Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1895-09-01
MODELS FOR NBRSHIPS.
Hundreds Of Thousands Of Dollar
Spent in Preparatory Plans.
Uncle Sam Has Miniatures Of His
New Fleet-TwO Hundred Men
Constantly Employed by the Gov
eminent in Making Copies Of Our
Fighting Ships.


States government. when equipped and
ready for her guns, $13O6,557 OF this
amount the sum of $4,000 was expended
for plans. In other words, about one
twenty-sixth of the cost of the vessel
was paid TO the draughtsmen and mad
elmakers
This statemnt will astonish most
landsmen, as the general supposition IS
that after Congress has decided to build
a man-of-war the Secretary of the Navy
simply lets the contract and the ship Is
constructed and turnd over 70 the gov
eminent at the end of two or three
years, all ready for service.
The process by which this work OF
construction is accomplished however
is a very complicated one, and at no
time after an addition to the navy mas
been decided upon until the ship IS
built, equipped and in condition TO go
into action are the labors OF the
draughtsmen and modelmakers at an
end. In fact. says the San Francisco
Chronicle. singular as it may seem, 1t Is
generally q year after a cruiser has been
put in commission before her plans are
finally completed.
Although The Secretary of the Navy s
a landSman, he is presumed to know all
about ships and the sea, and his opinion
at these conferences has great weight; IN
fact. he may overrule all the suggestions
Of his subordinates. Generally, however,
he lays before them his ideas in gen
eral way. and they go 10 work ana get
out the plans and specifications for the
vessel If the chiefs do not agree in re-
gard to the details. which quite fire.
ouently happens. majority and minor
itv reports are made to the Secretary,
and he decides between them. Finally
the plans as adopted are turned over to
the Bureau Of Construction, and the
chief. with the aid of his four assist
ants and the draugh;smen, get mp the
design When these are completed the
Secretary advertises for bids to be fur
nished within ninety days.
All bidders are furnished with blue
prints for the preparatory plans. There
are a dozen hull plans and about one
hundred plans for the machinery.
When the contract is awarded the sue
cessful bider is furnished with tracings
of the original plan as the prints are
not sufficiently accurate. He also tts
O printed copy OF the specifications ac-
companying the plans. These make a
neat little volume OF one hundred
pages.
The cost of these preparatory plans
varies. Those for the battle ships. like
the Oregon and Iowa amounted to Sl6,-
t1,s
amount must be added fifty per cent
for the machinery plans preparatory.
This does not. of course. include the
cost of the completed plans. as the yes
sells referred to are still I'm the hands Of
the builders. The cost of the prepara-
tory hull plans of the Columbia pro-
tccted cruiser. was S9.3j0 The cost of
the plans for drafting and model max
ing. while under construction. of the
following vessels of the navy are OBJ
tanned from government records:
Charleston. $2-.725. San Francisco.
S30.14G; Baltimore S25 053 To these
{ amounts should be added twenty-five
per cent for machinery plans and
about forty per cent. for the prepara-
Tory plans
The first thing the contractor does
after the contract is awarded to him is
to Jay down the lines Of the vessel full
size. This is done i'm what is called the
model loft. and it has to be a good-sized
apartment. as in the case of the Olym-
pia. which is $50 feet ON the water line
and g feet I'm breadth. no ordinary
room would answer the purpose. When
this is done the government inspector
| and draUghtsmen follow mp the work
Of the contractors draughtsmen and
see that the original plans are followed
closely. There are generally ten gov
eminent draughtsmen at work on the
hull alone at the Union Iron Works
when a cruiser is under construction.
The plans for the machinery are fur
nished by the contractor as the work
progresses. Whenever any changes
are suggested they are first submitted
to the Engineer I'm Chief Of the Navy in
Washington for approval
As the vessel approaches completion
the officer who has been selected to
command her generally appears at the
yard. and 70 him is given general su-
pervision of the construction. This Of.
fcer is very apt 10 suggest some
changes TO suit his ideas of how the
new ship should be arranged. Suppose,
fer instance. he should want hatch
moved q few feet forward or AFT Of
where IT was located. This change in
itself might entail an expense of 81 900
but II would necessit3te an entire change
I'm the drawing Of the deck plan, and the
draughtsmen. after having spent three
months Of labor. find that they have to
90 an over at a cost TO the government
OF saw. $4,000. Il is because of these
late changes in construction that il Is
nor till C ye9r generally after the vessel
is ready for service that all the drawings
are completed.
When the drawings are finished trac-
| ings ar emade from each, and these are
sent TO the Navy Department for filing.
Then the ship is furnished with GER
tain number of tracings. From the
tracings sent TO the department blue
prints are made and a set furnished to
each navy yard
Whiie the vessel is under course of
construction a model Of it is being made
from drawings to a scale. This model
| IS an exact reproduction Of the ship. with
all its guns. anchors, masts and rigging
"a perfect Lillipu-ian man-of-war
There are models Of every vessel in the
new navy i'm washington. and visitors
10 the Army and Navy Building cannot
fail 10 be attracted by these beautiful IL
tie facsimilies of the great cruisers which
are displayed in The corridor. The cost
of these ships in miniature ranges from
s.. 900 TO $4,000 each.
The most experienced and artic-c OF
the government model makers is man
named Bennett. now over seventy-fve
wears of age. He IS a shipbuilder 10y