Evening star., 1921-02-13

retary of the Navy and the chiefs
of the technical bureaus who accom-
panied him abroad in the spring of
1919. The whole matter was subse-
quently considered by the general
board. including the advisability of
building battle cruisers as d distinct
type. which the board recommended.
but with notifications to provide ma
terially greater protection against
gunfire and underwater attack, with
Increased displacement and CORE
spending loss of speed.
The act of July 1. 1918. directed
the beginning of the sixth battle
cruiser. which was assigned to the
navy yard. Philadelphia. on the day
following, under the same conditions
as those which preceded it, Revised
plans of the vessels were approved
by the department and were issued
to- the contractors and to the navy
yard on September ), 1919. providing
the following characteristics:
Ifngth between perpendiculars so feet
lfafth over all ------.------. ..n.t Ieet
Rreadth extreme ..............-lD lDO II. 5is in.
Mean draft, about ---..-....-..---..-..3 81 feet
Displacement. about ............. Az. 800 tons
shaft horsepower. estimated .--.-....- 10000
Armament:
Eight le-inch guns. in four turrets.
sixteen 6-inch guns
-Four 3-inch tanti-sireraftt.
. -Four p inch submerged torpedo tubes.
Four 2l-inrh abovewa;er torpedo tubes.
The vessels will be oil burners.
with electric drives and auxiliaries.
Accommodations will be provided for
about sixty-fve officers and 1850
men. Construction is now in prog
ress, as follows:
Lexington. at Bethlehem Ship
building Corporation, Quincy. Mass;
Constellation. at Newport News ship
building Company; Saratoga, at New
York Shipbuilding Corporation. Cam
den. y. j.; Ranger, at Newport News
Shfpbuilding Company; Constitution,
AT navy yard. Philadelphia. Pa, and
United States. at navy yard. Phila-
deiphia. Pa.
So large will be these cruisers that
I45 men. S feet in height. lying in Il
INV head to feet, would represent
rneir length. Twenty-one fve-foot
persons. lying in Il row, would repre-
sent the extreme width. When the
average Washinstonian. and the hun
dredS of thousands of visitors to the
National Capital gaze at the Wash
ington Monument. or walk up and
down it's many steps they get the i'm
preston that 1t is one of the biggest
things in existence. In this asSumD-
tion. however. they are consider ably
mistaken. If one of these new battle
cruisers could be stood on its nose
alongside of the Washington Monu-
ment. the other er6 of il would tower
3l9 feet above the apex.
THE Capitol of the United States is
generally looked upon as build
ing of monster dimensions. Never
tneless. il il were possible to do
little land cruising with one of these
new boats and the captain dropped
anchor on the plaza in front of the
Capitol il would be seen that the
Capitol was 1:c fest shorter than the
ship.
. Tn" electrical operation of these six
battle cruisers viii represent. accord
ing TO Rear Admiral Il. s Griffin. chief
"f the bureau of engineering. the
greatest horsepower per shaft that
has ever been projected in any marine
installation. irrespective of the type
of motive power
Speaking of these war vessels and
of the six new battleships. also part
of the program. and emphasizing what
Ghis means in making the United
states pre-eminent among all nations
II marine engineering. Admiral Grif-
I'm said:
In case of the new battleships the
insta lations represent an increase OF