The Romance of War Inventions Part 14

Thus we see ill.u.s.trated what has just been said, less guns and thinner armour, to allow for more engine power and higher speed. Or, to put it the other way, we observe how higher speed was attained at the expense of the guns and the armour.

But just as the _Dreadnought_ was followed by other still greater improvements in the same direction we get, in 1910, the famous ship _Lion_, a vessel not unknown to the Germans, a "super-Invincible."

This ship has a tonnage of over 26,000 and 70,000 horse-power. It was designed to do 28 knots.

We saw the use of these ships in the Jutland battle, when, using their high speed, they attacked the German battleships and kept them engaged while the slower battleships came up. Though they suffered severe losses, which probably the more heavily armoured battleships would have escaped, they held the Germans so that it was only the failing light which saved them from utter destruction.

Another example was the way in which they hunted down Von Spee and his squadron off the Falklands, when they caught the Germans because of their higher speed and then sank them by means of their heavier guns with practically no loss to themselves.

We saw them again in the Heligoland battle, coming up to the a.s.sistance of the lighter vessels just in the nick of time and scattering the enemy like so much chaff.

A fact little known to most people and productive of much surprise is that these battleships and cruisers are not such very large vessels, when compared with those of the merchant service. The _Lion_ is 660 feet long and 86 feet wide, the _Aquitania_ is 930 feet long and 98 feet wide, and the _Olympic_ is 882 feet long and 92 feet wide.

The mighty _Orion_ makes a poorer showing still in point of size, since she is only 545 feet long and 88 feet wide--little over half the length of the _Aquitania_.

It is difficult to compare the tonnage of a warship with that of a merchant ship, since they are not measured in the same way. The former is the "displacement" or actual weight of water displaced: in other words the precise weight of the vessel in tons of 2240 lbs.

The tonnage of a merchant ship, however, has nothing to do with weight but is based upon capacity and is arrived at by a purely arbitrary rule, thus: all the enclosed s.p.a.ce in the ship is measured in cubic feet and the total is divided by one hundred. That gives the gross tonnage. To arrive at the net tonnage the s.p.a.ce occupied by the engines and all other s.p.a.ce necessary for the working of the ship is excluded.

Originally the tonnage of a merchant ship was the number of "tuns" of wine which it could carry.

Thus, you see, comparing the tonnage of a warship with that of a merchant ship is somewhat like comparing a pound with a bushel. Net registered tonnage is generally considerably less than the displacement tonnage of the same ship, so that a warship is usually less than a merchant ship of the same nominal number of tons.

And now let us turn to some of the internal arrangements of these wonderful ships, more particularly to the means for working the guns.

Each turret is placed over the top of what we might call a well, running right down deep into the inside of the ship. At the bottom of this well is the magazine, where the sh.e.l.ls are stored and also the cartridges containing the explosive which drives the sh.e.l.l from the gun.

Underneath the turret, forming a kind of bas.e.m.e.nt to it, is a chamber called the working chamber, and up to it the sh.e.l.ls and cartridges pa.s.s by means of lifts. For safety's sake only a small quant.i.ty of explosives is kept here at any one time, but it is from here that the guns overhead are fed. Sh.e.l.ls and cartridges alike pa.s.s up as required by means of hoists right to the guns. Indeed, the hoists are ingeniously contrived so that in whatever position a gun may be the hoist stops exactly opposite the breech, or opening at the back of the gun through which it is loaded. Then a mechanical rammer drives the sh.e.l.l or cartridge into its place in the gun.

The hoists are worked by hydraulic power or electricity, and in most cases by both, arrangements being made so that either can be used at will, thus serving as alternatives in case either should get out of order.

The turrets themselves are also turned by power. Indeed, so heavy are the weights involved that only by the use of carefully designed machinery is the operation of such great weapons made possible. A single sh.e.l.l of the 135-inch gun weighs 1250 lbs.

