New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-07-02
WORK AT THE NAVY YARD
LESSONS OF THE SINKING OF THE VICTORIA.



,Jdenis do not occur with vessels " the Cmth
states Navy often they do with those under
for,Srn aag,. The United states Navy has not met
with any accidents seriou, were those " the
sultan the Howe and the Victoria. Of The British
Navy; Ia the Grosscr Knrfurs.. OF the German Navy
md - many other foreign war vessels which could
h. named. Tho sinking Of the British battleShp
Victoria by the Of The Camperdown off Tripoi
ten DAYS ago has furnished penteous food for scicn
INC thought ana discussion among the ofCcrs OF the
Navy. especially Of the construction and engineer
oor,s and Of the line, who are al the Navy Yard, as
VOL A. nj other stations. Officers have grouped
themselves about the bateship Maine the protected
cruiser Cincinnati. the barbete monitor Puritan, ana
tfe double urrced monitor Terror. all OF which are
under construction at the Navy Yard, and have
earnestly discussed all OF their strong points. ana
alsp whether II was possible 10 make any improve
mcui. The officers have also given special attention
10 the features Of construction and protection OF the
vessels NJ the Navy Yard already finished and In
commission 1t has been interesting 10 listen I"
,.>. EXPERTS on naval architecture. naval construc-
ton naval engineering and naval armament and as
one 0hccr nt IT, there seems TO be an opinion para
mount to all others that, since the ram and the
trrcdo are TO be the most important auxiliares of
The destructive elements Of warshiTs, and guns are
very likely 10 take second place in naval battles, 1t
I, not the wiscst thing to put many millions Of
dollars in hatleshipS which may never he used eX-
cent for hartOr and coast defence. only three or
fonr years ago there was an earnest opposition to the
,cbldne OF baeShips but there was so much said In
favor Of them that. at one time it looked probable
tia, several Of 10000 or 1900 tons displacement
,rould be buft The Victoria. for instance, cost
nearly s6OOOOOO. and this without her armament.
-. had great displacement and, Ike all battle
sh,os must be- was not fast could she be quickly
manoeuvred.
Another officer speaking of her loss said "What
happened 10 the Victoria could happen to any war
Iix-l ad IN
and aft with longitudinal bulkhead Her chief drmor
protection was the belt OF steel along her waist put
OF 20 protect the machinery and boilers from oei"s
disabled by an eneniy's shot. This armor belt OK
tended only about feet below the water-hhc' am
below that there was the ordinary double hull OF the
ship The point Of the ram az the Camperdowh was
considerably below the lower edge Of the belt OF the
Victoria hence the impact with which the ram struck
The huu Of Che ship readily tore into the hull plates
With one side OF the ship buoyant and the other ued
with water the effect the stability OF me null was
the same changing that same amount OF weight 10
one side of tbc ship would be. and the metacentrc
height heing very low and the centre OF gravity
probably being only few inches below the line,
She readily kcelcd over and went down. as the dis
patches say that she did bottom up. The forward
part e the vessel settled first because that part was
puncture>l first. This accident VIII furnish val
liable lesson to all governments and CAUSE the naval
experts Of them to consider very carefully whether
ships vessels that are likely TO be deficient in steering
Qualities and to build rapid cruisers OF the armored
type tie New York being good example. ana rs
large as any wnrvessel for effective service need De-
Another subject which has been Interesting Inc
officers at the Navy Yard, especially those OF Inc
line one or two takrg a personal ana
not an unsrish interest in the matter
was The selection OF The successor TO Commodore
George Dewey. chief Of u" Bureau Of Equip
ment whose four years term OF ohce will expire on
August /. Captain John J. Read who has the gOod
luck to come from New-JerSey. and TO have The
personal friendship OF the Assistant Secretary OF Inc
Navy. william McAdoo. and senator Mcpherson, was
looked upon as a probably successful aslirant. lie
4, now a member Of the Light House Board. Captain
f. O. Mathews Of the Board Of Inspection ana survey
also hoped that the place might come his way cap
tain Henry L. HowisO-. who has been OH duiy NJ
lie Mare Island Navy Yard a short tine. was s"lu
H. have the backing u Nce~Presdent stevenson, al
though IN, Captain comes from lndana COMMANDER
Francis Dicklrs. who has been the escort to the Duke
q Verapola was also prominently mentioned for the
Mace and had the strong infuenc" Of congressman
close 10 Secretary Herbert. Commander Fre:'h f.
Chadwick. who was naval attache at the American
LEGATION in London for several years was also men
toned for the place. but n he was on pieiSahl u"A
D, chief OF the Bureau of intelligence IT was not
,boueh, hel- tha, he would BE- seriously disappointed
~ he did not 70 10 the Burcau OF Equipment. but /
he got the prize yesterday. There were only few
who would have liked 10 step into the shoes oil
Commodore Dewey. aud as they were all excolently |
equipped for the place The hope expressed May the
best man win hardly seemed appropriate.
New regulations defining ana putting into ehect inc /
recent Act Of Congress authorizing discharge by pur
ehase o. nistei men in the Ma Ire CORPS are expected
u Al pear his week. The regulations ppNde mat no
discharge can be bought In the nrst year OF enlistment
At the end Of the first year an enlisted man may Dny
his discharge upon the payment Of 800. For the
in
! IL per cent Of the monthly pay for each month
IS deducted from that In the fourth year
the cost nf purchase decreases as the rate Of per
cent Of the pay per month T. taken off, In the hith
year the reduction continues at the rate OF per
cent for the first six months after which theie Is no
charge against the marine for purchase OF discharge
In the first reenlstmcut term the cost OF purchase OF
di charge starts $50 in the second and third years
the cost SO per cent OF that I'm the first term OF
enlistment. and then reduction begins at the rate OF
per cent Of the amount OF pay per
month The rendezvous officers say that they are Sc
curing many valuable recruits from the meI rejected
from the Army under the operation Of the Proctor
Tcn-Year law. such men considered valuable
ACQUISITIONS to the corps.
The G.4OOtOn armOTed cruiser Maine. which IS
battleshp. has been object OF in
iere> TO visitors the Navy Yard since the sinking
q the Victoria. As she draws at prescnt-not being
weighted as she will be when in commission for
vice-only eleven feet Of water, 10 IL feet less
Than her drsnght will be I'm cruising trim. visitors have
had an opportunity 10 get pretty good idea OF what
the ram on a vessel IS like, what the meaning OF the
pxprasslou armor belt is and also what the thing
called barbette IS. The graceful contour Of the bow
Or stem which forms the ram is to be seen and APP
rreciated BY all who look II must remind them Of
The nose o. the swordfsh which II resembles Slightly.
A. the point OF this Is above the surface OF
The water is she now lies, and IS shaped much IKE
hat OF the Camperdown, one can see that the de-
struct.c power If such weapon striking the side OF
the ship as the Victoria must have been ire
mendous, and that the armor belt was not at all Ia
the way Then the wide groove along either side OF
he ship few feet above the present waterlne shows
where tho thick plates OF nickesteel are 10 lie SET
In 10 protect the vital part Of the ship from the shots
Of the big cuns even if they be the 11OtOn weapons