Floating Fortress.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 7847, 13 June 1905, Page 4

Floating Fortress.

PARTICULARS OF THE MOST POWERFUL BATTLESHIP, Certain details are avaitoMtj through sources which may be .regarded as authoritative concerning the battleship to be built at Portsmouth in the 'autumn, which Mr Arthur Lee promised to be the most) powerful battleship the world has ever seen. The new battleship is to be 18,000 lons displacement, her length, beam, and draught , are being reslrictcd to such dimensions as will enable her to pass over:.;the dockl cills and' occupy the dry basin of our home dockyards, and of the new, naval works at Gibraltar. In order to attain this reduction of measurements without) a corresponding reduction of displacement. Dr. Philip Watts has laid off the new ship on| ajbmormall lines. As shipbuilders say she is nil body, and a midship section of her shows practically as a; square with the smi&.lest degree of rounding ofl at the lower comers lor the bilge curves. Furthermore, sh» will have a higher freeboard .than any previous type of British battleship.; Against the disadvantageous aspect of this feature of design, causing the ship to offer a, tfigger target to an enemy's lire must be set thu. lattt that her own artillery is carried; at a greater elevation, enabJing belter shooting to be made, and the guns to be fought effectively in h»avy weather. Apparently, Dr. Philip, Watts is aiming at the (battleship ideal pure and simple, without seeking to embody the mobility of the modurn cruiser, as America, and Italy are very successfully doing. His new ship is to bg a floating fortress, with aggression as the keynote of her whole design. She will m a rk the advent of the high calibre heavy fore gun, and materialise the doc- ( trine of homogeneity of armament so, j highly favoured by Sir John Fisher, j THE GUNS. j Reports as to the nuiuSbbr of guns I she will nctu»!% carry must at pre- | sent be regarded as tentative., liecause in no feature of the battleshijjj

construction is there more frequent modifications of original specifications. In well-in-formed dockyardj circles, however, it is known to be under consideration to adopt eight 12-inch and ten 9.2i-inch weapons as tho primary armament ol this new battleship. The distribution ■of these would be as follows :—The 12-inch ■' guns mounted in., two pairs in for- I ward and alter barbettes, and one I apieco in a turreted gunhouse at each, t anglo of the battery deck, and the t ten 9.2-;nch guns mounted live asuie 1 on ftroadskle. A group ol three- ] pounders wiil be the biggest of' the .minor weapons, for dealing with i what naval men term mosquito at- ■ tack. Prodigious gun power is in- I deed manifestly to ( be the principal I feature of tho new battleship, and a larger degree of ammunition than) j usual is mentioned. The method of armour distribution has not yet been determined upon, although it is de- | finitely stated that 10-inch Krupp will form her broadside belting, and I that this will probably be built into j S'lhe hull is much the same fashion | as in the Lord Nelson class, design- ' ed by Dr. Philip Watts. The ram, it is said will doubtless disappear in 1 . the new ship, having grown beyond ■ the stage of feasible utility. * Owing to the development of dis- • ! placement and speed, the intention at " I present is not to attempt anything. " phenomenal in the way of sp«*J, nineteen Knots on full contract 3 being the limit laid down. It i* E rumoured that the vessel wall be e propelled by turbines, actuated by 1 oil fuel, but responsfiiblo dockyard ol- '> ficials regard this as a prematura and improbable assumption. It is '£ safe to predict that all conceivable facilities for the delivery of,. torpedo; S attack, and every possible provision I against submarine aggression, will II mark Dr. Philip Watts' appreciation L -1 of the lessons of tie present war.— St. Jam?»' Gazette,