LARGEST WARSHIP LAUNCHED.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 948, 15 October 1910, Page 12

LARGEST WARSHIP LAUNCHED.

H.M.S. ORION'S NEW GUNS. MOST POWERFUL IN THE WORLD. The battleship Orion., the largest arid most powerful warship in the world, was successfully launched at Portsmouth on August 20, the'naming ceremony being ] performed By. the Marchioness of. Winchester. ■ The Onon is to the Dreadnought what the .Dreadnought was to the. type she made obsolete. ■ . With her engines and armament her.. tonnage will: bo nearly 21,000. She is 684 ft.' in length, and will be armed with ten 13.5 in. guns, firing a projectile half as heavy again as the 12m. guns, of. ; the earlier Dreadnoughts, y The •great guns, are to be, mounted .in pairs, arranged; in ; echelon, so that no one of them: will mask any . other,' and . they 'can all be fired on either broadside. The horse-power of the. Orion's engines will .be 27,000, and . her- speed ' .through; .the water will be twenty-phe knots.-... \ ;.' The Orion will 'also' have; a larger'and more, deadly torpedo than any yet mounted. in a warship. ■' This' will .be a 21in.' weapon, with a. range, of.- 7000; yards at a. speed of forty knots.: ' The Orion will, have three suoinerged tubes for' dis r oharging her great torpedoes. .. The Navy !has hitherto used an; 18in. torpedo, v.'...' Among the spectators at the launching; ■ ceremony; were King • Alfonso, Queen Vic-, toria Eugenie, and the' 'ei-Empress' Eugenie. -

40,000 Cheering Spectators,

: The mighty vessel was launched in the presence of over 40,000 cheering spectators. i

The people in , a great, solid, steadily moving ■ procession flowed .'along Portsea Hard, through the: dockyard gates, over ■the- granite', pavements,' ana across the bridges', to - .at . the . water's edge where the mighty construction lay an inort niass'of 8400 tons-of metal.. , . •

: lhe;;scaffoldings ! and props .and plat-' forms, the ■ staging:, and the; machinery amid which the mighty;. bulk had ' grown, had all beon removed.

The support ; of the; launching- • cradle resting; on either/side . upon -the 'eloping gr'oundways-'upon which it was .to slide down, into.' the water maintained','it now in. the porpendicular. On each side of the. great; vessel;;'for two-thirds of the length- the •' cradle-. projected, - a massive structuresof riveted;.steel;' . 'The'' cradle itself ■ weighed'. 400 : ;.tons.;lt '< was to' serve as ;,fche toboggan, .upon- which; tho Orion' :was.to-.slide, down to the water.-

. Gradually and very carefully the; : weight; ®®-* y ®sser;.had, been transferred from' the: Btacked ;timber blocks, upon. which, its -.keel had lain to the inclined ;,platforms! ;'of .the groundways: upon' which' the cradle built round:the ship, rested. T0,.d0 this it was necessary; slightly:. toraise, tho. ;whOle_. mass,: and .this -Was'\ accomplished', vby driving.' wedges into the. cradle planes.-'. •To ''reduce ;thei friction; fifty.'.tohs' : :of: grease, : , costing. .-!£600,' i had .-, been .. . spread uponvthe sliding face' of tho groundways; On the Greased Incline. lies ting now upon tho greased incline .the. huge'; weight would -have -.slipped Vprematurely. down by force of gravitation to the: water- but for .the restraining shores— great baulks : of timber. placed, along her, length. . -Carefully • and : one; by. one ■ ■ these , restraining.. wedges were knocked iaway I until; at, 'last' only, two 'were.:lef t-rrthe;. two: ."dog 7 shoresi" massive blue-painted' beams, one oh ; either side. -;S.

Suspendeddirectiy above eachdog-slioro ■w.as .a ; mass of .metal-, weighing*' about :•» 't0i1,.: which ■. would' fall;:. when.' released, with; sufficient ,; fores ..to .'"knock? Sway '• the ;shores.v '-The. stout..lo^.'-ito- the ends' pf iwhichv. the' weights, were attached, passed of. the vessel in front of .;the elevated .platform '.upon, whioh, surrounded by agathering .(5 <the: dockyard V.and; and- military dignitaries, was'' waiting . : to perform' the\naming ceremony, •-•■.■ ii-, iv?;.. j ~A!s iwedges'^liirdiish'oreV-Jwere-knotted l ': ' awajf;.! by. : about like ants among the;stagings at the -foot' of the overhanging'-bulk,-a short, religious service - %as'. conducted-; ,by.; v the ' dockyard: chaplain on the high launching platform; .;A; psalm, a short prayer, and. the sailor's' hymn,: "For. Those:in Peril on the Sea," : madG up..the', service.. But - tho. .'great .structure. of : • steel was still, only a thing. to which, life and'individuality-had: not Jswung;:.!thei ; flower-decked. bottle of Australian wino thrice.ibeforejt.'struok the steel stem and splashed tho bows vriih tho. christening fluid.;.' .. . ... ; f The Launch,

.."Good luck to the Orion and to all who ! that tho great, structure, began to wako to life. .-' There ■ was-.a/scturying among tho men down among the timbers of tho cradle. "It" had : bGComev "she." : The' vast. steol shell > had become:-a ship.'- im-. patient for her. elemefot, : eager to ; : get to tho '- water, - tagging. at the restraint .of the dog-shores; which held her back. :

: So Mr. J. Apsey, tho constructor, held a :chi6el in position. Lady "Wmchestervgave it the sharp ,blow.- with a mallet: which severed the restraining rope.; Down camo th'e:''suspended;- weights' with i a ,l :simul-.'. taneous ■ crash, knocking: away the - dogshores, and .the Orion sped to the out-stretched-.arms of .the. water. ' .. Behind her she left the water foaming f the watching,: cheering.- ..crowds ' filled-, with .wondering.emotion. - The' Marines' band' 1: played .'Tlulo,- 'Britannia,"' and 'never. 'did:,the stirring chords ■ more - meaning.