The Russians were the first to solve the problem of an armored cruiser in which great speed could be combined with effective protection against the guns of a majority of the high-sea ships then afloat. The General Admiral, launched in 1873, and the best known of this class, is built of iron, wood sheathed under water, and coppered. She is 285 feet 9 inches in length, 48 feet 2 inches in beam, and with 21 feet mean draught has 4438 tons displacement. She was designed to steam 13 knots, carry 1000 tons of fuel, and have a coal endurance of 5900 miles at 10 knots; the battery and belt are armored with six-inch plates; the belt is seven feet wide at the water-line, and has, level with its upper edge, a highly curved deck of iron. The type proved so successful that it has been reproduced and improved in most of the great navies.
The Catherine II., Tchesme, and the Sinope are the most powerful battle-ships of the Russian fleet. The first and second were launched in May, 1886, the third in June, 1887; they are built of iron and steel (wood sheathed and coppered), have ram bows, and are of the following dimensions: length 339 feet, beam 69 feet, mean draught 26.5 feet, displacement 10,181 tons. They are encircled by a belt of compound armor twelve to eighteen inches thick, and have a complete 3-inch protective deck. Within a 14-inch armored pear-shaped redoubt six 12-inch rifles are pair-mounted on Moncrieff disappearing barbette carriages; seven 6-inch guns are carried on the gun-deck—six in broadside and one on a shifting pivot mount—and the secondary battery is composed of seven Hotchkiss revolving cannon and seven torpedo-tubes. The engines of the Catherine II. and the Tchesme are of the vertical compound three-cylinder type, and are to develop 11,000 horse-power and 16 knots; the engines of the Sinope are of the triple-expansion type, and are to develop 10,000 horse-power with natural, and 13,000 with forced, draught. The cost of each vessel will be about $4,500,000. The second ship of the Emperor Alexander II. type, now building at St. Petersburg by the Franco-Russian Company, and named the Nicholas the First, is to be 8440 tons in displacement, 327 feet in length, 67 feet in beam, and have 25.5 feet draught. These ships carry a complete belt of steel armor six to fourteen inches thick and nine feet wide, and a curved steel deck, three inches thick, covers their under-water bodies. The battery is to consist of two 12-inch guns, mounted in a pear-shaped barbette tower forward; in the broadside there are to be four 9-inch, eight 6-inch, and four 3.5-inch rifles, together with a number of Hotchkiss guns. The barbette tower has steel armor, ten inches thick, and the usual torpedo-tubes are to be supplied. The estimated horse-power is 8000 and the speed 16 knots.
The Vitias and Rynda, steel cruisers, in which the vital parts will be covered by a curved steel deck one and a half inches thick, are of 2965 tons displacement, develop 3000 indicated horse-power, and have a speed of 15 knots. The Pamjatj Azowa, a cruiser of the Impérieuse type, with a partially armored belt and barbette batteries, is expected to develop 8000 indicated horse-power and 17 knots.
The rapid, unarmored steel cruiser building at St. Nazaire, and named the Admiral Korniloff, is of 5000 tons displacement, has triple expansion engines, a curved steel deck to protect the machinery and boilers, and a cellular subdivision, which it is hoped will insure stability in case of perforation at or below the water-line. For the Black Sea fleet six heavy gun-vessels have been projected; these are the Uralets, Tereto, Kubanets, Zaporojets, Donets, and Chernomorets, of 1224 tons displacement and 2000 horse-power; their armament is to be two 8-inch guns, one 6-inch breech-loading gun, two 6-pound rapid-fire pieces, four revolving cannons, and two torpedo-tubes. The Bobr and Sivoutch are heavily armored gun-vessels of a new type; the Coreets and Manchooria are small twin-screw cruisers of 1213 tons displacement, and the Aleuta is a transport, the interior arrangements of which are designed mainly for the storage and distribution of high explosives and torpedoes.
The remarkable development of machine-gun fire on board torpedo-vessels is shown in the Iljin and the Saken, a type which occupies the middle ground between the smaller class of French torpedo-cruisers and the British torpedo-boat catchers. The Iljin carries twelve revolving cannons and seven Hotchkiss rapid-fire guns, and has seven above-water torpedo-tubes, one on each side of the stem, one on the port side of the stern, and four in broadside. Russia has a most effective fleet of torpedo-boats, some of which have attained very high speeds under the usual test conditions of carrying 14½ tons of ballast, coal sufficient for 1200 miles, and a crew of eighteen. The Russian officers have already shown their skill and daring in this system of warfare, and, should they be called upon, there is no doubt that the whole capacity of these boats will be tested under the guidance of a courage and an intelligence which are unsurpassed in any other navy of the world.
SPAIN.
On January 12, 1887, a new naval programme was announced by the Spanish Government, and the following types and numbers of vessels were designated as necessary for the modern fleet:
1. Eleven protected steel cruisers: eight to be of 3200 tons, and three of 4500 tons displacement. The armament will be of the 9.45 or the 11-inch calibre Hontoria breech-loading guns, mounted on central pivots, with smaller pieces in broadside and a secondary battery of rapid-fire guns and torpedoes. All the ships are to be constructed on the cellular system, with double bottoms and water-tight compartments, are to have triple-expansion engines and twin screws, and are expected to attain a speed of 19 knots with natural, and 21 knots with forced draft.
2. Six steel torpedo-cruisers of 1500 tons displacement and a speed of 23 knots. They are to mount central-pivot guns from 6.3 to 7 inches in calibre, in addition to a number of smaller broadside guns, revolving cannons, and torpedoes.
3. Four torpedo-cruisers of 1100 tons displacement, to develop a speed of from 18 to 21 knots, and to be furnished with a heavy primary and the usual secondary battery.