SIGHTS FOR ORDNANCE.
[ENGINEERING.]
During recent years immense advances have been made in the construction of rifled ordnance, and even more markedly in the manufacture of powders for the same. The much-abused cordite has given wonderful results as to uniformity, and it is related on good authority that on one occasion three successive 100-lb. shells were sent through the same hole at a range of 1000 yards. This, no doubt, was to a certain extent a fluke, but is, nevertheless, an excellent testimony to the ability of the gun crew and the quality of the material. The construction of gun sights has not, however, altogether kept pace with the advances in other directions, and the old simple notch sight is still in general use, and, in spite of its crudeness, the results obtained are astonishingly good. Nevertheless it has long been recognized that a telescopic sight, if so constructed as to stand the hard usage to which it must necessarily be subjected in actual warfare, would have great advantages. The principal difficulty has been to construct a telescope sight in such a manner that it can be left on the gun during the firing, which has many obvious advantages. The fittings must accordingly be strong enough to withstand without injury the jerk arising from the recoil. A telescopic sight has been introduced by Captain Grenfell, of 39 Victoria Street, Westminster, and has successfully undergone severe trials in France. It consists of an ordinary theodolite telescope mounted on a curved rack, passing through a sleeve rigidly secured to the gun. This rack is of hardened steel and of channel section, and has accordingly great rigidity for its weight. The most severe tests of its rigidity were made by running the telescope up to its highest point, in which position the jerk of recoil will, of course, bring the most severe bending strains on the rack, and firing the gun with full charges. This ordeal was successfully passed through. In dull weather the telescope is of little use, as light is lacking, and hence in all cases an ordinary sight must be fitted as a standby. In this case the ordinary sight consists of a set of cross-wires fixed at one side of the telescope, near its object-glass, whilst near the eyepiece an iris diaphragm is fitted, and the sighting is effected by placing the eye to the orifice in the diaphragm and aligning the cross-wires on the mark. It should be stated that in no case is the line of sight parallel to the bore of the gun. This is owing to the fact that the shots from a rifled gun have a lateral drift, allowance for which is made by tilting the line of sight an equal amount in the other direction. Another difficulty to be overcome in the matter of sighting is the reading of the range scales, the divisions towards the upper end of the scale being exceedingly minute. An open reading scale has obviously great advantages, and to secure this Captain Grenfell has adopted the ingenious plan of engraving the scale on a strip of phosphor bronze some 10 feet long. This strip is coiled round a couple of rollers, connected by gearing with the telescope rack. One of these rollers is spring mounted, so that any slack between the two rollers is automatically taken up. In this way the dimensions of the scale are greatly magnified, and the ranges can be engraved on it in plain figures. The necessary horizontal deflection for wind allowance is obtained by means of a tangent motion by which the telescope can be rotated in a horizontal plane. In the French trials this sight gave excellent results, although the gun crew had had no previous training in its use.
At night all the usual methods of sighting become difficult, and many attempts have been made to simplify matters, such as by touching the front sight by luminous paint, throwing the light of a lamp on it, etc., but the method now generally adopted in the navies of the world is due to Captain Grenfell, and is shown diagrammatically in the figure. The device consists of two fittings, one of which can be secured to the front and the other to the rear sight. Each of these fittings is arranged to receive a small incandescent lamp a, the light from which is reflected through a window at b, which is of red glass in the case of the rear sight, and of white glass in that of the front sight. This light striking on a curved surface at c, which is polished and of a non-corrodible metal, is seen by No. 1 of the gun as a bright horizontal line. The curved polished surface, in the case of the front sight, is confined to the central part of the stirrup as shown on the right at d, whilst in the case of the back sight a notch is cut in the stirrup through which the front sight can be seen, whilst on each side the light of the lamp is reflected as a red horizontal line from the two polished surfaces e, e. The appearance in aiming is, therefore, a white horizontal line between two red ones. When the three are in one straight line and at the same time the middle line is bisected by the mark, the gun is truly aligned, both for direction and elevation. A switchboard connects the lamps to the source of current. Mounted on this switchboard are two rheostats, by means of which the intensity of the light is controlled. By operating one of these, the relative brightness of the two sights can be adjusted to each other. This done, the second rheostat is used to vary the brightness of the two lamps uniformly, until both the sights and the object aimed at can be clearly seen at the same time. In a still more recent form of this sight Captain Grenfell has added a third switch, by which a small hand lamp can be coupled up with the board. This lamp is used for reading the range scale.
DEVICE FOR MINIMIZING THE EFFECTS OF COLLISIONS AT SEA.
By Rear Admiral S. Makaroff, Imperial Russian Navy.
[Extract of Address delivered at General Chamber of Commerce, Hongkong.]
Mr. McConachie and Gentlemen.—I need not tell you that collisions are very frequent in these days. I have no statistics, but every one reading one of the big morning newspapers finds there almost every day some information about collisions at sea and their fatal consequences. In some cases the newspapers give different details; but more often the report is very brief and simply states that such and such a ship went to the bottom and so many lives were lost. Every one of us is so much accustomed to read such information that we do not ask ourselves whether it is really unavoidable that, after the collision, one ship or both of them should go to the bottom. It is taken for granted that from time to time ships collide and sink, and I believe this sort of information produces less impression upon us than some trifling political news. From time to time a court of inquiry or court-martial investigates the details of the collision, but it is certain that the court will study chiefly the question as to who is responsible for the collision, and very little notice is generally taken of the reason why, after collision, a ship goes to the bottom. Shipbuilders tell us that ships are divided by the water-tight bulkheads, and that the buoyancy is sufficient to keep a vessel afloat should one of the compartments be filled with water. Generally, when collisions occur there is, nobody to accurately record the details, and as a rule it is taken for granted that the collision took place at the bulkhead, and for this reason two big compartments were filled with water. Maybe it will also be suggested that one of the bulkheads could not stand such an immense pressure and gave way at the critical moment. Formerly collisions were not so fatal, as sailing ships, which are usually constructed with a fiddle bow, have bowsprit and so much rigging in front that the effect of a collision is of course minimized. It is also necessary to mention that in the old days the speed of ships was very much less than it is now, and that the ships were mostly of wood, which resists more effectively than the thin plates of steel used at the present day. A fiddle bow usually damaged only the upper part of the ship, and before the water-line could be reached the force of the blow had spent itself. The ships of to-day travel at a high rate of speed; they have great displacement, and their vertical bow is so strong and so sharp that the moment collision takes place the skin of the ship is penetrated from the gunwale to the water-line, and an immense rush of water into the vessel is the result. Let us go into the details of the collision so that we can ascertain whether any remedies can be applied to lessen the danger. I shall try to be as brief as possible, but in order that you should better understand, let us look at the matter from every point of view. The first and best remedy which one can propose is to avoid a collision altogether, and certainly every improvement in the rules of navigation is very important, but the conditions under which seamen have to navigate are sometimes so difficult that it is perfectly certain that collisions will take place in future, notwithstanding any rules that may be proposed in order to make navigation as safe as possible. The second remedy is to minimize the effect of collisions, and on this point I shall speak afterwards in detail. The third remedy is to have water-tight bulkheads, so well disposed and so strongly built that they should localize the inflow of water. It was at the beginning of my service that I commenced to study this question, and something was done in the Russian navy to make the bulkheads more efficient. 1 shall not trouble you with the details of this most important branch of shipbuilding, but I venture to lay before you one single proposition which, in my opinion, will produce a great improvement in this matter. I wish to draw your attention to the fact that everything on board a ship is tested before she is taken from the hands of the shipbuilder. Capstans, rudder, engines, cranes, winches—everything in fact is tested in order to ensure that the whole of the fittings are quite sound and capable of performing the work they are meant for. Water-tight bulkheads are excluded from this examination. If you ask a shipbuilder if he tried the bulkheads he will answer "Yes"; and he is perfectly right, because he is obliged to test them with the fire hose. If, after collision, bulkheads were not subjected to a more severe trial of their strength, then of course it would be all right, but unfortunately, when a compartment is filled with water the pressure which the bulkhead is subjected to is very heavy, and I think the only way to be absolutely certain of the strength of the bulkheads is to try them under similar conditions to those in which they will be after the compartment is filled with water. Allow me to give you an example. Now only few manufacturers know how to make guns strong enough to resist the immense pressure of powder, and nobody dare make a gun with inferior metal, for the simple reason that every gun is put to a very severe trial before it is taken from the hands of the makers. If this condition were not insisted upon anybody could make a gun which would resemble the very best specimen, but it is certain that the first time the gun was fired it would be blown to pieces. If we cannot accept guns, capstans, winches, etc., without trial, why then do we accept bulkheads without trial? I propose that when a ship has been fitted with engines, boilers, watertight doors, and everything else which cannot be damaged by water, a trial of the bulkheads should take place by filling the compartments with fresh water to the upper part of the bulkheads. This trial ought to be made in the presence of competent officials, who should certify that the bulkheads are strong enough to withstand the full pressure of water, and that they are water-tight. This trial over, the boilers, cylinders, pipes, etc., can then be covered with the usual non-conducting composition and the cabin fittings put in their proper place. Probably all this work will occupy a week or so, but the loss of time will be amply compensated for by the ship being guaranteed absolutely trustworthy in this respect. If the collision takes place upon one of the main bulkheads, two compartments are filled with water. In order to avoid this I propose that each main bulkhead should be supplied with extra small water-tight compartments at the side of the ship, from ten to twelve feet wide. Then the collision would only affect one bulkhead of these small compartments, and the result would be that instead of two big compartments being filled with water, only one big compartment and the little one would be flooded.
