.V •,^.\Y- ^ \>^ -S!C i£%.0 Modern i T Shifbuildiig AND THE fy^EN ^NGAGED Jn | DAVID POLLOCK ta»*^,«-rt»*-i- ^'fyi^-*^ :i ! Ub«t;t g«ttt!jj ©Iturisittfn ^ mn to 1903 /^./a7^3. /; 'f^66r RE SERVED . yim p£S™*" University Library aged The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924030900835 %\\^^1, MODERN SHIPBUILDING AND THE MEN ENGAGED IN IT : A REVIEW OF RECENT PROGRESS IN STEAMSHIP DESIGN AND CON- STRUCTION, TOGETHER WITH DESCRIPTIONS OP NOTABLE SHIPYARDS, AND STATISTICS OF WORK DONE IN THE PRINCIPAL BUILDING DISTRICTS. I DAVID POLLOCK, NAVAL ARCHITECT. als0, ^itfxis of §oi«bh ^Jip. London: E. & F. N. SPON, 125 Strand. New York : 35 Murray Street. 1884. (All rights reserved, ) PREFACE. The great activity in shipbuilding and marine engineering dur- ing recent years, and the substantial progress, both in science and pi-actice, which has marked the period, have often formed the subject of articles in the technical and daily press, and of papers read before professional institutions. So far as I am aware, however, no single work dealing historically with modern shipbuilding in a way at once trustworthy and popular, and in a form- handy and accessible, has yet been published. The present work aims at supplying this want. In undertaking it originally ,_ I felt encouraged by jfche acceptance which various articles, contributed to the columns of the Glasgoio Herald, The jEngineer, The Steamship, Iron, &c., had met with from many whose good opinion I had reason to value highly. With the kind permission of the proprietors of the above journals, I have made use to some extent of the articles in question — but largely amplified and corrected — in preparing the following pages. The work is concerned exclusively with shipbuilding for the merchant marine, and no attempt is made to trace the progress connected with naval shipbuilding, although some of the many important influences which the one exerts upon the other have been indicated. Even as thus defined and restricted, the field of review is so vast that the limits which I had determined should bound the work with respect to price, and consequently with respect to size, have compelled me to treat briefly and in a general way maily matters which it might have been of interest to enlarge upon. The list of authoritative papers and lectures to which readers can at first hand refer — given at the end of each chapter— may, it is hoped, compensate to some extent for these deficiencies. The book being mainly historical, originality in the /strict sense of the term cannot, of course, be urged for much of the contained matter; but efforts have been made throughout to present trustworthy statements of the very latest steps in advance. This is specially true of the chapter on scientific progress. My object, however, having been' more to enlighten general readers than to seek to interest or inform professional ones, it is perhaps wanting in the scientific fulness needed to give it special value, viewed from the standpoint of- the trained naval architect. While the biographies and portraits given throughout the book may be considered fairly representative of those who as shipbuilders, shipowners, naval architects, or marine engineers have made their influence felt on the world's mercantile marine during the period of review, the collection by no means includes all who are deserving of such notice. The subjects of por- traiture are all in life, and actively engaged in their respective spheres of labour. The diffidence generally evinced by them in consenting that their likenesses and the note of their profes- sional career should be given,has made my task one of difficulty. What may be called the over-diffidence of a few, originally selected for portraiture, has to some extent occasioned the in- completeness now commented upon. As further accounting for the limitations of the present work, I think it fitting to add that the preparation of the whole book, including the task of seeing it through the press, has devolved upon me at a time when the ordinary intervals of respite from daily business have had to suffice for its accom- plishment. My best thanlcs are due to those firms and individuals to whom I had to appeal for statistics and .other particulars, for their generally ready and courteous attention to my requests. DAVID POLLOCK. Dumbarton, Novemler, 1884. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. EECENT PEOaEESS IN STEAMSHIP OONSTKUOTION. rAae Growth in Dimensions of Steamships— America's Place in Ocean' TrafiBo— Ship- building in America— Wood versm Iron Shipbuilding -Introduction of Mild Steel for Shipbuilding— Suitability of Mild Steel for Shipbuilding — Eco- nomical Advantages of Steel Ships— Reduction in Cost of MiM Steel — Pioneer Steel Steamships — Cellular Bottom Steamships — Description of Cellular Bottom System— Adoption of Water Ballast - Spread of Cellular i Bottom System — Cellular Bottom Sailing Ships — Minor Structural Modifica- tions—Cast-Steel Stern Frames, Eudders, &o.— Advantages of Cast-Steel Stern Frames, Eudders, &o. — Probable Future of Steel Castings —List of Papers, &o., bearing on Ship Construction i 1 CHAPTER 11. SPEED AND POWEE OF MODEEN STEAMSHIPS. Early Atlantic Mail Steamers — Reduction of the Atlantic Passage-time — Modern Transatlantic Steamships — Fast Atlantic Passages — The Future of the Atlantic Service— Capo of Good Hope Mail Service— Employment of Steamers on Long Voyages — Australian Direct Steam Service — New Zealand Direct Steam Service — Increased Number of High Speed Steamers- Economy in Coal Consumption — Construction of Modern Marine Boilera- Improved Boiler Fittings— Combustion by Forced Draught — Reduced Weight of Machinery — Triple Expansion Engines— Designs for " Ships of the Future" — The Future of Ship Propulsion— List of Papers bearing on Speed and Power of Steamships 27 CHAPTER III. SAFETY AND COMPORT OF MODEEN STEAMSHIPS. Water-tight Sub-division — Value of Proper Sub-division— Dangers of Inefficient Siib-division^ Merchant Steamers on Admiralty List— Safety due to Double Bottoms— Safety due to Employment of Steel— Safety as affected by Con- struction—Causes of Unseaworthiness— High Qualities of Ship Construction —Safety due to Articles of Outfit— Improved Nautical Instruments— Devices for Unsinkable Ships— Devices for Life-Saving— Comfort on Board Modern Steamships— Comfort as affecting Ship Design— Improved Saloon Accom- modation— Electric Light on Board Ship— Electric Ship Signal Lights- Ventilation on Board Ship— Improved Systems of Ventilation— Hydraulic Appliances on Board Ship— The Bessmer Channel Steamer— The Causes and Alleviation of Sea Sickness— Progress due to Novelty in Design— List of Papers, &o., bearing on Safety and Comfort of Ships 51 CHAPTEE IV. PROGRESS IN THE SCIENCE OF SHIPBUILDING. ^^as The Lessons of Disaster — Sources of Scientific Knowledge — Government Schools of Naval Architecture — Greenwich Royal Naval College — The Transition from Sail to Steam and from Wood to Iron in Shipbuilding— Labours of Russell, Eankine, and Froude — Institution of Naval Architects — Recent Scientific Progress — Outlines of Fundamental Principles — Shortened Methods of Ship Design —Metacentric Stability — Atwood's Stability Theorem — Improvements of Atwood's Method— Stability at Light Draught — Stability Curves at Different Draughts — Cross Curves of Stability — Stability Curves by Experiment— Stowage as affecting Stability— Speed and Power of Steamships — Approximating to Power Required — Progres- sive Speed Trials — Curves of Speed and Power, &c. — Speed Experiments with Models — Froude's Law of Comparison — Relative Efficiency of Hull, Engines, and Propeller^ — Investigations of Strength of Iron Vessels — Reed's and John's Investigations — Strength Investigations as Affecting Registry Rules — Agencies for Scientific Education — University Chairs of Naval Architecture- List of Papers on the Science of Shipbuilding, 84 CHAPTEE V. PROGRESS IN METHODS OF SHIPYARD ■WORK. Piece-work System in Shipyards— Increased .Use of Machinery — Powerful Punching Machines— Hydraulic Power Machines — Portable Hydraulic Riveters- Machine Riveting of Shell Placing— Hydraulic Riveting of Deck Work — Hydraulic Riveting of Beams and Frames — Hydraulic Riveting of Cellular Bottom Work— Hydraulic Riveting of Keels— Improved Wood- Working Machinery — Awards to Workmen for Improvements — Lifting Appliances for Heavy Weights— Improved Means of Transport in Shipyards — List of Papers bearing on Modern Shipyard Machine Tools, Appliances, and Methods of Work .■..129 CHAPTER VI. DESCRIPTIONS OF -SOME NOTABLE SHIPYARDS. Messrs J. Elder & Co.'s Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Works — Messrs Denny & Bros.' Shipbuilding Works— Messrs J. & G. Thomson's Ship- building and Engineering Works— Palmer Shipbuilding and Iron Com- pany's Works— Sir W. 6. Armstrong, Mitchell & Co.'s Works— Mr Laing's Deptford Shipbuilding Works— The Works of the Barrow Shipbuilding Company — Relative Output of Tonnage by the largest Firms 150 CHAPTEE VII. OUTPUT OF TONNAGE IN THE PRINCIPAL DISTRICTS. Inaccuracy of Tonnage Statistics- Curves of Tonnage Output— Output in the Clyde District— Output in the Tyne District- Output in the Wear District —Relative Output in Principal Districts— Statistics of Steel Tonnage 184 CHAPTER VIII. THE PEODUCTION OF LARGE STEAMSHIPS. p^oj, List of Vessels over 4000 Tons Presently er at one time Afloat— The Years in which, the Production of Large Steamships have been Greatest— The Individual Share of the several Districts in Producing Large Steamships. ...198 APPENDIX. CALOTTLATING INSTRUMENTS. Fuller's Spiral Slide-rule— Amsler's Polar Fixed-scale Planimeter— Amslers Pro- portional or Variable-scale Planimeter— Amsler's Medhanioal Integrator.,. 207 POETRAITS AND BIOGEAPHICAL NOTES. JohnBubns, fadngPage 2 NaTHAHIEL DUNLOP jj 12 Thomas Henderson,. „ ^^ 20 William Pbabce, , ^^ 30 James Anderson, , „ ^^ 3g Alexander C. Kirk, „ ^^ 44 Benjamin Maetell, ,, ^^ 69 William H. White, ; ^^ , gg John iNGUs, Jdn., „ 1, 106 Sir Edward J. Reed, ,, ,, 108 Prop. Francis Elgab, , ,, „ 114 William Denny, „ „ ng William John, „ ,, 124 Charles Mark Palmer, „ „ 172 James Laing, , „ 178 VIEWS OF NOTABLE STEAMSHIPS. S.S. "City of Rome," Anchor Line, , Frontispiece, S.S. "Umbria," Cunard Line, .faeing Page 6 S.S. "Austral," Anchor Line, „ „ 36 E R R A.T A.. PAGFi 11.- Thirteenth line troin top : tor 1883 read 1884. Page 181.- Fourth line from top : for "a single trial " read " one or two trials." Page 163. —Fourth line from top : tor 1884 read 1845. Page 187.— Third line from top: for "fluctuations" read "fluctuation." Page 200,— Dimensions of- "City of Rome" : for 646 by 62 by 68J read 546 by 52 by 38|. " Into a ship of the line man has put as much of his human patience, common sense, forethought, experimental philosophy, self-control habits of order and obedience, thoroughly wrought handwork, defiance of brute elements, careless courage, careful patriotism, and calm expectation of the Judgment of God, as can well be put iilto a space 300 feet long; by 80 feet broad." — SusMn. " If any body of men have just cause to feel pride in their calling, and in the fruits of their labour, shipbuilders have. If we look at the magnitude of the operations of building, launching, engining, and com- pleting a modern passenger ship of the first rank, and regard the multiplicity of the ai-rangements and beauty of finish now expected^ and then think this structure has to brave the elements, make regular passages, convey thousands of human souls, and tens of thousands of tons of merchandise every year across the ocean, in storm or calm, we cannot but feel that they are occupied in useful human labour. But more than this, there is a public sentiment surrounding ships that no other mechanical structures can command Beautiful churches, grand build- ings, huge structures of all kinds have a certain interest pertaining to them, but it is different in kind from that which surrounds a ship. The former are fixed, immovable, inert ; the ship is here to-day and gone to-morrow, building up a history from day to day with a reputation as sensitive as a woman's to calumny, and like her consequently often a bone of contention as well as an object of admiration." — William John. MODERN SHIPBUILDING. > *♦» < CHAPTEE I. EECENT PEOGRESS IN STEAMSHIP CONSTRUCTION. THE achievements in shipbuilding and marine engineering ■within recent years may be said to borrow lustre from- one particular feat of past times. The Great Eastern un- doubtedly furnished, in large measure, the experience that has recently been causing so great a change in the tonnage of our mercantile marine. Commercially, as is well known, that 'huge vessel — " Brunels' grand audacity," she has been called — has all along proved a lamentable failure. It has been stated on • good authority that between 1853 — the year in which the contract for her was entered into — and the year 1869, no less than one million sterling had been lost upon her by the various proprietors attempting to work her. Financially, indeed, she may be said to have proved the "Devastation" of the mercan- tile marine. Although at various times in her long Hfentime she has unquestionably done most useful service in sub-marine cable-laying^-service, indeed, which, but for her, could not well have been accomplished — ^these times of usefulness have been far outbalanced by her long periods of inactivity. Apart from -commercial considerations, however, this premier leviathan still stands out as a wonder and pattern of naval -construction. In her admirably-conceived and splendidly- wrought stuctural arrangements — due to the joint labours of ihe late Mr I.'K. Brunei and Mr J. Scott Eussell — she pos- sesses as successful an embodiment of the dual quality of " strength-with-lightness " as can be found in any subsequent •ocean-going merchant ship. She was, if not the first, certainly the greatest embodiment of the longitudinal system of con- struction, and in virtue of this, as well as of her phenomenal Growth in Dimensions of Steamships. proportions, she represents, alone, more of the intrepidity and skill essential to thorough progress, than are exhibited by- combined hosts of the " departures " of recent times. Despite the far-reaching views of the eminent designer, those changes which have since taken place in the essential conditions for successful ocean navigation eluded his vision. Owing to the opening of coal mines in almost all parts of the world, it is now no longer necessary nor desirable that a steamer should be capable of carrying coals for a return voyage, either from India or Australia — this being the dominant and regulating condition in the Great Eastern's design. Further, the improve- ments in marine engineering, represented by the greater pos- sible economies in coal consumption and the fuller utilization of steam, which have siace been effected, have rendered the great ship inefficient and obsolete. In short, Brunei and his financial supporters were ahead of their time, and failed to appreciate the law of progress, now better understood — " invention must wait on experience." The urgent demands of our broader civilisation, improve- ments ia navigation, the spread of population in new colonies and over wider continents, and, above all, the fresh accessions of experience and invention, are forces which now impel ship- owners to increase the dimensions of their vessels, and ship- builders to