Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1915-11-29
SUPER BATTLE CRUISERS
PART OF NAVAL PROGRAM
Each to BE More Than 200 Feet
Longer Than ANY Battle
ship Now Ahoat.
TO HAVE SPEED OF s5 KNOTS
Modei Basin I'm Washington Navy
Yard Does Away With SpecuIa-
ton Concerning Amount OF Horse
Power Required.

WASHINGTON, November 2S.-Somc
idea OF the size and power of the super
battle cruisers. proposed as part of the
new naval program. may be gained
from the fact that each one would be
as any battleship which particfputed
in the Spanish American War, more
than 700 feet longer than any battle
ship now a'0a' and tie" feet longer
than was the I.usitania.
Tests of hull models for the giant
cruisers are proceeding at the model
basin in the Washington Navy-Yard to
determine just how much horsepower
VIII be required to drive them thirty
five knots an hour. the speed fixed by
the navy general board II will take
six separate sets Of steam turbines. II
is 'understood. operating six propcllcrs,
10 attain that pace, ana the hull de-
signs of the models show Il huge
square cross-scction amidships i'm Dr-
der to accommodate the mass of ma
chinery.
There is no longer any doubt about
the amount of horse power required to
drive ship of known design at any
desired speed. The model basin has
done away with speculation on that
point. II is huge tank several hun
drcd feet long and thirty feet wide.
above which runs n travelling bridge
Arrangement. carrying the complicated
mechanism. to measure the resistance
offered by model hull lowed through
the water The average battleship
model is twenty feet long. and is in
exact proportion 10 the ship ii is plan
ned to construct. 1t has been cstab-
lishcd AS law OF physics that the
power required to pull n model through
the water at six knots. for instance.
Will show exactly the force necessary
To drive the ship herself at Il prccc-
t"rmined rate. The effect Of any minor
change in hull construction is instant
~ shown by the recording Instruments
An eighteen knot speed can be reach
ed in the tank.
NEW TYPE OF SCOUT CRUISER
BEING BUILT IN ENGLAND
Indefinite information has reached
navy officers that England is building
/, swift vessel az an experiment which
may reach thrty-fvc knots an hour
and which will carry heavy guns and
no armor whatever. She will be a new
type OF scout cruiser rather than a
battlccraft. il Is understood. ana have
loss endurance than battle cruisers.
The navy model basin is now equip
pcu WIN Al hlIlE u'N4tc, WIN
which the rolling qualities OF ship
design can Toe tested and also her ahil-
ity to sustain high speed in rough
water. II consists OF a motor-driven
fan under water, which stirs the con-
tents Of the tank into wave motions
of any desired frequency or size. At
the opposite end OF the tank is a
breach. over which the waves run to
bc trapped in the space behind, pre-
venting their return up the tank to
interfere with experiments. More &C.
curatc data on ship construction las
been given out from the navy plant
than from all other similar tanks in
the world combined. II has a Capa-
city Of testing ijJ or more models am
r!lallv. AZ compared TO nity IN the Brit
ish admiralty tank. Nearly 1000 mod
els have been tested at the NaVy-Ghrd
and the results carefully tabulated. In
slack periods a regular series of test
models is produced and the results
noted in order that the whole scicn-
tiiic field may be covered The officer
in charge presents the new data gath
cred before a scientific society each
year and private designers can ncw
work ont the hull OF a merchant ship
on the formulas gathered by the gov
ernmcnt About II nth Of the work
now done I'm the basin is for private
.;hipbuilderS. who send plans OF pro-
posed ships TO the NavyYard. whore
models are constructed aud tested. I he
plant soon Viii have capacity Of pro
twenty-four hours.