BATTLE-CRUISER RENOWN.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 16724, 27 April 1920, Page 3

BATTLE-CRUISER RENOWN.

SOME INTERESTING PARTICULARS i (Scientific American.l In selecting tho battle-cruiser Renown to carry the Prince of Wales to New Zealand, tl;o British Admiralty chose a handsome and popular ship to carry a gallant and popular Prince on a tour of goodwill. The Renown has grace in every line of her, so much so, indeed, that ono is apt to forget that she carries six of tho most powerful guns afloat to-day. It is easier to credit her speed than her gun-power, for she. is botu.Jong and lean, and In spite of her great size, she has all tha sweetness of line, and delicacy of mod- , elling which characterises tro yacht. How big is she ? Well, perhaps there is no better standard of measurement than tho Wooiworth Tower, which is exactly as high as the Renown is long, namely 759 feet; Moreover, she is within a foot or two of being the same length as the Mauretania, although there the similarity ends, for the Mauretania has been driven by her 70,000 horse-power turbine’ at a maximum speed of 26 knots, whereas the Renown, with her 112,000 horse-power, made on her trial trip 32.6 knots, which is equivalent to about 38 miles per hour. As might bo expected, in order to'achieve tins speed the Renown was given the fine under-water lines of a destroyer. It has been stated that except in Ijer bottom plates, mere is not a straight line in the whole hull of the ship, and to the practised eye a great similarity is shown between her lines and those of tho latest destroyers. There is a suggestion of her fineness in tho fact that in spite of her length she' displaces only 26.500 tons, and her draft is only 2oit 6in. Originally, this vessel and the Repulse were laid down as battleships, and work had only just commenced when war was declared. As a result of the success of tho British battle-cruisers in finding and sinking Admiral Von Spec’s fleet at the Falkland Islands, it was decided to build" the two ships as battlebruisers, giving them greater speed and a heavier armament than the existing ships of that class. The Renown embodies many of the lessons learned in the war, including a modified bulge below water as a protection against torpedoes. In fact, the whole matter of anti-torpedo defence has boon well worked out, the protection of the bulge being supplemented by elaborate internal subdivision of the hull of tile ship itself. Tho armament consists of six 45-calibre, 98ton, luriuch guns, firing a 1920-pound shell. Both the guns and tho turrets are worked hydraulically, and an opportunity to watch tho operation of the guns was afforded to visitors as the ship lay in the North, River, New York. One stroke .of a plunger located on the gun above the breech block unscrews tho latter and swings it open. Tho guns arc elevated by the direct action of a plunger attached below the breech. The bringing up of the heavy ammunition is also done by hydraulic power. A novel feature is the installation of tho four-inch anti-torpedo battery in throe-gun shield mounts, a compact arrangement which is in line with up-to-date development. An interesting feature is that this secondary battery of 17 four-inch guns is controlled by special director-firing methods from the foretop. The British system of firing is to let go with only the right-hand gun in each turret, which in the Renown moans a three-gun salvo. The next salvo consists of the left-hand guns in* each turret, and the third salvo of the right-hand guns. The range for the' second salvo is raised 600 yards over the first, and the third is raised 500 yards over tho second. The salvos 'come so rapidly tiiat when firing at, say. 15,000 yards’ range there will ho three of these salvos in tho air at tho same time. ’When they land, the splash lays a scale, as it Acre, down upon the water near or around tho enemy, and from tho three shots the fire-control officer can determine tho range for tho next salvo. It is known am&ng the British, as tho “ladder” system.

At the top of the forward tripod mast there arc three covered-in platforms which contain the fire-control instruments and are occupied by the officers who do tho spotting, ranging, etc,, hy which tho position and course motive power consists of water-tube, of tho enemy ship are determined. The oil-fired boilers and Brown-Cnrtiss turbines. The oil is stored in the double bottom. When the Renown is fully fuelled for a voyage she carries 4250 tons.