Bisbee daily review., 1910-05-14

advanced toward completion. which
means that she swas not much more
than a vast empty hull and stiIl
awaits all of the thousand boilers
and main and secondary engines and
armor ard equipment that so to
make up the ship ready for commits
sion.
Probably there is not battleship
afioat that could tackle the Florida
on evep terms. when her command
er's flag f,es from the ungraceful,
but formidable. skeleton masts which
viii be placed upon her. that is. pro-
yided the naval designers do not
change In their minds. as to the
utility of tbs novel feature of marine
architecture within the next eighteen
moaths. by which time the Florida
should be in commission.
The ship is the first of any real
Importance to be constructed in a
government navy yard for a number
Of years and naturally her perform
ance viii be watched with keen in
terest by the private shipbuilders.
who are now building her sister ship
the Utah in Camden, y J. AS a
matter of fact the North Dakota,
built by the Fore River ship Build
ing company and the Delaware. con
4 structed at Newport News with the
I Florida and Utah will make what Is
( described as a unit in naval par
lance. meaning that these vessels are
/ practically of the same type and may
be expected to operate together in
naval warfare. The North Dakota
and the Delaware are nearly .2O0o
tons smaller than the two other yes
isels. though the armament is prac-
dcally the same and the smaller yes
sells indeed are rated at about a
quarter of knot faster.
The Florida is 521 feet, six inches
long. nearly as long as a city block;
her beam is IS feet. 21-2 inches; she
draws 2S IL feet Of water and dis
places 81 s25 tons in light order.
while when fully loaded, with her
supplies and ammunition she viii
measure out to 23.033 tons. Her es-
emated speed is 20 ga knots per
hour. which would have been regard.
ed a few years ago as the topnotch
for a swift unarmored cruiser. She
will carry $500 tons of coal in her
bunkers. which should enable her to
make the round trip across the At
lantic at half speed. Parsons tur-
bine engines. built in the New York
navy yard, OF the enormous power of
%. 900 horsepower viii maintain the
high speed of this big ship and the
steam VII be supplied by sectional
boilers.
The main battery Of the ship will
consist OF ten Pinch rifles arranged
in pairs in turrets. Looking at her
bow on one would think that the
Florida had what IS called super
posed or uouble-decked turrefs like
the Kearsage and the Kentucky. but
as a matter of fact there are only
two guns in each of the five turrets
and the second turret In the fort
part OF the ship is necessar ly ele
waited on a superstructure SO as t.
be able TO fire freely over the tor
of the foremost turret. There is Z
very formidable secondary battery
composed of sixteen 5-inch rapid FIR
ers four 9-pounders. two 1-pounders
and a number OF machine guns. There
are also two 21-inch submerged tubes
for torpedoes.
Just what the armor is to be OF
these ships the naval designers viii
not tell That marks the adoption u
a new policy in the American navy
where heretofore it has been Gus
tomary to set out in smallest deta
In the chief constructors annual re
ports Lle thickness OF every AuCA "
armor on the ship. It is believed
though, that the side armor viii av
erage about IL inches and that il
will be extended over a length of the
ship heretofore uncovered and viii
be much wider than the ordinary ar
NOR belt so as not to expose the
under body of the ship when she
rolls in 4 seawave.
It WI take more than a thousand
men to manage this great fighting
machine: the minimum requirement
is sixty officers and 954 enlisted men
The estimated cost of the ship com
plete is 100000 as fixed in tins
act os May 18th, 1903. Her kee
was laid March 9. 1909. so that tbs
inacal constructors have reason to be
proud Of the rapidly with which the,
have carried on Their work.
The denartment of agriculture i
experimenting in several Of the soutA
arn states with JaDanese mating uset