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MARINE REVIEW. 25 OUR LATEST NAVAL VESSELS. BATTLESHIPS, MONITORS, TORPEDO BOATS AND DESTROYERS AUTHORIZED BY THE MOST LIBERAL OF NAVAL APPROPRIATION BILLS--TWENTY-FIVE SHIPS IN ALL. Comparison between the new naval program of the United States and those prepared this year under the incentive of a fierce rivalry by Great Britain and Russia is, of course, out of the question, but it is doubtful if, even with the benefit of the lessons of the present war, there could have been planned an addition to our navy more particularly suited to the most pressing needs of the nation at this time than that which was approved by act of congress May 4, 1898. The naval appropriation bill passed on the date mentioned makes provision for the construction of three first-class battleships, four coast defense monitors, twelve torpedo boats and sixteen torpedo boat destroy- ers. Two desires influenced the officials of the navy department--an anx- iety to have these new vessels under construction as expeditiously as pos- sible and an equal desire to insure their completion at the earliest possible date, and these induced a plan to have the new battleships conform in a general way to the first-class battleships Alabama, Illinois and Wisconsin, now under construction by the William Cramp & Sons' Ship & Engine Building Co. of Philadelphia, the Newport News Ship Building & Dry Dock Co. of Newport News, Va., and the Union Iron Works of San Francisco, respectively. In detail, however, there is a wide divergence in the plans of the two classes of vessels, the officials of the bureau of con- struction naturally having taken advantage of many possibilities for im- provement disclosed during the construction of the battleships of the Ala- bama class, as well as the results of the latest engineering experiment. A distinctive feature, however, which has been retained without modifica- tion is the light draught, which was adopted for the Alabama, Illinois and Wisconsin, in order that they might be enabled to operate in waters in- accessible to. foreign war vessels of equal armament, and which, with the exigencies of our probable territorial extension considered, will be of even greater value in the new vessels than in those now building. The new battleships, which will be known as the Ohio, Maine and Missouri, will be 368 feet in length by 72. feet 2.5 inches extreme 'beam. Their mean draught with 800 tons of coal, two-thirds stores and two- thirds ammunition on board, will be 23 feet 6 inches; and corresponding displacement, 11,525 tons; and with full supplies and 1,200 tons of coal on board, 24 feet 7 inches; corresponding displacement, 12,140 tons. The vessels will be furnished power for propulsion by two sets of triple-ex- pansion engines, actuating twin screws, and each in its own water-tight compartment. These engines will be of the four-cylinder type, the high pressure cylinder having a diameter of 30 inches, the intermediate pres- sure cylinder a diametér of 46% inches and the two low pressure cylinders a diameter of 58 inches. Eight large single-ended steel boilers, in four separate water-tight compartments, will supply steam at a working pres- sure of 210 pounds. This is an increase of 30 pounds over the steam pres- sure demanded in the case of the boilers for the Alabama, Illinois and Wisconsin. The indicated horse power of each of the new battleships will be 10,000, and the contract specifications stipulate a speed of 16 knots per hour. In deference, however, to the demand for greater speed in these - vessels, which for weeks past has been emphasized with all possible stress by Engineer-in-Chief George Melville of the bureau of steam enginering of the navy department and many lesser authorities, the department. de- cided a couple of weeks ago to take such steps as it could consistent with the original plans to secure greater speed. Accordingly the following circular was issued: "The départment will, in awarding contracts for the construction of battleships Nos. 10, 11 and 12, under its advertisement of June 17 last, give preference, other things being equal, to such bids as offer to guarantee the highest rate of speed and the greatest coal endur- ance, the total weights of engines, boilers and coal, and the spaces allotted therefor, to remain as now fixed by the circular defining the chief charac- teristics of said vessels and the department plans and specifications, and the vessels to have a steaming radius of not less than 5,432 knots at a speed of 10 knots per hour." The normal coal supply of the new battleships will be 800 tons; bunker capacity unpacked, 1,200 tons, with