The Colorado statesman., 1916-10-07
BUILDING OF navy
Offers PROBLEMS
Construction Program Will Tax
Government and Private
Ship Yards.
UNCLE SAM TO BUILD PART
Four Dreadnaughts Planned Will Be
Larger Than California and Ten
nessee, Now Under Con-
struction.

Uncle Sam has big problem on his
hands in securing the construction
within a reasonable time of the 63
warships included in the first INSTALL
ment of the three-year naval building
program authorized by congress and
approved by the president. With all
the government navy yards already
overtaxed with work, six private ship
building plants are expected to COM
pete for the contracts for building
these vessels, but how the private
yards are going to be able to handle
the work in anything like reasonable
time without devoting themselves ex-
clusively to government work, is n
problem that has been worrying both
the navy department and the private
shipping interests.
Designs for practically all the ships
authorized by congress have been COM
pleted by the architects of the navy
department, and bids for the construc-
ton of most Of them have been asked.
These vessels include four dread
naughts, four battle cruisers, four
scout cruisers, 20 destroyers, 80 sub
marines, an ammunition ship, fuel
ship, hospital ship and gunboat.
The fuel ship, hospital ship and gun
boat, respectively, are to be built at
the Boston, Philadelphia and Charles
ton Is. C) navy yards.
Government Yards Busy.
Secretary of the Navy Daniels had
hoped that some of tie new dread
naughts might be built in the govern
ment navy yards, but the fact that it
was decided last year to build the
California and the Tennessee in the
government yards when bids from pri-
vate contractors were rejected as too
high, has made this seem improbable.
The California and Tennessee were al
lotted for construction, respectively, to
the Mare Island and New York navy
yards. AS the Tennessee has not even
been started IN the New York yard,
owing to the delay in completing the
New Mexico there, and as there was a
long delay in starting the California
on account of the necessity of build
ing slip at the Mare Island yard, no
new work can be undertaken at these
yards now.
The dreadnaughts about to be con-
tracted for will be known for the pres
ent as battleships, Nos. 45 to 4S, inclu-
sive, and will be slightly larger than
their immediate predecessors, the Cal
ifornia and Tennessee.
To Have Twenty-one Knot Speed.
The new dreadnaughts will have the
following chief characteristics: Dis
placement, $4,000 tons; speed, 81
knots; main battery, eight 16-inch
guns; secondary battery, IS 5-inch
guns, four 3-inch anti-aircraft guns
complement officers and men, 1922.
The scout cruisers are designed to
be the largest and fastest vessels of
this class ever laid down for any navy.
Their characteristics will be: Dis
placement, 7,100 tons; speed, 80 knots !;
length, $50 feet; beam, So feet, arma-
tubes, and two 3-inch anti-aircraft
guns; complement, $50. A distinct de-
parture for vessels of such powerful
type will be their complete equipment
for carrying, launching and operating
the largest hydro-aeroplanes.
The hospital ship will be the first
vessel ever built specially for this
purpose for the United States navy,
those now in use being converted mer-
chant ships. Every feature of an up
to-date ard complete hospital will be
embodied in the ship, which will have
accommodation for 500 patients. Its
displacement will be $500 tons, length
46G feet, beam co feet 10s inches,
draft 10 feet inches and speed 16
knots. Under the terms of the Geneva
convention, which makes hospital ships
immune from capture or attack, the
vessel will carry no armament, either
for offense or defense.
The gulboat will be of type spe-
cially designed for service In tropical
waters and of light draft for use in
shallow rivers. Its characteristics will
be: Displacement, 1875 tons; length
PAL feet 2 inches; beam, Al feet pa
inches; draft, II feet A inches; arma-
ment, three 4-inch guns, two 1-pounder
guns, four 30-caliber machine guns,
two 3-inch field guns, two 3-pounder
guns; speed, II knots; complement,
149.