Evening star., 1915-05-15
DR.. Allan Wolfe to Build.
SHIPS FOR MENDING SHIPS.
British Navy's Wonderfully Equip
ped Repair Boats-How They Work.
From PearSon's Weekly

a battleship need not necessarily go
home-into dock. that is to say-to
have anything done to her. Within
reason she can be repaired at sea,
thanks to the various repair ships"
which are generally il. attendance on a
modern fleet OF course. every big war
ship nowadays has on board black
smiths forge and small repair shop,
but naturally such a forge cannot han
die everything. But unless a break
down is very serious the damage is re-
paired by the ships electricians and
artificers. They call them titles" in
the navy for short. There are a num-
Der of famous repair ships. ships whose
sole duty il is to patch up. on the high
seas. any damage done to one of the
units of the fleet
The most famous of the ships are the
Ark Royal. the Vulcan. the cyclops and
the Assistance. The Ark Royal is the
only repair ship of it's kind in the
whole world 1t is nothing more or
less than j floating aeropiane factory,
having on board appliances and materi-
ais for mendinG and building seaplanes
spare aeroplane engines and parts, as
well as spare seaplanes all ready to be
flown.
She is at present with the feet that
| is bombarding the Dardanelles for sea :
planes there are almost as important
as ships. Without the seaplanes in
deed. the big ships would he unable to
| tell whether they had got the proper
range for smashing up the Turkish
| forts. The Cyclops is equal In capacity
| for work to a dockyard employing 300
hands. for she carries that number OF
| skilled mechanics in addition to her
crew. Every inch of room on board
that can be spared is given up to the
various repair shops" The famous
repair ship has on board complete
| foundry, where castings can be made
| and she is capable of turning out q
| new propeller for a battleship, and a
| battleship's propeller is not a small
thing.
One of the curious things that would
| at once strike any visitor to the Cy-
| clops is an enormous wooden anchor
hanging over the side of the ship. This
anchor is. of course, not used for an
choring. but is one of set of tenn
plets." or patterns. which the vessel
| carries for all sorts of castings re-
| quired in the navy.
In addition to her big repairing plant
the Cyciops carries a large distillins
| apparatus sufficient to supply fresh
water to a number Of ships, as we'll as
| ce-making machines and refrigerating
rooms to keep food fresh during hot
| weather. No other ship in the world is
| fitted SO completely with forges. smith
les. furnaces and big steam hammer
as the Cyclops.
The Assistance is e much smaller YES
| sci, though she can carry out many re-
pairs which are too big for an ordi-
nary ships workshop The Vulcan Is a
special repair ship for torpedo boats
| She is really a converted small cruiser
| Of 1000 tons. One of the first things a
visitor would notice about her would
| be two huge cranes amdships. These
cranes are worked by hydraulic power
and will lift small vessel clean out OF
| the water onto the deck In half min
| ute or so. The foundations Of these
| cranes are fxed right on the kee
OF the Vulcan, otherwise the ship Nigh
dangerously heel over when heavy
| weights are being lifted. This repair
| ship, one Of the oldest in the navy, by
! the way, carries launches on board
! which are used for mine sweeping and
J below deck she can carry a hundred
| torpedoes. as well as some hundreds oi
| mines, ready to hand out to any ship
\ that wants them.