Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1896-09-21
THE TEXAS WAS AGROUND.
Big Battleship in Danger for a
Time, but is Safely Released
in the Morning.

Newport. r. l., Sept. 1.-THE United
States battleship Texas which went
ashore at the mouth of the harbOr here
last night was fioated early this morn
ing and is apparently uninjured. There
was no rock under her. Four tugs were
required to get her into deep water. The
work was accomplished after half an
hours steady strain.
A mistake in the exchange Of signals
between the bridge and the engine room
is believed to have been partially re-
SpOnsible for the grounding. The CAP
tain had ordered one screw reversed,
but it continued in the forward motion.
Capt Glass, commander of the Texas,
has been particularly unfortunate. Two
years ago while in command Of the Cir
cinnati. the vessel struck Execution
rock outside of Hell Gate.
Divers who have made a thorough eX-
animation Of the hull of the Texas re-
port that they find she is in no way
injured and will not have to be locked.
Capt Glass has his report of the accl-
dent ready to forward to the navy de-
partment 1t is stated there vii! be no
need of cOurt-martial to determine the
responsibility The machinist i'll charge
of the reversing gear admits that the
blame is his, as he misunderstood the
signals.
i
tleship in the navy, the nearest approach
to her type being the Maine, also built
by the government in Brooklyn and orig
inally styled a second-class battleshlp,
but now officially designated as an ar
mored cruiser.
Built from English designs, subsequent
ly modified, the Texas was launched III
1892, and it was not until August of this
year that she was placed in commission,
three years having been taken in cOmplet-
ing her engines, armOr and armament. 1t
was feared at one time that the vessel
would prove tOpheavy, but her trip from
Norfolk as well as two or three outside
cruises previously made, show, according
to her officers that she has. if anything,
an excess of stability. while she is the
most easily controlled vessel in the navy.
In appearance the Texas looks quite
unlike any other vessel in the navy. She
has the ram bow and taper stern of the
Maine and several others, but the lines
differ. She is not quite so long as the
Maine, and she measures in consequence
300 tons less. She has two sticks sim
liar to the Names, with fighting tops,
but here the resemblance ends. She has
only one large funnel. while the Maine
has two of more slender proportions.
With her broad beam of sixty-four feet,
equaling that of the much larger ar
mOred cruiser New York, she has very
HAAA'
enormous sweep of clear deck room and
a wide range for her big guns.
She is 300 feet over all. and has a
draught of a feet. Her displacement
on the load water line. not yet accurate
Iy determined. will probably be 6725
tons. The indicated horse power as
shown in her dock trial, was $780, under
which. according to her PLAN she would
attain a speed of seventeen knots. She
has never had trial for speed. how
ever. It is further estimated that she
has a steaming radius of 1000 miles at a
speed of 10 knots, with a coal consump-
ton of S7S tons, which is her bunker
capacity.
Her armament consists of a main bat
terry, which includes two 12-inch rifles in
turrets echeloned on deck, one forward
on the port side and one aft on the star
board; six 6-inch guns and four 18-inch
Whitehead torpedo tubes. A secondary
battery comprises twelve 6-pounders, six
1-pounder rapid-fring guns and four
37-mm. Hotchkiss and revolving cannon.
The belt armor, turrets and redoubts
are of 12-inch Harveyized steel; the con-
ming tower is inches. and the protective
deck inches on the fiat and inches
in the slope. She has 80 officers and
35S men.