The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1909-02-07
GREATEST FIGHTING CRAFT IN
WORLD GLlDEs INTO WATER
At NEWPORT NEWS.
EIGHT THOUSAND PRESENT
New Addition to Uncle Sans Float
ina Fortresses Is Much Larger and
More Formidable Than Ensland's
Much Vaunted "Dreadnaughts"-
Miss Cahili Christens leviathan.

Newport News, Va, Feb. 6.-The
great battleship Delaware was sue
cessfully launched from the yards of
her builders, the Newport News Ship
Building 6. Dry Dock company, today.
The launching was witnessed by 5000
people.
Among those present were Assistant
Secretary of the Navy Satterlee and
Governor Pennewell of Delaware and
staff
The battleshp was christened with
champagne by Miss Anne PenneWeli
Cahill of Bridgewall, Del, niece of the
governor, who had as her assistants
Miss Florence Hazel of Dover and
Miss Ellen Coleman Dupont of Will
| mington.
The launching was followed by an
elaborate banquet.
Surpasses All.
Compared with the battleships COM
pleted or under construction for the
| navy of any of any foreign country
| the Delaware surpasses all. She Is
one of four sister ships authorized by
| congress, which will form an indomit-
able squadron. The other vessels
| are the North Dakota being built at
Quincy, Mass; the Florida, which
| will be built at the New York navy
| yards and the Utah to be built at
Camden N. j.
The Delaware is to carry as heavy
| armor and as powerful armament as
| any known vessel of it's class; will
have a speed of q knots and will
| have the highest practicable range Of
| action. The arrangement Of her main
battery guns will permit broadside
| 25 per cent greater than the broad
side of any other battleship now built
or SO far as is known, under con-
struction. Her defensive qualities,
| other than those dependent upon
armor protection are such as to give
maximum degree of protection to all
the vital portions by means of un-
usually effective compartmental sub
divisions. so that in conjunction with
her armor protection the defensive
qualities of this vessel are believed
to be distinctly superior to those of
any other battleship heretofore de-
| signed.
Waterline Belt.
The hull is protected by water
| line belt of armor eight feet in width,
| whose maximum thickness is IL in
ches. This armor belt gives effec-
tive protection to the boilers, ma
chinery and magazine spaces. The
| side above the main armor belt is
protected by armor seven feet three
inches wide and of q maximum thick
ness of 10 inches. Above the main
easement armor amidships the side is
protected by armor of five inches
thickness which affords protection to
the smoke pipes, the major portion
of the secondary batteries of five-inch
guns and the hull structure.
The contract for the Delaware was
placed october T. 1907 at a price OF
$3,9S7 900. Her keel was laid Novem-
ber II, 1907 The Delaware is SIC
feet In length at load waterline. Sc
feet inches in breadth and her mean
draft to bottom of keel total dis
placement of about 27 feet. Her coal
bunker capaciay Is $500 tons which is
sufficient to send her at a 10-knot
| speed a distance of 6,72O knots in 2s
days steaming.
Fuel Stories.
| Provision is also made for the
| stowage of a large amount of oil fuel
without in any degree reducing the
capacity of the coal bunkers. She
will have triple expansion engines
and will requireSover 900 men to man
| her.
Her armament will consist of a main
battery of ten 12-inch breechloading
rifles and her secondary battery will
be IA five-inch rapid fire guns, four
three-pounders, four one-pounders,
semi-automatic guns, and two machine
guns of 80 caliber. She has two sub
merged torpedo tubes.
The Delaware will have a displace-
ment on trial of 10000 tons or 1000
tons greater than the British Dread
| naught and $50 tons greater than
Great Britain's largest vessel of that
type. the Vanguard