NEW DREADNOUGHT.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXX, Issue 38, 1 October 1914, Page 6

NEW DREADNOUGHT.

LONGEST BATTLESHIP IN THE WORLD. The British Navy in Home waters is receiving a powerful reinforcement by ‘ the additions of the super-Dread-uoughts Agiiicourfc, arid Erin. These Two ships have a varied history, writes tiio Loudon correspondent of the Sydney Daily Telegraph. The Agincourt was originally built for the Brazilian navy at Elswich by the famed Armstrong fjnh' under the name of the Bio de Janeiro. A year ago Brazil disposed of her to Turkey, and she was renamed the (Sultan Osman I, after Turkey’s founder and first Sultan, and now she becomes H.M.S. Agincourt, a name 'recalling heroic deeds both on land and sea. The Agincourt measures 632 ft. in length, which makes her the longest battleship in the world, has a beam of 89ft., and displacement of 27,000 tons, \Vliich is the heaviest displacement of any British battleship in commission.

The extraordinary length of the Agincourt. which is apparently a disadvantage, inasmuch as battleships are very short for their displacement, in order tO enable them to turn rapidly in a small circle, enables her main batteries to be’ Carried on ! the centre line, which more than counterbalances, any disadvantage her length entails. Not only does the centre line arrangement give a wide area of fire, but it .also adds to the Stability of the ship should any of the watertight compartments be pierced in action. Her main armament is grouped in seven turrets, each of which carries a pair of 12in. guns. The 12in. giili, though not s 6 powerful as our latest gun, is more thaii equal to the best German gun afloat, the heaviest gun on the Kaisef’s 1 ships being the 12inch. The 12-inch guns of the Agincout throw a projectile weighing 870 lbs. to a range of fifteen miles. The turrets—which are protected by 9in. armor—are so placed the entire, fire of the fourteen guns—weighing 11,9001bs. —can be directed on any given target, whilst four guns can be' fired ahead and astern—eight in all—simultaneously. The secondary batteries are armed with twenty 6-ihch gnus and twelve 3-pounder quickfirers. Provision is also ma!de against aerial attack. The main armour of the Agincourt is a 9-6 inch belt which traverses her water-line connecting with the flinch gun positions above the waterlifie and extending eight feet below it, where it gradually tapers into the hull, 'the engines are of 45,006 h.p., and turbine driven, and the stipulated speed of 21 knots is expected easily with-at least a margin of a knot over. The Agincourt was originally planned to be the heaviest battleship in the world. The Brazilian admiralty originally planned her fo have a displacement of 32,000 tons, and an ariflament of 14-inch guns, aiid a contract to that effect waS signed 'with the Elswick firm', but oh the Brazilian president coming into office two years ago, those specifications were revised and a smaller battleship provided for ‘‘which will not be built on exaggerated lines such as have not yet stood the test of experience,” to rise the words. of the Brazilian president in his message to his Congress. The Erin—so named, no doubt, in compliment to Ireland’s loyalty in the present crisis—is a smaller but more heavily gunned ship than the Agincourt. She may be classed as of the. Iron Duke type. The Erin, which is being completed by the wellknown Vickers’ firm, Barrow-in-Fur-ness, was originally ordered by the Turkish Government two years ago, and was named the Reshadied. She has a. displacement, of 23,000 tons, is equipped with turbine engines of 31,000 h.p., from which a 21-knot speed is anticipated, and is exceptionally well armored in her vital parts. Along her waterline runs an llin. belt of best armor, ending in armored bulkheads, and above this belt her batteries are protected by Sin armor. The turrets in which the big guns are mounted number five—all, too, on the centre line. Each turret mounts a pair of 13. Sin guns. The 13.5 in gun throws a projectile of 12501 b., from which it follows that the Erin can direct a broadside of 12,8001 b.—nearly six tons— on -any target, whilst there is direct ahead and astern fire of four guns, giving a discharge of nearly 50001 b. of 13.5 projectiles. The secondary batteries are armed with 16 6in. guns and a proportion of three-pounder quickfirers. The main gun turrets are protect 'd by 12in. armour, and the 6in. gun positions hy Sin. armour. Like the Agincourt, she is fitted with five 21in. torpedo tubes of the submerge*! type. It has long been known Unit the two battleships just acquired hy the British Government would never (!y the Turkish flag. The Turkish Government was behind in its payments to the building firms, and, as a matter of fact, both ships have been built under the supervision of Britisn officers ostensibly “lent” to the Turkish Government for that purpose, but really to have them built to suit the need; of the British Navy. The Agincourt will he manned by .90) of all ranks, and the Erin hy 850 of nil ranks, those being the complement.s for battleships of their respective tonnages.