Regular orders and changing colonial cruiser requirements

The proposed annual order is two battleships and an armored cruiser or its early equivalent, using Spanish yards and guns where possible. Central-battery ironclads come first because they are considered easier for a smaller naval power to build and generally more seaworthy than contemporary turret ships. Later construction would move toward turret ships as their technology matures. The initial cruising force would contain about twenty vessels, including four second-class cruisers and a larger number of smaller unprotected ships. Nearer 1898, it would contract to roughly twelve to fourteen protected cruisers. More efficient engines would let small sloops with a modest sail rig and two 4-inch guns sail from Spain to the Philippines and take over duties that previously required larger cruisers.