The San Francisco call., 1904-09-05
FORMIDABLE
NEW. WARSHIPS
FOR GERMANY

FOR GE RMAN !
Two battleships, denominated as .
and p, are to be laid down for the
German navy at an early date. They
arc of the Braunschweig class, of which
five have been launched since 1902, and
one is nearly ready for floating, max
ing a total of eight battleships of the
same tonnage, dimensions, speed and
armament AS these ships were built
two at one time various minor changes
and Improvements were introduced and
the two new vessels will carry heavier
armor and batteries than earlier ships
of the same class. They are to be of
1890 tons normal displacement, 39S.63
feet in length, 1888 feet beam and 25. 2S
feet mean draught, carrying 500 tons
coal on normal draught and have a
bunker capacity of 1900 tons of coal and
liquid fuel The main belt armor lis
8 .45 inches maximum thickness, dimin-
ishing to So inches and SO inches at
he ends; the above water belt is 8
inches and the casemate 6.7 inches.
The armament consists OF four 11-inch
guns, ten 6.7 inch in battery four 6.7
inch in casemate and twenty-five IA
OGSlQ6S i've anu
one above-water torpedo tubes. Like
all the prior ships of the class they
are to have triple-screw engines of
10000 horsepower giving a speed of Is
knots, but the new ships are to be
fitted with water tube boilers alone
twelve of the Thornycroft-S Schultz type
to be substituted for the previous prac-
tice of part water tube and cylindrical
boilers. The estimated cost of each
ship is S5,750,00O
A board of United States naval en-
gineers appointed to examine the mer-
its of turbine propulsion for vessels
has concluded its work and is preparing
its report, which Will be in favor of
adopting the turbine for the new
scouts. The advantages over present
machinery now in use is a complete alb
senee of vibration, a most important
consideration in gun pointing and COM
fort of the crew; no pounding of en-
gines: reduction of the engine-room
force; additional coal capacity, due to
a reduction of weight in machinery
n the lowering of the center of graV-
ity because the motors are placed just
above the floor plates. The difficulty
of reversing from going ahead to back
ing has been overcome and the entire
system is highly commended.
WANTS CANTEENS IN NAVY.
Rear Admiral Robley D. Evans, re-
Gently in command of the Asiatic
squadron, has come to the conclusion
that the excessive use of alcoholic
drinks while on liberty ashore or when
smuggled on board ship is one of the
worst drawbacks to discipline, and that
the majority of court-martial cases are
directly due to this cause. 1t is useless,
he says. to attempt to control this mat
ter by present regulations, which pre-
vent the men from having reasonable
quantity of beer and light wines on
board ships, and he recommends the
establishing of canteens, where such
beverages may be sold to the men while
at their meals or when coaling ship. He
urges the Navy Department to try the
proposed system for period of six
months with a view of ascertaining
what effect it will have on naval disci-
plne.
The British armored cruiser Levia-
than, "a, 100 tons, attached to the China
station, grounded while anchored in
Yungching Bay during the latter par
of July and sustained considerable
damage. The double bottom however.
saved the ship. and when the tide lifted
her she was able TO steam to Hongkong
for docking and repairs. None of the
bottom plates were broken, but the
enormous strain had started the rivets
ana seams, ana Two SIIdheS u DOllOil
plates amidships had to be removed on
each side for a distance of 100 feet. The
repairs were calculated to take six
weeks and to cost about 100000. The
dock in which the Leviathan lies is
designated as dock No. l and is the
largest of three completed at the dock
yard 1t is $50 feet in length So feet
wide at entrance and has 30 feet depth
over sill at ordinary spring tide. These
I'll 4 > L. fl,.1
mainland opposite Hongkong, where
work is now progressing extending the
dock yard. increasing it's area from 454
acres to 39j acres. These improve
ments are calculated to cost $4,000, 600
and are approaching completion, in
oludinG a granite drydock $50 feet in
length. which viii be ready for service
in another year.
In addition to Great Britain's enor-
nous expenditures on the navy proper,
which have risen from $S5,000,0 900 in
1S94-95 to over $3.50, 10000 for the pres
ent financial year. the home country
and its colonies eXpend large sums un-
der the so-calied naval works act for
inclosure and defense of harbors, adapt
ing naval ports to present needs of the
fleet and on naval barracks. The total
sum expended for such purposes since
1895 is nearly $65. 600 900, and as much
more will be required to complete the
work by 1908. Only a small portion OF
this outlay is included in the naval es
Inmates Among the most costly inn
movements and new works going on
are the Keyham dockyard extension.
estimated at $40 900, 000 Gibraltar. s13,-
600 900: Simons Bay. South Africa. $12,-
600 600: Dover. $17 ,000. 900; Malta, $6,000.
0oO and Portsmouth naval barracks.
Sc, 900, ,000
ToRPEDO-BoATS NOT SAFE.
British naval critics consider the
recent building of twenty torpedo
boat destroyers and the further addi-
ton of thirty-four, as provided for
in the naval estimates, mistake.
There has been too great sacrifice of
speed in the new boats in order to
obtain reliability and safety, for. while
those built prior to 1903 had nominal
speeds of 80 knots. with horsepowers
ranging from $500 to 6000. the new
boats of much larger displacements
and 1000 horsepower do not exceed
&c knofS The losses of two DESTROY