Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 58.djvu/37

Rh Russian government for the construction of a battleship and a cruiser, largely from the fact that they were able to guarantee delivery within thirty-three months, whereas the French builders who made tenders for the contract could not promise the completion of the vessels much under five years.

Some of the most remarkable records in the reduction of the time between the laying of a keel and the launching of a vessel have been made in British shipyards. Notable in this respect was the battleship 'Bulwark’, which was launched at the Davenport dockyard on October 18, 1899. This vessel was laid down on March 20, 1899, and had thus been under construction less than seven months. During that time

5,450 tons of material had been built into her, and there is nothing to controvert the assertions of the dockyard staff that the work created records in both the time she had been under construction and the weight attained for the period. In order to convey a better idea of the work accomplished it may be noted in passing that the 'Bulwark' is 400 feet in' length between perpendiculars, 75 feet beam, 27 feet draught and 15,000 tons displacement.

The British builders have for some time past made rapidity of construction a subject of study, and their more recent achievements have been attained as the culmination of a series of performances only slightly less creditable. Thus, but nine months and nine days