model of this class known as Coastal Star was brought out in January, 1918; it is somewhat larger, and the envelope better stream-lined. The motive power is provided by a 110 h. p. Berliot forward, and a 260 h. p. Fiat aft. The North Sea type was designed to act as a scout with the fleet, or to carry out patrols of 20 hours. Its envelope has a cubic capacity of 360,000 feet, and the normal crew is 10 men, but the car will carry 20. Since the signing of the armistice, one of these vessels has made a record voyage for a non-rigid airship of 61 hours 21 minutes, and is understood to have been surpassed on two occasions only by Zeppelins. This class are 262 feet in length, main diameter 55 feet, and they are fitted with two 275 h. p. Eagle or two 260 h. p. Fiat engines. Since 1911 no rigid airship was built in Great Britain till 1916; by January 1, 1918, four of these vessels were in commission. The largest of the four has a capacity of 1,500,000 cubic feet, but larger vessels are under construction. As the rigid vessel has proved its great value for long distance naval reconnaissances, and as the best scout with a fleet, we may expect to see serious attention paid to the development of the type.Army and Navy Gazette, 14/12. AERIAL COASTGUARD.-Methods and Machines.-There were two kinds of anti-submarine patrol, intensive and extensive. The intensive kind was concerned with spotting and escorting in the war channel. This was an area extending from the coast line to a line marked in some parts with numbered buoys about ten miles out. All convoys kept within this line. For inshore work from three to five miles the D. H.-6 machine was used. The old D. H.-6, familiarly known as the Clutching Hand and as a School 'Bus, was capable of about one and one-half hour's patrol on the average. It was altered in design for this work and turned also into a single-seater, the patrols being usually done in pairs. Further out again went the seaplanes and the D. H.-9, often beyond the 30 mile line. The D. H.-9 had the advantage of greater speed than any other anti-submarine patrol craft, and was, therefore, particularly useful in heavy weather or in a sudden emergency demanding swift action. Beyond this again went flying boats and airships. The war channel was thus patrolled by every form of aircraft, though many went further to sea than the safety line for shipping. German submarines were nearly always sighted within the war channel area. They knew, of course, of its existence, and came there for their prey. U-Boat Movements and Methods.-All aircraft on these Royal Aircraft Force patrols were under the direction of the senior naval officer of the group to which the squadrons were attached. In this way the machines were used in conjunction with the surface craft and the hydrophone stations, and there was, in fact, splendid and wonderfully effective collaboration between the forces of the sea and the forces of the air. The study of the movements and methods of enemy submarines had become such an exact science that it was often possible to tell in advance when and where to expect the next attack. How true this is may be gauged by the fact that there were scarcely any successful attacks on shipping (attacks after which the submarine escaped) during flying hours. This year the Germans initiated an air offensive against our anti-submarine patrol. It took the form of very fast monoplanes, heavily armed. Consequently we retaliated by escorting our flying boats and other craft with a purely fighting machine, such, as the Sopwith Camel. The following figures give a slight idea of the work of the Royal Aircraft Force anti-submarine patrol. They refer only to the half-year since the Royal Aircraft Force became a separate force-from April 1 to October 31 last: This brief record of the Royal Aircraft Force coast patrol in home waters does not touch upon the vast air patrol organization in the Mediterranean, and it includes a final period during which German submarine work had greatly decreased.-London Times, 16/12. UNITED STATES NAVY DEPARtment-BUREAU OF CONSTRUCTION AND REPAIR VESSELS UNDER CONSTRUCTION, UNITED STATES NAVY-DEGREE OF COMPLETION, DECEMBER 31, 1918 Miscellaneous Fuel Ship No. 16.. Fuel Ship No. 17.... Fuel Ship No. 18.. New York S. B. Co....... Fore River S. B. Co....... Newport News S. B. & D. D. Co.. Newport S. B. & D. D. Co. Todd D. D. & Const. Co...... Brazos, Boston Navy Yard.. ... 98.5 98.5 98.1 98.1 57.4 51.2 51.1 43.8 36.4 48.4 32.8 51. 6.8 .4 6.8 .4 38.9 28.8 38.2 27.3 4.3 18.8 4.3 18.7 .4 2.I 0. 0. 0. NOTE: Above percentages of completion pertain only to work in connection with hulls and fittings; no machinery is included. There are 229 destroyers, 77 submarines, 31 mine sweepers, 19 seagoing tugs, 40 harbor tugs and 52 Ford boats (Eagle class) in various stages of completion. NAVAL STRENGTH IN 1920.-Rear Admiral Taylor, Chief of Naval Construction, told the House Naval Affairs Committee that when the 1916 program of construction and the program laid down during the war have been completed, the navy will have over twice the number of ships it had before the outbreak of the war, this being exclusive of 350 wooden submarine chasers, which the navy expects to sell or put out of commission. Destroyers represent the backbone of the increase. Of these we have 100 in commission, and 240 more will be added in the next 18 months. By July, 1920, the total number of vessels will be over seven hundred.Scientific American, 21/12. THE AMERICAN Destroyer.