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"TAE Marine REVIEW made fast to the forward-deck bitts of the center pontoon with two shots of chain which had previously been detached from cables 1 and 4. An anchor-hoy-and tug was used in shifting moorings and handling cables. -On July 19, cables were slipped from the after pontoon bitts and made fast to the side-wall bitts as was done in: the case of the bow pontoon. All horizontal connection. bolts were removed and the flood valves. opened at 10:20 a. m. The pontoon began to drift out with the tide at 10:49,. and was hauled to the port side of the dock and made fast at 12 m. Cables 2 and 3 were then slipped from the tower bitts and made fast to the after center pontoon os as. for the bow pontoons. Cay, ~ | Sey ~ - f ott ' Pe L ope ee eo 0° °° ou CAeLce 2 on aa 2 oa new P STERN Ponroon CENTER PonTOooN Sinan ° capre 3 se oe 0° °° oo abe + ~CAgce ee I. io < ~ - pork * | | On July 20, the center pontoon was submerged to an aver- age draught of 33 ft. giving a little over 12 in. clearance between the bottoms of end pontoon and the blocking for a draught of 9 ft. The end pontoons were then hauled in and _centered over the keel blocks, Pumping was commenced at 12:26 p. m., the blocks were awash at 1:25, and the pumps were stopped at 1:40 with a freeboard of 18 in. the total time of pumping being 1 hour, 20 minutes. All mud valves in end pontoons were opened at 1:00 p. m., and the com- partments drained with the falling water. -_ During the next three days the pontoons were held on the blocks and the time was spent in cleaning and repaint- ing such parts of their bottoms as seemed to require it, and in arranging the blocking on the ends-for seating the center pontoon. On July 24 the mud valves of the end pontoons were closed at 8:40.a. m., the flood valves were opened at 9:15 and closed with the pontoons afloat at 10:00 a.m. The pontoons were lashed together in tandem and drawn out with the tide, being clear of the dock at 11:31 a.m. Both were then 'made fast to the starboard side of the center pon- toon. When floated, the send pontoons: had an average draught of 450 ft., making their joint displacement 3,164 tons. The 25th. of July was consumed in_arranging the blocking. and on the 26th., the work of docking the center pontoon was begun. Cables 2 and 3 were slipped and led by hawsers to side-wall bitts, the dock being held in the meantime by cables 1 and 4. At 830 a. m. the stern pontoon was sunk to sufficient depth to permit its being hauled under the. over- hangs, and at 11:40 it was in position and ready for sink-. ing to full draught. At 1:05 the flood valves were opened; and at 3:50 p. m. the pontoon had reached an average draught of thirty-one feet, the sinking being carried on very deliberately on account of the possible effect of the strong ebb tide, nearly always to be contended with at this point. After reaching this depth the pontoon was drawn under the center pontoon and centered over the blocks. The pumps were started and continued until the pontoon reached a draught of twenty-eight feet, and the center | was firmly seated. On July 27 the dock was simply heldsi in position and ob- - servations made for possible settlement.. On®July 28 the bow pontoon was drawn into position, sunk to a: draught of 31 ft., drawn under the center pontoon. and, at 2:20 p. m, pumped to a uniform draught with the stern . pontoon. Both end pontoons began pumping full speed at 2:20 p. m. and reached a freeboard of eighteen inches at 7 p. m. After holding the dock in this position for four days, the work of undocking was commenced, but, on account of bad weather, this work was discontinued and the end. pon- bo ; & 5 eliminated. i 35 toons were held. at 26 ft. draught until Aug. 2 when the stern pontoon was hauled from under the center. and con- nected in its proper position. Two more days were lost on account of the weather, and the bow pontoon was with- drawn 'and connected on August 4. No difficulty was encountered in entering. the. connection bolts, and each pontoon was sunk, hauled out, pumped to proper draught and connected in twelve hours' time. : The total working time consumed in the self-docking tests exclusive of the time spent on the blocks, is about fifteen days, and, when it is taken into consideration that this work is absolutely new, that it was necessary to proceed. with caution during the first test, and that the crew was naturally unused to its work, it would seem probable that the time for future self-dockings could easily be reduced to ten or eleven working days. Numerous devices have been exploited in the past, all claiming. more or less novel means to enable floating docks. to lift their hulls for inspection and repairs. Few of these devices appear practical, and still fewer have been actually tried on large structures. The most prominent among the self-docking types is the Clark & Stanfield mod- ification of the Rennie type, represented in this. country by the naval docks at Algiers, La. and. «at. Pensacola, Fla. The Algiers dock was successfully self-docked by her builders during the acceptance tests, and required for the operation about forty days. It succeeded in lifting the pontoons to a height of four feet and the side walls to a height of twenty-one inches above water. The Pensa- cola dock has docked her intermediate pontoons, but is only now, for the first time, attempting to lift the end sec- tions. So far as I am aware, the new Bermuda dock has never been completely docked, nor has the new naval dock at Pola, Austria, the latter being an entirely new design. The Cavite dock has, so far, proven a complete success, and the self-docking features are particularly satisfactory. In the light of experience with other self-docking types, it' would seem that, as regards the saving effected in time and labor, facility of control and simplicity of operation, the self- docking problem has been satisfactorily solved and the greatest objection to the. Hoang dock per se completely. | | td The self-docking tests were conducted by a board of which Capt. Adolph Marix was senior member, and Naval Con- structor W. G. Du Bose and Civil Engineer Leonard M. Cox, members. BIDS FOR NICKEL STEEL FORGINGS Washington, Oct. 28--The bureau of ordnance of the war department this week opened bids for one set of nickel steel forgings for the 3-inch rifle, model of ton the penpasels received 'being as follows: Crucible Steel Company. of America. ples ap per. ee Bethlehem Steel Co....... Vee ede e ee ener ees GOe per pound. Midvale - Steel: Co....:... OE Uae eas 4oc per pound. The Bethlehem and Midvale companies could néither of them promise delivery in less than seventy days, but the Crucible Steel Company offers delivery in 50 days. No award has as yet been made.. The bureau of ordnance will, 'on November 7, open bids for thirty-six sete of 31 in. forgings, and for thirty-two 3-in. field guns. - ce : La ig steam schooner Johan Polson was anita from the White Ship Yard, Everett, Wash., last week. She was 90 ft. long and will engage in the lumber trade between Portland and San Francisco. The T. S. Marvel Ship Building Co., Newburg, N. J., has purchased a plot of 1,600 ft. off the Hudson river front for the purpose of enlarging its plant.