Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-02-09

giant alrplane carriers, Tn
U. 3. 3. Lexington and u. 8.
- Saratoga, are unique anon
the vessels of the world.
Within the hulls of each o
these sea monsters are generator
of electricity SUFFICIENT to suppl,
all the electrical needs of a largl
city. This was demonstrated re-
Gently when one of the carrier
supplied current for one Of thu
largest West Coast cities when TIT
hydraulic supply failed because o.
dry weather.
Net only do these carriers carry
the electrical powerhouses of 3
great city but each Of them also
has a water pumping system
aboard capable of supplying the
needs of a city of 100000 per
sons. These pumps, handling
fresh and salt water for the vari.
Gus needs Of the ship, can deliver
21,363. 500 gallons of water ar
hour
When you picture the entire
electrical and pumping systems oi
a great city as merely parts of 9
ship capable Of sustained speed:
Of nearly 40 miles per hour, a;
landSmen estimate speeds, yoU
begin to get some conception OF
what these great ships mean tc
the marine engineer.
Floating Airports.
The carriers are floating air
ports, each Of them capable of &C.
commodating all the airplane
trafi1c Of a large metropolitan
airport. They can handle the
taking-of or landing of airplanes
at a rate of better than one PEI
minute. The two carriers now
are carrying complete squadrons
of bombardment, scout and
fighter planes, totaling LA planes
for the two ships.
Each of the ships contains re-
pairs and machine shops, fabric
paint and dope rooms in which all
Of the steps in the manufacture
of airplaneS may be duplicated
Any type of overhaul work, in
Guiding major repairs, on any of
the aircraft carried aboard may
be done beneath the great flying
deck nearly 900 feet long.
The Lexington and Saratoga
probably will stand as the only
ships of their class in the Navy
Future airplane carriers are to be
smaller, though equally complete.
The Lexington and Saratoga were
not designed originally to be air.
plane carriers but were laid down
and partially built as battle
cruisers. Ordered scrapped under
the terms of the first limitation
Of ornaments treaty, they were
converted into carriers.
Each of the ships weighs $4,000
tons but despite their enormous
weight and size, travel faster
than any capital ship ever built.
The Lexington, en- route from
San Pedro, Calf, to Honolulu
Hawaiian Islands, established five
world records on the single run.
On the first day out of San Pedro
she steamed 700 miles, breaking
all previous records for distance
steamed in "a hours. On the Sec
ond day she covered 742 nautical
miles. The remaining distance to
Honolulu, 1876 miles, was steamed
in "a hours "a minutes. -
Breaks Record Three Times.
On three consecutive days the
Lexington thus broke three times
the world record for distance
steamed in "a hours. She sat a
new world record for time be-
tween the United States and
Hawaii of ~ hours "a minutes
for q 900 ,ao,,%iooI 49, la~ IT. = 1ooCk
previous record was that of the
light cruiser, u. S. s. Omaha, in
1928, OF rs hours and 40 minutes.
In order that the flying deck
may be kept clear, the ships fun
mel, gun turretS, control tower,
mast and other superstructure
are built on one side. Each ship
carries five 5-inch anti-aircraft
guns and eight S-inch guns, the
latter in four turretS.
The electrical installation Is the
largest ever made aboard a ship.
Each carrier has four $4,000
kilowatt turbine generator sets.
Power is delivered to four propel-
lers by eight motors of 22,500-
horsepower, connected in pairs.
This 10000 horsepower installa-
ton is greater than the combined
power of the six electrically driven
battleships New Mexico, Cali
fornia, Tennessee, Maryland, Colo
RADIO and West Virginia.
Fresh water is supplied by dis
tillation Of sea water, the great
plant having capacity of 164, 900
gallons per day. The water
pumps, handling in excess Of
21,000,000 gallons an hour, handle
salt water. fresh water, boiler
feed, fire main supply, sanitary
system supply and a supply for
the hydraulic gasoline storage
system.
To those who have not con-
sidered the type of gasoline stor-
age equipment required for a car
rier such as the Lexington and
Saratoga, a description of the sys-
tenn may come as a surprise.
IA Storage Tanks.
The fueling system for the air
planes and ships boats is an
amazing piece of modern engi-
neering. There are IA storage
tanks, each having a capacity of
from $4,000 to 10000 gallons, built
as an integral part of the Shin's