Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-06-25
. DOCKING A BATTLE SHIP.
Details of the Operations ON the New
Warshtp Alabama.
From the Philadelnhia Record

Details of the Operations ON the new
Warship Alabama.
From the Philadelphia Record.
Visitors to the League Island navy yard
during the past three days have considered
themselves well paid in being permitted to
look upon the half-finished battle ship Ala
be ma, which was so closely guarded from
public view while at Cramps shipyard, hut
which now stands out boldly in the dry
dock. The crowds have also been amazed
by the fact that such monster of ma
rine architecture could be held so firmly
in the dry dock by what look to be the
frailest Of supports, consisting of 100
blocks, the majority OF which are placed IN
a row under the vessels keel. Had the
coming powerful sea fighter toppled over
before the eyes of the spectators it would
have been in line with their expectations.
The dock at Cramps shpyard not being
large enough. the big government vessels
must be taken to League Island in order to
have work done on their bottoms The
navy yard dock is the largest government
dock next to the ones at New York and
Port Royal. 1t is egg shaped and is 500
feet long, 100 feet 4 inches wide at its
widest part and "a feet 3 inches across the
top Of the entrance gate. The dock slopes
so that at the bottom the entrance is 50
feet wide with the dock interior 30 feet
wide en- the bottom. The depth Of the dock
is 80 feet 8 inches.
The docking OF warship the size of the
Alabama is an undertaking requiring great
skill and care. The day before the arrival
of the ship thirty-five men from Cramps
appeared at the navy yard and prepared
resting place for the Alabama in the dry
deck They arranged the blocks upon
which the vessel was to be placed accord
ing to plan Of the ships bottom. When
the workmen had finished the bottom of
the dock was arranged with a row Of
h fNn&
ter, which looked like the backbone of a
human being; and a shorter row en- each
side. To accommodate the Alabama the
blocks. which OIL the top are two feet by
one foot In size, had to be raised to a
height of four feet and when in the dock
in the position desired the vessel on each
side was within foot of touching the slop-
ing sides Of the dock.
Had the ship been any heavier, and cor
sequently drawing mere water, she could
not have been placed in the dock. Her
present weight is about 1900 TONS making
the weight on each of the blocks under her
about sixty tons. There are sixty-two
blocks under the center Of the Ship which
Is $50 feet long. with nineteen blocks on
each side. The latter are placed under the
docking keels which extend down from
the sides to a point evengwith the bottom
at the center. The Alabama is the first
vessel with the docking ukeels that has
been placed in the dry dock. She also has
the much-talked-of tbilge tkeels or rolling
ms which are to keep her from rolling
With strong timbersj to keep her steady.
the Alabama's supports are complete But
she IS better provided for than is usual, for
most vessels while locked do not have the
side blocks under them, the entire strain
being on the row down the middle.
When the Alabama arrived at the navy
yard she was In tow OF four tugs. These
took her to the entrance of the dock. which
bad been filled with water after the work.
men had finished setting the blocks The
ca,sson at the entrance having been OPEN
MI haA
and with men at iys eapstans, one at the
head of the dock and two on each side. the
Alabama was slowly pulled into the dock.
It was necessary to wait for high tide as
at any other time the entrance to the dock
would be too narrow. the ship being sew
enty-two feet wide at its widest point
" lth her armor on and machinery in place
the vessel, which would weigh about II 600
tons, would be too low in the water and
could not come anywhere near entering the
dock
The battle ship having been guided into
the dock, the next thing in order was to
pump out the water The caisson AT the
entrance was closed by the efforts of a
dozen men and two capstans, and then tie
pumps, which are located in brick house
on the left Of the dock, were set in motion.
When the dock is dry visitors to the yard
can see at the bottom, near the entrance a
wei, wen covered with screen. This well
leads to culvert which runs about 200
feet to the end of the wharf in front of the
pump house, through which the water IS
pumped from the dock to the river The
screen over the we'll keeps movable dock
furnishings from getting into the culvert.
There are three pumps connected with
the dock, two with capacity Of $4,000
gallons each ard the third able to force
out =, 400 gallons a minute The latter is
caileo the drainage pump and Is used Dur
t.cularly to attend to the leakage after tho
deck has been drained. All three pumps
are put to work at once, and thus the wa
ter can be forced out at the rate of lO2. 400
gallons minute. The record for pumping
out the dock is seventy-two minutes.
When the surface of the water in the
process OF pumping got close to the tops
or the keel blocks, there was a slowing
down, and the work went on very slowly.
while the dock workmen guided the big
vesse! SO as to have her settle properly on
the docks. They were enabled to tell to a
degree the position of the craft in relation
10 the blocks, having been kept informed
by the guiding stats that We're erected in
dlf1erent positions, and which stuck out of
tho water AS the battle ship settled down
the snoring tinbers were extended from
the various steps on the sides Of the dock
to the vessels sides. Timbers were also SO
braced under the vessel in various other
places to make assurance doubly sure, and
then the work to be done on the ships bot
tom was started.
The work finished the battle shin was
made ready to be foated out this morning
There are eight holes, each two feet in dia-
meter, IN the caiSson at the entrance of
the dock, through which the water from
the river pours. Over two hours are re-
quired to fill the dock, and as the water
rises so does the VesSeLg The snoring tim
DerS rail- away one by one, and when the
dock has been filled to the level of the
river the battle ship is ready to be floated
out.
"'Deed noSah T dom have m or, - -.