Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-02-02
SHEATHING OF WARSHlPs
Why the Naval Construction Board Re-
versed It's Position.
Report to Secretary Long-Admiral
Hichborn Dissents From the
Views of His Associates.

mitted report to the Secretary Of the
Navy explaining why 1t has reversed its
position and modified Its Judgment In the
natter of sheathing. the new battle ships
and now believes It will be more advan-
tageous not to undertake to sheathe them.
The board says that the argument in favor
Of sheathing is that the bottom of a ship
will not foul to so great an extent as when
rot sheathed, and that therefore the YES
sells should be better able to maintain their
speed on moderate coal consumption and
save expenses in docking and painting.
Against these advantages the board
places disadvantages heavily increased
first cost, very difficult form of construc-
tion in which our shipbuilders have little or
no experience: difficult and expensive re-
pairs. danger of injury to the hull plates
from bad sheating. additional weight of
sheathng, which might be given up to coal
or armor: increased volume to drive through
the water, great difficulty in attaching
sheathing to the armor plates and the lack
Of East India teak. the best wood for
shea thing, in this country.
The board believes that these disadvan-
tagcs outweigh the advantages and that the
latest practice abroad appears to be to
omit sheathing on the larger vessels, al
though 30 per cent of the cruisers laid
down have been sheathed.
Issuse Joined With the Board.
Chief Constructor Hichborn takes positive
issue with the remainder of the board in
their conclusions and strongly insists upon
the advantages of sheathing. He says that
the fouling Of the copper bottom is prac-
tically nil, and that in addition to the other
advantages which the board admits in IA
vor of sheathed ships he might add: A con-
siderable saving in coal consumption, the
greater stiffness of the ships bottom, in
surfing safety and longer life, and mainte-
rance of uniform cruising speed. AS to the
objection that sheathing involves increased
st, the chief constructor says that the
vessels can be built well within the cost
fixed by Congress.
He Indignantly resents the assertion that
our shipbuilders have little or no expert
ence in sheathing, pointing out that We
have already in the United States navy six
sheathed vessels: that six others are under
construction, and Ito imply that we can
not do in the United States what has been
done for twenty years abroad notwith-
standing the knowledge that has come to US
of foreign practices, is in my opinion re-
Election upon the ability of our own ship
builders and mechanics. than whom there
are none more capa BILE the world over"
AS to the other objections to sheathing,
Admiral Hichbcrn says that repairs will
not be frequent. owing to the superior pro-
lection afforded the bottom of the ship:
that as the board has already seen fit to
increase the size of the ships 500 tons he
sees no reason why small fraction of the
increased displacement should not be util-
lied for sheathing and thus maintain the
designed speed, which otherwise would be
purely fictitious. He points out that if the
copper bottom is abandoned it Will be nee
essary to increase the engine power to
reach a speed of 10 knots. and even then
1t could not be maintained. He insists that
Georgia pine is good as East India teak
and that the construction bureau Is fully
competent to solve any question connected
with the attachment of the sheathing 10 the
armor.
In conclusion. The chief constructor says:
The United States cannot afford to be con-
trolled in policy of construction of our war
vessels by the practice of foreign nations.
Its coast line is too extensive and the points
to be defended are separated by twice the
length of the continent. 1t is therefore
sential that the so-called sea-going battle
ships should be capable Of making this vOy-
age without the necessity of docking"
The Majority Reply.
This report of the chief constructor
called forth another report from the ma
jority of the board. They assert that in
making the requirement that the ship
should be sheathed the House naval COM
mittee was guided by the recommendation
of the Secretary of the Navy and the Pres
ident more than by the pamphlet of the
chief constructor, which they asserted ia
vors only the sheathing of cruisers. They
also assert on the authority of a shipbuild-
ing concern that the additional cost of
sheathing the contemplated cruisers would
be from SZiO,OOU TO SlSU,UUD eaCh. 1hey
state that the vessels SO far built for the
service are composite and not sheathed and
reiterate their statement as to the difficulty
of attaching the sheathing to the armor.
Further they say that the sheathing would
retard the completion of the vessel; occupy
the docks for months and that there are
instances where copper does not protect the
bottom from fouling. Moreover the size of
the ship may be diminished by abandoning
the sheathing. A table included shows that
but three battle ships have been sheathed
within the last ten years.
Admiral Sampson Conservative.
In appended letter from Admiral
Sampson he questions whether We have
progressed far enough to sheath SO many
large ships without further experiment,
having no information Of our own and in
sufficient information from abroad. He
says there was great difficulty in making
the Chesapeake sheathing water tight and
points to the danger resulting from gal
vanic action upon the plates In case of
leak. He declares that some Of the foulest
ships he ever saw were covered with cop
per; that the Chesapeake's sheathing is
complete failure and should be removed
and that any sheathtng thus applied would
also be failure. He suggests that infor-
nation be obtained from Great Britain on
this point meanwhile offering large gra-
tuity for some paint to protect ships bot
tom.
Chief Carpenters View.
AS a last shot. the chief constructor sub
mits letter from Chief Carpenter Mayer
in Philadelphia to show that sheathing
very much strengthens a ship He tells of
the grounding of H. NJ. s. Bonaventure in
the Yellow sea. Running fifteen knots she
struck the rocks with such force as to force
her bows ten feet out of the water. Being
sheathed, however, she was towed of with
slight damage and when locked 1t was won
derful to see how small her damage was,
owing to the enormous protection of her
sheathng. Mr.. Mayer compares TINS Incl
dent with the grounding of the Brooklyn on
Schooner Ledge. and the crushing in Of the
Charleston like an eggshell. and holds to
the benefits and utility of siieating.