Evening star., 1897-04-17

through that whitening storm Of missiles
ard approach near enough to launch tor
pedo. while nothing short of an armored
craft could Withstand the blast Of such a
| hail of explosive shell. In addition to this
powerful means of offense. the Nashville
carries bow torpedo tube, md woe 20 any
vessel that meets the blow of that MUIR
derous burden of 150 pounds of gun cotton.
Electric lights will shed their glow
throughout the boat. while a searchlignt On
top of the pilot house will send its dazzling
beams of brightness miles into the night.
In the Wilmington and Helena We have
! boats planned more especially for the con-
ditions of river service in the far east,
where the waterways for hundreds of miles,
inland are the principal arteries of COM
mercial intercourse and are crowded with
countless numbers of craft of every imag-
Unable Chinese design. The Wilmington and
Helena, each with its single military mast,
look very much like small battle ships, and
are to do that service so long performed by
the old Monocacy, the last of our wartime
double-enders.
These boats are trif1e heavier than the
Nashville. They are 2J0% feet on the water
line. have a maximum beam of 40 feet 1%
inches. have a normal displacement of 1892
tons. and draw, under usual service condi-
tions, nine feet of water.
Ordinarily each boat will carry but a
hundred tons of coal, but they have bunker
capacity for $50 tons more. upon whic h
they should have wide radius of action.
By the contract, they were called upon to
make lnlFteen kUOtS an nOuT, Dul tHo w IL
mington made a trife over, fifteen, while
the Helena did better by well nigh half a
knot.
Their Armor.
Like the Nashville, these boats are built
of steel, and have an inner or double bot
tom. carefully divided into a honeycomb Of
smaller compartments.
A water-tight deck is worked over the
region occupied by the engines. boilers and
magazines, and the coal is so disposed that
it will give further protection. while band
of one-inch armor three feet eight inches
wide runs along the water-line region amid
ships for distance of siXty-seven feet.
This is an added protection against injury
between wind and water. and these YES
sells are the only gunboats in our service
so armored. and, but for the peculiar duty
for which they are designed, would not be
coated with nickel steel
The engines are in two sets, one on each
shaft, and are of the triple-expansion type.
Steam at a working pressure of 1s0 pounds
is supplied by six single-ended ffre-tube
boilers. placed in two water-tight compart-
ments: and when running under forced
draught these fire rooms will be air-tight
and large blowers will supplement the
draught of the single tall smokestack by
drawing down fresh air and forcing 1t into
the furnaces and up through the roaring
uptakes
Owing to the light draft of these vessels
anu the use VI lWiH ScIeWS, III SOiJuhCtloi
with the special river service for which
they are Planned, their huils aft are of un-
usual shape. Above the water line they
appear normal, but Immediately below they
are followed out into two tunnels within
which the screws work. the water flowing
easily and amply to them. The result is
immediate action-something especially
needful, owing to the narrow channels and
the swift currents of the Chinese rivers.
where a moments loss of motion might
mean grounding upon the neighboring
hanks. This overhanging aft also protects
the screws from passing craft, humping
upon bars, and injury from piunging fire.
There are two rudders. one forward of the
other on the center line. placed where they
will assure the best results.
Built for Service. .--
There is one military mast with two fight
ing tops on each boat: two Gatling guns
in the upper top and two 1-pounders in the
lower ore. The coming tower is placed
just beneath the lower top. and is reached
by sheltered stairway. The ammunition
for the guns in the tops is raised within
the protection of the lower mast.
The batteries are the same as that of the
Nashville" and but four of the 4-inch and
two of the 6-Dounders are housed in spon-
sons. The remaining guns are mounted in
the open on the upper deck forward and
the main deck aft.
That the vessels may thread their way
through the crowded waterways their sides
have been studiously freed of all obstruc-
tions, and the sponsors for the guns are so
arranged that. while yielding wide arc of