New-York tribune., 1909-05-09
GFRM4N NAVY SECRETS.
FrperimentaI Construction - Ship
building q National Interest.
Rremen. April %.

Bremen, AHrlI 10
The secrets Of German naval construction are
closely guarded At Wihelmshayen' on the
north Sea coast. there is an imperial dOckyard
superior in shipbuiIdng plant although not IN
area to the one in Kiel harbor When the ex-
tensions already planned and partially carried
er,t are completed, it will be perhaps the larg-
est and best equipped admiralty dockyard in
Che world It is difficult to ascertain no"
much government work Is now IN progress
there but it is certain that one Of the German
Dreadnoughts has been laid down and that the
srmor plate, turrets and guns VIII be suppHcd
from the Krupp works in Essen. In the Weser
shipyards, below Bremen, DreadnoushIS arc
also building. and the slips where construction
upon them is in progress are framed ana COW
cred as at the Kiel and the Hamburg yards.
Ybe tonnage turbine engine power, number of
guns I'm the batteries and other details OF the
armament and construction cannot be learned
with precision. Important changes are believed
to have been made in the original BRUSH de-
Sign. but no details available. 1t will not
be known until the ships are commissioner
whether the armor IS heavier. or the engines are
more powerful, or the guns are superior IN
rnuxzIe energy. The official secrets are not
bIurted out in Reichstag debates. and experts
are not pitted against another IN acrimo-
nious controversy over the fighting efficiency
sf these improved DreadnOughts.
The secrecy maintained respecting these Ger
man battIeships ought not to excite suspicion
The original British Dreadnought was envel-
eped IN mystery at every stage of construction
II was impractcable for naval attaches OF the
embassies to obtain trustworthy Information re-
specting the designs. batteries and engines ana
extraordinary precautions were taken 10 pre-
vent the disclosure Of the results OF the tests
for speed and gunfire. Every subsequent Dread
nought launched in England has been an I'M
proved and more formidable battleship but lit
lie information has been given out, and the
experts know less about them than about any
ether class Of war vessels afoat. If strangers
arr not allowed to enter the yards where the
S5er1nan battleships are under construction as
little hospitality has been offered to them In
The British dockyards and shpyards. Inc
secrecy with which Dreadnoughts have been
eopied and improved upon in Germany with
kcceIeration of construction and changes OF
blan for their armaments, is not more sinister
than the reticence and mystery maintained in
England In both countries the type is justly
regarded as highly experimental. with the wild
Ast possible margin for substantial improve
nent in speed, concentrated gunfre mannu-
yrfng power and displacement The oldtme
problem Of the weights of armOr and battery
was transformed by the Introduction OF turbine
engines and it may be a generation before the
best combination Is devised and the maximum
efficiency secured.
There was experimental tank at Bremen
haven for research work in ship propulsion and
huid resistance before the fastest German liners
were built Similar appliances are employed
by the naval designers and constructors at
VyIlheInshaven. Kicl and Berlin. in readjusting
the weights of the new battleships, and every
factor of the complex problem has been studied
4ryI,v Tloa
eating engine in a batteship represented two
generations Of mechanical progress. The tur-
hine engine in a Dreadnought stood for a few
years of rapid experimenting, in which new
instrument Of steam propulsion had been adapt
Cd with a precipitate rush to the largest ocean
aners and most formidable warshps. The sub
xsttution of turbines for ordinary steam mech