Waterbury evening Democrat., 1907-11-18
TOWING THEM UP
Five of the Big Ba'llesbips Are Now at the Brooklyn Navy
 Yard.

New York, Nov 1S.-Five of the six
 teen big American battleships whicf
 next month will start on one of tht
 most notable cruises of the world:
 naval history, are at the Brooklyn
 navy yard receiving their last work
 of preparation for the long journey tt
 the Pacific coast. The other clever
 are at the Norfolk, Boston and League
 island navy yards receiving their tun'
 ing ,up repairs, their ammunition and
 the heavier of the staple stores, of
 which each ship will carry tonnage almost equal to that of the average commercial ladened liner. Several of the battleships now at other yards will come to New York during the next ten days to go into the mammoth dry docks available at the Brooklyn station. Eleven, and possibly twelve of the fleet will rendezvous ill New York harbor prior to December 1 and will sail either on that day or De- cember ? to Hampton Roads, from whence the start to San Francisco will be made on December 16 after review of the assembled ships by President Roosevelt.
 In addition to the five heavily arm orded fighting craft at the local yard, four ships of the auxiliary squadron of supply and repair ships are also under repair and will be ready in q few days to receive their full cargOes of supplies The task of loading the foodstuffs is by no means one of the smallest of the problems involved in the setting out of the heaviest fight ing squardon ever assembled under the American flag a fact which is patent when of potatoes alone the re- quisitions now in the hands of the pay corps officers calls for 000,OOO pounds.
 The colossal government built Con necticut, the flagship of Rear Ad- miral Evans. which will lead the battleship column in it's long hemis- phere girdling cruise, was taken out of dry dock late yesterday afternoon, her white sides glistening brilliant ly with the freshness of new paint. The Connecticut is ready for the journey. In dry dock her hull was scraped free of all foreign growth and treated to an extra heavy coat ing of lead. Rivets were frightened. rudder post inspected. blge keels were strengthened and the settings of the giant copper bladed propellors were thoroughly gone over. as it may be many months before the red un- derbody of the Connecticut is again out of the water. ~
 The ability of fleet sent out iIi best of cruising trim to withstand the accumulations of sea growth ill the course of long cruise will he | one of the many valuable lessons at tending the projected transfer of the | battleships from the Atlantic to the Pacific
 The Connecticut came out of dry dock November 3. the largest at the yard. The battleship Ohio is to he Gocked tomorrow for a final paint ing below the water line. The Louis iana the Rhode Island and the Ala bama. Admiral Sperry's flagship of the fourth division. are also undergo ing repairs at Brooklyn. The repair ship Panther. the tender YanktOn. the supply ship Culgoa and the refrig- orator ship Glacier are the other units of the Pacific bound fleet gathered in local waters. The battleship Virginia is expected shortly from Norfolk 10 be docked in No 2. and will he follow pd in that basin by the Minnesota, which will also come from tho me rhanics' hands fresh at Norfolk