Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1891-08-14

lu1 vessel IN the American navy
Though her screws will be propelled
by engines having collective power
OF $4,000 horses. the conditions in the
fire rooms will not be harder than those
IN on ordinary transatlantic steamer.
She will be protected by heavy
armor deck running fore and aft and
covering magazines, engines, boilers
and steering gear. At normal draught
she will be able to carry $50 tons of
coal, but her total capacity will be
1900 tons. All of this will he accom-
plished on displacemento of 7,4OO tons.
In addition to the protection given
the vitals of the ship and the gun
shields, the subdivision of the hull
will be such as to form double one
below the water line. This will offer
great security against damage from
torpedoes.
Following are the principal dimen-
sions, ETC., of the Pirate:
Length on load line. 400 feet
Beam, nodded. OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES. SO feet
Drought mean normal. % feet
Sustained sea speed ................ 81 knots
Maximum speed. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT. % knots
Indicated horse power (sustained). 10000
The battery of the Pirate will consist
of eighteen machine guns, six torpedo
tubes, four six-inch 3. L. r. of high
power and eight four-inch B. L. r.
rapid-fring guns. The six-inch guns
will be mounted in the open and pro.
tected by heavy shields attached to the
gun-carriages.
The arrangement of the motive DOW
er will be novel in character, the force
being transmitted through three
screws, one placed amidships, as in
ordinary single-screw vessels, and two
others placed further forward, one On
each side, as is usual in twin-screw
vessels. This arrangement represents
the latest advance in steam engineer
ing where such great power is to be
transmitted, but it is not entirely new,
as it has been used by the French for
some of their later vessels.
If twin screws were used over 10000
I. H. P. would pass through single
shaft, but in this case each shaft trans
mits only $3.50. and the ship has in
addition one moro chance in case of
breakdown.
The machinery consists of three sets
of triple expansion, vertical, inverted
cylinder engines, driving the triple
screws before mentioned, the center
screw being about four feet six inches
below the two others.
Each engine is placed in q water
tight compartment and is complete in
every respect, so that the vessel may be
propelled at slow speed by the center
screw alone, by the two outer screws at
medium speed, and by the three
screws when the highest of speed is re-
quired. Each shaft is fitted with a
disengaging coupling, SO that, when
not in use, the propellers are free to
revolve. A great advantage Of this
arrangement is that it allows the ma
chinery to be worked at its maximum
and most economical number of revo-
buttons at all rates of the vessels
speed, and each engine can always be
used for propelling the vessel, an ad-
vantage of great Importance and one
that the arrangement of the two sets of
engines working on the same screw
does not possess.
The total indicated horsepower at
29revolutions per minute and forced
draught will be 2l,O0O. There will be
eight double-ended boilers placed in
four water-tight compartments, and
two single-ended auxiliary boilers on
the berth deck. The air tight fire
room system of forced draught will be
used. All the boilers will be made Of
steel for a working pressure of 16O
pounds.
The vital portion of the vessel being
protected by an armored deck, the
space between this deck and the gun
deck will lie infinitely subdivided by
coal bunkers and storerooms. In adj
ditioa TO these. cofferdam five feet in
width will be worked next to the ships
side for the W hole length of the yes
sci in bunkers. This will be filled
with patent fuel, forming a wall five
feet thick against machine-gun fire.
The contents can also be utilized as
fuel in an emergency. Forward and
abaft the coal bunkers the cofferdam
will be filled with some water-exclud-
ing substance similar to "woodlte,
In the wake of the 4-inch and ma
chine guns the ships sides will be
armed with four and two inch plates.
The 6-inch guns will be mounted IN
the open, protected by heavy shields
attached to the gun carriages. The
accommodations for officers and crew
are spacious, we'll ventilated and heat
ed. All the most approved modern
appliances for exhausting the vitiated
air and for incandescent lighting Dy
electricity have been Incorporated IN
the design. The coal capacity is very
~.aa+ Al ten: knot speed the PIRATE