The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1893-06-26
FAULTY STEERING GEAR.

FAULTY STEERING GEAR.
Probable Cause of the Victoria Camperdown
ColIision-view> of Naval Officers.
WASHINGTON, June 25.-In the continued
absence of authentic information es to the
exact cause of the Victoria catastrophe.
our naval experts are theorizing and seek
ing TO read the lesson taught by this great
naval disaster The opinions vary be-
tween defective steering gear and mis-
understood signals. Admiral Gherardi is
one of the high naval lights who inclines
to the belief that the steering gear failed.
He recalls the fact that in the course OF the
voy sge of the vessels of the naval review
fleet from the Pacific TO Hampton Roads
his flagship. on two occasions. wns
abruptly signaIed. once by the
San Francisco aud once bv the
Charleston and informed that the steam
altering apparatus had utterly failed.
Had this happened when the vessels of the
fleet were In close formation the results
might have been disastrous collisions In
modern naval construction every possible
PROBATION is taken TO insure the efficiency
OF the steering gear, but even then aoci-
dents will happen. All naval vessels are
now handled altogether by steam steering
gear. ns the weight ana speed OF the great
them quickly by naDd. Still they are
fitted with auxiliary hand steering wheels
for use In case OF accident to the steam
plant.
surprise has been expressed In some
Quarters NJ the fact that the vessel was
not saved by the watertight compart-
ments into which she was divided. But
she naval constructors say that too much
dependence has been placed on these COM
partments. They unQuestiOnably OF
Ufaa GarW a a " "a n nul a lO N
the case of the City of Paris when she sue
decided III reaching port with both OF the
large compartments. containing her en-
Rines. full OF water. Had the Victoris
been struck at either end, she might still
have tiosted. and. IN fact. the Camper
down, which crushed into the Victoria.
undoubtedly owes her own escape from
Immediate founderinY TO the fact that her
forward compartment bulkhead Kept the
enormous flow OF water which possibly
poured through her own bow from flooding
the vessel. Also. the midship bulkheads
may be of inestimable service in case of
heavy leaks. which can tie confined To one
compartment. Commodore Farquhar, the
hero of the Samoan wreck. in speaking of
this point said: You never hear of ves-
sci struck amidshIps surviving the blow.
They are all bound to ill. The shook is
so great that everything substantial that
is not cut down is wrenched and torn
apart"
The naval constructors have been exam
ming the plates OF the Inflated ship and
making some rough measurements. based
on the information respecting the collision
that has reached the department. and they
find that che keen ram OF the CamperdOwn
,lust have entered the hull of the Victoria
just below IN" protective deck. crunplina
&c uD, filling the second large compartments
st once. and. through the very leaks caused
by tearing mp the protective deck, also fill
ing the ad dining compartments. Had the
blow been little higher and directly upon
the edge of or above the heavy steel
plates of the protective deck, the
great strength OF that deck might
have materially reduced the size of
the aperture through which tho water
flowed. But q hole. and great one at
that, was lDevita Die, say the constructors.
aud on this point Chief Constructor Heb
borne has made m interesting calculation
10 show. In "A graphic manner, the enorm-
ons force of the blow shat the Camper
down dealt upon the hull OF the Victoria.
He says The Caiuperdown has weight
oil 1860 tons. and was MOVING az the rate
OF ten knots per hour. or 1898 feet per
ond. 1bis wonld give an impact of 1880
foot tons delivered by the sharp am of the
Camperdown. That Is equivalent to the
blow that would be- struck by u railroad
train consisting of six large Pullman oars
drawn by the heaviest of 10, omotives say
one of 10 tons. running at a speed of hity
miles per hour"
Naval officers say that compartme ts
sometimes fail of their purpose because the
water-tight doors are not closed In time to
keep out the water from the damaged por-
ton. Admiral Ghsrardi says It IL abso-
lut~iy necessary TO keep these doors open
most OF the time. owing TO the impossibility
OF securing air TO breathe when they are
closed. and especially In tropical
climates. 1t is reported that the
Victoria's sailors were endeavoring
10 close these doors when the ship went
down. This has leo TO the suggestion that.
BY electrical or other appliances the doors
might be made 10 close automatically npon
a signal of danger. But there are said TO
b. many practical difficulties IN the way of
suoh u device not the least being the dan
ger of deco pitatsnR or crushing the sailors
who might be canght beneath the doors
when they were snapped together
Ono result of the catastrophe has been
the bringing 20 the front numerous advo-
Gates of the pure aud simple a
weapon Of offense. and attention has been
called anew - paper prepared on the sub
jet by Admiral AmmeD. the designer OF q
unique vessel Of this ty pa called the kstha-
din. now being built at Bath, Me-. for the
navy. But tho naval constructors do not
attach much Importance TO this vessel.
mainly because OF the fact that by
reason OF the weight OF her armOr
she will be too slow TO catch M
with most of the modern WAT vessels. Then
they argue that most Of the American yes
sells have rams and would be quite a. eff
fective as specially designed ram. They
also say that the efficacy of the ram NAV
rienee In warfare has proven that it is ex-
ceedingly difficult. and in most cases I'M
posi- bic. to ram al antagonist that ia fully
aware of the purposes of the enemy as
the attack can he generally defent-
ed by sharp maneuyering while
the vessel making the attemp;