The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1895-10-23
Indiana is Peerless.
Uncle Sans New Battle-ship the
Sw1ftest Ahoat

tained speed Of l6 "a knots Her
average speed of four hours, cover,
ing distance of 62 knots. was Is 81
knots an hour. After four hours
continuous work she was touched up
q bit, just to see what she could do
when pushed, aud she reeled off two
miles at 1f-knot clip. The Indiana
is peerless when compared with all
other battles ships in the navies Of the
world. She can outrun and out
shoot them all. She is the most
powerful boat Of her claes ahoat.
Uncle Sans navy officials were de-
lighted with her performance
The fpllowing shoxs just what the
Indiana accomplished
Average speed on outward run,
1924 knots Elapsed time OF out
ward run. 2 hours, 2 minutes. Sec
onds.
Average speed on return run. Is
SO knots; elapsed time Of return
run. | honr, 56 minutes, q seconds. !;
average speed Of en.ire run, 1851
knots; maximum speed over meas
ured course of six miles, 16 81 knots.
The above shows what the wonder
fal machinery accomplished. The
shows how it was done:
The starboard engine averaged
129 Z revolutions ON the outward
run and 1872 on the return, total
average of l30 As
The port engine averaged l3O 5
revelations on the outward run and
1916 on the return, total average
of 13l .05 for the entire run
The grand averages Of both en-.
gines was l30. Is revolutions
Each engine has maximum re
cord Of I3S revolutions. The aver
age pressure Of steam in. producing
this speed was 162 pounds and the
maximum was 168 pounds.
The average horsepower wass, 100.
bat when the auxiliary engines were
brought into use under the higher
steam pressure the result was the
enormous development Of 1880
horsepower, or 2 500 more than the
specifications called for.
Forty tons of coal were used in the
days trial The machinery worked
perfectly It viii take few days to
ascertain how much will have to be
added to or sabstracted from the fig
ures given out to-day in making al,
lowances for the tide before the
Messrs. Cramp will know how much
premium they have earned There rs
little doubt that the official report
will show greater speed than Is 81
knots If it should fall below Is so
knots, the constructors will ask for
another trial after having the 1ndi-
ana's hnll scraped She has been
in the water 20 months without being
scraped, and the bottom is known to
be exceedingly foul Edwin S.
Cramp told The World correspond.
ent that the foul bottom retarded the
Indians's speed at least half knot,
and naval officials acquiesced in that
statement. 1t would have been
cleaned before this trip if there had
been dry dock large enough to hold
the big battle-ship. But the nearest
one was at Halifax, and it was not
thought best to take her out of the
country jnst at this time:
The Indiana has main battery of
four 13-inch guns. eight 8-inch guns.
and four 6-inch guns and secondary
battary of 20 6-pounder and four !
FOUNDER rapid fire guns and four Cat
iings. The 13 inch guns are 40 feet
long and weigh 63 tons each Each
throws shos weighing 1.l00 pounds
and it requires 500 pounds Of powder
TO drive the projectile
The ship has load water line Of
s548 feet, extreme beam Of Sc feet and
inches and normal draught of 24
feet.
The Indiana is essentially battle
ship, fully capable of handling any
thing afoat. The HOOD and Prince
George of the British navy are the
only ones that approach her in ef6ci.
ency, yet although those ships have a
greater displacement, a comparison of
the three ships shows that the Indiana
would be more than a match for either
of them in a naval duel.
The Indiana's steadiness to day
was remarkable, especially in view
of the fact that she is the first of the
United States warships to make her
trial trip with complete armament.