carry out the work. Each year the contrasts as to dimensions between the first leviathan and her later sister grow less and less. The completion vrithin the past few years of such monster merchant ships as the Servia, the City of Borne, the Alaska, and the Oregon, and the forward state of the Mruria and Umhria, two remarkable steamships, building on the Clyde for the Cunard Company, constitute an epoch in the history of our mercantile marine, and give colourable justifica- tion to the belief sometimes expressed, that the proportions of the Great Eastern will in time be surpassed. The feasibility — in a scientific sense — of ships growing in proportions commensurate with the growth of commerce and traffic, has often been commented upon. The whole tendency of our time is towards the aggregation of efibrt : the massing of PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE. JOHN BURNS. JOHN BURNS, F.R.A.S., F.R.G.S. CHAIBMAK OF THE CT7NAED ST3AMSHIP COMPANY. BoEN at Glasgow and educated at the- University in that city. At an early age became a partner in the firm of G. & J. Burns, which Was founded in 1824 by George Burns (his farther) and James (his uncle), alsu in the Cunard Steamship Company, of which gigantic con- cern, as is well known, his father, with Samuel Cunard and David M'lver, were the founders iu 1839. From the first Mr Burns earnestly addressed himself to the responsibilities of his important position, and finding able coadjutors in his other partners in the Cunard Company, has carried on the concerns of that great Steamship Line so as to enhance its reputation and maintain first place in the Atlantic Mail Service. In 1880, forty years after its formation, the Company was transformed into a public corporation, with Mr Burns as chair- man. The fleet now consistsof 37 steamers, representing over 110,000 tons, or a money e(iuivalent of nearly £3,000,000, and giving employ- ment to an enormous number of persons. Whiln everything is done on board to ensure speed and comfort, the main consideration, to which all others are made subservient, is safety. First-class vessels, unstinted equipment, carefully-selected officers and men, combined with close personal supervision, are the means used to attain this end, and that it is attained marvellously is matter of world-wide fame. Apart from his able management of the Cunard fleet, Mr Burns has not allowed thfe affairs of his" Home Services between this country and Ireland and elsewhere, to suffer in any particular, but in his hands these concerns have flourished and the ti'ade greatly increased. The services are conducted by a splendid fleet of mail steamers, now belonging exclusively to Mr Burns, quite irrespective of the Cunard fleet, and which, for speed, safety, and unfailing re- gularity of departure and arrival, are probably unsurpassed. As representing the Cunard Company, and also as a private ship- owner, Mr Burns has taken frequent and conspicuous part in the discussion of those great matters which concern the maritime in- terests of this country. Has often been called upon to give evidence before Select Committees of the House of Commons on shipping affairs. Was amongst the first to recommend to Government the desirability of fitting merchant steamships so as to be available in times of war. Is Deputy-Lieutenant of Lanarkshire, and Magistrate for the counties of Lanark and Renfrew. Evinces unbounded interest in the commercial and social well-being of his native city, numerous benevolent institutions in great measure owing their existence to his hearty munificence. His residence of Castle Wemyss, on the Clyde, is frequently the abode of the famous of this and other countries. wyi^ tNK-PHOT0,BPRA0UE«Ce LONDON Ultimate Dimensions of Steamships. capital and labour. A vessel of five thousand tons can be built cheaper than five vessels of one thousand tons. In the manning and working of ships there is a still more striking economy, e.g., one captain instead of five, and so on throughoiat the staff of officers, engineers, stewards, and crew. Not only so, but long sMps can be propelled at greater speedfe than short ones, the whole- conditions of construction, engines, and propellers being considered. Mr Eobert Duncan, in his presidential address before the Society of Engineers aild SMpbuilders in Glasgow in 1872, declared: — "Looking forward one generation, and measuring the future by the past, I think it is not problematical that we shall see steamers of eight hundred feet long the ferryboats of two oceans, with America for their central station, and Europe and Asia for their working termini." Even since that was uttered, eleven years ago, .we have approached, in solid practice, the limit thus laid down, by 150 feet at least. Three years previous to Mr. Duncan's address, vessels exceeding four hundred feet were not afloat, with the notable exception already referred to; now, there are few merchant fleets of any pretensions engaged in ocean trafiic which do not include vessels over or approaching four hundred feet, and it is even no great boast that vessels close on six hundred feet are afloat and in active service. As better illustrating the growth in dimensions of merchant steamships, the Figs, on the following page may prove interest- ing. They show, all to the same scale, a number of representa- tive steam vessels from the Comet downwards. Along with the change or evolution in the sizes and types of merchant vessels, important modifications in their struc- tural arrangement have of late years been effected, and it is to the constant progress being made in these matters — ^to the sldll and intrepidity which are brought to bear on their execiltion, and to the readiness with which our shipowners recognise their importance and value — ^that the maintenance of our mercantile supremacy is largely owing. An American Growth in Dimensions of Steamships. 'Comet." 1812. " Elizabeth," 1813. "Industry," 1814. 'Caledonia,'* 1815. 'Ro3 Roy." 1818. "James Watt," 1822. 'SiRius," 1837. "Great Britain," 1843. " City OF Glasgow," 1850. 'Great Eastern," 1857. 'Scotia," 1861. 'COLUMBA," 1878. "Arizona," 1876. "Servia," 1881. City of Rome," 1881. America's Place in Ocean Traffic. journal, -writing a few years ago on this subject — ^perhaps with more of taunt for the conceit and self-sufBciency evinced by its own country than of adulation for the ability and enterprise displayed by ours — said: — " In the whole world there is no place whatever that can in any degree compare with the Clyde for either extent or quality of steamship building ; and at this moment an indisputable verification can be adduced, for between American and European ports there are at the present time something like a score of steam navigation companies, doing an immense passenger and carrying trade, with vessels of great power and magnificence, and notwithstanding the variety of trade nationalities, at least two-thirds of the vessels employed were built and equipped on the Clyde ; and more — unless there has very recently been a change, there is not an American steam company in the whole Atlantic trade. With a run of about fifty years to try it, and after many unsuccessful attempts, the Americans have utterly failed to sustain permanent competition. All the British companies have ptospered beyond any probable anticipation clothed with reason. The Cunard Company, starting with four vessels some forty years ago, have now twenty times that number. What is this something which enablas Europeans to so far outstrip the Americans in a competitive traffic so as to exclude them from the merest show in the largest steam trade in the world ? A baneful, overweening, and ignorantly selfish conceit invariably leads to disastrous results, and a nation given over to the fulmination of concentrated boast cannot fail to be . suffocated vdth foolery of its own making.'' This is doubtless the outcome of a vicious antipathy — ^natural in the circumstances — to those stringent and over-reaching laws which forbid that ships built away from America shall sail under the American flag, or enjoy the pertaining privileges. American shipbuilders thus secured from the encroaches of foreign competition, have enjoyed their own pace, but at too great a sacrifice. Preferring to take the material most at hand, the manipulation of which they well understood, they have allowed their wood age to be dove-tailed thirty years into our iron one, with the other result that America now occupies as unimportant a place in the traffic of the sea, as the above quotation indicates. Evidences are not wanting, however, to show that America is at least endeavourrag, in some respects, to be abreast of the times, and that she has brought herself to acknowledge and follow the lead of this country. In this connection, the four •6 Shijphuilding in America. new vessels presently being constructed for the U.S. Navy may be shortly referred to. The vessels comprise three cruisers and one desj)atch boat, aU. of wliich are being built by Mr Jolin Boach, of Chester, Pa., the material employed in their con- struction being mild steel of American manufacture Twin screws will be employed for the propulsion of the largest vessel — the Chicago — which is to be 315 feet long between perpendiculars, 48 feet beam, and 34 feet 9 inches moulded depth to spar deck. The other vessels are the Boston and the Atalanta, single screw cruisers of 270 feet length; and the Dolphin, single screw despatch boat, of 250 feet length and high speed. In almost every feature except machinery these new American naval vessels strongly resemble Government vessels of recent British build, a circumstance for which there is little difficulty in accounting, as it is well known the naval authori- ties in the States have within recent times been recruited by young American naval architects educated in our Naval College at Greenwich, and consequently steeped in British naval practice. This and other facts, such as the visit of a technical commissioner of the States' navy, two years ago, to our naval and mercantile sliipyards — upon which he has since fully reported— leave one in no doubt as to the source of coincidence in design and structure. The subject of America's position as a shipbuilding and shipowning country .has involved reference to wood ship- building, but to revert at any length to this topic in a work dealing with modern progress in British shipbuilding, the bulk of which is written of and for industrial and commercial centres where wood shipbuilding has been long entirely tabooed, is quite imnecessary. Doubtless, however, the amount of wood and composite building stiU carried on in the minor seaports of the United Kingdom, and in several of the British possessions, is of sufficient importance to demand some reference. As the present position of affairs in this con- S. S. TJl^BHI-A..— 0-criir^E.D LiiSTEi. Length, Bkeapth, 500 ft. in. 57 ft. in. Depth Tonnage (G-boss),... 40 ft. in. 7,718 tons. Built bv Messks. Elder & Co., 1884. Wood versus Iron Shipbuilding. nection is briefly and forcibly illustrated by statistics compiled and issued by the British Iron Trade Association, two tables taken from this source may be given, the subject thereafter being finally departed from : — Tonnage of Vessels constructed and registered in the ' United Kingdom of Ir6n, Steel, and Wood respectively, in each of the years 1879 to 1883, with Percentage of Total Tonnage constructed in Iron and Sted. Year. Gross Tonnage of Vessels built of Iron and Steel. Wood. Excess Tonnage in Iron and Steel. 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 484,636 525,568 730.686 913,519 1 012.735 26,186 19,938 18.107 14,850 15,202 458,450 505.630 712,579 898,669 997,533 Totiils,... 3 667.144 94,283 3,572,861 Tonnage of Wooden Vessels registered in the United Kingdom which were Lost, Broken up, dsc., during each of the years 1879 to 1883, with Tonnage of Wooden Vessels built and registered in the United Kingdom during the same period. Year. Tonnage of Wooden Vessels. Excess of Vessels ' lost over those built. Lost. Built. 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 149.828 173,065 170,283 166,809 144,138 26,186 19,938 18.107 14 850 15,202 123,642 153,127 152,176 151,959 128,936 Totals,... 804,123 94,283 709,840 "Wlience it appears that while 709,840 tons of the 1,779,112 tons of ships removed from the register during the last five years w.ere wooden vessels, only 94,283 tons of the 3,667,1 44 tons built and registered in the United Kingdom during the same period were constructed of that material. In other words, wooden ships represent 45 per cent, of the total losses, whEa they only represent 2 '5 per cent of the total tonnage built- and added to the register during the five years in question. Just as the introduction or general adoption of the com- pound engine marked an epoch in the history of shipbuilding and marine propulsion, so now the introduction of "mild "8 Introduction of Mild Steel for Shipbuilding. steel" or "ingot iron" as a material for shipbuilding, together with the more extended adoption of water ballast, and the rapid development of the continuous cellular system of con- struction, may be said to constitute a fresh starting-point in the history of the industry. Although the introduction of steel as a material for ship- building dates at least as far back as 1860, its use has been but partial or occasional until within very recent times. The uncertainty as to quality, the frequent great disparity between pieces cut from the same plate, and the special care needed in the manipulation, prevented its general adoption. With the highly improved "mild steel/' however, first manufactured in Prance, and applied to shipbuilding purposes there about nine years ago, and subsequently introduced into this country,, began the more extended adoption of steel, which every day,, or with every accession to experience, is displacing iron. The facts relating to the introduction into this country of mild steel for shipbuilding purposes, may be briefly recounted. In the latter end of 1874, Admiral Sir W. Houston Stewart,. Controller of the British Kavy, and Mr. N. Barnaby, Director of Naval Construction, availed themselves of the opportunity to observe and study the use of steel in the French dockyards- of Lorient and Brest, where three first-class armour-plated vessels were then being built of steel throughout, supplied from the works at Creusot and Terrenoire. Mr. Barnaby, at the meetings of the Institution of Naval Architects in March following, gave an account of his observations during this visit,, and pointed out clearly and precisely to the steel-makers of Great Britain aU the indispensable conditions which would have to be met and satisfied by steel for shipbuilding, so that it could be used with confidence in the construction of the largest vessels. Before the end of 1875, the Landore-Siemens Company was enabled to fulfil these conditions, and the Admiralty contracted with them to supply the plates and angles necessary for the construction of two cruisers of liigh speed — ^the Iris and the Mercury. The material involved in this contract was steel obtained by the Siemens-Martin process.. Suitability of Mild Steel for Shipbuilding. 