The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-08-11
OREGON'S ENGINES.
THErR STORY FOR THE SHIPS GREAT
RUN OF $4,000 KNOTS.

nun III AefNtS nv |
oD.srv..,ons Of Her First Assistant En-
r,nser - The Engine History OF the
yoyars By tho Man Behind the Valves
sousthinE III Every One Who Knows
Anything About Engines VIII Read with
ne drentsst Interest and Instruction.
Wa are permitted TO publish the following
vary interesting letter. It was written to a
rrlnave by one Of the young men who have
,ttalned honor and distinction in our navy.
frat Assistant Engineer Celand Nelson Ofiey
NJ the oregon's starboard engine room. 1t
sheds a little light, perhaps. upon a part OF the
ship and the ship personnel that the public
As yet lnadeouately understand.
US. 8. ORBooN.
BIocKADrNo sASE1Aoo BE SyeA
Knowing the great interest you take in all
matters pertaining TO our navy, and the espe-
eInl interest with which you have followed our
remarkable race for the scene OF war. I am
aure you will DO pleased 10 have n moro or less
full account OF our recent voyage. together
With some general data, will therefore start
.this account, making Il from time to time as
opportunity offers.
The Oregon, you know, IL q ffrst-class coast
detence battleship OF about 10000 tons dis
placement at the so-called normal draught In
This condition. however, she has only a certain
limited amount OF stores on board and only 400
tons Of coal. When she goes to sea. with her
Nunkers full OF coal. all stores and all ammuni-
tiop on board. her actual displacement is some
thing over 1900 tons. and her draught OF
water is then over twenty-seven feet. and she
vas Of course in this latter condition when we
started out from San Francisco. having on
board at that time about 1900 tons. OF coal, all
hunkers being practically full. p
The ship is driven by twin screws, worked by
triple expansion engines. tho engines being
placed In separate watertight compartments.
and the tops Of the cylinders como well below
the protective deck. There are four large main
boilers. double ended cylindrical. each boiler in
q separate watertiRht compartment. and OF
course. also we'll below the protective deck.
These boilers are each fifteen feet In diameter.
eighteen feet long and have eight furnaces.
four in each end. The dimensions OF each fur
mace are three feet diameter, and length OF
arate Ave feet SIX inches. giving o CRATE surface
for each furnace Of seventeen and a quarter
square feet, or $50 for all main boilers.
We all know. OF course, that we had q remark
ably fine ship. but before starting out we felt
some little anxiety as to our ability to keep the
machinery fully up to it's work during such a
long cruise. Nothing approaching It had ever
before been attempted by a heavy battle
ship. Fortunately we had Just come out OF
dry dock In Beaverton land our trip should
really be considered as starting from that point
rather than from San Franciscol and were only
nine or ten days in San Francisco before start
ing for Callao. Just long enough to Nil our
bunkers and magazines. Our machinery. both
engines and boilers. were then in excellent
condition, everything having been thoroughly
overhauled by our W people while In dry
dock, so il was not necessaryto do any great
amount OF work in San Francisco.
Having finally filled up with coal. amriuni-
tion and stores we left on March 10. and pro-
oeeded under three boilers direct for Callao,
which port We reached ON the morning Of April
4, having expended during this run Of sixteen
days 800 tons OF coal. leaving 900 tons still In
our bunkers. This we consider a remarkably
~efacient performance. having averaged 4.24
knots per ton OF coal. The revolutions OF the
engines during this run were remarkably
steady. averaging seventy-lve revolutions Del
minute for day after day without q variation o
Q tenth OF O revolution.
On two different occasions one Of the boiler.
In use began to leak slightly around the bacl
ends Of some OF the tubes. On both occasions
we Immediately started fires in the idle boiler
and allowed those in the leaking boiler to di,
out, and as soon as possible the boilermake
was sent in to re-expand the tubes. DurinI
all this time the water in the boilers was per
AOSd @ o0A oNoPOheSoAo oAN AosAhSA nav
ing a capacity Of 5000 gallons a day. whicl
was sufficient for all purposes. including tn,
necessary makeup feed for the boilers.
On the afternoon Of March 81 smoke and ga
were discovered to be coming out Of one Of tn,
coal bunkers. This bunker was over half full
at the time. having probably between sixty
i've and seventy tons in II. There was nothing
20 do but dig for the fire, as it was evidentl
down somewhere In the body Of the pile. s
va akarfad In HrorLip0 a nnuDla ~ WAN IN Nh
bunker for about ten minutes at q time. an
then sending In a couple more to relieve tn
first. After about two hours work the fire WI
reached. only about a shoveltul Of live coal be
ing found. but probably a couple of ton
30 hot that it was giving of smok
and gas. After about four hours. stead
work all the dangerous coal had been N
moved and no further trouble was encour
tered. We had to call for assistance from tn
deck force to help us out In carrying the col
away. as we kept up the speed Of the ship tn
whole time; but our own men did all the wor
In the bunker itself. Naval Cadet Jensen. on
OF our engineer cadets. was temporarily II
heved from watch duty and put in charge
the nre gang. and the way he went at 1t, nevt
paying the least attention to the excessive he
and foul air and gas in which he was Workinl
was wonderful to see.
On arriving at Callao We found that our Co
had been ordered for Us by the Marietta. tt
lighters had all been loaded and were brouRl
alongside as soon as 70 let 60 the anchor.
Then began some real work. I started In {
the starboard engine and Reeves ON the DO
engine. and We overhauled connections. scraps
IN brasses whore necessary. examined. cleant
and repaired air pumps. circulating pumT
wiped out ana oiled all the main cylinders al
valve chests. Fortunately for me my engil
was In pretty good shape. needing onlya slig
emountof keying up here and thsre. Reeve
however. found one Of his main cross-hei
slippers 30 badly cut and scored that It
deemed best to remove 1t and put In place
spare one. which We carried on board. tt
sounds easy. but It required twenty-four houl
continuous work. as 1t had to be fitted exact
the face carefully scraped to q true surfat
and. finally. the guides nicely adjusted.