Hawaii Holomua, Volume III, Number 181, 6 ʻAukake 1894 — A Description of the United States Cruiser Minneapolis. [ARTICLE]

A Description of the United States Cruiser Minneapolis.

tbe Wtrttr Es»iu»c*.' Nn evmt in the bistorv of the building of oar uew n.«vy bas awakenenl raore eager mtcrest amui.g people who go down to tbe sea in ships than tbe deepsea speed trial of tbe new United Stutes crniser M inneapolis. wbose speeditrial on ber four bours' trip nn the 14th instaut showed an average of 23 05 knjts f>er hour. L’p to date the crui»er Colnmbi« has worn tiie prond title “The Fastest Crniser in the World,” havir,g maJe on her

trial in November l»st the record until now nnparalleled, of 22.'1 knots |>er bonr for four bours at sea. That sach a magn ficent aehiewemenl sboulJ ba a> soon surpassed is in ihe nature of a marvel, even in tbis age of rapid progress Tbe Colambia ean atford to relinqnisb ber title gracefully since it passses to her fiister ship. the Minneapolis. whose record not on!y beats the speed of any war vessel ever built l»ut a!so e\ceeds that of the fastest of t!ie Atlantic greybonnds.

lt hae been c!airaeJ that the CunarJ steamers Campania anJ Lueania, with their alleged records of 25 knots au honr for a whole day, are faster than the Columbia and Minneapolia As a matterof fact, were the ciuisers to be tried over the same cohrse wliere the phenomenal record of the Cunarders was made, where a favorable cnrrent reaches a strength of as mueh as a knot an hour at times, auJ the speed bIioqIJ be computod without correction for current, as was the case in tho nin of the CunarJers, they wonld easily mako a record of 24 knots an hour for a corresponding length of time. In Jesigning the machinery

J for a cruiser economr of space is a great desideratuoi. WLeu, therefore, Comraodore Mehille was insiructed to plau for the twins,Columbia aud Miuneapolia. maehiuen' that wonld develop 21,000 horsepower.he conceutrated bis mental energies ou the evolution of a design that would be both compact and powerful. In the use of sorews, to have put a siugle engine on eaeh shaft woukl hav« required verv large cylinders aud largeparts of machinery all throngh. The prob!em might have beeu soIved, as in tho case of the New York, by potting two sets of engines on eaeh shaft. This wonld have (ipnbled the numbcr of parts above the siugle engiue, while the shaftiug abaft tho after engiuo had to be tho same size as if only a siugle engiue had beeu used. Triplo screws woukl increase the number of paits only 50 per ceut us eompared with twin screws and a single engine on eaeh shaft, while it retluced the sizo of all the

1 parts and brought even thing within diuensious that were 1 i thought thorooghly reliablo. As ' this seemed the “consummation ’ 1 ! the engineer-in chief determined * to nrge the use of triple screws. When it became known that CommcKloro Melville had rocommendod triple screws, and that the Department had deoided to adopt them, be received mauy letteis from engineers advising that the step w«s too radioal, too mueh of an experimeut, and that it ought not io be tried prim »rily in vessels intended to be the most powerful and swiftest afloat. i but tho Commodore had studied tho prob)em carefuliy aud had the coorage of his convictious. in tbis case, as in many others. Believing that he was right he weut ahead. The resolts have more tbau justified his condusions.

Xiie repoit if tbe tri«l of tbe Coloiubia deTeloped the fact tbat ber great speed bad keeo obtain- • ed for a remarkable low horse | power. Tbe engiaes had not worked up to fall power and tbe

speed had exceeded expectations if tbe full power of tbe engines bad been exerted. Tbe reason- j able conclnsion. snbsUntiated by matbematical calculation, was tbat tbe ose of triple screws was ccmclasire to economy of propnlsion. Wben tbe Minneapolia went ont for ber preliminary tri*l tbexesults obtained indioated a con£rmatioa of tbe experienoe of the Columbia, &nd

n'w lhat she b»s coaipleted her c >ntract tri«l the fact is 1 tijoroagblv eatablisbe*i that trīple ' s.*re«s give gremter ecoaouy of I mpaUion thm twius. Fhe pover tbat piopeU the f.imoas Mioneapoli? isexerted by the tbree vertical, inverted. j direct - acting, three - cylinder, tnple expansion engines, eaeh j placed in a water-tight cOmpartment. TLe eng:nes working the port and starboard propellers are abreat eaeh other and are for- ! ward of the center engine. Pro vision i« raade for a!lowing the idie propellers (or propei!er) to revolre when only one or two of tho engi»es are m ase, bv J sconnecting the coaplings. a proces« that is accomplished in a verv f-. w monient.s abroad onr shii>s. On a British min of-war it is an artair of several honrs. Propulsiou is but one of the almost inmiiiiei jbie uses »«f streara power abroaJ this very moJern mau of war. There are iu all

ninetv-fonr engines, comprising 180 stearu cylinders, employed to keep the “maehine’, in running triul tfips of our naval vessels are run over a carefully raeasureJ course, aml the current isobserved with the greatest possible care, both as to iutensity and Jirection, so that the resulting average of speed for fonr hours orJer. The great gans are turned, the aimnunilion served, the steer-ing-gear nin and the anchor hoisted by steain; refrigeration is seeureJ by steam, lthe ship is lighted, heated and ventilated by the aiJ of steam, andthe same subtle agency enters into the culiuary arrangements. Just what duty an o!d time sailor woukl finJ abo»J this steara fighting inaehine is somewbat probleraatical.

Two million seven bundreJ anJ fifty thousanJ Jollars was the sum appropriated for the construction of the Minnoapolis The speed demanded by tbe contract wns twent}’-one knots per hourFailure toattaia that speed would forfeit $50,000 for eaeh quarter of a knot JeficienJ. The satne sum was offered as a premium for eaeh qu»rter of a knot in excess of the required speeJ. A premium that mountsinto six figures is not to bo despised aml the Crnmps, tl:e builders of the “fastest cruiser of the \v.vrlJ,” hare fairlv won it.