The fourth remedy for preserving the safety of the ship consists of a means whereby leaking may be stopped. Twenty-five years ago I proposed the use of collision mats; one of them was exhibited at the Vienna Exhibition and every man-of-war of every nation has them now. Lately I have improved this apparatus, but although they are invaluable on men-of-war, I do not think they will be ever accepted for merchant ships, because in order to use them to advantage the crew must be regularly drilled. I do not say the mats are useless for commercial ships, but there are now more important improvements which have prior claims to our attention. Now I return to the second remedy. The general opinion is that the colliding blow is so very powerful that nothing can minimize the effect of it; but I can give proofs that even when the force of the blow is comparatively slight the skin of the ship is penetrated. It is a matter of fact that the vertical stem acts as a knife and that very little energy is required to penetrate the skin of the ship which is run into. We know, for instance, that the Crathie, the steamer which sank the big ocean liner Elbe, was of very small dimensions, and struck when she was going at a very moderate rate of speed. Everybody knows that the Elbe went to the bottom in a very short space of time and only a few of the passengers and crew were saved. I was a witness of a similar case in the Bosphorus. A Russian steamer, Azove, touched a big French mail steamer, the Provence. The speed of the Azove at the moment of collision was not more than two or three knots, but her stem made a hole in the skin of the Provence, and the latter immediately went to the bottom. I may give another example which occurred less than a year ago, also in my presence, in the harbor of Chefoo, when a torpedo catcher of 400 tons displacement and of a very slight construction touched the cruiser Pamiat Azova, and although the stem of the torpedo-catcher was of very delicate construction, the hole made was big enough to permit of the entrance of a tall man. Had there been no belt of armor at the water-line an immense rush of water into the vessel would have followed. It is a known fact that two years ago a torpedo-boat of 70 tons displacement went into a man-of-war and the skin of the latter was penetrated. I believe the examples which I have given are sufficient to prove that, however slight the blow is, the skin of the ship collided with is of a certainty damaged, and a rush of water follows. It is believed that nothing can be done to minimize the effect of collisions because the blows are so very heavy, but this does not mean that nothing can be done in case of only a slight shock. I may give an example which will prove that two ships may collide without damage being sustained by either. Thirty years ago Admiral Boutakoff wished to give his captains the opportunity of ramming exercise. Two gunboats of 300 tons were employed for this purpose, and each boat was entirely surrounded by a huge fender two feet in diameter, made of very light trees and branches bound firmly together so as to present a yielding shield. This protection was sufficient to preserve the one vessel intact when rammed by the other. It is true that the speed of the vessels was never higher than six knots, but I saw myself that the concussion at the moment of ramming was so great that not one of the men on board could keep his feet. This proves that from the moment one ship touched the other to the moment when the vessel was stopped the colliding ship made a progress of maybe only one foot. But in the case of the Pamiat Azova the crew of the torpedo-catcher were not in the least affected by the force of the blow. This shows that the resistance of the ship's side when the skin is penetrated is very small in comparison with the resistance of the skin before penetration. Is there not a striking difference in the result of the two cases I have just mentioned? While in one case the ships continued their practice as if nothing had happened, in the other the damage was very great, and if the Elbe had been in the place of the Pamiat Azova she would have gone to the bottom. In order to demonstrate the difference between touching the skin with a ram which is without a buffer and a ram with a buffer I made some experiments a few weeks ago on board my flagship Emperor Nicholai. Vice-Admiral Buller, Rear-Admiral Hoffman, Commodore Boyes, and many captains were invited to witness them. A model representing a ramming vessel was moved by a weight so as to ram a model which represented the amidship section of a ship. A small buffer of a quarter of an inch thickness of cotton cloth was made which could be adjusted to the ram. When the blow was dealt without the buffer the ram easily penetrated the skin of the other model, and the ramming vessel made an inroad of three-quarters of an inch and cut a hole two inches in length, which in reality means eight feet. When a similar experiment was made with the buffer on the ram an inroad of only a quarter of an inch was sufficient to arrest the progress of the vessel, and the skin was only slightly bent and not penetrated. This experiment is analogous with what happened in the two before-mentioned cases. It shows that the model experiments, if properly carried out, are very useful in testing the application of new improvements. Does it not also show that something can be done to minimize the effect of collision? What is the reason, then, that up to now nothing has been done to minimize the effect of collision? We see improvements in every branch of shipbuilding. Why, then, is such an important item as this left without due attention? There is something which interferes with this most necessary improvement. I believe I shall not hurt anybody's feelings if I say that the main reason why ships are not improved in this way is the false supposition that they cannot be improved. I believe this is really due to prejudice; at any rate no scientist has yet proved this supposition. It is everybody's fault that this prejudice exists. Quand tout le monde a tort tout le monde a raison. Where there is a prejudice there is no progress, and the first thing that we have to do is to remove the prejudice. As soon as we believe that ships can be improved in the desired way they will be improved in a very short time. It is taken for granted that the energy of a blow which is developed by one ship striking another is so very great that no means can be devised to absorb it without injuring the ship's skin. Let us see if this is so. A big ironclad of 10,000 tons ramming at five knots speed gives a striking blow of 15,000 foot-tons, while the muzzle energy of one 12-inch projectile is 20,000 foot-tons. You know very well when you propel the projectile with this energy one way the gun and the carriage are thrown with the very same energy into the opposite direction. Should nothing be arranged to withstand this blow a lot of damage would necessarily follow. But hydraulic buffers easily absorb this energy in a space of two feet, and really the shock is scarcely felt on board the ship. If it was a question of absorbing the energy of the big ironclad striking perpendicularly on some firm solid block strong enough to receive that blow, then an ordinary 12-inch gun's buffer fixed on the ram would take the whole energy of the 10,000-ton ship striking at the speed of five knots. This example shows that the energy of the blow is not so very enormous. Generally speaking, a collision never occurs when the boats are going full speed. Engines are always reversed before the collision takes place and that diminishes the speed considerably. Experiments show us that if the biggest ship in the world was going at full speed ahead she could be brought to rest three minutes after the engines are reversed from full speed ahead to full speed astern. I have pointed out that the skin of the ship struck is penetrated because of the hatchet-like action of the stem of the striking vessel. Should the fore part of the ship be flat, the skin of the ship collided with would be battered in, but not broken. The effect of the collision would be damage more or less serious, but there would be no hole in the skin. Certainly, it is impossible to build a ship with a flat nose, because such a ship could not be easily propelled, and besides, if we make the fore part of the ship flat we should be safe only when the blow was perpendicular. In order to show the difference of the effect of the sharp bow and the flat bow, allow me to give you the following example. Suppose I see the chairman in danger and I wish to move him in order to save him. If I try to move him by pressing him with the point of a sharp knife I am sure to kill or at least to wound him before the force of my blow sends him backward. Now suppose I push him with the flat of my hand. He will be neither wounded nor killed; he will simply be moved from his place. This clearly shows that the solution of the problem is to build a ship in such a way that her fore part should be sharp while she is propelled through the water, but that at the moment the nose of the ship touches the skin of another her fore part should collapse and present a flat surface. The power of the shock will consequently be distributed over a wide surface of the skin, bending inside ribs, beams, etc., without making a hole in the skin. Some part of the power of the shock will be exerted in collapsing the fore part of the colliding ship, and if this part is designed properly the collapse will absorb the greater portion of the blow. It would be almost desirable that at the moment of touching the false nose should begin collapsing before the skin of the other ship begins to give way. The force required for collapsing should increase with the progress of this collapse, because more surface of the striking ship is engaged in resisting the shock—maybe it will be possible to altogether avoid damage to the vessel which is struck by so arranging the false nose that the full power of the shock will be utilized for smashing this nose. By that time the ship which strikes will lose the greater part of her speed, and the other will recede in a corresponding manner. Let us examine the question whether ships can be provided with a false nose strong enough to resist the effect of the sea and weak enough to give way at the moment of collision. I feel that engineers whom I see in this audience are more expert than I to decide this question. If I venture to propose something it is for the simple reason that I wish to exchange ideas upon the subject in order to arrive at a proper conclusion. Let us imagine that the nose of the ship is built as usual, and that the false nose is an additional part which can be put on or taken off when necessary. I imagine that it ought to consist of very thin sheets of steel, say one-eighth of an inch, and should run in front of the ship, as shown in figure 1. Many little ribs and stays inside ought to give enough strength to the skin to enable it to resist the force of the waves. The space between the false shell and the nose of the ship ought to be filled with some soft, fibrous substance (not powder). This substance is intended to play the role of a cushion and the shell will play the role of a pillow-case. After collision the false nose will present the appearance as shown in figure 3. The ship's nose will not be damaged, and as generally there is no cargo in the fore compartment of the ship in front of the collision bulkhead, it will be the work of a few hours to unfasten the bolts and remove the smashed false nose in order that the ship may continue her voyage as if nothing had happened. I believe that it is necessary to carry on experiments on a large scale in order to find out which is the best way of constructing the false nose of the ship. The cost of these experiments will amount to only a trifling percentage of the loss which is being continually caused by collisions. Let the best engineers work out their plans and submit them to experts for examination. After this a general law might be passed making it compulsory for every ship to be provided with a false nose. Unfortunately in this matter everybody is interested in a general manner, but nobody in particular. Insurance companies prefer to be liberal, and they do not interfere much with the particulars of the building of a ship. They are obliged for a certain percentage to guarantee any risk. If one insurance company insists upon ship-owners providing ships with a false nose, then surely the number of the company's clients will diminish, and that will be followed by a diminution of the company's income. Now should one ship-owner put a false nose on his ships he would lose, because the false nose would weigh about two tons and cost about £200, and for this reason his ships would be dearer than the ships of his competitors and carry less cargo. The reasons mentioned before interfere very much with the furtherance of this improvement Only public opinion can give an effective incentive to the matter, and really if by subscriptions a fund can be raised and given to the Board of Trade or to any institution which will carry on the necessary experiments, then progress is bound to follow. We are not bound to decide the question in a moment, but every one should be reminded that the loss of property from collision is immense, and that almost every day many lives are lost, owing to the absence of any means to minimize the effect of collision at sea.
IMPROVEMENT IN WAR MATERIAL.
Reviewing the development of war material during the year 1895 the “Engineer" says: "The efficiency of quick-fire depends on the use of smokeless powder, and we may congratulate ourselves that while cordite has given us much trouble in manufacture, the finished article as issued for service has so far proved itself thoroughly stable and safe under the most trying conditions, while it has given excellent ballistic results; in fact, to say that it has established its character as thoroughly, probably more thoroughly than any other smokeless powder, is hardly to do justice to it. On the continent smokeless powders, chiefly based, like cordite, on the combination of nitro-glycerine and cotton, are used, but in the United States, strange to say, so great is the distrust of such powders that nothing better than a semi-smokeless powder of unsatisfactory behavior has been allowed to be used on board ship. On the other hand, the U. S. Navy have been forward to adopt high explosive bursting charges for their shells; recent experiments, however, instituted owing to reports from the seat of the Chinese and Japanese war, showed that powder produced greater effect than wet gun-cotton, and it is anticipated that powder will be reverted to in America.
"Passing on to armor, we find the United States, far from lagging behind, is here in the very front of the race of progress. In the United States a really good nickel treated plate will defeat a Holtzer 6-in. projectile. Till our treated plates do the same we are apparently left behind. Then, while we seldom test really thick treated plates, the United States authorities do so and have achieved most striking success with them, especially with what are called 'double forged' plates made by Carnegie. Double forging is the natural remedy for crystallization and weakness produced in very thick plates by the Harvey process, but double forging is untried in this country. At length, however, we are glad to hear that our armor-plate manufacturers are alive to what has been done abroad and are making efforts to push forward. At the Atlas Works (Brown's) nickel steel experimental plates are in course of manufacture, which will be ready for trial in a month. One of them has been forced after cementation by a process which is doubtless very similar to the reforging carried out in the United States, though taken up some time since—before the American results were known here. Messrs. Vickers are also alive to the desirability of developing nickel steel armor, so that we may shortly hope to see good results. While hitherto neglecting nickel in vertical armor, we have happily succeeded in making thin nickel steel plates for decks and structure of ships with peculiar properties, and consider that in them we have a strong element embodied in construction.
"Passing on to shot, even the excellent Carpenter projectiles of large caliber, made in America, appear now to have been beaten by those known as the Wheeler-Stirling make. We know of no achievements in this country to compare with what these projectiles have done. With ever-increasing velocities we might have expected to have had to record bursts of guns during the year. This has not been the case either in England or on the continent. The smokeless powders lend themselves to the achievement of very high velocities combined with a low maximum pressure.
