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'18 MARINE REVIEW AND MARINE RECORD. SCOTCH LETTER. Exports of Iron and Steel to America--Description of Latest Type of British Cruisers--World's Fastest Torpedo Boats--Another Big White Star Liner. Glasgow, Sept. 15--Some further large orders for pig iron and steel structural material have been received from America. All three lines of steamers trading between Glasgow and the United States--the Anchor, the Allan-State and the Donaldson-- are bung-full of goods (including both crude and finished iron and steel) every trip to New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Baltimore and Newport News. It is not only Scotch products that are being shipped from the Clyde, but also quantities of goods tran- shipped here from the north of England. Not a week passes, too, but a charter of one or two or three steamers is reported to carry full cargoes of pig iron from east or west coast to the states, besides what the liners are ramming in as fast as they can. It is long since there was so much bustle in the transatlantic trade. But ocean freights are dismally low. The launch of the new cruiser, which was being prepared at time of dispatch of my last letter, had to be postponed in conse- quence of a severe storm and flooding of the river but was suc- cessfully effected later by the Fairfield Ship Building & Engineer- ing Co., Ltd. 'The Donegal is the second of the first-class cruisers of the County class which they have built for the British navy. The first was the Bedford, launched a year ago. The other vessels of this class building or being completed in Clyde yards are the Monmouth, by the London & Glasgow Ship Building Co., the Cumberland, now on the docks at that company's yard, andthe Berwick, which William Beardmore & Co. are building. The Bedford and the Monmouth were supplementary vessels to the naval program of 1899, and the contracts were placed in April of that year. In October, 1900, other four were placed--the Donegal, the Cumberland, the Berwick and the fourth at Els- wick. -The Donegal is the first of these four to be launched, and she was, when launched, much more complete than vessels of this class usually are at that stage. The following are the Donegal's dimensions: Length between perpendiculars, 440 ft.; breadth, molded, 66 ft. 2 in.; displacement at load draught, 9,800 tons; engine power, 22,000 I. H. P.; boiler pressure, 300 Ibs.; speed, 23 knots; normal coal capacity, 800 tons. This vessel has side protection extending for a length of 350 ft. from the stem to the armor bulkhead, which is 3 in. thick. The side armor is of specially hardened steel of three thick- nesses--4% in., 3 in. and 2 in.--the 41%-in. armor extending from the armor bulkhead forward for a distance of about 240 ft., and the 3-in. armor for a distance of about 4o ft. Between this and the stem there is 2-in. nickel steel armor. 'The protective deck proper extends from stem to stern, and ranges in thickness from 34 in. within the range of side armor to 2 in. outside. 'This deck is at the lower edge of the armor, and protects the vitals _of the ship. Another deck, 1% in. to 1 in. in thickness, forms a crewn over the side armor and armor bulkhead, etc. 'The armor has been supplied by Cammell & Co, Sheffield. The general _construction is similar to that usually adopted in the service, the vessel being extensively subdivided into numerous water- tight compartments. 'The coal bunkers range along the sides of the machinery compartments, both below and above the lower deck, and are provided with the usual fittings for rapidly handling and distributing the coals. The vessel's normal coal capacity is about 800 tons, but this can be doubled if necessary, ample space being allotted for this essential requirement. The armament of the Donegal consists of two twin 6-in. guns - in barbettes, one forward and one aft, enclosed in gun-house with specially armored inclined shields. These guns are served through armored trunks from the magazines and shell rooms. The barbette walls are 4 in. thick and well supported by the general structure. Four 6-in. guns in casemates on the upper deck and four 6-in. guns in casemates on the main deck forward and aft, together with the twin guns, give fore-and-aft fire at a high range. Two 6-in. guns in midship casemates on the main deck secure a heavy broadside fire. ,The fronts of the casemates -are 4 in. thick of hard steel, with the rear plates 2 in. in thick- ness. Eight 12-pounder 12-cwt. guns and two 12-pounder 8-cwt. field and boat guns are distributed at suitable positions, with an auxiliary armament of three 3-pounders and eight Maxim guns. At the fore end of the vessel is a steel conning tower _-1o in. in thickness, with a communicating tube to protect the _ gear for controlling operations throughout the ship. The nay- igating bridge is forward. The propelling machinery consists of two sets of triple- expansion engines, fitted in two water-tight compartments, each _ set having four inverted cylinders working on four cranks. Each high-pressure cylinder is 37 in. diameter, cach intermediate 60 in. and each of the low pressure cylinders 69 in. diameter, all adapted for a stroke of 3 ft. 6 in. The high-pressure and inter- --mediate-pressure cylinders are each fitted with a piston valve, and each low-pressure cylinder with a double-ported slide-valve with a relieving ring at the back. All the valves are worked by double eccentric and link motion gear. The reversing is effected by _ means of a double-cylinder steam engine, with gear of the all- round type, hand gear also being fitted. The crank thrust and pro- _ peller shafting is of hollow forged steel. Each of the propellers has a boss of gun metal fitted with three adjustable blades of [Sept. 2s, manganese bronze. 