
long and nearly 90 feet beam, and with elgn'
/ 3IS.inch guns in turrets has speed OF Zs1s
Knots. Launched in 1910, even she was sur
nsssed in some respects BY the German pat
tIe.cruiser Seydlitz (191D, with heavier ar
NOR. ten l1-inch guns and about ~ Knots
speed. Oddly enough, many OF the uermAh