Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-08-26
PLANS OF BATTLE SHIPS
EVERY BOLT AND HIVET CON-
CKTvED By DESIGNER.
Before Hammer 10 Raised to Begin
Construc4ien Upward Of !, 200 Draw
ings Must Be Made.

When UAC1o Oon 00c10o0 ID JULIA y war
ship there must be something over LOO
plans drawn and approved by tho govern
ment before the vessel can be constructed.
These plans alone. In the case Of first
class battle ship such as the Vermont. the
contract for which has been recently award
ed to the Fore River Ship and Engine Com
paay. near Boston. cost thu builders about
$4,000 For the steal plates OF the hull.
to take a single large item. 500 distinct and
separate plans arc necessary. The 800 or
900 plans necessary for the hull as whole
range from a small sheet OF paper twelve
inches square to a hig sheet eleven feet
long by two feet and quarter wide. and
each plan must be duplicated in at least a
dozen blue prints to facilitate the work OF
the shops and save the original drawings
from being worn out by constant handing.
At a rough estimate this means that over
with drawings before the yard begins hull
construction, to say nothing OF over 1880
square feet Of paper that will be used
In preparing the schedules Of materials by
which the yard Will order the various sup
plies necessary for construction. To make
the hull of war vessel more paper is used
than would serve to wrap 1t up afterward.
Meantime the engine department and the
electrical department must prepare their
own plans on a similar scale OF detailed
munffcence. the result being. all told. that
about l 300 separate drawings will be nee
essary before the battle ship has been ac-
curatefy made on paper.
Preparing Plans
These hundreds Of plans do not consist. as
one might at first imagine. In plan after
plan Of the vessel until Uncle Sam smiles
approval and says Go ahead. that suits
mo exactly As a matter Of fact. Uncle
Sam has a very complete notion Of what Is
going to suit him exactly before the con-
tracing shtpbui1ders touch pencil TO pa
per. and the shipbuilder's work Is based
upon yet another series Of mysterious
looking blue prints that come from the
government. The first plans for every
class of war vessels with the single ex-
ception Of the lively little torpedo Vboats
and their equally lively little destroyers.
are drawn by the government before any
shfpbuilding establishment is invited to bid
for the task Of finishing them. But these
first plans. although they represent the
labor Of three government departments
the bureau of construction and repair. the
bureau of equipment and the bureau OF
ordnance-are simply a statement Of the
kind of vessel wanted and are supplement-
ed by a bound volume of specifications
that covers between 200 and 800 pages. 1t
Is this interesting volume that the man
agement of the shipbuilding establishments
has to reduce to terms OF profit and cost
before II decides upon the minimum price
four years wages to a thousand workmen
and put little something in the bank on
It's own account. In the case of the Yer
mont the final cost per pound is estimated
pound Of a thoroughly modern steel
schooner.
Everything Specified.
No object. either on land or sea, could be
more carefully specified in its every detail
than a modern war vessel When the gov
eminent orders a canvas gun cover. for ex-
ample. the specifications state definitely
how many stitches to an inch are to be
taken In sewing the canvas. and these
stitches are not to be averaged up but
there must be just so many Of them In
every inch. no matter at what point the
government inspector who superyises the
making Of the cover may choose to count
them If the number is not parallel with
the specification the right number of
the company. This small example is an
exact Illustration of what specifications
mean as they apply to a war vessel. al
though as a rule the specifications that
selves only with the hull and machinery Of
the vessel. But they include every bolt
that goes into the hull. every beam that
supports her decks and platforms and every
inch OF the miles Of pipes and wire that
connect her engines. dynamos and coming
towers with the various mechanisms that
they are designed to operate In the Yer
mont there are more than 10000 of these
bolts. and electric wires alone sufficient to
distribute an amount Of power that would
supply light to the streets and houses and
run the trolley cars for a city OF 23,6OO
Inhabitants.
The Ship on Paper
Putting these specifications into actual
plans-in other words. building the warship
on paper with rule. T-sauare and compass
takes about twelve months of steady
work and REQUIRES the services of a small
army of expert engineers. naval archi-
tects. draughtsmen and photograp piers All
through this period a special electrical ap-
paratus is busy preparing blue prints of
the completed drawings. From the govern
ment point of view everything that is
drawn on paper is a plan: and everything
that goes into the vessel must first be
drawn on paper. Building a war vessel is
different from building house in that you
can't nail the parts together make them
fit as you go along. Every plate of unbcnd-
ing Steel of which no two are exactly SIM
liar. has its individual place in the ship
every rivet hole has it's individual place In
the steel plate. and every plate must there
fore have been carefully planned on paper
before 1t becomes part of the ships con-
struction. The armor plan of a warshlp
Is therefore one Of the longest tasks OF a
shipyard's draughtsman. Other large and
more complicated plans are those that pro-
vide for the working of gun mounts ammu-
milton hoists. and other important sections
OF her inner mechanism. And in this respect
no two vessels are alike. even twin war
ships being Hike other twins in that they
look alike but usually act differently Still
another series of delicately complicated
plans are those that provide for the ar
rangement of tubes. wires and other means
Of connecting every part Of the ship with
every other part for not only must space
be economical to the finest practical point. /
but every part OF the system must be read
lily accessible in case of necessary repairs
at short notice.
IRON Pillar or nErHT