The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1901-05-18
HER EIRST biz.
1conanued from First Page.3

I'm the caSernate thus formed are
placed ten of the 6-ineh guns Above
this, on the upper deck, four OF the g.
inch guns are placed. in the vicinity OF
which six-inch armOr is worked far
enough forward and aft to afford pro-
lection to the crews of these guns.
Protection is afforded the vftals of the
ship below the water line by a protec-
tive deck worked fat within the case
mate, and with slopes forward and aft
Of it. The deck is worked in two thick
nesses of plating. the total thickness on
the Nat being % inches. while that on
the slopes forward and art is respect
lively three inches and four inches
LofIerdamS are built on the protective
deck from the diagonal armOr bulk
heads to the bow and stern in the vicin-
1ty of the water line. and on the berth
deck for nearly the length of the vessel
All of these cofferdams are filled with
corn pith cellulose-
The main battery of the ship con-
sists Of four 12-inch breech-loading
rifles, placed in two balanced turrets,
and sixteen 6-inch rapld-hrlng guns
The tErrets are turned by electricity,
and the motors used for this purpose
can revolve one of these great turrets
through $50 degrees in one minute The
armor of both the turrets and barbettes
is y inches thick.
Ten Of the e-inch guns are within
the casemate as before stated, two 9TH
ers are on the berth deck forward in
6-inch armored Sponsors. and four are
on the upper deck Those in the spon-
sons forward and two on the upper deck
can fire directly ahead. and the other
two on the upper deck directly astern,
In addition to having a brcad-side fire.
The secondary battery consists of six
3-inch rapid firing guns; eight 6-pounder
rapid-hriug guns SIX 1-pounder rapid
firing guns; two Colts and two 3-inch
rapid-firing field guns
Al new feature introduced in the Of
fensive power of this ship IS the SUD
merged torpedo tube While submerged
torpedo tubes are not new abroad. Ger
man Warships having been equipped
with them for number Of years. the
Ohio" and her class are the first bat
tleships Of our navy to be supplied with
them: though prior to her constitute
ton many vessels of the United States
navy were fitted with torpedo tubes
above the water line The ohio" will
have two of these tubes. one on each
side of the vessel. situated about fifty
feet from the bow and about ten feet
six inches below the water line
The magazines and shell rooms of the
ship can stow 240 rounds of the 12-inch
ammunition; 5000 rounds of the 6-inch
ammunition; $500 rounds of the g.
FOUNDER and 1000 rounds of the l.
FOUNDER. The forward magazines are To-
Gated immedia tely forward Of the dyna-
mo rooms, and the after ones just abaft
The engine rooms.
There are two military masts fitted
with the usual signal yards. tops and
tOpmasts; two tops are built to each Of
these masts- The foremost is located IN
the usual way over the forward coming
tower; the foundation Of the tower form
ing the lower part Of the mast. The
armor of the forward coming tower is
ten inches thick. and that OF the after
or signal tower is six inches thick. A
steel tube twelve inches in diameter in
side and seven inches in thickness ex-
tends from the forward coming tower
down to the protected deck and protects
the vOice-tub and telegraphs from the
commanding officer to the important
stations in the vessel
to- Of
which one is a 4O-ft- steam cutter and
another q 3E-ft- steam cutter of the
usual type. Over each end of the boat
deck two small upper bridges are To-
Gated on which is placed a portion of the
secondary battery The boats are ham
died By four cranes. all operated by
steam; the engines for this purpose be
Ing located on the working platforms OF
the cranes Each crane can lift the
heaviest boat that it has to handle at
the rate of forty feet per minute, and
can also be revOlved by its hosting en-
CINE at the rate of revolution in one
minute.
Bilge keels to reduce rolling are fitted
to the vessel Experiments in recent
years in orr own and foreign navies
having demonstrated the great efficiency
Of these keels in preventing excessive
rolling The forward bilge keels extend
Tor length Of about 81 feet, while those
aft have a length of aboutt75 feet
Hydraulic geer is used in steering the
vessel and can put the rudder from hard
2pDTE 10 nara aSTdTDDaTQ IN twenty sec
DndS when the vessel IS fmOVing at full
speed. The valves of the geer are con-
nected by electric telemotor with
the coming tower besidesthe mechanical
connection with the DilCtlh house
The electricity. boths for lighting the
vessel and operating the turrets and
hoists ndtminor. purposes. is furnished
by eight % kilowatt generating sets,
all having aepressure of so volts at the
terminals.
There aretfOur dynamo rooms. one on
each side of the vessel just forward of
the boiler space, two generating sets
being placed in each dynamo room.
-Four powerful searchlights. two OF
which are placed on the top of the pilot
house and two on the mainmast above
the upper bridge. viii give warning of
the approach of hostile vessels, and for
night signaling the ship carries two sets
of electric signalling apparatus.
The normal coal supply is / coo tons
and the capacity Of the bunkers is 1000
tons As in other ships of this type,
the arrangement of the bunkers is such
as To afford considerable incidental
protection to the machinery.
The ohio" and her class are the first
battleships of the United States navy
an which water tube boilers were pro-
vided Steam for the propelling ma
chinery IS supplied by water tube boil
ers of the ThOrnycroft type placed in Il
four watertight compartments. There
are three smoke pipes.
The two propelling engines are rights
and lefts In separate Watertight COM
partments, and are of the vertical in
verted cylinder, direct-acting triple
expansion type, having four cylinders
The diameters of the cylinders are as
follows. 45.5 inches H F.. So inches /
P., and IS inches for two low pressures
by 48 inches stroke
The collective Indicated horsepower of
the main engines with their air and cir
culating IS about 16. 900 when the vessel
is making a speed of Is knots It
should be stated here that the Ohio
ranks next to the Georgia class of bat
tleships In our navy in regard to speed
The Georgia and class. which win have
the greatest speed of any battleshiD vet
authorized by congress, are designed
TO make 10 knots.
a -afrie-aratine- RON On The Ill,