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ae nr? ao 8 MARINE ALABAMA CLASS OF BATTLESHIPS. FIRST OF THEM LAUNCHED AT THE WORKS OF THE CRAMPS, PHILADELPHIA--A FULL DESCRIPTION OF ONE OF OUR LATEST BIG VESSELS OF WAR, The battleship Alabama, to be launched today (18th) at the works of the Wm. Cramp & Sons Ship & Engine Building Co., Philadelphia, will be the largest battleship of the United States navy afloat, but of the same size and design as the Illinois and Wisconsin, which are being built at Newport News and San Francisco, respectively. In strength of battery, armor protection, and manceuvering power (due to moderate length), the vessels of the Alabama class compare: most favorably with the best battleships of the world. As. in all recent designs of battleships for the United States navy, a moderate speed only has been attempted in these vessels (16 knots), as it has generally been held in this country, that the high speeds aimed at by some foreign navies were not desirable in battle- ships when obtained by sacrificing other and more essential qualities. For this reason, the designed speed of our recent battleships is more than a 'knot less than that required for some new foreign designs; but it is thought that this speed is still much greater than will ever be employed in fleet tactics, or the actual operations of war; in fact, the highest speed hereto- fore adopted in fleet tactics with battleships has rarely exceeded 12 knots. Principal dimensions and other particulars of the Alabama are: _ Length on load water-line, 368 feet; length over all, 373 feet 9 inches; breadth moulded, 72 feet; breadth, extreme, 72 feet 214 inches; freeboard forward, 20 feet; freeboard aft, 13 feet 3 inches; freeboard amidships, 19 feet 10 inches; mean draught with 800 tons coal, 2-3 stores and 2-3 ammu- nition, 23 feet 6 inches; corresponding displacement, 11,520 tons; speed per hour, in knots, 16; indicated horse power, 10,000; area of midship sec- tion, 1,613 square feet; area of load water plane, 19,900 square feet; tons per inch of immersion, 47.38; moment to alter trim, one inch, 923.65; ZI oT REVIEW. coffer-dams 3 feet in width and extending to the top of armor belt ate provided, and packed with corn-pith cellulose, compressed to a density of 6 pounds per cubic foot. To provide as far as possible against the serious damage to boilers and engines, due to a raking fire from forward or aft, the opening between the flat deck and the sloping sides is, at each end of the machinery space, closed by diagonal armor bulkheads 12 inches in thickness. ; ; From the top of the thick belt, extending to the main deck, the hull is further protected by a belt of light armor a inches in thickness; this armor extends from barbette to barbette, ending in diagonal bulkheads in line with the 12-inch bulkheads below. Within the limits of this belt the broadside torpedo tubes are placed. Inboard if this 5% inch armor, and extending well forward and aft, are worked coffer-dams 3 feet in width and 3 feet high, the top of the coffer-dams being 61% feet above the load water-line. These coffer-dams are also filled with corn-pith cellulose. The side of ship between main and upper decks, and from forward barbette to a point just forward of the after turret, is protected by 5/4-inch armor, with diagonal armor terminations, the forward one being worked imme- diately over the diagonal bulkhead of the deck beneath. Within this light redoubt are placed eight of the 6-inch rapid-fire guns. Thus, the central portion of the vessel is completely enclosed by a continuous wall of armor extending from 4 feet below the load water-line to the level of the upper deck, a distance of about 23 feet, and the walls of this redoubt are in no place less than 5% inches in thickness, In addition to this very complete protection of the greater part of the 6-inch rapid-fire gun battery against the entry of smaller projectiles, the gun's crews are still further protected by 1%4-inch splinter bulkheads worked between each pair of 6-inch guns, thus minimizing the effect of exploding shells, even though they should enter the armored redoubt. The other 6-inch gun positions, on the gun deck forward and on the upper deck amidships, are protected by armor 6 inches in thickness, that on the upper deck being turned in at the ends so as to afford protection against raking fire. Za TT tr So ee ye noms PLAN OF ARMOR ON OUR LATES! BATTLESHIP, THE ALABAMA, JUST LAUNCHED AT PHILADELPHIA, wetted surface, 35,300 square feet; rudder area, 225 square feet; maximum helm angle, starboard, 35 degrees; maximum helm angle, port, 35 degrees, mean draught with all stores, provisions, and ammunition and 1,200 tons of coal on board, 24 feet 7 inches; corresponding displacement, 12,140 tons; metacentric height at 24 feet 7 inches draught, 4 feet 6 inches; range of stability at same, 65 degrees; maximum righting arm, 2 feet 6 inches; maximum righting moment, 30,350 foot-tons; angle of maximum righting arm, 30 degrees. The main propelling engines are of the vertical, inverted cylinder, direct-acting, triple expansion type and are placed in two water-tight