THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 241 by arrangements made with the great passenger lines, but very little was done in the way of building sea-goingtorpedo boats anddestroyers, which sire not only formidableweaponsof attack in a njoden> fleet,but are also most useful as its scouts, picket boats, and messengers during active 'iperations.

The following is a list of the principal ships that flew the Stars andStripes at the outbreak of the war. The date when each ship wa» launched is noted, as it may be taken tha<-nowadays, when designers and builders have their eves open to every improvement that can be made, the newer ships are the mre TUT. AIR GUNS 01 illl. "VESUVIUS."

efficient, apart altogether from the fact that in theii case there is less room for wear and tear and general depreciation:— Displace- . , Auxiliary CRUISERS— § ««/(/»«). L-aitnche.i. * Yale (late Paris) ... ...{,,, I1888 1 "> Harvard (lateNew York)... j11'000 |1889 j 2I St. Louis '16000 Sl894l 2I St. Paul ( 16,000 jl8g 2i Coast Defence Monitors— Miantonomoh \ I loh Monadnock I l88 10 Amphitnte ( ■>JJ J) 12 Terror ) \ 12 Puritan 6,060 18S3 12 Monterey 4,138 1891 14 + The.Yt-w Orleans (originally known as theAntazeir.as) and the Albany (lat- IInitial Alrcii) were bought from the Brazilian navy justbefore the war.

X Th« n hips,sometimes classedas 1 Somet 11 } The fa J belong to the Ame11.au line. There are also a alter ..,ixillar> 1 ruisen belonging to U.S.coast lines, The speeds givenare trial-trip speed -stldom if ever obtained on actual service.

j<5 Cruisers— Columbia ,. Minneapolis Olympia Baltimore ...

Philadelphia San Francisco Newark Charleston ... New Orleans t Albany Raleigh Cincinnati ... Atalanta Boston Chicago Detroit Marblehead Montgomery t Displace- , , , ~i mentUcn,). Launched. . ) ,... ( l892 / "> 1 7.475 |l8g3) 23 5,800 1S92 2,1. 4,600 1888 20 4.324 1889 ,gl 4,083 1888 IQ£ 4,083 189O iq 4,040 1888 18 : ! 3.45° {1897} 2° ; } 3.183 j 1892 I9 ;1 j 3.187 1S84 ,5i '500 1885 18 2 OOO ISo2 j7 Name.

Iattleships— Iowa Indiana Massachusetts Oregon Texas rmocrec Cruisers— Brooklyn New York 11,296 1896 16 ■"j ( '5i ... }10,231 1893. "■ ... I 6,315 1892 21 9,153 1895 17 8.480 1891 21