Show FEW BATTLESHIPS DIFFICULT WORK IX PASSING CPOX1 THE PLANS They Embody Many o > eJics That Mast He Very Carefully Considered Consid-ered or Tronhle May Ensue WASHINGTON Dec 4The work of passing upon the various plans for battleships submitted to the navy department de-partment In answer to the advertisement advertise-ment for proposals Is now engaging the entire attention of the naval bureau bu-reau chiefs and owing to the number and complexity of the plans the task is not a light one The chief of ordnance ord-nance Captain Sampson has been ad dad to the naval board in view of the importance of the armor question raised by the proposition of the Cramps to supply the ships fully equipped with armor instead of following the usual practice of having the government govern-ment furnish the armor The plans in instance embody certain novelties in naval construction that must be passed I sed upon with care The Crarrps have one plan for a ship about the size of the Indiana but without turrets In their place fore and aft arc mounted 12Inch guns on carriages that disappear in the hull below the water line and under the protective deck after being discharged thus being completely shielded from a return fire and also adding to the stability bility of the ship Another plan also submitted by the Cramps is for a battleship bat-tleship the same size with four separate sep-arate turrts two for the 33inch guns and two for Sinch guns the latter being be-ing placed above and In the rear of the I big turrets this generally resembling the arrangement proposed originally by the construction bureau The Union Iron works carry the navy departments plans to an extreme in one point where they contemplate a three storied turret Their original plan Is generally similar the departments desig except In a slight detail relating relat-ing to the placing of a main passageway passage-way and the storage of coal above the boilers and the Important detail of I supplying all of the steam by the new tubulous boilers a used on the Monterey Mon-terey I |