The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1920-02-26

orally recognized that the navy de-
partment has decided to equip all OF
eA Its new capital ships with electric
-A6A propulsion apparatus.
The New Mexico is most impress
sive nghting machine. She was built at the Brook
lyn navy yard and launched in the summer of 1917
she is ga feet over ALL She weighs (dlspaces)
oS'ooo TONS she draws 30 feet of water. She has
W rect AZ inches beam at the waterline At full
speed she can make slightly in excess of 81 knots
an hour. She generates 2S000 horsepower for
propulsion Her crew numbers nearly 200 men,
she burns oil instead of coal as fuel and has a
totai fuel capacity of about 100000 gallons
ns not an easy thing nowadays to get permls
sion TO examine battleship from stem to stern
ana 10 take photographs of her interior But rep
resentatives of one of the big concerns which
had hand In making the New Mexico what she
is was recently allowed the privilege which has
Deeh exceedingly rare since the beginning of the
great war. The following account of an inspec-
uoh OF the superdreadnaught at drydock in the
Brooklyn navy yard is the result
Lieut.. Com. p l.. Carroll chief engineer turns
us over to one of the junior engineers We start
with the navigating bridge and examine the varj.
Gus pieces of apparatus for transmitting signals
10 the engine room for the control of the ves-
sei' ana 10 half dozen other parts Of the shin,
cach or which has a particular and important
iuhcuon 10 perform. Next we begin a systematic
survey of the ship, and to begin as far down into
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 ma ourselves at last on the very bottom of
the ship. directly behind the rudder. ccnpIi
Gated mass of machinery. pistons, rods valves
dias ana electric motors, combine to make up
the steering gear engine. This machinery is oper-
ated and controlled directly from the navigating
bridge by control device. This Is only one of
nve dinerent methods of steering the ship In n
,watertght compartment directly aft is what is
known as the auxiliary steering gear And here
We see four large wheels connected to a 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 an electric
motor and by the simple turn of a switch can be
operated electrically. Two other electrical units
are situated in this compartment for rudder con.
troll and If all steering methods fall a "jury" rud-
der may be rigged off the stern.
Going forward along the bottom of the ship we
come presently TO the propeller shafts-four in
number-each 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
starboard outboard shaft alley, starboard nboard.
port inboard and port outboard alleys. Following
forward along the inboard shaft we go through
several more water-tight compartments drop
down a hatchway and find ourselves in the pro-
pellng motor room This is the section of the
ship which actually drives the propellers
The tremendous motor which meets our gaze
gives an nkling OF the power necessary to make
the big shafts revolve.
This motor stands IL feet high from the floor
and is II feet wide 1t generates 1000 horsepower
Like the rest, It is inclosed in n watertight COM
partment, protected by bukheads, and If anything
should happen to 1t, the current may be cut Off
at once and directed to the operation of the other
three propellers.
To see how the motor Is controlled reversed,
started, stopped etc. follow the wire cables
further forward, still almost the bottom of the
ship until we come to what the engineers call the
center 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 1t is often
called the nefrt 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
propeers may be made to reverse, to 60 at
full speed ahead; two propellers may be reversed
while the other two are driven ahead. Here also
any combination of control may be made up The
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-
trolled we are naturally curious to the source
from which the tremendous energy comes The
cables frsn the switchboard lead us forward into