Omaha daily bee., 1912-05-19
BIG BATTLESHIP
SLIPS INTO WATER
Super -Dreadnought Texas largest
Fighting Machine in World,
is Launched.
CARRIES FoURTEEN.INCH GUNS
Other ship I'm Existence-It win
Have speed of Twenty-One
Knots an Hour.

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. May B.-with
the launching here today OF the super
dreadnaught Texas the American navy
counted as 1t It's proudest possession the
biggest and the most powerful battleshlp
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 its sister
ship the New York. which win be
launched at the New York navy yard
In July, have taken the water before
the monster ships plpnned to outsize them
and now under construction in European
shipyards will be water borne. II was
deemed fitting that these two exemplars
Of the highest skill Of the shipwright
should bear the names OF two warshipA
which covered themselves with glory dur
Ing the spanish-American war.
The Texas. with all OF It's stores aboard
will displace 2s.s87 tons, or 1000 tons
more than the great dreadnaught Ar
kansas. now. about ready for commission.
II Is SO feet long, nlnety-five feet two
and half inches beam. 70 that II will
have almost fifteen feet in spare in pass
ing through the Panama canal locks. Its
draft will be twenty-eight feet six inches
and It's speed twenty-one knots, which
would have been high speed for cruiser
few years ago.
II Is a remarkable fact that the E.ooo
horse power required to maintain this
speed will be developed in the case Of .se
Texas by twin screw vertical. triple cx-
pansion engines Of the old type, instead
of by turbines. which have been almos.
universally adopted abroad In all naval
construction. This machinery Is Installed
because OF the conviction Of American
naval engineers that the reoiprocating
engine Is the most economical and reliable
for battieship practice.
Built I'm Record Time.
The Texas represents some features OF
interest entirely apart from its great
size. In the first place It's launching
comes just about thirteen months from
the date Its keel was laid: remarkable
performance for American shipwrights.
and 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 h.
the first ship in the world to carry four
ten-inch guns. 1t win have ten Of them
distributed in five turrets arranged on 0
central line from stem to stern. Tbs
biggest guns now. afloat in the American
navy are the thirteen-inch rifles OF the
famous old Oregon type. while the best
that the British navy can do is to point
to their 13.5-inch guns on their lates.
In addition to these monster
guns the new American ship will carry
no less than sixteen fiye-,nch rifles IN
place OF the little three and four-inch
guns that were formerly regarded as suf-
ficient for the secondary battery. The
size and power OF the torpedo
boat destroyers ana the enormous speed
of the chain-lightnlng cruiser has brought
about this doubling OF the power Of the
secondary battery. which must be relied
upon for very /aick 'kxk in meeting !
these attacks.
tn. r -, !. -,
:. .u win afinor
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he ship. but in conformity with the new