GREAT WHITE FLEET

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 133, 3 July 1909, Page 6

GREAT WHITE FLEET

MODERNISED IUTI'EKSIIII'S. LIKE IMMENSE JIAIWJSS. Washington, May 5. The fact that as. rapiuiy as possiulo battleships of -the louiiu-iuc-woiiu nee. are 'being la.d up at navy yams u..= caused uie, report that Uie snips u turned Iron! tue journey m oa.e .map.. lit has been reported in Washington dial masts were tjirung, panes wei. .oosened, the lutritate elcc.ru-al nm diiuery, including the lire cuiurui, «.■■• Hopelessly out ot working omci, mi. .uat generally the trip uaa made ■■ >vreck of the United States Navy.

At the War Department it was sum that, o:i the contrary, the ships had stood the voyage even better man had oeen expected, and that none oi me... .lould lail il culled upon to go into uattle at once. . LUe the .\uvy Departine.it has decided Jit a radical change ui tue t.<pc w 0.u.. .nip, and the oixtoeu th.u made ... L.-orld trip arc to be reinuuei.e.i. Uin. I .he change has been made tue r.iouei. .uicncaa lig.lting \essci ..... ioO« i... m immense barge Willi a lew luriv. <n it. All of the cumbersome ai.,.0.

tructure of the previa ships is to baken off. Instead of the lighting '" ;l!,l, ind the upper deiks that lunc uce. ound of no use and in the way thcivill be only one wire "tt'iujic-basket or the purpose of signalling mid ns <■ oost for the lookout. It was found in the shooting tests u. .lie "Florida" last year llwt it is J>"ac Jeally impossible to shoot away that sort of must. There are more bote. .lian strands, ami even if a number ol he wire cnb.c MlruiuU are cut by sho. liey are so interwoven that the sU ihitv uf the must is not allceted. The turrets for the 'big guns fore and ift, nu:l the funnel boilers, of course, vill remain. The removal of the superstructure and masts will not only offer ess of a target to the enemy and ninkt. I possible tor those aboard the ship's o light with greater certainty, .but it .vill considerably lighten the s'liips and iring the armor belt farther above the water-line. Every sixty-five tons rcnoved from the weight "of a battleship is at present constituted raises tho ship in inch. It is expected that the ships ■ .vill be raised a foot in the water. , l . This will change the centre of gravity '■ind create the danger that the ship | night "turn turtle" in heavy weather .verc it not that the weight is to be ;ikcn olt the top. The innovation will not drily raise lio armor belt, the present position of I'hieh lias been attacked, but it w ill aise the secondary batteries of the .•essels in a point where they will be nore effective. ■'LEET WOULD TRII> NOT COSTLY. Secretary of the Xavy Meyer declared hat the sixteen battleships of the Atantic fleet which had made the v oyage round the world were in excellent conlition, and the fact that they were aeompanied by a repair ship kept them n good order throughout the trip. He efcrred to an article in an English Miblication saying that the result of he trip was worth from £5,00,000't0 :10,000,OI)0 lo the United States Navy, he Secretary said he had found that he voyage cost only £3,000,000 more han if the battleships had been kept t home and assigned to ordinary duties.