The evening times., 1899-03-27
new TRAINING SHIP
FOR NAVAL CADETS
The Chesapeake to Be launch
ed Next June.
Will Be Equipped Only With Sail
Power.
Description of the Handsome
Vessel.

new practice ship Chesapeake, now being
| constructed for the use of the Annapolis
cadets, is a thing of great beauty and that
for grace of line excels anything that has
been designed since the steel vessel began
TO take the place of the old wooden hull.
Rear Admiral Hichborn put his construc-
tors to work to get out plans for vessel
which was to be the ieetest sailer of the
new navy and to depend entirely for speed
on its spread of canvas. While the new
vessel is of steel, its rigging has been so
adjusted that the ship will have all that
spring which was believed to exist only in
wooden ships when plunging along under
full canvas '-toproyals.''
The old Constellation, for years the
swiftest of its class in the navy. once made
| thirteen knots on a reach from Portsmouth,
y. H., TO the Virginia capes, and this was
thought TO be pretty fine work, but if the
Chesapeake does not do better than this by
knot Naval Constructor Hchborn says he
will be disappointed with the work of his
constructors. The new vessel is unlike any
OF the ships built in recent years for the
| navy, inasmuch as it is without steam pow
| er and moves through the water entirely by
| spread of sails. 1t will be full rugged
| snip, carrying courses, three jibs. single
| topsails and royals The bow is of the
clipper type, and the stern well rounded
and like that of the San Francisco, the
| most yacht-like ship of the service
| TO He Constructed of Steel.
The Chesapeake is to be fitted with all
the modern appliances for service and COM
fort and will be constructed of steel The
bottom will be sheathed with yellow pine
| four inches in thickness and coppered from
! the keel 10 two feet and two inches above
! water line. The main battery will consist
of six 4-inch rapid-fre rifles on the covered
gun decks, four 6-pounder rapid-fire and
two 1-pounder guns mounted on the rail
! and worked from the flush spar deck
| a full ship rig Will be provided. The
| lower masts will be of STEEL the balance
of spars of spruce or yellow pine. The
| bulwark plating, in connection with the
stem. is carried out TO form the bowsprit
The total sail area is 1875 square feet.
The vessel depends wholly upon sails for
propulsion and will thus afford training in
part of seamanship which is gradually
| becoming lost art in the navy.
Two boilers will be filter for supplying
| steam TO run the pumps, windlass, and
the electric. distilling, and refrigerating
plants, and for heating the vessel Per-
manent mess tables will be fitted in such
| location not to interfere with passage
! about the deck or working of the guns
and each of the $50 cadets who can be ac-
| commodated on the vessel will be provd-
ed with locker for his clothes. large
pantry especially fitted for the cadets will
| be located amidships on the gun deck and
| convenient TO the galley.
officers Quarters.
At the after end of the gun deck is To-
Gated the cabin, stateroom for the cap
tain, a spare stateroom and lavatory and
Offices for captain. executive officer and
navigator. and also the armory. At the
end of the berth deck are the bathrooms
and wardroom. Forward of these rooms
and separated by water-tight bulkhead
are ten staterooms for wardroom officers
| and the wardroom dining-room, which eX-
| tends across the vessel On the starboard
side, forward of the wardroom dining
| room, are quarters for the warrant officers
On the port side are the wardroom pau
try, paymaster's office, sick bay and dis
pensary. Storerooms are provided in the
hold for all stores and ammunition Water
| tanks are provided for 15,023 gallons of
fresh water.
The vessel will be supplied with eight
| boats-a 30-foot steam cutter and a launch
being slowed in chocks on the rail, two
2S-foOt cutters. one 2S-foot whaleboat and
one 2s-foot gig whaleboat carried on da-
Wits. A 20-foot dinghy will also be carried
on dayits; 16-foot dinghy will be carried
in the launch.
The Chesapeake will be launched early
| in June.
| Dimensions of the Vessel
The principal dimensions of the vessel
are:
Length on load water line 175 feet
Breadth on load water line, 81 feet
Draught mean, 16.6 feet.
| Displacement, l. 115 TONS
The superintendent of the Naval Acad-
| emy has expressed his approval of the de-
sign and has stated that when the vessel
/ is completed and put to her new duty the
Naval Academy will have the greatest ac-
QUESTION for training in its history.
After the advertisements by the depart
ment two bids were received for the con-
struction of this vessel on November 20,
1897.
The bid of the Crescent shipyard. Lewis
| Nixon, manager was $121, $50: that of the
Bath Iron Works $4,000. The contract
was awarded to the Bath Iron Works, OF
Bath Me, where the Chesapeake is now
| under construction.
The First Chesapeake.
On March II. 1894. the President was au-
thorized by Congress to equip and employ
to protect American commerce from the
Algerians four ships, to carry forty-four
guns each, and two to carry thirty-six
guns each. and to appoint the requisite
number of men and officers to command
| them. The duty of carrying out the pro-
visions of the law was assigned to the
Secretary of War, Hon. Henry Knox. John
Humphreys was appointed naval construc-
tor and had general charge of the ships
laid down.
In report submitted to the House of
Representatives by Secretary Knox under
date of December 27, 1884 he recon-
mended the distribution of the ships to
six different parts of the Union, and one
port selected was Portsmouth Va, where
the frigate Chesapeake, Of forty-four guns,
was laid down. In December, 1895. two
thirds of the live oak frames for the
Chesapeake and most of the material
spars. iron and copper were in store or in
course of preparation. The keel had bsep
lald and part OF the frames bo,ted together
ior raising. Upon the establishment Of
peace IN 1896 between the United States
ana Algiers work was suspended on this
vessel .s
Launched I'm 1799
The breaking out of the war with Franco
in 1898 gave a fresh impetus to the navy
In July orders were sent to resume work
upon the Chesapeake. Mr.. Josiah FoY
who was the naval constructor, was di-
rected to proceed with the work. but dur
ing the interim he recommended a plan of
reducing the size of the vessel from for
ty-four guns to thirty-six guns.
The Chesapeake was launched in De-
N uFnc