The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1898-07-22
GUNBOAT IN 1900 PIECES.
THAT IL the Way a Warship Ia to De
\ Shipped from England to
Lake NyaSsn. -.

English naval constructors are very
much interested in gunboat which has
iust been completed for service on Lake
Nyassa, in Central Africa, and it is to
be shipped to that point In pieces like
a Chinese puzzle. This boat, the Guen-
dolen, is now split up into 1900 pack
nges for transportation. Areporter of
the London Echo describes the boat in
his account of his interview with J. A.
Hcnnie, of the engineering firm which
built the Guendolen:
$50 there is going to be lighting on
Lake Nyassa ?" remarked, tentatively.
II never said So" he replied, with fit
ting diplomacy.
"Then that's my mistake; I merely
Judged so from the fact Of you taking
out what on a lake would be CA -idered
a first class battleship, for the Guen.
dolen is heavily armed, is she not?"
EYES, if you call six Maxims and four
Hotchltiss guns big armament. She
is intended to replace the three small
gunboats now on the lake which are
practically obsolete, and is a vast i'm
provement on them in every way. Her
length is 1876 feet, beam 2a and tonnage
$50, and with a draught of four feet six
inches is intended tc steam ~ knots.'
81 suppose the depth of the lake did
not necesstate shallow draft vessel?'
"By no means, as there is plenty OF
water even close lnshore; that enabled
us to have twin screws, for on shallow
water such as the Niger or the khoja
Thy means of which the Russians in
1894 penetrated far up toward ChtraD
sternwheel is absolutely necessary.
She is quite normal type, except for
the fact that she is fitted with Fraser's
underlined boilers, and will burn wood
fuel, of which there is an abundance in
and around the lake; coal Is only
brought up from the coast for the use
of two or three forges, at cost of some
C 10 per ton, such is the difficulty Of
transport"
"And that difficulty will be increased
In the case of gunboat, should i'm
agine?"
mot so much as you think" said Mr..
Rennie. "You see, we can only bolt,
not rivet her together in the yard here,
so as to insure the perfect fitting to-
gether OF every part. In this condition
the Guendolen was inspected by Sir Ed
ward Reed, who expressed himself as
thoroughly satisfied with her. Then
she was taken to pieces, every piece be.
ing previously numbered, and on a
small model these numbers are marked
off, the internal tittings-of course the
model is only of the outside of the hull
having their proper numbers marked
on scale drawings. Drawings and
model accompany the ship, which is
split up into 1900 packages, that con-
tanning the boiler of sh tons being the
heaviest, so that on her arrival there
need be no difficulty whatever In put
ting her together again"
Mr.. Rennie added that if one Of the
packages should be lost, 1t would be
difficult to replace it. The packages
are to be transported for miles over a
rough country by bullock wagons, and
as extra weight is an important cons'd-
Grafton no spare parts are carried. Com
mandcr Cullen, Il. N. r., the commander
in chief on the lake, has charge OF the
transportation and he will superintend
the assembling of the parts.-N Y. Sun.