9* Shortly after this the Bolton Steel Company was in its turn, able to produce by the Bessemer process plates and angles^ satisfying all the requisite conditions. The Steel Company of Scotland, Butterly Company, and other important works, also- entered into the same business, and operations are still going on in various parts of the country connected with the formation of new works, and the perfecting of other processes. The steel furnished by these different works, subjected as it has been to systematic and severe tests continually applied, is now possessed of the quahties of ductility, malleability, and homogeneity, which render its employment in shipbuilding, not only permissable but highlj desirable. Its good and reliable qualities have been admitted by the Constructors of the Navy, the Officers of the Board of Trade, of Lloyd's, and. of the Liverpool Eegistries, as well as by all the most com- petent authorities. The experience of all who have practical dealings with the material in the shipyard is that it entirely satisfies — even more than iron — all the requirements of easy manipulation. The confidence with which it can be relied on„ as to its certain and uniform qualities, places it on a much higher level than the steel formerly manufactured; and its. superiority over the best wrought iron as regards strength' and ducility renders it a highly preferable material. While doubt exists, however, as to the adoption of steel for shipbuilding being commercially advantageous; there must be. hesitancy on the part of shipowners and others concerned. Although, since its introduction, mild steel has been greatly reduced in price, the first cost of a steel ship is still somewhat over that of an iron one, even after the reduction in weight of material is made, which the superiority of steel permits of. It has been shown that, about two years ago, a spar-decked steamer, of 4,000 tons gross, built in steel, as against a similar vessel buUt in iron, entaUed an excess in cost of £3,570. The advantages, however, which accrue from the change, both immediate and in the long-run, make the gain clear and con- siderable. Steel ships have been built with scantlings reduced one-fourth or one-third, and in some early cases even one-half^ ] Economical Advantages of Steel Ships. from what would have been considered requisite had iron been ■employed. Some authorities, not unnaturally, questioned the wisdom of accrediting steel with all the qualities which make such sweeping reductions justifiable.. Except in vessels for river or passenger service, however, tlxis is much in advance of t]ie reductions obtained in ordmary modern practice. The reductions allowed in vessels built to Lloyd's requirements - — and it cannot be urged that this society is too reckless in ■concessions of this nature^ — are 20 per cent, in scantling, and 18 per cent, in weight. As it is impossible to adjust the scantlings of material to take the full advantage of these reductions, and further, as ajlowance has to be made for extra weight due to the contiaued use of iron in vessels of steel — for purposes not essential to structural character — the average weight-saving effected in practice is about 13 to 14 per cent. This represents, in the finished vessel, a clear increase of at least 13 per cent, in dead- weight carrying power. The gain obtained in general practice has been otherwise stated "y^j^-^n^ N K-PHOTO, SPRAOUE * C? LONDON. Cellular Bottom Steamships. 13 Pecuniary and other kinds of considerations interposed to prevent its general adoption. The urgency for increase in the size of vessels was not such as to make longitudinal strength •(the special advantage claimed for the new principle) a great •desideratum; and there was perhaps reluctance on the part of ;shipbuilders to relinquish time-tried and famUiar methods. The system presently under notice — although, as has already , been said, the same, in its main principles, as the system then :advocated — by its descent through the Admiralty Dockyards, by its application to merchant vessels — ^first of East Coast, and then of Clyde build — and by its close association with water ballast, has undergone many modifications which almost con- stitute it a creation of recent times. Sir Edward J. Eeed, when Chief Constructor of the Navy, introduced the bracket frame system of construction into iron- ■clad ships of war, and, as already indicated, it is largely owing to the experience of the system as applied and practised in .such cases — conjointly, of course, with its successful introduc- tion in the case of the Grreat Eastern — ^that in so short a time it has reached the present structural perfection, and received ■such wide extension in merchant steamships. That it has ^recently received such wide adoption in the mercantile marine is due not so much to its structural advantages — and these are great — as to the way in which it lends itself to the economical working of steamships in actual service. This will be more explicitly referred to after some description of the system as applied in merchant ships has been given. It is somewhat away from the field this work is concerned with, to trace the system in its stages of development in ships of war, but it may be said, shortly, that the impulse which the •system has received in the mercantile marine has in no sense been a transference of the activity which at all times since its introduction has characterised the application of the system to liie vessels built in our. naval yards. In order to assist the non-technical reader in appreciating ■what follows regarding the system in merchant ships, a 14 Description of Cellular Bottom Construction. general idea of the cellular bottom principle of construction ii afforded by Fig. 1. FIG. I. This shows in section the bottom part of a vessel amidships^ fitted with a double or inner skin, extending across the ship- from bilge to bilge, and there connected in a watertight manner- to the outer bottom plating. A series of longitudinal plates are worked, fore and aft; set vertically between the outer skin of the vessel and the plating of the inner bottom, and con- nected thereto by continuous angles. Between these "longi- tudinals," and at every alternate transverse frame, deep plate floors, lightened with oval holes, are fitted, connected to outer skin by the angle frame, and to inner bottom plating by pieces of angles corresponding to the vessel's "reverse frames." These floor plates are, in addition, connected by vertical angles to the longitudinals. Intermediate between the deep plate floors simple angle bar transverse frames and reverse frames are fitted, to give support to the outer skin and to the inner bottom respectively. Until recently, the deep floors consisted of "gusset" or "bracket" plates, each division being fitted in four separate pieces, the whole taking the form as shown in dotted outline. This practice is still most largely followed^, but in those yards which are equipped with large hydraulic ' Adoption of Water Ballast. 15 punching inachines for piercing holes such as are shown in Pig. 1, the solid floors have superseded the bracket or four- piece floors, the change effecting a simplification of work and decided structural advantages. With the employment of water as a substitute ior dry or rubble ballast, the structural movement under notice may be said primarily to have begun. This movement has resulted in the present approved system, which, at the same time that it has regard to water-ballast with all its attendant advantages, most happily combiues the important qualities of increased strength and security. The need for ballast in vessels whose service generally comprises " Hght " as weU as " loaded " runs (as in the coal trade between Newcastle and London), or in trades where the full complement can only be obtained by shifting from port to port, is obviously great. It is doubtless to needs such as these, more than to any demand for increased structural strength, that the introduction and extended applica- tion of the longitudinal and bracket-plate principle is owiug. The screw-steamer Sentinel, bmlt in 1860 by Messrs Palmer of Jarrow, Newcastle-on-Tyne, is mentioned by some authorities as embodying some of the maia features of the longitudinal and cellular bottom system, and the screw-steamers Scio and Assyria, of 1440 tons, built in 1874 by Messrs Westerman, near Genoa, have been noticed in a similar connection. The next vessel, in point of time, which contained features answering to the system now in vogue, and from the date of whose pro- duction the movement has been almost constantly progressive, was the screw-steamer Fenton, built by Messrs Austia & Hunter, of Sunderland, in 1876. Clyde builders were not slow to recognise the value of the system in its application to water-ballast steamers, and almost immediately some of the more intrepid of their number began to advocate its adoption, but with some modifications, in vessels then being contracted for. Mr John Inglis, jun., of Messrs A. & J. Inglis, Pointhouse, Glasgow, submitted to Lloyd's Eegistry in March, 1878, the scantling section of some cellular bottom vessels, then in project, which contained several of the 16 Spread of Cellular Bottom System, improvements introduced in subsequent practice. Messrs William Denny & Brothers, of Dumbarton, at the same time took up the principle, and have since actively applied it to steamers of every character in which water -ballast is a desideratum. Adopting it, five years ago, in four sister vessels for the Brifch India Steam Navigation Coy., they subsequently raised the important issue with the Board of Trade regarding the tonnage measurement of these vessels. This august body insisted on computing the register tonnage — the figure upon which the tonnage dues are levied — not to the top of the inner bottom, but to an imaginary line half-way down the cellular space — in fact, to where the line of floor would have been if constructed in the ordinary fashion. Messrs Denny main- tained, iu effect, that as the register tonnage was meant to be a FIG. 2. S^^SX-^^^^4-^^^-^^^,■^J^!^-^^'--^^-v^-- ^^^^-^'-^-'->^'-'^^V^-'~■^-'^^J^^^^■^gj |a S^EAJ■■^-J-^-!-'--^^^ measure of the space available for cargo, the top of the ceiling on the inner bottom was the only eqmtable line of measure- ment. The principal, reason for the Board seeking to pursue this course seems to have laia in the supposition that owners would endeavour to use the double bottom for cargo-carrrying purposes. An ambiguity in the words of the Merchant Shipping Act, or their inapplicability to present day practice, were other possible elements in the case, but doubtless the red-tapeism and self-suf&ciency characteristic of the Board had much to do with their action. This is borne out by the fact that although the Messrs Denny succeeded in their plea with respect to vessels having structural cellular bottoms, the absurd practice is still followed in cases where the bottom is fitted for water ballast on the girder principle, i.e. the inner bottom fitted upon fore and aft runners or girders, erected on floors of the ordinary description, as shown in Fig. 2. Spread of Cellular Bottom System. 17 This formed, aud still forms in many places, a very common arrangement for water ballast' steamers, although not so inherent a feature of the vessel's structure as the continuous cellular bottom. In most cases this system is fitted only for part of the length, and not, like the cellular system, applied throughout the whole length of the ship. If it was impossible for the Board of Trade to hold by the contention that cargo might be earned in bottoms of the structural cellular type, it is equally untenable in the case of bottoms such as are now referred to. The difference between the two kinds of ballast bottoms is one merely of construction, and if any one of the two lends itself to cargo-carrying purposes, it is certainly the •cellular system. The anomaly is sufficiently striking to merit attention, and in certain districts where the girder system is largely adopted for medium-sized vessels, it is felt as nothing short of an injustice, both by shipowners and builders. The concession or victory won by Messrs Denny removed a serious hindrance to the spread and general adoption of the water ballast cellular system. Other Clyde firms at the same time — or at least soon after the adoption of the system by the Messrs Denny — took the matter up and independently did much towards the popularisation of the cellular mode of con- struction. Speaking in the .early part of 1880, Mr "William John, of Lloyd's Eegistry, now General Manager with the Barrow Shipbuilding Company, said : — "At the time Mf MarteU read his paper on water-ballast steamers before the autumn meeting of this Institution (Kaval Architects) at Glas- gow, in 1877, there had been only two or three small steamers built (since Mr Scott Eussell's early ones) on the longitudinal principle. Now, it is within the mark to say there are one hundred steamers, built and building, whose bottoms are constructed on the longitudinal principle, or what is better described as the cellular system, amounting probably to 200,000 tons, and it is not outside the bounds of probability that a very few years will see the majority of merchant steamers constructed in this manner." Mr John's connection with Lloyd's at the time, entitled his statements and opinions 18 Cellular Bottom Sailing Ships. with regard to the prevalency and prospects of cellular con- struction to be accepted with every assurance, for it is in such Societies as Lloyd's where the best concensus of information . regarding the extent and tendencies of particular types of vessels can be obtained. In point of fact, the interveniiig period has witnessed, in great measure, a realisation of Mr John's forecast. The ' advantages of a cellular bottom as regards safety, and for the purpose of ballasting and trimming vessels, also as meeting the greater need for longitudinal strength caused by the enormous growth in the size of vessels, have received that appreciation from shipowners and ship- builders which is their due. The practice has accordingly spread, till now, it would not be rash to say, quite as many of the ocean trading steamers being built are fitted with cellular bottoms as are without them. The adaptation of water ballast to sailing vessels, as well as to steamers, has received consideration at the hands of both Tyne and Clyde builders. Previous to 1877, several small sailing sliips were built on the Tyne, in which provision was made for water.ballast in tanks entering into the structure of the bottom, but erected over the ordinary plate floors.' About 150 tons, of water ballast were carried by these vessels, the filling and discharge of the tanks being effected by Downton's pumps, worked by the crew. The trade in which they were engaged — i.e. — carrying coal from the Tyne to Spanish ports, and back to this country with ore — was one in which the introduction of water ballast proved commercially and other- wise most advantageous. Two years subsequently Messrs A. M'Millan & Son, Dumbarton, introduced water ballast into one of the largest class of sailing vessels then being built. Unlike previous saihng ships with provision for water ballast, however, the vessel was constructed on the structural cellular bottom principle, having bracket floors and continuous girders, as so generally approved in steamships. Capacity for water ballast, to the extent of over 300 tons was thus provided, the filling and discharge being effected by a special donkey engine, supplied with steam from a large donkey boiler. The boiler Minor Structural Modifications. 