Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1892-11-09
TRIALS OF REV. CRUISERS.


Enooht,N. <ov s-The now tnus,
S'at,s cruisers Detroit and Mcn,rome,y
now under construction, will h. ready "a,
their preliminary trials Within the next a.
days. The two ships are at present, at the
yards OF the hnillers. the Columbian Iron
Works and Dry Dock Company of Bst.
more, Md,
| President Mals,er of the company ,a;a
the other day that both ships had h,en
! greatly DELAYED hy the large number az
changes in their construction ordered fran
Washington aud thu failure 10 m,ka
prompt drliVry "f aruor plates 'rhe pe.
troit was ldmnchcd IN the fall of last wear
and the Montgomery last winter. The ,wo
SHIPS are sisters. They have still ,birl
sister in Che recently launched MaIhlrhesd
| from the yards of Harrison l.er.nc. Bos.
ton. Mass
The displaccment Of zach vessel is 1000
tons on draughi of about II feet normal
! The general hull arrangement is that of n
berth deck and main-deck vcsss with a long
'opgallant forecasllc and long. raised poop
The following are the principal dimensions;
Length, 251 feet; beam, nodded, 81 feet;
maximum draught II feet Il inches. The
battery will consist of two six-inch breach.
| loading rifles mounted one ON either side of
the forecastle deck. aud eight rapid-fre
| fouriuch rifles on the main deck and raises,
poop. There is also an efficient secondary
| battery.
The engines~of the new cruisers are each
expected to develop about ai0o horse
/ power. when the main engines are turning
over at the rate of ls5 revolutions per min.
ute. On this horsepower developmen, il
| is calculated that speed of Is knots per
honr will BE- obtained.
| The original contract for the three 1000
! ton cruisers specified guaranteed speed OF
! Is knots per hour. The navy department.
on the issuing of advertisements for bids
fonnd u general unwiihngness on the part
of shipbuilders to guarantee a speed Of Is
knots ON the horse power designed for the
| engines. As u result, the secretary Of the
( navy was induced to lower the require
ments to l.. knots per hour. Secretary
Tracy did more.
| lie authorized the granting of bonus OF
1925 700 for every additional quarter of
knot obtained on trial over and above the
contract requirement. There is general
belief that all three of the new ships will
reach as high as ls.5 knots per hour on
| trial, and if such prove true. 1t means for
each vessel bonus of Sl5o,oo0. The
more conservative estimates do not place
the speed likely to be obtained as ayerag
over Is knots per hour The contract
| price for the building of the three new
cruisers was s6l2 800 apiece.
The trial of the Detroit and Montgomery
will be conducted under regulations laid
down by the navy department, The speed
of knots per hour must be maintained as
| u mean of four-hours' continuous run and
must be made under normal sea conditions
II is consequently doubtful IL Secretary
Tracy can authorized the trials to he made
in Chesapeake bay. course laid of the
Virginia beach either to the southwark or
northward of the Virginia capcs is the one
which is the most apt to be run.
As in the case of the speed trials of the
cruises Philadelphia, the runs of the DE
troit and her sisters will in all likelihood re-
quire the presence of n number OF obser'-
lrg ships along the line of the run. In
taking speeds of ships for government ac-
ceptance the orlinrry patent log is not sui
ficiently accurate. The patent log Indicates
the speed with fair degree of accuracy
when used aboard vessels whose speeds do
not run above " knots per hour. Fast
transatlantic liners do not depend ION the
patent log.
Their speed can only be obtained with
any approach 10 accuracy by having re-
course to the number Of revolutions of the
main engines. When the cruiser Fhils-
dclpla made her formal trial Of speed, a
pumber of slips were stationed along The
course laid out These ships were anchored
and their positions and distances accurately
plotted upon the chart. The time of the
passing of each ship by the Philadelphia
was noted and the mean average of the
time consumed in the two runs in opposite
directions determined the speed.
The hulls of the Detroit, Montgomery
and Marblehead were designed by Chief
Naval Constructor r. -. Wilson of the
navy department. The engines Of all three
ships were designed by Commodore George
W. Delvillc, chief of the bureau of steam
engineering department. They are of the
triple expansion type, working twin screws.