Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 50, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 January 1892 — Protecting Ships’ Bottoms. [ARTICLE]

Protecting Ships’ Bottoms.

The question of providing some effective method of protecting ships’ bottoms has come to be a matter for serious consideration. The condition of the bottom of the flagship Charleston when taken out of the water the other day at Mare Island is described as astonishing. All sorfajof marine growths, animal and vegetable, covered the entire, wetted surface so thickly that it was impossible to inspect the steel plates; and until these growths shall have been removed, when it is feared more or less corrosion will have set in, this investigation cannot be made? and the problem how to protect the bottoms of our new and costly ships, especially in the Pacific, will he again presented to our naval authorities. One of the modes suggested for overcoming this difficulty is the use of Japanese lacquer. It appears that this idea emanated from a lacquer manufacturer of Tokio, who noted the fact that lacquered objects that have been subjected to sea water were found to be practically uninjured after a considerable period of immersion. Experiments were made on ship plates at the Yokosuka Navy Yard, and soon after the bottom of the Fuso-Kan was lacquered. The result was so satisfactory that many other vessels of the Japanese navy have since been subjected to the same process. Experiments are now in progress with anti-fouling lacquer that promises very well. The contractors guarantee :t lacquer coat for three years, and, according to the rates charged in Japan, the cost of applying it to a vessel like the Charleston would be $2,600, at 13 cents per square foot. The lacquer would in all probability cost about double the price here. It is understood that plates thus prepared are how at the New York Navy Yard under test. Lieut. Murdock, who has devoted a great deal of attention to the subject, estimates that the lacquer process, assuming that it will last three years, is cheaper iu the long run than painting.