The San Francisco call., 1904-08-22
BRITISH NAVAL
MANEUVERS ARE
HELD SECRETLY

Al 19Oo' AAlS year mere were two Sc
Eies Of naaneuvers. but both took place
IN home waters The first of the series
consisted Of combined exercises of "a
tacucal nature by twenty-four battle
ships and twenty cruisers, the results
OF which are to be kept secret, as no
visitors or correspondents were permit
ted TO accompany the feet. The sec
ono series OF maneuvers, covering the
period OF week, from August to
august is. was entirely for torpedo
craft, OF which there were two fleets,
composed Of seventeen torpedo gun
boats, seventy-five destroyers, thirty
eight torpedO-boats, five submarines,
TWO submarine depot ships ana six tor
peoo depot ships. The blue feet"
under Admiral Sir Arthur Wilson, con-
6lstlng OF six torpedo gunboats, forty
eight destroyers and three torpedo de-
pot ships. operated in st. Georges
Channel, with bases at Carrickfergus
end Queenstown and headquarters at
waterford The red fleet" under Rear
Admiral c. G. Robinson, had its terri
rory OF the west coast of Great Brit
ain, with Loeb Ryan and Falmouth as
bases and headquarters at Milford
Haven.
The standardizing Of the machinery Of
British war vessels has been carried out
sn six armored cruisers of the Duke of
Edinburgh class, now in course Of con-
Etruction. Hawthorne & Leslie, at New
Dastle-on-Tyne, are building the en-
glnes for the Duke of Edinburgh and
the Achilles, and four other firms have
contracts for the engines Of the four
other ships. The advantages in having
machinery identical in all parts m ships
OF the same class is quite obvious. and
The success Of Hawthorne & Leslie as
engine builders has caused the Admir-
city 10 accept the engines built by that
sFfrn as the standard One set of nat
terns viii naturally reduce the aggre-
gate cost, renewal Of parts is greatly
Slmpnhed and the engine-room staff
when transferred TO another shin of the
same class viii feel thoroughly at home
and experience none Of the troubles in
Eldent TO changes from running engines
which are nominally Of the same power
ana general features, but differing in
tne many details that affect final re-
suits. Another great advantage is that
The workmanship Of the several firms
VIII have test such as was impossible
under the old system. In other vessels
khe plan Of having all the auxiliary ma
NnlIety ordered at the same time for
similar vessels, TO be identical and in
terchangeable, is being carried out.
Inc King Edward drydock at Glib
Talldr was opened July s. Ii is the
smallest OF the three docks which are
lens bAA-lB D6lDg 40U IeeL IN length,
lne oLners having lengths of $50 feet
and $50 feet but all three of 95 feet width
At entrance and depth OF 351k feet
over the sill at low water. The contract
Tor the dock just completed was award
ed ABOUT two years ago and has been
carried out within the time limit.
The conclusions of the British Boiler
commission regarding tie economy Of
the three principal types of water-tllbe
boilers are as follows: That the Bah
COCK d wilcox boiler and the Belle
o VIE consume from Is pounds to 2
pounds Of coal per hour horsepower,
while the Yarrow boiler, with large
tubes, consumes L9 pounds to %
pounds 10 reach the same horsepower
as the other two types. In ships Of
say 10000 horsepower the Ciffererce in
Favor Of the more economical boilers
Noul6 amount to 2000 pounds Of coal
IN hour or practically TO eleven tons in
g continuous run OF twelve hours.
Whatever other advantages the Yar-
ROW boiler may have 10 overcome this
excess Of consumption and justify its
use IN preference to the Babcock &
Wilcox or the BeIleville types, has not
Yet been stated, but nevertheless four
RrmOred cruisers Of the Duke Of Edin-
burgh class are being fitted with four
ffth Aarrow and one-fifth cylindrical
boilers.
A 1O0-ton floating derrick. tested with
z load Of 80 tons. has been built for
the Danzig doclyard. The derrick is
placed on a pOntOon, IS feet by 65 feet
in size. which is provided with twin
screw engines of 80 horsepower. The
height from the deck Of the pontoon 10
the top Of the derrick is 157 feet and
3ts extreme reach is 90 feet, at which
Z weight Of twenty tons can be lifted.
At s. feet reach the load Of 100 tons
can be safely handled.
Steam trials Of lately built German
war vessels have been fairly successful
Hs 10 horsepower and speed. The bat
tleshiD Mecklenburg 500 tons and
e calculated horsepower Of 1900 and
IS knots speed made 1910 knots with
h5.171 horsepower. During a continuous
run cf 94l5 hours the average speed
was 1912 knots with $500 horsepower.
The armored cruiser Friedrich Karl,
$500 tons. 1900 horsepower and q
knots speed, developed 1880 horse
power and 20.6 knots, while Prinz
AdaIb Ibert. a sister ship, averaged 1881
horsepower nd 20.4 knots. The smaller
cruisers have come UP to the require
ments. the Hamburg Of 1852 tons be-
ing a notable example. This vessel was
calculated to have a speed Of p knots
with 10 600 horsepower and reached
2315 knots with 1852 horsepower.
Since the battleship Wittelsbach
was launched in 1900 there has been
marked increase in the rapidity of
9urnin- out ships from German dock
yards and private yards. The Wit
telsbsch and Schwa ben took forty-one
months, the Zaehringen forty months
Victim thirty eight months, but the
Mecklenburg was built and commits
STONED in thirty-fOur months. The
Prince Adalbert and Room, built at the
Kiel dockyard consumed forty-two
and thirty-eight months time, respect
svelv while the Friedrich Karl, of the
same size and type, has been built and
completed within twenty-eight months
The latter ship was built by contract
al Hamburg.
Two years ago Chief Constructor
Nittorio Cuniberti of the Italian navy
outlined the plans for a battleship
possessing the speed Of the swiftest
'Brmored cruisers and with a battery
and armor excelling all battleships
hitherto built. Its dimensions were
62I5 feet in length. 50 feet breadth
end displacing II, 600 tons on a mean
draught Of 81 feet y inches: turrets
and belt arnor Of u inches thickness,