Around each turret there is placed a wall of thick armour plate as high as it is possible to make it without interfering with the movement of the guns. This is called the barbette armour and the s.p.a.ce enclosed by it, in which the turret stands, is called a barbette, an old fortification term meaning a place behind a rampart.

The turret is covered over, as has already been remarked, by a steel hood, so that altogether the guns and their crews are about as well protected as it is possible to be.

That all this means a considerable burden upon the ship is shown by the fact that a pair of 12-inch guns with their turret and barbette armour will weigh something like 600 tons, and if there be five of them that means 3000 tons in all.

Down below in the magazine there are lifting appliances whereby the sh.e.l.ls can be readily picked up and run to the hoist. Moreover, there is elaborate machinery for keeping them cool. Our allies the French had, years ago, several bad accidents through the explosives going off spontaneously in their ships, and this is quite likely to happen if the magazines become too hot. So refrigerating apparatus is installed similar to that employed in meat-carrying ships, which provides a constant flow of cool air into the magazines.

The ships also are subdivided to the greatest possible extent consistent with efficient working, so that in the event of a collision or a torpedo making a hole below water the ship may not sink. As far as possible the divisions or bulkheads are made to run right from top to bottom without any openings, but that obviously is a very inconvenient arrangement, so in many places there have to be doorways through them, leading from one part of the ship to another. In such cases these are closed by water-tight doors, which can be shut before the ship goes into action or into any dangerous region.

The engines of these vessels are now always turbines. This type of engine has many advantages over the older type, in which certain parts move to and fro, that motion being changed by cranks into a round and round action. For one thing, they are lighter for a given power, so that more power can be put into a ship without adding to the weight. That means higher speed. Then there is less to get out of order. Anyone who has been into a ship's engine room where to and fro or reciprocating engines are at work will realize this, for there is a maze of rods and cranks all moving together, and many parts which need to be oiled while in motion and which would get hot and tight if they were not carefully looked after. All this in an enclosed s.p.a.ce with possibly an uncomfortable motion of the whole ship used to make the engineer's life at sea a very hazardous and unhappy one.

But the turbine is entirely enclosed. There is nothing to be seen moving at all. Indeed, there is only one moving part, and that is coupled directly to the propeller-shaft, so that nothing could possibly be simpler.

CHAPTER XVII

HOW A WARSHIP IS BUILT

When it is decided to build a certain ship, the first thing to be done is to draw it on paper. The Admiralties of the world, and also the great shipbuilders, have each their own chief designer installed in a big, light, quiet office fitted with large strong, flat tables at which work a number of draughtsmen.

The naval authorities tell the "chief" in general terms what they want the ship to be capable of, and he determines its size and form. Then the draughtsmen work out his ideas on paper, themselves deciding upon the minor details, until they have produced exact representations of the ship which is to be. Some draughtsmen deal with the actual hull of the ship, while others design the various fittings and minor details, all working, of course, under the constant supervision of the chief.

In this connection one may perhaps allude to a matter which the general public often seems to misunderstand--the work and functions of a draughtsman. I have heard people say of a boy that he is good at drawing so they think of making a draughtsman of him. Now the point is that the actual drawing is perhaps the least important part of a draughtsman's work. He has to know _what to draw_. He is given just a rough idea of something and from that he has to produce a perfect design, bearing in mind that the thing to be made must well fulfil its purpose, must be easy and cheap to construct, must be strong enough yet not too heavy, must be made of the most suitable material and so on. He has to possess a good deal of the knowledge of the skilled workman, he has to be something of a scientist and a good mathematician in addition to his ability to make neat and accurate drawings. So, you see, these men whose minds conceive the details of our great ships are men of long training and experience, with far greater knowledge and skill than we sometimes give them credit for.

Anyway, there they stand, each at his own table, bending over his own drawing-board, each doing his own particular share towards producing the perfect ship.

But when all is said and done, there are limitations to the cleverness of the cleverest among us, so the next step, after the draughtsmen have done their best, is to test what they have done by experiment.

