Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1913-11-28
MEXICAN OIL FUEL
FOR BRITISH SHIPS
Launch of Battle Craft War
spite May Mean New Era in
Building of Warships.

4 LONDON, Nov. 2S.-Unusual inter
est is being shown in the new British
battleship Warspite, which was
launched at Davenport this week.
The putting overheard of the craft
has an indirect bearing on the Next
can situation. for that country Is ex-
pected to supply a great portion of
the fuel of the Warspite and many
other vessels OF the British fleets.
The battleship Warspite is the Sec
ond of Great Britain's oil-burning
fighting craft. She is an improve
ment on the Queen Elizabeth and has
tankss holding 1000 tons of OIL, enough
TO enable her to go around the world.
The Queen Elizabeths tanks hold
$500 tons.
The armament of the new vessel
consists OF eight 15-inch guns and sew
eral guns for use against aerial craft
Her keel was laid on October 81, 1912,
and she will cost $4,000, 900 when COM
pleted.
other New Design.
The Globe says, with semi official
authority, that the era of warships
with only big guns will end when tho
group of ships of the Warspite type Is
completed. 1t also says that the new
Royal Sovereign type, construction
of which IL soon to be started, will be
of a new design and smaller than the
battleships now under construction.
This change, the newspaper adds, has
been made by the admiralty because
of the lessons learned during the re-
cent naval maneuvers. On that &C.
casion the submarines demonstrated
their capacity for offensive action of
a sort to render battleships almost
powerless.
It is expected that the Queen Eliza
beth, in the future, will be best re-
membered as tho first oil-burning bat
tleship. 1t was only by the adoption
of oil as fuel the builders were en-
abled to give these vessels their high
! speed and unequalled armament on
the moderate displacement of 1880
tons.
The bunkers are entirely done away
with, the fuel being stored in double
bottom and in various odd places
where coal could not be put. This
makes a saving in stokehold weights
of 25 per cent. and also cuts down on
the number of men required in the
engine-room department The Queen
4 Mary, a $4,000 horsepower turbine YES
sell has a crew of 1000, about 400 of
whom are in the engine-room. The
Queen Elizabeth, however, requihes
only about 100 men in this depart
ment.
In the House of Commons on July
II last Winston Churchill, first lord
of the admiralty, announced the gov
ernment's intention to use oil In the
future for the navy.
Mr.. Churchill said the admiralty had
a twofold purpose The ultimate one
was for England to become an inde-
pendent owner and producer of it's
own supplies of oil fuel, by building
/ up reserves sufficient to make the
country Independent in time OF war.
They would be able he said, to over
ride price fluctuations in time of peace
also by acquiring the power to deal in
crude oils as they came In the
market.
The other policy he suggested was
the building UP of the reserves, in
yolying the making of a series of for
ward contracts for about five years.
in order to secure regular, reasonable
and steady prices.
always be to draw the supplies of oil.
as far as possible from sources under
British control
The Queen Elizabeth, the first Brit
| ish battleship to burn oil only as fuel,
| was the thirtieth British warship of
| the dreadnought era and the most
powerful of the type. Now the War
spite exceeds even her in the renne-
ment of construction, although in
fighting strenth there is little to
choose between them.
Eight-ton Broadside.
Both ships have eight 15-inch guns.
capable of firing a broadside of 1850
pounds. The Dreadnought, which was
| launched in 1906 had eight 12-inch
guns, firing a broadside of only $500
pounds That the bore of big guns is
steadily being increased is shown by
| a comparison of six of the biggest of
modern English battleships.
The Queen Elizabeth and the War
spite have their big guns mounted on
| four turrets on the centre line. Each
projectile from q 15-inch gun weighs
| /. $50 pounds, whereas that from H.
| inch gun weighs but $50 pounds. The
Queen Elizabeth has turbines of co.
| 600 horsepower, giving her speed of
twenty-five knots, half way between
| the dreadnoughts, with a standard of
! twenty-one to twenty-one and one
half knots, and later battleships OF
the Lion type, with twenty EIGHT
knots speed. The Warspite has the
same engine power as the Queen Eliz-
abeth, the improvements the newest
vessel has being mainly in detail and
| in protection against airships.
Originally the British admiralty
proposed to have eight vessels of the
| Queen Elizabeth type, to form a sort
of imperial patrol, based at Gibraltar.
But the defeat of the Borden navy
bill by the Canadian Senate cut the
group down to five. Three of these
are still building, the Barham, the
Valiant and the Malaga, the cost of
| the last vessel being borne by the
Federated Malay States
The Warspite when completed will
cost about s1.500,00o less than the
Queen Elizabeth. These vessels mark
a departure in the admiralty's pro-
gram, as 1t had been made known, in
that they are entirely of the battle
ship type. 1t had been generally sup
posed that England was to devote
| her efforts to the Standardization of
the capital type of ship, instead of to
the two kinds, battleships and battle
cruisers.
The queen Elizabeth class ships
comprise one of the most powerful
types now afioat. The Texas and
| Oklahoma, of the United States navy,
are slightly in the lead, carrying
| twelve 14-inch guns for a greater
broadside of $500 pounds, and twen-
ty-two 5-inch guns, on q total dis
placement of 81, 400 tons.
The Pennsylvania, of the United
States navy, now building, has a sim
liar armament, while the Japanese
/ warship Fuse, is variously credited