FAILURES OF BRITISH WAR VESSELS. They Don't Develop Speed or Power.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 418, 9 November 1889, Page 6

FAILURES OF BRITISH WAR VESSELS. They Don't Develop Speed or Power.

The report of latest English naval man ceuvves which has ju.st leached the department was made by tour Admirals commanding the squadrons. First, a& to torpedo boats, they find tho&e boats are of great value to the blockaded, but illy adapted to blockading work. Their machinery is considerably in need ot repairs, and they require frequent attention in matteis of water and coal. The doteiioration ot their machinery soon took away from the speed which constituted their principal value. Tonchjng the larger vessels, the report says thatfrom all sides during the manoeuvres came complaints of defective machinery. The squadrons were constantly impeded in their speed and mo\cments by "lame ducks" needing repairs. The taihuo to realise the speed at which ships wete rated — horn ten to seventeen knots— was one of the most disappointing features ot the ' manceuvres. The best speed tho Rupert could make at the veiy beginning was eight knots. The Shannon kept up nine knots with difficulty, and another iionclad dropped astern, making less. The Inflexible i also iell behind from a break in her entfiuc. I The Agincourt, an old &h>p, was steaming easily at the time under two boilers. The I other ship?, in fact, seem to have done very well. The vessels that appeared to travel with the gieatest ease and least smoke wore the Black Prince, built in 1861 ; the Hcieules, built in 1868 ; and the Devastation, built in IS7O. Tho Hotspur, Northampton and Active, rated at sixteen knots, had difficulty in keeping up ten knots. Almo«t all of the fast cruisers failed to steam up to their nominal speed or to maintain the maximum steam pressure when it was reached. The Mersey, an eighteen-knot ship, steamed at fourteen and a half knots, but had to slow down for sevoral hours to clean her tubes. The Mercury was the only cruiser in the first squadron capable of making sixteen knots for forty-eight hours This ship was built to compete with the and other fatt boats built by tho United States at the close of the war. The Mohawk class failed in boilers and power, and the Raccoon practically broke clown. Tho Archer and Cossack had their boilers retubed before they had been three months in commission. These are types for our now 2,000 ton vessels, but the machinery has been improved in design and durability. The Serpent was almost constantly under repairs. An unsuccessful eflort was made to introduce like machinery into the new practice ship for Annapolis. The Rattlesnake class pro\ed to be entirely too delicate for rough woik. 'In point of fact,' says a coi respondent, • we are in this position. The last mananivies may be rendered abortive by the inefficiency of our steam power. Whatever else the campaign bungs out it will demonstrate this to a certainty, that there is not an officer of either of our four squadrons that feels the least confidence in his ship to steam in an emergency.' In winding up their ctiticism upon machinery trials the Admirals say that in view ot the failure of ordinary boilers at high steam pressures, experiences and experiments as to the practical employment of tnbulous or coil high piessure boiles will be followed with increased. interest.