"It can hardly be said that the year has shown good results for the very small-bore rifles adopted by almost all military powers. Some trials on carcasses showed that singularly little harm was done in perforating flesh, but it was explained that in living bodies the inelastic moisture present was violently thrown outward and enormous holes made. This was illustrated in lecture experiments with moist clay and the like. This was too readily accepted; suspicion should have been aroused by the fact that wild animals grazing did not always find out when they were hit; and still more direct evidence was afforded us when a collier, shot through the thigh in a riot, walked about for an hour or two fancying that he felt something, but not troubling much about it. Now evidence has poured in from opposite quarters of the world to the effect that the small bore is singularly deficient in stopping power. It might be said, indeed, to have the opposite effect, for a retreating Chinese is thought to have had his pace rather accelerated as a rule when struck by a Japanese small-bore bullet. Medical reports from England, the continent and America show that the wounds made both through flesh and bone give generally remarkably little trouble and heal with great rapidity. Our troops recently sent to Ashanti have been armed with the old Martini carbine of 0.45-inch bore, nor can we wonder. Savages who have not had the advantage of hearing the lecturer prove the effect of the bullets to be so terrible, would, we fear, take little or no notice of bullet wounds made by the 0.303-inch bore, unless they struck in a really vital place, such as the brain or heart, and these organs are perhaps not specially large in savages. Seriously, something will have to be done about the small-bore bullet; perhaps the partial removal of nickel covering may cause setting up of the bullet to a reasonable size on impact. If this is contrary to the Geneva Convention, might it not be laid down that a civilized soldier must retire from action after a certain number of hits, say two or three? For it appears that even this number have not always caused serious inconvenience at the time."
MODERN PROJECTILES, BY V. G.
[LE YACHT.]
Every warship being on the whole intended to fire projectiles and, as a necessary consequence, to receive some, it may prove interesting, in view of the numerous and heated debates raised through the introduction of new types of vessels in the European navies (not excepting the United States), to examine which are the kind of projectiles more likely to be adopted and their probable effects. Considering, moreover, that a vessel has to contend against guns of a superior design to those it was expected to face, a gun requiring relatively little expense for improvements compared with a ship, it may be equally interesting to say a few words in regard to the progress that the near future has in store in the way of projectiles.
At the present time the naval ordnance possesses two types—armor-piercing shells and shells with high explosive charges.
The armor-piercing shell, as its name indicates, is intended to penetrate the heavy armor plates of a vessel and eventually to injure her vitals. In theory there does not exist an armor plate capable of resisting the perforating energy of a high-power armor-piercing shell, but in practice its efficiency is doubted by the most competent judges of ordnance. If the projectile strikes the enemy's ship above the protective deck it goes right through the light upper works without doing much damage, for its powder charge is, in fact, feeble. The bursting of the shell is produced exclusively by the impact of the projectile, and there is very little probability of an explosion resulting from contact with sheet-iron or even light plates. Were it even to occur, the damage would be far less than that caused by a shell charged with a high explosive, however small.
For an armor-piercing shell to produce serious damage it must strike the thick part of the armor-belt and tear it asunder so as to cause a large opening for the rushing water, or else going clear through, burst in the interior of the vessel. Now the target presented by a belt hardly rising 0.60 m. to 0.70 m. above the water-line, and constantly screened by the crests of the waves, is extremely small. If we reflect, moreover, that an armor to be seriously damaged must be hit at a favorable angle, and that the firing of heavy caliber guns is relatively slow, we can easily understand that the effects of armor-piercing projectiles are rather uncertain. The common shell is now-a-days far more to be dreaded, for it is not now as formerly by its mass or its broken pieces that it acts, but by the destructive power of the gun-cotton, nitro-gelatine or melinite with which it is charged. These shells, in fact, are real torpedoes fired at a greater distance and with far more accuracy than the automobile torpedo. The charge of these flying torpedoes is much smaller than that of submarine torpedoes, although certain heavy caliber shells contain the same charges as the Whitehead, but on the other hand rapid-fire guns can pour into the enemy's vessel a perfect hail of missiles in a comparatively short space of time.
The ideal in this class of projectiles would naturally be to carry the heaviest possible weight of metal in order to produce an explosion in the interior of the vessel.
Fortunately, up to the present at least, it has been found impossible to fire this class of projectiles against a plate several centimeters thick without its exploding on impact on the outside. In the latter case the results are of little consequence; on the other hand the effects are terrific when the projectile explodes in the interior after going through the hull when the latter is only formed of thin plates.
Experiments made in France on the Belligueuse and at the Gâvres Proving Grounds, as well as in England on the Resistance, have demonstrated the above facts beyond a doubt.
Everything in proximity to the explosion is completely wrecked thousands of pieces of shell flying in all directions with incalculable force and crashing through decks and partitions alike. When the explosion takes place above the protective deck the latter is torn open, and the flying debris, forming so many projectiles in turn, demolishes everything below. In addition to these mechanical effects, the nitrous vapors and the oxide of carbon generated render the air absolutely unfit for breathing during a considerable space of time.
The shells are not only dangerous when bursting in the interior of the vessel; when falling in close proximity to the ship they explode under water by contact with the hull, producing the same effects as the ordinary torpedo. Experiments made on the Provence have completely proven this fact. In case of war, shells with explosive charges will be almost exclusively used, first on account of their tremendous destructive power, and then because the unprotected superstructures of most of the warships now afloat form a target far more easily reached than their thick armor. Thus it is that the ordnance men of all the European navies are hard at work improving them. The problem is not very easy of solution. The qualities of the high explosive shell seem to antagonize, so to say, one another. The heavier the charge and the thinner the casing the greater the liability of the shell to burst at the slightest shock.
The Americans first conceived the idea of firing torpedoes against the enemy's vessel through the air. Not having at command an explosive sufficiently reliable to withstand the shock of a gun firing a powder charge, they tried pneumatic guns. In order to make the experiments more conclusive they did not hesitate to build a vessel of 2500 tons-the Vesuvius—which carried three pneumatic guns 30 meters long. The results were not commensurable with the sacrifices made. The range of the guns was too small. The necessity of training the latter by means of the vessel itself deprived the firing of anything like accuracy. Finally, the sheet-iron tubes protruding upward more than ten meters would, in action, have been disabled in a very short time. The trials of the Vesuvius put, for the time being, an end to pneumatic guns in the United States. Their ordnance men adopted the ideas of their European colleagues and sought to utilize the ordinary gun in firing projectiles containing the highest explosive charges and capable of piercing without bursting, the greatest metal thickness possible.
Owing to the secrecy with which the different governments jealously guard their researches it is impossible to form a comparison of the results obtained. It is pretty certain, however, that the problem has been satisfactorily solved in England and the United States. The general features of the battleships lately put upon the stocks, and the particular care taken to protect the superstructures, do not admit of any other interpretation.
Our (French) Naval Ordnance Department, after a brilliant beginning in the study of high-power projectiles, has allowed itself of late to be distanced. About eight years ago, and probably for the first time, experiments were made at Gâvres with thin steel shells charged with melinite. The projectile gave great satisfaction through its ability to traverse thin plates without exploding, but owing probably to some defects in the fuses there were many premature explosions.
The Navy Ordnance Department then abandoned the experiments and went back to the ordinary cast-iron shell, substituting only melinite for the common powder. The latter projectiles are not only wanting in power, owing to the thickness of the metal, but on account of lack of hardness they are more sensitive to shock than steel shells of thinner make.
The most curious part about it is that the War Department took hold of the experiments abandoned by the Navy and brought them to a successful issue. The War Department possesses at present, if we are to rely on information gathered from various essays, high-power projectiles of all calibers up to 27 cm. The thickness of the shell is only one-tenth of the caliber. The projectile of 27 cm. contains a charge of about 60 kilos of melinite. It is perfectly safe in handling and firing. It is extremely desirable that the Navy resume without delay the study of high explosives. By simply adopting the method in use in the War Department for its projectiles of high explosive charges, the power of the naval armament would be considerably increased. The expense would be small, for it is only a question of manufacturing new projectiles without any alteration in the guns or their installations aboard.
The influence of the introduction of high-power explosives upon the construction of warships can all the easier be predicted now when it is a partly accomplished fact. To the decrease in importance as an offensive factor of the armor-piercing projectile corresponds, as a matter of course, the decrease in importance of the water-line belt as a defensive power. To the possibility of reaching the vitals of the vessel by means of high explosive shells going through and exploding in the upper works, must correspond the greatest possible protection to the superstructures, the adoption of the double-protective deck, and, according to our idea, the elimination of everything not susceptible of protection. The presence of superstructures is a source of danger, not because of their existence, their destruction having little importance from a military point of view, but because they are the means of causing the explosion of high-power projectiles. It is not unlikely that further researches will soon discover the means of penetrating the thickest possible armor. The protection of superstructures must therefore keep on increasing, and, eventually, unless the size of battleships is to be augmented beyond measure, their exposed surface must dwindle down more and more until, after a time, the vessels will nearly resemble the monitor type—the only one that is to some extent proof against the new projectiles. Again, if it be true that high-power projectiles, acting like torpedoes when exploding in the water, are not dangerous in a horizontal firing, it is quite different in the case of a plunging fire. In the first case the projectiles fired almost horizontally have a great chance of rebounding on the water and exploding in the air; in the second, however, falling normally they will burst in the water and damage the hull. Up to the present time, owing to the rolling and tossing of vessels, a plunging fire does not guarantee great accuracy. With a coast battery, however, where the train can be regulated in advance, the result would be to throw in the vicinity of the vessel a perfect shower of projectiles, all acting like so many torpedoes. Nothing can protect a vessel against a plunging fire. If new discoveries, difficult to conceive of at the present time, but still not improbable, should allow of more accuracy in a plunging fire, the defensive power of vessels would be extremely diminished. Their reduced size, joined to high speed and extreme mobility, alone would present some guarantee of protection.
J. L.
THE TRAINING OF FRENCH NAVAL OFFICERS.
[ENGINEERING.]
The recent establishment in France, by the Department of the Marine, of a technical training college for officers of the Navy is regarded as an important step that has been taken in consequence of sustained efforts made by those most earnestly seeking to raise the standard of efficiency of the French Navy.
In France, as elsewhere, special training is necessary for the creation of naval officers, and it has long been recognized with regret that adequate preparation does not exist there.
When, a short time since, the 1896 budget for the Navy was under discussion in the French Chambers, a careful examination was made of all the schools in which naval or marine officers were specially trained; it was considered that the instruction thus given was very imperfect, and that the existing primary and advanced naval schools involved a great outlay without commensurate return. A general desire was expressed in the Chambers, either that less money should be expended on these schools, or that they should be supplemented by a thoroughly efficient and superior naval college.
There exists in France a superior military college for the benefit of army officers; this is the Ecole Supérieure de Guerre, which is established at Paris. Its purpose, as defined by the regulations prepared when it was established, is the development of advanced military studies in order to create thoroughly efficient officers. A condition of admission to this school is that the applicant must have a captain's or lieutenant's rank in one branch of the service—infantry, cavalry, artillery, etc.—must have had five years of service as an officer, and have passed three years with the army or as a military instructor. The candidate must pass an examination, with the permission of the corps commandant, before he is admitted. The details of this examination are changed every year, and approved by the Minister of War. It varies, however, but little, and deals broadly with military tactics, topography, the preparation of plans, history, geography, and equitation; subjects are also given to show familiarity with modern languages, artillery, fortification, international law, etc.
