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About The Conservative (Nebraska City, Neb.) 1898-1902 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 25, 1898)
'Che Conservative * navy. She is of steel , 252 feet in length and 929 tons displacement , mid hns a speed of 21.5 knots. In the forward part of the ship are placed three pneu- niatic guns that form her armament. These are built into the ship. Their muzzles are carried forward and pro ject above the deck near the bow at an elevation of 18 degrees. They are 15 inches in diameter , 54 feet long , and are made of thin cast iron. The rear end of these guns , or tubes , extend down to the bottom of the ship. The dynamite shells for the guns are 14 % inches in diameter and about 7 feet long. The submarine explosion of a shell from the Vesuvius would probably destroy a ship 20 or more feet distant. The dynamite projectiles are hurled from the tubes by means of compressed air , 1,000 pounds pressure. Ten projectiles are provided for each gun. This is the full arma ment of the ship so far as torpedoes are concerned. In firing , the guns have a fixed elevation. Their range is varied by admitting more or less compressed air in the tubes. The guns are trained by action of the helm of the vessel. The hull of the Vesuvius is actually * a float ing gun carriage with , three pneumatic tubes built rigidly into her construction. Besides the dynamite guns the vessel carries three 8-pounder rapid-fire guns. The cost of constructing the Vesuvius was $350,000. The armored ram Katahdin is de signed especially for harbor defense for ramming an enemy. She has a small armament of four 6-pounder rapid- fire guns , and is protected by G inches of steel on her sides and the slopes of her deck and 2 inches on the flat. She is 250 feet in length and has a displace ment of 2,155 tons. Her speed , however , is only 16 knots , which is a serious fault , as speed and rapidity of action are es sential for a ram. The Dolphin was originally intended for the dispatch boat of the navy'but her speed , only 15.5 knots at the best is insufficient. She is constructed of steel , and has no armor or protection. The armament of this vessel is two 4-inch rapid-fire guns , two 6-pounder rapid-fire guns , and four machine guns. A PROTECTED . CnUSer 1S * CnUS- CRUISERS. . , ing vessel , the en gines , boilers , magazines , steering geai and other vital parts of which are pro tected by a turtle-back of steel armor which reaches below the water-line on either side , and fore and aft the entire length of the ship. This turtle-back , or protective deck as it is called , is from 2 to 4 inches in thickness on the slopes and from 1 to 2 inches on the flat. The idea in constructing a cruiser is to keep her as light as possible , that she may attain high speed and also be quickly handled. The design of the protective deck is to deflect projectiles coming into the ship in the vicinity of water linoand thus prevent damage being done to the vital parts of the vessel. This is the only protection which the hull of a promoted meted cruiser has against the fire of an enemy. But sometimes the guns of this class of vessel are protected by a light hie Id of steel or thin armor. The battleships and armored cruisers also lave protective decks. A cruiser does lot , except in rare cases , carry as heavy juns as a battleship , and then she only carries one or two of them , as in the case of the Spanish cruiser Vizcaya. All of the following ships are protected cruisers : Dis is NO. GUNS. place . NAME. ment. i o rt en ( Tons. ) a art Main OOH cap Bat a a tery. CQ 0,0 Atlanta. . 8,000 15.00 400 8 18 Baltimore. 4,418 20.10 1,144 10 15 3oston . . 8,000 15.00 400 8 12 Charleston 8,750 18.20 758 8 15 Dhicago 4,500 18.00 882 18 12 Cincinnati 8,218 10.00 400 11 18 Columbia. . 7,875 22.80 1,070 11 10 Minneapolis. . , 7,875 23.07 1,801 11 10 Newark , 4,05)3 ) 10.00 800 12 17 Olympia. . 5,870 21.CO 1,170 14 20 Philadelphia. 4,824 10.08 1,080 12 18 Raleigh 8,218 10.00 400 11 15 3an Francisco , 4,008 10.58 028 12 18 The Detroit , Mar- UNPROTECTED blehead and Montgomery CRUISERS. gomery are unpro tected cruisers of a displacement each of a little over 2,000 tons. Each has a coal capacity of 840 tons and a maximum speed of about 19 knots. In each is a thin water-tight deck of steel which is simi lar to the protective decks of the other cruisers , but hi thickness is only 7-16 inches on the slopes and 5-16 on the flat. These vessels are light , draw only 1G feet of water , and can be handled read ily. These vessels , exclusive of arma ment , cost the government about $620,000 each. Unprotected cruisers rely for protection against serious in jury solely upon coal and a very minute sub-division of the compartments in the region of and below the load lino. This is further secured by cofferdams worked in the vicinity of the machinery spaces and filled with cellulose or of-or water- excluding material , to prevent the v uter , in case of injury , from finding its way to the larger compartments in the cen ter of the vessel. The armament of each of these ves sels consists of ten 5-incli , six 6-pounder , two 1-pouuder all rapid-fire , and two Gatlings , except the Marblehead , which has two Colt automatic guns in place of the Gatlings. Each vessel also has one field gun. MONITORS. The Amphitrite Miautonomoh , Mo nadnock , Monterey , Puritan and Ter ror are low freeboard double turreted coast-defense monitors. Each has a belt of steel armor along and above the water line , and the turrets are also heavily armored. Each has also a fla protective deck of about 2 inches o : steel. These vessels are not desigiiec for cruisers , or chasing an enemy , bu for defensive purposes , They lie very ow in the water , almost submerged , and are sluggish in maneuvering. Their speed is but 10 or 12 knots , which , however - ever , is sufficient for the purpose for which they are intended. The main mtteries of the double turreted monitors consist of 10-inch and 12-inch breech- loading rifles. These vessels cost the government about $1,800,000 each. &f ) & The thirteen low freeboard single tur- eted iron monitors wore built in 1862 , and still are 011 the navy list , loaned to ; ho naval militia of the various states. They are as follows ; Ajax , Jason , Montauk , Comanche , Lehigh , Nahant , Canonicus , Mahopac , Nantucket , Catskill , Manhattan , Passaic , Wyandotto. Each of these single turreted monitors lias a pair of XV-inch smooth-boro guns in her turret. The original cost of these monitors was about $500,000 each. During the past STEEL GUNBOATS. _ yc uu armored steel gunboats have been added to the navy : Bancroft , Benningtou , Castine , Concord , Helena , Machias , Nashville , Petrel , Wilmington , Yorktown. These gunboats are similar in con struction to the unprotected cruisers , but are somewhat smaller. Their dis placements vary from 889 tons , in the case of the Bancroft , to 1777 tons , in the case of the Machias. Since 1897 six COMPOSITE GUNBOATS. unarmored composite gunboats have been added : Annapolis , Marietta , Newport , Princeton , Vicksburg , Wheeling. A composite vessel is built with steel frames and is plated with steel above and with planking below the water line , the planking being coppered as in a wooden sailing vessel. When greater strength is required the vessel is built with a complete steel shell and the undor-water planking is wood-sheathed ad coppered By reason of this a com posite vessel can remain away rom a dry dqck for a considerable time , while a vessel with her steel bottom exposed to the action of the salt water must dock every few months and scrape and paint. The hull and machinery of tliis class of vessel cost about $225,000. $225,000.The The torpedo- TORPEDO-BOATS. bmfc ig built for the sole purpose of carrying and firing torpedoes. The requisites are high speed , the power to suddenly stop dead in the water , or to back , or to turn quickly. Besides she must bo down low in the water so as to present as little target as possible to the enemy. Then she must be noiseless or she could not creep up to her prey under cover of darkness , fog or smoke without making her presence known. Invisibility and the swiftest movement are essential to a successful