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-- we ask Ov Ue ----------------------------------------SS NEW BATTLESHIPS: AND:ARMORED CRUISERS. Bids. will shortly: be opened' by the navy department for the construction of: the battleship: New Hampshire and. the armored cruisers Montana and North Carolina. It is in- tended to make the New. Hampshire the greatest battleship in. the navy; The hull of the battleship is to be protected at the water line by a complete belt of armor g ft. 3 in. wide, having a uniform thickness of 9 in. amidships, gradually de creasing to 4 in. at the stem and stern, There will be a complete protective deck extending from stem to stern, the deck being flat amidships but sloping at the middle through- out-and sloping at.each end. The main battery will consist of four 12-in. breech-loading: rifles, eight 8-in. breech-loading rifles, twelve. 7-in. breech-loading. rifles and four submerged torpedo tubes. Her secondary battery; will.consist. of twenty 3-ins I4-pounder rapid-firing guns, twelve 3-pounder semi- automatic guns, two 3-in. field pieces, two machine guns hav- ing a: caliber of .30-and two automatic guns also having a caliber. of .30: The following description of the machinery of the armored cruisers North Carolina and Montana and the battleship New Hampshire were furnished. to. the Review by Rear Admiral Charles. W. Rae, chief of the bureau of steam engineering: The propelling engines. of the armored cruisers will be right and left, placed in watertight. compartments. and 'sep- arated by a middle:line bulkhead. The.engines will be of the vertical, inverted-cylinder, direct-acting, triple-expansion type, each with a high-pressure cylinder 38% in., an intermediate pressure cylinder 63% in., and two low-pressure cylinders 74 in. in) diameter, the stroke ofall pistons being 48 in. The in- dicated horse power of propelling engines will be 23,000 when making about 120 revolutions per minute, and with a steam pressure of 250 lbs. at' the high-pressure: cylinder. The order of the cylinders, beginning' forward, will be forward low-pressure, high-pressure, intermediate-pressure, and after low-pressure. The forward low-pressure and high- pressure cranks will be opposite; also the intermediate and after low-pressure cranks, the second pair being at right angles ' with the first. The sequence of cranks will then be: High- pressure, intermediate-pressure, forward low-pressure, and after low-pressure. It'is understood that any other arrange- ment of cylinders, sequence of cranks, balancing of reciprocat- ing parts, or any method of reducing vibration will be taken into consideration bythe bureau. of steam engineering and be given proper weight, as will also any arrangement or device in the main or auxiliary machinery tending,to the economy of steam. - The main valves will be worked by: Stephenson link mo- tions with double bar links. There will be one piston valve to the high-pressure cylinder and two each for the inter- mediate. and low-pressure cylinders: The: framing of the engines-will consist of forged-steel columns trussed by forged- steel stays. The engine bed-plates will be of cast steel, sup- ported' on keelson plates. All' cranks, line, and propeller shafting will be hollow. The shafts, piston rods, connecting rods, and working parts generally will be of forged steel. Each main condenser (two in number) will have a cooling surface of about 14,400 sq. ft., measured on the outsidé-of the tubes, with water passing through the tubes. The main: cir- culating pumps will' be of the centrifugal type, one for each condenser. The air pumps will be independent of the vertical; double-acting type. There will be sixteen boilers of the: water-tube: type, placed in eight watertight compartments. The total grate surface will be about 1,590 sq. ft; and the heating surface at least 68,000: sq. ft. The forced: draft system will consist:of- blowers discharging into air-tight fire rooms; there being two: blowers in each boiler compartment. There will be four smoke pipes. The propelling engines of the battleship. New Hampshire will be right and left, placed in watertight compartments and | we © VN OE ee we separated by: a middle line bulkhead. The engines will be of the vertical, inverted-cylinder, direct-acting, triple-expansion type, each with a high-pressure cylinder 32% in., an inter- mediate-pressure cylinder 53 in., and two low-pressure cylin- ders 6t in. in diameter, the stroke of all pistons being 48 in. The indicated horse power of propelling engines will be 16,500 when making about 120 revolutions per minute, and with a steam pressure of 250, pounds at the high-pressure cylinder. The order of cylinders, sequence of cranks, number of main valves, framing, etc., is to be similar in design to the engines of the North Carolina and Montana. There will be two condensers each with a cooling surface of about 10,375 sq. ft, measured om the outside of the tubes the water pass- ing through the tubes. The circulating and air pumps are independent, of suitable size, and similar in design to those for the North Carolina. There will be twelve water-tube boilers, placed in six watertight compartments, with three smoke pipes. The total grate surface is to be 1,100 sq. ft., and the heating surface at least- 46,750: sq. ft. Provision is to be made for. forced draft by blowers discharging into air-tight fire rooms, there being two blowers in each boiler compartment. EXPLOSION ON AN OIL-BURNING STEAMER. Notwithstanding. the use of oil as.a fuel is becoming very generally adopted on many Pacific coast and Oriental steamers, both .Jarge and small, yet but one very destructive disaster is to be recorded. Reference is made to the fearful explosion of the large oil tank on board the steamship Progress.: This shocking disaster occurred at the Fulton Iron Works at San Francisco, Cal., more than' a year ago: At the time of the explosion; the Progress was undergoing some temporary. re- pairs. preparatory to making a long voyage. This explo- sion caused the death of several, the wounding of a number, and the almost entire destruction of the vessel. Just how and why the dreadful accident occurred will always remain more or less problematical. Since the loss of the Progress, unusual caution has been observed by the public officials and the officers in command of all oil-fuel steamers om the coast to prevent a repetition of such a marine horror. However, the second disaster: to record has just occurred at the port of Portland, Ore. This explosion took place on board the coasting steamer Geo. W. Loomis, and as a result W. N. Phelan, the second engineer, was fatally burned, and mé@st of the woodwork of the vessel totally destroyed. The Loomis is an oil-burner; and the feed pipe leading from the tanks suddenly sprang a leak» near the fire box, causing an explosion. The: fact that the vessel is constructed of steel prevented her complete destruction by flames. The steamer, which is comparatively new, was built at the Union Iron Works of San Francisco. She is about 200 ft' long, 28°ft. beam; and 17 ft. hold; has 691 gross and 402 net tonnage. The tank is amidships and is divided into six compartments by a fore and aft bulkhead and two transverse bulkheads. At the ends of the tanks are cofferdams 4 ft. wide running from top to bottom to prevent gas from escaping and reaching the rest'of the vessel. The tanks will hold 6,000 barrels of oil, and can be filled or emptied in eight hours. The Loomis has triple-expansion engines which are capable of developing 400 H. P. and an average speed of nine knots per hour. She also has the Howden system of forced draft. Almost the entire upper works of the vessel were destroyed. The causes of the accident are to be rigidly investigated by a marine court of inquiry, and the responsibility fixed. This disaster will cause greater vigilance than ever to be enforced on all oil-burners. The Loomis has long plied coastwise be- tween San: Francisco and northern ports. She will be re- paired at once.