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1901.] MARINE REVIEW. : 25 THE SCHLEY COURT OF INQUIRY. The court of inquiry to investigate the conduct of Rear Admiral Schley will consist of Admiral Dewey, Rear Admiral Lewis Ashfield Kimberly, retired, and Rear Admiral Andrew Ellicot Kennedy Benham, retired. Rear Admiral Kimberly has asked to be excused, but the secre- tary of the navy has not as yet excused him. Admiral Dewey is too well known to require space for introduction, but possibly a little about the other two might not be amiss. Rear Admiral Kimberly was retired for age on April 2, 1892, and is now seventy-one years old. Rear Admiral Benham was retired on April 10, 1894, and is now sixty-nine years old. They have splendid records. Admiral Kimberly lives in West Newton, Mass., and Admiral Benham in Washington. It was Admiral Kimberly who was sent to Samoa in 1889 in command of a squadron to protect American interests. The friction between the American and German ships was very great and there was danger of a clash, but confidence was felt in Washington in Kimberly's ability to proceed diplomatically, or, if necessary to defend the honor of the flag. The great hurricane of March, 1889, relieved the situation. Both American and German ships were de- stroyed. Admiral Kimberly was born in Troy, N. Y., in 1830. In the civil war he served as executive officer of Admiral Farragut's famous flag- ship, the Hartford, and participated in many important actions, including that of Mobile bay. Admiral Dewey was a junior officer of the Hartford with Admiral Farragut at the time. In the Corean expedition Admiral Kimberly commanded the landing force that captured the Chemulpo forts. Admiral Benham is best known as the man who broke the blockade at Rio de Janeiro in the Brazilian rebellion of 1895, and not only en- abled American merchantmen to discharge their cargoes but gave the death blow to the attempt to re-establish the Portuguese monarchy in Brazil. Benham made fruitless efforts, through diplomatic means, to secure permission from the rebels, who controlled the navy of the repub- lic, for some American vessels laden with flour to discharge their cargoes at the Rio wharves. Finally he served notice on the rebel admiral, de Gama, that he intended to convoy the flour vessels to the city. The little second-class cruiser Detroit, under Commander Willard H. Brownson, . now of the battleship Alabama, started by Benham's orders to escort two American merchantmen through the blockade line. Two rebel battle- ships with shotted guns and their crews at quarters barred the way. One of them fired a shot across the bow of the Detroit and Brownson re- sponded with a shell aimed at the hull of the Brazilian and shouted over the side that he would sink her if another shot were fired. This ended the incident and the revolution. De Gama attempted to surrender to Benham, but the latter refused to regard him as an enemy. The block- ade was completely broken and the attempted restoration of the monarchy went to pieces. Admiral Benham was born in New York city in 1882, entered the navy in 1847 and two years later participated in the capture of a piratical Chinese junk near Macao, receiving a slight pike wound in the right thigh. He was lieutenant-commander in the civil war, serving prin- cipally on the blockade of the Texas coast. LAUNCH OF NEW BATTLESHIP MAINE. The new battleship Maine was launched successfully at Cramps, Philadelphia, last Saturday. A great crowd saw the battleship take her first plunge in the waters of the Delaware. The big hull was let go just as the tide slackened and she glided down the ways without a hitch. Capt. Sigsbee, who commanded the old Maine when she was blown up in Havana harbor, was present. Miss Mary Preble Anderson of Portland, Me., a descendant of Commodore Preble of the United States navy, christened the vessel. The date of the act authorizing the building of the new Maine was May 4, 1898. The contract was signed on Oct. 1 of the same year, and the first keel plates were laid on Feb. 15, 1899. Under the contract she was to have been completed on June 1 of this year, but the controversy over armor delayed her construction and an extension of time was granted. The Maine represents another step in the development of the battle- ship. In her construction the omission of wood has been carried to a greater extent