the possibility, under necessity, of stowing 500 tons of coal away elsewhere. The com- plement of each vessel--officers, seamen and marines--is given as 500 men. The main battery of the battleships of this type will consist of four 13-inch breech-loading rifles, which upon an even keel will have an effective range exceeding 5 miles. The 18-inch guns will be mounted iin pairs in two eliptical balanced turrets of the barbette type,.so fashioned that they may be swung from side to side through their total sweep of 270 degrees without affecting the trim of the vessel. This is a decided advantage, as such a manceuver is essentially impossible with the unbalanced turrets with which many of our naval vessels are equipped. The 18-inch turrets will be of steel, 15 inches thick, except on the slanting face plate, which will be 2 inches thicker. 'This armor is 'Harveyized and will, it is claimed, Prove the equivalent from a defensive standpoint of 25 inches of ordinary steel. The machinery for turning the turrets and the ammunition hoists will be protected by the barbette on top of which the turret revolves. The barbettes will be massive columns of steel nearly 30 feet in diameter and of a uniform thickness of 15 inches. It will also, of course, be face hard- ened similar to the turrets. ach of the barbettes rests on the heavy pro tected deck, which affords a perfectly solid foundation. ; The secondary battery will consist of fourteen 6-inch rapid-fire guns, seven on each side of the vessel. The 6-inch guns will be placed on the upper deck amidships and on the main deck amidships and forward. The guns in the two citadels on the upper deck and those along the sides ion the main deck will be protected by 6-inch armor, and each gun is stalled between splinter bulkheads of steel an inch and a half thick. Each of the 6-inch guns will also bear a heavy Harveyized shield, and the gun ports will be so fashioned as to give the greatest possible protection from projec- tiles. The two 6-inch guns to be placed well forward and just abaft the Ow anchors will have a wider arc of fire than. the four guns of the same caliber amidships, and will be able to fire dead ahead, as well as on each broadside. These guns, throwing 100-pound armor-piercing or explosive shells, will have a firing rate of five or six discharges per minute. There will also be an auxiliary battery of sixteen 6-pounders, four 1-pounders, one automatic Colt and a couple of field pieces for the use of landing parties. The 6-pounders, which are, of course, the weapons that would be called into requisition were it necessary to repel a torpedo attack, are mounted on the berth deck aft, on the main deck forward, and upon the bridges forward and aft, affording a complete circle of fire from bow to stern. The Colt and 1-pounders are distributed in the four military tops--two on ce eS 'adh e new battleships will each have two torpedo discharge will be unique in that these tubes will be arranged to fire ae The armor protection of this new type of vessel will consist of a water line belt 734 feet wide, extending from abreast the after turret forward to the stem, 4 feet of the belt being below the water line at normal draught. Throughout the length of the vessel amidships, from turret to turret this side belt is reinforced by additional armor of a thickness of 16% inches above the water line and 9%4 inches below the water line. A broad band of corn-pith cellulose has been provided. A fighting station for the cap- tain will be provided in a conning tower, 10 inches in thickness, just below the chart house and abaft the forward turret. An armored station 6 inches thick to the rear of the mainmast may be utilized either as a signal station or as a fighting position for the admiral. The vessels will 'be equipped with expensive electrical plants. The lighting of the ships and the search- lights will be electric and the turrets, ammunition hoists and fans are pro- pelled by this power. The vessels will, of course, have complete auxiliary machinery and will be equipped with refrigerating and distilling plants. There will be separate electrical signal codes for each mast. The lower portion of each mast will be used for purposes of ventilation below decks These new battleships will, it is expected, be built for $2,500,000 each, exclusive of armor and armament, and, as may be imagined from the above description, they will assuredly be worth all they cost. THE HARBOR DEFENSE MONITORS. _.' The four harbor defense monitors, whose construction is authorized 'by the same bill, will be 225 feet in length on the load water line; extreme breadth, 50 feet; mean draught, 1214 feet on a normal