Omaha daily bee., 1906-11-04

/ Inches, or more than an average street.
she is nearly five hundred feet long
AS we patrol the main deck to the star
board bow the moSt striking objects are
TWO IS-lnch guns of the main battery, with
LHelr dark mouths showing twenty-three
reef through the ports of the revolving
turiet Itself round steel wall seventeen
.nches thick, revolving on a circultous
tEdcF~based just under a barbette built up
from an eighteen-lnch armOr belt below.
|SS7udIns there we see an unbroken wall
u steel seventeen inches thick protecting
me gun crew, the pivotal machinery and
Po"uer and shell. In the uncertainties OF
var IL Is not likely that one shot in thirty
~ -Alhg this turret would find an opening
JUST above the muzzle of the starboard
gun Is seen the turret sighting hood. from,
MHIcn the chief gunner watches the enemy.
anu by means OF handy levers, trains and
hres the great guns.
Feer'ng over the main turret are seen
,ne -FOUR forward elght-inch riAee paired
III TWO turrets, one on each side Of the ship
Armored ammunition tubes pass from the
narbettes down to the three-inch steel
Leck TOT convoy OF powder and she'll On
lhe main deck and under each eight-lncn
lurret Is s'X-inch gun so arranged as 10
deliver brO71side and dead ahead fire
Taking our stand at the stern and gazing
FORWARD, We see the same array of turrets
and guns Behind the forward 1S-inch tur-
ret, and forming the base Of the military
mast, Is the coming tower plated with
twelve inches OF steel Here the comman-
der will place himself when going into bat
tile, and through the narrow sighting hood
Will watch the enemy. Inside the coming
tower IS an elaborate arrangement OF tele-
phones electric calls and speaking tubes
communicating with the engine rooms, the
various gun stations and the steering sta
ton at the far end Of the ship
When this battle ship goes into action
one man, snugly tucked in this small steel
cage, can lay hand on any part OF the yes
sci vecrng her at will, wheeling her grim
turrets I'm a flash and focusing her huge
guns on any given spot OF the enemy.
Above the coming tower is the pilot house
from which navigation Is directed except
IN time Of battle. over the pilot house. on
each side OF the mast. are two hundred
thousand candle power ,searchlights. and
the range finder, by which the distance OF
the enemy can be very accurately deter
mined. Descending TO the berth deck and
seeking the extreme forward end OF the
vessel we enter the bow torpedo room
where a fixed launching tube, ready for It's
deadly work. bends at a sinister angle 10
the water. The torpedo. weighing a thou
sand pounds, has three compartments
Rammed in the first Is a charge Of gun
cotton, fired by contact when the torpedo
strikes the mark; the second is charged
with air at two thousand pounds to the
square inch, and the third houses the sna1l
compressed air engines which drive tho
screw propellers automatically. There Is
another fixed torpedo tube az the stern.
and on each broadstde there are two NOV
able tubes Between the main turrets are
slowed lifeboats. gigs and steam pinnaces.
Considering the highly developed rrr~-
merry Of our navy, IS II any wonder th0t
the life boats and other life saving aDpu-
an"es on any one OF our greater battleshi0s
VIII not carry more than a third Of the
men on her decks and that every fRhtn3
man Is made 10 feel that he is part ~
the vessel and must so survive or perish
To develop the awful powers OF these yes
sells 20 the last inch ana ounce. the Gun
and ammunition crews are drilled dailv
for speed and accuracy. The man who ad-
iusts the sights the man who opens and
closes the breechlock, the man who stead
les the shell as Il enters the gun, the man
who aims. those who pass the ammunition
OUT OF the magazine and send Il by cleo
trcity 10 the guns, each exercises daily TO
train the muscles for his special duty.