THIRTY KNOTS AN HOUR. THE FASTEST WARSHIP AFLOAT.

Evening Post, Volume L, Issue 50, 27 August 1895, Page 2

THIRTY KNOTS AN HOUR. THE FASTEST WARSHIP AFLOAT.

[Spsciai.— Received August 27, 10.50 a.m.] London, 26th August. Yarrow 4 Co. have built a torpedo boat destroyer, named the Sokol, for Bussia, whioh has shown a speed of over 30 knots — the highest yet attained. [Extraordinary speeds have been developed by British torpedo-boat destroyers launohed within the last two years, but this Eussiau vessel built by an English firm eolipses their best performances! They are all vessels of from 220 to 270 tons displacement, designed, as their name indicates, to make mischief amongst the torpedo boat fleets of an enemy. The Admiralty viewed tho torpedo boat as the weapon of the weaker naval Power, and thereupon deoided to meet the torpedo - boat construction of other countries by building vessels fast enough to catch, and powerful enough to destroy, foreign torpedo boats. The-ooat is about 430,000 a-pieoe. Of this class tho Havook ran under forced draught 27177 knots an hour, and the Hornet, Daring, Decoy, Ferret, Lynx, and Ardent did various speeds ranging up to the 27 94> knots of the hut-named. More reoent trials of British vessels have resulted in even greater speeds — as high as 23*05 in the case of the Surly, aud 29 31 the Boxer. Last year Britain had 62 vessels of the destroyer class, Bussia 17, the United States 16, Germany 11, tho Netherlands 13, and Franoe B.J