displacement of 2,700 tons. The total coal capacity, loose stowage, will be 200 tons. The vessels, to be known as the Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida and Wyoming, will be driven 'by twin screws, and the engines, two in number, are to be of the vertical triple expansion type in one water-tight compartment. Four boilers of the water tube type, constructed for a working pressure of 250 pounds, will be placed in one water-tight compartment. The arma- ment will consist of two 12-inch breech-loading guns, mounted in an ar- mored barbette turret on the midship line forward; four 4-inch rapid-fire guns in broadside on the superstructure deck, and a secondary battery of seven rapid-fire guns. The electric generating plant is to consist of four units, each unit to have an engine, dynamo and combination bed plate, and each dynamo a rated output of 400 amperes at 80 volts. The total weight of the whole electrica] installation, including dynamos, 'engines, bed plates and all fittings, wiring stores and two search-lights, must not exceed 32 tons. If on trial the average speed shall equal or exceed a speed at sea of 12 knots per hour for two consecutive hours, the vessel will be accepted so far as the speed is concerned. If the speed falls below 12 knots and exceeds 11 knots per hour, the vessel will be accepted at a reduced price, the reduction to be at the rate of $5,000 per 14 knot defi- ciency of speed from 12 knots to 11% knots, and at the rate of $10,000 per % knot deficiency of speed from 11% knots to 11 knots. If the speed falls below 11 knots an hour the secretary of the navy may at his discre- tion reject the vessel. The cost of these vessels, according to the provi- sions of the contract specifications, shall not exceed $1,250,000 each, ex- clusive of armament. ; THE TWELVE TORPEDO BOATS. Provision is also made in the bill for the construction of twelve tor- pedo boats and sixteen torpedo boat destroyers, the cost of-all, not includ- ing armament, being estimated at $6,900,000... The new torpedo boats will be known as the Bagley, Barney, Biddle, Blakely, DeLong, Nicholson, O'Brien, Shubrick, Stockton, Thornton, Tingey and Wilkes. The torpedo boat destroyers will be named Bainbridge, Barry, Chauncey, Dale, Deca- tur, Hopkins, Hull, Lawrence, Macdonough, Paul Jones, Perry, Preble, Stewart, Truxton, Whipple and Worden. The department has, in the case of these vessels, made the seemingly very wise innovation of leaving to the bidders the preparation of plans and specifications for the hulls and machinery, or such portion of them as they may desire. According to the original plan, bids were to have been opened this week, but in order to accord fair treatment to the Pacific coast builders, it has been found nec- essary to defer the opening of the bids until next week. It is stipulated that not more than four of the torpedo boats and five of the destroyers shall be built by any one firm. The navy department has announced that in the consideration of bids especial attention will be given to the highest practicable speed guaranteed; to the designs showing the best seagoing qualities and giving the best protection to engines and boilers; and to the shortest time within which bidders will guarantee the completion of ves- sels. The torpedo boats must attain a speed.of 26 knots and the destroy- ers must attain a speed of at least 28 knots, The cost of the torpedo boats is expected to average $170,000 each and of destroyers $295,000 each. All torpedo boats must be completed within twelve months from the time the contracts are let and all torpedo boat destroyers within eighteen months, so that it will 'be seen that the government is wisely putting an emphasis on-the necessity for rapidity of construction. 'A failure to complete the vessels within the time limits given will involve penalties, which in the case of the destroyers will be $50 per day for the first month next succeed- ing the expiration of the period given, $100 per day for the second month, and $150 a day thereafter until completed. In the case of the torpedo boats the exaction will be $30 per day for the first month, $60. per day for the second month, and $100 a day thereafter until the vessels are delivered. - The torpedo boats will be of about 150 tons displacement, and under the contract specifications must not exceed 170 tons at a trial displacement. They are to have twin screws; vertical engines, placed in separate water- tight compartments, each with a condenser; water tubular boilers, and a bunker capacity for at least 40 tons of coal. The vessels will be lighted throughout by electricity and furnished with one search-light of an ap-