WARSHIPS, MODERN could possibly be used to better advantage elsewhere. The foregoing description, in a general way, portrays the disposition of armor usually employed on the battleship type, but it may be considered to apply as well to armored cruisers, remembering that in the latter class of vessel the armor is thinner all through. The design and building of battleships shows a constant development. Each new vessel is, in many respects, an improvement on her immediate predecessor; there is some uncertainty, however, as to the best type, due to the fact that there have been no naval engagements, since the modern warship was evolved, of sufficient importance to settle beyond question whether this development is along correct lines or not. The trend of development, however, has been in the following directions for the battleship, a reduction in the size of the largest guns, made possible by im capacity. Captain Walker, U. S. N., has said of the armored cruiser: "Her role is assumed to be that of a vessel possessing in a high degree offensive and defensive qualities, with the capacity of delivering her attack at points far distant from her base in the least space of time." For this statement to apply to the modern armored cruiser, remembering that the ability to fight must be measured by the standard set by the battleship, it should be reversed and the degree should read "moderate" instead of "high." There is no class of warship concerning which there is a greater diversity of opinion. Many eminent authorities hold that the armored cruiser, with a speed enabling her to give or decline combat at will and to overtake protected cruisers and commerce destroyers, with an armament sufficient to ensure the destruction of such vessels when overtaken, and with suf provements in material and higher velocity of projectiles; an increase in the size of rapid-fire guns; a much improved quality of armor, with a greater proportion of the ship covered by same; an increase in speed and coal capacity, and a saving in machinery weights due to the introduction of the water tube boiler and to a generally higher grade of material; and finally an increase in size of the whole vessel. For the armored cruiser almost the same advance has been made as in the battleship, and in many respects the armored cruisers are merely battleships somewhat weakened in defensive and offensive qualities to gain a few knots speed. Armored Cruisers.- The armored cruiser can best be described as a battleship in which the qualities of offense and defense have been much reduced to gain high speed and great coal ficient armor to protect her from the guns carried by such ships and possibly sufficient to enable her to engage a battleship under conditions favorable to herself and of her own choosing, adds a very important element of fighting strength to the fleet, and that in this c'ass the requirements of warships are most nearly fulfilled. On the other hand there are many who hold that the armored cruiser is an anomaly, something less than the battleship and more than the protected cruiser, performing satisfactorily the duties of neither, with no special function of her own and lacking the great desideratum in warships, ability to fight in proportion to her great size and cost. With the increast in speed of the battleship until there is only a difference of about 3 knots between its speed and that of the armored cruiser, and this differ WARSHIPS, MODERN Twin screw, ver 2 8" barbette turrets. Armored cruiser. 502 o 69 62 24 I 13,680 tical triple ex pansion; Babcock 2,000 22. & Wilcox. ence most apparent on the trial trip, as any decrease in efficiency will necessarily be most severe on the faster type, and when this gain of a few knots speed is at such an expense of armor and armament as to practically preclude the armored cruiser from joining battle with the battleship, it hardly seems worth while to put practically the same amount of money into vessels of the weaker type. There is doubtless a large field for the armored cruiser in swift attack upon isolated or unprotected positions, in raids on the trade routes of maritime states or in blockade and many other duties; but, before the end is reached, the enemy's battleship squadron must be met, and this the armored cruiser can not do, at least with much prospect of success. Prophecy is always an uncertain occupation, but judging as well as we can from the present line of advance, it would seem most likely that this debatable question will be met by increasing somewhat the speed and coal endurance of the battleship and reducing slightly her protection at the water-line or possibly in the protective deck, while the armored cruiser reduces her speed somewhat and increases her armor and armament, until the two types merge. Aside from speculation, however, the consensus of opinion seems to be that the more recent armored cruisers in all the great navies are too large. However this may be, the fact remains that, if any one country develops a type of warship having particularly marked characteristics, other nations who wish to remain on a footing of equal strength, must build vessels of the same type to meet them, and all of the more important naval powers are now adding armored cruisers to their fleets. It may be of interest to add that France, at the present time, is building armored cruisers almost to the exclusion of battleships, and it must not be forgotten that the French nation has, on other occasions, inaugurated the line of naval development. The preceding table gives the particulars of battleships and armored cruisers, built and under construction, in the United States navy. Protected Cruisers.-The protected cruiser class depends for protection upon the protective deck alone. These vessels were very popular in all navies some years ago, and in them everything was sacrificed to what was considered at that time high speed. The Japanese Naniwa, 3,650 tons displacement and 1834 knots, and the Chilean Esmeralda, 3,000 tons displacement and 184 knots speed, were considered phenomenal vessels and were regarded as models. Owing to the difficulty of a small ship maintaining high speed in anything but the most favorable weather, vessels of this class gradually increased in size until they reached 7,000 or 8,000 tons displacement. Being without any protection save the protective deck, these vessels could be utterly destroyed by the fire of modern rapid-fire guns even though neither their protective decks nor their water-lines were pierced, in fact they were not much better than armed ocean liners. After a few years the armored cruiser came out, immeasurably superior, and naval designers quickly turned to that type. It is probable that the protected cruiser will be modified, and her place taken, as far as speed is concerned, by a new type, just now being developed, the Scout. As its name implies this type will be very fast, 23 to 25 knots, with large coal capacity and no protection. The Scout class is not designed to |