19 also furnished the motive power for cargo winches, off which, by crank gear, the manual labour pumps were also brought into requisition. Facilities for the expeditious management of ballast — ^the want of which, in saihng vessels, considerably hinders its adoption — were thus, in this case, efficiently pro- vided. Several other sailing ships, built by Messrs A. M'Millan &• Son, and by other shipbuilding firms on the Clyde, have been fitted with this system, and the result of experience with these vessels in actual service, thoroughly encourages its more general adoption. Many minor, yet aggregately important, structural features which are products of the progressive movement of recent years, or are simply revivals of old devices which were "untimely bom," still caU for some notice. As a necessary consequence of the growth in dimensions and' the change in relative proportions of vessels, greater regard has been paid to the systems of construction in which the longi- tudinal principle is involved. This, of course, is ' evidenced by what has been said of the cellular bottom system, but various minor structural features associated with the cellular bottom are also noteworthy in this connection. It is the practice, for instance, where large ships are concerned, to fit side stringers in the holds, throughout the entire length, made intercostal with regard to transverse plate or web-frames occurring at intervals of 16 or 20 feet, which extend from the bilge to the main deck This arrangement — an outhne of which may be found to the right of the section shown as Fig. 1 — possesses many structural advantages, and finds additional favour with shipowners on account of its leaving a clearer hold for stowage by obviating the use of transverse hold beams. Eegard for transverse strength has increasingly evinced itself in the fitting of various kinds -of plate side stiffeners or pattial bulkheads. This is well exemplified in a very recent case — that of the National Company's steamship America, built by Messrs J. & G. Thomson. This vessel, havmg been constructed 20 Minor Structural Modifications. independent of any special Eegistry Eules, embodies structural features not common amongst vessels in which such rules are undeviatingly conformed to. The system referred to, of plate frames or partial bulkheads, is one of the most conspicuous of these features. Throughout the length of the vessel, at in- tervals of about 18 feet, transverse plate stiffeners or frames, extending from the shell inwards about 4 feet, take the place of the ordinary angle frames, and are continuous from iioors to upper deck, the stringers and other longtitudinal features being scored through them. The surplus transverse strength resulting from this system is such as amply to compensate for uncommonly large breaches made in the deck beams and plating for light and air purposes in the saloons. This is a very special feature in the interior arrangement of the America, and will be referred to further on. The regard for transverse strength, again, conjointly with the increased attention to minute watertight sub-division, has led to the fitting of a greater number of complete watertight transverse bulkheads, relatively to the lengths of vessels. In vessels of extreme proportions the method, of forming shells two-ply, or of fittmg all the shell plates edge to edge with outside covering-strakes over the fore-and-aft joints, has been recently revived and much improved. The system, although very expensive, has been adopted in vessels for the Anchor Line by Messrs D. & W. Henderson, Glasgow, and subsequently on even a more extensive scale by the Barrow Shipbuilding Company. Affecting the structural character of modern ships very materially, but the result chiefly of an economy in labour, rivetting by machine power has received a wonderfully extended application within recent years. Structurally, as well as commercially, the system has played a large part in the progressive movement under review. By its means the strength of imited parts has been enhanced through the in- crease of their frictional resistance, and through the rigidity , PORTRAIT AND BIOORAPHICAL NOTE THOMAS HENDERSOK. THOMAS HENDERSON, CHAIRMAN" or THE GLASGOW SHIPOWNBKS' ASSOCIATION ; . OF THE LOCAL MARINE BOARD OF THE PORT OF GLASGOW AND OF THE CLTDE LIGHTHOUSE TRUST ; DIRECTOR OF THE GLASGOW CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, AND OF THE CHAMBER OF SHIPPING OF THE UNITED KINGDOM. Mr Thomas Henderson, senior member of the firm of Henderson Bros., managing owners of the Anchor Line of Steamships, is a native of Fifeahire, but was educated in Glasgow. He entered, at an early age, the mercantile marine service as an apprentice, and rapidly rose through the different grades of the profession to the command of various sailing ships and steamers belonging to the port of Glasgow. In 1853 he was admitted a part- ner in the shipping firm of Handyside, & Co.,'' which, five years afterwards, was changed to Handyside & Henderson. Some years later, on the retirement of the Messrs Handyside and the assumption of Mr John Henderson and other partners into the business, the firm became Henderson Brothers, under which designation the greater part of the steam shipping business now carried on by the Anchor Line steamships has been developed and extended." The fleet as now constituted consists of forty-five steamships of an aggregate measurement of over 124,000 tons, with an engine power of above 25,000 horses nominal. These vessels are employed severally in the Transatlantic, Indian, and Mediterranean services, in all of which they are well known and appreciated by the public as in all respects first-class, and second to no other competing line for safety, speed, comfort to passengers, and careful delivery of goods carried. One branch of the extensive services of the Anchor steam ships, specially noteworthy as forming one of the modern " ex- press " lines which have given such impetus to ocean travel, is the express service between Liverpool and New York, in which the magnificent steamships Gity of Rome and Austral are engaged. In connection with their head office In Glasgow, Messrs Henderson Bros, have established branch offices of their own in London, Liverpool, Manchester, Barrow-in-Furness, Queenstown, Londonderry, Dundee, New York, Boston, Chicago, Paris, Marseilles, and Palermo, at all of which the agency business of the several lines of steamers is attended to by their own employees. In addition to his responsible share in the concerns of the Anchor Line, Mr Hen- derson is a partner in the extensive shipbuilding and engineering works of D. & W. Henderson & Co., at Meadowside, Partiok, and Finnieston Quay, Glasgow. The estimation in which Mr Hendbk- SON is held as a shipping and commercial authority may be inferred from the enumeration of important offices at the head of this note ; most of which he has worthily occupied for many years. O, SPRAOUE I, Ce LONDON. Cast Steel Stern-Frames, Rudders, &c. 21 of joints, due to the more thorough fiUing of the rivet holes. The subject of hydrauHc or machine power rivetting will, however, receive fuller treatment in a subsequent chapter. Within the past two or three years cast steel stems, stern frames, and rudders, have been takiag the place of forged iron work in ship construction. The practicabihty of manufacturing these of such strength and homogeneity as would meet the needs of ship construction even better than the ordinary forged work, had occurred some five or si^i years ago to several engaged in the steel trade. Mr. J. F. Hall, of Messrs Wilham Jessop & Sons, Limited, Sheffield, had the subject under con- sideration about that period, and actually made several small stern posts and rudders for steam yachts and launches. The advantages of sohd and uniform steel castings over iron forgings — which, with their many weldings, so often prove .inefficient when subject to any sudden shock — were even then rightly enough appreciated. It was only, however, after patents had been taken out by Messrs Cooke & Mylchreest, of Livei-pool, for various devices connected with the actual fitting of such features to the ship's structure — amongst other things the hanging of rudders without pintles or gudgeons — that the manufacture of cast steel stern -frames, rudders, &c., was seriously proceeded with. In July, 1882, the Steel Company of Scotland (Limited), who are the manufacturers in Scotland of Messrs Cooke & Mylchreest's patent form of rudders and stern-frames, success- fully cast a stern-frame — ^the first of large size, it is believed, made for actual use in the construction of a steamer. In April of the same year, however, Messrs William Jessop & Sons (Limited), of Sheffield, had exhibited a crucible cast steel stem-frame and rudder of their manufacture, at the ISTaval and Sub-Marine Exhibition, held in London. These large castings, along with others, were subjected to a series of tests in the presence of Lloyd's inspectors and other authorities, such as the forged frames and rudders ordinarily fitted would not 22 Cast Steel Stern-Frames, Rudders, &e. have come through without severe damage, yet all of which the steel castings withstood most thoroughly. Testimony to the efficiency of these new features in ship construction has already been furnished from the arena of actual experience, by the recent grounding of two steamers in which these features had been introduced. The screw-steamer Euripides, a Liverpool-owned vessel of about 1780 tons gross, completed in May, 1883, by Messrs Caird & Purdie, of Barrow, some time ago ran upon a reef of boulders, and remained thumping heavily for- several hours. At the time she was laden with a full cargo of grain, which was afterwards delivered in perfect condition. The cast steel stem and stern-frame, which were manufactured by the Steel Company of Scotland, were practically without damage, notwithstanding that serious indentations were made in them. The stem, although receiving the full force of resistance, was not perceptibly altered in shape, and competent judges who inspected the damage in dock were of opinion that the stem, with its superior attachments, in all. probability saved the vessel from total loss. The rudder on the Euripides is of sohd cast steel, in one piece, and hung without pintles, and in a manner involving little or no rivetting. In this, as in the other features, the immunity from serious damage testifies to the efficiency and durability of the steel castings. The second case of grounding referred to is that of the screw-steamer Strathnairn, of 400 tons, belonging to Messrs James Hay & Sons, of Glasgow; one of two vessels built by Messrs Burrell & Son, of Dumbarton, in which cast steel stern-frames and rudders were adopted. This vessel got aground while off Harrington, on the north-west coast of England, about the latter end of March of the present year. Her stern -frame sustained very considerable shock: such, indeed, as no ordinary forged work could possibly have undergone with like result. Subsequent docking showed that it would only be necessary to straighten the frame at the deflected portions in order to make it again structurally ef&cient. This was done, and the vessel is again actively engaged in service. Advantages of Cast Steel Stern-Frames, Rudders, &e. 23 The weldless stern-frames, rudders, and stems, as patented by Messrs Cooke & Mylchreest, Liverpool, and manufactured for them by the Steel Company of Scotland, Messrs Jessop & Sons, Sheffield, and Messrs John Spencer & Sons, Newcastle, have various advantageous features which may be noticed some- what fully. One of these is the casting of flanges on the sternposts, for attaching the shell plates to; by which arrange- ment much of the difficult and costly work in the rivetting and fittmg of the shell plates at these parts is done away with, while a considerable increase of strength is obtained. The solid rudder, is -a great improvement on the built rudder as usually fitted; the Entire absence of rivets being an important desideratum. The rivets connecting the rudder-plates to the frame-forging are frequently a squrce of trouble alnd annoy- ance, through their being loosened by the constant vibration of the rudder, and the shocks it often receives. The heads of the rivets not unf requently drop off, and the rivets themselves sometimes fall completely out. All this, of course, is entirely obviated in the solid rudder. By Messrs Cooke & Mylch- reest's improved method of fitting the rudder — a device which is only applicable in a casting — pintles are wholly dispensed with, and in their place a much stronger joint is substituted, with a considerably increased wearing surface. The rudder is also joiQted at the top of the blade, by means of strong flanges bolted together; an obvious advantage of this arrange- ment being that it can be readily unshipped, even when afloat. In addition to the stern-frames, stems, and rudders, there are, also being Supplied, keels, garboard strakes, and centre keelsons in long lengths. It is claimed for these that as the keel, garboard strake, keelson, and brackets for connecting the floors, are all made in one piece, they are much stronger than, as ordinarily constructed, and that a considerable saving in both labour and rivets is effected. As there are no angle irons to contend with, the limber-holes may be made close to the bottom plating, and a much thinner layer of cement will, consequently, be needed on the bottom; the saving in this respect, according to the patentees' calculation, being 50 tons in a 2,000-ton vessel 24 Probahk Futun of Stcd Castings. As tlie prices of these frames and rudders do uot excceil those charged for fi-ames of wrought-irou, and luor-eover, owing to the pieces wliich ai-e cast on to them forming attaclmients for keels, decks, &c. — ^thus cheapening the work of construction in the shipyaixi — ^thei^ appeai-s to be no question of their great superiority. The presence of blow-holes, not unfi-e- queutly a source of misgi\"iiig in castings, is found from experience to be a coustanth- duninishuig fault in these articles. The demand for them has steadily grown since their adoption in a few actual cases. It would seern, indeed, that the demand is only limited by the powers of production possessed at pi>esent bj' the four or Hve steel-making firms who have undertaken this class of work, and have s;\tisfied the requirements of the i-egistration and the iusuiunce societies. In addition to the fiumes and ruddei-s for di-dinary sci-ew vessels, the Steel Company of Scotland have also supplied several stems for war vessels, with i-ams and torpedo opening-s, which have proved very satisfactory. Otlier new adaptations are the casting of lai-ge brackets for shafts of twui sci-ew vessels, of lai^ge crank shafts themselves, and of heavy anchoi-s; the i-esults of tests pi-esently being made frJly war- ranting the anticipation that the material will very largely be employed in the future for these important items in the outfit of merchant vessels. Tlie more important featui'es of growth or change in ship construction wliich have made the past few year's a note worth j' period in the liistory of mercantile shipbuilding have now been reviewed. Speed, and pi-opulsive power of ste;imships, although absorbing very much of the pixjgi-ess for which the period has been so remarkable, have not been dealt with, but are reserved for the chapter following. The subjects named win also necessarily receive some attention in the chapter devoted to progress ui the science of shipbuilding. In antici- pation, however, apologies should be offered for the paucity of detailed references to the propulsive agents on boai-d ship. PiipirXy ,Cv,, P<' Coi>,-^trt(f/io)i. Marioo ongiuooriwg, in all its ivoont do\vlopu\oi\ts, would iV(|uviv for i(--< in\>iw liViUmont considorubly ihoiv spuoo tluui oun K> dovolod to it in tho inxv-^out work. To uuvt tho oxigviioios of U\v> in\>givssivo movouiout, both jM-,»ot\o;d skill. soivMitilio kwowlodgwaud ooiwiwowial outoqniso U;»vv> Ivou nwdodvMi tlio part of oiiv-shiplmildoi-s, Tl\oso h;no not Ivou l\v !