The daily Alaska citizen., 1919-12-17
GREAT WARSHIP
 NOW PROPELLED
 BY ELECTRICITY

'Nl.l'Is''' rl.tr.- '1 "' '|'. "
 electrically-drtT[a supordreadnough.
 was added to the United States navy
 afoat November 20. when rhc Cali
 1ornia was launched at the Mare
 island navy yard here
 In the use of electricity as a means of propulsion. tbe new fighting ship follows the example -et in Hc buDa- ing Of the New Mexico and Touuo-. see
 The California is expected to cost more than $15.0oOoo0 and will carry twelve 14-inch guns Besides being electrically driven. the now warship will be electrically operated from her guns 10 her potato peeling machine
 As the great craft slid into tha water she was cheercd by Governor
 William D. Stephens. of California. his daughter Mrs Randolph I. Zane. who sponsored the war vessel and thousands of spaatators While her berth was still warm the keel of a great companion uperdreadnought. the Montana, was laid within if.
 Designed by master minds sharpen ed by the urge of war the California represents the ultimate in fighting fit ness. Bulked alongside the fretwork Of the ways where she was pulled by tugs after the launching. the great vessel showed herself to be the pm- battled floating city that she is All that has been learned in the war in regard to the fitting up oI dread
 noughts has been put in this latest addition to the American navy. The California's keel was laid Oc- tober 16 1916, but during the war the men who fabricated her turned their tools to the knocking together or other and smaller warcraft designed to fight the submarine For Two years not a riyet was driven but upon 1 the signing of the armisGco the great hull again swarmed, clanked and rang with life and il was heated beaten and turned into the mighty crau rna. Was launched today.
 In commission the California win
 have crew Of 1922 men and 5s officers, full compIrment She hats a length over all of 621 feet breadth of 96 feet and d depth of 47.2 feet Her displacement at her mean draught of 3O5 feet would be &2 O0o ! tons. She has an estimated speed of 21 knots an hour and a normal fuel capacity of 1900 tons
 It is estimated that she is fully
 thirty per cent better protected than any other vessel in the United States
 navy, not excluding the New Mexico
 Her great turbines of 2S.0oo horse
 power are the principal unit of the Calitornia's electrical system. The guns will be fired by electricity. Her
 ventilation, steering, supplying of
 power to the drive shaft, laundering, printing ice-cream freezing. cake
 making and dishwashing will be i electrically operated AIthO this
 has brot her total cost to something
 in excess Of $15,O0O,OOO. d saving in fuel is expected quickly to offset this
 cost Her hull alone cost $7,>0OO0U.
 In armament the California will rank high. Besides her twelve H.
 inch guns, she will carry four sub merged torpedo tubes. 25 twO-inch
 rapid fire guns, four six-pounders,
 two one-pOunders. four three-incn
 anti-airCratt guns one 3-inch landing
 gun and two 90 calibre machine guns.
 She will be a fitting example of the l last word" in battleship designing
 and fitting, and will be the first ship of her class to be turned out in d 1 Pacific coast shipyard.
 The award for the California was
 made at the same time the Tennes- see was contracted for. The Tennes-
 see, built in an eastern shipyaId, was
 to be a sister ship of the California, but she was launched before many of
 the improvements going into the Cali
 fornia were reduced to the efficiency | that they hold today.
 For real good coffee go to the U S Grill