92 ENGINEERING PROGRESS IN THE U. S. NAVY. 



possible advantage, I would use all cylinders as high-pressure, single expansive 

 units with central exhaust. 



We know that the U. S. Navy is using 500 pounds steam pressure with 300 

 degrees superheat at the Annapolis Experimental Station, and there seems to be no 

 difficulty in handling it. We also know that the high-pressure end of the heat scale 

 is all that we now have left, so why not take a decided step in advance and attain 

 the 500 pounds pressure prophesied? It is certainly both possible and practical. 

 Why not adopt it and bring the economy of the steam-engine more nearly that of 

 the much-talked-of "oil engine." 



The President.- — The hour is getting late, and unless there is some one who 

 desires very much to continue this discussion, I will ask Admiral Cone to close it. 



Mr. W. H. Howell, Member: — What pressures are used on the forced lubri- 

 cation spoken of in the paper? 



Admiral Cone: — About 15 pounds. 



Mr. President, I assure you it is my earnest desire to 'close this discussion 

 as soon as possible. I will take but a very few minutes. I feel that I will have to 

 answer a few questions brought up here. Mr. Curtis mentioned the comparison 

 of the North Dakota and the Delaware as being rather unfair. He is right about 

 that; it is. I mean to say by that, that the North Dakota is of a design we know 

 can be improved upon at the present time, and I know that Captain Dyson did not 

 mean to take exception to the Curtis design, based on that ground. The increase 

 in efficiency of the Nevada, which Mr. Curtis called the new North Dakota, at 

 full speed, on paper is very gratifying, but we did not receive any proposition to 

 reduce the boiler power when the ship was being laid down. Of course, that prac- 

 tically is the answer to the question. 



The new propellers on the North Dakota are designed better for full speed, 

 appreciably better, but not quite so good at'the low power. Mr. Curtis takes us to 

 task quite severely for not adopting a geared turbine auxiliary rig for cruising con- 

 ditions, and while I think it has great promise, putting it into a plant costing 

 $12,000,000 before it has been tried in service, is not, in my opinion, good engineer- 

 ing. We will probably try it on something not quite so expensive. 



I notice in Mr. Curtis's remarks that we are not advancing, we are not trying 

 out enough of these things, and I would like to state that within the last two or 

 three years the Navy Department has had on its hands a number of new things. 

 We have put into a collier a large power installation of geared turbines, have put 

 into another collier an electric drive, we have put into some of our destroyers a 

 reciprocating engine-turbine combination, and we have considered almost every- 

 thing else that was brought to our attention. I do not see how we can encourage 

 new things more than we have — what we have done almost covers the field. 



To get down to Mr. Anderson's discussion, he makes a number of rather 