It was with a strong sense of the importance of such facilities for the proper training of naval officers, that the Minister of Marine prepared a scheme, for which he has obtained the Presidential sanction, for the establishment of a superior naval college. The Minister advanced arguments which appeared to him fully to justify such a step. In order to secure the greatest efficiency in the fleet during a time of war, the personnel must have been able beforehand to make itself familiar with the constant changes and transformations that take place in war material. "France possesses no institution where the science of tactics can be properly taught to officers who will be called upon to assume responsible commands at sea; it is necessary that such officers should, from the moment of their going on board ship, be so educated that they could immediately carry out suitable tactics in the presence of an enemy." The Minister also enlarged on the satisfactory results that are now obtained at the Ecole de Guérre existing for the benefit of army officers, and he maintained that it was necessary "to create for the marine a corresponding organization. The establishment of such a school implies a practical training in view of actual war, and as a sailor's most useful place should be on board ship, a floating school is necessary, consisting of cruisers placed under the control of a general commandant. It is only with the facilities that would be obtained by this arrangement that great naval tactical problems, and all the consequences they involve, could be worked out." It is with this object in view that the organization has been completed and the school established "to facilitate the investigation of problems inseparable from modern naval war, and to make as large a number as possible of officers familiar with the duties and responsibilities of command." In order to give as practical an aspect to this scheme as possible, and at the same time to carry it out with as little expenditure as might be consistent with efficiency, the school is installed on board ships already in commission; these vessels constitute an independent naval division under the command of a general directing officer. The existing plan of mobilising the fleet is not in any way modified by this formation, because it will be always possible during the general manoeuvres to summon the several vessels constituting the training squadron, to take their place with the rest of the fleet. At present the training division is made up of three cruisers—the Admiral Charner, the Suchet (these two forming part of the Mediterranean squadron), and the Latouche-Tréville, which has been told off from the northern squadron. Vice-Admiral Fournier has been elected head of the school, and flies his Pennant on the Admiral Charner. His staff consists of a captain, two lieutenant aides-de-camp—one of whom is selected from the students—one chief engineer, one assistant engineer from the State dockyard, one director of administration, a division surgeon, and one captain of marine artillery. On board each of the ships forming this division there are a captain, a commander, one chief engineer of the first class and three engineers of the second class, one administrating officer, and a surgeon.
The officer-pupils for this school will be selected each year by the Minister of Marine from the general list of lieutenants proposed for advancement; this list is prepared by the Commission de Classement. The officers are nominated in the order in which they stand on the list, exceptions being made of those who are engaged on foreign service. The officer-pupils enter the school without passing any examination; they will remain there during one year, attending courses on the following subjects, among others: naval tactics, organization of attack, theory of naval signalling, coast attack and defense, submarine navigation, theory and practical construction, the actual condition of the French and foreign fleets and their equipments, the general principles of ballistics, torpedoes, machinery, the perforation of armor-plates, the analyses of historic facts that might be useful in their bearings upon modern fleets, the principles of international maritime law, hygiene, etc. During the period of their instruction the students will be examined on these different subjects, and when they leave they undergo an examination before a commission, consisting not only of the director and the captains of the training ships, but also of a vice-admiral commanding a squadron. If the students pass this examination successfully they receive certificates from the commission, and it is from such certified officers, and in the order of their leaving the school, that they will be drafted into the general staff, either for marine or land service. These positions are always one of confidence. In addition to this, one-third of all available commands are to be reserved for these certificated officers, according to their respective grades. The professors are selected from among the officers of the various marine corps. Vice-Admiral Fournier has chosen those who are best recognized for their scientific attainments; he himself has taken charge of the course of naval tactics, in concert with the captains of the three cruisers. The work of the college has only just commenced; later on the division will be attached to the squadrons that will take part in the great naval manoeuvres, an opportunity which will be full of special instruction for the students. Until then, however, the ships will not leave the Mediterranean coast, and will cruise between Port Vandres and Villefranche.
This new development has been very favorably received in France. It is recognized as affording the best means of teaching officers not to be specialists only, but enabling them to acquire a general knowledge of their profession, which is absolutely necessary before they can assume the responsibility of command. Certain unfavorable criticisms have, however, been made; it has been urged that the college ought to have been established on shore and not on sea; that there are many interruptions inseparable from the necessities of daily routine; that at sea the number of professors must be more limited and facilities for reference more restricted, while at the same time the number of students who can be received is more limited; it is also advanced as another objection that externes cannot take advantage of the college, such as officers of any grade desirous of completing some branch of study. It is hardly necessary to add that these critics had hoped to see the college established in Paris. All these objections are, however, too shallow to have called forth serious discussion. It is not to be expected that the naval college thus established is as complete as can be desired; it is, indeed, almost certain that various modifications and improvements will be introduced which will be gradually dictated by experience. It appears, however, very certain that the French Marine Department has, by its establishment, provided a means by which the standard of efficiency of the officers in the French Navy will be raised, and the fighting value of the ships they will command be considerably increased.
CORDITE.
[THE ENGINEER.]
Cordite is an intimate mixture of nitro-glycerine, gun-cotton, and mineral jelly, or vaseline. The thorough blending of the two main ingredients is promoted by the addition of acetone, a substance in which both are soluble during the process of incorporation. The mineral jelly acts merely in the way of restraining the violence of explosion, and serves also to produce a little smoke, which acts usefully as a lubricant to the bore of the gun. The curious effect of the intimate mixture of nitro-glycerine and gun-cotton is to modify their characters and properties altogether. The former substance is an unstable liquid, which decomposes with explosive force on account of the mobility of its molecules; while dry gun-cotton behaves in the same manner because of its highly porous nature, which permits ignition to take place almost simultaneously throughout its mass. Cordite, on the other hand, is a horny substance, which burns only on the surface even under the severe heat and pressure obtaining in guns, as is demonstrated by the fact that partially consumed cords, blown out of guns, retain their shape though reduced often to extreme tenuity. The consequence of this property is that the rate of explosion can be regulated by varying the proportions of surface to volume; thus cords of smallest diameter burn more quickly than the larger sizes, and by slicing up the material into very thin discs, and omitting the vaseline, explosion, having almost the rapidity of detonation, can be produced. It thus becomes easy to adapt cordite to any nature of gun. The service pistol, for example, takes cords of .01 in. diameter, cut to short lengths, forming, in fact, a fine powder; while the new 12-inch wire gun takes bundles of cords 1/2 inch in diameter and 14 inches long.
Like nitro-glycerine and gun-cotton, cordite is sensitive to heat and light. Exhaustive experiments have shown that it is not expedient to expose it constantly to a higher temperature than 100° F., although it suffers no change if occasionally heated as high as 130° F. Long exposure to temperature above 100° F. leads, however, to no danger, but may occasion a very slow decomposition of the material, an effect which will show itself in the ballistics obtained from the guns it is fired from; but no change of this nature has as yet been actually observed. The finer the subdivision of the explosive, the more susceptible it naturally is to heat.
Experiments carried on during a whole winter in Quebec have demonstrated that the ballistics are not affected by extreme cold; but experience, even in this country, shows that cordite transferred suddenly from a very cold room into a warm one will occasionally extrude a minute portion of its nitro-glycerine, which appears as a very light dew upon its surface. But this exudation is gradually reabsorbed as the material gets warm; and in any case it is not a source of danger, nor does it affect the shooting qualities of the material.
Prolonged trials in India have also demonstrated that cordite does not suffer from exposure to the extreme temperatures of a tropical climate, and as magazines can always be arranged not to have a temperature higher than 100° F., there seems to be no reason why large quantities should not be stored for a considerable number of years. The occasional exposure to much higher temperatures in the pouches of the soldiers and the limber-boxes of the guns does not produce any deleterious effect. Direct sunlight quickly turns cordite into a very dark-colored substance, and diffused light has the same effect only after very much longer exposure. Direct light causes slow decomposition; but sticks exposed for several years to diffused light, though very much darkened in color, show no measurable chemical change. Owing to the total absence of dust, cordite is a remarkably safe explosive to manipulate. It can be exploded by a severe blow, as, for instance, by striking with a hammer a cord laid on an anvil; in such case the portion immediately under the hammer explodes, but the explosion is not communicated to the cord on both sides of the hammer.
When fired in the open, or even when enclosed in the 100-pound service cases, it only burns with a fierce flame even when in considerable masses. Thus, a bonfire made round eight cases piled up against each other only fired the contents of the boxes in succession as the wood of the boxes burned away, and not only was there no explosion, but the lids of the boxes were merely forced open enough to let the products of combustion escape. Again, a temporary magazine in which two tons of cordite were distributed on reticulated shelves was kept at 100° F. a fortnight and then fired. There was no explosion. The slate roof was lifted off by the rush of gas and deposited on the ground beside the building, no more injured than would be accounted for by its fall; the windows in the brick gables were not broken, and the door had to be unlocked to give access to the firemen.
There is, indeed, some difficulty in igniting cordite even when it forms the charge of a gun, and primings of gun-cotton or black powder have to be used in the case of cannon, while in small arms the percussion caps have to be charged with composition which will give a good flash. When, however, the priming is sufficient, misfires and hangfires are rare.
The volume of the chamber of a gun compared with the weight of the charge is a matter of great importance. On account of the relatively large volume of gases given out and their high temperature, compared with the products of combustion of black powder, the density of the charge must be much less. Solid cordite measures 17 3/4 cubic inches to the pound, and if fired in a chamber of that capacity would give a pressure of at least 120 tons to the square inch, which would, of course, be destructive to any gun. If a density of 54 cubic inches be assigned, as is the case in some of the larger quick-firing guns, a pressure of 40 tons to the inch might be realized, and is nearly the maximum which can be obtained with black powder; whereas, if, say, 100 cubic inches to the pound be the density, as is the case in many guns, the pressure can never rise above 20 tons to the inch; consequently it is found that in guns with high density charges the pressure and velocities are much affected by climatic changes and by the conditions of the bore and of the shot. But even under such unfavorable conditions of density, the regularity of shooting is quite equal to that obtained with black powder.
The diameter of the cords is proportioned to suit the bore of the gun, the capacity of the chamber, and the length of travel of the shot. Up to the present the sizes made range from .01 inch diameter for the service revolver to .5 inch diameter for the new 12-inch naval gun.
With respect to erosion, it may be said that it certainly is not greater than that arising from the use of black powder, and it is of much more favorable kind. Black and brown powders scoop out and plough rough, irregular channels in the bore, whereas cordite appears to wash away the surface in a uniform manner. This effect is probably due to the absence of solid or liquid particles in the products of combustion, and to the presence of a large proportion of carbonic oxide at a high temperature. The erosion extends for only a few calibers along the bore, and owing to these circumstances expanding gas checks on the driving bands of the shot enable the gun to shoot well longer than when powder is used. It should be borne in mind also that the ballistics obtained by the use of cordite are very much higher, as a rule, than with black powder; in the case of the 12-inch naval gun, for example, the energy imparted to the shot is 1.8 times greater than in the old service gun, consequently increased wear must be expected.
