A New Sectional Gun.
The sectional gun which is illustrated in the accompanying cuts has been designed to avoid the use of the great pieces of steel used in the construction of large modern guns of the ordinary type, and to avoid the uncertainty as to the strains in such large pieces, especially with hoops heated and shrunk on. It is also claimed that by this sectional construction the life of guns will be greatly increased, since the inner tube can be removed and renewed, and the body of the gun is not liable to deterioration, for the seams between the rings prevent the setting up of continuous and destructive vibrations. The transportation and erection of guns would also be greatly facilitated. The general appearance of the gun is shown in Fig. I.
The gun consists of a series of rolled steel rings, or rather bored disks, the boring being done to a taper to fit the taper of the inner rifled steel tube. These disks are fitted in position by means of dowel pins, and are held together by four longitudinal rods with threaded ends passing through lugs on the end pieces of the gun, while the disks of the breech portion are also held together by four taper bolts fitting bored holes in the disks, and drawn tight by nuts on the outside. When the disks or sections are assembled the rifled tube is inserted and driven home, and the initial strain is set up by forcing it into its final position by hydraulic pressure. The pump used for this purpose has an indicator showing the force applied, so that the amount of the strains set up in the body of the gun can be seen at once. The bore of the disks and the exterior surface of the tube can be turned to an exact fit, but if desired a thin tube of soft copper may be fitted to the steel tube to ensure absolute uniformity of bearing between the disks and the tube. When the steel tube becomes worn or powder burned it can be loosened by a hydraulic jack applied at the muzzle, as the tube extends slightly beyond the end of the body of the gun, as shown in the section, Fig. 2. A new tube can then be fitted.
A special feature of the gun, apart from its sectional construction, is the arrangement of the breech, the closing piece having an uninterrupted screw and yet requiring only a slight movement to release the breech block. Ordinarily, in large guns, the breech block swings on a vertical. hinge and has an interrupted screw thread (cut away longitudinally) so that it will not require a large number of turns to send it home. In this gun the breech block slides laterally in a chamber across the breech and the breech screw merely forces it tight against its seat. When the gun has been fired the screw is turned back slightly, releasing the block, which is then pulled out at the side of the gun. The steel tube or sleeve in the breech, which is shown withdrawn in Fig. 2, is then pushed in, as at Fig. z, and the cartridge is passed through it into the chamber at the rear of the bore, the rim of the flat end of the cartridge projecting slightly outside the rifled tube. The sleeve is then withdrawn and the breech block slid back, a circular recess in its face fitting the flat end of the cartridge. The steel screw is then turned, pressing the breech block tightly against the end of the cartridge and the rifled tube, and thus forming a gas-tight joint. A bolt in the head of the gun engages with a groove in the back of the breech block, and forms a gauge to ensure its being in proper position. The gun is then fired by the lock shown in the end of the breech block, the screw reversed, the breech block slid out, the sleeve pushed in and the cartridge removed.
The gun is the invention of Mr. Edwin J. Blood, of Chicago, and is being handled by the American Sectional Cannon Co., New York Life Building, Chicago, of which Mr. Duane Doty is consulting engineer. The right to manufacture the gun in Europe has, it is stated, been secured by an English company, which sent out military experts to examine the model gun built under the direction of the inventor.
It seems to us that the chief defect in this gun would be its lack of longitudinal stiffness. In the early experiments with wire-wound guns trouble was experienced with the droop of the muzzle until an external jacket was adopted, and we should suppose something of the same sort would be necessary here, unless for very short pieces, such as mortars.—Iron Age.
The Diamond Shoal Lightship No. 69.
The lightship here described has now been in position off Cape Hatteras for the last three months and has successfully withstood the heavy gales of the present winter at that dangerous point. The ship is anchored in 30 fathoms of water, and her general performance has been satisfactory to the Light House Board, as tending to show that a lightship can be safely maintained there and serve as a much-needed beacon and warning for mariners.
Both lightships, Nos. 68 and 69, were built at the Bath Iron Works, of Bath, Me., and No. 68 is now stationed off Fire Island, at the entrance to New York harbor. The same dimensions apply to both. They are strongly built, composite vessels, 122 feet 10 inches long over all, 29 feet 6 inches beam and 22 feet molded depth. The two steel masts supporting the electric lights are 64½ feet high, and each carries a gallery for day signals. The propelling machinery, to be used in steaming to the station or away from danger, is operated by simple, condensing, vertical engines, With 20-inch cylinders, 22-inch stroke and 350 H. P., at 150 revolutions. Steam is supplied, at zoo lbs. pressure, by a steel Scotch boiler, 12 feet 2 inches diameter and ii feet long. Two vertical donkey boilers furnish steam for the electric lighting plant, windlass, pumps, fog signals and heating. Each vessel is fitted with steam-steering gear, bells, steam winch, anchors, chain cables, etc.
The electric plant, which is in duplicate, was made by the General Electric Co., of Schenectady, N. Y. Each plant contains two marine generating sets, with dynamo and engine. The four-pole dynamos are 8 kilowatt, 350-revolution machines, directly coupled to 4½ x 4-inch double cylinder engines. These dynamos furnish a 100-volt current to eight 100-c. p. lamps, four at each masthead, and forty 16-c. p. lamps about the vessel. The masthead lights are each enclosed in a lens lantern, of which three are used and one held in reserve. Appliances are employed for breaking the circuit at regular intervals, so that a fixed white light shows for 12 seconds, followed by an eclipse of 3 seconds. The focal plane is 57 feet above the sea and the lights will be visible for 15 nautical miles in clear weather.—Scientific American.
Gun of New Type Successfully Tested.
A very interesting and highly satisfactory preliminary test of a new type of steel gun was conducted during the latter part of January at the Sandy Hook Proving Ground. The gun, which is of the 5-inch rapidfire class, is so simple in construction that no drawings are needed to describe it to our readers. It is made of a single forging of steel, which, having followed the course of manufacture usual for large gun forgings, was, at a proper stage of manufacture, cooled from the interior from such temperature as to produce properly disposed initial strains of such intensity as would place the wall of the gun in the best condition to resist interior pressure.
The manufacture of the gun is due to the suggestions of Capt. F. E. Hobbs, Ordnance Department, United States Army, who pointed out several years ago to the chief of ordnance the advantages that could be obtained in the manufacture of guns by applying to forgings a modification of the Rodman principle of ca3ting guns; that the process as applied to forgings could be made to produce exactly the initial strains desired; that these strains could be easily increased or diminished at little cost, and that guns so made, while quite as strong, would be much cheaper to make than those built up.
An experimental forging made under Capt. Hobbs' direction at the Bethlehem Iron Works showed such excellent results, on being cut up and carefully examined, that the chief of ordnance ordered this 5-inch gun to be manufactured.
The thickness of metal which the gun should have and the proper initial strains to be applied to give great strength were computed by Capt. R. Birnie, ordnance department, from his formulae on the strength of guns. Capt. Birnie was an early convert to the methods of manufacture proposed, and has materially assisted Capt. Hobbs in perfecting the details of plans.
The gun is fitted with Gordon's breech mechanism, uses fixed ammunition, smokeless powder, a projectile weighing 55 pounds, can be fired from six to ten times per minute, depending upon the conditions of loading and aiming, and has a range of more than six miles. In the Sandy Hook tests a velocity of over 2700 feet per second at the muzzle was shown, and in the special high pressure test to which the gun was subjected, pressures were registered of nearly 50.000 pounds per square inch.
The method of manufacture can be applied to forgings of any size that can be turned out by the steel-producing plants of the country; consequently the calibre of gun which can be made of a single forging may be, to-day, set at 8-inch, but, by using this method, the number of parts in guns of larger calibre could be much reduced, while the guns themselves would be stronger.
It is probable, also, that the commercial engineering interests of the country will be found ere long following the lead of the ordnance department in this latest improvement in the treatment of steel forgings, as they did many years ago, in demanding for their structures oil-tempered and annealed steel forgings, after that department of the army had shown conclusively, by careful experimental investigation and by actual test, the safety and superiority of such metal.—Scientific American.
