Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1906-03-02
The BattIeship Dreadnouqht.

Largely because OF the unusual cir
cumstances attending its design and
construction. the powerful batleship
Of Is. 500 tons displacement. which
has just been launched al Portsmouth.
England is attracting more than com
mon interest. The Dreadnought is the
first battleship to be built since the
war; she is the largest and most
powerful fighting snip ever construct
ed: and as the result of the effort of
the government to see just how
quickly a battleship can be built in
Great Britain, she has been launched
in four months and will be completed
in eighteen months from the day on
which her keel was laid.
The SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN has
received information from the high
est official scources in Great Britain
that there We're present on the ships
Of Admiral TOeO's feet several Brit
lsh officers. who had been detailed to
secure technical information of the
valuable kind that can only be gath
cred in an actual sea fight The mass
of information affecting the con
structlon and management of war
ships, thus secured was placed be-
fore special committee correspond
ing to our Board of Construction in
this country. which called in for con
sultatiOn We understand several ex-
pert private naval architects and
builders, and proceeded TO design a
type battleship embodying the val
liable experience gatherd in the Russo
Japanese war. The result is the mighty
ship which was launched on Feb
ruary TO- only four months from the
day on which the keel plate was laid.
The Dreadnought embodies. natur-
ally, large number of novel features:
but owing to the extreme secrecy
which has attended the construction
of the ship, and the care with when
her plans have been guarded only the
leading characteristics of the design
can be stated with certainty. In the
first place. the displacement. as com
pared with previous battleshipS of
the Lord Nelson" type has been in,
creased by about 1000 tons. the Dread
nouSht displacing 1880 tons and
costing when complete. over $4,000 .
600. The most radical change. due to
The experience gained in the war, is
The elimination Of the secondary bat
terry and the reduction of the arma,
meht TO Two types of guns. the Pinch
and the 3-inch It was proved that
the 6-inch gun is too light 10 be of.
fective al the greater ranges al when
modern engagements are fought and
that it is not sufficiently rapid in it's
fire and is rather too heavy a gun 10
be used for defense against torpedo
boats and destroyers, work for
which the three ncn gun is we'll suit
co The Dreadnought's battery con,
slsts OF ten l2-inch guns. all mounted
al about the same level on the upner
deck: TWO forward in turret, two
in similar turret AFT. and three on
each brOadside. mounted within single
turretS. For defense against formed,
attack the ship will carry eighteer
3-inch guns. The Pinch gun will b,
of the wire-wound type and about A
calibers IN length. Each gun vii
throw an S55o-pound shell with
muzzle energy of 4956S foot-ton,
Owing to the improved methods G
handling the l2-inch guns, they wi
be theoretically capable of discharg,
ing four tons of metal a minute Wit
sufficient energy TO penetrate l6 incl
es OF Knapp steel ar a range of SOC
yards
The armor protection will be pa
ticularly heavy and complete. ar
srructurally the ship will be bu
with a view 10 resist the severe rae
ing effects, which PLAYED such hav
with the Russian ships in the bait
of tine Sea OF Japan. On this point
is interesting 10 note that Admir-
Rojesyvensky. in an address, before u
Imperial Technical Society ar
!.