-By far the most important part of our wartime program was that which called for the immediate construction of a large fleet of destroyers. The majority of these, in fact, all of the vessels built since the war commenced and now under contract, are of the new 1200-ton type. The water line length is about 320 feet, the beam about 32 feet, with a draft of between 10 and 11 feet, according to load. As compared with our earlier 750-ton destroyers of the Nicholson class, this represents an increase of about 400 tons displacement, and the speed has been raised from about 30 to 35 knots. They are driven by turbines through mechanical reduction gear, and we understand that in service these boats have easily made 35 knots speed or more and that the motive power has proved to be thoroughly reliable. The most notable feature in a first view of these vessels is the disappearance of the separate fo'c'sle deck with a break aft of the bridge to the level of the main deck, and the substitution of a flush deck from stem to stern. There is the same high freeboard forward as in the early destroyers-in fact, the freeboard is considerably greater, and of course the average freeboard of these vessels is several feet in excess of that of the old type. There is also, due to this construction, a considerable increase in strength, since the girder depth of these boats, and consequently their ability to resist bending stresses, is greatly increased for similar weights of material. The experience had with them in the stormy waters of the eastern Atlantic has shown that they are very strong and exceedingly able craft. The armament consists of four long 4-inch rifles, one on the foc's'le deck, one aft, and two carried on a raised structure somewhat forward of amidships. In the early boats these two guns were carried on the beam at the break of the fore deck, and the lifting of them from the main deck to the level of the fo'c'sle deck, that is, through a height of seven to eight feet, gets them out of the way of broken water and gives them a much better command at all times. The armament of a destroyer to-day is vastly different from that of prewar times, for, in addition to guns and torpedoes, it includes the terribly destructive depth bomb. These are carried on sloping run-ways at the stern. When an attack is made they are released, one by one, and fuses are set so that the detonation shall take place as near to the estimated position of the U-boat as possible.-Scientific American, 28/12. POLICY NAVY STATIONS ABROAD To Be Kept Up a Year.-American naval stations will be maintained for at least a year at Brest, Gibraltar, and in the Azores to render aid to American merchant ships. The consent of France, England, and Portugal has already been obtained. The aero and radio stations at these points will be in readiness to respond to calls for aid by American shipping in distress, and facilities will be afforded for needed repairs and supplies. The other naval establishments in Europe have been ordered abandoned as rapidly as possible, and progress in this direction has already been con siderable. The United States Navy had 27 aero stations along the European coast, the material of which, except at Brest, Gibraltar, and the Azores, is being shipped home. Naval transports, relieved of carrying munitions, will hereafter convey food supplies.-N. Y. Times, 19/12. TO HAVE FEWER CHANGES OF U. S. FLEET OFFICERS.-Secretary Daniels is planning a reorganization of naval practice to stop the frequent changes of officers aboard the ships of the fleet, which have been the rule during the war. Commanders of the big ships have objected to having their ships' companies constantly broken up. The Secretary said to-day that immediately after the naval review in New York harbor next week he expected to have conferences on the subject with Admiral Mayo, commanding the Atlantic fleet, and Rear Admiral Blue, the new chief of the Bureau of Navigation.Wash. Evening Star, 22/12. NAVY TO COMPRISE TWO GREAT FLEETS.-One for Pacific and Other for Atlantic Coast to War in Summer Maneuvers.-To keep the navy "fit and on its toes," two great fleets, one based on the Pacific Coast and the other on the Atlantic Coast, will be established by next summer with war games and joint maneuvers as a part of a regular program of training. Secretary Daniels, in explaining his plans to the House Naval Committee to-day, said that after every war there was a tendency for the navy to retrograde, and that the fleet division had been determined upon to prevent any slump. The plan, he said, had received the "enthusiastic indorsement of Admiral William S, Benson, Chief of Operations, now in Europe with the peace delegation. "An admiral who can stay long enough to stir up ambition" will be placed in command of each fleet, Mr. Daniels said, and all officers will be kept on their ships for two years. In effect, the Secretary added, there will be a war between the Atlantic and Pacific fleets, "which will so stimulate keenness that it will make the men feel they are in actual war." Mr. Daniels did not indicate to the committee how many ships would be in each fleet. It is assumed, however, that there will be an equal distribution of the capital ships, most of which heretofore have been kept on the Atlantic Coast. During joint maneuvers the combined fleet will visit each coast, so as to give the people on the Atlantic and Pacific seaboards. an opportunity to see the full naval force. T ་ ་ སྐ Mr. Daniels also told the committee that during peace times the submarine bases at San Diego, Cal., Key West, Fla., and New London, Conn., and the air defence stations at San Diego and Pensacola, Fla., will be retained. The principal training stations for seamen in the east will be in Chicago, Hampton Roads, and Newport, R. I.