Schneider-Canet Quick-Firing Ammunition.
The chief characteristics and new features of the Schneider-Canet ammunition are as follows:
(1) The complete separation of projectiles from cartridges up to the moment of firing.
(2) The employment of one special shell for several purposes. The system is applicable to all calibres alike, but offers the greatest advantages for field service. The temporary attachment of the projectile to the cartridge is carried out by means of a sort of bayonet joint fitting, by which studs in the interior of the metal cartridge mouth enter grooves of the bayonet joint form on the projectile base, which is readily done by a push and twist when desired.
This shell combines a maximum amount of mitraille with great structural strength. The central space is filled with a compact composition generating a great quantity of smoke and of high incendiary power. This gives the advantages of a burst which is strikingly visible and of the power to set fire to combustible material.
In short, it is claimed for the system thus briefly described that it combines the following advantages belonging respectively to ammunition with charge and projectiles fixed together and kept separate from each other. Under the head of the former are chiefly the rapid loading in a single operation without the use of a rammer, regular and accurate placing of the projectile in its true position in the bore. Under the head of advantages of separation are the better packing and handling of charge and projectile separately, the prevention of accidents to the rim of the brass case in transport, the power of testing, examining, and re-charging the cartridges at any time, and the reduction of the length of the metal at the neck of the case. In addition to the above the following advantages are obtained: The employment in the field of a single projectile which involves only a single scale of elevation and fuse; the regulation of fire and visibility of burst at all ranges; a great effect on troops in consequence of the great delivery of mitraille; an effective attack on existing defensive works and on the defenders behind them; the ignition of buildings and wooden structures; and the doing away with cast-iron shells, case shot and incendiary projectiles as distinct classes by the substitution of one projectile.—Engineer.
Preservation of Boilers.
A method of preserving boilers not in use has been prescribed for the French navy. According to this the boilers are completely filled with fresh water, and in the case of large boilers with large tubes there is added to the water a certain amount of milk of lime or a solution of soda; in the case of tubular boilers with small tubes milk of lime or soda is added, the solution, however,-not being so strong as for the larger tubes, in order to avoid any danger of contracting the effective area by deposit from the solution. The strength of the solution is to be just sufficient to neutralize any acidity of the water. Care is enjoined to be taken to preserve the outside of the steel or iron tubes in those boilers which are not to be used for long periods; such are for this purpose painted with red lead or coal tar as far as it is possible to reach, while for those portions which are inaccessible a protective coating is obtained by burning under the tubes a certain amount of tar or coal tar, the smoke of these forming a coating of soot, which prevents the air from reaching the surface of the tubes. Besides this treatment the boiler casing is closed and kept air-tight, after some quicklime has been placed inside. Periodical inspections of these boilers are made to ensure the complete filling of the tubes.—Engineer.
Tests of Corn Pith Cellulose.
Some experiments were carried out by the Gunnery Establishment at Portsmouth on January 18th with the view of testing the powers of corn pith cellulose in stopping leaks. This material has been introduced from America and is said to possess great advantages over cork when used for packing cofferdams at the water-line in the unarmored ends of ships of war. A cofferdam had been erected in the Nettle 3 feet thick and it was tightly packed with cellulose blocks. In front and at the rear of the cofferdam were steel plates, so as to represent the side of a ship. From a 5-inch gun a 50-pound shell was fired into the structure. The shell burst inside the cofferdam, blowing out a part of the rear plate and some of the cellulose. After this the water test was applied, water being made to flow into the shot-hole in front. In about 20 minutes it had soaked through the packing and was pouring out through the rent in the back plate. So far as shell fire was concerned, therefore, the result of the trial was not altogether favorable to the new invention.—Engineer.
Trial of Vickers Plate.
An armor-plate experiment was conducted at Shoeburyness on December 13, 1897, the object of which was to ascertain the effect of firing a 9.2 steel common shell against a 6-inch plate inclined to an angle of 30 degrees to the normal. The plate was supplied by Messrs. Vickers and the dimensions were 6 inches by 8 feet by 6 feet. It was made of specially treated nickel steel, and was held in wood struts front and rear, which were secured at the top by screwed bolts and held at the bottom between iron slabs running parallel to the plate and buried 6 feet into the ground. The backing was of 4-inch teak, behind which were ½-inch steel plates, the whole being secured to the armor plate by eight bolts. The target, as thus described, exactly represented the side of a battle-ship of the Canopus and Vengeance class. The gun used was a 9.2-inch breechloader, giving a striking velocity of 1892 foot-seconds and a striking energy of 9460 foot-tons. The projectile was of the usual service design, weighing 381¼ pounds, and was filled and fused in the ordinary manner. The shot struck 2 feet 9 inches from the bottom and 3 feet 5 inches from the right edge of the plate, and broke up against the hardened face without materially damaging the plate in any way, beyond causing a slight indentation at the point of impact and slightly scaling it around the centre. The supports, etc., were shifted rearwards, but the plate was for all practical purposes uninjured.—Engineer.
Trial of Vickers Gun.
Further trials were made December 13, 1897, at Shoeburyness with the Vickers 6-inch quick-firing gun, which gave such excellent results last October. The new trials were made to test the present accuracy of the weapon after having fired zoo rounds, and also to further test its rapidity. The charge consisted of a 100-pound shell, with cordite and service primers. In the first 10 rounds, in which the gun was tested for accuracy, two of the shells actually passed through the same hole in the target. In the rapidity tests 36 rounds were fired in 4 minutes 47 seconds, in which time was included that necessary for taking the temperature of the vent head. The greatest speed attained was one round in 6½ seconds, whilst eight rounds were fired in 7 seconds each. The gun has given a muzzle velocity of 2784 feet with a pressure of 15.9 tons. A peculiarity about this quick-firing gun consists in the fact that no metal cartridge case is used.—Engineer.
Ships of War.
General.
The war-ships, exclusive of torpedo-boats, launched during the year 1897 for the various navies, with their tonnage, I. H. P., and estimated speed, were as follows:
Great Britain.—First-class battle-ship: Canopus, 12,950 tons, 13,500 I. H. P., and 18 knots speed. First-class cruisers: Andromeda; Europa, Niobe, all of 11,000 tons, 16,500 I. H. P., and 20.5 knots speed. Secondclass cruiser: Vindictive, 5800 tons, 10,000 I. H. P., and 19.5 knots speed. Third-class cruisers: Pactolus, Perseus, Pomone, Pegasus, Pyramus, all of 2200 tons, y000 I. H. P., and 20 knots speed. River gunboats: Heron, Jackdaw, Nightingale, Sandpiper, 82 tons and 9 knots speed. Torpedoboat destroyers: Ariel, Cheerful, Fairy, Fawn, Flirt, Flying Fish, Gypsy, Leopard, Osprey, Panther, Seal, Sylvia, Wolf, all of 300 tons, 6000 I. H. P., and 30 knots speed.
Argentine Republic.—Training-ship: Presidente Sarmiento, 2352 tons, 2000 I. H. P., and 13 knots speed.
Austria-Hungary.—Torpedo cruiser: Zenta, 2300 tons, 5000 I. H. P., and 20 knots speed.
Brazil.—Double-turret monitor: Vinte e Quatro de Maio, 5000 tons 6000 I. H. P., and 15 knots speed (originally launched in 1885), has now been rebuilt.
Chili—First-class armored cruiser: General O'Higgins, 8500 tons, 16,000 I. H. P., and 21 knots speed.
China.—First-class cruiser: Hai-Tien, 4300 tons, 17,000 I. H. P., and 24 knots speed. Second-class cruiser: Hai-Yong, 2950 tons, 8000 I. H. P., and 19 knots speed. Torpedo cruiser: Feiting, moo tons, 2400 I. H. P., and 24 knots speed.
