The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1885-11-28 00:00:00

LAUNCH OF H.M.S. CAMPERDOWN.

In the presence of an immense concourse of spe,
tators the Camperdown, which, when completed, wia
be one of the largest and most formidable ships in
the British navy, was launched from Portsmouth
Dockyark on Tuesday. The Camperdown, which has
been built from the designs of the late Director of
Naval Construction (Sir Nathaniel Barnaby), and
under the immediate supervision of Mr. R. Barnaby
(Constructor at Portsmouth), and Mr. Lemon (fore-
man of the yard), has been just under three years in
hand, her keel having been laid on the 18th Decem-
ber, 1882. She belongs to the " Admiral " class,
being a twin-screw barbette ship, with armour-belt
amidships, and 2.1.-inch protective deck under water
at the extremities. All the armour is compound,
steel-faced, from the manufactories of Messrs. John
Brown and Co., Sheffield. The armour at the
sides is 18 inches in thickness; at the belt, 16
inches; and at the conning tower (which
will be of the square shape) and bar-
bettes, 14 inches. The principal dimensions of the
Camperdown are: Length between perpendiculars,
330 ft. ; extreme breadth, 68ft. Gin.; depth, in hold,
26ft. 2in.; draught of water forward, 261 t. 3m.;
ditto aft, 27ft. 3in. Her armament will consist of
four 63-ton breechloading guns, two in each barbette;
six 6-inch breechloading guns on the upper deck and
battery (three on each side) ; 12 six-pounder rapid-
firing guns, some of which will be stationed on the
batteries and spar-deck; and four Gatling guns,
besides quick-firing guns, which will be mounted in
the military top of the single mast which the vessel
will carry. The guns in the barbette will fire beyond
the beam, and thus have complete view of the
horizon; and, as auxiliaries to these, there will be the
6-in, breech-loaders on the upper deck and battery,
which will be protected from fore and aft fire by an
armoured screen bulkhead, six inches thick. Each of
the 63-ton guns will carry a projectile weighing 1250
lb.; and each discharge will require an explosive force
of 625 lb. of gunpowder. All the guns will be worked
by hydraulic machinery. The Camperdown will also
carry 18 Whitehead torpedoes, and fire one from
the stein right ahead above water, and four on the
broadside, also above the surface. Her engines have
been manufactured by Messrs. Maudslay, Son, and
Field; and they will have an indicated horse-power of
9800. The engine and boiler-rooms are divided by a
middle line fore and aft bulkhead; and the ends of
the vessel beyond this are again sub-divided into
numerous smaller watertight compartments. There
is a double bottom throughout the entire length of
the engine and boiler rooms. The Camperdown is
also fitted with a very powerful ram. She will carry
900 tons of coal, though, if occasion require, more
than this quantity can be stored. Her complement
of officers and men will be 445. When fully equipped,
the weight of the vessel will be 10,000 tons. At the
present time she is the heaviest vessel which has ever
been launched, she having had all her armour placed on
her on the slip, except that for the barbettes, which
could not be got into proper position under the roofing of
the slip, owing to the extreme height of the vessel,
The work of setting up the ship was begun at three
o'clock on Tuesday morning, nearly 400 shipwrighta
and labourers being engaged in the operation. This
completed, the removal of the massive oak blocks
beneath the keel was commenced. As the morning
wore on the stands by the sides of the vessel were
filled with visitors. On the platform at the ship's
bow were Mrs. W. H. Smith, wife of the present
Secretary for War, Admiral Sir A. C. Key, Admiral
Sir G. F. Hornby, Admiral of the Fleet Sir Henry,
Keppel, Admiral Sir Hoskins, Admiral Superinten-
dent F. A. Herbert, Mr. Evan McGregor, the Roman
Catholic Bishop of Portsmouth, and a number of
naval and military officers. Shortly before noon and
just before high water the bottle of wine was smashed
against the ship's bow by Mrs. Smith, who thereupon
named the vessel, the National Anthem then being
played by the bands of the Royal Marine Light In-
fantry and the Royal Marine Artillery, and sung by the
choir of the dockyard church. The usual service, read by
the dockyard chaplain, the Rev. A. Williams, followed.
Meanwhile the tide was steadily rising until the
maximum 13ft. 7in. at the ship's stern was shown,
then the tide began to recede until there was a fall
of two inches. So great, however, was the weight of
the ship—something like 4700 tons—that the last of
the blocks could not readily be moved, and that the
ship might be lowered in the cradle they had to be
split. At length, however, all was ready for the
launch. All hands having been withdrawn from
beneath the enormous hull, mallit and chisel were
handed to Mrs. Smith, who at a blow severed the
line, and the weights fell upon the dogshores with a,
thud. Thus released, the ship began, almost imper-
ceptibly at first, to move. Momentarily, however, her
impetus increased, but nothing could have been
steadier or more graceful than her descent from the
slip into the stream, in which within a few seconds
she was safely anchored, the bands having struck up
"Rule Britannia." Many months will of course ba
occupied in the preparation of the Camperdown for
sea.