Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-02-06
Launch of the Unequaled Bat
tIeship Delaware.
SURPRISES THE VANGUARD
Greater Displacement Than the
Famous Dreadnought.
CEREMONY AT NEWPORT NEWS
Vessel Christened by Miss Cahall,
Niece Of Governor-Luncheo
to Distinguished Guests.

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. February g.
Surpassed by none and equaled only by
her. own sister ships. yet to be built.
| Americas latest and greatest warship.
| the battleship Delaware. was launched
| this morning at the plant OF the Newport
| News Ship Building and Dock Company.
The preparations for the launching were
| completed at an early hour this morning.
| the event being set for $50 O'Clock Long
| before that time crowds of spectators be-
| gan pouring into the shipy ards while in
the James river. lying at anchor and
| steanling slowly about. were craft OF
| every description. each crowded with pas
| sengers and each vessel gayly decorated
for the occasion. Among the ships in the
stream the most prominent was the army
transport Meade. radiant In vari-colored
| bunting. on which were Capt. F. A.
Grant. in charge of the transport service
between this port and Cuba, and a large
party of guests.
| Gov. Simeon P. Pennewill and the MEM
| bers Of his star from Delaware. with Inc
governors niece, Miss Anna Fennewill
Cahall the sponsor and her maids, arriv-
ed in carriages and were escorted to the
iduIlClllnk Sld1u dl tnc pioW VI the uoul-
moth fighting machine.
| Miss Ellen Coleman du Pont and
| Frances Hazel acted as aids.
The Ship Christened.
| Ready to christen the ship. Miss Cahall
stood trembling with excitement on the
launching stand. the christening bottle
| poised for the first move of the ship. Sud
denly there was rending sound and
| snap the weakened beam gave way and
as the Delaware moved down the ways
Miss Cahall hurled the bottle of sparkling
wine at the prov and exclaimed in clear
voice: II christen thee Delaware"
Drowning the sponsors words. the
| cheers Of the crowd arose. while from
every whistle in the ship yards and the
vessels in the harbor a deafening roar met
| the heavens. The bands struck up the
national air and for several minutes the
excitement was intense and everybody
was happy for the launching was a great
success and went OFF without hitch.
Luncheon at the Warwick.
Immediately after the event. Gov. Pen
| newIll, Miss Cahall and the members OF
the launching party from Delaware were
driven to the Warwick Hotel. where the
| visitors, with other distinguished guests.
were given a luncheon by the ship yard
| officials.
was present at the luncheon. delegation
from the Delaware legislature.
All Naval Vessels Surpassed.
Compared with the battleshps. COM
pleted or under construction. of the navy
| OF any foreign country. the Delaware sur
passes ALL She is one of four sister ships
authorized by Congress. which will form
an indomitab!e squadron The other YES
noIy ofo oil I,,,ft at
Quincy. Massachusetts,; the Florida
which will be built at the New YORK
navy yard and the Utah. to be built at
Camden. n. J.
NOR and as powerful armament as any
known vessel of its class: will have
speed Of twentyone knots. which IS be-
| iieved to be the highest practicable for
vessel Of this type and class. and will
| have the highest practicable radius of ac-
| ton. The arrangement Of her main bat
| terry guns is such as to permit broad
| side fire % per cent greater than that OF
| the broadside fire of any battleship now
| built or. so far as is known. under con-
struction Her defensive qualities. other
| than those dependent upon armor pro-
lection are such as to give the maximum
degree of protection to all the vital por-
lions by means OF unusually effective
| compartmental subdivisions. so that in
conjunction with her armor protection
! the defensive qualities Of this vessel are
believed to be distinctly superior to those
of any battleship hitherto designed.
The hull is protected by water line
belt of armor feet In width, whose max
imum thickness is II inches. This armOr
belt gives effective protection to the boil
| ers. machinery and magazine spaces The
| side above the main armor belt Is pro-
| tected by armor feet inches wide and
| of a maximum thickness of ten inches.
| Above the main casemate arnlor amid
! ships the side Is protected by armor or
l . al, @So1, fToy-
| lection to the smoke pipes the major por-
| ton Of the secondary batteries of 5-inch
guns and the hull structure.
Planned by Board of Construction.
The plans for the Delaware were pre-
pared by the board of construction in
competition with plans submitted by
various naval architects and shipbuilding
companies and submitted to a special
board under the presidency of the former
assistant secretary Of the navy. T. III.
| NeWberry and later approved by Con-
| gress.
| The contract for the Delaware was
placed August 6. 1907. at a price OF
| S.. 9S7 600 to be built in accordance with
| the department design for both hull and
| reciprocating machinery.
Her keel was laid November II. 1907.
| The Delaware is $40 feet in length on
| load water line, So feet inches in breadth
trial displacement about q feet. Her
coal bunker capacity is 900 tons. Her
is sufficient to send her at 10 knot speed
| a distance of 6.720 knots or % days
| stsamins. Provision is also made for the
stowage of a large amount of Oil fuel
without in any degree reducing the capac-
ity of the coal bunkers. She will have
triple expansion reciprocating engines and
will require over 900 men to man her.
! Her armament will consist of a main
battery Of ten Pinch breechloading rifles
and her secondary battery will be four
teen 5-inch rapid-fire guns. four -pounder
saluting guns four 1-pounder semi-auto-
matte guns. two :;-inch field pieces and
two machine guns of 80 caliber. She has
two submerged torp ado tubes.
| The Delaware will have a displacement
| on trial Of %. 600 tons, or >. 100 tons great
| er than the British Dreadnough and 75l
tons greater than Great Britain's lates:
vessel of that type. the Vanguard.
FAILS WITH ELEVATOR