France.—First-class cruiser: Guichen, 8277 tons, 23,670 I. H. P., and 23 knots speed. Third-class cruist!ts: Lavoisier, 2317 tons, 6400 I. H. P., and 20 knots speed; D'Estrees, 2452 tons, 8500 I. H. P., and 20 knots speed. Torpedo-aviso: Dunois, 896 tons, 6800 I. H. P., and 23 knots speed. Despatch-boat: Kerseint, 1243 tons, 2200 I. H. P., and 15 knots speed.
Germany.—First-class battle-ship: Kaiser Wilhelm II., 11,180 tons, 13,000 I. H. P., and 18 knots speed. First-class armored cruiser: Fiirst Bismarck, 10,65o tons, 19,000 I. H. P., and 19 knots speed. Second-class cruisers: Freya, Hertha, Victoria Louise, all of 5700 tons, xo,000 I. H. P., and 18 knots speed.
Italy.—First-class battle-ships: Ammiraglio di Saint Bon, Emanuele Filiberto, both of 9800 tons, 13,500 I. H. P., and 18 knots speed. Firstclass armored cruisers: Giuseppe Garibaldi, Varese, both of 6840 tons and 13,000 I. H. P., and 20 knots speed.
Japan—Second-class cruiser: Takasago, 4150 tons, 15,5oo I. H. P., and 22 knots speed.
The Netherlands.—Second-class cruiser: Zeeland, 3900 tons, 9250 I. H. P., and 20 knots speed.
Norway.—Third-class battle-ships: Harald Haarfagre, Tordenskjold, both of 3400 tons, 4800 I. H. P., and 16 knots speed.
Russia.—No large ships, but seven torpedo-boat destroyers of the Sokol type, viz. 240 tons, 4500 I. H. P., and 29.5 knots speed.
Spain.—First-class armored cruiser: Cardinal Cisneros, 7000 tons, 15,000 I. H. P., and 20 knots speed. Third-class cruisers: Marques de la Victoria, Don Alvaro de Bazan, both of 823 tons, 4600 I. H. P., and 19 knots speed. Torpedo-boat destroyers: Audaz, Osado, Pluton, all of 400 tons, 6000 I. H. P., and 30 knots speed.
United States.—First-class gunboats: Wheeling, Marietta, Princeton, all of 1000 tons, 800 I. H. P., and 13 knots speed.—Journal of the Royal United Service Institution.
[Austria.]
Buda-Pest.
The Imperial Austro-Hungarian coast-defense ironclad Buda-Pest has recently completed a successful series of official steam trials at Pola. The Austrian Navy now possesses three coast-defense ironclads, namely, Wien, Monarch, and Buda-Pest. These vessels have been constructed from the designs of Herr Obingenieur Siegfried Popper, of the Austrian Navy, and are in every respect similar excepting the boiler installation. The Wien and Monarch are fitted with cylindrical boilers and the Buda-Pest with Belleville water-tube boilers. All three vessels were tried at Pola, each loaded to the same displacement and run over the same course, the trials being under the observation of the same Austrian naval officers forming the commission representing the government. The principal dimensions of the vessels are as follows: Length, 305 feet; breadth, 55 feet 9 inches; draught, 21 feet; displacement, 555o tons; armor belt, 10.6 inches; barbette, 10.6 inches; protective deck, 2.36 inches. The armament consists of four Krupp 9.4-inch; six quick-firing 5.9-inch; 15 quickfiring 3-pounder; two machine guns, two torpedo tubes. The machinery consists of two sets of triple-expansion engines having cylinders: high pressure, 33'A-inch; intermediate pressure, 5r-inch; low pressure, 78¾-inch; stroke, 35½-inch; steam being supplied, in the case of the Wien and Monarch, by cylindrical return-tube boilers, having a total heating surface of 15,750 square feet, and grate area of 568 square feet, and in the Buda-Pest by Belleville water-tube boilers, having a total heating surface of 22,500 square feet, and grate area of 720 square feet. The propellers of the three vessels were of the same diameter and surface; pitch being 15 feet 6 inches in the case of the Wien and Buda-Pest, altered to 15 feet 3 inches in the case of the Monarch. Appended we give comparative results of the natural and forced-draught trials of the three vessels.
| Wien | Monarch | Buda-Pest |
Mean number of revolutions | 121.7 | 119.8 | 124 |
Mean indicated horse-power | 6376 | 6110 | 6608 |
Mean steam pressure in boilers, pounds per square inch | 138 | 130 | 230 |
Ditto, at engines | 132 | 121 | 129 |
Vacuum | 26.4 | 27 | 27.9 |
Mean air pressure | .63 | .6 | nil |
Mean speed of ship | 16.7 | 16.2 | 17.1 |
Full-power forced draught trial, four hours' duration, during two hours of which the vessel steamed over measured course, 17 knots, accurate observations being taken as to power, speed, etc.
| Wien | Monarch | Buda-Pest |
Mean revolutions | 131.2 | 135.76 | 135.6 |
Mean indicated horse-power | 8480 | 8900 | 9185 |
Mean steam pressure in boiler, pounds per square inch | 149 | 145 | 199 |
Ditto, at engines | 142 | 131 | 149 |
Vacuum | 25.5 | 25.5 | 26.4 |
Mean speed in knots | 17.49 | 17.35 | 17.87 |
Number of ventilating fans (stokehold) | 8 | 8 | 4 |
Mean air pressure | 1¾ | 1¾ | 2/10 |
The stokers were drawn entirely from the Austrian Navy. The coal used was Nixon's Navigation, and being measured in the case of the natural-draught trial of the Buda-Pest, the consumption was ascertained to be about 1.8 lb. per indicated horse-power. Thermometers were placed in various parts of the engine and boiler-rooms, between decks, and in the cabins. The temperature registered during the trial being carefully noted, it was found that the temperature in all parts of the ship was much lower in the case of the Buda-Pest than her sister vessels. The representatives of the Austrian government considered the results of the trials as highly satisfactory, both engines and boilers working smoothly throughout. It will be observed that the adoption of Belleville water-tube boilers enabled such a large increase of heating and grate surface when fitted in the same space as the cylindrical boilers, that a higher power and speed could be realized under practically natural-draught conditions than could be obtained with the cylindrical boiler under forced draught with considerable air pressure. It has been decided to fit Belleville boilers in the new armored vessels which are building for the Imperial Austrian Navy.—Engineering.
[China.]
Hai-Tschen.
The Hai-Tsehen, another of the three cruisers building at the Vulcan Works at Stettin, was launched December it. She is of the same type as the Hai-Yung, of 2950 tons, 8000 H. P., and 19 2 knots, the principal characteristics of which were given in No. 84, page 756.
Hai-Chi.
On January 24 was launched from the Armstrong Works the Hai-Chi. protected cruiser of 4300 tons, 17,000 H. P., calculated to make a speed of 24 knots, a sister ship to the Hai-Tin launched November 25. The principal dimensions of the vessel are as follow: Length, 396 feet; breadth, 46 feet 8 inches; mean draught, 16 feet 9 inches; displacement, in tons, 4300. Her armament will consist of two 8-inch Elswick quickfiring guns, ten 4.7-inch Elswick quick-firing guns, twelve 3-pounder Elswick quick-firing guns, four 37-millimetre Maxims, six rifle calibre Maxims, and five 18-inch torpedo tubes. The vessel will have a strong steel protective deck, extending right forward and aft, so-as to protect completely the machinery, magazines and steering gear, the deck varying in thickness from VA inches on the flat to 5 inches on the slopes. The conning tower will be built of armor 6 inches thick, so as to afford efficient protection to the steering wheels, etc., when the vessel is going into action. The total coal capacity is about moo tons, giving a steaming radius of 12,000 miles. The speed guaranteed on trial is 24 knots during a trial of four hours' duration.
[Denmark.]
Naval Budget.
