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16 ye ff CR NE arranged for in the design. I have had opportunity of examin- ing the curves of power and speed prepared when the vessel was designed in comparison with the results now achieved, and I have seldom seen so close a realization of anticipations. These scouts, of which eight are being built, are, as indi- cated, new to the service, and are destined to prove most val- uable in war time. It is recognized that a fighting fleet, must surround itself with a screen of fast cruisers, in order to give warning of the approach of the enemy's squadron and to conduct reconnaissance work. The more of such cruisers there are the more effective will be the knowledge possessed by the admiral, but there is a limit to the number of armored cruisers which any nation can afford, and therefore to the radius of such screen. The new scouts will, therefore, form what might be termed a very wide fringe to a screen of ar- mored cruisers, since four may be built for practically the - same cost as one modern armored cruiser. The scouts cannot conduct reconnaissance in force; the aim will rather be to give warning of the approach or position of the enemy, leaving the piercing of the enemy's screen to the armored cruisers, which can ultimately be concentrated for such purpose. As the scouts are not intended to combat the armored cruisers of the enemy, it was decided to limit their power of attack to such euns as would defeat torpedo-boat destroyers engaged, for in- stance, cn scouting duty by the enemy. Consequently, the scouts are armed with ten'12-pounder and eight 3-pounder guns, and have two tubes on deck for firing the larger size on torpedoes. A destroyer could not, therefore, stand up against such a ship, and the scouts will always have speed to run away from a formidable enemy. Speed, therefore, is the primary requirement in these craft, and when 25 knots was suggested it was arranged that this should be maintained under adverse weather conditions. This, thtrefore, necessitated ships of good sea-keeping qualities, and the performance of the Sentinel on her series of trials has proved that this ship meets this as well as other essential con- ditions.. The Sentinel is a vessel of 340 feet in length, of 2,920 tons displacement; she has a high forecastle, to meet heavy seas, but otherwise lies low in the water, so that she will not be seen from the deck of the enemy's ship beyond eight miles radius. At the same time she has a very high bridge, higher almost than the three funnels, so that a good lookout may be kept. She is well divided by bulkheads, and the scantlings are much heavier than is usual in such high speed craft. The trials prescribed by the admiralty were that the vessel should steam for 96 hours at cruising speed, and that the rate of coal consumption on the latter half. of this run should determine the quantity of fuel to be carried when the vessel was running at full speed to enable her to travel 1,500 miles. With this allowance of coal and a load equivalent to the pre- scribed weight of ammunition, etc., the vessel was required to steam for eight hours at 25 knots speed. At the beginning of this trial the vessel had to steam six times over the measured mile within a period of one hour and a half, and the average revolutions per minute made by the machinery during this time had to be maintained for the remainder of the eight hours. This insured that the speed throughout the whole of the eight hours would be 25 knots. he builders, the Vickers Company, however, decided to adopt their usual practice in the case of all the ships of the new class constructed by them, i.e., the carrying out of a long series of experimental trials for the accumulation of the data which enable them in successive ships to excel previous achievements, and to these experimental trials brief reference may be made. They included extended runs at various speeds from 10 knots up to 25 knots. As a measure of the cost of high power, it may be said that to increase the speed from 22!4 knots to 25 knots involved the doubling of the power required for the former speed. Again, the last knot, that is to say, the advance from 24 to 25 knots, involved a quarter of the maximum power. The same pro- KR EV. wk 2 portion of power is sufficient to drive the vessel at I9 knots. These private trials over, the ship proceeded on her first off- cial test--a 96-hours' continuous run at a cruising speed of 10 to 12 knots. This was carried out under very severe weather conditions, a gale blowing for three-fourths of the time, so that the vessel was well tested so far as weather conditions were concerned, and the naval officers in charge spoke well of her behavior. The most important point of the trial had reference to the coal endurance, and it was found that the consumption per knot was practically 2 cwt. One ton was sufficient to carry the ship for 11 sea miles. This, as indicated already, determined the load of coal which had to be carried on the full power trial. After a preliminary run earlier in the week, when good results were realized, the vessel started on the crucial full- speed test. Two preliminary runs were made over the meas- ured mile, and everything being in order, the official trial be- gan at 9:40. The first procedure was to make six runs over the measured mile at Skelmorlie. The first and second runs were made at low water with a slack tide, and it is suggestive alike of the precision with which the results were taken, and of the regular working of the engines, that the difference in time between the two runs was only 6-10ths of a second. On the subsequent runs tidal influence came in, but the third and fifth runs, which were made against the tide, only differed in time by 4-1oths of a second, while the two runs with the tide were made in exactly the same time, viz., 2 min. 24.4 sec. This meant practically no variation in engine revolutions, the mean power being about 17,300, while the mean of mean speeds was 2514 knots, which is nearly equal to 30 land miles per hour.e When it is remembered that the load thus propelled is more than nine times the average weight of a train making about the same speed on rails, the significance of the performance will be appreciated. In conformity with the contract, the vessel then proceeded down the firth, the engines maintaining for a further 6)4 hours the same number of revo- lutions. During the course of the run interesting evidence was af- forded of the advance in naval architecture in 40 years by the passing two or three times of the yacht of the Khedive ot Egypt, which was coming up the Clyde. This old ship, with her high freeboard and immense paddle wheels, going at a very slow speed, offered a striking contrast to the Sentinel. The new scout also steamed round one of the armored cruisers of 16 years ago under tow of one of the "County" class of cruis-_ ers proceeding to the Holy Loch, where she will lie as an ob- solete ship until sold. This cruiser of 16 years' standing cost only about 25 per cent. more than the modern vessel, but she has a displacement tonnage of three times that of the Sentinel. In her case the proportion of power to tonnage is barely one to one, while, as we have already said, the Sentinel has 534 horse power per ton, and from other points of view has very much greater potentialities for success in naval fighting. The Sen- tinel concluded her full-power trial at 20 minutes to six, and proceeded to the tail of the bank, having been run at over 25 knots for practically 10 hours. On the way to Barrow she carried our manceuvering trials. She has shown fine qualities from the point of view of naval architecture, as well as of en- gineering. At all speeds there was a complete absence of vibration; even at full power it was easy to write on the table in the commander's room, situated immediately over the propellers. She will now be completed for commission. When in service special interest will be taken in these vessels, because they are the only warships in the navy larger than destroyers which have been designed by private firms, excepting only the Swiftsure and Triumph, built respectively by the Armstrong and Vickers companies. The admiralty laid down certain con- ditions to the various firms, and invited designs from them. The firms whose designs were accepted are, of course, those