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1902.) MARINE REVIEW. 23 ONE DAY'S WORK ON BATTLESHIP RHODE ISLAND. Since the commencement of the work of building the new ship house at the works of the Fore River Ship & Engine Co., Quincy, Mass., it has daily become more evident that this carefully-designed structure and crane service would possess many advantages as compared with previous prac- tice either in this country or abroad. Rapid work and economy are VISIT FROM THE BATTLESHIP GAULOIS. Last week the crew of the battleship Gaulois visited Washington to participate in the unveiling of the replica of the Vendome statue of Comte de Rochambeau, the compatriot of Gen. Washington during the revolu- tionary war. They presented a fine appearance as they marched past the White house and were evidently selected for size, as they did not vary half an inch in their height. Meanwhile the Gaulois remained off Annapolis. The Gaulois is one of the last and most powerful ships of the French navy. She has a displacement of 11,275 tons, a speed of 18.1 knots and carries four 12-in., ten 5.5-in. and eight 4-in. rapid-fire, sixteen 3-pounders and eighteen smaller guns, together with four tor- pedo tubes. She has a complement of 631 men. She has a lofty freeboard and her mid- ONE DAY'S WORK ON THE BATTLESHIP RHODE ISLAND. synonymous terms in ship building and the efficiency of a fixed overhead structure, upon which a number of cranes can rapidly be moved the entire length of the ships, has already been amply demonstrated by actual pro- gress on the battleships New Jersey and Rhode Island. The increase in capacity made possible by this design becomes particularly marked when compared with the single cantilever extending over two ships and sup- ported upon a tower traveling between them, for with equipment of the latter type not only is the service practically limited to a single crane for the two ships, but the weight of crane in proportion to the average load to be carried is excessive: and the power required to move this excessive crane weight along the track is evidently non-productive. The ship house at Fore River has a span of 185 ft. between columns and is 490 ft. long and within this span are being built the two. 15,000-ton battleships, each served by two electric cranes running on girders 100 ft. above the ground. While the service has but recently been placed in commission and has not been operated to its full capacity, yet the following record will indicate what may be expected in the near future when men and equipment shall have settled down to the work before them. On the morning of May 19 the only indication of the future battleship Rhode Island consisted of the flat keelson plates upon the wooden block- ing. The accompanying illustration shows the result, of the day's work, the starboard crane working nine and the port crane seven hours, prac- tically eight hours work. The weather conditions were not favorable and early in the afternoon a steady rain set in, the men, however, continuing at work. The record showed seventy-one frames set and bolted on the starboard side, forty-seven frames on the port side, ninety-eight floor plates and one vertical keel plate, a total of 217 separate pieces. The men employed on the job comprised twelve fitters and bolters up and eight ship. carpenters and riggers, a total of twenty men. The cranes were operated in advance of each other; that is, while one crane picked up a frame at the end of the ship house and took it to its place in the ship to be set and bolted up by the men, the other crane returned from its trip to the ship and was made fast to its next load. It will be noted that com- patatively few men were detailed to the job and at no time was the full capacity of the crane service even approached. The possibilities of such efficient service promises much for successful American competition in the ship building world. The American Steel & Wire Co. has just issued a little booklet devoted to their Crown rail bonds. It is tastefully bound in brown and is of con- venient size. In the introduction to the catalogue the company say: 'Fp those who investigate closely will find that our 'Crown' rail bond com- bines in the highest degree all of the essential elements of a first-class bond; viz: the very highest grade of material, superior workmanship and correct principles of construction and application. These facts form the basis of our claim that the Crown bond, as made by us, is the very best bond ever made and offered to the trade." The catalogue is filled with illustrations of the -various types of Crown bonds. John H. Dialogue & Son, Camden, N. J., launched the new tug boat John A. Hughes last week. She is of beautiful model for a steamer of her elass. She is 100 ft. long, 20% ft. beam and 12.3 ft. deep. In addition to her regular equipment there is installed a complete outfit of appliances for wrecking and aiding vessels in distress. ship section shows the "tumble-home," a sur- vival of the days of the wooden three-deckers. The protection of the hull of the Gaulois embodies some novel structural features. Im- mediately at the water line is a continuous belt, which is 6 ft. 6 in. in depth, and tapers from a maximum thickness of 1534 in. amid- ships to 3 in. at stem and stern. 