The estimates for naval appropriations, 1898 to 1899, amount to 6,936,922 kronen, or about $1,845,000. Of this amount about $300,000 to be used in the construction of a battle-ship of 5000 tons, the Herluf Trolle. The remainder to be expended in repairs of the Iver Hvitfeldt, Geiser, Heimdal and Lindormen.
[England.]
Argonaut.
The Argonaut was successfully launched, January 24th, from the yard of the Fairfield Shipbuilding Company. She is a protected cruiser of the Diadem type, eight of which are already built or under construction, although the four most recently designed—consisting of the Argonaut; the Spartiate, which has been laid down at Pembroke; the Amphitrite, at Barrow; and the Ariadne, at Clydebank-differ somewhat from the first quartette in indicated horse-power and in the nature of the armament mounted.
The dimensions of the vessel are as follows: Length over all, from ram end to taffrail, 462 feet 6 inches; length between perpendiculars, 435 feet; beam, 69 feet; displacement, at normal draught, with 1000 tons. of coal on board, 11,000 tons. The hull is generally of Sicmens-Martm steel, and the construction of the ordinary character, with frames 4 feet apart along the space occupied by the double bottom, and 3 feet apart forward and aft of this. There is a double bottom extending the full length of the machinery and boiler-room spaces, and, fore and aft of these limits, the flats of the steel water-tight magazine and of the platform decks, into which the longitudinals arc worked right up to the ends of the ship, practically continue the double bottom from stem to stern. The coal capacity, at normal draught, is 1000 tons; but nearly 2000 tons can be carried, should the necessity arise for doing so, by employing the middledeck bunkers. The hull is subdivided into a very large number of watertight compartments by longitudinal and transverse water-tight bulkheads. Openings have been cut in these bulkheads only where it is absolutely necessary; and in such cases water-tight doors of approved pattern are fitted, all arranged to work both at the doors and by gearing leading to deck plates on the main deck. Where it is necessary for bulkheads to be cut through for ventilating trunks, or such like passages, automatic doors, closed by a self-acting counterweight, are fixed, so that if a compartment associated with the opening is flooded a small tank fills with water, raises the ballcock, and the weight, being released, falls, closing the automatic door. The stem, stern-post, and shaft brackets are of phosphor bronze, as is usual in she::thed vessels. The stem is of the ordinary ram form, and is strongly supported by the framework of the vessel by means of breast hooks and other devices, as well as by the forward parts of the armored and platform decks being built into it. The hull, below and up to about 6 feet above the load water-line, is sheathed with teak planking and coppered. Bilge keels arc also fitted for a distance of 210 feet amidships; they are 3 feet in depth and splayed off at the ends, not disappearing at the midship section, as in the United States ships of the Wisconsin type. The protective deck, of a curved form in section, ranges in thickness from 2½, inches on the flat to 4 inches on the slopes, and covers the whole of the machinery, boilers and magazines. The conning tower forward is of Harveyized steel, fitted with the customary gear for controlling and directing the ship in action. The connections from the steering standards, etc., in the conning tower are protected by an armored trunk of thick steel leading down to the protective deck. There are navigating bridges fore and aft which secure a view over all operations on deck. The height of the forward bridge may be imagined when we say that the upper part of the stem is about 32 feet above the water-line, there being between 7 feet and 8 feet more freeboard in this direction than that possessed by the vessels of the Majestic type.
The armament of the Argonaut will be of the most recent character. Four 8-inch quick-firing guns in shields will replace the same number of 6-inch quick-firers as mounted on the Diadem. Two of these will be on the forecastle and two on the upper deck aft. Four 6-inch quick-firers will be mounted in armored casemates of Harvevized steel on the main and upper decks, capable of being trained axially forward, and four more mounted in a similar manner capable of being trained axially aft; on either broadside are four other 6-inch quick-firers on the main deck. Twelve 12-pounder quick-firers are mounted on the main and upper decks, and two more on the superstructure forward. There are also light quick-firing and machine guns, and two torpedo tubes below water forward. The magazine and shell rooms for storing ammunition are of large capacity and are conveniently situated for working the quick-firing guns, special gear being supplied for hoisting and delivering the ammunition. The importance of this last feature will be recognized when we say that the 6-inch guns have a unit of 200 rounds each, the 12-pounders of 300 rounds, and the 8-inch guns of 150 rounds maintained in the magazines. The axial fire of the Argonaut will be exceptionally heavy, both forward and aft. Forward there will be two 8-inch, four 6-inch, and two 12-pounders capable of being trained in a line with the keel. These can discharge in one minute,
Two 8-in. quick-firers 4 rounds 1000 lb. | 3360 lb. |
Four 6-in. quick-firers 20 rounds 2000 lb. | |
Two 12-punder quick-firers 30 rounds 360 lb. |
representing a hitting energy of 122,418 foot-tons.
The propelling machinery of the Argonaut will consist of two sets of triple-expansion engines, each with four inverted cylinders. Each propeller has a boss of gun-metal fitted with three adjustable blades of manganese bronze, constructed to work inwards. Steam will be supplied by thirty water-tube boilers and economizers of the latest Belleville type. The boilers are arranged in four groups, each group fitted in a watertight compartment. The boilers are designed to work at 300 pounds pressure, reducing valves being fitted to bring it down to 250 pounds at the engines. The boilers, in working condition, weigh 720 tons. In the later ships the boiler is divided into two parts; in addition to the " generator" an "economizer" is placed in the path of the escaping hot gases, and much of the heat otherwise lost is utilized in raising the temperature of the feed-water, as it passes through the economizer tubes to the generator below. There is a space between the lower series of tubes forming the generator rod the upper series forming the economizer; and a supply of air is forced into this space, to ensure the combustion of the gases. The passing of the feed-water through the economizer tubes, it was found by land trials, raised the temperature from 68 degrees Fah. to 226 degrees under ordinary conditions, and to 330 degrees when the boiler was pressed. At the same time the temperature of the gases was reduced by more than half in its passage through the economizer tubes, from 860 degrees to 394 under ordinary conditions, and from 1560 degrees to 750 when the boiler was pressed. A speed of 204 knots per hour is expected, with 18,000 indicated horse-power.
The Argonaut will be rigged with two light masts, each fitted with a platform, or light top, for operating electric search-lights. She has not, however, any arrangement designed for fighting tops to mount quickfiring guns.—Engineering.
Wolf.
The torpedo-boat destroyer Wolf, built by Messrs. Laird Brothers, Birkenhead, went out on December 30, 1897, on the Clyde for her official full-power coal-consumption trial with satisfactory results, the mean speed obtained on six runs over the measured .mile being 30.3 knots with 370 revolutions, and the speed for three hours' run 30.11 knots. On January 6 she went out for her official full-power coal-consumption trial with satisfactory results, the mean speed obtained on six runs over the measured mile being 30.3 knots, with 370 revolutions, and the speed for three hours' run 30.11 knots.
Flying Fish.
The Flying Fish, torpedo-boat destroyer, built and engined by the Palmer Shipbuilding Company, had her initial three hours' coal-consumption trial on the 25th February. The mean of six runs over the measured mile in Stokes Bay gave her a speed of 30.361 knots, with 390.7 revolutions a minute, while with 393 revolutions for the three hours the speed by patent log was 30.484 knots. The indicated horse-power on the mile was 6431, and for the three hours 6457, showing remarkable uniformity in both phases of the trial. There was an abundance of steam throughout the run.
Violet.
The Violet, torpedo-boat destroyer, had a 12 hours' economical coal consumption trial at Portsmouth on February 23. She was required to steam at 13 knots with a coal consumption not exceeding I ton per 30 miles. The mean speed of the 12 hours was 13.008 knots, and the consumption 1.99 lb. per unit of power per hour. The average worked out at 36½ miles per ton of coal, and, as the vessel carries 84 tons of fuel, this gives her a radius at economical speed of 3066 miles.
Gipsy.
The Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Limited, have completed the official trials of H. M. S. Gipsy, the first of the 30-knot torpedo-boat destroyers built by them for the British Admiralty, with most satisfactory results. The speed on six runs over the measured mile at Skelmorlie was as follows: 29.851 knots, 29.607 knots, 30.456 knots, 30.151 knots, 30.456 knots, and 30.354 knots; giving a mean of 30.176 knots. On a subsequent trial of three hours' continuous steaming the mean speed was 30.207 knots.
Bullfinch.
On February path H. M. S. Bullfinch, 30-knot torpedo-boat destroyer, was launched at Hull from the yard of Earle's Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Limited, and may shortly be expected to be ready for her official trials, as her machinery is nearing completion, and her boilers were on board at the time of launching.
Seal.
The Seal, torpedo-boat destroyer, built by Messrs. Laird Brothers, Birkenhead, went out on the Clyde on January 3rd on her official fullpower coal-consumption trial with the following satisfactory results: Speed on mile 30.04 knots with 370.5 revolutions, and speed on three hours' run 30.02 knots.
Locust.
H. M. S. Locust, torpedo-boat destroyer, built by Messrs. Laird Brothers, Birkenhead, went out on the 21st February for her official fullpower coal-consumption trial at 30 knots, with very satisfactory results. The speed realized on six runs on the measured mile at Skelmorlie was 30.26 knots. And for three hours' continuous steaming, 30.15 knots. Her sister ship, the Seal, completed her series of trials on the 24th Feb., in the presence of the Admiralty representatives. Her official full-speed trial was commenced shortly after 10 a. m., and a speed of 30.79 knots was obtained as a mean of the six runs on the measured mile. The mean speed for the first four miles was 31.03 knots, equivalent to 36¼ miles per hour. The speed for the three hours' continuous steaming was 30.15 knots. After the completion of this trial the usual steering trials at full speed ahead and astern were carried out satisfactorily and successfully, and the stopping, starting and reversing of the engines demonstrated their efficiency.
[France]
Building Program.
The following is the building program as at present settled for 1898: At Brest, a first-class battle-ship A9; at Cherbourg, a first-class armored cruiser C4; at Lorient, a first-class armored cruiser C7. To be built by contract: One first-class armored cruiser C8, of 9517 tons, to be a sister ship to the Montcalm; two first-class armored cruisers, ex-D4 and ex-D5, of 7700 tons, to be called the Desaix and Kleber; five torpilleurs-dehaute- mer and six first-class torpedo-boats.
The total number of new vessels completing, building and to be laid down is 84, divided as follows: 8 first-class battle-ships, 10 first-class armored cruisers, 4 first-class station cruisers, 3 second-class cruisers, 3 third-class cruisers, 1 first-class aviso, 10 torpedo-boat destroyers, 6 seagoing torpedo-boats, 36 first-class torpedo-boats, 1 submarine torpedoboat, 1 gunboat, 1 gunboat launch. Of these numbers, 61 are actually under construction in government and private yards, leaving 20 to be commenced before the end of 1898.
The new battle-ship to be built at Brest is to have a displacement of 12,000 tons, but her plans are not yet completed. It is intended to lay down the Kleber and Desaix before the end of this year, if possible, but the contracts have not yet been signed. Their dimensions will be as follows: Displacement, 7700 tons; length, 422 feet 6 inches; beam, 58 feet; engines and boilers of the same system as Montcalm class; H. P., 17,100; speed, 21 knots; coal stowage, 5200 tons; radius of action at 10 knots, 8800 miles; radius of action at full speed, 1650 miles; armament, ten 16.4-centimetre (6.3-inch), ten 3-pounder and six I-pounder Q. F. guns, with two above-water torpedo discharges. The station cruiser to be built at Rochefort will have a displacement of about 5000 tons, but the plans are not yet completed.
The destroyer Yatagan will be similar to the Pique, Epee and Framee, namely: displacement, 303 tons; H. P., 4800; speed, 26 knots; armament, one 65-millimetre and six 47-millimetre Q. F. guns; two above-water torpedo tubes. The designs for the five sea-going torpedo-boats are not yet completed, but they will have a displacement of about 150 tons. The six first-class torpedo-boats will have a displacement of 84 tons and a speed of 23 knots. Armament, two 37-millimetre guns and two torpedo tubes.
The plans of the new battle-ships and cruisers are all due to M. Bertin, head of the Section Technique des Constructions Navales, who will be held responsible. This is a new departure, as up to the present no definite responsibility for the ship designs was attached to any single official.—Journal of the Royal United Service Institution.
A first-class armored cruiser, to be called the Dupleix, has been laid down at Rochefort, replacing the cruiser " D3," of 5500 tons, which figured in the budget vote of 1897. The Dupleix will have a displacement of 7700 tons, vertical triple-expansion engines, multitubular boilers, three propellers, and an estimated speed of 21 knots. Her armament will consist of ten 16.4 centimetre (6.3-inch), ten pounder, and six 1-pounder Q. F. guns, and two above-water torpedo discharges. Her cost will be 15,500,000 francs, and she will practically be a sister ship to the Kleber and Desaix.—Journal of the Royal United Service Institution.
[Italy.]
Ships Under Construction.
The naval estimates for 1898 and 1899 amount to 105,963,646 lire, but as some deductions have to be made, the real total is 94,769,124 lire, of which 24 millions and a half are devoted to the personnel and 19,500,000 lire to new constructions and completing during the current year the following ships: First-class battle-ships—Emanuele Filiberto, completing at Naples, and Ammiraglio di Saint Bon at Venice. First-class armored cruisers—Vettor Pisani, completing at Naples; Giuseppe Garibaldi, completing at the Ansaldo Works, Sestri Ponente; Varese, completing at the Orlando Yard at Leghorn. Second-class ram cruiser—Puglia, fitting out at the dockyard at Taranto. Torpedo cruisers—Agordat and Ciotat, building at Naples and Castellamare respectively.
At Castellamare a new torpedo cruiser of the Agordat type is to be laid down, besides some torpedo-boat destroyers and torpedo-boats, but with regard to the proposed new battle-ships no decision as to their type would appear to have been yet arrived at, although it is stated that four are to be laid down. By the end of the financial year, 1st July, 1899, the active fleet will consist of 320 vessels of all classes, 51 of which will be battle-ships and cruisers and 146 torpedo-boats.—Journal of the Royal
United Service Institution.
The Duilio is refitting at Spezia, same as the Dandolo. She is to receive a new armament, new boilers and engines, to give a speed of 18 knots. If these changes come up to expectations all the older ships are to be similarly refitted and rebuilt.
[Japan.]
Akashi.
The latest papers from the Far East bring an account of the launch at the Yokoska shipbuilding yard of the cruiser Akashi, a sister vessel, we believe, to the Suma, which was launched from the same yard about two years ago. The Yokoska shipbuilding yard, which is situated a few miles below Yokohama, was under the charge of French engineers and shipbuilders for a good many years, but now it is entirely managed by Japanese, who, after having studied in their own country, extended their practical knowledge in some of the largest shipbuilding yards in Europe.
The Akashi is a steel twin-screw cruiser of 295 feet in length, 41 feet 7½ inches in beam, 15 feet 8½ inches in draught, 2800 tons displacement, and 8000 horse-power. It is expected that she will attain a speed of 19½ knots. Her coal bunkers have a capacity for 600 tons, and her armament, when completed, will consist of six 12-centimetre quick-firing guns, two 15-centimetre quick-firers, four machine guns, and two torpedo-tubes; the six 12-centimetre in sponsors, three of which are constructed on either side of the ship, the two 15-centimetre guns being mounted behind shields, fore and aft. The difficulty of shipbuilding in Japan, especially for the navy, will be understood when it is remembered that practically all the steel used in construction requires to be imported, and therefore that much of the special work which engineers and shipbuilders in this country get done at outside establishments, requires to be done in the yard at Yokoska.—Engineering.
Kasagi and Chitose.
