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18 MARINE REVIEW. [November 7, WASTAGE OF THE NAVIES. STORMS DO INFINITELY MORE DAMAGE TO THEM THAN WARS--A LONG LIST OF DISASTERS. That war vessels are not exempt from destruction by the elements any more than are the rank and file of the merchant marine is proved by the large number of disasters that have overtaken them at comparatively short intervals. The frequency of disasters recently to torpedo boats has caused discussion among naval experts as to the advisability of continuing to add these boats to the fighting squadrons. The torpedo boat is a com- plicated, densely packed box of machinery, built as light as possible in order to obtain the highest possible speed. The hull is of steel, not more than a quarter of an inch thick, and while the frames are so constructed as to make the hull fairly rigid the frequency of accident proves that they have faults which it has not yet been possible to avoid. There is only this thin sheeting of steel between the crew and death at all times, the risks being increased by the amazing pace at which these craft cut their way through the water. One of the most serious catastrophies to this class of war weapons occurred on Sept. 18, when the torpedo boat destroyer Cobra foundered at sea, and of the seventy-nine persons on board only twelve were saved. The accident has been variously ascribed to a collision with a submerged wreck, a whale and a hidden shoal. The court of inquiry's verdict is that she "simply collapsed because she was structurally weak." The fact re- mains that she was wiped off the naval list from battle with only an ordi- nary storm. Only a few weeks later, on Oct. 10, the English torpedo boat destroyer Vulture buckled up in heavy seas while on her way from Ports- mouth to Portland, and barely escaped foundering. She, however, reached Portsmouth a couple of days later, when it was found that several of her plates were broken in. Verdict--"Structurally weak." "Britannia rules the waves' has been a maxim hallowed by time, if not by record of accidents; for England has been less exempt from loss of her ships by the elements than any other nation--very likely in the percentage as well as in the number itself. In the eighteenth century she was especially unfortunate. In October, 1770, fourteen of her warships (one of the 74-gun class, two of the 64-gun class, one of forty-four guns and the others ranging from fourteen to thirty-two guns each) were caught and destroyed in a terrible tempest in the West Indies. It was the greatest disaster that England had ever experienced in her naval fleets, an entire fleet being struck off her naval list at "one fell swoop." There were several vessels lost to the English navy before the nine- teenth century began, one of the worst losses being 'that of the 68-gun frigate Ardent, which was blown up off Corsica in April, 1794, and all hands (about five hundred) were lost. Among the most important dis- asters to the British navy at different times since then have been the following: The Queen Charlotte, a frigate of 110 guns, was destroyed by fire off Leghorn on March 18, 1800, and of the crew of 859, 663 were lost. The Invincible, a frigate of seventy-four guns, was wrecked off the coast near Yarmouth on Match 16, 1801, and of the crew of 590 more than 400 perished. ~ pig ees The Venerable, another 74-gun frigate, was wrecked at Roundem Head on November 24, 1804. The Maria was one of a large number of the 10-gun brigs that were lost from time to time, not a soul being saved. She foundered at sea in 1807, and no one survived. These 10-gun brigs were built during the war between England and France, much after the manner of the 90-day gun- boats of the American navy, and were almost all unfit for sea. A large number of thém foundered in ordinary stormy weather, involving a terrible loss of life. From their tendency to turn bottom upward they were called turtles, hence the term "turning turtle" in the marine vocabulary. The Martin seems to have been an unlucky name for Britain's navy, for three of them--of sixteen, eighteen and twenty guns, respectively-- foundered; one in 1800, another in 1806 and the third in 1826, not a soul being saved. The fatality which followed the 10-gun brigs also seems to have attended the sixteen and eighteen gun, sloops, judging from the fatality list of England. The 64-gun frigate Atheneum was wrecked near Cape Bon on Oct. 20, 1806, and 350 lives were lost. The Java, a 32-gun vessel, foundered off the island of Rodriguez, In- dian ocean, in February, 1807, and not a soul was saved. The Magicienne, a 36-gun vessel, was wrecked in an engagement with the French off Mauritius on Aug. 23, 1810. The 74-gun frigate Minotaur was wrecked off the mouth of the Texel, Dec. 22, 1810, and of a crew of 640 more than 400 were lost. On the coast of Jutland, on Dec. 24, 1811, the 98-gun frigate St. George and two 74-gun frigates--the Defence and the Hero--foundered in a tempest. Of the total number of people on the three ships (about 1,800), not twenty were saved. The frigate Atlanta was wrecked on Sambro Island on Nov. 10, 1813. The Delight, a 16-gun brig, foundered in a hurricane near Mauritius on Feb. 23, 1824, and not a soul of the crew of seventy-five was saved. The frigate Avenger was wrecked in the Mediterranean on Dec. 20, 1847; and only four of the crew of nearly 300 escaped drowning. The Raleigh, a 50-gun ship, was wrecked on the southeast coast of Macao on April 14, 1857. One of the most mysterious disasters of the British navy was the loss of the turreted ironclad Captain. She was capsized and foundered off Cape Finisterre, Spain, on Sept. 7, 1870, and only seventeen escaped of nearly 500 on board. On Sept. 1, 1875, the cruiser Vanguard was run into and sunk by the ironclad Iron Duke Less than a year afterward, on July 14, 1876, one of the boilers of the battleship Thunderer exploded, when forty-five of the crew were killed outright and about fifty were more or less injured. The same vessel ex- ploded one of her 38-ton guns on Feb. 12, 1880, when ten of the crew were killed and forty or more wounded. On March 24, 1878, the training ship Eurydice foundered in a gale off the Isle of Wight, when 300 lives were lost. On March 6, 1889, the ironclad Sultan was wrecked by running ashore on the Maltese group. | _ One of the most remarkable and almost unaccountable disasters in the British navy was that of the battleship Victoria, which was sunk by col- lision with the battleship Camperdown on June 22, 1898. Of the people on board there were nearly 400 lost, including Admiral Tryon. There have been disasters in other navies as well, but not so large a proportion as in the British navy. The United States navy has not been exempt by any means, but while there has been more or less criticism of American naval officers, and some have suffered the penalties of the court martial, there has been a smaller percentage of losses than in the English service. "What's in a name?" is an old and familiar maxim; but there is a good deal, in the opinion of many naval men, to encourage superstition when one recalls the losses of some of the ships. For instance, the people of Boston felt honored when one of the first vessels to be built for the modern steel navy was named the Boston, but she was not the first. The first Boston, built in that city in 1776, was a 24-gun frigate, but she was captured at Charleston, S. C., when that city succumbed to the British during the revolution. Boston No. 2 was sunk in the battle on Lake Champlain in 1813, she being one of Arnold's flotilla. Boston No, 3 was burned in 1814 at Washington, to prevent her falling into the hands of the enemy. Boston No. 4 was lost in the West Indies in a hurricane in 1846. Boston No. 5 is still afloat, but she has met with several accidents, more or less important. The United States navy has had four Philadelphias, the first being wrecked on a reef off Tripoli in 1803; fell into the hands of the barbarians; was recaptured by Decatur, after being raised by the Algerians, and burned by him. The second and third of this name were also lost--No, 2, under Arnold, being sunk in battle in 1812 on Lake Champlain, and No. 3 was sunk by torpedoes in the civil war. The first Yorktown was wrecked on the island of Mayo, Cape de Verdes, in 1850. The first Concord, built in 1828, was wrecked in the Mozambique Channel in 1843, only three persons escaping. The loss of the double ender gunboat Wateree, in 1868, at Iquique, Peru, is well remembered by. the officers now living who. were attached to her at that time. She was lying in the harbor at the time when a tidal wave rolled in, tore her away from her anchorage, then swept her out to sea, then back again to the harbor and inland about a mile, where she lies today, being used as a sort of summer hotel. At that time nearly the whole town of Iquique was destroyed by the shock of the earthquake and the tidal wave. The disaster at Samoa in March, 1893, when the Trenton, the Nipsic and ones vessels were wrecked, is one of the interesting disasters on record. : The sloop-of-war Galena was a loss that excited no little criticism at the time she was wrecked near Gay Head Lighthouse, in good weather, tee her way from New York to the New England coast on March _ The old Kearsarge, the vessel that fought the privateer Alabama off Cherbourg, on June 19, 1864, was wrecked on Roncador Key, Gulf of Mexico, on Feb. 9, 1894. The battleship Maine, the vessel that is credited with precipitating the war with Spain, was blown up in the harbor of Havana; Cuba, on Feb: 15, 1898, and her "wet" bones still lie at the bottom-of that harbor. The Yosemite, a war vessel converted from a merchant vessel, was wrecked on a reef at Guam in November, 1900.. Five persons were lost. The cruiser Charleston, which cost the government $1,500,000, was wrered on a reef near the island of Camaguin, Philippines, on Nov. 2, The battleship Oregon barely escaped being wrecked at the time of the Boxer war in China, stranding on a reef about thirty miles northeast of Che-Foo, in June, 1900. She was afterward floated and: taken to a Japan- ese government yard, where she was repaired sufficiently to be brought to the United States. She is now at Boston. NEW DRY DOCK AT HAVANA. A new commercial floating dry dock of 5,600 tons capacity has just been completed and is now ready for business in the port of Havana, Cuba. It is owned by the Havana Dry Dock Co., Havana, and is operated in conjunction with the Havana Iron Works. Following are the general dimensions of the new dock: Length of main box, 280 ft.; width of main box, 88 ft. 2 in.; length of each outrigger outside of main box, 40 ft.; total length of dock at keel track, 360 ft.; height of main box 'at center, 11 ft. 4 in.; height of main box at-sides, 10 ft/1 in.; height from-bottom to top of keel track, 11 ft. 10 in.; height from bottom to top of keel blocks, 14 ft. height from bottom to top of air boxes .or wings; 36 ft. 11 in.; width between wings at top, 70 ft.; capacity ef dock, 5,600 tons; tonnage, weight of dock ready for operation, 2,232 tons. The dock is finely constructed, being made of steel frames and air boxes or wings with 4 in, pine deck, 4 in. pine bottom and 6 in. pine sidés. There are eighteen watertight compartments, each provided with a flood gate. There is one steel center bulkhead, 9 ft. 6 in. high, and two intermediate bulkheads and two wing bulkheads. There are thirty-six pumps, 14 in. square by 22 in. stroke, of the box type, and one horizontal steam 'engine 18x26 in. Steam is supplied by a 4-in. steam pipe from one 125 ELP. upright boiler placed on shore. The deck is lighted with electric light and work can be prosecuted at night as well as day. _The large vessels now building at the works of the Eastern Ship Building Co., New London, Conn., for the Great Northern Steamship Co., are to be equipped with very complete steam and electric laundry plants, they being the first merchant vessels ever equipped with a plant of this kind for use in general service. These laundry plants are being manufactured by the Empire Laundry Machinery Co. of Boston. Each ship is equipped with two large metallic cast iron and brass washing machines, extractors, mangles, starch kettles, Tyler ironers, electric irons soap tanks, truck tubs, wash tray sets, ironing boards, starching and iron- ing ae and large dry rooms. The installation will be first-class in every respect. The Grand Trunk railway is building a new grain elevator at Port- land, Me., to supplement the one in use there. The capacity of the new ae ie ee 1,500,000 bushels and it will be 300 ft. long, 100 ft. wide and t. high.