'Above this belt is another which is 3 ft. in depth and 3 in, in thickness. Immediately at the top of the main belt is a 3%4-in. armored deck, and at the bottom of the belt, below the water line, is an armored deck which is 1% in. in thickness. From the top of the 3-in. belt up to the level of the main deck there is no armor protection except around the ammunition hoists leading to the 12-in. guns. The secondary battery, which is located within the superstructure amidship, is protected by 3 in. of armor, while the 12-in. guns are protected within turrets of 1534-in. armor. The obviously weak point in the armor plan is the unprotected space be- tween the main deck and the armored deck, for it would be possible for an enemy to send high-explosive shells through the sides of the vessel and explode them immediately beneath the guns of the secondary battery. The 12-in. guns, which weigh 46 tons apiece, are of a modern and powerful type, although they are not equal to the new 40-caliber 12-in. guns now building for the United States navy. They fire a 644-lb. projectile with a. muzzle velocity of 2,625 foot-seconds, and a muzzle energy of 30,750 foot-tons, the muzzle penetration being 37.3 in. of-iron. The second battery of the Gaulois consists of ten 5.5-in. rapid-fire guns, which are contained, five of them within the central citadel on the main deck, and five of them behind shields which are mounted in broadside in the open on the superstructure deck. They fire a 66-lb. projectile with a velocity of 2,625 foot-seconds, and an energy of 3,100 foot-tons. The comparative lightness of the secondary battery of the Gaulois is somewhat compensated for by a battery of eight 4-in. rapid-fire guns, which is carried on the bridges and superstructure at a height of 35 to 40 ft. above the water line. There are also sixteen 3-pounders, ten 1-pounders and eight machine guns. The Gaulois is driven by engines of 14,500 I.H.P., which gave her on her official trial a speed of 18.1 knots per hour. She can carry a maximum coal supply of 1,100 tons, and she has a complement of officers and men of 631. She has four torpedo-tube discharges, of which two are submerged. BRITISH SUBMARINES. During the last few weeks submarine No. 1, one of five submarines now being constructed by Messrs. Vickers, Sons & Maxim for the Brit- ish admiralty at a cost of £34,000 each, has been submitted to exhaustive trials at Barrow. The vessel was taken off Molney island, where she maintained a speed of 8 knots an hour, and when traveling with her turret awash the speed is considerably over that. Afterward she was submerged to the depth of 15 ft. and for 6 miles the submarine ran under these conditions. The submarine was accompanied by the Fur- ness railway's twin-screw tugboat Furness, with divers on board in case of emergency. The trials were conducted by Capt. Baron of the royal navy, and Capt. 'Cable, the celebrated submarine expert, who represents the inventors, The engineer officers and men attached to the Hazard have been instructed in the construction and mechanism of the submarine by Capt. Cable and Mr. Monell. The boat is of the improved Holland type, the patent rights of which throughout the world--except in the United States of America--have been purchased by Messrs. Vickers. The boat has a length of 63 ft. 4 in., with a diameter of 11 ft. 9 in., and a displacement of 120 tons when totally submerged. The hulls are divided internally into water-tight compartments by steel bulkheads. A 160 H. P. four-cylinder Otto gasoline engine is used for surface work. A 70 H. P. dynamo is run by the gas engine to store electricity when the boat is on the surface, and when going under, the gas engine is thrown out of gear and the dynamo is used as an electric motor, taking current from the cells it has stored, Should a torpedo be discharged from beneath the surface, trimming and ballast tanks, working automatically, compensate for the lessened dis- placement and maintain the ship in horizontal position. The submarine is capable of traveling 400 miles without exhausting the fuel supply, and to remain under water forty-eight hours at a stretch. Selected crews are to be trained this summer for the working of the new craft. 'Capt. Cable has now left for America.--Ernest Ashley in the Scientific. Amer- ican. The Portland Ship Building Co., Portland, Me., is building a new passenger propeller for use on Rangeley lake, Me. The vessel is being put up on the shores of the lake and is for the Rangeley Lake Steamboat Co. She is 80 ft. over all, 19 ft. beam and 6 ft. depth of hold.