The manufacture of cordite is extremely simple. The nitro-glycerine and the dried gun-cotton are mixed together in accurately weighed proportions. The liquid is poured over the gun-cotton, and mixed with it by hand till the nitro-glycerine is completely absorbed, and the resulting mass looks like a quantity of dirty white moist sugar. This mass is then placed into kneading machines with a proper proportion of acetone, and is incorporated for three and a half hours, when about 5 per cent of vaseline is added, and the kneading continued for another three and a half hours. The mass then becomes a stiff dough, not unlike raw Jamaica sugar in appearance and about the same color, and is ready for squirting into any size or form that may be needed, for unlike the old powders, the composition of cordite is the same in every variety of size produced.
The squirting machines consist simply of vertical cylinders of various sizes, into which the dough is placed. They are fitted at their lower ends with one or more removable dies, and provided with pistons actuated by screws or by hydraulic cylinders. In the former case the pressure of the screw is transmitted through a hydraulic cushion, which gives the means of noting the pressure and also of relieving it when excessive. For the small sizes used in rifle ammunition, the cords are wound automatically as they issue from the dies on to reels holding about one pound each, these are blended together in tens on to a single reel, and six of the latter are combined on one reel, from which the sixty strands are fed into the cartridges. The larger sizes are either wound by hand on to reels, whence they are cut off in lengths, or they are delivered by the press on to an endless band to which knives are fastened at the required distances. The cord lies over the knives, which, passing under a small roller, cut through the cord and leave it ready to be picked off by boys and arranged in shallow trays. The small-arm reels and the trays of cut cord are placed in stoves, in which they are dried by exposure to currents of air warmed up to 100° F., and in this process all the acetone is driven off. When dry, the cut cords, like the cordite on reels, is blended so as to make uniform samples. The danger of the manufacture is confined to the production of the nitro-glycerine and the drying of the gun-cotton. As soon as the two explosives are mixed together they appear to be incapable of explosion, except when confined in a gun.
ELECTRIC TRAINING GEAR.
[ENGINEERING MECHANICS.]
A fifteen horse-power electric motor is used to operate the 9.45-inch gun on French battleships, but only two-thirds of this energy is required. A French engineering works is now completing 40 turrets for battleships. This change in turret management from hydraulic power to electricity has been brought about by Canet in a comparatively short time. Trials have demonstrated the reliability under all conditions. The man in charge of the turret is always enabled to hold it under complete control; not only is he able to arrest the movement of the platform suddenly at any desired moment, no matter what velocity is imparted to the turret, without creating any shock or reaction to the heavy moving mass, but he is able at will to make the fine adjustment in training with great facility and speed through distances less than one fortieth of a degree. Tests of this class were repeatedly carried out at the trials in the presence of a large number of French and foreign naval officers. By the special arrangements introduced into the Canet turret, and the care with which all the parts making up the system are counterbalanced, the power required to revolve the moving parts is reduced to a minimum. The work of turning the turret of the 24-centimeter gun, with its heavy platform, armored protection, and the gun itself, is performed with a 15 horse-power electric motor, or rather that is the nominal power of the motor provided, but as a matter of fact only about two-thirds of this energy are required. A 3 horse-power electric motor is sufficient for effecting all the operations of training the 12-centimeter guns and their lighter turrets. The ammunition hoist of the 24-centimeter gun is driven by a separate electric motor of 8 horse-power; this motor is controlled by a special type of commutator which imparts the intermittent motions required for the charging the hoist and raising and delivering the ammunition on the gun platform; the action of the commutator is entirely automatic and is provided with a safety device.
SILENT SETTING-UP DRILL.
All the setting-up drill on the Raleigh—twice a day—is now carried on without orders. A petty officer or other leading man is placed where all can see him, and he and the rest of the division go through the exercises without a sound being uttered. It is found that the drill is done very smoothly and satisfactorily. By facing the men according to circumstances, no difficulty is found in seeing the leader.
It would perhaps be well to teach new men the names and orders for each exercise before they take part in this silent drill, which seems to have originated on the Dolphin.
SHIPS OF WAR.
[UNITED STATES.]
HELENA.
The gunboat Helena was successfully launched from the yards of the Newport News Shipbuilding Company on January 30, 1896. She is the third and last vessel of her class to be launched. She is built of steel throughout and depends wholly on steam as her motive power.
Her principal dimensions are: Length on load water-line, normal displacement, 250 feet 9 inches; maximum breadth, 40 feet 1 inch; mean draft at normal displacement, 9 feet; freeboard forward, 19 feet 9 inches; freeboard aft, 11 feet 2 inches; normal displacement, 1392 tons; coal carried at normal displacement, 100 tons; total coal capacity, 279.73 tons; speed, contract, and estimated, 13 knots; complement, officers and crew, 170 men.
She is designed to meet the requirements of roomy and well-ventilated quarters, so as to provide for refugees, as in the case of missionaries, and to enable her to carry a large landing party. She has berthing capacity for many men besides her crew, and carries ships' boats of an unusual size, her steam cutter and sailing launch being each 33 feet long, or as large as those supplied to the heaviest battleships. In external appearance she will resemble a small battleship, as she has a large military mast with two military tops, similar in all respects to the one on the battleship Iowa, and which serves to command the banks of a river or houses in any town where she may have to prevent rioting. A conning-tower on the mast just below the first military top enables the ship to be manoeuvred at a height of 45 feet above the water-line. Her after-body has been largely cut and two rudders, protected by heavy braces, to enable her to run with safety into a river and swing around in a narrow stream with the current. The armament consists of eight 4-inch B. L. R. F., four 6-pdr. R. F., two 1-pdr. R. F., and two Gatlings.
THE IOWA.
The first-class battleship Iowa was successfully launched on March 28 from the shipyards of William Cramp & Sons. Her keel was laid in August, 1893. The ship followed after her coast-line prototypes, the Indiana, Massachusetts, and Oregon, and in design was purposed to excel the earlier ships, and how much she does so a comparison with the Indiana will show:
Indiana: Length on load water-line, 348 feet; breadth of beam, extreme, 69 feet 3 inches; displacement in tons, normal draft, 11,410; mean draft at normal displacement, 24 feet; freeboard forward, 11 feet 8 inches; normal coal supply, 400 tons; total coal capacity, bunkers filled, 1640 tons; maximum indicated horse-power, contract, 9000; speed in knots, contract, 15; complement of officers and crew, 460.
Iowa: Length on load water-line, 360 feet; breadth of beam, extreme, 72 feet 2.5 inches; displacement in tons, normal draft, 11,410; mean draft at normal displacement, 24 feet; freeboard forward, 19 feet; normal coal supply, 625 tons; total coal capacity, bunkers filled, 1780 tons; maximum indicated horse-power, contract, 9,000; speed in knots, contract, 16; complement of officers and crew, 490.
The hull is of steel, with a double bottom and close water-tight subdivisions extending up to a height of ten feet above the load water-line. The formation of the sides amidship, where they roll inboard, secured increased freeboard, without the added weight consequent were the lines carried up with the water-line fullness, gives an easier curve of stability, roomier quarters for the crew, greater sweep for the guns in the broadside sponsons, and promises efficiency of the great guns in almost any fighting condition of the sea.
For a distance of 185 feet amidships the water-line region is reinforced by a 7 1/2-foot belt of 4-inch steel, three feet above and four and a half feet below the water-line. The forward and after ends of this belt turn inboard and athwartship with a thickness of 12 inches. Upon the walls so formed rests a flat protective deck of steel 2 3/4 inches thick, and from the lower edges of the athwartship bulkheads, running forward and aft to the bow and stem, are two other protective decks 3 inches thick, the forward one terminating just back of the ram.
From the top of the broadside belt and up to the line of the main deck, running forward and aft amidships for a distance of 90 feet, the sides are 5 inches thick, backed by a number of feet of coal and several inches of heavy yellow pine. Forward and abaft the casemate armor, from the protective deck up to the main deck, the outside plating is backed by a wide cofferdam filled with cellulose and divided into numerous compartments.
The Iowa will carry a main battery of four 12-inch breech-loading rifles, mounted in pairs, in two barbette turrets of the balanced type 15 inches thick, firing through an arc of 270 degrees, and eight 8-inch rifles in four barbette turrets 8 inches thick, mounted on the upper deck, and possessing individual arc of fire of 170 degrees.
The secondary battery will be composed of six 4-inch rapid-fire rifles, four of which are mounted on the main deck in armored sponsons and sheltered by thick splinter bulkheads of steel, and the two remaining mounted aft on the bridge deck, sheltered by fixed shields. Twenty 6-pounder, four 1-pounder and four Gatling guns will constitute an auxiliary force and be mounted on the main deck, on the superstructure and bridges and up in the tops of the military post. From the bow or two places on either broadside there are torpedo tubes for the discharge of torpedoes.
The propelling machinery will consist of three double-ended boilers 21 feet long, with diameters of 16 feet 9 inches, and two single-ended boilers 10 feet long, with diameters of 16 feet 9 inches, in four watertight compartments, and of two sets of triple-expansion engines, each in its own compartment and driving its own shaft, having cylinders of 39, 55 and 85 inches and a common stroke of 48 inches. The boiler supplying steam at a working pressure of 160 pounds, and the engines making 112 revolutions a minute, it is estimated that the ship will develop a speed of 16 knots an hour. With her bunkers filled, and at a cruising speed of 10 knots an hour, she should be able to steam about 7400 miles, while at full speed, under like conditions, she should be able to cover 3000 miles and have a radius of endurance of six days. Nearly a hundred auxiliary engines will add to the efficiency of the ship.
The conning-tower, of steel 10 inches thick, just beneath the pilot-house and behind and above the forward 12-inch turret, will be the fighting station for the captain, and through the armored tube leading below there will be means of communication to every important station essential to his knowledge and control in action.
The small rapid-fire guns are mounted in a manner assuring the greatest sweep. The use of wood has been reduced wherever possible, and the major part of that used will be subjected to an electrical fire-proofing process of tried efficiency.
THE NEW TORPEDO BOATS.
[SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN.]
A second triple addition to the mosquito fleet of the United States Navy has been provided for in the act of Congress of March 2, 1895, appropriating for the construction of torpedo-boats Nos. 6, 7 and 8, the individual cost of which, including governmental superintendence, preparation of plans, and the provision and installation of ordnance outfit must not exceed $175,000—a moderate allowance, which, but for present prices and skillful management of design, would be impracticable.
With the completion of these and the three other boats authorized in 1894, the service will be possessed of eight craft of this order, representing four periods of constructive and engineering progression within the past six years. Of their kind, that of torpedo-boats pure and simple, the new vessels will be the largest in the world and unexcelled by those of any other nation, while in point of speed and weatherliness they will closely approach the more formidable torpedo-boat catcher—features demanded by our broken coast line.
With a displacement of 180 tons, they will be 170 feet between perpendiculars, with an extreme water-line beam of 17 feet upon a mean, normal draught of 5 feet 6 inches. The hulls are models of the most recent practice, with an easy razor-like entrance and a long fine run below water toward the screws. The "tumble-home," which begins just forward of the midship section, increases afterward, where it broadens out over the propellers, giving a very full water-line area of shallow draught. This flat form of stern prevents the settling so common to torpedo-boats under full power, while holding to the water in all conditions of weather and preventing racing of the screws.
