The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1895-11-01

| TIE IA tAuOfN.
The Ammen ram Katshdin, whose speed
trial has'provod so satisfactory, as her name
implies, was designed by Rear Admiral
DANIEL AMMEN, retired, especially for
offensive maneuyering. She was built at
the Bath Iron Works. Bath, Me-, having
been completed several months ago. Much
time was spent in experimenting WITH
| the vessel In the waters in which she was
built. and few weeks ago she started
for Boston to make her official trial trip.
She is 251 feet over all, with water
line OF $50 feet inches, and an extreme
|. beam of 43 feet 5 incLsL She draws Is
feet, has depth of hold OF IL feet 7i2
inches, and her displacement is 2. SO tons.
She is built to make II knots an hour.
Her coal capacity (normaD is 175 tons;
(totaD, 1873 tons
The hull is divided into 1O2 water-tight
compartments. She has two streaks OF
side armor, the bottom one three inches
and the upper one six inches thick. The
deck armor is six inches thick at the
sides and two and half inches thick at
| the crown. The coming tower is protect
ed by srmof1s inches thick and the smoke
pipe and ventilators are of inclined armor
six inches thick.
The Kstahdin will .carry,no main bat
terry. Her secondary battery for keeping
off torpedo boats will consist of four g.
inch rapid fire guns mounted in barbettes,
two forward and two aft.
The engines are of the horizontal,
triple-expansion typs, totally independ.
ent and placed in separate water-tight
compartments, the starboard engine be-
ing aft. The cylinders are 25 inches, 3t
inches and SO inches respectively in diam
eter, and the stroke IL 80 inches. The
condensers are separate, OF composition
and brass, and of the usual United States
engineers department design. The cool.
ing surface is 6670 square feet in area. The
propellers are three blsded, of man
ganese bronze, IL feet 10 inches In diam.
eter, with 14-foot pitch snd an inclined
doubls-end boilers and one single end
one, OF steel, after the Scotch type. The
double ones are % feet 8 inches long and
10 feet Sd inches in diameter, and the
single one is II feet ia inches long and
10 feet sia inches in diameter.
There are Is furnaces 45 inches In diam.
eter, OF corrugated iron. The CRATE eur.
face is s54 square feet, and the heating
surface is ~, $50 square feet. The work
ing pressure of the boilers Is 1866 lbs.
The forced draught is on the closed fire
room system.
The designed horse power is $500, with
the engines making $50 revolutions per
minute. This is intended to develop II
knots speed. This speed will give an i'm
pact to the ram of "a, 600 foot-tons.
The hull is lowered to fighting trim by
fourteen s-inch valves, opening into trim
ming tanks at each end of the vessel.
The ram has double bottom throughout
Her complement will be 81 men, 56 of
whom are in the engineers department.
The Katahdin is designed solely as .
ram and her model seems to be admira bly,
adapted for this work. The deck is
rounded, at the center being six feet
above the water and at the side one foot
below the surface. The keel 10 elliptical,
which tends to give rspidity in turning.
Although the model of the vessel Is so
efficient as regards protective and offsn-
sive powers, 1t is entirely unsuited to
economic propulsion and high speed, and
II has been proved by the builders In
many months OF experience that with the