New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-08-21
Huge Plant damned with
Battleships, Destroyers
and Submarines.
TIME OF BUILDING
HALVED SINCE WAR
New Types of Vessels De-
signed-Monitor Idea
Adopted.

tion to-day than the entire shipbuild-
ing facilities of any other nation could
undertake at one time. They include
every type of craft, from submarines
to battleships, and from steam trawlers
to Atlantic liners.
Most governments lay down their
battleships and cruisers singly; and
the lesser craft perhaps in pairs, but
here battleships loom up as twins,
light cruisers by the half dozen, de-
stroyers in rows Of ten, with many
braces of long submarines, and an oc-
casional monitor.
The war fleet under tho hammer and
the paint brush here would rank in the
naval list above the establishments OF
several modest maritime powers. 1t
could demolish the two squadrons
which fought the battle of Manila Bay
with one volley, and then steam
against the combined American and
Spanish fleets Of Santiago with conn
dence. And the merchant ships on the
stocks are as many as the United
States mercantile marine has added TO
its register in several years.
ave have trained crews ready TO
step on board all these ships as soon
as they are fitted" naval officer re-
marked.
Under the tutelage Of Hugh Law,
Nationalist Member of Parliament for
West Donegal, party of correspond
ents spent a crowded day on land, on
water, and on ships in dock, at this
base. They saw some things which
they are not permitted to describe
in detail and many things they cannot
describe for lack of technical knowl-
edge; for the ordinary man the visit
furnished mostly illumination upon
the vast scale on which sea power is
arranged and upon the kind Of men
who manage it, and their hard but
cheerful lives.
Big Advance in Plant.
The general stage setting for this
swift review of the fighting and trad
ing vessels under construction con-
sisted of several miles of waterfront
lines crowded as thickly as could be
with skeletons and hulls. The stocks
carried everything Of the final type
until next year, or next week, for
every naval campaign means new
ideas, new devices, new lines OF con-
struction.
Two years Of active service under
war conditions have brought a great
advance to the British navy, already
acknowledged to be leader in most ma
val matters.
Every ship and every detail of
ship Is the last word in its class, &C
cording to the war-bought judgment Of
engineers and fighting officers. In one
noticeable detail at least British naval
architects appear to have been con-
verified to the principle Of one feature
of American warships.
The monitors make an appeal to the
American because there is suspi-
cion that other navies were disposed
to scoff at them for years. Yet here
they are, with all their superficial
changes and embellishments, tribute
to what the brain of John Ericsson
conceived in the sixties.
The monitors have been very useful
to the British navy in this war. They
have been employed in the shallow
waters of the coast of Belgium, and
even more effectively at Gallipoli. The
correspondents there described them
fully. Two or three strata of the out
lying hull may be penetrated by tor
pedoes. and the monitor can still keep
at work with her guns.
Two battleships, almost prepared for
the water, according TO information,
are expected to demonstrate themselves
the most efficient machines of their
family ever commissioned, and they
look it. The battleship standing in the
timbers on land with all its lines re-
vealed, showing its adaptability for
speed, presents a different picture from
the fighting ship seen above water and
has a suggestion of racing yacht.
These had been constructed in some
thing like half the time consumed in
making a big warship in pre-war days.
Destroyers Larger Now.
There were several so-called destroy
ers certainly as long as many light
cruisers of earlier times, ten Of them
extended side by side in one row, and
others elsewhere.
Just where the super
leaves off and the light cruiser begins
is not a matter Of length to-day. Be-
yond the destroyers was line o. long,
thin skeletons of submarines, whose
size could not be judged at all accu
rately in q passing view, even If IL
could be reported. Compared with the
now old-fashioned submarines they
are as the Lusitania to the Philadel-
phia.
Floating alongside a dock was Ii
brand new submarine, painted and pol
ished like a touring car fresh from the
shop. Her young commander stood
alongside and proudly pointed out some
of her attractions. From his trans
parent enthusiasm she might have been
a pleasure yacht instead of the vehicle
for the most dangerous form of adj
venture that fighting men undertake.
"Of course we are not in the same
class with Horton and Holbrook," he
explained, "but | hope you will hear
something from X-l7," pointing to the
number painted on the turret. He OBJ
served also that this thing could sub
merge in twenty seconds.
The party travelled over night TO the
most extensive naval base in the world.
This was a place where ships run in for
repairs, for oil, which is almost the
only fuel of these days; for ammuni-
ton and stores. Here they are replen-
ished, reftted, reprinted frequently.
and then disappear into the mists OF
the North Sea.
Fleet Ready for Action.
The trip included a view of Beatty's
battleship squadron. There they were
and that is about all that can be
said. They were prepared TO steam for
action at FIVE minutes notice. and they
did not care TO steam for action with a
cargo OF Newspaper men and Nation
alist Member OF Parliament.
These could not decenty be thrown
overheard and obviously were not
worth a moments delay. One ship car
red into the Jutland battle an army
officer on leave from France who was
.olI;n-. an q brother on hoard He re-