The Hawaiian gazette., 1916-07-18
ELECTRICITY DRIVES
THUS DBEADNOUGHT
New Mexico May Be First Bat.
tleship Equipped with Elec-
! trical Propulsion

Preparedness and progressiveness
seem to be the expressions Of the day,
and right 10 that line Uncle sam is
doing at least one thing in his navy
that amply expresses both sentiments,
in Building the battleship New Mexico.
This ship, which is to cost $l4, 900. 900,
Is the first battleship In. the United
States and, so, far as known, the first
I'm the world to be propelled by cleo.
tricity. III, e r..
Elaborate experiments have been
made by naval engineers with the use
Of electricity in propelling ships, the
most interesting being with the Collier
Jupiter which was built some two
years ago and which has been render.
ing a splendid service with the electric
propulsion. It was largely as result
Of this service that the Navy depart.
nent decided TO try out this locomo.
ton IN a first class batleship, which
is to be among the very largest in our
navy. The idea for electrical propul.
sion has been developed by W. L. K,
Emmett member of the general con.
sultipg board o. the navy and . well
known engineer. a'+ .t.. %.
In Service By 1917 %l.i.
The keel for this new giant Of the
sea was laid in the Brooklyn IN. W
navy yard, where it is being built, on
October u, 1915 and IL is hoped that
the ship will be able to join the At
lantic squadron in the autumn Of 1917.
The New Mexico, which is dupli.
cate Of the battleship Mississippi, v i'll
be followed by the Tennessee and Cali.
fornia, both equipped with electrical
propulsion.i At the present time these
are, the only three ships that will have
such equipment II is assumed that
after they have proven their worth,
others win be built along the same
lines. 80 s,z.,.-... ~. %.
Steel Furniture 49, ., 80.
OF necessity the interior eyuipment
of the ship is as modern and up TO date
as the exterior. II Is interesting to
rote that the government has elected
to equip the, rooms with the most up
;odate steel furniture. In this connec-
ton II may be interestin 60 some to
know the reason for the selection of
steel furniture. ~ o..
II Is well known fact among naval
officers that most of the casualties hap
rening on board a battleship during as-
ton are from splinters. When the
ships were ordered 10 clear for action
at, the battle of Santiago, it is said
the sailors were obliged to throw ove.,
beard all Of the wooden tables, chairs,
desks, etc, on board, until the bay
was so full Of floating furniture that a
rood many stores could have been well
stocked for the year. y Now when a
,hip is ordered to clear for action there
win be no such waste Of time nor Of
material. The steel furniture does not
splinter and therefore will not have to
be thrown overheard prior to battle,
OIL Burning Boilers d. , T.
Coming back again to the wonderful
equipment of the New Mexico. She
Gih draw thirty feet Of water, the max
imum for warships, and will have a
normal displacement of $4,000 tons.
Her length over all will be 62I #. 1t
IL estimated that her speed Ou trial will
be about q knots. The New Mexico
is to be equipped with nine oilburning
| boilers r' "-# g
There win be some 10000 horsepow!
er developed by the electrical Rppara,
tus that is beng especially bulit for
aer at one of the largest plants in this
country. 81 "
Regarding her complement OF men.
She will carry 1884 officers and men,
of which IS will be marines. She will
Also be equipped with twelve fourteen.
inch, 80 ea6beE breech.loading Tifes;
twenty-five 6ye-inch caliber rapid fire
guns; four six-pound saluting guns;
aud four tweDty-one'inSh submerged
torpedo tubes. .-,. q. .....