The boats will be built of steel. The armament will consist of three 18-inch torpedo-tubes on swivel mounts and of four 1-pounder rapid-fire guns. Six hundred rounds of ammunition will be allowed for the guns, while four automobile torpedoes—the type yet undetermined—will be provided; the spare one being carried in a steel stowing case on the starboard beam. The torpedo discharges will be arranged on the main deck, two forward and one aft, the forward tubes being placed slightly en echelon, admitting of considerable athwartship fire in addition to the extended field of action of each on its own side. The after discharge will be on the center line, and will have an unhampered sweep of 280 degrees. This emplacement is devoid of "dead angles," and gives an all-round discharge of great scope.
The conning-towers, of which there are two, will be near the bow and the stern, each about 35 feet from its respective end. Hand-steering gear will supplement in the forward tower the steam mechanism common to both towers, affording one more chance in case of mechanical failure.
The forward tower will be surmounted by one of the 1-pounder guns, to be worked from a gallery on the after side. The three others will be mounted along the sides, two on the port and one on the starboard.
The freeboard forward is carried up to a height of 12 feet 6 inches, adding materially to the sea-going qualities of the boats while yielding increased berthing space for the crew and a housing for some of the forward mechanisms.
So important is speed in this type of craft that fifty per cent of the total displacement will be absorbed by the boilers, engines and appurtenances, and the magnitude of this amount may best be appreciated when it is known that this allowance is just double that for the motive mechanism of the commerce-destroyers Columbia and Minneapolis.
The engines, which are of the triple expansion sort, each in its own water-tight compartment and actuating a separate screw, are very fine examples of power and compactness, beautifully balanced, with a very nice distribution and division of weights. With a common stroke of 18 inches, impelled by steam at a pressure of 250 pounds to the square inch, supplied by three water tube boilers that flank the engine space—two forward and one aft—the two six-foot manganese bronze screws will be driven by the engines at the rate of 395 turns a minute, developing an indicated horse-power of 3200, and driving the boats through the water at a speed of 26 knots an hour.
The normal coal supply will be 12 tons, with a total bunker capacity of 60.
There will be no search-lights, but the boats will be lighted by electricity; and natural ventilation will be ample to insure comfort under all conditions of service. Folding boats will be carried.
The officers will be aft, while the crew will be provided for in the forecastle and just below on the berth deck. Excepting the captain and engineer, who will have separate state-rooms and bunks, the two other officers, the four machinists, and the sixteen seamen, each in a common country, will sleep in folding berths, easily turned out of the way to afford added space and comfort when not in use.
No premiums are offered for increased speed, and, with the well-known governmental margin of safety, the penalties for decreased speed need not be feared; while even a more excellent performance may reasonably be hoped for.
One boat will be built by Moran Brothers Company, of Seattle, Washington, for $163,350, and the two others will be built by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company, of Bristol, R. I., for $144,000 apiece.
[ENGLAND.]
BRITISH WARSHIP BUILDING NOTES.
[ENGINEER, March 13.]
In view of the new orders for battleships, cruisers, etc., which may shortly be expected to be distributed among the Royal Dockyards and private shipbuilding and marine engineering establishments, the following notes of the progress made with some of the unfinished battleships and cruisers ordered under the late Spencer programme may be of interest at this time.
Of the battleships nearest completion the first to be noticed is the Renown, an armored steel vessel of 12,350 tons displacement, which was built at Pembroke and launched last May, and has been engined by Messrs. Maudslay, Sons & Field, of Lambeth. The progress made—after her launch—in fitting the machinery was so rapid that she was enabled to leave Pembroke for Devonport on November 14th under her own steam. The Renown is the only ship of her design yet constructed, and it is noteworthy that the new battleships to be built under what we may now, we presume, call the Goschen programme, are all to be of the Renown type, but with some increase in displacement and armament. It is also worth noting that the time taken—six months only—in fitting the engines and boilers on board the Renown in Pembroke, where very poor facilities for such work exist, was appreciably less than in the case of the Magnificent at Chatham, and the Majestic at Portsmouth.
The next battleship in order of completion is the Prince George, an armored steel vessel of 14,900 tons displacement, built at Portsmouth, and engined by Messrs. Humphrys, Tennant & Co., of Deptford. The whole of this vessel's machinery, boilers, etc., is in place, but the work upon the ship has been very fitful in its progress; it is, however, so far advanced that she will be ready for steaming at moorings in May, for her official trials in July, and it is hoped she will be completed in October.
Rapid progress is being made with the new battleship Victorious, lately launched at Chatham Dockyard, and described in our columns, large numbers of workmen of all trades being employed upon her, many of them working overtime. About seven-tenths of the whole weight of the structure, including armor, has been built into her, but the casemates are rather backward, due to their armor not being delivered fast enough from the contractors.
The builders of the engines, Messrs. Hawthorn, Leslie & Co., of Newcastle, are employing a large staff, working overtime, to get the machinery fixed in the ship as soon as possible. The main engines and boilers are now in place and in a forward state, and the fixing of the auxiliary machinery, which includes about eighty sets of engines, is being rapidly proceeded with. The armament is being fitted in place, and the hydraulic machinery for working the 12-inch breech-loading guns to be carried in the barbettes is also being steadily advanced. Every exertion is being made to have a trial of the machinery of the ship in the dockyard basin in June, and it is expected that the vessel will be able to proceed to sea for her official steam trials in July, and be finally completed next October.
The first-class cruiser Powerful, building by the Naval Construction and Armaments Company at Barrow, is rapidly approaching completion, the whole of the structure of the hull and steel work in her being finished, and the armor of the barbettes, casemates and conning-towers in place. All decks are laid, bridges and deck-houses up, masts and fighting tops stepped, and the rigging practically complete. The steering, windlass, capstan and hoisting engines and gear, with the anchor gear and air-compressing machinery, are all in place and complete. The magazines, shell and store-rooms are lined and fitted, and rapid progress is being made with the ventilating systems, electric light installations, telegraphs, etc.
The main engines and all the boilers, which are of the Belleville water-tube type, thirty in number, are now in place, leaving only the armor gratings and castings over the boiler-rooms to be closed and finished, and it is expected to have steam up in a couple of months.
The Terrible—sister ship to the Powerful—building by Messrs. J. and G. Thomson, of Clydebank, is making very fair progress towards completion, but in consequence of the late strike in the Clyde district, and the engineers having only lately resumed work, the construction of the ship has been much retarded. As, however, the contract date for her delivery is January, 1897, this will no doubt easily be anticipated by her builders.
The work of completing and getting ready for sea the new second-class protected cruiser Minerva, whose float out at Chatham Dockyard was recorded by us last September, is being pushed along at a truly marvellous rate. This vessel, it will be remembered, is being supplied with her propelling machinery by the engineering department of Chatham Dockyard, and it being desired that her steam trials may take place in May, and her final completion be effected in July, a very large number of all classes of workmen is employed upon her with this object. The material now worked into her weighs nearly 2400 tons, including armor; the fixing of her machinery is far advanced, the work of fitting her armament on board is well forward, and her torpedo-tubes are nearly complete. This vessel has a coal capacity of 550 tons, and her engines, which are of the three-cylinder inverted triple expansion type, driving twin screws, are expected to develop 9600 indicated horse-power under forced draught to her boilers, and to give her a speed with that power of 17 1/4 knots.
The progress of construction of the armored battleship Illustrious, now building at Chatham, is very much behind, when compared with the celerity shown in the building of her sister ship, the Magnificent, at the same yard. The first-named vessel was laid down just a year ago, but is as yet only plated up to the armor deck, some only of the frames of the superstructure above that deck being in place. The boiler bearers and part of the auxiliary engine bearers are also in place, but the outer brackets for carrying the stern shafts will not be ready for a month.
The propelling machinery of this vessel has long since been completed by the engineer contractors, Messrs. John Penn & Sons, of Greenwich, and is waiting for transmission to the ship. It will be some considerable time before the vessel can take the water, unless a greater number of hands than is now employed is started to work upon her.
TORPEDO-BOAT DESTROYERS.
[ENGINEER.]
Two very successful trials of torpedo-boat destroyers, built and engined by Messrs. R. W. Hawthorn, Leslie & Co., Newcastle-on-Tyne, have recently taken place. The vessels are the Sunfish and the Opossum. The following particulars will be read with interest. The Yarrow boilers have given perfect satisfaction. They have no down-corners, and thus practically refute the contention of some writers that down-comers are essential:
Particulars of Three Hours' Full Power Trial of If. M. S. Sunfish.
Date of trial, 15th January, 1896
Eight boilers of the Yarrow straight-tube type, with 8506 square feet total heating surface and 160 square feet total grate surface.
Length of vessel, 200 ft.; beam of vessel, 19 ft.
Particulars of Three Hours' Full Power Trial of H. M. S. Opossum.
Date of trial, 3rd February, 1896.
THE DESPERATE.
[ENGINEERING]
The Desperate, the first of six of the new class of torpedo-boat destroyers ordered from Messrs. John I. Thornycroft & Co., was launched from their yard at Chiswick on the 15th of February. The new destroyer is in general design similar to the Daring, built by the same firm, but, having to attain the speed of 30 knots, she is larger, and is provided with greater engine power. Her length is 210 feet; beam, 19 feet 6 inches; and depth, 13 feet 6 inches. To keep down the weight of the hull a new special make of steel has been used in it, which has a greater tensile strength of some ten tons to the square inch than the mild steel generally used. The propelling machinery of the new vessel is of the Daring type and arrangement, but is designed to indicate 5400 indicated horse-power, or 1000 more than that of the Daring. The boilers are of the Thornycroft water-tube type, three in number, the two forward ones being placed back to back with one funnel in common, and the after one with a funnel to itself. An improvement has been made by utilizing the space between the funnels and their casings as upcast shafts for the purpose of ventilation. A modification has been made in the bow and stem of the Desperate consequent on the high speed she is intended to attain, the bow having more flare, and the stem being made to rake forward, instead of aft, above water, thereby rendering her a much drier vessel than would otherwise be the case. The armament is to be six quick-firing guns—four on the broadsides, one forward and one aft—and two torpedo tubes. The Desperate was launched with all her machinery, boilers, etc., on board, and is practically ready for steaming, so that she should soon make her trials.*
*At the preliminary trials of the Desperate, one of the new destroyers built by Messrs. Thornycroft & Co., the record for speed at sea was broken, four runs on the measured mile giving an average of 31.035 knots or 35 3/4 statute miles per hour.
THE PELORUS.
[ENGINEERING.]