>uy luoiuvs \Vi\iUii\u\ as (ibvuukiutly ovidoiuvd l\v tho fvwgviug iwiH\l of what has Ivou aohiovod. With a oontinuaiioo of that ivadiwoss displayed hy shiplniildoi-s and naval aivhitoot^s to nuHlify. and ovou ivvolulioniro it nood Iv. typos and n\oth>Hls wlnoU tho tinios l\aw >nUgnnvn, tho load in n\o\vl\a»>t shijihuildin;^ will long' Iv ovu-s. With a main- tainor\vv also of tho onlovpviso sh>»\\n hy our shipowuoi^. lUilain will still v>>ntiuuo. as ivg^uxls tho muulHjr, siw, and [H>wor v^f hor inoivhant shiivs, supivnio amoiig tho luuions. List of l^qvi-s and Uvtuixvs Ivaring on ivcoat in\piv\ otnonts iu ship dosign ^ukI v\n\st motion, to wluoh ivadoi-s dosirinu twlkr av\|uaint;UKv with tho txtArnqm and dotails of tUo suhjvvts aiv ivlonxnl;^ Ox \ Xkw Moi>R o»- vXixsriM vr\x^! thv^x as» iVvwv^vrs Sh;i^ 1\v Mr .'. K, Ssvu 5 1^(«lk«. lust B«^««««»ihl !^«v*'<"'*'^'>'- '**>'• ''^"■- l^ri-i Ox VUK !?VK».N>!VU ov iKOS Sun^ by MrAVUftMtt.K^lm: TWu»s. Inst X.\.. wii, Vivst, N"..\ . tvn). xx-m,. t^rr. F*uiM»N\^ by Mr J««w« H»will»«i, Ju». s lV*»»s. Iivst Renews *nd $!u^^- )raiM«(«, XNsl xx-iii.. l$rr-^ Ox tJtti 1 oN\;'.v. \^■,N^^ IU>k«k.vo Stswai OP Ik.^n Sjui- iVN-svKivr'.os. bv Mr 19olwiu W, D« Kv.swt. inra«k$, ^»*t^ X.A.. ii\>l wii., IS,""^ Os tVt^xs .vs\> ?!tKKi >VN Sso.flsm.Blsv;. K Mr X.^sJi.^r.io". fiuuaby : T»*tts. Ittst. N..V.. Tv>U wi , ISr.'^ Os ^tKl^^ »>* Sltrr«tttJ»^>6^ ! t Mr B«iij»mili Msrtell : Ttmns. r«»st., X A.. toI. xK. iv<.-:<. 26 Papers, &c., Bearing on Ship Construction. On the Use or Mild Steel toe Shipbuilbinq in the French Dockyards, by M. Marc Berrier-Eontaine : Trans. Inst., N.A., voL xxii,, 1881. On Steel in the Shipbuilding Yard, by Mr William Denny : Trans. Inst. N.A., vol. xxi., 1880, On the Economical Advantages of Steel Shipbuilding, by Mr Wm. Denny : Journal (No. 1) Iron and Steel Institute, 1881. On Iron and Steel as Consthuctive Materials foe Ships, by Mr John Price. Proceedings "Inst. Meoh. Engineers, 1881. On Steel, by Mr James Riley ; Lectures on Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering : Glasgow, William Collins & Sons, 1881. On WiATER Ballast, by Mr Benjamin Kartell : Trans. Inst. N. A., vol. xviii., 1877. On the Cellular Construction of .Merchant Ships, by Mr William John : ' Trans. Inst. N.A., vol. xxi., 1880. On the Inceeasbd Use of Steel in Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, by Mr John R Eavenhill : Trans. Inst. N.A., vol. xxii., 1881. On the Structural Arrangements and Peoporhons of H.M.S. "Ims," by Mr W. H. White : Trans. Inst. N.A., vol. xx., 1879. On the Quality of Materials used in Shipbuilding, by Mr H. H. West : Trans. Inst. N.A., vol. xxiii., 1882. On the Use op Steel Castings in lieu of Iron and Steel Forgings for Ship AND Marine Engine Construction, by Mr William Parker : Journal, Iron and Steel Institute, 1883. Some Considerations Respecting the Rivetting of Iron Ships, by Mr Henry H. West : Trans. Inst. N.A., vol. xxv., 1884. Recent Improvements in Iron and Steel Shipbuilding, by Mr William John : Iron and Steel Institute. 1884. CHAPTEE II. SPEED AND POWER OF MODEEN STEAMSHIPS, IN these days of feverisli activity in every, avenue of busi- ness, when even leisure has come to be observed at a much more accelerated Umpo than formerly, speed in locomotion would seem to be the first desideratum, not only on shore but afloat as well. In no ocean service is the truth of this so apparent as in the transatlantic mail and passenger service, the oldest and most constantly progressive, and where at the present time, certainly more than at any former period, the contest for supremacy amongst rival steamship lines has assumed the form of increased speed and enhanced passenger accommodation. The Atlantic service, for these reasons, as well as because it exemplifies more of the fruits which have rewarded the joint labours of the. engineer and shipbuilder in improving marine propulsion, may be selected for detailed review. In other ocean services, of course, the achievements of engineer- ing and shipbuilding skill have also been made apparent, and in ways, perhaps, which the Atlantic service does not exhibit. Eeference to these will afterwards be made, but attention will meantime be confined to the service stated, and to such con- siderations of the general progress made in ocean navigation as are necessarily involved in the particular subject. It is needless, in view of the frequency with which the story of ocean steam navigation is told, and especially, considering the scope of the present review, to enter at any length into the details of early service. The first practically successful transatlantic steamers were the Sirius and the Cfreat Western) the first a paddle steamer ITO feet long, 270 horse power 28 Early Atlantic Mail Steamers. originally constructed to ply between London and Cork, and the latter, a paddle steamer, 212 feet long and about 440 horse-power, designed and built expressly for the transatlantic service. The Sirius left Cork on the, 4th April, 1838, and reached ISTew York on the 22nd; the Great Western left Bristol on the 7th April, three days after the Sirius, reaching New York on the 23rd — the time taken being thus 18 days and 15 days respectively. The return voyages of these pioneer long-passage steamers were made in 16 days and 14 days respectively, their performances at once establishing the superiority of steamers, commercially and otherwise, over the sailing ships which had previously for so long been the recog- nised medium of transit ,in the Atlantic passenger trade. In 1840 a regular mail service by steamers was first intro- duced on the Atlantic. The first of these mail steamers was the Cunard paddle-steamer Britannia, 207 feet long, which sailed from Liverpool on July 4, 1840, and arrived at Halifax 'in 12 days 10 hours, the return journey being performed in 10 days. The Acadia, Columbia, and Caledonia all of about the same dimensions as the Britannia, at once followed. The success of the Cunard Line was so marked that opposition was soon provoked, and in 1850 the Collins Line of American steamers started to compete with the Cunard liners. The same year also saw the commencement of the well-known Inman Company, of Liverpool, their first vessel being the City of Glasgow, an iron screw steamer of 1680 tons and 350 horse- power. The Allan and Anchor Lines were established in 1856, the Guion Line in 1863, and the White Star Line in 1870. With the substitution of the screw propeller for the paddle wheel, first carried out to any great purpose in the small steamer Archimedes in 1839, but introduced with even greater effect in the Atlantic steamer Great Britain in 1843, was laid the basis of that progressive and magnificent success in pro- pulsion which has since attended ocean navigation. It was with screw-steamers Mr. Inman boldly assailed the Cunard Company in 1850, but notwithstanding this, it was only in 1862 that the Government consented to sanction the use of Reduction of the Atlantic Passage-Time. 29 the screw in tlie mail steamers of the Cunard Company. The Scotia, measuring 366 feet in length, by 47|- feet in breadth, and 30J feet depth, launched in 1861, was the last paddle steamer built for this company. The other great improvements contributing to the success spoken of, were the introduction of engines designed on the compound principle, and a little later, the employment of the surface condenser, and the use of circular multitubular boilers. In spite of the success with which the compound system was attended in vessels built for the Pacific Steam Navigation Company as early as 1856, and for some other private owners soon after, 'the great steamship companies, and shipowners generally, were very slow to adopt it. It was not until about the year 1869 that the compound engine came into general use, and it was only in 1872 that the Cunard Company seriously took it into favour. The early steamers of the Cunard Line possessed an average speed of 8| knots, and took about 15 days for the voyage Through the Collins rivalry the speed was increased to an average of 12 J knots, and the time for crossing the Atlantic was reduced to 12 days 9 hours outwards, and 11 days 11 hours homewards. In 1856, the powerful paddle-steamer Persia (the first iron vessel built for the Cunard Company) was placed on the service, and attained an average speed of aooiit 13 knots, consuming 150 tons of coal per day. She made the distance between Queenstown and New York, on an average, in 10| days. In 1862 the Scotia, belonging to the same company, made the passage in 9 days. Coming down to more recent times, the White Star Line, with its steamships Britannic and Germanic, built in 1874 and 1875 respectively, held for a considerable period first place in the matter of fast steamships. The vessels named were, however, in time beaten by the newer ships Gallia, of the Cunard Line, and Arizona, of the Guion Line. Aa illustrating the speed at which the vessels named accomplished the transatlantic voyage — between Queenstown and New York — the following brief list, compiled from published records, of fast 30 Modern Transatlantic Steamships. runs out and home during the period 1875-1881, may here be given: — Vessels, Out. Home. Date. Time. Date. Time. Aug.,1877, May, 1879, Oct., 1880, Oct., 1877, Oct,, 1880, Oct,, 1880, May, 1879, Sep., 1881, D. H. M. 7 10 50 7 13 7 7 13 7 14 12 7 20 32 8 7 22 50 7 8 32 D. H. M. Britannic May, 1880, Nov., 1881, Oct., 1875, Sep., 1879, July, 1879, May, 1881, Sep., 1881, 7 IS 22 7 17 34 7 15 48 7 19 23 8 3 52 7 18 50 V 7 48 Germanic, City of Berliu, City of Berlin City of Eiclimond, ... Gallia Arizona When the success of vessels of the size of the Arizona and the Gallia was made apparent, it was decided by the Cunard Company to build a larger and faster ship than previous ones. Accordingly, in the autumn of 1880, specifications were issued to some of the leading shipbuilding firms, asking them to tender for the construction of a vessel of 500 feet in length, 50 feet beam, and 40 feet depth. At the suggestion of Messrs J. & G. Thomson, who were successful in securing the contract for this remarkable vessel, the dimensions were increased to 530 feet by 52 feet by 44 feet 9 inches. With these dimen- sions, and with mild steel as the constructive material, the new vessel — the Servia — was thereafter proceeded with in Messrs Thomson'^ establishment. The Guion line, not to be left behind, placed the order for a vessel of the dimensions first proposed for the Servia, with Messrs John Elder & Co., but, in order to be faster than the Servia, the weight-carrying was considerably reduced, and the boiler power much increased. The wisdom of this step has been justified by the now generally received opinion that these fast steamers should not carry such heavy cargoes as the slower ones. This new vessel for the Guion line was the Alaska, now justly noted for her fast runs across the Atlantic. The Inman Company also decided not to lag behind, and as soon as the conditions of the design of the Servia had been fixed, they placed the order for a ship — the City of Borne — with PORTRAIT AKD BIOQRAPHICAL NOTE. "WILLIAM PEARCE. WILLIAM PEAEOE, MEMBER OE COUNCIL OE THE INSTITUTION OE NAVAL AECHITBCTS ; MEMBER OF THE IRON AND STEEL INSTITUTE, AND 0¥ THE INSTITUTION OE ENGINEERS AND SHIPBUILDERS IN SCOTLAND. Born at Brompton; in Kent, in the year 1835. Learned practical shipbuilding in Her Majesty's Dockyard at Chatham, and was at the same time engaged in the oflBoe of the master shipwright there, the late celebrated Mr Oliver Lang. When the Government in 1861 determined upon the construction of iron ships in the Royal Dockyards, was the first officer selected to carry on that work, and superintended the building of H. M. Achilles in the dockyard at Chatham. In 1863 left the Government service to become a Surveyor to Lloyd's Registry in the Clyde district, and in 1864 was appointed General Manager in Messrs R. Napier & Sons' shipbuild- ing establishment, where, in 1865, his ability as a naval architect was first brought into prominence through the designing of the Pereire and Ville De Paris, built for the Corapagnie General Trans- atlantique, which vessels maintained for several years a foremost place amongst the fast ships on the Atlantic. After the death of Mr John Elder, in 1869, joined by request the late Messrs John Ure and J. L. K. Jaraieson in carrying on and extending the gigantic shipbuilding and engineering business at Fairfield, under the title of John Elder & Co. In 1878 Mr Ure and Mr Jamieson retired from the firm, and Mr Pearce became sole partner, which position he has occupied up to the present time. Has constructed many steamships that are amongst the most celebrated in existance, of which it may suffice simply to name the Arizona, Alaska, and Oregon; the Orient, Austral, and Stirling Castle j also the Umbria and Etruria, just being, completed for the Cuuard Steamship Com- pany. Another vessel built by Mr Pearce, the construction of which excited, perhaps, a greater amount of interest than any of the above-named, was the yacht Livadia, for the late Emperor of Russia. The design, which was a fantastic one, was by Admiral Popoflf. Mr Peascb's enterprize has not been confined to shipbuilding and engineering, having projected or become largely interested in several lines of steamers, amongst which are, the Pacific Mail Steamship Co. ; the New Zealand Shipping Company ; the Guiou Line ; and the China Line of the Scottish Oriental Steamship Company. In 1880 Mr Pearce gave the opening lecture in the course delivered in connection with the Marine Exhibition held in the Corporation Build- ings, Glasgow. In 1881 was appointed a member of the Royal Com- mission on Tonnage, and in October of the present year was appointed a, member of the Royal Commission on Merchant Shipping. Fast Atlantic Passages. 