This protected cruiser was successfully launched at Cramp's shipyard, January 20th. She is the first foreign warship launched in America for twenty years. Two days later the Chitose, building at the Union Iron Works, San Francisco, was launched. The Kasagi is modeled on the lines of the fast and powerfully armed protected cruisers which have been built by Armstrong, of England, for the Japanese and other foreign navies. She is 396 feet long, with 49 feet of beam and a draught of 17 feet 9 inches, her displacement at this draught being 4900 tons. The motive power is supplied by two vertical, inverted, triple-expansion, fourcylinder engines, driving twin screws, and estimated to develop, under forced draught, a mean speed of 22½ knots per hour. The engines are of 17,000 horse-power, and the boiler-rooms contain twelve single-ended boilers, 14 feet 2 inches in diameter and 9 feet 9 inches in length. She will carry enough coal to cruise for 4000 miles at to knots an hour. In the specifications she is classed as a protected cruiser of the second class, and like all vessels of her type has no defensive armor, relying on her coal bunkers, which run to8 feet fore and aft of her amidship section, to protect her engines, which are entirely below the water-line. Above these is a protective deck, having a maximum thickness of 4½ inches on the slopes and 1¾ inches on the flat, giving ample protection to the vital parts of the ship.
The batteries of the Kasagi are heavier than those on either the United States cruisers Minneapolis or Columbia, and it is alleged that the new cruiser, because of her superior protection, will have greater defensive and offensive power. There are no turrets on the Kasagi, but she will be quite well protected by guns. There are two 8-inch rifles at the sides, and her armament besides will consist of ten 4.7-inch quick-firing rifles mounted in broadside, a secondary battery of twelve 12-pounder quickfiring rifles, and six 2½-inch Hotchkiss guns. The 8-inch rapid-fire guns have a speed of fire three times that of the old slow-firing type, so that these two guns alone would equal the six 8-inch guns carried on our own New York, a ship of 8000 tons displacement. As the energy of each shell from the New York's 8-inch guns is 7498 foot-tons and that of the shells from the Kasagi's 8-inch guns is 10,662 foot-tons, we see what an enormous advantage is gained by the adoption of the rapid-fire system. In the present instance it brings the offensive power of a 4900-ton ship up to and beyond that of an 8000-ton ship. This comparison is an important commentary upon the urgent plea of Assistant Secretary of the Navy Roosevelt for the arming of our cruisers with guns of the rapid-fire type.
New Japanese War Vessels.
In addition to the new second-class cruisers, Kasagi and Chitose, building in this country, Japan is having built at various places nearly forty battle-ships, armored cruisers, protected cruisers, torpedo-boats and torpedo-boat destroyers. These include three 14,800-ton battle-ships, which are well advanced at Armstrong's, Thompson's and the Thames Iron Works, respectively, in England; one battle-ship of about 10,000 tons, also under way at Armstrong's; four first-class armored cruisers of 9600 tons displacement and twenty knots speed—two of these at Armstrong's, one at the Vulcan Works, Stettin, Germany, and one at Forges et Chantiers, France; one protected cruiser of 4300 tons and about twentythree knots speed at Armstrong's; four thirty-knot torpedo-boat destroyers at Yarrow's, England, and four more of a similar type at Thompson's; eight ninety-ton torpedo-boats at the Schichau Works, Elbing, Germany, and four more of a similar type at the Normand Works, France; three 3000-ton protected cruisers of twenty knots, three torpedo gunboats and a dispatch vessel at the Imperial dockyards, Yokosuka, Japan, and an armored cruiser of 9600 tons and twenty knots, to be also built at Yokosuka. All of these vessels are expected to be completed by 1903.
[Portugal.]
Adamastor.
The latest addition to the Royal Portuguese Navy is the twin-screw cruiser Adamastor, which performed her speed trials and was accepted in July, 1897. The ship was built and engined by Orlando Brothers, of Leghorn; her general dimensions are as follows, viz.: Length, between perpendiculars, 242 feet 2 inches (73.810 m.); length, over all, 261 feet (79.622 m.); breadth, 35 feet 2 inches (10.730 m.); depth, moulded, 21 feet 4½ inches (6.500 m.); normal displacement, 1765 metric tons; displacement, with 419 tons of coal on board, 1962 tons. The hull is of steel and is partially double bottomed. The whole is divided into twenty-three main water-tight compartments, and the lower deck is of steel with watertight doors.
The armament consists of two 15-cm. Krupp guns, placed one on the topgallant forecastle and one on the raised quarterdeck; four quick-firing 10.5-cm. and four quick-firing 6.5-cm. Krupp guns on the main deck; two 37 mm. Hotchkiss guns on the bridge; two 6.5 mm. Nordenfeldt machine guns on the fighting tops. Besides, there are three torpedo tubes, one forward and two on the broadside on the main deck.
The conning tower is of steel, 2½ inches thick. There are six boats, one of which is a steam launch. On the quarterdeck there is a very elegant state-room; the chief commander's bed, drawing and bath rooms; the second commander's bed and bath rooms; the pantry, the chart room, &c. &c. The officers' accommodation is aft, but under the main deck; the officers' mess-room, which is near the midshipmen's mess-room and cabins, extends the full breadth of the ship. The topgallant forecastle is occupied by petty officers' cabins and sailors.
Great care was taken in ventilating the ship with natural draught; but besides this, two electric ventilators, 4 feet in diameter, are provided for use in hot climates, and they blow the fresh air, not only into every cabin, but also into the store-rooms, steering engine-room and magazines. The vessel is propelled by two triple-expansion engines, designed to develop 4000 indicated horse-power, placed in separate water-tight compartments, the high-pressure cylinders being forward; the bed plates, the cylinder frames, which are of the inverted Y form, as well as the covers of the cylinders and valve chests, are of cast steel. The cylinders' diameters are: High-pressure, 23¼ inches (0.59 m.); intermediate, 37 3/8 inches (0.95 m.); low pressure, 59½ inches (1.50 m.). The common stroke is 31½ inches (0.80 m.). The main condensers are in the wings—they are cylindrical— and built with Muntz sheets; the total combined condensing area is 4862 square feet. The propellers are of Delta metal, three-bladed, to feet 11½ inches in diameter (3.340 m.), the projected surface of each propeller being of 30.66 square feet (2.85 m. q.). Steam is supplied by four marine single-ended boilers, placed in separate water-tight compartments; they are 13 feet 6 7/8 inches in diameter and 12 feet 3½ inches long, with three Fox's furnaces, each 3 feet 7 1/8 inches mean diameter. The total heating surface is 8823 square feet (8.20 m. q.); the total grate area is 262 square feet. The working pressure is 160 lbs. per square inch. Four ventilating tubes, 39½ inches in diameter, supply air to the boilers at natural draught, and four ventilating fans, 5 feet 3 inches (1.600 m.) in diameter, are provided for the forced draught, which is on the closed ashpit system. One auxiliary boiler, having 223 square feet of heating surface, is placed on the main deck. A very complete system of pumping arrangement is fitted, and we may mention the two 500 tons per hour centrifugal pumps, the bilge and auxiliary pumps, capable of pumping overboard 100 tons of water per hour, and the two 50 tons each steam ejectors.
Three trials were to be made. The contract speed at natural draught, six hours' trial, was to be 16 knots, with 115 revolutions and 3000 indicated horse-power the main engines. The official results of this first trial, made on the 28th June, 1897, are: Mean speed, 17.19 knots; mean revolutions 119, with a maximum of 122; indicated horse-power varying from 2900 to 3500. On the following six hours' trial, at 50 knots speed, the coal consumption was not to exceed 154 lbs. (70 kilos.) per mile. The trial was made on 30th June; the power developed by the main engines, running at 67 revolutions, corresponding to to-mile speed, was 523, and the coal consumption in the six hours was 4629 lbs. (2500 kilos.), that is, 77 lbs. per mile, or 1.45 lb. per indicated horse-power.
The coal capacity of the bunkers being of 419 tons, the radius of the Adamastor at to knots speed is at least 8896 miles, including the coal consumption of the galley, water-distilling apparatus, etc.