compartments separated by a middle-line bulkhead. Particulars of en- gines are: Collective I. H. P. of propelling, air-pump and circulating- pump engines, 10,000; number of revolutions for this I. H. P., 120; diame- ter of high-pressure cylinder, 3314 inches; diameter of intermediate cylin- der, 51 inches; diameter of low-pressure cylinder, 78 inches; length of stroke, 48 inches; cooling surface of main condensers, 7,000 square feet; cooling surface of auxiliary condenser, 800 square feet. There are eight single-ended steel boilers of the horizontal-return fire-tube type, placed in four water-tight compartments. Particulars of boilers are: Length, 9 feet 114% inches; diameter, 15 feet 614 inches; working pressure (lbs. per square inch), 180; total heating surface of all boilers, 21,200 square feet; total grate soc 685 square feet; number of furnace flues, 4; diameter of flues, 39' inches. The hull of this vessel is protected against injury at the water-lineregion by heavy tapered armor of a maximum thickness of 16% inches, and ex- tending from 3 feet 6 inches above to 4feet belowthe normal load water-line. The maximum thickness is maintained for the entire length of the engine and boiler spaces. From the forward athwartship coal-bunker bulkhead the thickness is gradually reduced until it reaches 4 inches, which thickness is maintained to the bow. At the top of the belt, for the length of engine and boiler spaces, a flat protective deck 234 inches in thickness, worked in three layers, extends from side to side of the vessel, being tap-riveted to the upper edge of the side armor. Forward of the machinery space, how- ever, the protective deck is turned down or inclined to the armor shelf level. Thus, any projectile passing through the vertical armor would, even if it were not broken up or deflected in its passage, have to encounter a sloping deck 3 inches in thickness. Abaft the heavy armor belt, the pro- tective deck is worked in a similar manner to that described for the for- ward end of the ship, except that the slope plating is increased to 4 inches in thickness in order to afford greater protection to the steering gear. Where the protective deck is inclined at the sides, as above described, The conning tower is protected by armor 10 inches in thickness', being connected with a central station below the protective deck by a tube, the walls of which are 7 inches thick. In addition to the conning tower for- ward, these vessels are provided with an armored signal tower at the after end of the superstructure deck, the walls of this tower being 6 inches in thickness. In the character and arrangement of the battery of the Alabama class, decided changes have been made from the designs of former ships of this type. The 8-inch battery has been entirely abandoned, and the calibers of the heavier guns reduced to two, namely, 13-inch and 6-inch. The main battery will consist of four 13-inch guns, mounted in pairs in turrets for- ward and aft on the midship line, and protected by armor 15 inches in thickness, with port plates 17 inches thick. The ammunition hoists and revolving gear of turrets are protected by barbettes 15 inches thick, except over the arc within the diagonal armor, where the barbette is reduced to a thickness of 10 inches to save weight. The turrets are oval in shape, with the front plates slightly inclined and the rear plates vertical, in order to give ample room for the handling of the guns and their loading appliances. The center of gravity of the revolving parts is in the axis of rotation, so that the turret is balanced and can thus be turned by its engine without serious retardation, even when the ship has a heavy list. The forward turret is at the level of the forecastle deck, thre axis of the guns being 26 feet 6 inches above the normal load water-line; the after turret is on the main deck, the axis of the guns being 19 feet above the normal load water- line. Each pair of guns sweeps an arc of 135 degrees from the midship line. Three sighting hoods are provided for each turret, the one in the middle being for the turret turner, whose sole duty is to keep the guns pointed at the target, as far as their lateral direction is concerned. The hoods on each side are for the gun pointers. Between these 13-inch gun emplacements and within the armored casemate previously described, are eight 6-inch rapid-fire guns in broadside. These guns are capable of a total arc of train of 90 degrees, and are protected by 3-inch\ shields sup- ported on the carriage, and the 5%-inch armor of the casemate. Each gun is separated from its neighbor by 1%4-inch steel splinter bulkheads. Four more 6-inch rapid-fire guns--two one each side--are mounted on the upper deck, above this casemate; they are protected by 6 inches of armor, and are capable of firing fore and aft. On the gun deck forward is another pair of 6-inch guns protected by an armor plate 6 inches thick. The auxiliary battery consists of seventeen 6-pounders and six 1-pounder guns, mounted where practicable to obtain good command and yet be clear of the blast from, and interference with, with rest of the battery.