31 the Barrow Shipbuilding Company, intended to be larger, finer and faster. Expectations as to speed and carryiag powers were not ia her case fulfilled, and the result of the dissatisfaction which this occasioned, was, that the City of Borne changed ownership, Messrs Henderson Brothers, of Anchor Line fame, coming iuto possession. In the hands of its new owners, the City of Borne was re-arranged internally, and her boiler power was considerably augmented, while her engines also were thoroughly revised. When first built, the vessel was fitted with engiues of 8500 horse-power. As revised, they indicate 12,000 the acquisition being largely due to the fitting of four additional boilers. The results which have accrued from the extensive alterations made are such as to have firmly established the vessel in a foremost place in the Atlantic service. The performances of the vessels named have been the subject of considerable interest to all concerned in shipping affairs, and to the public generally. The following table of fast passages accomplished during the past two years by these vessels has been compiled from published records, and from information supplied by the shipowning companies : — Names of Vessels. Out. Alaska, Do., Do. Servia,...; Do., City of Eome,. Do., Do., Do., Date. Time. April,1882, May, 1882, May, 1882, Jan., 1882, Aug.,1883, May, 1883, June,188,3, .... A.ug.,1883, I Sep., 1883, H. M. 4 10 8 13 6 12 16 4 22 3 Home. Date. Time. June,1882, Sep., 1882, Jan., 1883, June, 1883, July, 1883, Aug.,1883, Sep., 1883, D. H. M. 6 22 6 21 48 6 23 42 7 7 4 7 2 19 6 21 4 6 23 24 An addition to the list of competitors was made in the Aurania, built by Messrs Thomson in 1882, and tried in June, 1883, when she attained a mean speed of 17| knots, and showed herself not unequal to a maximum speed of 18 J knots under circumstances ordinarily favourable. An untoward and serious accident to her machinery laid the Aurania aside just 32 Recent Transatlantic Express Steamers. as her capabilities in actual service were being sbown. It is during the " passenger season " that the qualities of these transatlantic steamers are best brought out, and it remains with the season which has just begun, to demonstrate to the full the Aurania's powers. A similar remark applies to the Oregon, a still more recent competitor from the same stocks as the Alaska, whose dimen- sions correspond with those of the AlasJca, except in respect to breadth, the first-named vessel having 3-ft. 6-in. more beam than the latter, the figures being — length over aU, 520-ft. ; breadth, 54-ft.; depth, 40-ft.9-in. Extra power of engines to the extent of nearly 3000 horses indicated has been fitted in the Oregon. On the occasion of her speed trial on the Clyde she ran the distance between Ailsa Craig and Cumbrae Head — 29|^ nautical miles — in 1 hour 20 minutes, or about equal to 20 knots per hour. This was attaiaed with the engines indicat- ing 12,382 horse-power and making 62 revolutions per minute, thesteani pressure being 110-lbs. per square inch. This result was doubtless attained under conditions more favourable to speed than the vessel is, as a rule, likely to meet with in actual service; and, as has been indicated, it still remains witfi the future to determine how far the aims of the owners and builders of the Oregon are realised.* In the America, launched from the yard of Messrs J. & G-. Thomson, near the close of 1883, and presently being fitted for sea, the National Steamship Company (Limited), of Liverpool, have embodied the results of their careful study of the develop- ment and changes in the mode of conducting the American trade. From such experiments — for they can hardly be con- * Since the above was written, the Aurania and the Oregon have resumed their services on the Atlantic, the results in the case of the latter vessel being extraordinarily successful. On Saturday, the 6th April, she arrived at Queens- town, having left New York on Saturday, the 29th March, making the trip in 7 days, 2 hours, 18 minutes, her daUy runs being : — 45, 407, >396, 400, 302, 410, 384, 412, and 60 ; total, 2816 knots. Leaving Queenstown on Sunday, the 13th April, she arrived at New York on Saturday, the 19th April, in the unprecedentedly short period of 6 days, 9 hours, 22 minutes. The Future of the Atlantic Service. 33 sidered anything else — as the rapid passages of the Alaska, the' City of Borne, and other " greyhounds of the Atlantic," the company see it is no longer possible or profitable to have "composite" vessels — i.e., those intended to carry a large cargo as well as passengers, — but that practically one class of vessels must be built for the passenger traffic and another for the conveyance of cargo. The vessel represents an attempt to solve the problem of producing a ship which shall have large passenger accommodation and a high speed, with a compara- tively small first cost and a reasonable consumption of coal- She is built of steel, and of the following dimensions : — Length, 440 feet; breadth, 51J feet; depth of hold, 36 feet; gross tonnage, about 6,000 tons. Her engines are of the inverted three-cylinder type, the high pressure cylinder being 63-ins. diameter, the two low pressure cylinders being 91-ins. each, while the piston stroke is 66-ins. Six double ended boilers and one single ended, having in all 39 furnaces, are fitted. The power expected to be developed is about 9,000 indicated. The speed guaranteed by the builders of the America is 18 knots an hour, and confidence is entertained by all concerned as to this result being attained. * It is abundantly evident, notwithstanding what has already been achieved, that the brisk competition among transatlantic companies for the "fastest steamer afloat" has not yet exhausted itself. The determination some time ago publicly expressed by Mr John Burns, the able chairman of the Cunard Company, to maintain a leading position, has since taken decidedly active shape in the contract entered into and now being carried out by Messrs John Elder & Co. : that is, the construction of the two huge and powerful steamers of unprecedented speed, already referred to near the beginning of this work. They are each of 8000 tons burthen, 500 feet in length, 57 feet broad, by 40 feet depth of hold. Engines of 13,000 horse power * While these sheets were passing through the press, the America was tried inofficially on the Clyde, and attained a speed of 17 knots, mth about 6,500 •indicated horse-power. On her passage from the Clyde to the Mersey she -maintained, it is stated, 18i knots over the whole distance. 34 Cape Mail Service. will be provided, which, it is computed, will drive the vessels at a speed of 19 knots an hour. "With the establishment of these remarkable steamships in this most important service, the prospect is near of'a transatlantic passage lasting only six days, if not indeed considerably under that period. Communication with our. South African colonies is another service in which modern progress, as regards high speed, has been conspicuously manifest. The steamers engaged in this service — belonging to the Union Steamship Coy. and Messrs Donald Currie & Co. — had special attention directed towards their powers as to fast steaming were exerted to the utmost them during the Zulu War of 1879, at which juncture in the transport of our soldiery. In the autumn of 1878 the Pretoria, belonging to the Union Coy., made the outward passage to the Cape, via Maderia, in 18 days, 16 hours, includ- ing 4| hours detention. The passage home was made in the autumn of 1879 by the same vessel in 18 days, 13J hours, including about 5f hours stoppages. These passages are fairly representative of the best performances of the vessels engaged in this service, and they have not since been much excelled. In midsummer, 1880, the Durban, another of the Union Line vessels, accomplished the homeward run via Maderia in 18 days, 9 hours, including about 6|- hours stop- pages. The Drummond Castle, belonging to Messrs Donald Currie & Co.'s Castle Packet line, has made the homeward run in 18 days, 18 hours, or, excluding detentions, in 18 days, 13 hours. . The Hawarden Castle, of the same line, has made the fastest outward run on record. In the autumn of 1883 she accomplished it in 18 days, 15 hours, including five hours detention at Maderia, leaving the actual steaming time 18 days, 10 hours. The distance traversed by vessels on this service is some 6,000 miles, and the average speed attained is about 13 knots per hour. In the case of one of the Union Coy.'s vessels, the average speed attained has been as high as 13'8 knots per hour over the greater portion of the voyage, the indicated horse-power developed being about 2,570, and the consumpt of coal about 52 1 tons per day; For a considerable JEmploymeni of Steamers on Long Voyages. 35 time recently tlie Companies have found it more remunerative to drive their vessels at moderate speed, but in times of emergency, such as the outbreak of hostilities in our colonies, their qualities as transports traversing long distances at high speed are eminently efficient. The employment of steamships in long voyages and at high rates of speed, for which, not so long ago, it was generally sup- posed sailing ships were only adapted, has been eminently successful. By the opening of the Suez Canal the passage to China was shortened from about 13,500 miles to about 9800 miles, that to India from over 10,000 miles to 6000. Although steamers were running to China via the Cape of Good Hope> before the opening of the Canal, and doing the service most admirably, it is subsequent to that great change, and indeed quite recently that the most noteworthy advances have been made in shortening the time occupied on. these important services. The passage is now made by steamers under ordinary circumstances in less than thirty days, Avhieh sailing ships under the most favourable conditions took three and a half to four months to accomplish. The average speed attained by the steamers prior to the short route never exceeded t6n knots; steamers now frequently average twelve knots over the whole distance, except during their passage through the Canal. The Stirling Castle, built in 1882 by Messrs Elder & Co., for Messrs Skinner & Co.'s China iloet, attained a speed of 18-4 knots on her official trial. During 1883 she proved herseK to be the fleetest vessel ever engaged in the China tea-carrying trade, arriving in the Thames several days ahe^d of the China mails, although the latter came part of the way overland. The run from Woosung to London was made in 27 days 4 hours steaming time. Other vessels belonging to this Company, and vessels of the other lines on this important service, although not equalling the performances of the Stirling Oastle, are exem- plifying almost daily the immense superiority of steamers over sailing ships for regularity and despatch in long passages. 36 Australian Direct Steam Service. As the distance to Australia — i.e., some 12,000 miles as ordi- narily taken — is only about 900 miles less via the Suez Canal than by the Cape of Good Hope, steamers are employed on both routes. On the 12th May, 1875, the St. Osyth left Plymouth for Melbourne via the Cape, called at St. Vincent for coal, and thence steamed continuously to Melbourne, reaching her destination on the 27th June. Her full steaming time was about 43^ days, the average speed attained being over 11| knots per hour. This passage, although considered most remarkable at the time, has since been surpassed. The Zusitania, of the Orient line, in 1877 made the passage to Melbourne in 40 J days, including a detention of IJ days at St. Vincent while coaling. Her actual steaming time was almost exactly 39 days, her average speed being only a trifle under 13 knots. The Cazr-o, of the same line, during the summer of 1879, made the homeward passage fi.'om Adelaide to Plymouth in 37 days 11 hours, including all detentions. In the Orient, which was the first vessel specially designed and constructed for the Australian direct steam service, a most noteworthy step in advance was made. She was launched in September, 1879, from the yard of Messrs Elder & Co., and on her com- pletion was tried for speed, when she attained a maximum average speed of 17 knots per hour. She has made the passage from Plymouth to Adelaide, via Suez Canal, in 35 days 16 hours, and the same voyage via Cape of Good Hope in 34 days, 1 hour, steaming time. The Orient was followed in 1882 by the magnificent Austral, whose high promise was suddenly blighted for a time by an unfortunate accident. While coaling at her moorings in Sydney harbour by night, the water was allowed to flow into the ship through her after coal ports, carelessly left open and un watched, and she thus gradually filled, and sank to the bottom. She has since been raised, brought home, and restored to her pris- tine splendour. She is presently engaged in the express service of the Anchor Line between Liverpool and New York, her performances being such as should gratify aU concerned. The Austral on her trial attained a speed of 17-3 knots, and has S. S. j<^"CJSTIt.A.Xj.— -A-iTCHZOil LlisrE. Lexhth, BKliiVDTH, ... 435 ft, ill. 48 ft. in. Depth, TONXAOE (GkOSS),. 37 ft. ill. 5,588 tons. Built by Messes. Eldisk & Co., 18S1. PORTRAIT AND BIOQRAPHICAL. NOTE. JAMES ANDERSON. JAMES ANDERSON, E.R.G.S. CHAIRMAN or THE OKIENT STEAM NAVIGATION COY., LIMITED; CHAIRMAN OF THE LONDON BOAE.D OF DIRECTORS OE THE SCOTTISH PROVINCIAL INSURANCE COY. ; DIRECTOR OF THE HOME AND COLONIAL INSURANCE COY., DIRECTOR OF THE BANK OF BRITISH COLUMBIA, ETC. Born at Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, on 17th May, 1811, his family then being — and having been since 1780 — extensively engaged in shipo'HTiing and sliipbuilding there. Removed to Loudon in 1831, and entered the counting-house of Mr James Thomson, a considerable shipowner, whose vessels were principally engaged in the West Indian trade. Assumed partnership with Mr Thomson in 1847, carrying on business as James Thomson & Co. , a connection which, unfortunately, was soon thereafter broken, in the removal by death of Mr Thomson. In 1849 the business was extended to the Australian trade, by the commencement of a line of sailing vessels to Adelaide, which soon became well-known and favourite traders. Some time after Mr Thomson's death, tlie name of the firm was changed to Anderson, Tliomson & Co. , and in 1869 it underwent a second change to Anderson, Anderson & Co. , its present designation. In 1876 the feasibility of running a direct line of steamships to Australia occurred to Mr Anderson and his partners, and was practically tested at their sole risk in that year. Notwithstanding the predictions that severe loss would result, the experiments encouraged Messrs Anderson, Anderson & Co. to promote the formation of a company to work such a service. Early in 1877, Messrs F. Green 4 Co. joined Messrs Anderson, Anderson & Co. in the enterprize, and on tlie 7th March, 1878, the steamer Garonne left England for Australia, flying the flag of the Orient Steam Navigation Co., Limited, the designation ' ' Orient " having been adopted through the high reputation of the clipper ship of that name belonging to Messrs Anderson, Anderson & Co. Anticipations were at first confined to the hope that sufiicient trade might be found to justify monthly sailings, but almost at once it was seen that a fortnightly service was requisite. At the outset four steamers — the Ohimhorazo, Liisitania, Cu.zco, a,nAGaronne — were purchased by the Company, and one — the Orient — ^built. In January, 1880, the Pacific Steam Navigation Company entered, as it were, into partnership, by supplying, in ready and admirable working order, the additional vessels required. The furtlier additions to the fleet, and the nature of the service done, are referred to elsewhere in this work. I (-PHOTO, BPRAGue » c? uo^DON- New Zealand Direct Steam Service. 