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1900) MARINE REVIEW. 7 21 ** COMMERCE DESTROYERS."' ENGLAND HAS NONE OF THEM AND OF COURSE RIDICULES THOSE OF FRENOH DESIGN--THE GUICHEN, LATEST FRENOH SHIP OF THIS CLASS--A RECORD OF 24 KNOTS ON A FOUR HOURS' TRIAL. The commerce destroyer is a type of ship unknown in the British navy, though some of the admiralty's critics might assert that many of our cruisers come very near it in the matter of small proportion of guns to -- displacement. That, however, is by the way. the role of a commerce destroyer is--for some reasons not particularly clear--presumed to be moral rather than physical, using moral in the sense of effect. It is assumed that-a craft of this sort will not need to show her teeth, but having overhauled the swift liner, the latter will promptly strike. Should an obstinate captain 'be encountered, a little powder may be required, and for this purpose the commerce destroyer of true theory carries a few guns. Deck-protected herself, the odd gun or two that the victim may carry will not be likely to do any particular harm, while the exposed engines and huge bulk of the liner will render her the easiest of vulnerable targets. Consequently the "commerce destroyer' proper, though of a first-class cruiser's bulk, is less heavily armed than an Elswick cruiser of half to one- third her size, and would probably. have to run from such an one. Speed and an immense coal supply are the principal desiderata. The "commerce destroyer' is an American invention, the pioneer vessels being the Columbia and Minneapolis (duplicates), details of which will be found below. So far as America is concerned, they were also the last, the navy department recognizing the weak side of such ships. France, however, took the matter up, seeing visions of a good deal of la gloire, with a substantial backing to it, in a fleet of vastly swift ships designed to sweep the British merchant service from the sea. Hence the Guichen, Chateaurenault and Jurien de la Graviére--the sum total of this partic- ular fleet so far. After France, Russia was bitten with the idea, and the three Pallada class were laid down. They, however, are merely rather large second-class cruisers, and carry so many 12-pounders that they may turn out to be cruisers of a very efficient type. However, Rus- sia has apparently dropped the idea for the same reason that the United States and France dropped it, that such ships are not an addition to a navy's fighting strength at all commensurate with the expense. The Variag, the Russian cruiser building at Cramp's, Philadelphia, carries four more 6-inch-guns than the Palladas on very nearly the same displace- ment, and would certainly not have to run from a smaller cruiser. Her contract speed, too, is higher. In America the new armored cruisers, in France the Jeanne d'Arc and others, are all designed to be as fast as the Guichen, while they are far better armed and armored. The Jurien de la Graviére, too, is no longer designed to carry a nominal armament for her size, but will be practically a second-class cruiser. Details of these ships are: ' Chateau- |Jurien dela . Guichen. | vonault. Graviére. | Columbia.) Pallada. Displacement 2 .tcciscc.ccces cos 8277 8018 5500 7475 6630 Length, feet...) ce. 436% 457% 439% 413% 406 Boat, feets.252555 <0. sccssoncser sto) 55 55% 48% 58% 55 Draught (mean) feet................. 24% 22% 234 24 21 Horse-power........... ..- Sor 24,000 23,000 17,10 21,500 11,500 Speed, knots..... 23 23 23 23 20 Coal, tons... <..c.0< 1460 1400 600 2000 900 Coal, maximu u.. ... 2000 2100 9u0 2400 1430 Armor deck, inches. 3 a cagascpe stu siccs|Ceyciceas ss sesuucs | iccctense ovuvessce 2 6.4 in 8 6.4 in. 1 8in. 8 6in. 6 5.5 in. 65.5in. | 10 3-pdr. 2 Gin. 20 3in. 10 3-pdr. | 10 3-pdr. 6 1-pdr. 8 4in. 8 small. 5 1-pdr. § l-pdr. 12 6-pdr. 4 1-pdr. ; 4 Gatlings. Torpedo tubes... cn. 2 none. 2 (sub.) 2 4 Nominal radius with full é bunkers, in miles........<...... 16,000 10,000 9,300 13,000 2 Both the Pallada and Jurien de la Graviére are compromises. It is worthy of note that the Columbia was laid down ten years ago, and she has made her speed, so that ""ccommerce destroyers" do not look to be progressive in this respect. Whatever their speed, however, destroyers are faster and given an ideal commerce destroyer able to show her heels to all the cruisers in the world, there is a good deal in the British navy theory that destroyers would run such craft to earth. A big ship going about wreaking havoc on merchant shipping is bound to leave a certain amount of "'trail,' and three or four destroyers looking for her would probably not be long in finding her; and having found the finder would have little trowble in sending her below at night unless her captain was very smart, for the guns carried to repel destroyer attack are few. If any attempt is made to remedy this--as in the Pallada--something very like an ordinary cruiser is the result. Hence, the ideal commerce destroyer is likely to remain a poetical conception. So far as this sort of ship goes, however, the Guichen may be reck- oned the best specimen. She is undoubtedly fast, nor have we anything in the way of cruisers at present within two knots of her, though in actual warfare such a two knots is not likely to mean all that it does on paper. In a long chase at high speed something is pretty sure to go in one or both ships, and the next big war is pretty likely to see some stout 18-knotter coming into port with a 22 or 23-knot prize that she has chased and caught. The personnel down below must always be a factor in affairs of this sort, and there is a world of difference between the mea- sured mile and a twelve-hours' chase at sea. However, the Guichen has done very well in some fairly hard tests. The results of her official trials were: Twenty-four hours, natural draft, 18,500 indicated horse power, 20 knots; four hours, forced draft, 25,455 indicated horse power, 23.55 knots. In other trials she has done 24 knots and a little over in short runs, and some while since ran through the Straits