Show r TERRORS THSEA Government Preparing Pans For Three Big Battleships LARGEST IN THE NAVY WILL BE mEA FIGHTERS I EVERY BESPZCT 4 Will eLarger Thah the lilaine Class and Rv n Total Displacement pf 13500 nsCnot De ui Until Un-til Tiore Funds Are Provided For Armor + Washington March 7The plans for larch the three big battleships authorized by the naval appropriation bill just passed are being worlred out The general feature fea-ture of the ships have been defined subject to the approval oC the secre taD The battleships will be a thousand tons larger than the Maine and Missouri Mis-souri class of a total disJacement of a 13500 tons making them by tar the largest ships In the AmOriCan nary and about equal In dimensions to the best u I nn LYJ UL UULLIClll lV UI uu structed abroad under the new prac I tce Though larger than the Maine the shins will be laid on almost the same lines being only a little greater in every dimension They wi carry each four lJnch guns in turrets This caliber is tin inch less than the guns carrie by the Oregon but by improv ed design they will be almost equal in e penetrative power The 8mch guns of the Oregon type although they did Yen effective work at Santa o and Mania have been abandoned But instead in-stead of Slnh guns the new Ships wi have no less than sixteen guns tif 6inch Q calbre aU ravldfrers and twenty sixpounders This battery reresents the ideal proportion between guns as taught by the experience of our own teet turing the Spanish war and f the Chinese and Japanese veathis duri lag their late war j The sped oC the shins will be eighteen 1 eigh-teen knots an advance of twO knotS over tho Oregon class but just eQual to that of the new Maine For vro I tecton agalnt the enemys shot the I battleships will have but one belt of armor seven feet sbe Inches broad I running clear around the Water line three feet six inches above and four feet below sx was originally 1lanned to have this armor sixteen inches thick but the designers have now reduced j nn ITh LU LU v L 4 change was made in order t strengthen strength-en the casement which will be made seven and a half Inches thick Instead of five Inches Altogether there Is a notable absence of new features in the designs of the brttehlps whicih fact taken in con necton with the small amount of prog ross reported in the designs for the Maine class may be an indication that our naval designers have very nearly approached worJr the idea battleship in their As far as these particular ships are concerned thi fact that the navy department de-partment is lmited to 300 per ton in the purchase armor make Itimpos sl1le to build them in the absena of further legislation and the department will be obliged to content iteJf with the mere preparation of detailed plans during the coming summer The six cruisers of the unarmored type provld ell for can however be built and Chief Constructor Hlclborn has already ben working out the deigns upon lines approved ap-proved by the board of bureau chiefs I is the purpose of the navy dcpart ment to place contracts for these ships at the earliest possible mon mt They represent a type of cruiser which would be of the greatest value just now for our foreign service The plans cal for Vessels of about 2600 tons and the shIps will be improved llarbleheds so to speak beIng GOO tons larger than shIps of that class and with better batteries bat-teries and more coal capacity A most Important consideration is they will bo sheathed with wood over the steel hull and fully coppered enabll1g them to leeep the seas even in tropicalwaters for many months without being com polled to seek a drydock The battery Will be made up of six 5lnch guns for each ship The cost will be considerably consider-ably more than that of the 1larblehead which was 674000 for the amount al bowed by congress was 111800 each This difference is accounted for by the many improvements made In the Mar bleheads design a notable one being the use of water tube boilers giving much greater speed arid economy II I I |