The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

MARINE REVIEW. on reached the Vizcaya. Twelve or 18-inch shells (fired by the Oregon, Indiana, Texas and Iowa), Teresa, two. It will thus be seen that the Brooklyn landed just twice as many 5-inch shells as all the American ves- sels in the engagement, herself included, did 8-inch ones, and also twice as many 5-inch projectiles as the aggregated 4, 12 and 13-inch shells from the other vessels. In short, the Brooklyn with her 5-inch batteries landed on the enemy's fleet as many projectiles of this caliber as the aggregate ° of missiles of all other calibers fired from all four battleships which took part with Commodore Schley's vessel in the engagement. The very even distribution of the shells from the Brooklyn among the enemy's vessels proves conclusively the claims of her officers that she fought each of 'Cer- vera's cruisers in succession. Moreover, the Brooklyn is entitled also to a share of the credit for the hits by 8-inch shells, although the above reckoning was based merely on the cruiser's work with 5-inch projectiles, in order to simplify the comparisons made. The ten 8-inch shells must, of course, be accredited to the four vessels firing them, but there is a practical certainty that at least two of them--those which struck the Viz- caya--were fired from the Brooklyn. The impression prevails in some quarters that the Brooklyn and New York, the sole representatives of the protected cruiser type in the Ameri- can navy, are sister ships and identical in dimensions and armament, but such is far from being the case. The Brooklyn was designed to embody the possibilities for improvement which were made apparent in the con- struction of the New York, and thus an increase of size, speed and coal endurance was secured in the new vessel. The Brooklyn is 400 feet over all, as against 380 feet, the length of the New York, although both have a beam measurement a fraction under 65 feet. The displacement of the ' originated the type, and now in all probability this interest will be re- newed. The Brooklyn's protective deck extends the entire length of the ship. Over the machinery space it consists of two layers of 14-inch steel plating, and forward and aft of this the total thickness of the two plates is nowhere less than 2%4 inches. The side armor, which extends from 4 feet above to 4 feet below the water line for a length of 192 feet opposite the engine and boiler rooms, is 8 inches in thickness. The barbette armor of the 8-inch turrets is 8 inches in thickness and like the side armor of Harveyized nickel steel, while the turret armor has a thickness of 5% inches. 'The armament of the vessel consists of eight 8-inch guns mounted in pairs in four turrets, twelve 5-inch rapid-firers, twelve 6-pounders, four 1-pounders-and four machine guns. To the advocate of the efficiency of the rapid-fire batteries to the exclusion of heavier ordnance it seems an ideal armament. ' The engines are, of course, a great factor in an armored cruiser, as may be imagined from the original estimate on the cost of the Brooklyn, which allowed for an expenditure of $986,000 for machinery. The Brook- lyn has her power of propulsion furnished by four vertical direct-acting, three-cylinder, triple-expansion engines of 18,248 indicated horse power. There are two engines on each shaft, and four taper coupling bolts, the coupling being of the ordinary disk type, instead of the disconnecting coupling with which the New York is equipped. Steam is supplied from five double-ended and two single-ended steel boilers, each 16 feet 3 inches in diameter. The single-ended boilers have a length of 9 feet 5 inches, while the double-ended boilers range from 18 to 20 feet. All have a work- ing pressure of 160 pounds per square inch. The engines and boilers are all placed in water-tight compartments. The forward and starboard tur- Pacific Mail Steamship Co.'s Fleet in Service as Transports--T hese Vessels Carried Gen. Merritt's Troops to Manilla. -- COLON. CITY OF SYDNEY. Brooklyn, 9,215 tons, exceeds that of the New York by over 1,000 tons, and yet her draught is only § inches more than that of the older vessel. The New York on her trial developed a speed of 21 knots, and the Brook- lyn exceeded this by almost a knot. The armored cruisers have unques- tionably the most distinctive appearance of any of the vessels of the Amer- ican navy, 'by reason of their high freeboard and three stacks, which, in the case of the Brooklyn, are of exceptional height, on the theory of added advantage in furnace draft. ae ' hose students of naval science who have inveighed against the $4,000,000-battleship on the ground of expense, and have argued for the construction of more and less expensive vessels, may now be expected to €come earnest advocates of the armored cruiser type, and certainly there would seem to be much to be said in favor of a class of vessel, which, while costing under contract less than $3,000,000, is capable of displaying the efficiency in fighting that the Brooklyn did at Santiago, for it must be remembered that not only did she outshine the battleships in the vigor of her aggressive work, or at least in the quality of her marksmanship, as shown above, but that the statement has not yet been denied that she was It forty times during the engagement. Even with the authenticity of this latter claim discounted liberally, there would seem to still remain conclusive evidence that the vessel is not inadequate in defensive qualities. _ The Brooklyn was built in 1893-96 by the William Cramp & Sons Ship & Engine Building Co. of Philadelphia, who are naturally very much elated by the showing which the vessel made at Santiago. The contract for the vessel called for the maintenance of a speed of 20 knots for four ours' steady steaming, with a proviso that a premium of $50,000 should € paid the contractors for every quarter knot in excess of this stipulation attained on the trial trip. As the Brooklyn attained a speed of 21.91 knots, the Cramps secured the handsome premium of $350,000 Naval experts all over the world have naturally made a very careful Study of the armor and armament of our armored cruisers ever since we -OITY OF PARA, PERU. CITY OF RIO DE JANEIRO. CHINA. rets are turned by electricity, while steam is the motive power for the port and after turrets. The opportunity for a comparison of these two meth- ods has been one of the best opportunities for practical demonstration which has been afforded the officers of our navy in some time. It has been far from the intention of this article to make any reference to the Brooklyn to the disparagement of the New York. The position which the latter occupies in our navy, and the estimate in which. she is held by its officers, as well as by the department at Washington, is fully demonstrated by the service to which she was assigned, both before and during the present war. There is no reason to doubt that had not the force of unfortunate circumstances prevented her participation in the re- cent engagement, she would have given quite as good an account of her- self as the Brooklyn, and that the showing made in speed and fighting ability would have been very nearly if not quite as creditable as that of the newer cruiser. ----S=-- _A few naval officers may have complained against the according to Commander William G. Randle and Chief Engineer John Walls of the American liner St. Louis of full naval rank when the St. Louis went into service as an auxiliary cruiser, but the action was assuredly endorsed heartily by the general public. We are not willing to admit with some enthusiasts that the plan should be followed in the case of all auxiliary cruisers, but there are many cases where, exercised with judgment, such an acknowledgement would serve as a valuable encouragement to officers of ability. At the Bath Iron Works at Bath, Me., the keel was laid, this week, for a United States practice vessel for the use of the naval cadets at Annap- olis. The vessel, which will be 192 feet in length, will be of steel, planked below the water line and 26 inches above. | It is the first vessel of the kind constructed by the government in some time.