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MARINE REVIEW Entered at Cleveland Post Office as Second-class Mail Matter. Published every Thursday at 418-19 Perry- Payne Bldg., by the Marine Review Pub. Co. Vou. XXIV. CLEVELAND, O. "DEG 6.390) 0 ye tae No; 23 DESIGNS FOR THE NEW WARSHIPS. Congress at its last session inserted in the naval bill a provision di- recting the secretary of the navy to submit to both houses on the first day of the fifty-seventh congress plans for two battleships and two armored cruisers, and also a report on certain questions affecting the con- struction of war vessels. In accordance with the terms of this provision Secretary Long transmitted to the senate and the house two reports from the naval board on construction. One of these reports explains the plans proposed by the board for the two battleships and two armored cruisers while the other is an exposition of the board's views with reference'to the up-to-date armorclad, combining the highest conditions of efficiency in every respect. In expressing its views on the questions submitted to the navy department by congress in regard to the construction of naval vessels, the board places itself on record against sheathing the bottoms of ships, favors Krupp armor, and advocates the installment of guns not heavier than 12-in. caliber. In the opinion of the board the advantages resulting from sheathing are more than offset by the disadvantages. It admits that sheathing and coppering are a partial protection against fouling, but believes that under ordinary conditions the bottoms of vessels can be kept clean by the use of anti-corrosive and anti-fouling paints. ; : Concerning armor, the board says that both battleships and armored cruisers should carry as much armored protection as is practicable with- out detriment to their other important features. Eleven inches is the max- imum thickness of the armor of the best quality considered necessary or desirable for battleships, and for armored cruisers 6 in. for the heavy part of the main belt, 8 in. for turrets and barbettes and 9 in. for turret port plates. The elliptical balanced turret, with inclined port plates is considered the best. Twelve-inch guns are the heaviest considered necessary for battleships, with a combination:-of 7-in. and 8-in. rapid-fire rifles for the intermediate battery. Four 10-in. guns and sixteen 6-in. rapid-fire guns have been selected for the armored cruisers. This, says the board, gives these ves- sels phenomenal powers of offence, equalled by none in the world, and fits them to take their place in the line of battle if necessary. Torpedo tubes and torpedoes on board armorclads are not regarded as necessary by the board. : The board justifies its reduction of the speed of the new battleships from 19 to 18 knots by the statement that very high speed can only be ob- tained by a great sacrifice of weight and space without a corresponding gain in efficiency. The plans for the new armored cruisers contemplate vessels 502 ft. long on the load water line, having a breadth of 78 ft. 8% in., a trial dis- placement of about 14,500 tons, a maximum displacement at full load of 'about 15,959 tons, a maximum draught of about 27 ft. 2 in., a total coal capacity of about 2,000 tons, indicated horse power of 25,000, and trial speed of not less than 22 knots. The armament will consist of four 10-in. rifles, sixteen 6-in., twenty-two 3-in., twelve 3-pounders and fourteen smaller guns. The armored water line belt will be 7 ft. 6 in. wide, having 'a maximum thickness of 6 in. over the vitals and tapering to 3 in. at the ends. The barbettes for the 10-in. turrets taper from 7 in. to 4 in. in thick- 'ness; the turrets of the 10-in. guns are 8 in. thick with 9-in. port plates. The conning tower and its shield are 9 in. thick. Each vessel is designed to carry 854 officers and men. : The battleships are to be 450 ft. long, 76 ft. 8 in. wide, 16,000 tons trial displacement, 17,604 tons maximum displacement, 26 ft. 9 in. maximum 'draught, will carry 2,200 tons of coal, have an indicated horse power of 16,500 and a trial speed of not less than 18 knots. The battery will con- sist of four 12-in. guns, eight 8-in. guns, twelve 7-in. guns, twenty 3-im, twelve 3-pounders and eighteen smaller guns. The armor belt is 3 ft. 3 in. wide and