guns will at battle range pierce the armor protecting any auxiliary battery afloat. Two years later juster ideas of the true uses of a naval force permitted the building of the Iowa (11,340 tons), which was frankly called a ‘sea-going battleship.’ She was followed by the Kentucky and Kearsarge of 11,525 tons. These vessels embodied many new ideas, the most talked of being the superposed turrets of the 8-inch guns, which were placed on top of the turrets of the 13-inch. The second peculiarity is the arrangement of the guns in a long central battery (but separated by 1.5-inch steel screens) behind continuous armor; the side amidships is thus completely armored. The third point of interest is the wide application of electricity—every piece of auxiliary machinery outside the engine and fire rooms being driven by electric motors. In the next ships, the Alabama, Illinois, and Wisconsin (11,525 tons—completed 1901), and the Maine, Missouri, and Ohio (12,500 tons, completed in 1902-03), the 8-inch guns were omitted, following the European practice. This mistake was corrected in the next five ships, the Georgia, New Jersey, Nebraska, Virginia, and Rhode Island (15,000 tons, commenced in 1901), which have superposed 8-inch turrets over the 12-inch guns and another pair of 8-inch guns in a turret on each side amidships; in addition, a battery of twelve 6-inch guns is provided. In the next two ships, commenced about the end of 1902, the Connecticut and Louisiana (16,000 tons), the 8-inch guns were retained, but arranged over the central superstructure, nearly as in the Oregon; the four 12-inch guns are mounted as in all recent American battleships; and in addition to the 8-inch, there is an auxiliary battery of twelve 7-inch guns. These ships are much the most strongly armed ships so far designed for any navy.
U. S. S. KEARSARGE, 1895.
U. S. S. MAINE, 1898.
U. S. S. GEORGIA, 1901.
U. S. S. CONNECTICUT, 1902.
As regards belt armor, the vessels of the Oregon class have water-line belts extending for little over half the length amidships; the Iowa’s belt is proportionately much longer; in the Kearsarge and Alabama classes the belt is extended to the bow; while in the Maine, Georgia, and Connecticut types it extends to the stern as well. Reference to the cut in the article Shipbuilding, showing a midship section of a modern battleship, will illustrate the arrangement of the armor.
We have so far considered battleships only. Many ships are more lightly armed and armored, but are given high speed and a large coal supply. These are called armored cruisers. At first, armored cruisers were rather small, and the armor confined chiefly to a belt at the water line. While older vessels, designed as battleships, partake of the character of cruisers, the first armored cruisers designed as such were the Imperieuse and Warspite, of the British navy. They were completed in 1886-88, but were designed about 1881. The armor consists of a short water-line belt and shallow barbettes for the four principal guns. The first innovation was the French Dupuy de Lôme, commenced in 1888 and finished about 1892. With the exception of a small area at the bow her sides are completely covered with 4-inch armor from the water line to the upper deck, and, in addition, she has armored barbettes for her principal guns. She was followed by other French ships almost equally covered—the armor a little thinner—but later types in all navies have much less area of side covered. In order to provide adequate sustained speed in heavy seas and to carry large supplies of coal, armor, and armament, the size of armored cruisers has grown until now many of them exceed 14,000 tons in displacement and approach the most powerful battleship in armament and protection. Such, for instance, are the
