The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1919-07-14
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
INFORM ALTON
BUREAU
FREDERIC J. HASKIN. Director.
Washingtoa. d. C.
FIGHTING sHIPs OF YEsTERDAY.

FIGHTING SHIPS OF YESTERDAY.
Washington, D. C. July 11.-TweRe
old and historic battleships. once titans
of the waves, now pronounced unit
for service. are today laid up in our
navy yards awaiting that final action
which will convert them from what
was once the worlds fittest fighting
machines into mere junk.
Some Of them, the navey depart
ment says. may offer their armored
sides as targets for the newer ships
that have displaced them. Still others
may be used as training ships for sea-
men who are but learning the rudi-
ments of the game, while yet others
will be torn apart like any other use
less thing that the material in it may
be salvaged.
tried out successfully in the case of
some of our old monitors. is to moor
the old ship in shallow water, some
times filling it with cork to keep 1t
from sinking, and then test the effect
of gunfire and various explosives on
its hull. The effect of mine shell, and
torpedo explosions can in this way be
observed under the most favorable
conditions.
Metals, wood. and other materials
of the condemned ships can be sold
to junk dealers, but comparatively lit
tie is realized on such sales.
THE Twelve" have outlasted their
allotted period of usefulness. Twenty
years is the usual life of a warship,
and some Of these veteran ships are of
| the model of 1898. Some saw service
in the war with Spain, while others of
the lot were not commissioned until
1901.
All of the twelve except one are
named after the states of the Union.
The exception is the Kearsarge, named
after the celebrated Kearsarge of the
Civil war. The Others are the Iowa,
Indiana, Oregon. Massachusetts, Ala
bama, Kentucky, Illinois, Wisconsin,
Ohio, Missouri and Maine.
The condemned ships are to give up
their names and take numbers instead,
so that the state names can be used
over again. This is necessary, if we
are to continue the custom of naming
| battleships of the first class for states
as many more than forty-nine such
| ships have been commissioned in our
naval history.
The three names first to be trans
ferred are Massachusetts,. Indiana, and
Iowa. These will be given to our new
| battleships which have not yet been
built, and each of the old ships will
finish its career as Coast Battleship
Number . The Indiana Massa-
chusetts and Oregon were our first
battleships, authorized by congress in
| 1890, while the Iowa came next in
1892. These ships when first COM
missioned. about 1896. were the most
formidable craft on the seas. All four
took part in the battle of Santiago.
and played a decisive part in the
| Spanish war.
OF the twelve battleships, the Ore
gon is the most famous. When the
war with Spain was declared, the Ore
gon was in Pacific waters, but she i'm
mediately set out for Cuba. The Pan
anna canal was then being worked at
| spasmodically by the French, but with
no sign of completion for years. To
| reach the war zone the Oregon had to
round the entire coast of South Amer
| lea, via Cape Horn-a voyage of IA
| 900 miles. which she made in sixty
eight cruising days, during which time
a waiting nation kept constant watch
Of her progress.
Because of this spectacular feat.
and because of her routing of the
| Spanish ships Vizcaya and Colon, at
| Santiago. the Oregon has always been
| an object of public sentiment, so that
now the navy department has decided
not to take it's name from it. 1t is
! also agreed that, If the state of Ore
gon so wishes, it may take over it's
namesake ship for training purposes
or merely as a historical relic.
Old as they were, the twelve battle
ships all took part in the European
years been lying in navy yards out of
| commission, but when the navy shot
up from $50, 900 men to $50, 600 every
hull that would hold water was
creased up, painted and used as a
training ship, if not fit for active
| duty. Most of the $4,000 sailors
were recruits and training ships were
| urgently needed. So old battleships
that were too battered for the high
seas cruised in inland waters. while
IL
job OF sailoring. Most of 1.-The twelve"
however, saw active service with the
| Atlantic fleet or in the capacity of
transports, and all were put in the
commissioned class.
There was great wear on our ships
during the war because of constant
activity, but the navy department
states that they are probably in bet
ter condition than usual as they have
been constantly cared for.
Since the Oregon first took the
water. and was The Pride of the
Navy" there have been great changes
in battleship construction. Our newly
commissioned battleships are three
times as large. turbines have been sub
stituted for reciprocating engines. oil
!; for coal as fuel; electric compulsion
for steam Con most of the ships)
/, guns have increased in power, range
size and number. In thirty years the
battleship. Oregon type, has evolved
into super-dreadnaught, such as the
, Pennsylvania. and now there is talk Of
a still greater warship--the battle
ship cruiser. Yet the dreadnaught
was development that came more
than decade after the launching OF
the Oregon.
The submarine is responsible for the
battleship- cruiser idea. During the
war the Sturdy battleship proved it.
! a hf 70 hn1d sfe
marine attack, for few battleships were
damaged by torpedoes. One dread.
: naught that was struck had hole the
| size of living room torn in its side
: but the modern construction of sepa.
rate compartments prevented the shiI
from being flooded, and it reached
) port safely. Yet If the battleship had
been able to put on higher speed i
might not have been hit at all.
Speed and armor combined are re
: ! quired to render a ship invulnera bl.
against submarine attack, and as til,
submarine is apparently a permanent