tapers from 11 in. amidships to 4 in. at the stem and the stern. The 12-in. barbettes are 10 in. thick and the armor on the 12-in. turrets is 9 in. thick with ll-in. port plates. Quarters are provided for officers and crew numbering 797. a THE PRESIDENT ON MERCHANT MARINE AND NAVY. The message of President Roosevelt is in its main features a straight- forward document.. He goes directly to the point in all that he says. However, both the friends and the enemies of American shipping would prefer that he had expressed himself a little more clearly upon the up- building of the merchant marine. He says that the merchant marine should be restored to the seas but this, indeed, could be bravely said by anyone. The question is what means should be-taken to restore it. His exact words are as follows: ee ee . "The condition of the American merchant marine is such as to call for immediate remedial action by the congress. It is discreditable to. us as a nation that our merchant marine should be utterly. insignificant in comparison to that of other nations which we overtop in other forms of business. We should not longer submit to conditions under which only a trifling portion of our great commerce is carried in our own ships.: To remedy this state of things would not merely serve to build up our ship- ping interests, but it would also result in benefit to all who are interested in the permanent establishment of a wider market for American products, and would provide an auxiliary force for the navy. Ships work for their own countries just as railroads work for their terminal points. Shipping lines, if established to the principal countries with which: we have dealings, would be of political as well as commercial benefit. .From.every stand- point it is unwise for the United States to continue to rely upon the ships . of competing nat#éns for the distribution of our goods. It should be made advantageous to carry American goods in American built ships. - "At présent American shipping is under certain great disadvantages when put in competition with the shipping of foreign countries. Many of the fast foreign steamships, at a speed of fourteen knots or above, are sub- sidized; and all our ships, sailing vessels and steamers alike, cargo carriers of slow speed and mail carriers of high speed, have to meet the fact that the original cost of building American ships is greater than is the case abroad; that the wages paid American officers and seamen are very much higher than those paid the officers and seamen of foreign competing coun- tries; and that the standard of living on our ships is far superior to the standard of living on the ships of our commercial rivals. Our govern- ment should take such action as will remedy these inequalities. The American merchant marine should be restored to the ocean." The president is emphatically in favor of steadily increasing the navy not only in ships but in men as well. He does not want ships built merely to be manned when they are needed in actual war. He wants the battle- ships worn out, if necessary, in practice drills. Upon this point he says: 'We now have seventeen battleships appropriated for, of which nine are completed and have been commissioned for active service. The re- maining eight will be ready in from two to four years, but it will take at least that time to recruit and train the men to fight them. It is of vast concern that we have trained crews ready for the vessels by the time they are commissioned. Good ships and good guns are simply good weapons, and the best weapons are useless save in the hands of men who know how to fight with them. The men must be trained and drilled under a thorough and well planned system of progressive instruction, while the recruiting must be carried'on with still greater vigor. Every effort must he made to exalt the main function of the officer--the command of men. The leading graduates of the naval academy should be assigned to the combatant branches, the line and marines." RECORD OF A GREAT SHIP YARD. It would seem only a few years since the Newport News Ship Build- ing & Dry Dock Co. began the construction of steel vessels at Newport News, Va., and yet a summary of its work shows an aggregate exceeding the hundred-thousand-ton mark for merchant vessels as well as vessels of war. It will