New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-03-06
WHERE HUGE WARSHIPS CAN BE REPAIRED.
DRTDOCKS AND WETDOCKS DIFFER HOW FORMER
IRE CONSTRUCTED

several things have recently set people thinking
sbovt drydocks. One is the approaching compile
,lop OF a magnificent specimen at the Portsmouth
~ H) Navy Yard Another is necessity for repairs
y russian and japanese warships resulting from
The present in the East
wetdOcks. It will be remembered. are huge in
,,osyres into which merchant vessels are intro
suoed while loading and unloading TO escape the
elects Of great udal rises and fails. At Liverpool
Hsvre Hamburg and some other foreign ports the
s,mt-diurnal change OF sea level often amounts 20
u or % feet A ship cannot conveniently discharge
or take on a cargo IL she is lifted and lowered in
mat fashion Il Is necessary for her to go into
basin with water tight gates. where she can main
tain more uniform relations with the adjacent
quay walls. A drydock is basin with gates OF
slrerent design, and serving another purpose
When a vessel Is confined there the water is
pumpe5 out that workmen may examine clean
or patch her hull
In several ways the construction OF this kind OF
dock is a difficult and complicated under
taking. The inner sides not vertical but slop-
ine 10 conform roughly 10 the shape OF a ship and
are broken up into steps affairs FOR the benefit OF
those employed there Again. II Is important that
the bottom and sides must be practically imper-
saods 20 water. The excavation must extend 25 or
se-somstimes even s0-feet below high water mark
and unless the right precautions are observed
leaks viii develop which will emharrass operations
INSIDE The dock and perhaps threaten the perma-
nsnrs OF the basin Itself Some docks have been
hevr out OF solid rock, others have been built OF
timber stone or brick. while concrete is now used
ube-aly IN constructing both floors and walls
0casioually the character OF the soil will create
serious engineering difficulties ouioksand under
one Of the docks at the Brooklyn Navy Yard few
wears ago made much mischief, but the trouble
finally averted
As the biggest merchant vessels are larger than
the biggest Narshps. the former really require the
more spacious accommodations. especially in the
matter OF length Thus the Deutschland Is $50
feet long. the Celtic and Cedric 200. the Oceanic
75 the Kaiser Wilhelm II 7D6la and the Baltic
rs Hence there docks from 80 to 500 feet long
just FOR the accommodation OF such ships on the
other hand. the class Of armored cruisers OF which
the Tennessee is a type Wil be only SOC feet long
or two feet more than British vessels OF the King
Alfred class. Probably the limit is reached by the
Terrible. which is $40 feet n length while the vast
majority OF cruisers much shorter. Russia's
Bsyan measures s5 feet IN length, the Rossia $50
ana the Askold s26 feet while the Variag was a
trihe shorter. When it comes TO battleships a
ttn further reduction a. length Is observed
though the width is proportonately greater. The
Retvizan is $50 feet long. and the czarewitch SIS
The Missouri is scarcely so0 feet long Those enor-
nous vessels the Connecticut and Minnesota
which are 20 have a displacement OF 1900 tons
sch will not be over $50 feet long. while the Brit
81 battleships Of the King Edward VII class dis
pacing 1850 tons. are only rs feet in length II
interesting 10 that the beam OF these last
mentioned vessels Gs feeO is almost one-hfth OF
the length. whereas that OF the King Alfred
lcruiserl is one-seventh. and the beam OF the
Kaiser Wilhelm II G2 feet is about one-tenth OF
her length.
In order 70 prevent accidents IN docking ana also
10 allow room fer the workmen. the dock must be
larger than the vessel she accommodates. Much
curiosity has been evinced lately regarding the
crydock at Port Arthur. originally built by the
Chinese, but afterward slightly enlarged by the
Russians In a work published by the Bureau OF
Naval Intelligence at Washington in 1900 the
length Of this dock at the top Is put at z52 feet
and that On the blocks at $40 feet At the most
favorable state OF the spring tide there 30 feet
OF water OF her sill. but in the harbor outside
the dock there is said 10 be only three and one
hsf fsfhoms OF water at low tide. Every fortnight