The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-03-28
THE INDIANA IN THE DOCK.
SHE ENTERS An HOUR AFTER THE
TIDE WAS AT ITS HIGHEST.


when the Tide Was at Its Top.
The ship High and Dry ON the
Blocks.
Port Royal. S. c.. March 27.-At just 7.S0
O'Clock this morning. on a tide which had
been ebbing for a good hour. the battle
ship Indiana steamed galantly through TO
the caisson Of the government dry dock
on Paris Island with fully fifteen inches
to spare between her keel and the blocks.
It was a glad day for the people of Port
Royal, and the satisfaction depleted upon
the faces Of the officers at the naval sta
ton was a sufficient testimonial OF the
qualification which they experienced in
the vindication OF the work upon which
they have labored so long and so faith
fully, and upon which of late some people
have attempted to cast aspersions.
The docking this morning was a triumph
for the harbor Of Port Royal and for
every friend of the Paris Island station.
The battleship was put on the blocks not
only with perfect ease and success, but
when the tide had been running out for at
least an hour. The docking might Just
as well have been done yesterday or the
day before On the 25th. the unofficial
reckoning OF the water showed twenty
seven feet In the dock, and yesterday
evening there was as much more. The In
diana draws twenty-four feet. and on
either Of the tides mentioned it is claimed
that she could have gone in with an abun-
dance of water 10 spare. The officers In
charge however. doubtless knew best.
They have. at all events. docked the In
diana most successfully, and that has al
ways been the great consideration.
The tide this morning was at its hight
about $3.50 O'Clock, and II had been design
ed to run the vessel into the caisson at
that hour. But when the morning came
the whole harbor was enveloped In a
dense shroud of mist and fog The bat
teship was steered cautiously for the dock
in the leading strings Of four tugs SO
much delay was occasloned by. the fog
that Il was not until after o'clock that
she cleared the caisson and foated. In the
water of the dry-dock. According to the
official figures there We're then q feet
inches Of tide. This was about four inches
below the normal, but Il gave the battle-
ship good fifteen inches to spare above
the blocks.
The pumps were turned on as soon as
everything was pronounced to be snug.
AT FIRST the pumping was purposely done
very slowly to give the men at work on
the ships sides a better chance to work.
Three hours after the work had started
there were still ten feet Of water in the
During the forenoon many excursion
parties came down to the island from
beaufort and Port Royal. and the sue
cessful docking OF the vessel was made
the subject of many congratulations and
much merry-maHng. 1t was not untif
quite late in the afternoon that the last
bit OF water was pumped out OF the dock.
At o'clock she stood high and dry on
the blocks. She rested straight on her
keel, and she was by actual measurefnens
Just nve Feet ten inches above the floor
OF the dock.
The officers and the gentlemaniy off,
Gals connected with the station or the
battleship are, as usual, very reticenr,
but their satisfaction with to-day's work
IS expressed in many ways. No one can
say, OF course, what the official report
Will be, but IL is believed here that Il viii
express the conviction that the dock Is in
splendid condition, and that II is capable
OF holding any snip In the navy The off,
for publication.
II is an open secret here that the dock
ing could have taken place almost any
day during the last week, but il was
thougnt best to wait till the period OF the
nilsnest spring udes. The officers thought
that II was very important to have just
as much water as possible for the frsg
trial Of the structure.
Washington. March N.-The news Of the
successful docking of the Indiana at Port
Royal to-day was a keen relief to the
naval administration which had been so
scandalzed for the past ten days over ths
spectacle OF the finest ship In the navy
lying helplessly at tho mouth of a new
dock unable TO get to sea In an emergency,
ana to all practical purposes worthless
for naval uses How serious the affafr-
really was has been carefully concealed
during the pendency of the naval bill in
congress which makes appropriations for
four additional vessels of the battleshiD
type but now the danger has been luck
lily aVerted the facts appear to gradually
come TO the surface.
The only official mention of the Indiana's
cost that is made in the last annual re-
port of the navy department is S3O2OO0D.
which was the contract price for her hull
$lO00,0O0, her guns one-third of that
amount, and the total expenditure of the
government In making her ready for sea
was over $5,500,0OO Her maintenance in
commission, neglecting all other expenses
than the pay of her officers and men and
eoai G. al burned Is put at something over
her arrival at the dock entrance at $3.50
a. m. March IA until this morning, the ex-
pense incurred was $4,000, which was
practically thrown away.
There being no equipment of workmen
and tools at the Port Royal station they
had to be furnished from Norfolk Va
Material for any needed repairs to her
machinery and skilled machinsts had also
to be dispatched from some distant point,
mated that the present docking of the big
vessel Is going to cost 100000
This question of docking our battleships
Is serious one for consideration. The
only dock on the Pacific coast which a
battleship may enter has been located at
Port Orchard, Puget Sound and will be
opened If the conditions are favorable by
the Monterey IN few days. No shop tools
or workmen are nearer its site than Mare
1SldHds fVV IlutS away
Not until the big dock at BROOKLYN is
completed, possibly a year hence will it
be possible to repair and care for the big
battleships on the eastern station. Naval
officers do not hesitate to criticise the Port
Royal dry dock, which they declare can
only be reached by a tortuous channel.
having hard phosphate rock bottom cali
culated to ruin heavy war vessel which
might touch it. Such a channel with a
sand bottom, they declare, would not be
50 dangerous. Grave doubts are also ex-
pressed as to the accuracy, of the meas
urements, as the contract called for a
depth over the entrance sill of rs feet at
mean high tide water. Suspicion has been
now directed against the fundamental
marks and data upon which the mean high
tide was calculated and doubt is express-
ed whether a series of observations may
not disclose mean depth at high tide.
summer and winter. of not over 25 feet
Battleships with a. mean designed draft
Of "a feet have an extreme draft astern of
% feet with 400 tons of coal aboard, and
therefore could only get into the dock un-
der exceptionally favorable circumstances.
Burned mt Her wharf