than in the older ships. Whatever wood is used is fire- proof, except the Georgia pine planks on the weather deck. The princi- pal dimensions of the ship are: Length between perpendiculars, 388 {ft.; length over all, 393 ft. 10% in.; extreme breadth, 72 ft. 24% in.; mean draught, 23 ft. 6 in.; displacement, 12,300 tons; full load displacement, estimated, 13,500 tons. Her armament will consist of four 12-in. breech- loading rifles, mounted in pairs, in two Hichborn elliptical balanced tur- rets on the middle line; sixteen 6-in. rapid-fire guns, mounted in broad- sides, eight 14-pounders, eight 3-pounders and eight 1-pounders and ma- chine guns. There are two submerged torpedo tubes, the Maine class being the first of the battleships in which the tubes have been placed below the water line. Steam will be supplied by water tube boilers, the Maine class being the first of the United States battleships for which such an equipment was authorized. The Maine boilers will be of the Niclausse type. The boilers are designed to carry a working pressure of 256 lbs. to the square inch above the atmosphere. They are calculated to give 16,000 H.P. The ship will have twin screws, and her two main engines will be triple ex- pansion, of inverted vertical type. The speed of the ship will be 18 knots. Krupp armor will be used. The belt armor will extend 3% ft. below the water line and 4 ft. above. It will be 11 in. thick at the top, 7% in. at the bottom, and will extend to the bow, tapering, however, as it approaches the extremity to 4 in. The belt will extend to within 60 ft. of the stern. The casemate armor is to be 6 in. thick, the barbettes 12 in. at the front and 8 in. at the back, and the turrets 12 in. Forward the protective deck will be 2% in. thick, while aft, where there is no armor belt, it is thicker, being 4 in. on the slope and 3 in. on the flat. The Maine will be fitted as a flagship, and will have a complement of forty officers and 511 men. The Maine's boilers are already built and her engines are far advanced. Once afloat it will not take long to place all of her ponderous machinery in the hull. - The placing of the armor plate and the setting up of the battery will take more time. Unless, however, unforeseen delays should occur, next summer will see the great vessel steaming on her official trial. LAUNCH OF BATTLESHIP CORNWALLIS. Last week the first-class armored battleship Cornwallis, which com- pares with the Georgia class of American battleships, was launched at the Thames Iron Works, Ship Building & Engineering Co., Blackwall, England. The Cornwallis is one of six vessels of the Duncan class. The armor is of Krupp cemented steel, but of English make. The side pro- tection consists of a belt which extends from the stem to within 140 ft. of the stern. The belt is 14 ft. in maximum depth. It is 7 in. thick amidships, and tapers to 3 in. thick at the fore end. It has a vettical extension of 5 ft. below the water line and 9 ft. above at the designed load draught, being carried to the height of the main deck for a length of 266 ft. Between the armor deck and the belt deck there is a screen bulkhead aft, which joins the after barbette to the side armor, and abaft this we have 1% in. mild steel plating in three thicknesses. The armored deck is arranged according to the principle now adopted in ships of this class, its sides meeting the lower edges of the belt. It has sufficient curve to rise 2 ft. 6 in. above the water line amidships, and is 1 in. thick. The main deck is 2 in. thick over the citadel, thus adding to the protective features, The two barbettes are circular in plan, and are placed on the fore and aft center line. The armor on them has a maximum thickness of 11 in., and runs to a height of 3 ft. above the upper deck. There are eight watertight casemates on the main deck and four on the upper deck, all of Harveyed armor on the outside, and having armor-plating at the back to protect the guns' crews from explosive shells. The vessel is fitted with twin screws, the propelling engines being supplied by the company's works at Greenwich. They are triple-expansion engines, with four vertical cylinders, each of the collective power of 9,000 H. P., giving an aggregate of 16,000 H. P. The cylinders are 33% in., 54% in., and 63 in. in diameter, with a stroke of 4 ft., and the number of revolutions 120 per minute when developing 