On Saturday, February 15th, the new twin-screw cruiser Pelorus was launched from Sheerness Dockyard. The Pelorus is the first of a new type of third-class protected fast cruisers, several of which are to be built for the Navy. She is 300 feet long, 36 feet 6 inches beam, and will have a loaded displacement of 2135 tons, at which her mean draught will be about 12 feet 6 inches. The hull of the vessel is constructed of steel, and her vital parts are protected by a turtle-back deck, throughout her length, of steel plating, 2 inches thick, the stern and rudder posts, shaft brackets, etc., being of cast steel. The rudder is of the balanced type, and is worked by steam steering gear. The vessel has a poop and forecastle, and between them the waist extends to about half her length, the officers' quarters being aft under the poop and the crew being berthed forward. The propelling machinery of the ship, which is to be supplied and fitted by Messrs. J. and G. Thomson, Limited, of Clydebank, will consist of two independent sets of inverted three-cylinder triple-expansion engines, to be supplied with steam by eight water-tube boilers of the Normand type, and designed to develop 7000 indicated horse-power under forced draught, and to drive the ship at a maximum speed of 20 knots. Of the coal to be carried, which will be sufficient to give the vessel a radius of action, at 10 knots, of about 7000 miles, part is to be stowed above the protective deck and over the engine and boiler rooms, while the remainder will be in side bunkers below that deck. The armament of the Pelorus will consist entirely of quick-firing guns, of which there will be eight 4-inch, eight 3-pounder, and three Maxim guns, two of the 4-inch guns being mounted on either side of the conning-tower on the forecastle and two on the poop, the remaining guns being distributed on the upper deck and at the bow and stern. The vessel is also fitted with two torpedo-tubes. The ship has two wooden masts, one at the after end of the forecastle and the other at the fore end of the poop, each being in two lengths, with a lowering topmast and pole in one. The vessel is lighted throughout by electricity, the current being supplied by two dynamos. The keel-plate of the Pelorus was laid on May 21st last, and the ship is to be completed in the coming June.
THE DORIS.
[ENGINEERING.]
H. M. S. Doris, the second-class cruiser launched at Barrow, is similar to the Juno, launched some time ago by the Naval Construction and Armaments Company, Limited. She is 350 feet long, 54 feet beam and at 20 feet 6 inches draught displaces 5600 tons. She is constructed entirely of steel, with the exception of the stem, and she is sheathed with teak and coppered. Protection is afforded by a strongly-built steel deck extending the whole length of the vessel, her engines and boilers, magazines, etc., being further protected by an inclined Harvey-armored breastwork. Bunker accommodation is provided for 1000 tons of coal, reserve coal being stowed in water-tight bunkers above the protective deck, and extending over the engine and boiler space. A Harvey-armored conning tower is placed forward and a director tower aft. The propelling machinery of the Doris, which has been made by her builders, is designed to develop 9600 indicated horse-power and to give a speed of 19.5 knots. The vessel is also fitted with the usual auxiliary machinery for working feed and bilge pumps, turning and steering gear, fans, dynamos, distilling plant, etc., and she is lighted throughout by electricity. Her armament will consist of five 6-inch, six 4.7-inch, nine 12-pounder, and seven 3-pounder quick-firing guns, together with four .45-inch Maxim machine guns. The military tops to her two masts, which are of steel, will also be armed with machine guns, and there will be two submerged torpedo-tubes forward and one above water aft. Accommodation for a complement of 450 officers and men is provided.
HYDRAULIC TRAINING GEAR.
[JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL UNITED SERVICE INSTITUTION.]
An improvement in connection with the service of hydraulics in our battleships is in course of adoption that will speedily obviate a serious drawback that hitherto attended the use of the machinery in cold climates. In the first instance, it should be explained that the operation of training, loading, etc., besides the free manipulation of a barbette, with its brace of heavy guns, is effected by water pressure, which derives its initiatory force from a steam pump of great power situated immediately beneath the barbette and as low under the protected deck as the structure of the ship will allow. The advantage of water as the medium for setting in motion the local machinery has long been recognized by engineers; it is not subject to the vagaries of steam; it maintains under normal conditions a constant and equable pressure on the valves, and controls the heaviest cannon with the greatest rapidity and precision. On the other hand, it quickly deteriorates when subjected to extremes of temperature, and unless a constant velocity be maintained, when the thermometer falls to freezing-point, the water must be drawn off into the reserve tanks below. Ice forming in the pipes, through neglect of this precaution, has from time to time resulted in much damage to the machinery, when a cumbersome system of hand-controlling gear would have to be relied on, while, in the event of a pipe bursting, the guns themselves might be rendered useless. The disastrous effects of low temperature will now be remedied by the simple expedient of an extension of the steam system as already adopted in the Russian fleet. Copper piping will be introduced to follow circuitous leads of the pressure pipes wherever necessary, and by the steam within setting up a circulation of hot air, the water will be maintained at a working level of temperature. The Empress of India, while in dock, will be fitted with this slight but important addition to her auxiliary machinery, and all barbette and turret ships as they pass through dockyard hands for repair will be similarly provided.
[FRANCE.]
FRENCH WARSHIP BUILDING NOTES.
The new war vessels with which the French Government propose to proceed this year are the Henry IV., ironclad; Jeanne d'Arc, firstclass cruiser; and the Dunois and La Hère, first-class despatch boats. The plans of the Henri IV. are not yet finally approved, but she will have a displacement of 7000 tons, while her length will be 283 feet 4 inches, her breadth 66 feet 8 inches, and her draught of water 23 feet 4 inches. She will be built entirely of steel, her engines will work up to 7000 horse-power, and she will be propelled by three screws. Her estimated maximum speed is 15 knots per hour. At to knots per hour she will be able to steam 6000 miles. The Henri IV. is to be laid down at Cherbourg in the course of the second half of this year, and she is to be ready for sea by April, 1900. Her estimated cost, including engines and equipment, is £627,163. The Henri IV. has been designed by M. Bertin, who has also prepared the plans for the Jeanne d'Arc. This new cruiser is to have a displacement of 11,000 tons, and she is to be 476 feet 8 inches in length by 64 feet 8 inches in beam. Her draught of water is to be 27 feet 8 inches, and her hull is to be wholly of steel. She is to be fitted with vertical engines working up to 28,000 horse-power. Steam will be supplied by multitubular boilers on the Normand system. The Jeanne d'Arc, which is to be fitted with three screws, is expected to attain a maximum speed of 23 knots per hour. The Jeanne d'Arc is to be laid down at Toulon this month, and she is to be ready for sea by October, 1899.
The new coast-defense battleship Amiral-Trehouart has been carrying on her trials at Brest; during a two hours' run under forced draught, with the screws making 108 revolutions, a mean speed of 15.4 was maintained, while the engines developed 7590 I. H. P.
The new second-class cruiser Bugeaud has had some successful trials at Cherbourg; in a preliminary full speed run the engines developed 9000 I. H. P., giving a mean speed of 19 knots.
The new gunboat Surprise has completed her trials at Cherbourg. The Surprise is the first of a new type, as all gunboats for foreign stations have hitherto been of wood or composite construction, and little fighting value, but the Surprise is built of steel, wood sheathed, and coppered. She displaces 629 tons, and is 184 feet to inches long, with 24 feet 6 inches beam, and 12 feet 3 inches draught. Her horizontal triple-expansion engines, supplied by cylindrical direct-flame boilers, were to develop 900 horse-power, and, driving a single screw, to give a speed of 13 knots, but at the official trials 1000 horse-power was developed, with a maximum speed of 13.6 knots. The bunker capacity is 73 tons, giving a range of 2500 miles at 10 knots and 1000 miles at full speed. The gunboat carries two 3.9 inch, four 2.5-inch, and four 1.4-inch quick-firing guns. She has a complement of six officers and ninety-three men.
The new torpilleur-de-haute-mer Aquilon has also completed her trials so successfully that her builder, M. Normand, of Havre, has won a premium of 20,000 francs for the excess speed obtained; during her preliminary trial at full speed, with the engines making 345 revolutions, the mean speed attained was 25.8 knots; at the official full speed trial, however, the mean speed was 26.17, rather more than a knot over contract.
The two torpedo-avisos to be built have been designed by M. Trogneux, and will be improved D'Ibervilles, with better sea-keeping qualities; they are to be called the Dunois and the La Hère, and will be built at Cherbourg, their dimensions being: length, 253 feet 6 inches; beam, 27 feet 6 inches; and the engines are to develop 6500 I. H. P., giving a speed of 23 knots, the boilers being of the Normand water-tube type, while the armament will consist of six 3-pounder quick-firing guns. Each vessel will cost 3,084,593 francs. A torpedo-boat destroyer, somewhat resembling the Hornet type, with a speed of 25 to 26 knots; a 30-knot sea-going torpedo-boat, the Thénard, of the Forban class; and two first-class boats will be built in private yards.
The Amiral-Duperré is to carry out some experiments with shell charged with new high explosives called cresylite, a powerful explosive, which it is expected will supersede melinite for charging shells supplied for service to ships in the fleet.
[GERMANY.]
According to the official navy list for 1896, just published, the Imperial Navy consists of ninety ships and vessels (exclusive of ships under construction), and these are classed as follows: First-class battleships, four (Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm, Worth, Brandenburg, and Wissenburg); second class, three (König Wilhelm, Kaiser, and Deutschland); third class, seven (Preussen, Friedrich der Grosse, Baden, Baiern, Sachsen, Wfirtemberg, and Oldenburg); fourth class, eight (Siegfried, Beowulf, Frithjof, Hildebrand, Heimdall, Hagen, Odin, and AEgir); and there are thirteen small armored gunboats. Cruisers, second class, three (Kaiserin Augusta, Irene, and Prinzess Wilhelm); third class, seven (Gefion, Arcona, Alexandrine, Olga, Marie, Sophie, Freya); fourth-class cruisers, eight; gunboats, five; despatch vessels, nine; training-ships, fourteen; and ships for special service, nine. In torpedo craft the Imperial Navy is strong; there are eleven so-called division boats, which may be counted as torpedo-destroyers; sixty-four sea-going torpedo-boats; sixty-one first-class, and sixteen vidette-boats, a total of 156. There are, moreover, eight first-class boats building.
The new fourth-class cruiser Geier has completed her trials in a very satisfactory manner. A vessel of 1640 tons, the engines were, according to the contract, to develop 2800 I. H. P. under forced draught, but during the six hours full-speed run the mean I. H. P. was 2884, while during the last three hours it was 2956, the mean speed for the run having been 16.5 knots, half a knot over the contract. The armament consists of eight 10.5-centimeter (4-inch) quick-firing guns and seven 3-pounder quick-firing guns, with two torpedo-tubes. The Geier is to relieve the first-class gunboat Iltis on the China station, the latter vessel, since her first commissioning in 1878, having been, with the exception of a few months in 1886-87, employed entirely on distant stations.
Some three months ago the Normannia, of the Hamburg-American line and one of the auxiliary merchant cruisers of the German Navy, was commissioned for a fortnight for a trial cruise, complete with armament and stores. The Admiralty stipulates that these auxiliary cruisers are to have double bottoms and cellular subdivision to a little above the waterline, while the engines and boilers are to be protected by coal, which is to be considered as a reserve and only to be used as a last resource. In the Normannia, a ship of 8520 tons, the ordinary coal supply is 1750 tons. For armament the ship carries eight 15-centimeter (6-inch) 25 caliber-long quick-firing guns on the broadside, four 12.5-centimeter (49-inch) guns, two firing ahead and two astern, six small quick-firing guns, and eight machine-guns. The ship, moreover, carries two small torpedo-boats of 22 tons displacement and eight torpedoes for each boat.
[RUSSIA.]
It is stated that the Russian naval authorities have decided to substitute in the battleships Sissoi Veliky and Navarin, as well as in the cruiser Rossia, a telephone invented by Lieutenant Kolbasyeff for the speaking tubes now used. According to the Novosti, these vessels are also to be fitted with the electric alarm bells invented by Captain Vassilyeff for showing the ship has been hulled by shot.
