Daily camera., 1898-08-02
OUR GOOD WARSHIPS
How They Have Stood tho Most
Trying Of Tests.
Records That Are Unparalleled in the
History of Fleet Movements
Their Experience
at Cuba.

After two months of almost inces-
SAINT cruising by the ships constltut-
ing the fleets around Cuba, and at
times many of the vessels were run at
top speed in overhauling merchant
steamers or on scout duty, not single
breakdown of machinery. has been
reported which could not be effective
ly attended to by the machinists
on board.
This record is regarded as unpar-
alleled in the history of great fleet
movements for so extended a period,
and confirms the opinion of naval Off
GERS that the American ships are bet
ter than any afoat of their type and
class, from machinery to guns and
keelson to fighting tops.
The strain under which many of
the vessels have been placed has test
ed every part of the machinery to its
fullest working capacity. Forced
draught has been used on number OF
occasions by the smaller cruisers, and
the steam logs show that in several in
stances the little fellows have made
better runs than they were credited
with on their official trials. En-
gineers of the navy attribute the alb
sence of serious mishaps to the ma
chinery of the ships during this pc
riod of unusual activity to the superior
! workmanship and attention given to
| the vessels before they were sent
south. Hundreds !of thousands of dol
lars, they say, were expended in re-
| pairing every defect and in strength
ening every part where it was prac-
| ticable during the last six months, so
that when the fleets went to Key West
soon after the Maine disaster their
| machinery was in as fine trim as it
was possible to be.
| The logs of the various ships indl-
cate that the navy has burned more
coal in the gulf since March last than
| the whole service consumed almost in
| the last six months. Thousands of
tons of coal are being shipped month
lv to Key West, and under contracts
this will continue, no doubt, for weeks
yet.
just how much the government has
paid for coal so far is not known to
the engineers, but they estimate that
it is safe to assume not less than
81, 100000 worth has already been pur-
chased. The constant work required
of the vessels, however, cannot con-
tinue indefinitely. The officials know,
without the attention of a dockyard
being given some of the ships.
As all the vessels will undoubtedly
be retained in Cuban waters this sum-
mer, the officers of the construction
and steam engineer bureaus are now
specializing as to when it will prob
ably be necessary to withdraw some
of them for drydocking and repair
ing their bottoms. The marine
growth of the tropical waters has al
ready had the effect of reducing the
speed of some ships by at least knot,
and within two months they will be
in such condition that their speed will
be greatly impaired unless the growth
is removed and the bottoms cleaned
and painted. The battleships are said
to be suffering more than the other
vessels of our fleet, all of which have
been in dock since any of the big fight
ers were.
The Iowa has never been docked
since she was commissioned, and the
Massachusetts, has been a1oat now
over a year without having her bottom
scraped, except by divers, which is not
regarded as an entirely satisfactory
method of getting barnacles off. The
Indiana was in dock at Halifax last
autumn, and the Oregon was in the
new Puget sound dock some months
ago. The big armored cruisers and
many of the smaller cruisers will SUI
fer from foul bottoms this summer,
and the officials think it will be neces-
sary to bring some of them to Port
Royal at any time in order to main
tain the effectiveness of the fleets.
The Port Royal station has now
been thoroughly equipped to handle
the largest ships and to make any re-
pairs required. This station, in the
event of serious damage being sus-
tanned by the ships. around Cuba,
would be the nearest to which they
could be sent, and, being the only
one where battleships can be docked,
becomes now of great Importance to
the navy. Repair shops, machine quar-
ters and all necessary equipment for
rendering prompt assistance to dis
abled ships are there, with a naval
constructor in charge and large forces
of skilled machinists and men of the
construction Observation-Disclosures
American.