The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1912-05-21
One of the TWO Super-Dread-
nauqhts Takes the Water
al Newport News: "NeW
York" the Mate, Will Be
Launched at N. Y. Navy
Yard in July
(By the Associated Press.)

the launching here today Of the
supcrdreadnought Texas the American
navy counted as its proud 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 sister ship, the
New York. which VIII be launched
at the New York nav yard in july.
have taken the water before the mon
ster ships planned TO OUTSIDE teen
and now under construction in LurO-
pCdn ship yards Will be W~atcrDOrnc.
il was deemed fitting that these two
~cXemplarS of the highest Skill OF the
ehipwright should bear the names of
two NarshipS which covered tneDl-
selves with glory during the Spanish
American War.
The Texas with all of her stores
aboard will displacc 2S.367 tons, or
1000 tons more h the great dread
nouEht Arkansas. now about ready IOr
cCnlnisSion. She is 573 feet long. IS
fett pc inches beam 50 that she MIL
have also Is feet to spare in passing
through the Panama Canal locks.
Her draft will be % feet 6 inches and
her speed y knots, which would have
been high speed for a cruiser :, few
years ago.
II is q remarkable fact that the e.
600 horsepower required to maintain
this speed will be developed in the
case OF the Texas by twin screw verti-
cal. 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 tho conviction Of American naval
engineers that the rc~ciprocating en-
gino is the most economical and re-
liable 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, Q remarkable performance for
American shipWrights and a practical
demonstration of their ability to turn
out warshipS as rapidly as any ma
ton in the world under proper incen-
tive.
In the second place, the Texas will
be the first ship in the world to carry
fourteen-inch guns. She will have ten
Of them distributed in five turrets ar
ranged on a central line from stem
to stern. The biggest guns now
aflOat in the American navy are the
13-inch rifles of the famous Ole Ore
- - 80 th> oSbcN Nld 1
British navy can do is to point to
their l3.5-inch guns on their latest
battleships. In addition to these mon
Ster guns the new American ship will
carry no less han 16 5-inch rifles ir
place of the little 3 and 4-inch guns
that were formerly regarded as suff.
cient for the secondary battery. The
increasing size and power of the tor.
pedo boat d~estroyers and the enorm.
Gus speed Of the chain-lightning cruis
er has brought about this doublin
of the power Of the battery
which must be relied upon for yer,
quick work in meeting these attacks
The Texas will be clothed with ar
NOR in plenty: not only over her vital
but even the ordinarily exposed end
OF the ship, but in conformity witt
the new rule adopted by the Navy De
partment the details of its thickness
and general disposition are withheld
from publication lest the 1~nformatio.
might be Of profit to a possible futur
enemy.
The Texas after she Is in the wate,
Will be far from complete and sh
Will not be ready to go into commits
sion until December It next yea
AS she energies from the builder
hands her total cost Will be abol
$4,000, 900.
The launching Of the great sbi
drew to the yards of the Newpo
News S~hipbuilding Co. a notab
gathering of DISTINGUISHED person
Though President Taft was prevent
by his absence in the Middle We
from attending he was represent.
by Secretary Meyer, who came dow
from Washington with his family al
his naval aid, Lieutenant Comman
er Palmer IN the presidential vac
MayfiOWer.
There was a liberal s%prinkling
Senators and Representatives in Co
gresS; most Of the heads of the gre
naval bureaus, Governor Colquitt.
Texas. with q numerous delegati