New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-02-19
orr,M IN NAVAL WARFARE
,,pIN-CHIEF MELVILLE TALKS
ABOUT IT
,.,.rEs IN NAVAL ENGINEERING IN
THE LAST THIRTY YEARS

.rvASrES IN NAVAL ENGINEERING IN
THE LAST THIRTY YEARS
.oognized by those who have given the
20, due consideration that the ha'"' VIZ
DO % the United states in the recent war
~. sDain were largely the result OF proViuiiis
,,,orican ships with a Thoroughly moue'"
w a,,,rc mechanism and employing competent
%O' manipulate it, Never before was so good
,,,s,ration afforded If the value OF steam
81 - naval warfare discussion of
eis ..,. nrorress in this direction by so
'-n,ns,ent an authority as Engineer-in-Chiei
,,.,.lle of the United States Navy at TINS tfne'
-. nossesscs peculiar interest. The hrst
W. = .ucb a review makes its appearance in
.r,o Engineering Magazine" for February.
u.,,,t steam is thr sole reliance of the Navy
:. T.. h.rd TO realize that scarcely more than
"...,o,ion ago il was use only as an auxl'lary
So ,oyer and vas intended merely to help a
-, in get in and out Of harbor or 10
r.ao.,,,ro against unfavorable winds. At that
.,-a ,,e machinery employed in utilizing steam
Vs. 90 heavy and cumbrous. and consumed so
nnoh coal that il was quite out OF the question
"a cover any considerable distance with coal
alone.
The first war vessels that used steam were
,,,o-vbcolers. hut Commodore sherwood, who
mos al the head Of the engineering department
=, tho Union Navy at the time Of the civil war
sisnensed with the sde-whcel system and IN
,,oduced the screw propeller What was regarded
:. tho Greatest achievement Of his administration
IN point Of speed was afforded by the wan
..rooc ch. attained an average speed Of sew
,uteen knots on her trial trip. which lasted ior
several hours. she WAS designed IN ioo' ana
tried i'm 1>GS. and at that time the best speed
made hy merchant steamers was thirteen kho's'
The Wampanoag carried only thirty-two
mounds If steam but many warshps now carry
one hundred and fifty pounds or more The ex-
pendture IF coal per horsepower was about 30
nounds an hour. which was an economical figure
FOR that day. The best marine practice to-day
riyes q horsepower from ID or 80 pounds
The Trenton. a few years after the Wampanoae
was launched. used a compound engine Win
thre, cylinders. the gauges VI Roach cruisers OF
1S75-S showed steam pressures Of ninety ana
one hundred pounds; and then the shafts OF the
propcners were speeded up much higher than
had been customary. The first venture with
high-spccd engines. though, was not made IN the
American Navy but in that Of Chill. The Es-
meralda built for that country by the Arm
strongs. not only embodied that feature. but re-
introduced an old idea. the use Of forced draught
to promote combustion and the development of
steam The latter means Of increasing the
power Of a ships engines was really Of American
origin
MULTIPLE EXPANSION ADOPTED
The old compound engine gave place to the
more highly developed triple and quadruple ex
pansion engine These first tried in the
merchant service. and then in the British Navy.
The tests Of the Galatea and the Australia in
1887 were attended with such gratifying results
that the principle Of multiple expansion has
since been universally observed in modern war
ships