The weekly chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Craig County, Okla.) 1905-1913, 1908-11-13
GREAT BATTLESHIP
LAUNCHED TUESDAY
North Dakota, First Of Americas
Fighting Ships Of Dreadnought
Class Helpless in Fore River
By Associated Press.

By Associated Press.
Quincy. Mass. Now l0-Whep the gfeat
prov Of the new batteship North Dakota
strikes the waters Of Fore River where
she "A " Be launched today, the United
States navy win have received formally
the bulky body Of the FIRST fighting ship Of
the so-called Dreadnoufht class. Incident
ally. new record for speed IN the first
stage ofibattIeship construction viii have
been established. iuasmuoh as only 282
working days have been employed from
the time 81 aging thc keel until the day
Of the launching
AS the massive huh Of The North Dakota
stood upon the ways ready for launching
il tpresented none,o the warlike appearance
Of the finished battcshp Save for a few
temporary fittings, the decks were bare
and lacked the martial aspect supplied by
the great guns and secondary batteries.
which are 70 be- installed later Even the
great boilers II the fighting ship bad not
been Installed in accordance with the
usual custom Of construction. and as o
part ol the preparations for the launching,
puffy little tugs were n waiting 10 warp
the gigantie get helpless craft alongside
The pier az the yard
Before the conclusion of tho 34 i.2
months allowed by the government for
delivery. however the aull launched today
viii presenta different aspect By that
time. ten l2inch breech loading long
range rifles viii have been placed in
position as well as fourteen 5-inch. rapid
Ere guns, four pound and q like number
If one pound semi-automatic Gums two
3-inch field pieces two machine guns 81
so calibre and two 2l-inch submerged
torpedo tubes This constitutes theactve
armament Of the battleship Protective
armor 20 the extent 81 about eight inches.
viii cover practically every available spot
wieh might be reached by an enemys
guns and as a result q the recent naval
conference many minor details of add
tiona protection win also BE- added
Then placed in commission the No th
Dakota will be $40 feet long on the load
water lne..w breadth Of S5 feet
SIS inches at the same point The
length over all will be about SIS feet, .
inches The battleship will have dis
placement Of 10000 tons, 1000 IN excess
Of the original BriushDreadnouph. II IS
estimated that a speed Of more than a
knots will be attained on her trial. and
that the battleships horse power will ex-
ceed $4,000 Unlike her sister ship. the
Delaware, now under construction at
Newport News. Va, the North Dakota will
be fitted with Curtis turbine engines
Including officers the crew will number
more than 900 men. Il isestimated that
when formally taken over by the govern
ment the North Dakota will have cost at
least S7.000,000, the contract price Of
her hull and machinery alone being ST.
$4,000.
Although the American battleship con
struction record is broken by the Mort
Dakotas builders, Il does not closely
approach that held by the British navy IN
the construction Of the first Dreadnought
The keel Of that vessel was laid in July
1905 and on Oct 2 Of the same year the
vessel was launched, and exactly year
later the ship had its Standardization
trial Il is expected that the North Dakota
will be ready for its first trial trip about
the latter part Of August 1910 although
the actual placing Of the battleship into
commission may be delayed,
To Captain Charles } Badger i. S. N.
recently superintendent of the naval
academy at Annapolis will 60 the honor
Of being the first commanding officer Of
the premier Dreadnought Of the United
@fnfae uavy