The Cairo bulletin., 1912-05-19
Battleship Launched Saturday, is
Greatest Vessel Ever
Built
CARRIES l4-INCH RIFLES
Main Battery is Composed Of Guns
Half Inch Larger Than Any
in World


With the launching here today o.
the super r-dreadnought, Texas, the
American Navy counted as its prout
possession the biggest 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 sis
ter 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 con
struction in European Ship Yards
will be water borne. 1t was deemed
fitting that these two examplars of
the highest skill of the shipwright
should bear the names of two war
ships which covered themselves with
glory during the Spanish American
war.
Is Immense Structure.
The Texas, with all her stores
aboard, will dlsplace 2S,367 tons or
1000 tons more than the great
dreadnounght, Arkansas, now about
ready for commission. She is 573
feet long, 95 feet, 2 and Y inches
beam so that she will have almost
/ 5 feet to spare in passing through
the Panama Canal locks. Her draft
will. be IS feet 6 inches and her
speed 81 knots, which would have
been high speed for a cruiser few
years ago.
1t is remarkable fact that the
81, 900 horsepower required to main
tain 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 con-
structions. This machinery is In.
stalled because of the conviction of
American naval engineers that the
| reciprocating engine is the most
| economical and reliable for battle
ship practice.
Building Was Rapid.
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; remarkable performance for
American shipwrights and practi-
cal demonstration OF their ability to
turn out warships as rapidly as any
| nation in the world under proper in
centive
In the second place, the Texas
will be the first ship in the world to
carry fourteen-inch guns. She will
have 10 of~them distributed in five
turrets arranged on central line
| from stern to stern. The biggest
| guns now afloat 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 13.5-inch guns on
their latest battleships. In addition
to these monster guns the American
| ship will carry no less than 16 five.
inch rifles in place of the little 8
and 4-inch guns that were formerly
regarded as sufficient for the second,
ary battery. The increasing size anC
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 bt
relied upon for very quick work In
meeting these attacks.
Heavily Armored
The Texas will be clothed with ar
NOR in plenty; not only over heI
vitals but even the ordinarily ex
posed ends of the ship, but in con
formity with the new rule adopted
by the Navy Department, the details
of its thickness and general disposi
ton are withheld from publication
lest the information might be O
profit to possible future enemy.