be noted by the following table that the gross tonnage of merchant vessels built and now building by this company is 111,785 while the displacement of vessels of war for the United States government, built and now under construction, is 105,930 tons.. The duplications of names in vessels for the Morgan line is due to the fact that the first fleet built for that company (El Toro, El Sud. etc.), were sold to the govern- re during the war with Spain and another fleet built immediately after- ward. LIST OF VESSELS BUILT BY THH NEWPORT NEWS SHIP BUILDING & DRY DOCK CO. AT NEWPORT NEWS, VA. Gross tonnage of Type of : merchant vessels; : vessel. Name, displacement of Dimensions. Built for. "war vessels. eM TUS..... ee eee 90x19x10 New York & Northern Ry. PDUs ieee ts 90x19x10 Pacific Imp. Co. Steamship.... 381x48x24 Morgan Steamship Co. Steamship.... 381x48x24 Morgan Steamship Co. Steamship.... 881x48x24 Morgan Steamship Co. Steamship.... 1 381x48x22 Morgan Steamship Co. Gunboat......Nashville ..... a Fetters 1371 220x388x11 United States government. Gunboat...... Wilmington. ......; 1392 251x40x9 United States government. Gunboat...... Heléna:§. tes 300 eks 1892 251x40x9 United States government. Pilot boat:....3. Ho Hstell' 2005. ccs 243 118x238x13 Savannah Pilots Ass'n. TUS. ooscnoe ds. Ae He DOW GY aon siciy 5 134 92x19x9 Albert F. Dewey.. Steamer.......Newport News ..... 1585 260x46x14 N. & W. Steamboat -Co, Steamship....Grande Duchesse .. 5017 380x48x16 Plant Line. Steamship.....Creole. ¢.:...0:....5.% 3801 352x44x15 Cromwell Line. e Tug......+.....Sommers N. Smith: 211 105x21x14 Pensacola Pilots Ass'n. Battleship....Kearsarge ".......... 11525 368x72x24 United States government. Battleship....Kentucky ........... 11525 368x72x24 United States government. Steamiet Maret ead ons ae oe Plant Line. wae attleship....Illinois ...... Riess eee XTX United States government. Steamship....Hl Sud ... .. 4572 391x48x26 Morgan Steamehic Co. Steamship....E1 Norte 4605 392x48x26 Morgan Steamship Co. 4604 392x48x26 4608 391x48x26 4828 392x48x28 4836 391x48x30 150 96x22x12 4605 380x48x26 Steamship....El Rio . Steamship....EHl Cid . Steamship....Comus . Steamship Tupi vase Steamship Morgan Steamship Co. Morgan Steamship. Co. Cromwell Steamship Co. Cromwell Steamship Co. ~ Morgan Steamship Co. Dees Morgan Steamship Co, Steamship....El Dia 4605 380x48x26 Morgan Steamship Co. Steamship.... 4605 380x48x26 Morgan Steamship Co. VESSELS IN COURSE OF CONSTRUCTION--(LAUNCHED.) Battleship....Missouri ...:........ 12500 388x72x35 United States gove t. Monitor....... Arkansas... 50% 6% 8200 252x50x15 United States poverhmeer Steamship....Korea .............-. 11300 550x63x41 Pacific Mail Steamship Co. 'Steamship....Siberia ............. 11300 550x68x41 Pacific Mail Steamship Co. 'Steamship....Hl Alba ............. 4605 3880x4826 Morgan Steamship Co. : . VESSELS IN COURSE OF CONSTRUCTION--(NOT LAUNCHED.) : Cruiser. > MarylanG -.3.20 05.5, 13400 - 502x69x41 . United States government. Cruiser. West Virgini 13400 502x69x41 United States government. 'Battleship....Virginia ...... 15000 435x 77x41 United States government. -Cruiser...:....Charleston .+° 9700 424x 66x40 United States government. a ve _ REBUILT IN 1901. so Steamship....Main .......... eee 10067. 501x58x36 .North German Lloyd Co. A combination of circumstances has brought about lower freights in the closing days.of lake navigation than prevailed during the month of November. Ships suddenly find it necessary to take to winter quarters. Grain, and ore shippers moved earlier than they expected the number of cargoes that they had planned-to ship after the middle of November and the coal shippers: have been troubled as much as ever in getting the rail- "ways to forward:coal to lake ports. Thus the season is not wou wP with) a. struggle for ships at fancy rates, but this conde shoe ave op no special bearing upon ancther year's business. Vessel Ownefs are as . much encouraged as ever. by the- promise, still before' Hatt that the. greatest year in the history of the iron industry is to be succeeded by even a greater one. The pig iron market has shown further advances within the past few days, and in all speculation regarding the iron ore market for the new year prices somewhat higher than those of the year just 'closing are talked of.