170 REFUELING WARSHIPS AT SEA. 



tive ropes, and therefore in opposition to each other. When the load carriage stands 

 still at either terminal the automatic control compensates for the lengthening and 

 shortening of the lines, due to the relative motion of the ships, and performs the 

 functions of the main automatic tension engine. 



When the load is to be hauled toward the warship the steam pressure is in- 

 creased on the outhaul engine and decreased on the inhaul engine. This is done by 

 moving a single lever. The operating gear of the engine is interconnected and con- 

 trolled by this single lever. The lever pushed toward the warship causes the load 

 to be hauled toward the warship. The lever pulled from the warship causes the 

 carriage to reverse its direction. When the lever stands in a vertical position the 

 carriage stands still. Thus the mind, the hand and the load move in the same di- 

 rection. The art can be acquired with a few minutes' drill. Nothing can be sim- 

 pler to learn. 



The haul-down block and the load carriage are shown in Fig. 8, Plate 63. A 

 load of bagged coal is being hooked on to the load carriage. This is accomplished 

 in one or two seconds. Immediately after the load is hooked on, the haul-down 

 block is slackened, the automatic tension engine takes in about 16 feet of suspended 

 cable, and the load rises free of the deck of the collier. The operator of the two con- 

 veying engines pushes his lever toward the warship as soon as the bags are free 

 from the deck. The haul-down block continues to rise, and the automatic tension 

 engine continues to take up the main cable. 



In Fig. 7, Plate 62, the carriage with its load of bags is seen crossing the bow 

 of the battleship South Carolina. At this point the end of the main cable and its 

 connecting bridle are rapidly lowered by winchmen to the deck of the warship. 

 The carriage, continuing its travel, collides with the dump block, and the bags are 

 automatically detached and fall to the platform. The cableway operator on the col- 

 lier immediately pulls his operating lever, reversing the direction of the load car- 

 riage, which returns to the collier for another load. The sailors on the battleship 

 then have one minute in which to take the bags from the platform and deliver them 

 to trucks on deck. 



Empty bags are returned to the collier in bundles every sixth or eighth trip. 



SEA TRIALS — U. S. COLLIER CYCLOPS COALING THE U. S. S. SOUTH CAROLINA. 



The official test of the marine cableway on the U. S. collier Cyclops used in 

 coaling the U. S. S. South Carolina took place on April 12, 1913. The Trial Board 

 was composed of Capt. Thomas Snowden, in command of the South Carolina; 

 Naval Constructor L. B. McBride, of the Bureau of Construction and Repair ; and 

 Lieut. Halsey Powell, of the U. S. S. South Carolina. 



The contract of the Navy Department called for a delivery of 480 tons of coal 

 in a period of eight hours. The cableway was operated for six hours under most 

 unfavorable conditions of sea and weather and was stopped because of darkness. 

 After the trial was started a driving rainstorm developed and continued throughout 