Messrs. James and George Thomson, Ltd., Clydebank, launched, on the 17th of February, the Kiev, a twin-screw steamer of 5400 tons, built to the order of the Russian Volunteer Fleet for their cargo and passenger service between the Black Sea and Vladivostock. The Kiev is a sister ship to the Vladimir, launched recently, and is 419 feet long, 49 feet 6 inches broad, and 32 feet deep. Under the poop is accommodation for a limited number of first-class passengers, while the whole of the main deck is devoted to quarters for third-class passengers or troops. There is a complete installation of electrical ventilating fans, besides other modern appliances calculated to promote the comfort of passengers. The machinery consists of two independent sets of triple-expansion engines, each driving a bronze screw, and a fair rate of speed is expected.
[JAPAN.]
THE BATTLESHIP YASHIMA.
[ENGINEER.]
On February 28th the first-class battleship Yashima was launched from the Elswick shipyard of Messrs. Sir W. G. Armstrong & Co., of Newcastle-on-Tyne. She is being built to the order of the Japanese Imperial Government, and was commenced on December 6th, 1894, so that little over a year has been occupied in completing her for the launch, and it is expected that she will be completed for sea, with all armament on board, in about the same time. The dimensions and particulars of the vessel are as follows:
Length between perpendiculars 372 ft.
Breadth, extreme 73 ft. 6 in.
Draught, mean 26 ft. 3 in.
Displacement, in tons 12,300
Indicated horse-power, forced draught 14,000
Indicated horse-power, natural draught 10,000
Speed, forced draught, estimated 18 3/4 knots
Speed, natural draught, estimated 17 1/4 knots
Coals carried at designed draught 700 tons
Coals carried with bunkers full 1200 tons
She is provided with a steel armor belt 8 feet in width, carried from 3 feet above to 5 feet below the designed load water-line. This belt extends over a length of about 230 feet, and has a maximum thickness of 18 inches, tapered to 34 inches at the extreme ends. The thwartship armor bulkheads which terminate the belt are 14 inches thick.
Immediately above this belt there is a light belt of armor 4 inches thick, terminated by screen bulkheads extending from the sides of the vessel to the barbette armor. Behind this 4-inch armor coal bunkers are arranged, so as to afford additional protection against gun-fire. A protective deck 2 1/2 inches thick is worked horizontally over the main belt and bulkhead armor, and under-water decks of the same thickness give protection to the ends of the ship outside the limits of the armor. At the fore-and-aft ends of the belt, rising directly from the protective deck, are the two barbettes, formed of steel armor, 34 inches thick on the upper portions, reduced to 9 inches below.
The main armament of the Yashima will consist of four 12-inch 49-ton guns mounted in pairs in the barbettes previously referred to, and having also the protection afforded by 6-inch armored gun-houses. The foremost pair train from direct ahead to 30 degrees abaft the beam, and the aftermost pair through a similar arc.
The auxiliary armament will consist of ten 6-inch 100-pounder quick-firing guns. Four of these guns will be mounted on the main deck in armored casemates 6 inches thick, and six on the upper deck in sponsons and protected by heavy shields. In addition there will be twenty-four 3-pounder guns, four mounted in the fighting tops, eight on the shelter decks, four on the bulwarks and on the main deck. There will be five fixed torpedo-tubes, one above water forward, and four submerged, two forward and one aft. All the armament is being constructed at Elswick. The Yashima will be propelled by twin-screw triple-expansion machinery, constructed by Messrs. Humphrys, Tennant & Co., of Deptford. Steam will be generated in ten single-ended cylindrical boilers, with a working steam pressure of 155 lb. There will be a great number of auxiliary engines throughout the ship, amongst which will be included the steering engines, air compressing engines, evaporating engines, capstan engines, distilling engines, hydraulic engines, and steam pumping engines for working the big guns.
[MARINE RUNDSCHAU.]
A contract has been closed with the firm of Armstrong & Co. for the erection of steel works in Japan. The specifications, according to Japanese newspapers, are as follows:
1. The materials to be supplied from England.
2. Of the workmen employed in the works, twenty per cent shall be Englishmen, the remainder Japanese.
3. Whenever a new weapon is invented in England it will be reproduced in the Japanese works.
4. A subsidy is to be paid to the Armstrong Company for a period of years.
5. After expiration of this period, the works are to be sold to the Japanese Government.
[SPAIN.]
The Spanish Government has ordered two torpedo destroyers in England. They are to steam at the rate of 28 knots per hour.
The torpedo cruiser Filipinas has been completed at Vea Murgia. The dimensions are: Length, 243 feet; breadth, 26 feet; draught, 9 1/2 feet; displacement, 750 tons; speed, 20 knots. Radius of action of 3000 sea-miles. Armament, two 12 cm. B. L. R. with hydraulic recoil mounts, one forward, one aft, four 4.2 cm. Nordenfeldts, two 11 cm. Gatlings, and four under-water torpedo-tubes for Schwartzkopf torpedoes.
[AUSTRIA.]
[ENGINEER.]
On January 31st the official trial was made with the sea-going torpedo boat Viper, built for the Imperial and Royal Austro-Hungarian Government by Messrs. Yarrow & Co., Poplar. This vessel is 147 feet 6 inches long by 14 feet 9 inches beam, and was guaranteed to attain a speed of 24 knots when fully equipped and loaded, with 26 tons to represent armament. The Viper left Messrs. Yarrow & Co.'s yard at ten o'clock in the morning, and commenced her three hours' trial about noon at Thames Haven. During the middle of the three hours' trial six runs were made on the measured mile, during which the mean speed attained was 26.633 knots, and the mean speed for the three hours' continuous run was 26.638 knots—i. e. 2.638 knots in excess of the contract speed. The vibration was practically nil at all speeds, the machinery being balanced on the system first introduced by this firm. After the run the usual manoeuvring trials were carried out, all of which proved satisfactory. The boilers are of the Yarrow type, with straight tubes and no outside down pipes. The above result was obtained with an air pressure in the stokehold averaging seven-eighths of an inch of water.
[HOLLAND.]
[ROYAL UNITED SERVICE INSTITUTION.]
In the budget statement the minister declares that, with the exception of the armored ships Reinier Claezen, Evertsen, Kortenaer, Piet Hein, the protected cruisers Koningin Wilhelmina and Sumatra, and some torpedo-boats, the whole fleet is antiquated; further, that as the hulls of many of the older ships have become very deteriorated, their boilers and engines being also worn out, and their fighting value very small, it is wiser to spend money in replacing them in preference to patching them up any more. A complete reconstruction of the fleet is necessary, and a commencement has been made with the larger ships. For general service and for the auxiliary squadron ten new ships, and for home defense six new ships are necessary.
Although nominally the Netherlands fleet is, comparatively speaking, considerable, yet, in reality, as the minister states in his report, the number of serviceable vessels is very small indeed. The three new coast-defense armor-clads Evertsen, Rortenaer, and Piet Hein, now approaching completion, will be useful little vessels, but they are solely intended for coast defense; they only displace 3400 tons, their engines of 4500 I. H. P. giving a speed of 16 knots; protection is afforded by a 6-inch complete water-line belt; the armament consists of three 21-centimeter (7.9-inch) guns, of which two are mounted in a 10-inch armored turret forward, and the third is aft on the poop, protected by a steel shield; two 6-inch quick-firing guns are in sponsons, one on each beam, and there are further distributed in the tops and other parts of the ships 14 small quick-firing guns and three torpedo discharges.
[SWEDEN.]
In 1896 there were appropriated 1,500,000 crowns for the building of new ships. Under construction are (1) the armor-clad Oden, commenced in 1895, to be completed in 1897; (2) the torpedo cruiser Oern, the cost of which, including torpedoes, armament, ammunition, is to be 878,000 crowns. The vessel is twin-screw, of following dimensions: Length, 222 feet; breadth, 27 feet; draft, 9 feet; displacement about 670 tons. The armament of two 12 cm. guns and four 57 mm. rapid-fire guns. One bow torpedo-tube. The two engines, protected by a protective deck, to develop 4000 H. P., giving a speed of 19 knots. The Oern is building in Goteborg and must be delivered in August, 1896; (3) one first-class torpedo-boat of 85 tons, with a speed of 23 knots, with two torpedo-tubes, one fixed in the bow and the other, a moveable one, aft, is building at the Schichau works, to be completed in August, 1896.
[BRAZIL.]
The Brazilian Government has recently placed an order for two ironclads with the La Seyne shipbuilding yards, France. The Standard says the Brazilian Government will also shortly place contracts for three 4000 tons, 19 1/2 knots, protected cruisers, ten ordinary torpedo-boats, eight torpedo-boat destroyers, and five submarine torpedo-boats.
[ARGENTINA.]
The Argentine Government has ordered eight new war vessels, to be built in England, viz: (1) the cruiser San Martin, somewhat smaller than the Buenos Aires, (2) a torpedo-boat destroyer of 30 knots, and (3) six torpedo-boat destroyers of 27-knot speed.
Arrangements have also been made with the Schneider Company of Creusot to place a battery of rapid-fire guns upon the battleship Almirante Brown.
The contract for the purchase of the Italian ironclad Saint Bon has been signed in Argentina, and it is very possible that the purchase of this powerful vessel will be followed by the acquisition of the Verese or Emanuele Filiberto, both splendid war engines.
Argentina has, besides this, engaged the services of Senor Luiggi, one of the best naval engineers in Europe, to fortify the long and perfectly open stretch of coast on the Zarate war arsenal, which will serve as a basis or foundation for fortifying the Argentine coast and making it next to impregnable.
[CHILI.]
Messrs. Laird Brothers, of Birkenhead, launched the Capitan Orella and Capitan Muniz Gamero, two of the four 30-knot torpedo-boat destroyers which they are constructing for the Chilian Government, similar to the boats of the same class which they are building for the British Government. The Capitan Orella was only ordered in August last.
The Chilian cruiser Ministro Zenteno was launched February 1st at Elswick. She is 330 feet 5 inches long by 45 feet 9 inches broad, has a displacement of 3450 tons, and will have a speed of twenty knots. Her armament is to consist of eight 6-inch, ten 6-pounders, and four 1-pounder quick-firing guns, with three torpedo-tubes.
[LIBERIA.]
GUNBOAT ROCKTOWN.
[THE STEAMSHIP.]
The vessel is 100 feet long between perpendiculars, or 119 feet extreme, 20 feet wide and 10 feet deep, the load draught being 7 feet. The hull is divided into seven water-tight compartments, and is entirely built of Siemens-Martin steel, with Lloyd's scantlings for the highest class. The engines are compound surface-condensing, the air, circulating and bilge pumps being driven off the main engines in the usual way. The cylinders are IVA inches and 28 inches in diameter by 16-inch stroke. The boiler is of the ordinary return-tube type, of steel with steel tubes, and constructed to Board of Trade requirements for a working pressure of 100 pounds to the square inch. The boat carries a 57 mm. quick-firing Nordenfeldt gun on shielded mounting on the forecastle deck, and three 80 mm. breech-loading guns at the sides and on the poop deck. The trials of the gunboat were carried out on the river Maas, from Rotterdam to the Hook of Holland, both for speed and for the armament, and the conditions were successfully fulfilled, the mean speed of six runs being over twelve miles, and the machinery working smoothly throughout.