The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-10-13
NAVY CONSTRUCTION
CHIEF OF CONSTRUCTION BUREAU
BOWLES MAKES REPORT.
MANY CONTRACTS DELAYED.
SOME of THEM TO THE EXTENT
OF FORTY MONTHS.

This, However, Has Allowed for IA
General Revision of the Plans of
These War Vessels which VIII
Result, Especially i'm Case of Tor
pedo Boats, I'm IA Considerable Inn
provement I'm Their Military Value
and Their HabItnbIIity-ships Add
ed to Navy During Past Year Were
One BattIeship and SIX Torpedo
Graft.
Washington Oct. 12.-'Progress upon
new vessels under construction during
the past year has not been satisfac-
tory" says Rear Admiral Bowles, chief
of the naval bureau of construction.
in his annual report to the Secretary
of the Navy. All the larger vessels.
he says. have been delayed by monde
livery of structural steel, while the
vessels building at San Francisco and
Seattle were set back by strikes. The
delay in the deliveries Of armor for the
battleships Maine. Missouri and Ohio.
and the monitors Arkansas, Florida.
Nevada and Wyoming has retarded the
completion of those vessels, concur
rently with other causes. The inabil-
ity of shipbuilders to obtain a suffi-
cient force of skilled workers also has
| been in many cases an important fac
tor in the slow progress Of the yes
sells. The battleship Ohio was twenty
nine months behind her contract on the
| first of July. The battleship Missouri
| is over twenty months behind, the ma
| jcrlty of the battleships and cruisers
are over ten months behind, and some
of the torpedo craft are more than
forty months behind the date OF COM
! pletlon stipulated in their contracts.
| However, Admiral Bowles says, the ex-
| tensive delays on the torpedo boats are
| being terminated by the newly modi-
! fled conditions for their delivery. The
contractors delay in beginning the
construction of the vessels of the Vir-
| ginia, Pennsylvania and St. Louis
class, the chief constructor points out.
gave his bureau an opportunity to
| make a. careful revision of the general
| plans of those war vessels, which, he
| says, will result in a considerable inn
provement in their military value ana
in their Availability. The plans for the
turrets Of the Virginia class were de-
|
arrangement of the scheme for the
stowage for ammunition was made and
particular attention WIS given to an
efficient scheme for coaling. The ships
added to the navy during the past year
were the battleship Illinois, and the
torpedo craft Decatur. Perry, Preble,
Biddle, Thornton and Wilkes.
Substantial and encouraging progress
| is reported in the Standardization of
| tn uni
formity in the innumerable types of
| ships parts, which had long been fos-
| tered by the construction bureau. Pri-
vate shipbuilders, having contracts for
naval vessels from time to time during
| the year submitted plans for stand
ard" fittings and now forty-four types
of ship fittings have been declared to
be standard
Admiral Bowles says there continues
| to be an urgent necessity for an in
| crease In the number of officers of the
| construction corps. The principal navy
yards, II is stated, have an insufficient
number of officers for the performance
of regular duties. Rear Admiral Bowles
renews his recommendation for an in
| crease of his corps from forty to sixty
| members
| Admiral Bowles points out that the
| policy of Congress for some years past
has been against the construction OF
new vessels in the navy yards, and as
a result the development and improve
ment of the yards in matters such as
quay walls, slips. location of buildings
etc, have not been generally directed
toward efficient arrangement for ship
building. The admiral is of opinion
! that 1t should be the policy of the Navy
Department so to arrange the navy
| yard plants that they will be efficient
for shipbuiding, which is in reality one
of the most important functions they
may be required to perform.
An interesting portion of the report
is that in regard to the work of the
experimental model basin. in which
| miniature warships are tried, and IL
is stated that the basin has proven of
| great value to the construction bu-
reau.
A number of experiments have been
made in the basin during the past
year to determine the most desirable
forms for the new battleships and ar
mored cruisers 1t is wholly to the
basin facilities that the bureau has
| been enabled to arrive at the very sat
isfactory results that the new armored
cruisers of the Tennessee class. dis
| placing 1850 tons, may be expected to
make a speed of % knots with actual
| ly somewhat less power than the pre-
ceding lot of armored cruisers of the
Pennsylvania class of the same speed
which displaced 1860 tons Similar
ly, the two new 16,O00-ton battIeships
of the Connecticut class will drive APP
preeiably easier at IS knots than the
the preceding battleships of IA, 94S tons.
! Thus an increase of per cent in size
in the case of the battleships and OF
| over 8 per cent. in size in the case of
| the armored cruisers has been accom-
! panied with an actual reduction of
horsepower necessary to drive them at
a given speed in each case