Imperial Valley press., 1920-06-03
WORLDS LARGEST
BA ATTLESH|P TO
Be BUILT SOON
Battleship Lexington Viii Be
Greatest Fighting Machine
on Waters of the Globe; To-
Belong to L. S.
(Ry Associated Press)

QUINCY, Mass, June 2.-The keel
of the worlds largest warshlp Will be
laid down here within six months. The
battle-cruiSer Lexington, combining IN
a degree unequalled by any any ship
of war now built or building the quall-
ties of powerful armament and hlgn
speed, has taken form in drawings and
awaits the arrival of materials to be
advanced from the hands of the archl-
tectS to those of the builders.
By fall, it is estimated the prospec-
tive queen of the United States navy
will become a ship under construction
instead of an ambitious plan.
/ The Lexington is the rameship Of L
class of battle cruisers which will give
Uncle Sam within four years fleet
of six big-gun fighting ships un-
matched by anything then afloat: Her
sister ships. the Constellation, Sara
| toga, Ranger, Constitution and United
States, are also under contract. They
bring names out of the old navy with
which to develop for the first new
capital vessels of the postwar fleet a
traditional background for fresh eN-
ploits.
With the others of its class the
Lexington will be whale of a ship;
1t will displace 43,200 tons and Will
have the power of 100000 horses, as
measured in mechanical terms. Its
length of STA feet is within 40 feet OF
the length of the Leviathan, monster
passenger liner. The 1914 feet of
width of the Lexington will make that
floating gun platform broader than
any passenger ship.
The Lexington, which is to be
equipped with electric drive, will at
tain a speed of 35 knots. This cruiser
speed higher than that of many des
troyers, is the object of much of the
designing that entered into the crea-
ton of the Lexington class. Armor
will be sacrificed to make possible the
So knot speed-the main belt being
only five inches thick at its maximum
as compared with the y inch steel belt
on most battleships, but armament
will be Of tremendous power. The
Lexington thus will have not only the
strategic advantage of high speed but
will be able to fire heavier charge
over greater distance than any other
battleship for which the plans are
known.
The Lexington in action will speak
with a voice of 16-inch guns, of which
she will have eight. The navies of
Great Britain, France and Italy con-
tain no gun greater than - inches and
that of Japan includes 16-inch guns
only on battleships of "a knot speed
which are now under construdu Oh.
Unlike the dreadnought class reliance
on big guns exclusive ~, the LeXlng-
ton will carry 16 siX-inch guns as a
secondary armament.
Taking a page from the naval lesson
of the war, the designers of the Lex
ington have equipped the ship with
four anti-aircraft guns, eight topedo
tubes, four of which are submerged and
four on deck and with means OF de,
fense against aerial bombs and aerial
torpedoes. Defense against subma-
rine torpedoes will be obtained through
fore and aft torpedo defense buihead.S5,
by which the stability of the vesse Will
be preserved no matter where she Is
pierced. Under any conditions but an
explosion, it is claimed, the LeXlng-
ton class of warship should prove
nusinkable.