BRITAIN'S LATEST BATTLESHIP

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 122, 22 June 1909, Page 4

BRITAIN'S LATEST BATTLESHIP

DETAILS OF THE XEW FIGHTING TBMERAIHE. On May 15 the new battleship Temeraire was commissioned at Devonport far service in tfie main fleet by Captain Alexander Ludovic Dull', lately Naval Assistant to the Controller of the Navy. By an interesting coincidence Captain Duff, as a midshipman, commissioned in the last Temeraire when she hoisted the pennant for the first time in IS7B. This vessel, which was one of the "invincible monsters" at the battle of Alexandria, carried 14 guns, with an extreme range of five miles, steamed at 13.S knots, had llin of compound armor, equivalent to 4in of Krupp, was 280 ft long, and carried 5112 officers and men.

Tin l new Temeraire has an extreme range of 15 miles, has' steamed at iS knots, has llin of Krupp belting, is 530 ft long, and only carries about 20 more men than her predecessor. VTbjte.yer the future of naval design may libtf,' j|j suggested by the recent cryptic iitti'rituct'V" i 4 the Prime .Minister, the Temeraire i» i\i mO. fprmidlihle completed warship yet upon tile face of tile ocean. ROOMY.

The first striking impression on boarding her is that of extreme roominess. He? (if deck is magnificent, broken o w ly hj./ % jjing and centre-line liirri'tK. H'itlj ail ''supcfstruejnre reduced to a minimum.

Some idea of the magnitude of this war leviathan may lie gathered from the number of her decks, tfhc has a flying deck, boat-deck, battery-deck, main-deck, lower-deck, , armored-deck, and double-bottom lint. Between each tier is splendid head-room and perfect ventilation.

Electricity js the primary factor in the vitality of this wonderful vess'el. The switchboard-room, with upwards of tihm hundred controlling keys, is one of. the ii&bts f/f Hip ship. The if, pn a novel plan. Four dynamos gcneivj'ti,- current, which circulates through two jHfflll/tic caMes weighing 15 tons,'carried entirely around the interior of the ship. These main cables' are tapped at frequent intervals, and 140 miles of wire braiio(fij<{£ off from them give light and heat, riug Wl», operate lifts, coaling winches, amuiunitloß 'hoistf, ventilating fans, work the smaller gumi, alia"actuate the fire-control apparatus of the big' SJM'fc

The vtirejf'ss installation is'of the new Mark 11. patU-fu, with a radius of 11 IK) miles. The o'pej-ati(U.g-»-vv<)f U '"'low, instead of o?i deck, us •liVrcUil'vie, anil the wires passing -up to the inuistlieaii gall's are caged around, being dangerous. 'i'KLEIW« Y, mi'l UN<!E.

A telephone exchange, wjlb upwards of 120 connections to ali parts' of the ship, is another of the sigiits of the Temeraire.

Access to lliu fire-control stations aloft is through the interior* of flic tripod musts. It is a weird climb from the lower-dock up through 1-JOft of xlantwise steel tunnelling, lit at intervals ibv jiyv lamps. One groat advantage of those tr-tpoiii joists is that all rigging is.abolished. enabling 4 wider radius of gunfire to he attained. " On her recent gunnery trials lie TomcßJiV lired eight of her ten )2-inehi guitt on broadside at 0110 discharge,! iind the observation iy the conl-oii slatiohs could follow tlio tligljt of' ilie' projectiles through glasses for i 5 miles hv the spurting of columns of spray live and six hundrod foot high In evenricochet. '

The main gun turrets, each weighing ■10(1 ton-, with its (win pair. of iiS-lon weapons and 12-inch anuored walls, are operated hv hydraulic power the pnv,-mu-i- Jjping IOOOIb on the square inch. 'Jho AwiViion of secondary haltorics has redwood t-he jjuml.er of lighting stations, and die adoption ol groalty simplified engine-room' M ojJ. hence the DrondnoiighU ourv smaller complements than their prod^ccs-ors! The magazines- of iho Tomorair." .tore 2-12 lons of 12in projectiles ami WO Inns ,<.,f .M.I), oordilo charges for these same »oap.o:ix COAL, The cnnl ■huu-kcr,, .«,!1I B |oro 2400 |„ns. At full power, the KaWk ;ij,d Wil«o n boilers, working at. 235 H. Mistime SOD ions every 2-Miotirs.

Ihe Temeraire lm,v !>:, sets 01' mixilfiar.v engines, She ]kk ](l searelilh'hl projector*, each 4ft hi diameter, and I rn|iiil>li> <]f j;iviii» a. com lii noil blaze filial |t« S.non.nnn candle-power. I Three mil- nliviale the neeessil v for making (lie KUtt Wu,,l, fv„ m tlie.eii"ineroom lied to the upper iteej, The Temerniiv ■» ill |, llV e ~,,„, j, ai ,j upon -c2.nno.oni) u y u,,- time «in> ii»i,; s the pennant, and in iroinj. ai-omul Irr one can well believe it. " '