The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1909-09-19
A BattIeship
on Paper
= y. $3.50 y = y :.

It is commonly said that "a battle
ship must first be built on paper"
There appears to be more truth than
exaggeration in the expression. Ac-
cording to well-known naval authori-
ty, when the government decides to
build q warship of the battleship class,
hundred plans and specifications, to be
approved by the government, before
the actual construction of the vessel
can begin. The cost of plans is no
mean item in the general estimate;
for instance, in one recent case they
cost the builders some sixteen thou
sand pounds.
In the matter of the steel plates for
the hull-taking a single item for the
purpose of illustration-it is stated
that as many as five hundred wholly
distinct and separate plans are impera-
tive. The eight hundred or nine hun
dred plans necessary to aid in the con-
struction of the hull as whole, range
from small sheet of paper about
twelve inches square to an immense
sheet eleven feet in length by some
two feet and fraction in width.
Furthermore, each plan must be du-
plicated in at least dozen prints
Thus over eighteen thousand six hun
dred square feet of paper will be COW
cred with drawings before the yard
begins the construction of the hull.
This calculation does not, of course,
take into account the ten thousand
five hundred square feet of paper that
will be covered by the preparation of
the schedules of materials by which
the yard will order the numerous sup
plies necessary for the work of con-
struction.
Then, too, the engine and electrical
departments are in the meantime pre-
pairing their plans on a similar scale of
detailed liberaiity.
A Definite Idea from the Start.
But these hundreds of plans are not,
as at first might be supposed, made
one after another until result is
reached that meets with the govern
ments's approval and its word to pro-
ceed with the construction. On the
contrary, the government has a most
definite idea of what is going to be
done i'll every detail long before the
craftsman of the contracting ship
builder begins his work.
The shipbuilder IS work is, as a mat
ter of fact, based upon still another
set of prints,s bearing all sorts of ca
balistic marks, that come from the
government. The first plans for all
classes of war vessel, with the ex-
ception Of torpedo boats and destroy
ers, are drawn up in the offices of the
government before any of the big ship
! building plants are invited to submit
| proposals for their construction. They
/ are merely statement of the type
| of vessel wanted. and are accompanied
! by book of specifications, which may
consist of some three hundred pages.
Nothing could be more exact than
| the specifications. AS an instance,
/ take the small item of canvas gun
| cover. When the government draws
up its specification, it is definitely stat
ed how many stitches to an inch are
to be taken in sewing the canvas; and
there must be no averaging in this
work-there must be So many stitches
to the inch, no matter at what point
the inspector many choose to count
| them.
Every plate of steel, of which no
two are exactly similar, has its in
dividual position in the scheme of the
ship, every rivet hole has its individ-
ual place in the steel plate, and every
plate must, therefore, have been care
fully planned on paper before it be-
| comes part of the ships construction.
Still another series of delicately
complicated plans are those that pro-
! vide for the installation of tubes, wires
and other means of connecting every
| part of the ship with every other part.
i Finally, when the huge vessel has
| actually been built and slides from the
ways, ready to receive her ordnance
and go into commission, the govern
ment files a duplicate of every plan,
not of the original draft, but of yet
another set, containing all the changes
developed in the course of construction
from the smallest hammock hook to
the biggest engine. Then, whatever
may happen to the vessel, the govern
ment is prepared Immediately to order