Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 89.djvu/685

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Commander Moffett's ship would be a 250,090 horsepower, 35-knot fighter, displacing 60,000 tons. She would carry 10 eighteen-inch guns, 16 six-inchguns, anti-aircraft and anti-submarine guns, and four submerged torpedo tube.

She could carry the Pennsylvania and Oregon on her decks, as illustrated in the top plans

one hundred and ton feet beam, the maxi- mum length and beam of the future war- ship are fixed. "Go the limit at once," urges Commander Moffett, "while we have the opportunity to do it, ahead of all our rivals, and go the limit at the same time in everything; that is to say, in speed, caliber of guns, endurance, fuel ammunition etc."

Battleship Date Length Ann'm't. Ton'ge

Oregon 1896 358ft. 4 13-in. 10,288

So. Carolina. . . 1909 430 ft. 8 12-in. 16,000

Delaware 1910 510 ft. 10 12-in. 20,000,

Pennsylvania 1915 600 ft. 12 14-in. 31,400

Limit 1917 995 ft. 15 18-in. 60,000

To quote Commander Moffett:

"Other navies would have to follow our example, and build ships like ours or give up the competition. We could stand the cost better than any other nation therefore, an advantage to us to make navies cost as much as possible. We have more money than any other nation and will have more, comparatively, at the close of the war, when most of them will be bankrupt,

Puts Limit at 60,000 Tons

Commander Moffett points out that the growth of the United States battleship from the Oregon type to the new Pennsylvania has been accomplished in other way can we hope less than twenty years, and submits in addition the specifications of his proposed sea giant, the I unit, in the following comparative table:

"In this way we will scrap England's navy, as well as all others. In no other way can we hope to overtake Great Britain.

"Build the limit in displacement, in speed in caliber of guns, with proper proportion of fuel and ammunition, endurance, etc., and we will have, indeed, the first real superdreadnought."