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Show LAUNCHING OF D. S1EAGLES New Destroyers Larger Than Old Type and of An Odd Design. DETROIT. July 31. With tho launching of Eagle-I, the first of the fleet of submarine destroyers being built by Henry Ford for the United States navy, dotailed information concerning con-cerning the construction, purposes and possibilities of this newest naval weapon wea-pon became public for the first tim.c. Tho general belief that the boats were little more than exaggerated launches, equipped with long guns, was dispelled dispell-ed when the vessel, 204 feet "long, larger larg-er than the old type of United States destroyers, was dropped into tho waters wat-ers of River Rouge by a great mechanism mechan-ism operated by hydraulic pressure. Tabulated by dates tho story of the Eaglo is this: Decembor 22, 1917 Henry Ford offered of-fered to build boats for the navy. December 27 Discussed plane with Washington officials. January 15, 191S Navy department awarded Fqrd company contract for Eagles. January 18 Work on design of Eagles completed. January 26 First piece for boat was completed." February 7 Keel for first Eagle was laid. February 20 Construction of the shipbuilding plant began. March 1 Hull of the first Eaglo was completed. May 10 Work on tho construction of Eagles was begun in shipbuilding plant. Juno 15 Several boats wero assembled. as-sembled. July 11 First completed boat launched. Tho Eagles aro within thirty feet of approximating the length of tho standard stan-dard 3500 ton wooden ships being built for the Emergency Fleet corporation. Viewed from above deck, tho Eaglo is much more like a flounder than a mackerel. Its midship cross-section bears a strong likeness to the lines of a canal barge. Its stern Is square and blunt. The "remainder of the ship is built generally in straight lines and plane surfaces. The bow, however, tapers to a knifelike edge, seemingly sharp enough and strong enough literally lit-erally to cut a submarine in two. Except for tho high dock house and tho bridge a little forward amidships, mo aecK or mo niagio is unDroKen. utility ut-ility has been-tho ruling consideration, with low cost production second in Importance, Im-portance, and with beauty and comfort only incidentals. Tho Eagles aro built to pass easily through tho Welland canal and the boats' draught and beam are also small enough to permit of the boats' passing through the Now York state barge canal. Tho boats will havo a draw of eight feet when fully equipped and ready for sea. A steam turbine, geared to tho propeller shaft on which is mounted a single three -blade scrow of rather deep pitch, furnishes the motive mo-tive power. Crude oil will be used as fuel. The tank capacity is easily sufficient suf-ficient -for a steaming radius equal to the distance across the Atlantic. There is not a forged or rolled beam in the entire ship. Everything Is pressed press-ed from sheet metal, cold, by means of automatic machinery that cuts every piece to an exact pattern, then punches the rivet holes and bends every part to its required shape. After tho launching of the first Eaglo Mr. Ford said: "I am, of course delighted at this initial success, but I know it would be all right When you have a task like this, entrusted to men who know their business, It can't go wrong. I left them alone but watched all of the time. "There's no use making unnecessary fuss over a little launching. We've got a lot more back in the shops nearly ready to follow Eagle 1." |