The herald., 1896-05-24
FOREIGN NAVIES

|
According to we'll Informed service
journal, the Italians will this year con-
| fine their shipbuilding programme to
the construction of two new ships. n
not very formidable showing for a ma
tion that has ranked among the leading
! naval powers. One of the vessels is
to be only of 100 tons, her length being
2'o!a feet and beam 26 feet. Her engines
| Will be of 1000 horse power. to give a
speed of % knots. The other vessel,
however, is to be an armored cruiser.
io'ooo tons displacement, the length be-
ing 4l9 feet. beam 651s feet. and draught
2ol4 feet. The engines. it is said. will
be OF $4,000 horse power, and the speed
% knots
The British admiralty has given or
ders FOR the construction of twenty new
torpedo-boat destroyers. OF these two
are to have speed of 80 knots and the
remainder 80 knots The two fastest
are to be constructed. one at Messrs
Ihornycrofts on the Thames, and the
! other at Messrs. Thomson's. on the
clyde. The construction of the remain
ing eighteen boats has been divided
among the chief ship building yards
Three are to be built at the Fairfield
Works. on the Clyde. and three by
Messrs. Thornycroft. Two have been in
trusted to Messrs. Hawthorne Les
lie II Co. on the Tyne, and two to the
Palmer Company, at Jarrow; two to
Mr.. Doxford, at Sunderland: two to
Messrs. Laird & Co., at Birkenhead:
two to the Earle Shipbuilding Company,
at Hull. and two to Barrow-in Furness.
William Kirkaldy. a Glasgow invent
or, has patented a device for closing
water tight doors. subject that has
been attracting much attention among
naval constructors. In describing the
new continuance, the United Service Ga
Zette says:
The feature of Mr.. Kirkaldy's patent
door is it's wonderful simplicity 1t
consists of hollow cylindrical door,
which revolves within a suitable casing,
fixed to. or forming part Of water
tight bulkhead. BY combining this re-
volving cylindrical door and casing
double door is formed. which effectually
prevents the ingres of fire water. etc.
through the bulkhead, yet on being re-
volved by hand allows free thorough
fare between water-tight compart-
mentS with the certainty that at all
times and under all conditions one of
the doors is absolutely closed thus guar
anteeing that the bulkhead is intact and
thoroughly reliable in the event of a
sudden disaster. When the doorways
in casing and revolving cylindrical door
are in line, free passage through bulk
head is gained by entering and standing
inside Of casing and revolving door by
hand. when the ingress doorway In
toSihS 10 dDSoluttly ClOStu DtlOTe the
doorway in revolving door comes in line
with second doorway to allow egresS
from casing. In the event of collision
there is absolutely nothing to be done
in the way of closing the water-t tight
doors. AS the doors are never open.
them, thus obviating the neces-
sity of bulk-head drill. and al
lowing the crew to perform other ur-
gent work. The invention has been
shown to a number of naval and en-
gneer experts and others interested in
shipping matters, who have expressed
their approval Of it's merits and the ex-
ceptional features of safety which the
door possesses.
The United Service Gazette (British)
says that in view of the recent large in
crease of the fleet the admiralty has
completed arrangements for greatly
augmenting the number of stokers and
engine-room artificers. Last year there
were II 095 of those ratings. 1t is pro-
posed to raise this total by 3O2S The
engine-room artificers will be increased
by 266. which, together with the entries
necessary to fill vacancies caused by
ordinary wastage will necessftate n
total entry of 339. OF this number II is
proposed to enter "A at the Portsmouth
reserve, lo2 at Davenport, and 143 for the
Midway reserve. The number of stok-
ers, OF all grades. will be increased by
I'oz, Dut III consequence of an estimated
wastage of 1000 total entry of 1852 will
be made. The stokers will be entered
at the depot ports in the following pro-
portion Portsmouth, 1896; Devonport
6SS; Chatham and Sheerness. 676. The
total cost of this addition to the engine
room department will be fSS 704, the
wages for these ratings this year being
estimated at GS77,765, against G7s9,-
061 for 1856
1T is considered probable" the Ma
val and Military Record CBritish) says,
that the chief constructor will submit
to the lords of the admiralty for embod-
iment in the estimates for 1878
the draught lines and weights
for six coast defense battleships of the
Nalmy or Jemmapes type of the French
navy. The very light draught (22 feeO
OF these formidable ships renders them
| invaluable in tidal ports, such as Bel
fast and Kingstown on the Irish coast;
while their defensive armor--17% inches
on the belt and turrets, and "a c. M.
forty eight-ton guns--renders them
powerful enough to cope with any an
tagonist. The cost per ship, however,
may be considered prohibitive, G525.-
900. This might. no doubt. be reduced
by the construction of ships with less
displacement"