The Red Cloud chief. [volume] (Red Cloud, Webster Co., Neb.) 1873-1923, 1919-10-23

VIZ |">-""N'N-"|'N HSS IHhIZZSI
~ XNClE Sans Superdreadnaught New
"a Mexico Is very much in the yes Of
MH the world these days for the special
IVY " reason that this battleship is the
kMGEA3 first Of any nation to be propelled by
S-S-s5SY electricity. Moreover, electric drive
NJ has been successful and It's fight
" Ing advantages have become SO gen
orally recognized that the navy de-
partmcnt has decided to equip all OF
r%, its new capital ships with electric
sruasJ.EsA,r-, propulsion apparatus.
The New Mexico is most impress
sve fighting machine She was built at the Brook
iyn navy yard and launched in the summer of 1917
She Is ga feet over all. She weighs ldispaccs)
$1,000 tons. She draws 80 feet of water. She has
" feet Az inches beam at the waterline. AT full
speed she can make slightly in excess of II knots
an hour. She generates 2S,000 horsepower for
propulsion Her crew numbers nearly 100 men
She burns oil instead Of coal as fuel and has u
total fuel capacity of about 100000 gallons.
It's not IN easy thing nowadays to get permits
sion To examine battleship from stem to stern
and TO take photographs Of her interior. But rep
rescntatires of one Of the big concerns which
had hand In making the New Mexico what she
Is was recently allowed the privilege-which has
been exceedingly rare since the beginning of the
great war; The following account of an nspec
ton of the superdreadnaught mt drydock I'm the
Brooklyn navy yard Is the result
Lieut.. Com. T.. L. Carroll, chief engineer, turns
us over To one of the junior engineers. We start
with the navigating bridge and examine the vari.
Gus pieces Of apparatus for transmitting signals
to the engine room for the control of the
sci, and to half dozen other parts of the ship,
each of which has Il particular and important
function to perform. Next we begin systematic
survey of the ship, and to begin far down into
the vitals of the vessel possible we are led
through circuitOus routes. down steep hatchways,
through narrow alleys, and down more ladders.
through deck after deck until we, have lost all
knowledge OF time and space.
We find ourselves at last the very bottom OF
the ship. directly behind the rudder A compli-
Gated mass of machinery. pistOns, rods. valves,
dials and electric motors combine to make up
the steering gear engine. This machinery Is oper-
ated and controlled directly from the navigating
bridge by n control device. This Is only one of
i've different methods Of steering the ship. In
~ater-tight compartment directly aft Is what is
known us the auxiliary steering gear. And here
we see four large wheels connected To II shaft
which when occasion demands. can be used to
move the rudder by hand-which takes eight men,
But this shaft Is also connected to electric
motor and by the simple turn of n switch can be
operated electrically. Two other electrical units
are situated In this compartment for rudder
troll and If all steering methods fail. Jury" rud-
der may he rugged off the stern.
Going forward along the bottom of the ship
come presently to the propeller shafts-fcur In
number-pach operating an immense propeller.
These shafts extend from the motors which oper-
ate them back through the ship and out at the
stern, through what are known respectively as the
stnrboard outboard shaft alley, starboard lnboard,
port inboard and port outbonrd alleys Following
forward along the inboard shaft go through
several more water-tight compartments, drop
down hatchway and lind ourselves in the pro-
polling motor room. This is the section of the
ship which actually drives the propellers.
The tremendous motor which meets our gaze
gives an inkling of the power necessary 10 make
the big shafts revOlve
This motor stands II feet high from the floor
and Is II feet wide. 1t generates 1000 horsepower.
Like the rest, 1t Is lncOsed I'm water-tight com
partment, protected by bulkheads, and II anything
should happen to 1t. the current may be cut Off
at and directed to the operation of the other
three propellers.
To see how the motor Is controlled, reversed
started stopped, etc.. we follow the wire cables
further forward. still almost the bottom Of the
ship until we come to what the engineers call the
ceuter engine room. Here spread out before us
lies switchboard containing levers, dials, tele
phones, indicators, and instruments for measur-
ing electrical currents. 1t 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
propelers may be made to reverse, to go at
full speed ahead; two prOpelers may be reversed
while the other two are driven ahead. Here also
any combination of control may be made up. The
nexibty of control made possible by this
trail control station constitutes one of the advan
tages 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.
Having seen how the ship Is propelled and con-
troiled, we are naturally curious to see the source
from which the tremendous energy comes The
cables from the switchboard lead Us forward into