H.M.S. CYCLOPS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 110, 1 February 1908, Page 12

H.M.S. CYCLOPS.

THE KING'S FLOATING WORKSHOP. We never fail to hear a great deal about the launch of a big battleship or cruiser when it takes place, but few people realise, the importanoo of other classes of vessels which aro frequently taking the water whose business in life is to help these high-easto ships in various ways. One of the most important of these classes is that of the "repair ships," • It is only within the last five years that the Admiralty havo \ seriously turned their attention to the provision of theso vessels. Tho first to be added to the fleet was H.M.S. Assistance, best known to tho public through her unfortunate grounding 'off tho coast of Morocco about two years ago. She possesses equipment for carrying out all sorts of minor repairs, and is fitted With special distilling apparatus, so that she can supply fresh water to. any ship of the fleet to'which she may bo attached. PREVIOUS "MOTHER-SIIIPS." Previous to the building of tho Assistance thpre had been no attempt made to provide our sea-going squadrons 'with a repair "shop" that could bo always under their lee. The nearest approach to anything of the sort was inado about 20 years ago when tho Hccla and Vulcan wero fitted up as "mptjier-ships" for tprpedo-boats.' Tl>e 'first )yas an ex-P. land o.'liner, tho lattpr practically a cruiser, and m reality she was piorp - useful : in the last; mpptjoued capiyyty, t)ian in that for which she was, built, botji these vessels carried workshops on"a jnoro pr less small-scale, and also half-a-dozen,..second-class torpedo-boats, which were stowed on tho iippor deck and hoisted in and 'out by stcani derricks., Thir typQ of torpedo-boat,' however;,'never proved satisfactory; .and was soon relegated to -the pcrap-heap..... But now,a great advancehai been made, in this direction by the passing into the active fleet pf'H.M.S. Cyclops. Littli has been heard about this thougl she may bo said to mark a now era in th< Il.ist.ory of the Navy. This is partly duo to tin , fact that tiie liij'id )iglit wjiich is thrown p|v tin actual fightjng ships as a rule leaves these. ver; necessary, auxiliaries in tjio shadow. But ii is, also, duo iji largo: measure to secrecy with which tho Admiralty hove sur rounded her rlesi;r>i. ... •Lijfb tho Dreadnought, in her own. )ipi IT.M..S. Cyclops "marks an entirely ljewdepar turo ill shipbuilding.' Nothing so exteiisiyp ii tho way" of repair-ships' has ever , bpep sit tempted before. It is no exaggeration to sa; that she is a'' ycrjtable flpatjng- dockyard She is, in fact, equal in capacity to a dock yard employing 300 hands. She carries tbi. number 'of mechanics, in , addition to ' tjii prew nccessary to work the ordinary rputiiii of the ship., No guns take up valuable spac* or increase tho displacement.' Every atom o room that can be obtained is utilised for tin various "shops," 7 '. AN IMPORTANT WATCHWORD. Instead'of tho watchword "Gunnery, gunnery, gunnery," .the Cyclops should cry "Repa ii's, repairs, repairs," and those who know most about tho internal arrangements of. a' 'large fleet realiso tho overpowering importance of the word. There, is always ''some littlp thing goiijg wrong. Most of these small .repairs cau ( ' it is true ( be done, on board thp ship by their, own stall of. artifipcrs, but there are many others 'which require " "castings", that can ouly be fry the dockyard plant, The result of this has been/that the. defect, either remained unrepairedHijl tho sliip npxt visited a dockyard, or if it was of such a' nature as to render it essential for tlje fighting efficiency of. the. ship, that it should be instantly attended to,; she had to raise, steam and proceed to tho nearest dockyard. •

The cost of such a proceeding in cpal alone vis very .great when'it is realised'that- even a small ship of the third-class crjiiser type burns ajjojit 12i knots. -"A:battleship,'- of-'course, consumes .very much, more.. In addition to ' tie cost if. coal; there is a .further'disadvantage in that tho fleet is temporarily;jveatened.by the less of ,one of its upits. Tlicloss might occur.'at a time when relations were strained between Great Britain and., some other country, and ■ it might ._ thus .happen that tjie fleet would hav.e ■ to" go into action' short of an important sliip. -But-if the, Cyclops or a similar vessel wero attached to tho squadron it w.oujd not bo necessary for ships to leave the flag of the Goinman'tjer'-iii-chief •' in pubh • circumstances:' For slip has on board her a complete foundry whero castings, can .be. made. Her machinery is even capable of, turning out so large a casting as a battleship propeller, a piece ! of work tjiat requires .cpnjsiderabJ.Q Resource?. Tliepo foundries, giyo the ship a somewhat peculiar ftppearanco, for /their ''pupolas" riso above tho upper deck and form strange excrescences. But one must some ijoveltjyof appearance in a vessel whoso business is practically a now-departure ill maritimo economy. A REMARKABLE ANCHOR. There are several other- strange things about her. Fori instanco the visitor may 00- : serve an. enormousanchor hanging in the corrpct position over, the ibows, but would bo considerably . surprised :if bo were ' curious enough to tap it to fipd that it was made J wood. 'The explanation is simple, for-this dummy anchor is one of the copinlete set of "templets" whiph the vessel, carries ■ for. all sprts'.of pasting?.requiredin : His-Majesty's Navy. -,- The Cyclops is: very much longer than' a battleship, and almost as long as our largest cruisers, being actually 500 ft. -between perpendiculars. In tho matter of speed she is by no means fast. But 'there - would be no object in. being so, as she merely has to' gri from pqrt to port with the' seagoing ■ fleets, and does pot have to engage in any of their tactical exercises. She can, if . necessary,: go with any lame, duck , into the nearest convenient harbour and thero carry out tho repairs on the spot, so that; tho duck may emerge no longer lamo. ,

In addition to her repairing plant, the Cyclops carries a largo distilling apparatus, sufficient to supply fresh water to the ships with which :'sjie is serving,, and ice-making machines and refrigerating rooms in which wil! bo stored fresh meat for the crews of thosi !|iipp not sp fitted.. .

She is the first'of, her type, and. like the Dreadnought she is an object of niuch interest to foreign naval authorities; but I 'our Admiralty have kept a secure hold onVtheir secrets,' and are not likely to gratify : \this natural curiosity any sooner than can' bo helped, • ' ' It is' to be hoped that, though 'the first, the Cyclops will be by no means the last'repair ship, and that we may'soon,hear'of the completion of another veritable "multum in parvo," as these ships are very necessary to our fleet.—("Apex," in the. "Daily Mail.")