H.M.S. ELIZABETH.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1921, 2 December 1913, Page 5

H.M.S. ELIZABETH.

THE FIRST OIL-DRIVEN BATTLI!* SHIP; MOUNTING 15-INCH GUNS. The largest, and. most costly warship yet built' far the liritish Navy, thy battleship (Jitc.cn Elizabeth., was launch* cd recently at Portsmouth. Tho res* sc:l is tiio 30th .British tlii.p of the ali-bi,!r-guii er# to go afloat, Fipm twa )3oiists of view (writes .Mr. P. A, Hisjiwi iii tho,. "Daily A'c-frs") tlio Queen hlizabolh is an important landmark in tho history of battleship development. In tlio first pki.ee, sho .is tlio first battleship to dispense entirely with coal and to use oil alone in her furnaces. In tho second place, sho is tho first sliip ta bu launched whoso muni .armament is to consist of 15-incii guns. Sho is to ho completed for sea by October noxl (car, 3500 Tons of 013 Fuel.

Very few details concerning tlio neir ship have been published officially, but tho following may bo taken as a correct account of nor .principal characteristics. With a length of 600 feet, she will displace 27,000 tons, and her designed speed will be 25 knots, with tmbino engines of 00,000 horsc-powor. Protection, will ho afforded by an armour fecit l!] inches thick, while tho armament will consist of eight 15-inch and sixteen 0-inch guns. Her completed t:ost is officially estimated at £2,350,000. it is believed that tho now sliiji will bo ablo to carry at least 3500 tons of oil fuel in iior tanks and between-; tho inner and ot-iter skins—tho space known as the double bottom. Sinco tho steaming value oil is 00 per cpnt. greater than that of coat, it will bo scon that this is equivalent to a ooa.l capacity of 6000 tons, which is just over twice tho maximum' capacity (2700 tons) of our coal-burning Dreadnoughts. Thcro was something of a race- between Groat Britain and tlio United States, to got tho first oil-burning battleship afloat. The (Jiices. Elizabeth was laid down, as stated, on October 21 last year. Five days later the first American oil-fired battleship, tho Oklahoma, was laid down, but as yet there has ljcen no statement as to when sho is to bo launched.

One of tlio most remarkable results of the adoption of oil in tho Qitcon Elisabeth class will bo tlia reduction of the crew. On. a given horse-power an oil-burning ship requires only about two-fifths of the men in the engine, rooms and stokeholds that aro needed hy ' a coal-bunling vessel, ail'l it is estimated that the Queen Elizabeth will have a complement of about G-30 or 700, as comparer:! with tho 1000 of the coal-burning battlc-cruiser Queen Mary, which, though of 75,000 horse-power, is much leas powerful as a fighting unit.

j Heavy Gun Power. I In tho matter of gun-powor tho. jictSt [ ship will be far ahead of any ship yet j afloat, British or foreign. Her sitperi- | {ij'ity is strongly marked in comparison with Die Dreadnoughts of Europe. Here, in proof, is a comparison between the broadside firo of our new ship and of th« latest battleships launched for various European Powers: — Gmis&n Weight of Nationality. Ship- Broadside Broadsiilo British Q. Elizabeth B !Sin. l'S.fOOlli, French Lorraine 1013.4 in i4,920t1). Austrian I'rinalvnscii 121?. in 31.0- n 4J b, 1 Jtalian Dniiio !3 i2i:u. 11.M0U1. Gorman. Koniu 10121 ft. 9 81311). The protection of tho British vessel is equal to that of any of tho above, ami her designed speed is 23 knots against their maximum of 21. The power concentrated in the Queen Elizabeth Ims. not been obtained without paying a high price For it, as will ho evident from tho figure—.£2,3so,oo.o— already quoted. Fortunately, shipbuilding is loss costly hero tliaa in any other country; Intt it, is not encouraging to find that our ships are now costiiiK «s over lit) tier cent, more than the first-class battleships of the King J&.lward tvm>, completed only seven years aun. It is estimated that the whole of .\o).:>ii's fleet at Trafalgar, consisting of '27 snips of- the line, cost no mow than £1,500,0001

Tlio FiffcerHnclt. Tlio which mow bccoiiMS —though for iioiv long on jsic knows— the standard weapon, of British battle-, ship armaments, .is the hoariest weapon now carried, or intended. for carriage, in modem fleets. It weighs 06 tons, and fires a shell of 1,8501b., with a tnuzsiJo velocity of 2055 font per second, aasl tlio "projcct'ilo is capable of penetrating nearly six feet of wwight iron at the inu7,7.te, and just ovor two foot of tousheiied steel ot> a range of two miles. Twenty-five pears ago three ij.ntti-"-ships woro buiH for tho Navy (Sans Pareil, Victoria, and Bmibsw) armed with two lG.2o»ineh 110-ton glim, Imt these filed a shall of only 15001b.. whito tho projectiles oP th<J famous "Woolwich Infants"— 16-inch 80-ion lmraN Loaders mounted 'iu tho old battlrohin Inflexible lawiohod in 3S7C—wciiglie.l lOfltb. less. The two battleship.? which Germany is laying down this year will catty the same! armament as tlio Queen Kfenbeiii —(tight 13-iiirli and sixteen 8-inch. Tim Krnpp 15-inch gun, however, fires 'a shell of only 107i>Jlb., so Mint llio.y will j,o considerably inferior in weight of hronckido to tho British ships of tho 1012 p.rograißmo.