Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1906-01-23

Dewey will make about 100 miles q
day, which would require 124 days for
tbs passage, or four months, if the dock
goes straight through without stop. 1t
is believed, however, that the dock Will
be five or six months on the cruise. The
cost of the trip can only be surmised.
1t is current report that the dues
through the Suez canal will be $4,000.
The Dewey was built at the plant OF
the Maryland Steel company in Il great
excavation near the water front just
outside of Baltimore When it was COM
pleted Il bulkhead that separated the
Patapsco from the hole in the ground
was cut away ana the water ran in and
foated the huge mass of steel, while
Miss Maud Endicott. daughter OF Rear
Admiral Endicott. christened the dock
Dewey with bottle of champagne.
The dock was not only completed
ahead of contract time. but in excess of
the requirements. for it will lift 20
COO ton battieShip, whereas the contract
called for only 10000 tons. 1t also eX-
ceeded the speed requirements in lifting
Il ship.
Some Big Lifting.
When the. big cruiser Colorado was
placed III the dock to test it in the Pa
tuXent river the contract called for the
lifting III four hours. The Colorado was
lifted until her keel was six feet above
the water in Il few minutes more than
two hours. Then the dock broke all rec
ords by lifting the battleship Iowd of
10000 tons, with heavy weights in her
turrets and amidships. in one hour and
thirty -seven minutes.
A novel feature Of the dock IS its abil-
ity to dock itself All steel vessels take
on n marine growth on their bottoms.
which necessigates hauling them out
every year or so, as their life depends
on receiving paint TO protect the hulls.
Docks now afioat are so gigantic that
they cannot be locked to be cleaned or
repaired, with the exception of the
Dewey.
The Dewey can release the two side
walls and disconnect the three pontoons
that are joined together in the flooring
or hull. Then the two smaller pontoons
are filed with water and sunk under
the larger or center pontoon. They are
then pumped out, and the two smaller
steel pontoons rise with the larger one
on top of them. When it is desired to
dock the smaller pontoons the condi- !
tons are reversed. The big center pom
toon is sunk and the two smaller ones !
placed on it and the big one pumped
out to raise the little ones. I
When heavy weather comes on at sea
the bottom sections of the Deaey will
be filled with water until the body OF
the mass of steel is submerged and on
ly the side walls extend above the sur
face. She will present large surface
to the wind, which, it has been calcu-
lated, may reach pressure of thirty !
pounds to the square inch. There will
be no effort to tow the vessel while it
is partly submerged. The towing yes 1
sells will simply hang on, drifting along
with the giant where the wind chooses
to send it and waiting until the storm |
blows itself out, for no Roadway can
be made with such a tow in heavy 7
weather.
Three twenty-four inch centrifugal |
pumps, the steam for which Is furnish
ed by three separate 225 horsepower
boilers, will pump out or flood the /
Dewey. These pumps are controlled |
in the engine room. On the port side, |
forward, is the valve house, where !
there are twenty-four levers. The |
three sections of the dock are divided
into sixty water tight compartments, |
and each of these levers controls the |
flooding and pumping of several COM
partments. A telephone gives commu
nication with the boiler room, and
valve in the valve house an
nounces the amount of water in the
dock.
Has All Appliances.
On the starboard side is machine
shop, quarters for officers and crew, /
kitchen and bathrooms. The machine
shop is forward. 1t is fitted with ev
cry appliance for minor repairs. On
this side of the dock is the distilling APP
paratus, which has a capacity of $500
gallons of sea water a day. 1t will
be used principally for feeding the
boilers Three tanks contain the dis
TILED water. An electric light plant
on the port side gives light for the en-
tire structure.
Everything possible foru the comfort
Of Officers and crew has been provided. |