Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1891-08-27

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THE TRIPLE-scREw CRUISER PIRATE.
will represent, when completed and
afioat, the latest idea of a powerful.
economical, protected commerce de-
stroyer-one that could easily capture
and sink the City of Paris, escape from
a heavy line Of battle ship, or if cor
nered by one of its own class could
give a good account of itself.
The Pirate is the first vessel of her
size to which the triple-screw system
has been applied. and, with a sus-
tanned sea speed of twenty-one knots
an hour, will be by far the most use
full vessel in the American navy.
Though her screws will be propelled
by engines having a collective power
of 1000 horses. the conditions in the
fire-rooms will not be harder than those
IN an ordinary transatlantic steamer.
She Will be protected by q heavy
armor deck running fore and aft and
covering magazines, engines, boilers
and steering gear. At normal draught
she viii be able to carry 100 tons of
coal, but her total capacity will be
1000 tons. All of this will be accom-
plished on displacement of 7, 400 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 a 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 ine............... 400 feet
Beam, ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. 90 feet
Draught, mean normal. ............. . feet
Sustained sea speed q knots
Indicated horse power tsustainedj. 10000 --O'
Indicated horse power maximum -2S,U0O
The battery of the Pirate viii consist
of eighteen machine guns, six torpedo
tubes, four six-inch B. 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 pow
er viii 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 10, 900
1. h P. would pass through a single
shaft, but in this case each shaft trans
mits only $3.50. and the ship has in
addition one more chance in case of a
breakdown.
The machinery consists of three sets
of triple expansion, vertical, inverted
screws before mentioned, the center
screw being about four feet six inches
below the two others.
Each engine is placed in a 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
q 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
reYolve. 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 adj
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
129 revolutions per minute and a forced
draught will be q, 900. 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 viii be
used. All the boilers will be made of
steel for a working pressure of 100
pounds.
The vital portion of the vessel being
protected by an armored deck, the
space between this deck and the gun
deck will be infinitely subdivided by
coal bunkers and storerooms. In ad-
ditiOn to these, cofferdam five feet in
width will be worked next to the ships
side for the whole length of the yes
sci in bunkers. This viii be filed
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 filed with some water-exclud-
ing substance similar to %woodite."
In the wake of the finch and ma
chine guns the ships sides viii 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, well ventilated and heat
ed All the most approved modern
appliances for exhausting the vitiated
air and for incandescent lighting by
electricity have been incorporated in
the design. The coal capacity is very
great. At ten-knot speed the Pirate
viii have an endurance of 100 days or
a radius of action of 26, 24O knots.