The Elbert County tribune., 1919-10-17

6Ive lighting machine She was built at the Brook
lyn navy yard and launched in the summer of 1917
She is 624 feet over all. She weighs (dlsplaces)
$1,000 tons. She draws 30 feet of water. She has
% feet AZ inches beam at the waterlne. At full
speed She can make slightly In excess OF II knots
IN hour. She generates 2S,00U horsepower for
propulsion. Her cre,v numbers neury .2O6 men
She burns oil instead of coal ms fuel and has
total fuel capacity of about 100000 .,illoiis
IT'S not IN easy Thing nowadays to get permis-
sion to exninine n bnttieship from stem to stern
and to take photographs of her interior. But rep
resentatives of one of the big concerns which
had hand in mixing the New Mexico what she
Is was recently allowed the prlvcge-wliich has
fpecn exceedingly rare since the beginning of the
great war The following of an inspec-
tion of the superdrendnaught at drydock in the
brooklyn navy yard is the result.
Lieut. Com. +. L. Carroll. chief engineer turns
us over to one of the junior engineers. We start
with the navigating bridge md examine the vari.
ous pieces of apparatus for transmitting signals
to the engine room for the control of the YES
sci nnd to half dozen other parts of the ship.
each of which lns particular and importan,
function to perform. Next begin n systematic
survey of the ship. and to begin ms far down into
the vitnls of the vessel possible we are led
through circuItous routes. down steep hatciways
through narrow alleys and down more ladders.
through deck after deck until have lost ali
knowledge of time and space.
we find ourselves at last on the very bottom of
ilc ship. directly behind the rudder. A complI-
diais End electric motors combine make up
the steering gear engine. This machinery Is oper
nted and controlled directly from the navigating
bridge by control device. This is only one of
hve different methods of steering the ship. In
watertight compartment directly aft is what is
known the auxiliary steering gear And here
we see four large wheels connected to II shaft
which when occasion demands. be used to
move the rlidder by hand-which takes eight men,
But this shaft Is also connected to an electric
npfo nd hy fba cff,pa 49,,
operated electrically. Two other electrical units
are situated in this compartment for rudder
troll and If all steering methods fail. Jury" rud
der may be rigged off the stern.
Going forward along the bottom of the ship we
presently to the propeller shnfts-four in
number-cach operating immense propeller
These shafts extend from the motors which oper
nte them back through the ship and out al the
stern, through what are known respectively us the
starbourd outboard shaft alley, stnrboard inboard.
port inboard and port outboard alleys. Following
forward along the inboard shaft go through
several wnter-tght compartments. drop
down hatchway and find ourselves in the pro-
pelling motor room. This is the section of the
ship which actunly drives the propellers
The tremendous motor which meets our gaze
gives I'm inkling of the power necessary to make
fh. big shafts revove.
This stands II feet high from the door
aud is II feet wide II generates 1000 horsepower
Like the rest, II is nclosed in a water-tight
pnttnent protected Dy DulkneuuS. anu III anything
should happen to it. the current may be cut off
once and directed to the operation of the other
three propeiiers.
To how the motor Is controlled. reversed
started, stopped, etc, follow the wire cables
further forward. still almost on the bottom of the
ship until come what the engineers call the
center engine Here spread out before
lies switchboard containing levers, dials tele
phones Indicators, and instruments for measur
ing electrical currents. II Is the main control
station OF the ship containing the arteries
through which courses the life blood of the
sci the electrical current. In fact. II is often
called the heart of the vessel.
Here In this compartment the electrical current
is received. measured and passed ON to the motors
which we have just left. From this station the
propeliers may be made reverse. to go at
full speed ahead; two propelIers may be reversed
while the other two driven ahead. Here also
any combination of control may be made up The
Hexlbty of control made possible. by this
traI control station constitutes of the advan-
lages of the system of electric drive. The captain
of the ship communicates directly to this station
and gives Instructions concerning the control of
the vessel.
Iinvng how the ship Is propelled. and con-
fr,,iad we naturally curious to the source
from which the tremendous energy comes. The
cuaIes from the switchboard lead forward into