Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-09-29
A NEW TORPEDO BOAT.
The First of Its Kind Ever Con-
structed in Interior Waters.
SHE MUST FLY THROUGH WATER.
A Lesson Taught to the Heart of This
Great Country.
TERMS UNDER WHICH SHE WAS BUILT

| WASHINGTON, Sept 28-Another nov
| city in the construction of our steel navy
| will very soon be furnished by the launch
of a mate to the Cushing at the Iowa Iron
Works. This is the first of the new vessels
built in interior waters, and its successful
completion ought to open the eyes of Con-
gressmen in the Mississippi Valley to the
fact that their constituents and neighbors
may have local as we'll as a national inter-
est in naval construction and seaboard de-
fense. OF this little craft Secretary Tracy
has said that it represents new and i'm
portant step in the development of the re-
sources of this country for purposes of naval
shipbuilding. Hitherto this work has been
done almost wholly on the Atlantic and
Pacific seaboards. Many rolling mills and
shops in the interior, especially in Penn
sylvania, OHIO and Illinois. have performed
share Of the work, but the shipbuilding
has been done on the coast The onstruc-
tion of a torpedo boat on the upper Miss is
slppl, however, opens up great possibilities
for development in this direction in the
heart of the country" The launch of Tor
pedo Boat No. before the next session
Of Congress will enforce this lesson.
The Conditions Improved.
The act of June 30, 1890, authorized the
construction of steel torpedo boat, to cost,
Tor hull and machiney, not more than S125,-
600, and to have guaranteed speed OF "a
knots. The advance made in this latter
respect is shown by the fact that the speed
required of the Cushing was only % knots.
On her trial trip she actually developed
about 22% knots. Had she exceeded %
lor l,J
per quarter knot for such excess, but she
earned no premium. Torpedo Boat No. is
liable to rejection should she make less
than % knots, SO that the gain is apparent.
1t should be said, however, that a higher
price is paid for No. 2 than for the Cush-
ing, and that the latter has made fast runs
since her trial trip.
The new boat is little larger than the
Gushing, but does not draw as much water.
The Cushing has length on load water
line of 1887 feet, breadth of IA feet 10
inches and mean draught of 81 feet, CIV
ing her displacement OF 116 tons. The
new boat has length of 150 feet, breadth
of 15k and normal draught amidships of
AZ, with displacement of 120 tons She
has !, 800 maximum horse power, against the
Cushing's 1,720. Each has twin screw,
vertical quadruple expansion engines. Each
carries three torpedo tubes, those of the
Dubuque boat being 1S-inch Whiteheads,
and the latter also has four one-pounder
rapid-fre guns, while the Cushing has
three. The contract cost Of the hull and
machinery of the new boat is S113, 500, while
that of the Gushing was $50, 75O.
Special Attention to Officers Quarters.
In Torpedo Boat No special attention
has been given to the quarters for the Off
GERS and men, on the theory, as Chief Con-
structor Wilson puts it, that 'the radius of
action of these vessels is limited rather by
the endurance of the crew than by
the amount of coal carried in the bunkers."
Hence two staterooms are provided for the
officers, and a large room extending the en-
tire breadth of the boat and containing four
bdfks for the petty officers, while the
crew quarters are II bunks and swinging
space for four hammocks
The new boat, to quote the language of
Chief Constructor Wilson, is built on the
TRANSVERSE system. Special attention has
been given to the longitudinal strength and
stiffness of the vessel by the use of an inter-
costals vertical and broad, heavy
stringeS plates The intercostal keel is
used to- connect thoroughly and rigidly the
outer keel plates to the inner fat keelson,
so guarding against the tripping OF the
HOES a i'd reducing the Vibration caused by
the engines. that is often source of fatiguu-
to the crews of these little vessels. The
heavy stringers, together with the coal
bunker bulkheads and side plating, form
large box girders on each side, and, these
being unbroken throughout the machinery
space, give extraordinary stiffness. Care is
taken that these girders do not terminate
abruptly.
The Policy of the Department.
The policy of the Department is to en-
courage work in the shipyards of the inte-
rior, as will be seen by the following words
of Secretary Tracy's last report:
1t should be our policy in the building of
our navy to create as tar as possible, an
equal distribution OF benefits, and to pro-
mote manufacturing industries and the en-
ployment of workingmen in all parts OF the
The interior has also distinct
advantage over the coast, III that it is far
from possible attack to which our
seacoast esta abllshnents, private and pub
lie, would be peculiarly Vulnerable.
When, therefore, the Dubuque torpedo
boat takes her course down the Mississippi
to Pensacola, where she is to be delivered,
she should have not only a triumphal, but
in some sense missionary tour. The West
will be proud of her as specimen of its
and on-lookers will find new
interest in the building up of the navy.