BATTLESHIP-CRUISERS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 660, 10 November 1909, Page 7

BATTLESHIP-CRUISERS.

IMPROVED INDOMITABLES. BRITAIN STILL GOING ONE BETTER. Illy leicerjipli -I'rcin A-indiulmi -Copyrlsht I (Rec. November S, 10 45 p.m.) London, November 9. Tho Dreadnought-cruiser Lion and a Bister ship are about to , bo commenced at the Devonport yards. Each will cost two millions, which is about a quarter of a million in excess of the cost of the Indomitable tvpe. The length will bo 700 feet (the longest warship jet laid down), and tho tonnage will be 2G.350 (which is over CQOO tons in excess of the recently-launched Dread-nought-battleship Neptune), The big gun armament will be eight 12-inch, the saino as that of the Indomitable type. A speed of 28 knots is expected. [In the case of tho Dreadnought-cruiser Invincible, sister to the Indomitable, ft speed of 25 knots was laid down, but over 28 was realised. Tho Indefatigable, an improved Indomitable, is novr building, but the Lion and her sister are ono better again.] BRITAIN'S EIGHTH DREADNOUGHT. BROADSIDE OF TEN 12-INCH GUNS. Launched by the Duchess of Albany, and cheered by 30,00(1 people as she swept noiselessly dona tho eliding .vaja, Britains eighth Dreadnought, U.M.b, Neptune, took tho water lat Portsmouth on September 30. At eleven I o'clock, twenty minutes before the time iixed i for the ceremony, there was a short religious service, conducted by the ltov, A. P. Hill, 1 Chaplain pf tho Dockyard Church oi St. Anne. A portion of tno 10(th Pealm, which alludes to the peril of thoso who "go down to the eea in ships and occupy their business in great waters," was. chanted, and when prayer had been said and a hymn had been bung, the ceremony took place.

How .the Launching is Done..■" ■ '.:■ :i ■:; I Qvernight, by the tightening'; uji of the I great timber oradle ' under the : ship,! Vopden' wedges being pledge-hammered into: the in-terstices,-the weignt of the' great hixli. (7600 tons) was transferred- to' j;he well-piled ,and:tullowed eliding VYays. Then, as.the .tide. rosß un-. def' the hull tfie' keel blocks ijfere'.capsized ' with' big battering rams, syrung. with a "Heaveho! by gangs ..of 'shipwrights,; -A few, keel blocks- alone "remained when the ar-1 rivefl. j'l'he great ..hull, was;.by '.this' >tinie on the. tremble, , (uid ; the vessel, threatened' to launch herself;'6o. the ceremony 'was advanced by ten• nainutes. v>...; 1: •'.'■■•' -...■ ;,.'- Hanging over the bow was a bottle of Australian .wine, hidden among ..flowers; nThe Duchess .of Albany dashed 'thevbottle. against the. grey etenii and- as^the,-rich. red. liquid flowed.downwards she said in a loud, voice, "Success .to' the NeptjujG and all who Bail, in herl". , •;■•■''■■'■;'•■■■.■■' ■•'■ : '-."i -'V-Vv'- '■:'■■■.:'.' . -$ext her.Eoyal; 3)ghiiess, with : a boiwpod mpUet, bearing a rose,, Bhamrpok, and thistle deajgn, , hammorsd .a .chisel,. ..which, cut .the' white rope : that held heavy weights: in posi, tion over,; the dogsaores,. ' With i throbbing sound : the , dogshores collapsed, .and without the use of : a hydraulic ram .tho: Neptune,' im- ; perceptibly at first, .and- then' with- a .- rush', entered the water, which foamed around her, and .then came in a heaving \vave'over the lower end of the ehip, washing away great lumps of tallow. There was.'only • ono untoward incident. - A ; dockyard.workman fell from a platform to.the stonework of.the slip:below hipi, 'but'.foTtunatety- escaped with a severe contuslan,over.the right eye. ; : ; ': Arrangement of Gunj. | , The Neptune will beat once taken in hand for the'fitting of her 6ide : armour, and will be ready to join. the first Dreadnouglit squad-' rbn.early in; 1911. She has. 6ereral .marked improvements on previous ships, of-'her olass.. Bier 12-in. guns/are-to be. placed, in barbettes in order' that they'-may give "tea guns on either broadside, eight astern, and six-ahead. The/Dreadnought gives , eight on : the. broadside, six astern, and six ahead. This improvement is obtained by placing j the' "midBhip" barbette3-"en echelon," and the two after .barbettes on different levels, so that the sternmost:,is fired ' over; . "•■-.: ■:•;'■ v'. ~ .','■','■ Further, the superstructure is placed ..on three towers, to' make'the 'broadside of all ten guns possible, and , these will bristle with twenty'4.7-in.;.gTUis for repelling attacks by eubmajines and. torjiedoes..: Electricity/ 13 almost' entirely ■ used. ■'• Tho ship is ventilated py electrjp fans,:,and a complete.'telephone system, ■ with -. a control exchange, enables orders to be transmitted:from, one part of the ship to : the other, . ..■■'■'.■ .. . . ..; "Practically Unsinkffble" by Torpedo, . She is the first British' Dreadnought of over ?0,000 ton? 'displacement—namely, -20,250. The extra weight is-accounted for "by the clrcumstnhce that,; so frequent are armoured bulkheads in her bottom, that.she is practically unßinkable by torpedo attack, and even :at: her bow and storn she carries 4-Jnch armour, glie is 530 feet long, 86 feet beam , , will have a speed of'2l knots, derived froiii : turbines on four propellers of 25,000 horse-power, and she will carry 2500 tons of coal,-jn.addition to oil fuel. SKe is the fourth Dreadnought; launched here. ■ ■■■ "• ■ '..■.'■' : ■■''■ _ ■ ■ : - : ■ .-' .■■ This is the seventh Neptune of British naval annals.' The a • hired _ murchantman, of 21 guns, fought at Algiers in 1G21; tie third was second ship" from the Vjcfory. at Trafalgar.'aud captured: the Santisaima Trinidada; and the sixth, a most unfortunate vessel, brought from Brazil, when being towed but of harbour, on October 23, 1903, to be-broken up, ran aiiipk in the-tjdeway and h.Pled and nearly,mink Nelson's .flagship the.'Victory.