The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1907-06-21
READY TO BUILD
OUR DREADNAUGHTS
Successful Bidders for Worlds
Greatest BattIeships Virtual
Iy Have Contracts.
SEA MONSTERS TO COST
ABOUT $4,000, 200 EACH
Will Have Greater Speed and
Better Equipment Than 9th,
ers of Type and Class.

WASHINGTON, June e0.-The New
port News Shipbuilding company, with
one bid at $3.os7 900, and the Fore
River Sbipbrdldipg company of Quincy,
Mass. with bid at $i,377,0O0, were
the successful bidders today for build,
ing the big 20,000-ton battleships.
The bidding brought together The
largest company of shipbuilders and
others interested in naval construction
that has been seen in the Navy depart
mcnt for many months. The bidding
was necessarily complex, the builders
availiug themselves of the department &
permission To submit all sorts of com
bnation and alternative plans. These
included straight bids upon the stand
ard type with reciprocating engines,
original bidders designs and combn-
ations Of The department s hull plans
with turbine engine. some with and
some without separate cruising turbines.
The Newport News company alone sub.
mittcd no less than seven plans. and
they were generally the lowest at all
points and with all combinations.
Bids for Arnor Opened,
Bidc also were opened for supplying
the armor needed for the two big bat
tlcships. For the armor, which is di-
vided into four classes, upon the basis
of the difficulty of the shapes required,
ihe Midyale Steel company appeared 10
be the lowest bidder for the largest
class, namely 1856 tons of class A, at
$40 per ton, For 952 tons of armor in
class B, the Carnegie and Bethlehem
companies each bid $400 per ton, while
the Midvale bid was $40 For 800
Ions cf class c the Carnegie and Bethle-
hem companies each bid Si00 and the
Mldvale Sil0. For 1706 tons Of class
y armor Bethlehem hid t400, Midyale
$40 and Carnegie submitted no bid.
The bids opened are for the construc.
tion Of two American Drcadnaugbts, -
or what arc officially known as battle
ships Nos. 2S and %. each TO be Of APP
proXmately 10000 tons displacement.
The cost of each not 10 exceed $4,000
600 exclusive of armor and armament
The total cost OF each when completed
is estimated to be $4,000, 900 Re-
spoDslve TO the invitations of the Navy
department. and in accordance with the
instructions 10 the naval board on con
structlon. there were submitted various
designs and sketches for the proposed
vessels from shipbuilders and naval con-
structors. These were IN turn sub
mitted 10 naval committee on design.
The head of which was Assistant Secre.
tsrY Newberry, which board reported
that the 51o-foot design Of the bureau
OF construction with officers quarters
forward), was the most suitable This
board gave an opinion that vessel
constructed on this design would carry
as heavy armor and as powerful aTma-
ment as any known vessel of this class:
would have speed believed 10 be the
highest practicable for a vessel of this
type and class, and have the highest
practicable readiness OF action, with
total coal bunker capacity of about
$500 tons, speed on trial of 81 knots,
length on the Load water line Of about
$40 feet and an extreme breadth of
about s. feet 23s inches.
Will Be Heavy Armament.
The armament is to be composed as
follows;
Main battery-ten l2Inch breech,
loading rifles.
Second batterv-fourtccn j-inch rap
id-dre guns; four 3-pound saluting
guns, four l-opunder semi-automatic
guns; two 3inch field pieces; two ma.