37 made the passage from Plymouth to Melbourne, via the Suez Canal, in the unprecedented time of 32 days, 14 hours steaming. Until quite recently the only direct communication with New Zealand has been by sailing vessels, but the New Zealand Shipping Company (Limited) and the Shaw, Savill, & Albion Company (Limited) are at the present moment in the thick of organising monthly services of high-class modern steamships to the Antipodes. The former Company in 1883 despatched the Ionic, which they had chartered, with other of the White Star steamships, for the purpose. This vessel made the passage out to New Zealand dn 43 days, and home in 45 days, includ- ing stoppage for coaling. Passages of a similar character have been made by this vessel and others of the Company's own fleet, three of which — the Tongariro, Aorangi, and Bua]pehu — are splendid new steel vessels from the stocks of the famous Fairfield yard. The vessel last named has just made the passage home from Ly'ttelton, New Zealand, to Plymouth, in the marvellously short period of 37 days, 20 hours, 40 minutes, steaming time; the time, with detentions, being about 39 days. The other Company referred to are having two magnificent steel vessels built by Messrs Denny & Bros., of Dumbarton, to be named the Arawa and Tainui, each of 5000 tons gross. These vessels are to maintain a sea speed of 12 J knots, the engines to be fitted representing a noteworthy advance in the line of economical consumpt of fuel with prolonged terms of steaming. Between 1875 and 1882 the number of steamers having ocean speeds of 13 knots and upwards, increased from twenty- five to sixty-five. Of these there were only ten — previous to 1875 — of 14 knots speed and upwards, whereas at the begin- ning of 1882 there were twenty-five of this character. During the years 1882 and 1883 alone the increase in the number of such vessels has been almost double that for the previous period named. The highest speed previous to 1875 did not exceed 15 knots, now^ there are numerous vessels with speeds exceeding 17 knots, several even approaching 18 knots, while 38 Increased Numler of High-Speed Steamers. in one or two cases the speed attained — under favourable circumstances probably — is stated to have been considerably- over 18 knots, the Guion Liner Oregon, indeed, reaching the round figure of 20 knots. Viewed purely from the point of view . of the sea voyager, such results are alike remarkable and gratifying, whilst con- sidered in their technical and commercial aspects they also call for admiration. It is questioned, however, whether in most cases the attainment of great speed has been accompanied with corresponding or proportionate advance in other matters with which vital progress is concerned. Commercially, it is of the utmost importance that increase of speed and power should be achieved, with the least possible weight of machinery, water, and fuel to be carried; with the least possible expendi- ture of fuel; with safety and efficiency in working; with low wear and tear, and cheapness of maintenance. The efficiency of the ship and machinery in fulfilling the various and often conflicting conditions of economical service is a matter with which the naval architect and the marine engineer have jointly to deal. Where the conditions cannot aU be equally satisfied, it is the province of these two' to make that sort oi compromise which gives the best results in each special case. In cargo-carrying vessels, for example, an economy in the consumption of fuel may pften be the dominant and regulating quality. An economy of one-fourth of a pound per horse- power per hour gives, on a large transatlantic steamer, a saving of about 100 tons of coal for a single voyage. To this saving of cost is to be added the gain in wages and sustenance of the labour required to handle that coal, and the gain by 100 tons of freight carried in place of the coal. Again, it is estimated that every ton of dead-weight capacity is worth on an average £10 per annum as earning freight. Supposing, therefore, the weight of machinery and water in any ordinary vessel to be 300 tons, and that by careful design and judicious use of materials the engineer can reduce it by 100 tons without increasing the cost of working, he makes the vessel worth £1,000 per annum more to her owners. To these and other Economy in Coal Consumption. 39 such considerations, which often influence -the naval architect and engineer in their designs, and due regard to one or more of which not infrequently prevents the attainment of all- round success, should be added many others concerned with the after-management of vessels. For example, the length of voyage to be performed, the seasons and the markets in particular trades, the number of ports of call, and the coaling facilities at each, are all matters which must be taken into consideration when measuring, from one standpoint or from particular instances, the degree of success attained in general. The diminution in coal consumpt, coincident with the increase of steam pressure and the acceleration in speed which has been attained in recent years measures the principal element of progress. In many of the "racers" of recent times, it is true, speed is attained at what may appear a great sacrifice of fuel, but these are cases in which the commercial con- siderations often used to measure the efficiency of ordinary cargo-carrying steamers are not applicable. Owners — of transatlantic steamships especially — realise from experience that "speed pays," and they find it of more advantage to ensure certainty of arrival at the port of destination than to save a few tons of coals on the voyage. During the past sixteen years or so the advance made in respect to the reduced ratio of fuel consumed to power developed has indeed been considerable. Before the period stated a vessel of say 700 tons carrying capability was not only much slower than the present-day vessels but the coal supply amounted to about 16 tons per day of 24 hours, whereas vessels are now being buUt of like size which attain an average speed of 9 knots, the consumpt of coal not being more than 6 tons per day. In 1872 the consumption of coal in vessels whose engines were worked at a pressure of from 45-lbs. to 65-lbs. per inch (the latter being then the highest pressure recorded), did not exceed 2^-lbs. per indicated horse power per hour. This indicated an improvement in the marine engine during the previous decade, represented by a reduction in the consumpt of fuel by more than One half the amount previously 4b Construction of Modem Marine Boilers. thought indispensable. Since 1872, there has been a further reduction in the average consumpt of fuel to the extent of 15 or 16 per cent., or in the average from 2|-lbs. to less than If-lbs. per indicated horse power per hour. As in the case of the vessels themselves, mild steel is largely taking the place of iron in the construction of marine boilers. The change has reduced the weight of this important item of machinery by about one-tenth, a great advantage in itself, as increasing the dead-weight capability of the vessel. The questions as to the reliable character of the boilers made of steel with respect to strength under working, and as regards corrosion, are being practically answered as time goes on; and, as in the case of ship structure, in a way very satisfactory for the new material. There is every probability that a further advance may soon be made in connection with marine boilers, in the way of constructing the shell in solid rings, thus doing away with the longitudinal seams. The strength of boilers is of course governed by the strength of the seam, and this is never above 75 per cent, of the solid plate. Hence, if soKd shells are employed, an increase in pressure of about 25 per cent., with the same thickness of shell, may be obtained. Appliances are now being laid down in the Vulcan Steel and Forge Coy., Barrow-in-Furness, for this purpose. Improved appliances and modes of construction, no less than the change of material employed, have played a large part in rendering the boilers of modern steamships capable of being worked at the higher pressures now common. It is not possible, however, with the space at command, to treat of these; nor is it practicable to consider or even enumerate all the various improved fittings which in the aggregate so materially enhance the efficiency of boilers. One such feature particularly noteworthy because of the success with which it has been applied to the boilers of very many modem high-class merchant ships may be shortly referred to. This is the corrugated mild steel furnace, manu- factured by the Leeds Forge Company on Mr Samson Fox's patent, an illustration of which is given in Fig. 4. Improved Boiler Fittings. 41 This shows a single corrugated furnace flue, flanged at the end to meet the tube plate of the boiler. The strength of these flues to resist coUapse has been proved in the presence of the officials of the Admiralty, Board of Trade, and Lloyd's Eegister,, to be, on the average, four times greater than a plain flue of the same dimensions. An immediate effect of this has been to increase their average diameter from 3-ft. to 4-ft., the thickness of plate — J-inch — remainiag the same; a result as to diameter and thickness quite impracticable with ordinary furnaces. Some have even been made to carry 170-lbs. per square inch of steam pressure, 4-ft. 8-ins. outside diameter FIG. 4. constructed of one single plate, with the weld so arranged ^^ to be below the flre bars in the furnace. By the corrugated, as against the plain tube, a greatly increased heating surface is presented to the flame and the heated gases of the furnace, thus yielding a greatly enhanced evaporative power, equal to at least 50 per cent, more than in the ordinary form. Better allowance is made by the corrugated surface for the expansion and contraction caused by changes of temperature ia the furnace, without in any way impairing its efficiency as a longitudinal stay for the boiler. Through the increased diameters and the augmented surface possible by these corrugated tubes, their adoption lessens the number 42 Conibustion hy Forced Braught. of furnaces and stokers necessary for the horse-power required. As a further consequence, the boiler space may be diminished, and an increase effected in the cargo space or freight-carrying capacity of the vessel. The advantages of corrugated flues as compared with plain flues cannot all be named, but the extraordinary extent to which they are now employed in the best class of steamships is the best proof of their superiority. It is stated that if the flues which have been made by the Company since their introduction about the beginning of 1878, and are now at work, were placed in one continuous line, they would extend to a length of over twenty miles, representing, in marine and other engines, nearly one million horse-power. The number of separate types of boilers introduced into steamships has been much increased of recent years — an evidence that engineers are growingly conscious of the possi- bilities which may result from improved efficiency in this agent of propulsion. One direction in which their efforts at present are being largely put forth, is that of securing the more complete combustion of fuel in the furnaces. Consider- able success has already attended the working of boilers under forced draught, or the admission of air to the furnaces under pressure. Combined with special types of boilers, it has been affirmed that nearly 50 per cent, more power has been obtained by this means. There is doubtless much to be expected from this system in the future, especially as it may be associated with a change in the form or type of boilers by which the number and weight of such items will be reduced. The saving of space in the vessel, the economy in comsumption of coal, the reduction in dead- weight of machinery, are possi- bilities of the movement now in progress which cannot fail to effect materially the commercial character of our high-class mail and passenger steamships, and merchant vessels generally. Other directions in which advance has been made during the period under review are, considerably higher steam pressures, less heating surface, and smaller cylinders, for indicated horse- power developed. The various improvements in design and Bedticed Weight of Machinery. 43 construction which have contributed to these results cannot be entered into with any degree of fulness here. For detailed treatment of these matters, readers are referred to the papers read by eminent engineering authorities, before the various professioiial and scientific institutions, a list of which papers follows the present chapter.* , Eeduction in the weight of machinery per indicated horse- power developed is, in general terms, the common line in which engineering effort lies, and in which no little advance has lately been made. Every possible opportunity of using steel, where it can be introduced with safety and efficiency, has been takem advantage of. Hollow crank steel shafts and pro- peller shafting in place of solid shafting; propellers and pistons of cast-steel in place of iron; apid boilers of nuld steel plates, are a few of the directions in which large weight-savings have been effected. That there is still great room for improvement in this direction is shown by the following statement, given by Mr. F. C. Marshall, of Messrs E. & W. Hawthorn, ISTewcastle- on-Tyne, in his valuable paper read before the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in 1883. The figures given show for various classes of vessels the average weight of machinery per indicated horse-power, in steamships of the merchant marine - — and for comparison — of the Eoyal Navy: — Lbs. perI.H.P. Merchant Steamers,- - - - - 480 Royal Navy, ... 360 Eoyal Navy, fast cruiser Iris, - 280 Turpedo Ram, Polyphemus, ■ - ■ 180 Torpedo vessels, . • - .60 Ordinary marine boilers, including water, . . 196 Locomotive boilers, including water, . . 60 The figures given are for weights of machinery, including engines, boilers, water, and all fittings ready for sea. * This list with those which follow other chapters, have been compiled at considerable trouble in the hope that they may be of xtse to technical readers in directing them at once to accurate and detailed information. In this con- nection also, the excellent work by Mr. A. S. Beaton, " Manual of Marine Engineering," and that by Mr. W. H. White, " Manual of Naval Architecture," may be referred to with every satisfaction. 44 Triple Hxpansion Engines. One of the most important of recent advances in marine engineering — affording as it does the means of using higher steam pressures than have hitherto been used with economy — is the introduction of the triple expansion description of engines already referred to. This important departure was begun in 1874, when Mr A. C. Kirk, of Messrs E. Napier & Sons, designed and fitted on board the screw-steamer Pro- jpontis, built for Mr W. H. Dixon, of Liverpool, by Messrs Elder & Co. — with whom Mr Kirk at that time was engineer- ing manager — engines involving the principle of triple expan- sion and abnormally high pressure of steam. In 1877 the principle received further practical development on board the Isa, a pleasure yacht fitted with triple expansion engines^ designed in 1876 by Mr Alexander Taylor, consulting engineer of 2sewcastle-on-Tyne, who has subsequently designed several other engines of the same type for larger merchant steamers. As not infrequently happens in connection with inventions, several minds were occupied, and independent ideas matured almost simultaneously, in the matter of triple expansion engines. Mr Kirk had secured the patent for engines involving this principle subsequent to, but before he was made cognisant of, Mr Taylor's work. At the same time he learned that in quite another quarter the designs for such a type of engine had already been perfected. Mr Kirk, on hearing these facts, relinquished the patent rights he had secured. Notwithstand- ing this, it is to the success of the engines designed by Mr Kirk, and fitted by his firm on board the screw-steamer Aberdeen, that the recent development of the system is largely due. This vessel was built in 1881 for the Australian service of Messrs G. Thomson & Co., London and Aberdeen, and measures 350 feet by 44 feet by 33 feet. Her engines work at a boiler pressure of 125 lbs. per square inch. The three cylinders are respectively 30 inches, 45 inches, and 70 inches in diameter, and the stroke is 4 feet 6 inches. The smallest is the high pressure cylinder, into which the steam is first admitted; from thence it passes, after expansion, into the second or intermediate cylinder ; after still further expansion PORTRAIT BIOGRAT>H ICAL NOTE. ALEXANDER C. KIRK. Triple Mxpansion JSngines. 