The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1914-12-26
WARSHIp DESIGNS
Work Involved In the Planning OF
a Dreadnought.
A TASK OF MANY PROBLEMS.
The Monster Armored Naval Battery
Must Be Steady In Heavy Sea, Else
She Is Not a Good Gun Platform.
Wonderful Accuracy In Results.

Must Be Steady In Heavy sea, Else
She Is Not a Good Gun Platform.
Wonderful Accuracy In Results.
Talk OF Chinese puzzle. 1t Is moth
Ing to the problem set before naval
designer who has TO build battleship.
Here he has steel structure OF such
and such n length and breadth and
depth, and into this space, which is
controlled by hard and fast measure
ments, he has TO AT so much coal, so
much armament, room for so much am
munition. quarters for so many men,
space for engines OF certain power
and also allow for an immense weight
OF armor
Take the original Dreadnought for
instance The task which was given TO
Sir Philip Watts was 20 plan battle
ship capable OF steaming 1000 miles at
81 knots. with room for 500 officers and
men and able TO carry ten twelve-inch
guns with eighty rounds OF ammuni'
ton for each.
She had also TO be enormously, heay.
fly armored This armor alone when
the sum was worked out was found TO
weigh nearly 10000 tons and the neces-
sary coal 10 weigh $500 tons. The
guns and their mountings weighed
i,G00 tons, their ammunition 400 tons.
When You add TO this that the boil
ers and machinery OF the first Dread
nought were calculated TO weigh not
less than 200 tons the reader may be-
gin to get some faint idea OF the diff
culties before the designer.
We have not even mentioned the
smaller but quite important details,
such as boats-some OF them large
steam launches sixty feet long-an-
chors and cables OF gigantic size and
weight. torpedoes. etc.
To be a good naval designer a man
must be far more than q mere naval
architect He must have the most ex-
tensive knowledge OF all sorts OF craft
and be blessed with large share OF
imagination into the bargain.
Now take the Dreadnought again.
She is $50 feet long. II her hull had
been built OF the same shape as pre-
vious bnttleships she would have been
very unhandy. Her great length would
have prevented her from turning
quickly, as is always necessary In a
sea fight
Sir Philip got over this difficulty by
her keel base. Under water |
she Is very like racing yacht, being |
much shorter below water than above. |
Another clever dodge OF her designer |
was TO flt two rudders abreast well un-
der the stern. The same dodge has |
been adopted in all the Dreadnoughts, |
with the result that they are wonder
fully quick to answer their helms.
Quite apart from the marvellous In
ternal fittings OF n great warship and
the utilization of every inch of space
inside the hull. the hull itself IS a nerve
strainlng problem. A battleship must
not only be fast. she must also be q
good sea boat.
This Is all important. for IL she is
not steady in heavy sen she is not
good gun platform.
To gain the requisite combination or /
speed and steadiness each new war
ship. as soon as her plans arc complete.
IS built up In model, and these models
ire tested in a BIG tank 600 or COO feet
ong. Tho models. which are built ab
solutely to scale, are drawn through
he water at certain speeds, and the
waves which they make are measured
)y clever apparatus too technical 10
Dc here described.
The designing OF new type OF bat.
.leship IL not n one man job When n
new departure Is TO be made the mem.
)ers OF the board OF admiralty call TO.
yether a number OF naval experts, and
he opinion OF each IL asked and dis
.ussed. When the general design has
)een approved then the director OF
naval construction and his assistants
,et TO work.
The extraordinary accuracy OF such
work may be gathered from the FOL.
owing:
The Majestic, OF $1,000 tons, was de
igned by Sir William White. When
Inished and armed she was exactly. 10
very few pounds. the weight which
le had estimated beforehand. while
Ter center of gravity was within two
inches Of the point which he had pre-
'iously fixed on.--Iondon Answers.
Military Age In Montenegro.