The two hours' forced-draught trial was to give a speed of 17.3 knots with 130 revolutions of the main engines and 4000 indicated horse-power. The trial was made on the 8th of July, on which occasion the photograph of the vessel at sea, reproduced as our supplement this week, was taken, with the following results: speed, mean, 18.04 knots; revolutions, 131.5; mean indicated horse-power, 4030; steam pressure in the boilers varying from 156 lbs. to 160 lbs.; air pressure in the ashpits, 7/8 inch of water. The engines as well as the boilers worked during all the trials in the most satisfactory manner, no part of the engines getting heated, nor was there any priming.
The Adamastor's electric plant consists of two 4-pole dynamos, directly coupled to the vertical single cylinder double-acting engines, 8 inches in diameter, with 5½-inch stroke, working at 275 revolutions per minute. The current output of each dynamo is Ho amperes, at 65 volts. There are wo lamps through the ship, and two 16-inch diameter, 50-ampere, search-lights on the mast.—Engineer.
Don Carlos I.
An armored cruiser, Don Carlos I., of 4100 tons displacement, is building in England for the Portuguese government. The armored deck to have a thickness of 1½ to 4 inches. Two triple-expansion engines, steam supplied by water tubular boilers, are to give a speed of 22 to 23 knots under forced draught. Coal capacity moo tons, giving a radius of action of 10,000 miles at 12 to 13 knots. The armament, entirely of rapid-fire guns, comprises two 7.8-inch and ten 4.7-inch guns, protected by 3-inch gun shields; twelve 47-mm. and six 37-mm. guns, besides four Maxim machine guns. There will be five torpedo tubes, three being submerged.—Moniteur de la Flotte.
Gunboats.
Two gunboats, Almirante Baptista de Andrade and Thomaz Andoa, of 220 tons each and 10 to 12 knots speed, are building. They are to be armed with small rapid-fire guns.
[Russia.]
Ships Under Construction.
It is stated that the naval estimates for the coming year, when published, show an increase of 6,000,000 roubles on those of last year, and that the credit allotted for the construction of new warships will amount to 24,800,000 roubles, and attempts will be made to carry out the building much more speedily than heretofore. At pre'sent a large armored cruiser of the type of the Rossia is being constructed at the Baltic Works on the Neva; she will have three engines and three propellers, and the engines are to develop a total of 18,000 I. H. P. In the same yard two torpedo destroyers of the type of the Sokol are being built; their hulls will be of nickel steel, and their engines will develop about 4400 I. H. P., and they are intended to be in all respects superior to the Hornet, and in some minor points improvements on the Sokol. In Abo, at the works of Greighton and Co., two more torpedo destroyers of the same type are in process of construction. In the Admiralty Works at Ijora a battleship of 12,674 tons displacement, 434 feet long and 26 feet draught, of the type of the Oslabija, is being built, and no less than twenty-four torpedo destroyers of the Sokol type. Of these, twelve will be taken in parts to the port of Vladivostock and twelve will be left in the Baltic port. A lightship for Nekmangrund and another for Port Nikolaieff in the Black Sea have also been ordered at the same place. An armored ship of 8800 tons displacement and 341 feet long, of the type of the Rostislav, is to be built at Nikolaieff for the Black Sea fleet. In the same works a battle-ship of 12,480 tons displacement and 357 feet long, of the type of the Three Saints (Tri Sviatitelya), will shortly be laid down. Further, engines are now being made for the unchristened cruiser of the type Rossia (18,000 I. H. P.), for the new cruiser of the type Pallada (11,610 I. H. P.), for the cruisers Diana and Aurora (11,610 I. H. P.), for the armored turret-ship Peresjet (14,500 I. H. P.), for the Oslabija (14,500 I. H. P.), and for the barbette ship of the type of the Tri Sviatitelya (10,600 I. H. P.).
The Ministry of Marine has decided to provide next year the following guns: Twenty-five 12-inch, 40 calibres in length; sixteen 10-inch, 45 calibres long; one 8-inch; forty-nine 6-inch Q. F. guns; twenty-three 120mm. Q. F. guns; a hundred 75-mm. Q. F. guns; eight Baranovsky 2½-inch guns; 134 Hotchkiss 47-mm. guns; and ninety-six Hotchkiss 37-mm. guns. In addition, hydraulic carriages will be built for the 12-inch and 10-inch guns, turret mounts for the 6-inch pieces, and fixed carriages for the others. The Admiralty has also ordered 100 Whiteheads (new model), ninety-six 19-feet Whiteheads, and twenty 45-cm. torpedoes. 112,000 roubles are to be expended on hand torpedoes and 87,00o roubles on electric naval mines and mining material. For the vessels in commission, 11,184,371 roubles; provisions, 6,946,906 roubles; guns and torpedoes, 5,089,296 roubles; workshops and offices, 4,487,556 roubles; for improvements in the port of Vladivostock, 6,000,000 roubles.—Journal of the Royal United Service Institution.
The Russian Admiralty has decided to replace the "Du Temple" boilers of torpedo-boats Nos. 125 and 126 by Yarrow straight-tube boilers, owing, it is said, to the rapid deterioration of the tubes of the former boilers—due, we are told, to their curved shape, and also because the Yarrow boilers allow of a larger heating surface.
[Spain.]
Cristobal Colon.
It will be remembered that one of the six vessels in the last Italian naval programme (which dates so far back as 1891) was named the Giuseppe Garibaldi. She was to be built and engined complete by Messrs. Ansaldo and Co., of Sestri Ponente and Sampierdarena, near Genoa, and she was to be delivered within six years. But the capacity of the Ansaldos' works is such that the construction of the engines was completed and the ship ready for launching within 22 months.
It was just at this time that the Argentine Republic, having one of those perennial differences of opinion with its sister republic of Chili, was looking about for warships to add to its fleet as an answer to the threatening armament that Chili was gradually accumulating, and overtures were made to the Italian Government for the purchase of the Giuseppe Garibaldi. It was then arranged that Messrs. Ansaldo should have power to dispose of the vessel to Argentina on the condition that the second one should be delivered to the Italian government within the time originally stipulated for the first one; and with the further proviso that in consideration of the granting of such a favor Messrs. Ansaldo were to fit the new vessel with water-tube boilers, in place of the cylindrical ones provided for the original vessel, and that all materials for the new ship should be obtained in the kingdom of Italy as far as possible.
The name Garibaldi was retained for the Argentine vessel in recognition of all that that hero did for Argentina, and the vessel was speedily completed and handed over to the Argentine authorities. The fitting the machinery on board was a remarkably smart piece of work for any country, the engines and boilers being ready for their steam trials ten weeks after the vessel was launched. The keel of the second ship was laid on September 25, 1895, and her construction so pushed forward that there was every probability that it also would be ready for sea long before the time originally stipulated. It was at this juncture that Spain, seeing the urgent necessity of adding to her fleet some modern and really serviceable vessels, decided to purchase the Garibaldi No. 2 if it were possible, and the Italian government was again approached with a request for the cession of the second vessel. This was again granted on the same terms as before, but with a distinct warning from the Italian Ministry of Marine that on no account would any extension of time for final delivery be granted, and any fines for delay would be most strictly enforced. The launch of this second vessel took place on September 16, 1896, and was made the occasion of a most remarkable outburst of enthusiasm and scene of fraternization between the Spanish and Italian peoples. A large steamer was chartered and sent to Barcelona for representatives of all the principal Spanish newspapers, and these journalists had public receptions and festivities in their honor wherever they went. The vessel left the ways in the presence of cheering thousands, and was named Cristobal Colon by Madame Benomar, the wife of the Spanish ambassador to the court of Italy.
The leading dimensions of the vessel are as follows: Length, 328 feet; beam, 59 feet 9 inches; and draught, 23 feet 3 inches, at which the displacement is 6840 tons. The armament consists of two 25-centimetre guns placed at either end of the vessel en barbette, ten 15-centimetre, six 12-centimetre, ten 57-millimetre, and ten 37-millimetre guns, all, with the exception of the two large guns, being quick-firing. There are also two machine guns and two light guns with their carriages for use on shore.
