[Illustration]
The Akitsushima mounts 6-in. guns in the foremost and aftermost
sponsons; four 4.7-in. are carried amidships, the fifth on the
forecastle, and the sixth astern. She has thus a broadside fire of
two 6-in. and four 4.7-in., against two 8-in. and three 6-in. in the
Baltimore. Assuming that ship’s guns to be now replaced by Q.F., the
Akitsushima would bring the equivalent of a 6-in. gun less.
The Yoshino, when new, was the swiftest cruiser in the world, and very
few ships are equal to her yet. Particulars of her are:—
Displacement 4150 tons.
Material of hull Steel.
Length 350 ft.
Beam 46 ft.
Draught (maximum) 19 ft.
Armament Four 6-in. Q.F.
Eight 4.7-in. Q.F.
Twenty-two 3-pdr. Q.F.
Five torpedo tubes (one of them
fixed in the bow).
Horse-power (forced draught) 15,000.
Trial speed 23.031 knots.
Engines (Humphrys, Tennant & Co.) Vertical triple expansion.
Boilers Cylindrical.
Screws Two.
Coal (maximum bunker capacity) 1000 tons.
Complement 360.
The normal coal supply, at 4150 tons displacement, is about 400 tons.
Bunkers are disposed amidships in the usual fashion above the armour
deck. Amidships this deck is 4½ ins. thick on the slopes (= _c_) and 2
ins. on the flat. Allowing for the additional resistance of the coal,
nothing under a 10-in., or modern 9.2 or 9.4-in., could penetrate
to the engine-room, and then only with solid shot. The watertight
compartments are exceptionally numerous. With natural draught the ship
has made 21.6 knots.
[Illustration]
The 6-in. guns are thus distributed: one on the forecastle, one on the
poop, the other two in the foremost sponsons. The other broadside guns
are 4.7-in. and 3-pounders. The bow and stern chasers have an arc of
fire of 270 degrees, the 6-in. guns in sponsons fire 3 degrees across
the bow and 60 degrees abaft it.
[Illustration: _Photo by Sir W. G. Armstrong, Mitchell & Co., Ltd.,
Elswick._