Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1919-11-14
NAVAL STATION
NEARS COMPLETION
Cost S1,500,000 and VIII
Give Employment to
1,500 Persons
s TORPEDOES A DAY
Wharf 80 Feet Where Destrcyers
Can Land and Have Torpedces
Delivered to Them

The Navy Department is putting
on the finishing touches to the big
| Naval Station located on the river
front Just north of King street for
| the making of torpedoes. The Sta
tion has two buildings of REINFORCED
concrete. One building, which is
two hundred and fifty feet long,
one hundred and fourteen feet wide,
and two stories high, is used for
storehouse, office and power plant.
The other building, which is used
as a machine shop, is two hundred
and fifty feet wide, three hundred
feet long and four stories high, The
Station when completed will ccst
Sl,500,0OO and will employ fifteen
hundred people. Captain William
S. Miller, u. S. N, Naval Inspec-
ter of Ordnance, reported for duty
vte latter part of August. 1913, and
ras been - ci:a:ce cf the .ator
"1ar since
When the station is in full opera
tion it will be possible to turn out
eight torpedoes a day. The tor
pedoes are twenty-one inches N dl-
ametcr, twenty-five feet IN length,
and are made up of three thouS-
and different parts. They require
mechanics of the highest order to
put the parts together. as scme OF
t.. pieces which n 70 make dH
,arpedo are e., smaller :.aM some
of the parts used in making
watch. Tie torpedoes are assem-
pled a:d huilt at the st?;'c". and
the *, iosives are placed :" thea;
after they have been accepted by
the government and have left the
station.
In the machine shop there are
twenty. four of the largest lath"s IN
operation for boring and turning out
TASKS. which contain the cc"inr"s-
sed air used to propel the torp2does.
Each lathe is about thirty weight feet
long, has. swing Of about twenty
four inches and weights about
twelve and one-halt tons. There,
are other lathes used N the machine
shop from +i:;s size lawn to the
smallest lathe used by ievelcr: j"
precisiol work.
Some of the parts used IL the
r,1*,rmti,n Of these tcr'.incs arc
obtained from the Nava> Torpedo
Station 1T Newport and from the
Washington Navy Yard. and as
scmbled ut the station to be made
into tornedoes. The torpcdo"s,
after they are competed. arc taken
| Ia ,he stations ranr, wn;ch is soca-
tef down the Potomaa RiTc, ABOUT
ane Hundred miles ne.,r ''"tv .olnt
and tested. The raE%. IS ten miles
Iorp and has two c'.i type Coast
torpcdo boats attached to it. to.
rether with number of gdsol"n"
l:lrches which are usc' n testing
tie torpedoes. .i.iv-' me :':t'* 'cts
70 tested in the shop ard OF the
range and accepted by the govern
ment they are then ready to he
| turocd over TO the dcstroyerS.
The station has wharf three
hundred and ten feet long, twenty
five fee. vile. with fifteen feet OF
water at mean !oW water, where the
destroyers can come along side and
! have the torpedoes delivered to
them. There are also on this wharf
/ two hand cranes fer lifting the tor
pedoes from the double track indus
trial railway used ior taking tor
nedoes from the station to dvstrcy'
ers. At the prescnr time .hcrc arc
only about cne hundred men work
ing at the station but the force vii
be increased at a rate of about
fiftv month until the necessary
number of employees IS obtained
This is only one of the many in
tcresting plants operated by th'
navy where men can acquire high
~ technical education and be fitte'
to obtain positions on the outsid
, where technical knowledge IS es
: sential.