It does not require the discrimination of a professional eye to see the increased power given to the battery by this arrangement. It is an innovation that was very startling to the conservative mind; but the more familiar the idea becomes, the more favorable opinion grows to the change, and the more apparent becomes the increased offensive power of the ship. The extremities of this type of ship will not, of course, be so dry in heavy weather as if it had a forecastle and poop, but it must be remembered that every part of the spar-deck is from nine to ten feet above the water. The rig of the Atlanta is that of a brig, but without head-booms; the fire ahead of the forward guns is thus unobstructed, and the ram with which she is fitted is always clear for use. The division of the hull into water-tight compartments by athwartship bulkheads, and a protective deck over engines and boilers, form a part of the construction.
U. S. DESPATCH-BOAT “DOLPHIN.”
The Dolphin, though not regarded as a vessel for fighting purposes, is the type of a class that is needed in all navies for duty as a despatch-boat, or for the temporary accommodation of a commander-in-chief of a squadron who may desire to communicate rapidly with his ships at distant points. She is well fitted for the service, and is now in commission, demonstrating her ability to perform the work required of her. She could also be of service as a commerce destroyer, for which service she is equipped with one gun of long range. Her length is 240 feet, beam 32 feet, draught of water 14.25 feet. She has a displacement of 1485 tons, and attains a speed of 15 knots per hour.
Her advent into the navy marks an epoch—the inauguration of the successful manufacture in the United States of American rolled steel ship-plating, equal to the best in the world, as shown by the most rigid government tests. The Dolphin, is the first vessel, whether for naval or commercial purposes, that is built entirely of steel of domestic manufacture, and is the pioneer representative of other similar industries which will be developed as the rehabilitation of the navy proceeds. She has proved herself eminently successful, and is the fastest sea-steamer of her displacement built in the United States, with perhaps the exception of the steam-yacht Atalanta. She is a stanch vessel of great structural strength, and does credit to the ship-building profession of the country.
Of the additional cruisers authorized by the late acts of Congress, particulars will be found in the Notes.
In one of the larger vessels the type of the Atlanta will be reproduced on a larger scale, while the other vessel of the same class will be provided with a poop and top-gallant forecastle, and will carry her forward and after guns on sponsons, by which means fire ahead and astern will be secured. This will make it necessary to limit the power of the battery of the second vessel to 6-inch guns, as the 8-inch gun cannot conveniently be carried on sponsons in a vessel of 4000 tons displacement.
The heavy gun-boat will carry six 6-inch guns, the forward and after ones on sponsons; and the light gun-boat will carry four of the same guns.