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26 -- MARINE REVIEW. [July 25, ARMAMENT OF NEW BATTLESHIPS. THE MAJORITY OF THE NAVAL BOARD OF CONSTRUCTION IS OPPOSED TO THE SUPERPOSED TURRET--ADMIRAL BRADFORD FAVORS THE SUPERPOSED SYSTEM IN A VIGOROUS REPORT. It was announced in the Review last week that the majority of the naval board of construction had decided upon single turrets for the arma- ment of the new battleships. The plans of the battleships submitted are as follows: Length, 450 ft.; beam, 76 ft.; mean draught, 24 Ht. 6, t,, displacement, 15,560 tons. This displacement will give a ship consider- ably larger than anything in the present navy. The hull alone will weigh about 7,000 tons, while the protective armor will weigh about 3,700 tons. The total coal capacity will be about 2,000 tons; total load displacement, 16,900; deep load draught, 26 ft. 4 in.; speed 19 knots with an indicated horse power of 20,000. The battery recommended by the majority is to consist of four 12-in. guns in two 10-in. armored turrets, twenty 7-in. guns in casemates and twenty 3-in, guns. Eight of the 7-in. guns are enclosed in individual armor, four on the upper deck and four on the gun deck, firing ahead and astern. The remaining twelve guns are located on the gun deck in a central caSemate battery. The machinery is protected by a 10-in. armor belt, tapering to 4 in. fore-and-aft beyond the machinery space, and the other protection consists of armor 7 and 6 in. think, except the 12-in. turrets where it is 10 in. thick. The majority are opposed to the further use of the superposed turrets and they recommend a uniform caliber of 7 in. for what may be termed the auxiliary battery in preference to a mixed battery of 8-in. and 6-in. guns, favored by the minority. In its comparison of the two plans the majority makes the point that the use of the superposed turrets, favored by the minority, exposes four guns to disablement by a single shot and by the mounting of the twelve 6-in. guns in a single casemate renders them all liable to be placed out of action by a single large shell charged with high explosives. Attention is also called to what is claimed to be a very im- portant advantage in the majority's plan in providing for twenty 3-in. guns as against eight of that caliber provided for by the minority. A comparison of the results of the fire of ships that participated in the battle of Manila is submitted to show that 8-in. guns not mounted in turrets on the Baltimore and Boston gave greater rapidity of fire than the 8-in. turret guns of the Olympia. It is contended also that at the battle of Santiago there were only thirteen hits made by the 319 projectiles fired from: 8-in. guns. The majority argues at length in favor of the proposed 7-in. guns which, it contends, far exceeds the 8-in. guns in the extent of their range and the flatness of their trajectory. The majority holds that in providing for uniformity of character, simplicity of mounting and separation of guns it has presented 4 vessel more powerful than any yet built or projected by any power. A table is submitted to show that the twenty 7-in. guns of the majority plan will throw 4,125 lbs. of metal a minute from each broadside and that the twelve 8-in. and twelve 6-in. guns provided by the minority while capable of throwing 4,500 Ibs. of metal a minute from one broadside can only throw about 3,300 Ibs. of metal a minute from the other broadside. All the main battery guns, except the 12-in. of the majority's ship, will throw 8,250 Ibs. of metal in a minute, while all the main battery guns except the 12-in. of the - minority's ship will throw 7,800 Ibs. of metal in a minute. Rear Admiral Bradford, chief of the bureau of equipment, who sub- ' mits the minority report goes into the relative merits of both batteries and does not hesitate to criticize the majority battery as weak. He asserts that the Alabama and Maine types, which have armaments similar to the majority ship, have weak batteries. As for the 7-in. gun advocated _ by the majority, he says there is no such gun in existence and the calcu- lations as to its power are merely theoretical. The battery advocated by Admiral Bradford consists of the two 12-in, turrets with two 8-in. turrets superposed on them, and four additional 8-in. turrets arranged in the form of a quadrilateral. There are in addi- tion, on the main deck, twelve 6-in. rapid-fire guns. The entire battery consists of twenty-eight guns, divided as follows: Four twelves, twelve eights, and twelve sixes. The battery of the majority (Rear Admirals - O'Neil, Melville and Bowles) has no_8-in. guns and no superposed turrets. It consists of four twelves in two turrets and twenty sevens (none protected by turrets), the latter being located, as described by - Admiral Bradford, as follows: "Sixteen on the main deck behind case- - mate armor, arranged largely in accordance with the battery on an old | frigate's gun deck; on the deck above, at the corners of the superstructure are installed four more 7-in. guns for the purpose of increasing the fire ; ahead and astern." Admiral Bradford says that the absence of turret protection and the ' reduction in caliber are marked features of the majority design "to which | officers have heretofore shown a marked disapproval." He adds that the | maximum broadside fire of the 7-in. battery (in the majority design) ex- _ tends over an arc of only 64°, with an average muzzle energy of 230,620 | foot-tons over that arc, while in the minority's type it extends over an arc of 90°, with an average muzzle energy of 253,174 foot-tons, both vessels | assumed to be engaged on one side only. He admits that the majority's | battery is able to deliver at the same time the same energy of fire on both | sides, while his battery '"'can deliver on both sides at the same time, but 220,530 foot-tons, which is a little less than in the case of type 4 [the | majority's]." He claims for his battery, however, a great advantage over - | the majority's in that "it delivers a maximum fire over 100° of arc, while _ the latter delivers it over only. 647.7 : "Tt will thus be seen," he adds, "that type 5. [minority's] will still | have the advantage, even while engaged on both sides." Admiral Brad- ford argues that his battery should be adopted -to preserve the homo- _ geneity of the fleet. He says that the majority battery corresponds only with the Alabama and the Maine classes, and does 'not hesitate to assert - that these ships possess a weak battery, and the omission of 8-in. guns from their armament is much regretted by the best informed officers of the navy." There are six vessels of these classes armed only with 12-in. "Little Giant' Pneumatic Reversible Boring Machine No. 5 auger instantly. made. Ask for Catalog "E." It's free. Is especially designed for Ship Yards and Dock Work and is capable of drilling in any kind of wood up to three-inches diameter any depth. This machine can ke reversed at full speed by simply turning the handle to right or left, withdrawing It is in use in all the United States Naval Yards and a majority of the Ship Yards on the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts; also on the Great Lakes. 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