The Democratic banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) 1898-192?, 1914-07-14
GIANT
WarShip Of The Navy Is To
Be Launched

country was buCCebbIully launcne0 To-
day at the yards of the Fore River
Ship Building Company AS the yes
sci slid off the ways little Miss Elean-
or Anne Siebert, the ten-year-old
niece of Governor Oddie of Nevada,
broke ribbon encased bottle of cham
payne over the bow of the mammoth
sea fighter and cbristened her Ne
vada. 1t was 1880 o'clock when the
massive hull started slowly down the
incline, and a few moments later it
was floating gracefully in the waters
of the Fore River.
The launching Of the great ship
drew to the yards notable gathering
of distinguished people. In addition
to the official party representing the
State in whose honor the battleship
was named, and which was headed by
Governor Tasker L. Oddie, the notable
guests included Secretary of the Navy
Daniels and Assistant Secretary Roos-
evelt. Naval officers from Charleston,
Portsmouth, Newport and other places
also were included in the attendance.
The Nevada is a sister ship to the
Oklahoma, which was launched on
March % last at Camden, N. ]. The
two vessels are Of the latest dread
nought type and present some feat
ures of interest entirely apart from
their great size. In the first place,
they are the first large battleships
ever built in which oil will be used ex-
clusively for fuel purposes. This has
tirely with coal bunkers-the oil being
carried chiefly in the double bottom
of the ship. The omission of bunkers
sets free a large amount of space be-
low decks, which has enabled the de-
signer to concentrate all of the six
boiler compartments at the centre of
the ship, where they occupy only
sixty-fiye feet of her length. Hence it
is possible to use a single smoke
SluShJ pldCcu AulucuidLely duOf0 huc
boiler rooms.
The keel of the Nevada was laid
on Nov. 4, 1912. At the present time
she is more than seventy per cent
completed, or about ten per cent more
than the average of such ships at the
time of their launching. The dead
weight of the ship as she stands today
is upwards of $4,000 tons and she has
her boilers and the backing for her
armor in place. There are no guns
aboard as yet. Her displacement will
be 27,5O0 tons and she will have 24,S00
indicated horsepower.
The Nevada and the Oklahoma
represent, to greater degree than
any of their predecessors, the united
experience and thought of the various
branches of the naval service, and the
officers of both line and staff unite
in the belief that these two ships will
be the most powerful in the world.
The principal interest of the new
ships lies in their great defensive
power. Not only will they carry a
much greater weight Of armor than
has been carried, or is to be carried,
by any ship built or building, but the
aImor will be disposed to greater ad-
vantage. The armor belt is thirteen
and one. half inches thick, and the cas-
ing of the barbettes thirteen inches.
In the turrets the armor varies from
nine to eighteen inches in thickness,
and the armor of the coming tower
and tube is sixteen inches. The COW
ering of the gun deck is three inches
thick, and that of the protective deck
two inches.
An important feature of the side
armor is the way the plates are at
tached to the ship. In the older ships
the plates are arranged horizontally
in two strips, with continuous hori-
zontal seam, which is slightly above
the waterline, between the upper and
lower strips. This arrangement pre-
sents continuous point of weakness
near the waterline at most vulner-
able point. In the Nevada and the Ok
lahoma the armor plates are laid YER
tically and extend the whole depth of
the belt.
The ten fourteen-inch guns in the
main batteries are to be placed in
four turrets. The turrets are placed
two forward and two aft, and the ar
rangement is such that each OF the
fourteen-inch guns can be fired in
broadside from either port or star
board, while with little maneuver-
ing all of the guns can be fired almost
dead ahead or astern. In two of the
turrets, the one most forward and the
one in the stern, there will be three
guns. Each of the other turrets will
contain two guns. They are the first
three-gun turret ships built for the
United States navy.