The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-10-13
WORK ON WAR VESSELS
MUCH DELAY REPORTED BY THE BU-
REAU OF CONSTRUCTION.
Strikes, Inability to Secure Material
and Lack OF Artisans Have Re-
tarded Progress.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 12.-"Progress on
new vessels under construction during the
past year has not been satisfactory" says
Rear Admiral Bowles, chief of the naval
bureau Of construction, in his annual re-
port to the secretary of the navy. All the
larger vessels, he says have been delayed
by nondelivery of structural steel. while the
vessels building at San Francisco were set
back by the ten months strike and the
hold-out of the workmen at Seattle pre-
vented any actual progress on the structure
of the hull of the battleship Nebraska build
ing there. The delay IN the deliveries Of
armor for the battleshps Maine, Missouri
and Ohio and the monitors Arkansas Flor
ida, Nevada and Wyoming has retarded the
completion of these vessels, concurrently
with other causes. The inability of ship
builders to obtain sufficient force of
skilled workers also has been, in many
cases, an important factor in the slow
progress of the vessels.
A table is submitted showing In concise
struction has fallen behind. For instance,
the battleship Ohio is shown to have been
twenty-nine months behind her contract on
the LIST of July. This is not an isolated
case. The battleship Missouri is over twen-
ty months behind. the majority Of the bat
tleships and cruisers are over ten months
behind. and some of the torpedo craft are
more than forty months behind the date
of completion stipulated in their contracts.
However, Admiral Bowles says the extern
sive delays on the torpedo boats are being
terminated by the newly modified condl-
lions for their delivery.
A table is given showing the ships added
to the navy during the past year. They
were the battleship Illinois and the torpedo
craft Decatur, Perry, Preble, Biddle, Thorn
ton and Wilkes.
Admiral Bowles says there continues to
be an urgent necessity for an increase in
the number of officers Of the construction
corps. The principal navy yards, 1t is stat
ed, have an insufficient number of officers
for the performance Of regular duties. This
now in view of the construction of the big
battleship Connecticut at the New York
navy yard. Rear Admiral Bowles renews
his recommendation for an increase of his
corps from forty to sixty members.
The report says the advantages of special
instruction in naval architecture and ma
rine engineering in the United States be-
came more evident last year. In contrast
with the foreign technical schools to which
students have been previously assigned,
and the limited opportunities for practical
work and observation Of actual construction
which the position of the students as for
eigners naturally subjected them to, the
Bureau of Construction is now enabled by
cooperation with the faculty of the Mas
sachusetts Institute of Technology, to reg
ulate the technical education appropriate
ly and to offer the students and their in
structors constant opportunities for obser-
walton of the building and repair of all
classes of vessels, both at private ship
yards and at the navy yards of the govern
ment.
An interesting portion of the report Is
that in regard to the work of the expert
mental model basin, In which miniature
warShips are tried, and 1t is stated that
the basin has proven of great value to the
Construction Bureau.
A number of experiments have been made
in the basin during the past year to de-
termine the most desirable forms of the
new battleships and armored cruisers IL
bureau has been enabled to arrive at the
very satisfactory results that the new ar
mored cruisers of the Tennessee class. dis
placing 1850 tons, may be expected to
make speed of twenty-five knots with
actually somewhat less power than the
preceding lot of armored cruisers of the
Pennsylvania class of the same speed
which displased 1850 tons. Similarly the
two new 16,000-ton battleships Of the Com
necticut class will drive appreciably easier
at eighteen knots than the preceding bat
tleships of 1898 tons. Thus an increase
of per cent. in size in the case of the bat
tleships and OF over per cent. in size I'm
the case of the armored cruisers has been
accompanied with an actual reduction of
horse power necessary to drive them at a
given speed in each case.
The shipbuilders of the country have
continued to avail themselves of the facil-
tiles of the model basin in connection with
their commercial work. During the fiscal
year experiments were made for private
shipbuilders at their expense with five
models and experiments are under Way
now, or AUTHORIZED. with four models for
three private concerns.