The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-08-07
NEW IN NAVAL WARFARE.
VESSELS THAT SUPPLY THE NEEDS
OF OUR FIGHTING SHIPS.

ing Dry Dock Is Needed and Snmp-
son Has His Eye on One.
From the New York Sun.
The present tendency toward speciau-
cation is well exempiihed by the special
! vessels which have come to be regarded
/ as more or less necessary adjuncts to a
| fleet of modern warships. In warfare up
! on the sea the United States has always
been a pioneer-a fact which is thor
! oushly appreciated by the large number of
military and naval attaches engaged in
watching our operations. These foreign
officers are particularly impressed by the
novelty of some OF the classes of ships
which have been made a part of the
American navy, and many exhaustive re-
/ ports concerning the efficiency OF our hos
| ptal, repair. supply and reserve ships
have been mailed TO foreign countries.
In former days ships were built of wood.
coppered bottoms, and carried large sup
plies of water and provisions If repairs
/ to the sails We're needed they We're eff
fected by the sailmaker ana his mates.
! the carpenters gang suiiiced to replace
I broken spars and even TO redy the ship
! to a considerable extent after am ac-
]
! by the seamen, under the supervision of
! the boatswain. The necessity for coalng
! did not exist, and ships were rarely dock
| ed. If the necessity became urgent a con-
Veniont island was selected, the ship was
| careened, and the bottom was Overhauled
| with sufficient thoroughness The con-
| sequence was that ships We're not so de-
pendent upon navy yards, bur relied upon
their own resources, and could keep the
! seas for many months, or even years, if
| required. To-day it becomes necessary,
! after so many days, to renew the coal sup
| ply, or the power to proceed is lost. An
| effort is being made in the American navy
to maintain what might almost be term
! cd floating base. A host of Golfers ac-
companies the fleet, and as soon as one
| collier discharges her coal into the yawn-
| ing bunkers of a battleship or cruiser she
| Immediately steams to Norfolk or some
! other place having good coaling facilities,
| reloads and rejoins the fleet. These coll
| Tiers are constantly coming and going,
| and the warships are never in danger OF
| coal famine. Incidentally Golfers carry
lubricating oil and waste. both very neces-
sary to a modern steamer Among the
golfers attached to the North Atlantic
station are the Sterling, Lebanon, Jus
| tin, Scindla, Alexander, Cassius ScipiO,
Leonidas Pompey, Abarenda, Caesar,
! Hannibal and Niagara. Several of
these vessels are armed with rapd-fr
suns 70 eHapie 'lein 70 se'%e as PRIZE
a ne oHaH' VesSels oI 'ne enemy suouIu
Ciie We e,IcouH'SIeu AT sea ne corners
ioi III DS IA 'he larS9I hummer 'HloAb 'Ile
NSn7e'9 eiHl'oScu soleIy 70 supply lhe meet.
To maintain the efficiency of a vessel
| propelled by steam machinery ii is almost,
if not quite, as necessary to renew the
IiesH "a'er LOT 'I!e polIers as IL Is 10 sup
Ply C"ai lol the furnaces III Is scHeI any
hnoMH tn"t III tile equipneut OIL Cne ma
yoli'S u sea solnS s1ea'l9"niS mere IS
nc uueu an eNdpoIatlils Pl"ul' ne %
Jgct Ul suth an eVapoIalor 70 merely 70
ulstlI lIesh water Ior ollhhlus anu cuilH-
aIS pul poses. II Is i III ,IcspiS 10 i,iahe
tilese eNdPoIatoIs SuillcsShliy large 10 Keep
'iie Wa|eI III tne Doiieis iTsn' V"uSo
az. ne spa III M'isIiip t.ll, ga
ue assisHen 70 lne steam machinery Is
utiINeq III me Pian' '4oF Pr IOpS4huB inc
SlIlp, pSioiS aN'Is Poit al tne poiteI >
aie lllisu WIN IISah "a'ei' pu' III a rev
udys' throusn ieahdse OF steam JOINTS ana
Uliiel ulloN o',iep'e "'is'e' 'iIe NaSer III inc
polieIs runs 10" anu "ole mus DC pump
eu ~ All polieIs are H''eu WIN sea-ih
''0il' ''iI o7O -,
IN "a - Ni9"ii NpCn /" 40
tile water up 70 the WORKING
tlhle 70 l'hie' the water DecoiileS intense
~ sal'' scdae Is ueios,teu' anu ldlIu
oeterioraloh IL ueI'ape, nldhy ie
SuluuS III iSdNS '"Dc9' ANS OlpEsi
- - ~, - -.
repairs eau NC Hdu' AHe necessary Iol 'ii0
care ana preservation Oh tne poneIs ~
very urgent, ana the Proole,n Oh keep
ing up the 1fesh water supply mas peeh
soIVed py our naVal ehSIneers' VINO nave
aesished aistliIius SNIP lle IRIS "nio'
is fitted with monster eVaporaung plant
capa pie OF cohVeruns hundreds OF thou-
sands OF gallons OF sea water mo ifesh
water every week. Inc IT'S Is Htted WIN
powerful pumps 10 ehaoie Her taplny 70 20
tranter the fresh water INTO me poiiers OF
any vessels that require renIllhg, men
Watson visits spain TO oompara the coast
cities and thereby impress upon the DohS
the folly OF their further cohtehulhs WIN
the United states, his meet VIII De ac-
companied by the IRIS Whatever other
vessels may be lett az nome
The care of the wounded IN batIe mas
always been an important pfoDen' pc
fore the outbreak OF .He present war ne
sergeon general OF the navy Ut. van
Reypen, determined to spare no expense