The propelling machinery consists of two sets of triple-expansion inverted engines having cylinders 42 inches, 63 inches, and 93 inches in diameter respectively, with a stroke of 3 feet to inches. Each cylinder is supported by four cast-steel columns with cast-iron crosshead guides bolted on their faces and standing on cast-steel main bearing frames. The high-pressure cylinders are fitted with piston valves, while the intermediate and low-pressure cylinders have double-ported slide valves, all being worked by double eccentrics and Stephenson's link motion. The piston-rods, connecting-rods and shafts are of steel, these latter being hollow throughout, and the crankshaft being made in three parts interchangeable. The condensers, two in number, are of delta metal, and are fitted with horizontal tubes through which the water passes, and have a cooling surface of 14,600 square feet. There are two single-acting airpumps made of gun metal 33 inches in diameter and 21 inches stroke, worked by beams from the low-pressure cylinder crossheads. There are two large centrifugal pumps, each worked by a compound engine, and each is fitted with a small auxiliary single-acting air pump for the purpose of maintaining a vacuum and keeping the main condensers free of water when the main engines are stopped. An auxiliary condenser is fitted in each engine-room, having its special circulating and air pump.
Messrs. Maudslay's latest arrangement with secondary tanks for maintaining a constant head of water against the suction valves of the feed pumps was adopted, and was found to give admirable results on the trials.
The steam-producing apparatus consists of 12 water-tube boilers of the Niclausse type, which were made in Paris. The boilers are placed back to back against the central bulkhead, three in each compartment, and a funnel is provided for each group of six boilers.
The vessel was ready for trial in March, 1897, the official natural draught trial taking place on April 29, 1897, when the results exceeded every expectation. The boilers gave such an ample supply of steam that the full contract speed of the vessel was obtained without even putting the fans in motion. At the three hours' trial, with a mean pressure of 57.04 lbs. in the high-pressure cylinders, a vacuum of 28.2 inches, the two engines developed a collective indicated horse-power of 10,671, exceeding by 2071 I. H. P. that required by contract.
As is usual on trials with ships fitted with water-tube boilers, the firing was done regularly, each furnace being charged with a certain amount of fuel at stated intervals, a clock being fitted in each stokehold to facilitate this.
The mean speed on this trial, on a long base, was 19.35 knots, and as this was in excess of the contract speed, the commission appointed by the Spanish government to receive the vessel decided that no further full-speed trial was necessary.
Besides the substitution of water-tube boilers and the application of hotwell pumps with their tanks and service of pipes, the second vessel possesses many other improvements, which were found desirable or necessary from experience with the first Garibaldi.—Engineering.
[United States.]
The Latest Battle-Ships for the United States Navy.
The latest report furnished to Chief Constructor Hichborn, showing the progress which is being made in the construction of the five battleships which are building in private yards for the United States Navy, shows that the Kearsarge and Kentucky are more than half completed, and that from 32 to 39 per cent of the work has been accomplished on the Alabama, Illinois and Wisconsin.
These five vessels, all of which will be first-class seagoing battle-ships, belong to two different types, the first of which, authorized in the year 1895, includes two twin ships, the Kearsarge and the Kentucky, which are building at Newport News; the other type, authorized in the following year, consists of the Alabama, building at the Cramps' yard, the Illinois, at Newport News, and the Wisconsin, which is being constructed at the Union Iron Works, San Francisco.
They differ considerably from each other and from the class of ships which preceded them, represented by the Indiana, Massachusetts and Oregon. They represent the advance which has taken place in battleship design since the year 189o, when the Indiana class was authorized, and in the Alabama we have embodied those features of high freeboard, widely separated main battery and broadside secondary battery of rapidfire guns which are likely to remain permanent in the navies of the world.
The leading features of the two ships are as follows:
| Kentucky | Alabama |
Water-line length | 368 ft. |
|
Beam | 72 ft. 2½ in. |
|
Draught | 23 ft. 6 in. |
|
Freeboard forward | 14 ft. 3 in. |
|
Freeboard aft | 13 ft. 3 in. |
|
Displacement | 11,525 tons |
|
Speed | 16 knots |
|
Coal supply | 410 tons |
|
Horse power | 10,000 |
|
Armor, nickel steel |
| |
Water-line belt | 16½ in |
|
Side armor above belt | 6 in. |
|
Turret armor | 17 and 15 in. |
|
Barbette armor | 15 in |
|
Conning tower | 10 in. |
|
Protective deck | 2¾ in. |
|
Armament |
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Main battery | 4 13-in. guns |
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Submain battery | 4 8-in. guns |
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Secondary battery | 14 5-in. R. F. guns | 14 6-in. R. F. guns |
20 6-pdr. R. F. guns | 17 6-pdr. R. F. guns | |
| 6 1-pdr. R. F. guns |
If it is compared with the Indiana it will be evident that the greatest change in the Kentucky is in the novel method adopted for carrying the 8-inch guns. In the Indiana there were eight of these disposed in four turrets, at the four corners of the central armored battery. By this arrangement it was hoped to be able to train four guns on either beam or directly ahead. In the gunnery trials, however, it was found that if these guns were fired direct ahead or astern their blast rendered the sighting-hoods of the 3-inch guns untenable. To prevent this "interference," as it is called, the double-deck turrets were adopted. They constitute the most striking feature in these ships; nothing like it has ever been attempted before and it is not likely that it ever will be again. As far as the danger of interference is concerned, the device is likely to prove a success. The muzzles of the 8-inch guns project well beyond the sighting-hoods of the 13-inch gun turret below it, and no serious effects will probably be felt by the men stationed within them. It will be noticed, moreover, that the Kentucky will be able to bring the same number of 8-inch guns to bear in any direction as the Indiana, that is, two ahead or astern, and four on either beam; in fact, owing to the inability of the 8-inch guns of the Indiana to be fired dead ahead or dead astern, the four 8-inch guns of the Kentucky may be said to be more efficient than the eight similar guns on the Indiana. The great weight of two turrets and four guns with their ammunition is thus saved and can be put to other uses.
We have said that it is not likely that any more double-deck turrets will be built. The reason for this is the objection which naval designers feel to putting "too many eggs into one basket." It is an accepted axiom in warship design that the various gun stations of a ship should be as widely separated as possible, with a view to localizing the damage inflicted by a successful shot.
If the lower half of a double-deck turret should be crippled, the upper turret would also be placed hors de combat, and a light shell which was incapable of penetrating the 15-inch armor of the lower turret might pass through the 9-inch armor of the upper turret and wreck the turning gear below, thereby disabling the four guns. There is a further objection urged by the gunners in the fact that the two sets of guns must be trained together, whereas it might frequently be desirable in the course of a fight to train the 13-inch guns upon one part of the enemy and the lighter guns upon some other part. The whole question, however, was well thrashed out by the experts at the time the ships were designed, and it was considered that the economy in weight and machinery more than offset the objections which were raised against the system.
Next to the turrets the most novel feature in these ships is the powerful broadside battery of fourteen 5-inch rapid-fire guns which it has been possible to substitute for the four 8-inch guns and turrets and the four slow-firing 6-inch guns of the Indiana. This battery is ranged within a central battery on the main deck between the two turrets. There are seven guns on each broadside, each gun firing through an arc of 90 degrees. Though the shell for the 5-inch gun weighs only 50 pounds as against 250 pounds for the shell of the 8-inch gun, so great is the rapidity of fire from the former gun that three times the weight of metal will be thrown in a given time from the rapid-fire battery. The gunners will be protected by 6 inches of harveyized steel.
On the deck above will be another battery of twelve 6-pounder guns, and eight others will be located forward and aft on the berth deck. It will be the work of these guns to repel the attack of the torpedo-boats. A number of I-pounders and Gatlings will be carried in the tops of the military masts.—Scientific American.