-N. Y. Times, 1/1. MATÉRIEL BUREAU OF YARDS AND DOCKS HAS BUSY YEAR. The annual report of the Bureau of Yards and Docks shows that for the fiscal year 1918, there was an expenditure in this department of $193,164,458. Three drydocks, at Norfolk, Pearl Harbor and Charleston, have been under construction, shipbuilding facilities were installed or improved at New York, Philadelphia, Norfolk, Charleston, Mare Island and Puget Sound. Camps were erected for 168,875 men at a cost of $45,437,000. A naval aircraft factory was contracted for, and emergency hospitals were erected in many places. Six hundred and eighty-two contracts were executed during the year, while seven hundred and thirty-five were let, involving $84,700,000.-Naval Monthly, January. PERSONNEL FOR YEAR'S NAVAL FORCE OF 225,000.-House Committee Fixes Number Effective From July 1. No Permanent Provision.-A temporary naval force of 225,000 enlisted men for the year beginning next July was decided on to-day by the House Naval Subcommittee, in beginning the work of framing the naval appropriation bill. This force is 25,000 less than was recommended by Secretary Daniels. No provision will be made in the bill, the committee decided, for increasing the permanent strength of the navy, now fixed at 142,000 men. This decision was in accord with Secretary Daniels' recommendations that permanent increase should await a study of ship complements that is to be made during the summer by the naval officials. Indicates Retrenchment. However, the committee's action in adopting a plan calling for fewer men than recommended by the Secretary was regarded as indicating that the committee plans reduction of department estimates for the year. Committee members pointed out that appropriations depend more or less on the personnel. The permanent force of the navy, it is expected by the committee, will rate the strictly naval craft, with 20,000 men of the temporary force being used for the army transport service and the remainder for manning shipping board vessels. In deciding on the personnel force, committee members regarded a complement of 1000 men, exclusive of officers, as sufficient for the dreadnoughts and battle cruisers for peace time, this being a reduction from the basis of 1200 to 1400 men. The committee also discussed placing in service a part of the destroyers and 110-foot submarine chasers, now in the navy. as also some of the Eagle patrol boats that are being built.-Washington Evening Star, 10/1. OPERATIONS SEEK TEUTON SHIPS TO BRING OUR TROOPS.-America and Britain to Give Food to Austria and Germany in Return.-American and British representatives will hold a conference with German Admiralty authorities at Treves, Wednesday, to acquire possession of German and Austrian passenger ships for the transportation of troops. The United States will be represented by E. N. Hurley, Chairman of the Shipping Board, and Admiral W. S. Benson. Admiral Brown, will represent Great Britain. It is proposed that America give Austria and Germany food in return for the ships. It is planned that the British will get smaller ships for the return of troops to Australia and Canada, while America will have the big boats, which will include virtually all the Hamburg-American liners, including the Imperator. This division is suggested because the bigger liners are too large for Australian or Canadian harbors. If this arrangement becomes effective, it will increase the flow of troops to America about 70,000 per month. This will make a total capacity of shipping approximately 170,000 men each month.-N. Y. Times, 14/1. MERCHANT MARINE WORLD'S NEW VESSEL CONSTRUCTION.-U. S. Building More Ships Than all Other Countries Combined.-Merchant vessels under construction throughout the world at the end of September aggregated 6,371,388 gross tons. This includes 1966 steam vessels of 6,258,194 tons and 178 sailing vessels of 113,194 tons. The figures are furnished by Lloyd's Register of Shipping for the quarter ended September 30.-Nautical Gazette, 4/1. AMERICAN SHIPS GO BACK TO OWNERS.-Government Will Retain Only Those Now Engaged in Army Service.—All American ships which have been requisitioned by the government during the war have beer released to their owners, with the exception of those engaged in army service, it was announced yesterday by the United States Shipping Board. In the place of those retained for service and which are fitted for the transportation of troops, the owners will receive an equal tonnage of government built and owned vessels. A. E. Clegg, Assistant Director of Operations, said that all the ships referred to now in American ports would be turned over to their owners at once; those on voyages would be released on their return to the United States. |