Daily Kennebec journal., 1904-04-05

posed or independent, be protected by
inches of armor. with six and one-hai1
inches port plates. and their barbcttes
will he protected by similar armor. The
| coming tower and its shield will be nine
inches in thickness, and the armored tul G.
FIVE inches thick VIII be of sufficient size
to receive all voice pipes. wiring. etc. In In
addition 10 the coming tower there Will
| be aft. second tower which will be
constructed of 5-inch armor. From the
bottom of the waterline armor belt there
Will rise a curved turtle backed ncic!
| steel protective deck, one and une-halI
inches thick on the fiat and three inches
thick on the SlopinS sides, to make aSSul-
ance doubly sure that no projcctile OF
! the enemy fndS its way into the VltalS
of the ship. As an additional protection
To stability. a coiterdam belt. three feet
il thickness, and packed to a density Of
! eight pounds to the cubic foot. will be
workt q along the two sides, above the
! protective deck, for the entire length oi
! the vessel.
The material for construction is the
high quality of steel which has entered
into all the vessels Of our navy The
main, or upper deck, in addition to beng
built of steel, will be the only one upon
which wood is to be laid. The lower
decks will all be of steel, covered with
lineoleum. The use of wood in the con-
struction of this vessel will be limited
even more strictly than it has been III the
later battlcships, and all woodworil aboEe
the protective deck, except deck plank,
will be fireproofed. Blgc kccls and heavy
docking heels are fitted
1t is proposed to make all the vessels OF
| this class tiasships, and to do this 1t IS
necessary to make provisions for the ac-
ccmmodatiOn of one flag Ctfcer, one com
manding officer, one chief OF staH. ~
wardroom officers, ~ Junior officers. eiSht
warrant officers and az crew, lncludiIs
60 marines, making a grand total or 81
Both officers and crew will have wash
rooms, bathrooms and other simiIitr CON
veniences, such as Will place the com
fort and healthfulncSs OF these vessels
very high in the scale.
The applications OF electricity on BOARD
are much wider than i'll the case OF any
other battlcshp in existence, with the
possible exception of the kcarsarSe anu
Kentucky. All the turrets have electri-
cal turning gear, and the ammunition
hOistS, blowers to the turretS, ana gen
eral ventilation. the general workshop
and practically all of the ;luNiliareS. out
side of the engineers department and eX-
cGptinS capstan and steering gear, are 10
be electrically driven: 70 provide Tor
the power required for these purposes
there will be installed eight engines ana
dynamos. mounted on combination bed
plates. two having rated output OF l-.0
ampoleS at 10 volts ana SIN Will 10
ampereS ut fe5 volts.
In this class of vessels all the latest ap-
proved equipment will be provided Tor
the accommodation of the officers or the
crew the Vcntilat tion and drainage beng
of IA high standard; the hospital quarters
airy and COmmodiouS: the bakery ana
gallcys, with their issuing rooms ana re-
trigerating plant, having been worked
out with a view to thorough efficiency;
laundry and drying rooms are fitted with
the latest machinery. electrically driven
and the living quarters are carciuiiy pro
tcctcd by Insulation from cold IN winter
and excessive heat i'll summer. rake IL
all in all, the designs of the Virginia
class embody the latest developments III
naval architecture, and these vessels VIII
prove most formidable additions TO the
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