Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1894-05-18
OBOAT NO.2
The First Torpedo Boat Ever Built
Expressly For That Service
in Our Navy
Launched With Due Ceremony at
Dubuque-Expected She Will
Be a Superior Boat.

|..E la eSSVS~ oAS E#ef}
Be a Superior Boat.
Description Of Motor Power, Speed
Requirements, Armament, Etc.
The William Window.
DUBUQUE, Ia, May IA. ~ Torpedo
boat No. 2, the Ericsson, has been
launched. The event was one to which
Dubuque citizens have looked forward,
and over which her patriotic bosom has
swelled with considerable pride. The
launching took place at q o'clock Satur-
day afternoon. There was q parade Of
military and citizens, artillery salute
and speeches, and Miss Carrie L. Kiele
broke q bottle of wine over the new
vessels bow. While much concerning
this vessel has appeared from time to
time in the marine, the illustrated and
the daily journals, the public at large is
unaware that an inland port 1000 miles
removed from the sea board has wit
messed the construction Of q torpedo
boat
Designed to Equal or ExceIl
any similar craft afoat. Strangers Wis
iting Dubuque the past three years have
besn surprised to find the Iowa
Iron works engaged in construct.
ing the Ericsson and the rev.
enue cutter William Window, now
well under way, and they have mar
veled on learning that in the past 20
years this esta blishment has turned out
steel hulled craft, not only for the
waters of the Mississippi, but for the
Pacific coast rivers, British America,
Yellowstone Park, China, Siam and
other distant shores. All this work has
been accomplished under Superintend-
ent William Hopkins, who served his
apprenticeship on the Clyde.
Surprised the shipbuilders.
There was surprise among other ship
builders, too, when they heard that the
Iowa Iron Works had been awarded
the contract for the construction of the
topredo boat No. 2. They doubted the
work could be done here, and doubted
so persistently that Secretary Tracy de-
tailed Naval Constructor Hickborn and
Chief Engineer Towne to visit Dubuque
and report on the facilities here. Their
report was satisfactory and the contract
was signed October 8, 1892. The price
was $113,500 and the vessel was to be
completed in a year.
g T., &hio ~ortio,11or tho h11i16oIo ware
disappointed. They were delayed by
the Homestead strike and by a strike at
home and the procuring OF steel that
would stand chemical analysis by the
government inspectors was q difficult
matter.
First Torpedo Boat for Navy.
The Ericsson is, in fact, the first tor.
pedo built for the navy, the Gushing,
or torpedo boat No. 1, having reen
altered from her original design when
equipped for torpedo purposes by the
Herreshofs, who were among the I'M.
successful bidders for the Ericsson.
The latter vessel is held inferior tc
none Of the 800 torpedo boats in the
navies of Great Britain and France. Il
was built upon designs framed by men
skilled in naval construction, and their
thought was to make her the best YES.
sci Of her class.
The Superiority Of Design
Will be understood when it is stated
that the Ericsson, while larger than the
Gushing, does not draw SO much water.
The Gushing has q length on load water
line of 1873 3-4 feet, a breadth Of IA feet
10 inches and a neal draught of 5 Ia
feet, giving her a displacement of III
tons. The new boat has a length Of 15(
feet, q breadth of Is 1-2 feet, and, with
q depth Of 10 feet 6 inches, has anorma
draught amldships of 1914, with a dis
placement of 1870 tons. She has 1890
maximum horse power, against the
Cushing's l,72O.
III Motive Power.
The motive power, while greater than
the Cushing's, is similar. It consists O
two sets of four-cylinder quadruple ex
pansion engines Of the vertical, inverted
direct acting type, operating twir
screws. The cylinder diameters are I,
l-2, Is, 21l.2 and 30 inches. The est
mate Of indicated horse power Of tn,
propelling and circulating pump en-
gines, 1900, is based on the propeller
speedo Of 412 revolutions per minute
One water-tight compartment is sufi
Gent for the two engines. Each Of tn,
two boilers is also in a water-tight com
partment, the engines standing between
them.
Speed Requirements.
The5required speed of the Ericsson i
"a knots, and the builders are to re
ceive premiums ranging from s., $500 t.
$500 for each quarter-knot above tn
guarantee, and corresponding reduc
lions are to be made for Deficiencies.
The interior Of the boat is divided in
to 10 water-tight compartments by /:
bulkheads made Of solid steel rivited to
gether. In the bow are the steam wind
lass, locker seate, torpedo store roon
and screw space for the 10 men,
space as wide as the boat and about a
long, and provided with hammocks
one over the other.