Dynamite Cruiser, a cruiser designed specifically for utilizing dynamite guns in naval warfare. The "Vesuvius," owned by the United States Government and launched in 1888, was the only vessel built of this type. It took a conspicuous part in the early naval operations against Santiago de Cuba in 1899, but later her peculiar arnament was removed and replaced by powder weapons.


Entry from Everybody's Cyclopedia, 1912.