Years ago a certain Mr. William Froude interested himself in the question of the best shapes for ships, and he found that by making an exact model of a ship and then drawing that model through water it was possible to foretell just how that ship would behave. He built himself a tank for the purpose of these experiments at Torquay, where he lived, and by its aid he added a very important chapter to the science of shipbuilding.

Nowadays the Admiralty have a large and well-fitted tank at Portsmouth, the United States Navy have one at Washington, private shipbuilders have the use of a national tank at Bushey, near London, while several of the large firms have tanks of their own.

The national tank at Bushey, by the way, was given to the nation by Mr.

Yarrow, a famous shipbuilder, in memory of Mr. Froude, it being called the "William Froude Tank" in recognition of the great work done by him.

Now these tanks may be described as rather elongated swimming-baths.

Such a structure is generally a little narrower than the average bath, but it is longer and much deeper.

At one end there are miniature docks in which the models float when not in use, while at the other there is a sloping beach upon which the waves caused by the models expend their energy harmlessly.

Along each side there runs a rail upon which are supported the ends of a travelling bridge. Driven by electric motors, this bridge can run to and fro from end to end of the tank, and its purpose is to drag the models through the water.

Carried upon the bridge is a platform which bears a number of instruments, chief among which is a self-recording dynamometer.

Now a dynamometer is an instrument for measuring the force of a "pull,"

and when we call it self-recording we mean that it automatically takes a record of a series of pulls or of a varying pull. In this case there projects below the bridge a lever, to the end of which the model under test is attached. As the bridge rushes along it pulls the model through the water by means of this lever, and the force which is expended in doing so is recorded in the form of a wavy line upon a sheet of ruled paper.

If the model slips through the water very easily there is little pull upon the lever and the line drawn by the pen of the instrument remains low down upon the chart. If, however, much power is needed and the pull is a strong one the pen moves and the line rises towards the top of the paper. Any change, whether increase or decrease, is thus shown by the rise or fall of the ink line.

One model can be thus tried at various speeds and its behaviour noted under different conditions. Other matters can be investigated too, such as whether or not the bow rises in the water or falls when the boat is in motion, also how much such rise or fall may amount to.

The suitability of a certain shape of vessel, moreover, can to a certain extent be seen by observing the commotion which it makes in the water.

Everyone has noticed the way in which a ship throws up a wave at its bows, and that bow-wave, as it is termed, represents so much energy being wasted. The power of the engines is absorbed to a certain extent in making that wave. It is impossible to make anything which when forced through the water will not make some wave, but certain forms cause less of it than others, and the designer of a ship seeks to find that form which will make the smallest bow-wave.

In like manner the eddies which a ship leaves in its wake are the result of wasted energy, and the ship must be so shaped that they too will be reduced to a minimum.

Shipbuilders find that there are three things which r.e.t.a.r.d a ship's movement: skin friction, or friction between the water and the sides of the ship; wave making at the bow and eddy making at the stern. The first depends largely upon the smoothness of the ship's surface, the second and third depend upon its shape. If a model behaves badly in the tank the fault may be either too much wave making or too much eddy making, and which of these it is the dynamometer does not of course tell. In many cases the experienced eye of the tank officials furnishes the clue to the trouble, but in some cases a cinematograph is used to make a complete series of photographs of the model and the water around it as it rushes from end to end. These can then be studied in conjunction with the chart and the cause of the fault discovered.

The real aim, it is obvious, of all these tank experiments is to find out the lowest horse-power necessary to drive the ship, or the best form of ship to get the highest speed out of a given horse-power.

The cost of keeping up these large tanks and making the models and conducting the experiments is very great, for not only are the premises very large (I know one in which the water alone cost nearly a hundred pounds) but a highly skilled staff is necessary. The saving effected in the cost of ships and the superior efficiency of the ships makes it well worth while however.

There is still one other point about this matter which will possibly be puzzling the observant reader. What are the models made of and how are they made? They are made of paraffin wax, and a very important department of the experimental tank is that where the models are formed.