The sun., 1908-08-16
4 WARSHIp OF A new TYPE
n. ". 3. iNDOMITABLE UNIQUE
AMONG the EDRLDS NAITES.

AMONG THE EORLDS NAV fES'
insiani's SWIFT sca t1ghter Combina.
tio,, nj Ibrcadneueht anu Lusitan'n
.-Uritish Phicgm ncpiaeed BY Hysteria
--PadercN skiS Advice To- Wouidsiso
Planists y.ongeytty Ruics by Great
Hritains Youngest Gid Man Concert
IN Salt Niinc--wcii Dressed snf-
frase!tcs--To Prevent Gray Hairs
prince Of " iies TO Take Ip Yachting.
LONDON, Aug. Oh. NJ. s. Indomitab!e
IL .he idol Of tho hour. The record which
she has established for warships on her
massage from Quebec to CoSes Will prob
ably stand for lons 6mc. Certainly it
did not neyi the embellishments with which
some % the rnpcrs tried TO adorn it.
Taking the figures which suited them. they
wished to mahe tho off'cial reocTd 25.1
snot rossage Tho King. however has
ordered that the passage shall be recsoned
from land to land, from co'th Point. Belle
Isle, 90 Lacd's End, and with this the
average works out st 24.B knots.
At one time for four consecutive hours
she steamed 2e.s knots. Her average from
Belle Isls to Fastnet, on Cork, was 251S
knota Ths average for the whole voyage
from Quebec 10 Cowes was ala lnots.
During the whole time she was In wireless
comm unloatior with ono aide or tbs other,
sending and receidng messages at dis
tanoe Of 1000 miles and establishing
record for shtp borne messages
Tho true significance Of these figures can
be appreciated only In conjunction with a
consideration OF the class Of vessel to which
The Indomitable belongs. At present she
ia still UNIQUE IN tho worlds navies, hut she
has two sister vessels just being completed
These vessels do not como under the deeig-
nation Of either battleehip or cruiser. s6
Except the Dreaduoughs there ID no bat
teship In the world a heavily armed as
thcfIndornitable and In no 6est IN the world
10 thsre any weasel larger than torpedo
boat destroyer which approaches her In
spsed She may be called . combination
Of the Dreadnought and the Lpsitania and
10 more heavily arnored than battleships
Of the Royal Sovereign GLASS. which ten
years ago were considered models Of COM
pleteness In protection.
She has belt OF Krupp cemented armor,
seven inches thick amldships, and carries
eight IL inch guns Of q new ahd most power
full type, 90 mounted that they can all be
brought to bear on either broadside. Each
gun weighs IS tons and fires an $50 pound
projeotile With an initial velocity o; 500
feet second. At 5000 yards the shell oan
make hole through "a inches Of wrought
iron and at q range Of iearly three miles
can penetrate IN inches Of iron.
1hess guns are carried In four turrets.
protested with 10 inches Of armor; are
controlled electrically, working with the
greatest swiftness, esse and accuracy.
BY the end OF tho summer Great Britain
will have three OF these mighty vessels
actually In the service, and fn q couple Of
years tho squadron Of flour wfifbo oompiete,
representing an expenditure OF sc. 600 900.
Yet this enormous cost Of more than 81 .0oo.-
900 for each vessel Is regarded as an eco
nomical expenditure!
The four ships OF the Indomitable class
will mount as many big guns as eight bat
tleships. OF the older design. costing some
IS, 900 600 each. They will need only about
half the number OF officers and men, while
the cost of repairs, general upkeep and
stores will also. Il is estimated, only amount
to about half.
The Indomitable was laid down by the
Fairfield company at Govan In March,
1906, and launched we'll advanced in March,
1907. In April, 1908. she was handed over
for her trials. Full particulars OF these
have not been revealed. The contract
speed was 25 knots, but II Is believed that
she actually attained ~ knots for oon-
siderable period. Her voyage from Quebec
shows that she can easily maintain more
than the contract IS knots.
Her displacement as given In the Navy
List is u, PSI tons, but 1t is probable with
the sinkage to deep load displacement
due to maximum coal and storage supply
she took on 5000 tons Of coal at Quebec,
and carries oil fuel as well-that she has
something like 21 900 tons. Her length
at the water line Is $50 feet, 80 feet longer
than any preceding cruiser; her beam Is rs
feet inches. draught about 26 feet.
he eight so calibre II inch guns are
mounted in pairs in barbette turrets. One
turret is forward, another abaft, and the
other two amidships, placed In echelon.
With this arrangement they can all be fired
on either broadside, or broad on the bow
or quarter, and six OF them directly ahead
or astern. Other guns are said to be about
sixteen inch guns Of the new model for
anti-torpedo boat work.
The machinery consists Of Babcock q
Wilcox water tube boilers designed for a.
600 horsepower. with Parsons turbines.
The advantages Of such vessels are too
obvious to need detailing. The critics Of
the Indomitable allege the great cost Of
the class as a disadvantage. depriving the
Admiralty Of the power Of constructing an
adequate number Of vessels for commerce
protection. The new CLASSES for smaller
cruisers are supposed to give an answer to
this objection. while the conditions Of COM
merce defence are not held to exclude the
Inioniitable class from exercising a de-
cisve influence In association with smaller
cruise RS.
Tie Englishpan loves to be criticised.
The harsher the criticism the better he
likes it. or course. he must himself be
the critic.
For any outsider to join him In mis- con-
genial task would be sheer impertinence.
One thing only can mitigate the offence; 1t
may be ssSribable 10 ignorance. II not
so ascrlbable IL Is objectionable. In any