of Gibraltar at a speed estimated by those who watched her as "well over 22 knots." The Guichen is a triple-screw ship, her engines vertical triple-expan- sion, a set to each shaft. The boilers are of the Lagrafel d'Allest type, and there are thirty-six of these. These boilers are apparently out of favor in France at present, most or all the new ships being fitted with other types, though the Charles Martel, which is also fitted with them, is said to 'be one of the best steaming ships in the French navy. The Chateau- * renault has the Normand-Sigaudy boilers, the Jurien de la Graviére will have Normand. The Columbia, by the way, which has done some harder high-speed steaming than any warship, has cylindrical boilers. Those of the Pallada type are Belleville. One curious item in connection with the Guichen is that she is "very like a passenger liner." So, at least, the French used to tell us; and she was designed with a view to being' mis- taken for such. What liner the architect had in view we cannot pretend to say. The nearest is--or rather was--the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, but she is more than half as long again, and certainly is quite unlike the Guichen in the stern, while it would need a good deal of haze to obliterate a score of other differences. All the same, this idea of getting the Guichen taken for a simple liner in the next war has been the cause of a good deal of trouble to the French admiralty. When the Guichen was commissioned--she is now with the Northern Fleet--difficulty was ex- perienced in coaling her rapidly, there being no mast convenient for a Temperley. A third mast amidships was projected as a simple solution of the difficulty, but pending the creation of a liner similarly rigged the idea met with disfavor. Consequently a short Temperley was rigged upon a davit. It did not give unlimited satisfaction, so there was a question of sacrificing the liner ideal or else failing to make the most of the science of coaling ships. In the end the Temperley won, and the Guichen now sports a mainmast on which she can sling a full-sized transporter, and there has been a corresponding gain to her appearance, despite the lost ideal. But he would have been a very simple merchant skipper who could ever have taken the Guichen for a peaceful liner, let alone the side issue that in war time any number of armed liners will tbe about. That par- ticular item does not appear to have struck the French minister of marine --M. Lockroy, probably--who conceived the otherwise brilliant idea of a French cruiser steaming gaily along with all the enemy's merchantmen following her. blithely and innocently like the children after the Pied Piper of Hamlin.--Engineer, London. CAPT. CHANCY RICHARDSON. Capt. Chancy Richardson of Ashtabula, who died of heart disease while seated at dinner on the steamer Samuel Mitchell off Stannard rock, Lake Superior, on Friday last, was w-l] known to vessel men of the lakes. As deputy collector of customs in the Cleveland district, having charge of the Ashtabula office, he formed a wide acquaintance among shipmasters, especially those engaged in the ore trade, and was highly respected by all of them. Capt. Richardson was in his sixty-eighth year, but his health had been such that his death was not at all expected. The trip to Lake Superior on the steamer Samuel Mitchell was being made with Mrs. Richard- son and several friends. The party was a happy one, enjoying an excursion that had long been planned but which had a very sad ending. The steamer was bound up the lake, just above Marquette, when Capt. Richard- son, while at dinner, was stricken very suddenly and died a short time afterward. The Mitchell put back to Marquette and the remains were conveyed by rail to Ashtabula for burial. The funeral, which occurred on Monday last, was largely at- tended by the people of Ashta- bula, as well as many Cleveland friends, among them Mr. August Zehring who was collector of the Cleveland customs district under Pres- ident Cleveland's last administration and with whom Capt. Richardson served as a deputy. : Capt. Richardson was born in Unionville, O., Dec. 22, 1832, a son of Henry Richardson, who came to Ohio from Methuen, Conn. He sailed the lakes for a number of years and then engaged in grocery business in Ashtabula. It was during President Cleveland's last administration that he was appointed deputy collector of customs at Ashtabula, which post he filled with the utmost fidelity and success for five years, retiring last spring. He was a brother of Capt. W. C. Richardson, well-known vessel owner of Cleveland, and besides a widow leaves two sons, C. H. and ex- Mayor C. E. Richardson, both of Ashtabula. CAPT. CHANOCY RICHARDSON. NAVAL MATTERS. . The naval board of construction has decided to recommend the pur- chase of the submarine torpedo 'boat known as the improved Holland, the disposition of which was left open 'by Secretary Long when he bought the Holland. The cruiser Atlanta, which has been under repair at the New York navy yard for three years, being practically rebuilt in that time, has been ordered into commission. Commander Edwin C. Pendleton, superin- tendent of the naval gun factory in Washington, will command her. The comptroller of the treasury has ruled that the last nine rear admirals of the navy are entitled to only the pay of a brigadier-general, from which 15 per cent. may 'be deducted when they are on shore duty. Rear Admiral Silas W. Terry raised the question by demanding the pay of a major-general. Admiral Terry supported his case by citing section 13 of the naval personnel bill, which provides that officers of the line shall have the same pay and allowances as army officers of the corresponding rank, and as the rear admiral corresponds to a major-general, he held that he should receive the same pay. The comptroller pointed out that section 7 of the same act directly stipulated that the nine admirals in the second division shall receive the pay of brigadier-generals, and held that a gen- eral law does not repeal a special law.