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16 strength of the materials of the mov- ing parts in relation to their specific gravity. Consequently the best weight efficiency is l'kely to be obtained by adopting a large number of fast run- ning small engines in which case a- system of transmission such as that proposed by Mr. Mavor becomes a necessity. It, therefore, séems that we may reason*bly look forward to an early adoption of a system of electric trans- mission in combination with the tur- bine generally, and with the internal combustion engines in special cases. The former system lends itself more readily to large powers, but the lat- ter offers such advantages in fuel economy, and in warships of clear- ness of deck, that its other disadvan- tages may ultimately be either sur- mounted or accepted, and its general - adoption become a reality. BATTLESHIP MICHIGAN. LAUNCHED. The battleship Michigan, the first of all the big gun battleships of the United States navy, was launched last Satur- day at Camden, N. J. The day will be an historic one in the navy, for when the Michigan takes to the water it will mean that so far as future construction is con- cerned all of the vessels of the Amer- ican navy will be of the powerful type, now popularly known as the Dreadnought class, Miss Carol Barnes Newberry, the daughter of Assistant Secretary Newber- ty, of the navy, named the new battleship. Grouped around her were iso¥. Warner, of Michigan, "and his staff, Secretary Newberry, and every member of the Michigan delegation in congress. When completed, the Michigan, which is already half finished, will be, in ap- pearance and armament, distinctly dif- ferent from any of the battleships now flying the American flag. Her most note- worthy feature will be her four great tur- rets, out of each of which will protrude a pair of 12-in. guns of the latest and most powerful type. These turrets, which are so arranged that every one of them can be used in a broadside, either to the port or starboard, will be mounted on the axial line of the ship, one pair aft and the other pair forward of the super- structure. The turrets are placed one ahead of the other, it being necessary to 'shorten the superstructure, with the re- sult that the two funnels and the two long pole masts will be very close to each other. Forward the freeboard of the new ship will be the same as that of the Con- necticut, the flagship of the Atlantic fleet, but aft of the superstructure, for the Tae Marine REVIEW purpose of saving wee a | reduction of about 8 ft. below that of the Connecticut has been effected. Ihe elevation of the turrets is such that the rear turret, both in the forward and ait pairs can be fired directly over the top of the one in front. Another peculiarity will be the arrange ments of the ship's masts, the forward mast being on 'the starboard and the after on the port side of the Michigan. The armor belt line, which has been so much discussed recently by Reuterdah] and oth- ers, is 8 ft. wide and over 300 ft. long, the thickness amidships varying from 11 in. at the top to 9 in. at the bottom, while the armor that will protect the magazines will vary from 1 ft. at the top to 10 in. at the bottom. Above the armored belt line will be a casement protection, which will be 8 in. thick at the top and 10 in. at the bottom, which in extent and thickness has never before been approached in any American battleship. At the after end of the belt armor will be fitted athwartship armor 10 in. in thickness, while at the forward end of the belt armor will be an athwart- ship armor bulkhead the same thickness, extending clear across the ship. An ath- wartship casemate armor bulkhead will also be fitted between the shell plating and the barbettes, the berth and main decks, which will be 8 in. thick. -- _ The armor that will protect the bar- bettes will vary in thickness from 10 to 8 in., dependent on whether or not it is flanked by the sidé armor of the battle- ship. In the case of each of the four turrets the side armor will vary from 12 in. to 8 in. while the plates on top will be 10% in. thick. The turrets will be electrically controlled, while the most complete arrangement for obviating the dangers of turret explosions, flarebacks, and other accidents: which have caused so many disasters in the navy will be used to protect the men who will handle the great guns on the Michigan. When completed the Michigan will dis- place 16,000 tons, and will carry in ad- dition to her battery of eight 12-in. guns, twenty-two 3-in. guns and sixteen small rapid-fire guns. She will also be fitted with two submerged 21-in. torpedo tubes. Her engines will be of 16,000 H. P. each, and the vessel must make 18% knots an hour on her trial trip. The South Carolina, a sister ship of the Michigan, which is under construc- tion in Philadelphia, will be ready for launching in a few weeks. H. W. Hubbell & Co. dissolved partnership -in January last and sold their dredging fleet to a new corpora- tion known as the Duluth Marine Con- tracting Co. Mr. Hubbell retired from the dredging field after 32 years of activity owing to ill health. NEW DREDGERS FOR THE EAST. -- . Two very interesting dredgers have been recently constructed at the works of Messrs. Wm. Simons & Co., Ltd., Ren- frew. One of these is the hydraulic dredger Alexandra, built to the order of the secretary of state for India, for work on the waterways of, and canal construc- tion in, Bengal. This dredger is of the shallow-draught type, and is designed for opening up canals, depositing the dredged © spoil on or beyond the banks. Her di- mensions are as follows: Length, 205 ft.; depth, 19 ft.; and breadth, 40 ft. A special feature of this dredger is the pro- vision of a Robinson rotary cutter ar- ranged to work in front of the suction orifice for disintegrating clayey material to be dredged. This is attached to the frame carrying the suction pipe, which works in a well forward. The cutter will be used for hard clayey and other diffi- - cult material, other than stones or rock. It is strong enough to encounter rock without breaking, and should it come in contact with such material the engines driving it will simply stop. High-pres- sure water jets are provided for disirite- grating sand. The two centrifugal pumps in series for the jets are driven by an en- closed high-speed compound engine. The cutter is driven through bevel gearing by another compound engine. The suc- tion pump is driven by a triple-expansion engine of 900 I. H. P.; and for the de- livery of the material a 600-ft. floating pipe line, carried on circular pontoons, is provided. The vessel is fitted with two sets of triple-expansion engines, and will steam at nine miles an hour. Steam is provided by two cylindrical multi-tubular boilers, working at . 160-Ib. pressure. There is one main condenser for all the engines on board. A workshop, with forge and machine tools, is arranged on deck for carrying out repairs. The dredger is, of course, fitted out completely with all necessary auxiliaries. The other dredger, recently completed by thi8 'firm, was launched on Thursday, the 30th ult., and was built to the order of the Ran- goon port commissioners. In this ves- sel all telegraphs, gages, handles for con- trolling the propelling and pumping en- gines, bow and stern winches, and pipe hoist winch are in the operating house above the awning deck, thus enabling one man to control the entire mechanism of the. vessel, and direct all operations, whether dredging or steaming, while hav- ing also the pipe line and mooring chains under observation. The pumping plant consists of powerful centrifugal sand pumps. The wearing surfaces of the pumps are protected by renewable liners of hard steel. Each pump is driven by a set of triple-expansion surface-condensing engines. The sand pumps and their en-