“ 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 Italian navy has shown greatest originality of design, though many of the ships have never been approved by other naval authorities. The Italians early grasped the fact that powerful vessels must be large and did not hesitate to accept great dimensions. Following the Dandolo and Duilio of nearly 12,000 tons, which have already been mentioned, they built the enormous nondescripts Italia and Lepanto of over 15,000 tons. These great vessels have no side armor whatever, but in a large diagonally placed barbette, 19 inches thick, are mounted four 17-inch guns weighing 100 tons each. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Coal capacity, habitability, seaworthiness, and (usually) speed are sacrificed to keep the dimensions within moderate limits. Many small countries have built coast-defense ships on these lines, realizing their inability to maintain an adequate naval force to assume offensive operations against a first-class power. In the greater navies the coast-defense ships are largely vessels of obsolete types, many of them designed originally as sea-going ships, but now unfit for modern offensive operations. ”

“ Italy constructed only central battery or bow battery ships until 1872. Russia built nothing but turret ships, except some armored cruisers (begun in 1870) . Great Britain followed the Monarch and Captain with several low freeboard turret ships, reverting again in 1873 to the central battery in the Alexandra, one of the last and best of this type. France built a few central battery ships with barbette towers in addition, but continued the development of the barbette, with or without an unprotected auxiliary battery. Germany built chiefly central battery ships in the period 1865-73. ”

“ 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. ”

“ These vessels in 1903 were undergoing alterations with a view to removing the middle turret and its guns. From 1889 the building of battleships proceeded steadily. The ten succeeding ships are remarkable for the smallness of their principal guns (9.4-inch, a calibre adopted to secure rapid loading) and the ingenuity of distributing and mounting the guns to secure wide arcs of fire. The battleships commenced in 1901-02 are of similar design, but they carry 11-inch guns. ”

“ They are 502 feet long, and have a displacement of 14,500 tons, while their battery consists of four 10-inch guns, sixteen 6-inch, twenty-two 3-inch, twelve 3-pounders, four 1-pounders, and eight automatic and machine guns.
The third type of armorclad is the coast-defense ship. The ordinary type of armored coast-defense ship is the improved monitor, of somewhat similar design, a vessel carrying heavy ordnance, and fairly thick armor, with light draught and good manœuvring qualities. ”

“ The later ships resembled these quite closely, but in the Bulwark class (1899) the water-line belt was carried to the bow instead of merely covering the vitals amidships, and in the Albion (1898) and Commonwealth (1901) classes it was carried to both bow and stern. ”