The Prescott daily news., 1912-10-26
MONSTER BATTLESHIP WILL TAKE FIRST PLUNGE INTO
 WATER NEXT WEEK.
BUILT AT BROOKLYN YARDS
Department Demonstrates 1t Can Con. struct Greatest Vessels With
 out Private Aid-Wi!I
 Carry 14-lnch Guns.

Washington, Oct 26.-The United States battleship New York is to be launched at the Brooklyn navy yard next week, and President Taft, Sec retary of the Navy Meyer, Gov. Dix, Mayor Gaynor and many other nota- bles are expected to be on hand to watch the most powerful vessel in the United States navy take her first plunge into the water.
 The New York and her sister ship. the Texas, each are 2,000 tons heavier than any other warship that ever has been launched in this country. The New York is 6,175 tons heavier than the battleship Florida, the last war ship constructed at the Brooklyn navy yard, and which was the biggest ship of its class afloat at the time of her completion only two years ago. The battleship New York was au- thorlzed by congress in 1910. At first
 bids were asked for, but later these were rejected, and it was decided to build the vessel in the government yard at Brooklyn.
 The keel was laid Sept Il, 1911, and a board hosted near the site
 where the ship grew says "U. S. s. New York, battleship No. 34; length, 573 feet; breadth, 95 feet 25s inches; displacement, 27,000 tons; mean draught, 2S feet inches"
 Since then the huge vessel has l ctn
 the water she will be nearly 70 per cent completed. Early next fall she is to be completed and ready to take her place as one of the five units in the first division of the Atlantic fleet,
 of which she will probably be the | flagship.
 Will Carry 14-lnch Guns.
 Not only in size, but in the caliber of the guns at their main batteries, were the New York and Texas de- signed to be the most formidable bat. tleships ever built. Up to the pres
 ent time the 13inch gun, which has not been used on any of the newer ships of the navy, has been the limit in caliber of naval guns. The New
 York and Texas, however, will each carry ten 14-inch guns, mounted two to a turret, and so arranged that all
 of them can be fired in a broadside, or forward, or aft, at the same time The arrangement of three turrets aft and two forward of the bridge is the work of the naval construction corps of the United States navy Great Britain has followed this de sign in her new dreadnaughts. and this is considered one of the highest compliments ever paid American de- signers and constructors.
 The New York's engines will be of 2S,000 horsepower, 5000 more than those of the Florida If the expecta-
 tions of her designers are fulfilled she will be able to maintain a speed of 21 knots an hour or better. The engines arc triple expansion, four cylinder reciprocating.
 The armor of the new battleship will be of sufficient thickness for de- fense against torpedo boat attacks, and there will be strong bulkheads as an additional protection against mines and torpedo explosions.
 The New York and the Texas will be of the same type as the dread naughts Oklahoma and Nevada, which have been authorized by congress. The two last named, however, will be about ten feet longer and of 500 tons greater displacement than the New York and the Texas.
 The launching of a big battleship is an important event in itself, but in the case of the New York the cere- mony will be more notable because the navy department will have demon stratd that it is fully equipped and competent enough to construct the largest battleships in it's own ship yards without assistance from private concerns, True, the progress in the construction of the New York has not been so rapid as that on her sister ship, Texas. now nearing completion at Newport News, but the fault has not been with the officials or work men at the Brooklyn navy yard After the keel of the New York was laid down the work on the ship was c.,