battleship

A heavily armored warship of the largest cla , carrying guns of the heaviest calibre; lighter and le speedy than a cruiser, larger and more seaworthy than a monitor. Battleships of to-day are really floating fortre es of toughened steel. Their armor ranges from 8 to 18 inches in thickne , being heaviest amidships, to protect the machinery, and upon the turret-like structures in which the main battery is mounted. Four guns of 13-inch calibre are carried by the "Indiana" of our navy, which is conceded to be the finest and most effective battleship afloat. Two of these monster guns are located in each main turret. The secondary batteries, composed of smaller rifles, rapid-fire guns, and gatlings, are located in the sponsons, on the gun-decks and upon the military tops. The "Kentucky," and other battleships of her type, the construction of which was begun in January, 1896, will have two turrets, one above the other, at either end of the fortre , the upper turrets mounting two 8-inch and the lower turrets two 12-inch rifles. All four of these guns may be trained on a given spot and discharged at once, delivering a blow that would annihilate the strongest adversary ever constructed. The hulls of warships of the "Indiana" type are so constructed with watertight compartments and fixed bulkheads that the central portion would keep afloat even if both ends of the craft were shot away. The average speed of our battleships is from 12 to 14 knots, with a capacity for making as high as 16 knots under favorable conditions. The total cost of a first-cla battleship, fully equipped, is from $6,000,000 to $7,000,000, but it is believed that this will be reduced hereafter by improved and more economical methods of construction.