'The main condensers are placed at the back of the engines, and are of cast brass, of oval form, fitted with brass tubes, the condensing water being supplied by four centri- fugal pumps of gun-metal, each fitted with an independent engine. The feed, bilge and hot-well engines are all independent and sep- arate from the main engines, steam for these and other auxiliary machinery being supplied by a special range of steam pipes. The auxiliary exhaust steam will be arranged to discharge to the auxiliary condensers. The atmosphere and the low-pressure re- ceivers will also be utilized for working the evaporators. There are two auxiliary condensers, each fitted with a circulating pump and a small air pump. 'The vessel will be fitted with a complete distilling plant to supply fresh water to the boilers and for drink- ing purposes; four sets of engines and dynamos for producing the necessary current for electric lighting; two double-cylinder direct acting engines, with the necessary gear for steering purposes; two complete sets of air-compressing engines and pumps, with the necesary air reservoirs and columns for charging torpedoes; and one ice-making machine of the cold-air type, including ice- forming chamber and a pump for circulating water in the air cooler. Steam for the Donegal will be supplied by an installation of thirty-one watertube boilers and economizers, all of the latest Belleville type. 'The boilers are arranged in three groups, each group fitted in a water-tight compartment. | They are designed to work at a pressure of 300 Ibs. Air-pumping engines are fitted in each boiler room to supply air to the furnaces and combustion chambers, and the necessary air for the stokehold ventilation will be supplied by large fans. Fans will also be fitted for the engine room and ship ventilation. The vessel on trial is to develop 22,000 I. H. P. and a speed of fully 23 knots is expected to be obtained. : The Donegal is the latest in that linc of consecutive building begun in 1895, and she is the Fairfield company's twenty-first contract within the same period. She is a sister ship to the Bed- ford, which recently passed successfully through all her admiralty trials within less than a week, and she is by far the most com- plete vessel ever launched from the stocks for the British navy. Tn addition to the Donegal, the Fairfield company has six admir- alty contracts on hand, one of them being the battleship Com- monwealth. RAPID WORK ON A FRENCH IRONCLAD. The ironclad Republique, said to be the largest and most powerful vessel yet built for the French navy, which was a few days ago launched at Brest, is the first of six big ironclads which were provided for in the French naval program of 1900. 'This vessel has been on the stocks less than a year, the work having been actually commenced on Dec. 2, 1901, and the dock yard people are very proud of this performance. The program of constructions for 1900 is remarkable for the increased tonnage of the ironclads it provided for. The longest French ironclad is the Suffren of 12,730 tons, whilst the displacement of the Repub- lique is 14,865 tons. 'This vessel is 133.80 meters long and 24.25 meters beam, with 8.38 meters draught. She will be fitted with three sets of triple-expansion engines, which will be placed in three separate engine rooms, and will develop 17,500 H. P., capable of propelling the vessel at a speed of 18 knots an hour. Steam will be supplied from eighteen groups of boilers. The Re- publique is to be heavily armed, and will have numerous quick- firing guns in addition to five torpedo tubes. The torpedo-boat destroyer Mode, built on the Thames for the Swedish government, is the fastest destroyer yet fitted with reciprocating engines. She certainly excels any of the British vessels, for on her official trial she steamed for three hours at a speed of 32.4 knots, when she had'35 tons of coal on board. 'The fastest vessel we have is the Albatross, which steamed 31.55 knots, although the Arab and Express both exceeded 31 knots. Japan has twelve, all British built, which range from 31 to 31.6 knots; Germany has a couple of British-built 31-knot destroyers, and France has several French torpedo boats of 30 to 31.41 knots speed. 'This practically exhausts the list of vessels over 31 knots. Of destroyers of 30 knots and over we have built, or are building, seventy-nine. Japan has twenty-four, Italy and Russia have each twelve, France has eleven, the United States nine, Chile six, Germany three, Spain two and Sweden one. The Mode is slightly longer than most of the 30-knot boats and is of greater total dis- placement--4o0o0 tons when carrying 95 tons--but her speed of 32.4 knots was attained when running with 35 tons, the usual condition with British vessels. 'The Mode is 220 ft. long, has a beam of 20 ft. 6 in. and at full load draws 8 ft. 9 in. of water. She has two sets of triple-expansion engines, designed to develop 6,000 I. H. P. when making 31 knots, which was the guaranteed rate. She carries pretty much the same armament as our own vessels--a 12-pounder and five 6-pounder guns--and on her deck are two tubes for launching torpedoes. THE LIMIT IN OCEAN LINERS. Rumors have been current of the projected building of three or four ocean giants of 800 ft. in length for the Atlantic trade, but they are without foundation. They probably had their origin in the fact that Harland & Wolff are already engaged over an- other White Star Line leviathan, which has been on the stocks for some time. She is in the berth formerly occupied by the Celtic, and her stern forging was floated on a flat a day or two before the Cedric was launched. 'This vessel's keel has been