16,000 indicated H. P. There are two main condensers, having a cooling surface of 19,000 sq. ft. There are twenty-four Belleville boilers, having a total collective heating surface of 43,260 sq. ft., and a fire-grate surface of 1,375 sq. ft. The Cornwallis is fitted as a flagship, accommoda- tion being provided for an admiral and officers, or a total complement of 776 officers and men. The dimensions are: Length over all, 429 ft.; length between perpendiculars, 405 ft.; breadth extreme, 75 ft. 6 in.; depth, top of keel to upper deck, 43 ft. 9 in.; draught of water, mean, 26 ft. 6 in.; displacement at that draught, 14,000 tons; indicated horse-power, 16,000 tons; speed, 19 knots. The armament includes the following: Four 12-in. breech-loading guns in barbettes, twelve 6-in. quick-firing guns in case- mates; ten 12-pounder 12-cwt. quick-firing guns; six 3-pounder quick- firing guns; eight .303-in. machine Maxims; one 12-pounder, 8-cwt., for boats; one 12-pounder, 8-cwt., for field; four submerged torpedo-tubes. THE NEW CHESTER WORKS---SEABOARD SHIP YARD NOTES. A site for the new ship building plant that is to be erected at Chester has been selected. It comprises 200 acres on the Delaware river. The water has a depth of 26 ft. The Chester branch of the Philadelphia & Reading railway on one side of the property will connect it with the several large steel and iron works below. Senator William 'C. Sproul, who is one of the leading men in the new enterprise, says: "There will be nothing definite in:the way of organization until September. I will not say as yet who are associated with me in the project, but I will say thatrthe yard will be separate and distinct from every other yard in the Su) and the company will engage in the general construction of vessels. aE A four-masted wooden schooner, the Jacob M. Haskell, was launched on Thursday of this week from the yards of Cobb, Butler & Co., Rock- ' land, Me. The vessel's dimensions are: Length over all, 249 ft.; keel, : 210 ft.; beam, 43.2 ft.; depth, 24.6 ft.; gross tonnage, 1,600. There are. three full decks. The frame is of native hardwood and hackmatack, the ceilings, beams and outboard planking of yellow pine. Two of the lower decks are of yellow pine, the upper deck of native white pine. A novel feature of her construction is the absence of hanging knees. Instead she has 14-in. square shelf strakes with heavy braces which the owners claim is an improvement over old construction. She is built of the heaviest. material throughout and is well fastened. The sails, anchors and wind-. lasses are worked by steam. The vessel is equipped with patent stockless anchors made by the Baldt Anchor Works at Chester, Pa. There are two kedge anchors made by W. G. Alden of Camden. The schooner also has a Hyde engine and boiler and wrecking pump. Mr. Robert C. Morris has organized the Gulf Coast Ship Building and Dry Dock Co. with the following officers: Robert C. Morris, presi- dent; S. D. Scudder, vice president; S. B. McConnico, second vice presi- dent and secretary; and W. D. Munson, treasurer. The New York offices of the company are at No. 31 Nassau street, New York. The Pacific Ship Building Co., Marshfield, Ore., has on the stocks a four-masted wooden schooner, 186 ft. keel, 206 ft. over all, 40 ft. beam and 15 ft. depth of hold; also a steam schooner 134 ft. keel, 32 ft. beam and 10 ft. depth. The first will be launched in August and the second in September. : The Chester Shipping Co., Chester, Pa., has placed a contract with Roach's Ship Yard for the construction of a new freight steamer for service between Chester and Philadelphia. The new vessel will be 127 ft. long and 15 ft. beam and will be used in river freight service. Hall Bros., Port Blakely, Wash., have under construction a four- masted wooden schooner of 194 ft. keel, 41 ft. beam and 16 ft. 8 in. depth of hold. The company also has a contract for a five-masted schooner of 203 ft. keel, 42 ft. beam and 18 ft. depth. The schooner El Dorado was launched at Cousins & McWhinney's yard at Aberdeen, Wash., recently. The vessel is 211 it. over all, 40 ft. beam and 14 ft. depth of hold. Saunders & Kircham of San Francisco are the owners. The keel of a new lumber schooner is about to be laid at Cousin & McWhinney's. ship yard, Aberdeen, Wash. At J. Lindstrom's yard, Aberdeen, Wash., two wooden steamers and a schooner are on the stocks. 4