The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-11-23
IDEAS OF NAVAL
 BUILDERS TO BE
 FAVORED BY J. s.
Construction of Submarines Must Be Done With Stric-
 ter Requirements.

l Washington, Nov 23-Bids for sub- { marines for the United States Navy Y will hereafter be asked on the basis of plans prepared by the Naval con- structors. Henceforth the navy mere ly asked for bids for subrnersib1es to l perform certain service and the bid ders had furnished the plans The bold practice of submitting to>bidders I only the general requirements of the navy will be abandoned but that will i not prevent bidders holding patents from submitting alternative bids and
 between the two the Navy may make
 it's choice. The fact that such progress in submarine construction has been 1 made by the Navy's own constructors to permit of such a departure is dis closed in the annual report of Rear
 Admiral David w. Taylor, chief of ! the bureau of construction and re-
 pair.
 During the year." tho report says, l there was begun a complete design ! for the fleet submarines auth horized
 by the last Congress. Although each builder of submarines has many pa
 cents, the patents will mot constitute I a bar to preparation of designs by the,
 department. It is true that the de-
 signing and building of submarines is
 a specially that requires experience, but. we now have in the Navy adequate l eXperieTice in this connecticut
 The design completed by the Navy
 was that of the Sch1ey, the big fleet submarine now building at the Fore
 River yard, Quincy Mass, and which
 will be commissioned in the spring of 1918. In addition, the department is preparing plans for two other even 1 larger underwatercraft, probably to ydisp1ace 1,2oO to 1,5OO tons, which were authorized this year. B. l Of the reorganization of the sub marine service Admiral Taylor says; l -s"The recently inougurated change in the adn1inistration of the submar- ines of the fleet is working well. The bureau no longer receives general al legations of tworthlessness with no l helpful suggestions, butisis furnished a definite statement as to what trouble
 have occurred andy valuable esugges- tionS for Improvement. Progress un- der such conditions is certain and rapid.''
 1 Admiral Taylor mentions the experi-
 ments made during the year in search
 of adequate defense for battleships l against submarine and aerop1ane at
 tack and adds that .ttspecifications
 the ships next to be purchased have
 been materially improved" Details I of changes in construction are regard ed as confidential.
 l The report shows that the <experi-
 ments have resulted in the substitu- ton of cheaper nicke1-stee1 for the usual expensive specia1-treatment
 metal on the battleship9 California, Ju5C 4a1Ql QOWn the New 4Ork navy Ward. The change will give stthe same or greater efficiency the report adds;
 Ships of the California and later
 classes have been designed with the comfort of the crew in view. They have reading and recreation arrange Inents. %
 l-> The various activities of the bureau
 are we'll shown in the report in deal ing with the model basin, where hull
 designs arc testedJ the wind tunnel. where aeropIane experiments are made and other experimental equip
 rheIt. Twenty per cent of the work
 done last year in the model basin was f for private shfpbui1ders who are learn ing of the advantage this adjunct of 1 the Navy has been to it's designers. A
 devise to stimulate stern conditions and wave mott ons is now being install in the tank,
 Of aircraft design the report says:
 'NFhe development of the aeroplane ESeems to be in the direction of larger
 Weight capacity and greater speed and in this respect is repeating the history of the development of warships." The department has designed and begun construction of an aeroplane to carry 2.2O0 pounds as a means to develop Knowledge of this subject among it's engineers.
 The recovery of the wrecked sub-
 marine F-4 at Honolulu is regarded r by navy experts as an unequalled ac- cOmpIIShment. The success or the Op- erations WAS in part due to extensive tests of deep-diving conducted during the year, beginning with experiments ill a laboratory tank where pressure was arranged to equal that at depths never before reached by divers Chief Gunner StilIson, the Navy's crack diver, directed the work and the later actual diving at sea which showed what had been sacc6mp1ished. Still greater achievements are hoped for as a result.
 The report points out the high standard of efficiency made by bureau employees, it being known that no yes sel designed by the Navy had shown overweight during the last twelve years, a record no private company nor the designers of other governne ent have equaIIed.L Re-rating- the bureau employees is asked in order that some hope of advancement may be given them and an increase in personnel to- do away with the voluntary overtime r the report declares that they have cheerfully rendered. The case of one kof a constructor at one of the navy yards who has been forced for months to work twelve hours every day inc1ud- ing Sundays is cited as showing the short-handed condition of the. force while the naval establishment has been steadily increasing. l hW-N