The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1898-10-21
Naval Lessons
Learned.
MELVlLLE'S REPORT
The Needs of This Depart
ment Dwell Upon.

has just ended was the first in which
modern steam vessels have had a thor
ough trial, says Engineer in Chief Mel
vile in his annual report, and then he
proceeds to note the important lessons,
so far as they respect the machinery
of the vessels, which have been taught
by that experience. as follows:
The vital necessity of giving the ma
chinery of vessels in reserve frequent
tests under working conditions, so thatl
any defects may be discovered and
remedied before war makes the vessels
services absolutely necessary. In sew
eral cases defects were found after the
ships had begun cruising, and the re-
pairs laid them up in the midst of the
war.
The great Importance of having all
our naval stations in positions of STRAIT
egic value, properly fitted out for re-
pairs and with adequate supplies of
non perishable stores II has been evil |
dent for a long time that Key West
was such a station, but money to put
the plant in proper repair was refused
year after year, and only granted after
the war had begun. The movement of
large bodies of troops and their equip
nent almost blocked the railroads, so
that, after the beginning of the war
it was almost impossible to secure the
forwarding of tools and supplies.
That fresh water for the boilers is !
almost as important as coal, and that
distilling ship is an important adjunct
of a fleet operating away from a base
where fresh water can be readily OBJ
tanned.
That every fleet needs aNrepair ship
to enable the efficiency to be main
consequently that several ships should
be equipped so as to be ready to pro-
coed with the fleet.
The great tactical advantages OF
water tube boilers.
That if more than two main engines
are to be filed, there should he three
engines driving three screws, and not
two main engines on each shaft. The
New York and Brooklyn had their for
ward engines disconnected at the time
Of the Santiago fight, and could not
stop to couple them. An accident to
any part of either of the two engines
on a shaft disables half the power; in
the three-screw ship this fraction
would be only third.
That there should be frequent trials
under forced Graught to keep the blow
ers in good condition and to make the
men thoroughly familiar with working
under maximum conditions. It appears
that some Of the ships had never been
under forced draHght since their con-
tract trials until the day of the fight
at Santiago.
That the location of the forced
draught blowers is o matter of serious
Importance. In some of our ships, ow>
ing to the demands for all other space
for other purposes, the blowers had to
be located in corners or pockets in the
fire rooms, where 1t was impossible for
human beings to give them proper
attention, owing to the intense heat
due to lack of ventilation In the Gin
Cinnati temperatures as high as 205 de-
grees Fahrenheit were noted, and the
commanding officer when investigat-
ing the case personally, had his face
scorched. The blowers must be placed
where they can be properly cared for,
or else they are useless and might as
well be left on shore.
That the personnel of the service
should be adequate to the material 1t
has been notorious for some time that
this is not the case, and we are pro-
viding for a decided increase in the
number of vessels with no increase
whatever in the personnel. BY sending
nearly every officer ON the active list
to sea we were able to give the regular
ships fair complement of trained
ones, but had the war been OF long du-
ration we would have been greatly EN-
oarrassed to supply the places of those
disabled or invaded. Volunteers,
however, well trained in orher ways
cannot entirely replace the regular Of
f1cers.
That we must make provision for
training the enlisted men of the en-
gineer department If our enlarged fleet
is to be efficient.
That our fighting ships must have
the highest practicable speed. There is
an almost general agreement on this
point among naval men. and it is very
gratifying therefore that oul. three new
battleships are to have speeds of at
least IL knots, which is now recognized
S as the standard
The chief says that the most obvious
effect of the emergency demand was to
demonstrate in a vigorous manner the
facilities and deficiencies of the various
navy yards, and particularly to Justify
the policy which had been previously
advocated by this bureau of placing the
more southern yards and stations in a
state of modern efficiency. The expert
ence at Key West in meeting the first
great rush created by the demand for
repair work on the ships was a proof
Of the vast Increase in the cost Of re-
pair work occasioned by insufficient
building and plants.
With pride the report dwells upon the
tremendous amount of work accomp-
lished by the bureau in preparing the
feet for war.
L ne RECORD naue Dy the repair snip
Vulcan, it is said, will convince the,
most skeptical that this floating shop
was of inestimable value off Santiago,
and that there is no more important
feature today than the maintenance of
such a ship well stocked, with every
large fleet. An appropriation is asked
for the procurement of another such
ship, and also for the equipment of an
other distilling ship, such as the Iris.
The chief engineer says that there
was remarkable absence of casualty
in the machinery departments of the
vessels Of the fighting squadron during
the war But of the torpedo boats he
says:
1T is sad affair that nearly every
one has had some accident and the
machinery of some at the close of the
war was in a condition that can only
be described as horrible, where boilers
We're burnt, cylinder covers broken, pis-
tons and valves stuck, and everything
in bad shape This condition of affairs
seems attributable to the absence Of
trained engineering supervision and