The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1904-04-01


Scott & Co. GreenOck. on. March 3. This
ship and engine building firm is the
Oldest ia Great Britain. having started
go years ago. IN 1903 il built a sioop
for the British navy named the Prince
OF Wales. and Joe years later 1T bullt
the engines for the battleship Prince OF
Wales. OF. 1900 horsepower In. ls29
Scott & Go. built the ffigate Greenock
sister ship to the Simeon, built. at Ma
piers. These two ships were the first
iron hulls constructed for the British
navy.
A noating coal depot has been
launched al the yards of Hunter *
Swami the. noted floating. dock Dald-
ers. t.Wausend-on-Tyne. 1t as intend
ed for coaling SHIPS under .fayoraDle
conditions when the vessels are unable
10 lie alongside doekyard for want OF
space or other causes. This floating
coal depot has a total capacity of'l2OOO
tens. Of which II 600 tons is carried in
hoppers anu 1000 tons: in. bags 1t IS
fitted with twelve Temperly' transport
ers manipulated by electric machinery.
and the hoppers have. thirty coal
chutes. ..'::-,
The Admiralty circular regarding the
fsh dockyards explains the workings in
detail The value Of ::premium- hour
is equal to -one-forty- ighth. part of "a
weeks wages Thus if forty-eight
hours given to job is finished in thlr-
ty-six hours the workman is entitled 10
nine premium hours If his weekly
earnings amount TO SO his extra pay is
thus increased by a bonus Of 81. IS. The
Fov Sol incl h
tanning tools and material, preparing
machine. lifting and setting work in or
on the machine. change Of tools and re-
moving completed work. This premium
system is first to be tried in the ma
chine shops. and If found to work adj.
vantageously to both parties viii be ex-.
tended TO other operations in the yards.
The armOred cruiser DevOnshire, TO-
zoo tons, 2l,000 horsepower, was laid
down at Chatham dOckyard March %,
1902. and is 10 be launched April 30.
Efforts are being made to have the. ship
completed within three years after the
keel was laid. =.
One marked point of advantage which
the two recently purchased Chilean
battleships possess is theft height OF
gun plate form as compared with other
ships Of that class. The Triumph and
Swiftsure. as they have been named
since bought by England, carry their
bow guns twenty-five feet above water.
which is the same height as in the
latest class of British battleships: The
after barbette guns are one foot higher
than in the King Edward VII class,
the fourteen seven and half inch guns
in broadside. throwing a 200-pound.
shell. are placed fiye and a half inches
higher than the ten six-inch broadside
guns. firing 1OO-Dound shells, in the
King Edward class. -
The French armored cruiser Gloire
has succeeded in steaming. 21.3 knots
with q, 400 horsepower under forced
draught. Under natural draught the
speed was 1873 knots. with 400 horse
power. The reconstructed battleship
Marceau, built in 1887, made 16.5 knots
in her recent trial under forced
draught The new armored cruiser
Condo. 10000 tons. calculated to steam
p knots under full power. reached only
1914 knots with 1880 horsepower under
natural draught, or % knots less than
her sister ship. the Gloire. q.
The French armOred cruiser Leon
Gambetta. 12.4l6 tons. p. 0O0 horsepower
and a calculated speed Of p knots. came
10 grief on March ! while going through
her thirty-siX hours steam trial near
8rest The ship ran on the black
rocks" causing a serious leak ard
twisting her propeller shafts, necessi=
tsting returning 10 the dockyard:
The Belier, French torpedo-boat de-
stroyer. has made an unusually sue
oessful steam trial. The average speed
during four hours was 2s-5 knots, going
as high as 800 and never falling below
60 knots. The contract guaranteed %
knots.
Germany is not taking much interest
3u submarine boats In 1890 two Nor
denfeldt boats were built at Kiel and
Dantzig. but are useless at present In
1902 another boat was built with indif-
ferent result. and at the present time
two are building at Kiel, both on a
modified plan OF the Holland boats
built for the United States navy.
A general staff has been organi d
in the German navy. It's chief is
Vice Admiral Buchsel, who is TO be
assisted By eleven high rank officers,
fwenty-one commanders and Twelve
lieutenant commanders. Twenty-six
out Of this total Of forty-fve are to
be attached 70 the headquarters at
Berlin
Admiral Tirpitz. German Minister
Of Marine. declares that the naval ad-
,isers Of the Government have but
small faith in the value OF torpedo
boats as a factor in naval warfare.
The successes OF the Japanese were
obtained, he contends. under condi-
,fons which made a fair test limos
sible and these successes were acct
dental and without significance. Ger
many. he says. will go on building
battIeships and cruisers, but viii not
incur additional expense in increasing
her torpedo fiotills.
The difficulties attending the build
i~g OF the drydock at Mare Island
have reached such stage as to COM
pei the Navy Department to cancel