The San Francisco call., 1899-09-04
NEWS OF FOREIGN NAvIEs:

NEWS OF FOREIGN NAvIEs'
TTnfavorahle reports of the D'Entrecas-
+aanr etili continue, Notwithstanding the
efforts TO make her somewhat nearly the
calculated efficiency Besides belnS ShoI
two knots of the intended speed II Is
ported that owing to very 1aully Neiti
ton the hold of the ship was so NOT "nt.l
under steam that it was deemed saIesI ~
sail with empty magazines. Inc snip -
now on the China station.
The Russian battleship Kniaz PotenKlh
Taveitchesky will try a novelty IN tle d
rangement of It's sixteen 6-lnch quiCh
firers. They are to be placed on douPle
mountings so that one crew can manage
a pair of guns, and each of the TWO guns
practically bears on exactly the same
spot. This would seem to double the hlts'
but it also doubles the misses, and the
only advantage appears to be that d
smaller crew is required. On the other
hand, a shot NAV disable both guns.
The vickers shfpbuildfng and Arma-
ment Company Of England has ordered
four cantfever shipyard cranes from
makers in the United States, and the
Austrian Navy Department .-as ordered
one of this type of cranes, to be located
at the dockyard at Trieste. The New
duce this Iabor-saving appliance, by which
frames. beams, plates and other weights
are hoisted up from the ground and then
deposited at either end or side of the ship
on the stocks. The cantilever crane is
also extensively used in shipyards on the
northern lakes.
A new schedule of pay Of supervising
officers dnspectors) of work in British
backwards IS shortly to go into effect
The highest pay will be that OF inspectors
of shipwrights, of electrical filters, ny
drauIic work and of pattern-makers, VINO
will receive $3.50 to $3.50 per annum Ihe
other trade inspectors range from So0U 10
$3.50. The inspectors are divided into three
classes. and their duties correspond with
those of foremen in our yards. There is,
however this difference, that the British
inspector receives about so per cent more
paw than the best workman under his con-
troll while in our navy the difference pc
tween workmen's and foremen's pay IS
not so great.
A recent dispatch from London giving
hare outline account of a new type or pat
+leship TO be built from the design of Sir
Edwin White is being vigorously contra
dicted by the principal London papers.
They assert that the ship described as a
novelty of design is one out OF TOUR de-
nominated as the Duncan class, one Oh
which was begun some months ago at
Devonport, and that these ships are not
different to any great extent from the
ocean type all of which are afioat The
statement that the Government was about
to build a 161b-inch wire-wound gun,
weighing 62 tons, is also contradlcted,
there being no intention to make larger
guns for naval use than those OF L inches.
An armored cruiser to be named the
he baPnn
Rrest. She is to be a triple-screw, to de-
velop a speed of q knots, and OF the fol-
lowing dimensions: Length, 4o3 feet'
breadth, 66 feet; draught, about z feet,
on which the displacement will be 1O,ol4
tons. The armor consists of continuous
-heIt of six-inch maximum thickness,
above which the battery is protected by
5H-inch armor The protective deck IS
. inches thick and the turrets IA inches.
The armament is composed OF two to
inch. eight 6.4-inch six 3.9-inch, eighteen
1.75-inch and six 15-inch rapid-nrlng guns:
The normal coal carried IS ylO tons, ana
the bunkers have a capacity OF 1890 tons
Her estimated cost, complete, is $4.zUU,VOV.
General George Willis of the British
army has demonstrated against the pub
1ica+ion of Brassey's Naval Annual, and
saws he is unable to understand how the
British Government would permit the IS
suance of this publication. He asserts
that Brassey's contains information con-
cerning the British navy which should not
be known, and that the secrets and weak
points of naval defense at portsmouth
Iuere revealed. 1t is evident that General
Willis reading is very limited when he
picks Brassey's Annual out as the sole
means of information relating to naYies
and coast defenses. Mr.. Brassey does not
confne his criticism to British ships alone,
and The Engineer, Engineering and Lon
don Times are his authorities for home af-
fairs. AS to foreign naval information
there is no lack of it in France, Germany,
Italy and Russia, and while but Ittle OIL
the Tinted States navy can be gathered
from American papers, the London Engin-
eer and The Engineering contain early and
authentic information in detail about
Uncle Sans projected vessels. General
Willis criticism has fallen fiat, for Rear
Admiral Beresford has since expressed his
appreciation of Brassey's Annual and
commended it's usefulness.