The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1912-05-18
LARGEST BATTLESHIP
OF WORLD LAUNCHED
The Superdreadnaught Texas Beats the
Efforts of All Nations at Size and
Power-Was Sent Into Water
at Newport News To day.

Newport News, Va, May lS.-With
the launching here to-day OF the super
dreadnaught Texas, the American navy
counted as it's proud possession the big
gest and the most powerful battleship
the world has ever seen. Other nations
are trying desperately for the honor
of owning the greatest warship, but it
will be months after the Texas and her
sister ship, the New York, which will be
Launched at the New York navy yard
in July, have taken the water before
the monster ships planned to outsize
them and now under construction in
European ship yards will be waterborne.
1T was deemed fitting that these two
Eexemplars of the highest skill of the
Ishipwright should bear the names of two
lwarships which covered themselves with
glory during the Spanish American war.
The Texas with all of her stores
aboard will displace 2s,367 tons, or 1000
tons more than the great dreadnaught
Arkansas, now about ready for commits
sion. She is 573 feet long, 95 feet 2l2
inches beam, so that she viii have almost
ll5 feet to spare in passing through the
Panama canal locks. Her draft will be
l2s feet inches and her speed 2l knots,
WHICH NuulI udNt DNNh Atrh eFtNA AbA q
cruiser few years ago.
It is a remarkable fact that the 81
, 100000 horsepower required to maintain
this speed will be developed in the case
of the Texas by twin screw vertical
triple expansion engines of the old type,
instead of by turbines, which have been
almost universally adopted abroad in all
naval constructions. This machinery is
installed because of the conviction of
american naval engineers that the recip-
rocating engine is the most economical
and reliable for battleship practice.
The Texas presents some features of
interest entirely apart from her great
size. In the first place, her launching
comes Just about thirteen months from
the date her keel was laid; remark
able performance for American ship
wrights and a practical demonstration
of their ability to turn out warships
as rapidly as any nation in the world
under proper incentive.
In the second place, the Texas will be
the first ship in the world to carry four
teen-nch guns. She will have ten of
them distributed in five turrets arranged
on central line from stem to stern.
The biggest guns now afoat in the
American navy are the 13-inch rifles of
the famous old Oregon type, while the
best that the British navy can do is to
point to their l3.5-inch guns on their
latest battleships. In addition to these
monster guns, the new American ship
will carry no less than l6 fiveinch rifles
in place of the little 3 and 4-ineh guns
that were formerly regarded as sufficient
for the secondary battery. The increas-
ing size and power of the torpedo boat
destroyers and the enormous speed of
the chain-lightning cruiser has brought
about this doubling of the power of the
secondary battery, which must be relied
upon for very quick work in meeting
these attacks.
The Texas will be clothed with armor
in plenty; not only over her vitals, but
even the ordinarily exposed ends of the
ship, but in conformity with the new
rule adopted by the navy department
the details of its thickness and general
disposition are withheld from publica-
tion. lest the information might be of
profit to a possible future enemy.
The Texas after she is in the water,
will be far from complete and she viii
not be ready to go into commission until
December IL next year. As she emerges
from the builders hands, her total cost
will be about sl0000,00O.
The launching of the great ship drew
to the yards of the Newport News Ship
building Co. notable gathering of dis
tinguished persons. Though President
Taft was prevented by his absence in
the middle West from attending, he was
represented by Secretary Meyer, who
came down from Washington with his