LETTER FROM THE SECRETARY OF TRANSMITTING, NAVY, In compliance with a Senate resolution of January 26, 1877, the report of Chief Engineer J. W. King, United States Navy, on European ships of war, &c. JANUARY 30, 1877.—Referred to the Committee on Naval Affairs and ordered to be printed. NAVY DEPARTMENT, Washington, January 27, 1877. SIR: In compliance with a resolution of the Senate, passed on the 26th instant, I have the honor to transmit herewith the report of Chief Engineer J. W. King, of the United States Navy, on European ships of war, &c. Very respectfully, &c., GEO. M. ROBESON, Hon. THOS. W. FERRY, President pro tem. of the United States Senate. The Inflexible.-Mastless, armored sea-going ships. Hull and appendages. Defense. Turrets. Armament. Trials of the 81-ton gun. Motive machinery. Boilers. Rig. Weights. Cost. Conclusions.. PART III. The Derastation.-Design. Alterations. Dimensions and weights. Consumption of coal. Motive machinery. Official trials of machinery, guns, and sea-going qualities ... 19 35 PART IV. The Thunderer.-Design. Machinery. Armament. Hydraulic-machinery for 47 53 PART V. Broadside-armored ships.. The Audacious class.-Audacious, Iron Duke, Vanguard, Invincible, Triumph, and The Alexandra.-Design. Description of hull. Motive power. Boilers. Obser vations PART VI. The Téméraire.-Design. Armament. Dimensions. Motive power 69 74 PART VII. The Nelson and Northampton.-Design. Description of hull. Armament. Ram. Glatton..... 83 PART VIII. Cost of British armored ships.-Addition of percentage for maintenance of plant, 87 94 Unarmored ships of Great Britain.-Inconstant, Raleigh, Boadicea, Rover, and Euryalus. Positions of cranks in compound engines. Sloops. Corvettes. Gun- The sloop Pelican to be engined on Perkins's high-pressure compound system.- Description of vessel. Description of engines. Pressure of steam to be car- ried. Condenser. Boilers to be tested to 2,500 pounds per square inch. Dis- tilled sea-water not to be used. Other vessels on Perkins's system... Cruisers of the rapid type, the Iris and Mercury.-Built of steel and designed Corvettes of steel and iron.-Names. Principal dimensions. To be cruisers.... Trials at the measured mile.-Subsequent examination by shipwright and engi- neers. Regulations for trial at the measured mile. Semi-annual trial at full power. Objections to the system and deceptiveness of the speed, as subse- quently claimed. Testimony before court-martial in relation to real speed of 199 1:27 128 The French navy.-Composed chiefly of broadside vessels. Uniformity of classifi- Table of dimensions, &c., of the armored ships of France.... The Duquesne and Tourville, cruisers of the rapid type.-Dimensions. Weights. The Duguay-Trouin and Rigault de Genouilly and class Table of vessels building and proposed for the French navy in 1876.. Rig. Weights. Materials of exceptional strength and quality.. The Italian navy.-Great advances made in the past quarter of a century. The Dandolo.-Differs only in motive machinery from the Duilio. Engines and The Christoforo Colombo.-Cruiser of the rapid type. Dimensions. Battery. Motive machinery. Estimated speed 17 knots. Wooden hulls are not strong enough to sustain the power necessary for the speed The Russian navy.-General description of vessels.. The Austrian navy.-Mistake of building wooden armored ships.... Table of dimensions, &c., of the armored ships of Austria.... PART XVI. Armored ships.-Total estimated tonnage and cost. Number of vessels belong- Table of dimensions, &c., of the armored ships of Turkey. PART XVII. Compound engines.-Extracts from former report on this subject. In Europe Naval compound engines.-Begun in England in 1871. Report to Parliament. PART XVIII. Corrosion of marine boilers.-Generally called galvanic action. Doubtless caused Preservation of boilers in Her Britannic Majesty's vessels not in commission.- Water-tube boilers.-Difficult to carry high steam and yet make the boilers tight Boiler explosions.-Report of the chief engineer surveyor to Lloyd's on the explosion of the Thunderer's boiler... Boilers of the mercantile marine.-Either cylindrical or elliptical. Composition tubes used instead of iron ones. Spring safety-valves used instead of those with levers. Adams's spring safety-valve. Extracts from Lloyd's Rules and Formula for boilers PART XIX. Sea-valves and cocks.-Should be always accessible and visible. Serious acci- PART XX. Manufacture of steam machinery for the British navy.-Policy of fostering engineering works. These establishments build, the dock-yards only repair, naval machinery. Drawing up specifications and awarding contracts. Designs accepted are not invariably in accordance with specifications.... PART XXI. Offensive torpedo warfare.-The Ziethen. Motive machinery. Arrangement for ejecting the Whitehead or fish torpedo. Preparing and discharging the torpedo. Weak point of the instrument. Nations which have purchased the right to use it. Reported price paid. Experiments for its improvement and development. In England, the Vesuvius and other vessels fitted for the purpose. The Uhlan. Spar torpedo-boats.-Swift vessels of small size. Torpedo-boat for Holland........ The Oberon experiments.-Description of vessel. Damage sustained. The torpedo more destructive than a projectile from the heaviest gun. Small vessels a necessity. Experiments needed in stopping leaks.. Page. 179 183 185 186 187 192 194 199 201 201 209 214 217 220 225 229 234 236 |