45 it passes into the third or low pressure cylinder, from whence, after the expansion is completed, it is discharged into the . condenser. When the Aberdeen was completed, 2,000 tons of dead- weight were put on board, and the consumption was tested on a four hours' run at 1,800 horse power. The result was the consumption at the rate of 1.28-lbs. per indicated horse-power per hour, with Penrikyber Welsh coal. From this the designer of the engine inferred a sea consumption of good Welsh coal ^t the rate of 1'5 to l"6-lbs. per indicated horse-power. The maximum measured mile speed was 1374 knots, with 2,631 indicated horse-power, and a consumption of 1 ton 17 cwt. per hour. -The vessel started from Plymouth on 1st April, 1881, upon her first voyage to Melbourne, with 4000 tons of coals and cargo — weight and measurement — on board. She- arrived at Cape Town on the 23rd April, having accomplished the distance — 5,890 miles — in 22 days. After taking in about 140 tons of coal, she left for Melbourne on the 24th, and arrived there on the 14th May, in 20 days. The whole time occupied in steaming from Plymouth to Melbourne was, there- fore, 42 days. Her average indicated horse-power on the voyage has been about 1,880, and the consumption less than thirty-four tons per day, or at the rate of about 1-69-lbs. per indicated horse-power over the whole voyage. Since these results were obtained, Messrs Napier have fitted three sets of 5000 H.P. triple expansion engines into vessels built for the Compania Transatlantica Mexicana, and are completing a duplicate of the Aberdeen. The firm of Messrs Denny & Coy., Dumbarton, are at present making engines of the triple expansion type for the new steamers of the Shaw, Savill & Albion Company's direct New Zealand service. There are four cylinders and two cranks, the cylinders being arranged in pairs, tandem fashion, the small on the top of the large. Expansion takes place in three stages, the first small cylinder taking steam from the boilers about five-eights of the stroke, and expanding into the valve chest of the second small cylinder, where it is further expanded. 46 Designs for "Ship;, of the Future." From thence it exhausts iato the valve chest common to both the large cylinders described. The steam to be supplied to these engines is to have a pressure of 160-lbs. per square inch,, the highest yet carried in marine engines. These instances of actual advancement, taken in conjunction with the favour- able light in which the triple expansion principle is regarded by our foremost marine engineers, augur well for the future of steamship propulsion. The activity characterising merchant ship construction, and especially the enormous increase in tteir dimensions and speed withia recent years, have necessarily led to specu- lation with regard to what form the ship of the future wiU take. There have not been wanting, indeed, actual propositions and elaborately prepared designs of what the ideal ship should be. A company was sometime ago formed in Washington, U.S., to have three vessels built of a novel type, the patented invention of Captain Lundborg, a Swedish engineer, intended to make the Atlantic passage in iive days. It was also announced that the order for their construction had actually been given out, but this is wanting in confirmation. Great expectations were entertained in America regarding what was termed the dome-ship Meteor, built on the Hudson in the early part of 1883 from the designs of Captain Eleven. A company had been formed under the designation of the " American Quick Transit Company," the chief supporters being Boston merchants, to build several large steamships on the proposed lines, but the utter failure of the Meteor to answer the promises of her inventor has relegated the scheme to the vast limbo of unfulfilled American projects. Three years ago or more, scientific journals gave publicity to a scheme of " Ocean Palace " steamship, patented by Mr Eobert Wilcox, of Mel- bourne, Victoria, the claims for which ranked themselves under the heads of speed, safety, and comfort.. Double hulls, as in the case of some Channel steamers, were employed, but each of the hulls was divided into two cigar-shaped portions, thus Designs far "Ships of the Future." 47 giving to the submerged whole, a quadruplicate character, and which, with its palatial superstructure, was apt to remind one — shall it be said ? — of Eome and her seven hills, or Venice and her island base ! The design, nevertheless, was to give the least resistance with the greatest buoyancy and stability The method of propulsion proposed by Mr WUcox was also novel. He placed a couple of enormous drums fore and aft (between the hulls), which were to be driven by the engines as if they were paddle-wheels. Over these drums was placed a continuous band of iron links, upon which, at suitable intervals, paddles or blades were fixed. A comparatively low speed of engine was to give a high speed of velocity to this band of blades; and as there would be twenty-one paddles, all immersed at the same time, their grip of the water was to be such that ■ there should be little slip. Whether on a serious application of the principles involved in this invention to a ship for the Australian service the voyage would have been made, as was claimed, in 26 days, equal to an increase in speed of 75 per' cent'., has never of course been determined ! StiU another scheme, and one which the inventor has been encouraged to prosecute by the recommendations of eminent authorities on both sides of the Atlantic, is that of Captain Coppin, noted for his success in salvage operations, which consists of an "Ocean Ferry" partaking as to form somewhat of the features above described for Mr Wilcox's "Ocean Palace." The speed said to be possible by Captain Ooppin's vessel is twenty knots an hour, and the terminal ports proposed are Milford Haven and New York. It was announced some time ago that M. Eaoul Pictet, the eminent engineer of Geneva, was engaged upon the question of ship design and propulsion, and was in hopes that by application of his ideas he might yet send ships careering over the sea at the rate of thirty-seven miles an hour! Enough has been said to show that there is no lack of inven- tive effort being put forth towards a realization of the ideal ships of the future. In a service, however, like that of the Atlantic, where competition is strong and keen, and where the monetary issues are neatly adjusted between rival com- 48 I'he Future of Ship Propulsion. panies, there is little chance of any of the various projects being tried. An impression exists among shipowners — for which doubtless there are sufficient grounds — ^that time and capital staked on novelties or " new departures " are simply invitations to defeat in the race or to absolute ruin itself. This commercial prudence and industrial caution has been startled in several ways of recent years — e.g., by meteoric flashes such as the Livadia and Meteor — the ultimate effect of which has been to illumine and make clearer the probable line of advancement. By pretty general consent of those most competent to judge the ships of the immediate future will possess the broad distinctions of being either purely passenger or purely cargo- carrying mediums. It is equally agreed that twin in place of single screw propellers wiU be employed, and that for the express ships nothing less than 20 knots per hour will be considered satisfactory. On a subject, however, concerned not with historical facts, but with theories and scientific forecasts, it may be well not to enlarge, especially as the future is evidently charged with possibilities of which present-day designers can have but indefinite notions. The subject of employing electrical energy as the propulsive power on board ship is at the present time engaging serious attention, but the degree of practical and commercial success attained does not, as yet, warrant any anticipation of its immediate application to vessels beyond small craft, such as launches and ferries. In the midst, however, of such immense and marvellous works achieved by this great — and, in some senses, modem — force, it would be both idle and unwise to keep out of view the pos- sibilities of its future as affecting ship propulsion. List of Papers and Lectures bearing on the speed and propulsive power of modem steamships, to which readers desiring fuller acquaintance with the technique and details of the subject are referred : — On the Boilbbs abd Engines or Our Futube Fleet, by Mr J. Soott Eussell : Trans. Inst. N.A., vol. xviil., 1877. Papers on Speed and, Power of Steamships. 49 On THE COMPOTJHD MARINE Steam Enqine, by Mr Arthar Eigg : Trans. Inst. N.A., vol. xi., 1870. On Compound Engines, by Mr Richard Seunett : Trans. Inst. N.A., vol. xvi., 1875. On the Proqeess Eefectbd in the Economy op Fuel in Steam Navigation, Considered in Relation to Compound Cyunder Engines and High Pressure Steam, by Mr F. J. BramwsU ; Proceedings Inst. Meoh. Engineers, 1872. Our Commercial Marine Steam Fleet in 1877, by Mr J. R. Ravenhill : Trans. Inst. N.A., vol. xviii., 1877. On the Steam Trials op H.M.S. Iris, by Mr J. Wright : Trans. Inst. N.A., vol, XX., 1879. On the Steam Trials of the Satallite and Conquerer under Forced Draught, by Mr R. J. Butler : Trans. Inst. N.A., vol. xxiv., 1883. On Combustion op Fuel in Furnaces of Steam Boilers by Natural Draught, and by Supply of Air under Pressure, by Mr James Howden : Trans, Inst. N.A., vol. XXV,, 1884, Propositions on the Motion op Steam Vessels, by Mr Robert Mansell : Trans. Inst. Engineers and Shipbuilders, vol. xix. , 1875-76. ■On Steamship Efficiency, by Mr Robert Mansel : Trans. Inst. Engineers and Shipbuilders, vol. xxii., 1878-79. The Comparative Commercial Efficiency of some Steamships, by Mr Jas. Hamilton Jun.: Trans. Inst. Engineers and Shipbuilders, vol.xxv., 1881-82. The Speed and Form op Steamships Considered in Relation to Length op Voyage, by Mr James Hamilton, Jun. ; Traus. Inst. N.A., vol. xxiv., 1882. On the Comparative Efficiency op Single and Twin Screw Propellers in Deep Draught Ships, by Mr W. H. White : Trans. Inst. N.A., vol. xix., 1878. On Twin Ship Propulsion by Mr G. C. Mackrow : Trans. Inst. N.A., vol. xx., 1879. On Marine Steam Boilers : their Design, Construction. Operation, and Wear, by Mr Charles H. Haswell : Trans. Inst. N.A., vol. xviii., 1877. On the Introduction of the Compound Engine and the Economical Advan- tages OF High Pressure Steam, by Mr Fred. J. Rowan : Tran. Inst. Engineers and Shipbuilders, vol. xxiii., 1879-80. On Compound Marine Engines with Three Cylnders Working on Two Cranks, by Mr Robert Douglas : Trans. Inst. Engineers and Shipbuilders, vol. XXV., 1881-82. On the Triple Expansive Engines op the s.s. Aberdeen, by Mr A. C. Kirk : Trans. Inst. N.A., vol. xxiii., 1882, On the Efficiency op Compound Engines, by Mr W. Parker : Trans. Inst. N.A, vol. xxiii., 1882. On the Construction and Efficiency op Marine Boilers, by Mr Josiah M'Gregpr : Trans. Inst. Engineers and Shipbuilders, vol. xxiii., 1879-80. On the Strength of Boilers, by Mr J. Milton : Trans. Inst. N. A., vol. xviii., 1877. On the Use of Steel for Marine Boilers and some Recent Improvements IN THEIR Construction, byMr W. Parker:Trans.Inst. N.A., vol. xix,, 1878. 50 Papers an Speed o/nd Povxr of Stmrnsld^js. On the Reaction of the Scbbw Propelleb, by Mr James Howden : Trans. Inst. Engineers and Shipbuilders, vol. xxii., 1878-79. On the Pbogkbss and Development op the Mabine Engine, by Mr F. C. Marshall. Proceedings Inst. Mech. Engineers, 1881. On Some Results op Recent Improvements in Naval ARCHiTECinRE and Marine Engihkeeing, by Mr William Pearce. Lectures on Naval Archi- tecture and Marine Engineering : Glasgow, William Collins & Sons, 1881. The Speed and Carrying op Screw Steamers, by Mr William Denny. Lecture delivered to the Greenock Philosophical Society, 20th January, 1882, in honour of the birthday of James Watt (19th Jan.) : Greenock, Wm. Hutchison. On the Advantages of Ihoeeased Proportion of Beam to Length in Steamships, by Mr J. H. Biles : Trans. Inst., N.A., voL xxiv., 1883. Cast Steel as a Material for Crank Shafts, by :sir J. F. Hall, lust. N.A, ToL XXV., 1884. CHAPTER III. SAFETY AND COMFORT OF MODERN STEAMSHIPS. EVERY advance — ^whether it be in dimensions or power of steamships, or whether it consist of modifications in their structure or appointment — toward that ideal period when sea- voyaging will have attained its maximum of comfort and its minimum of risk, is deserving of record. The qualities of safety and comfort,- even more than increase of speed and the consequent shortening of sea passages, are first essentials in the realisation of this great end. The structural modifica- tions, and the great development in size of recent vessels, affect the qualities named in ways which already may have been made evident, but which call for more detailed treatment. The more minute watertight sub-division of the hulls of vessels, for instance, and especially the presence of an inner skin or cellular bottom, are marked accesions to their safety. The primary object and ruling principle of all proper water- tight sub-division, is so to limit the space to which water can find access, that in a vessel with one, or even two, compart- ments open to the sea, the accession of weight due to the filling of these compartments would not exceed the surplus buoyancy she should possess. UntU within recent years this was not so fuUy regarded as it ought, owing chiefly to the objections of shipowners to minute sub -division, as impairing a vessel's usefulness and capacity for stowage of miscellaneous cargo. These objections have still doubtless much weight for vessels in certain trades, but the tendency of modem passenger traffic to estrange itself from cargo- carrying mediums, makes them almost inapplicable to a large section of our mercantile marine. There is now, indeed, mor^ 52 Watertight Suii- Division. faith in well divided ships generally as being in the long run no less efiSicient and more economical than scantily divided ones. The salutary influence exerted by the Admiralty, in stipu- lating for increased sub-division of the hulls of all merchant' vessels eligible for state employment in times of war, is FIG. 5. worthy of special recognition. A few years ago only thirty or forty large steamers in the merchant navy were so constructed, as regards sub-division, that they would have survived for a few minutes the effect of collision with other vessels or of grounding on rocks. Within recent years—