SEA ENGINEERS.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19622, 18 May 1929, Page 24

SEA ENGINEERS.

j ANNUAL DINNER. SPEECH BY PRINCE OF WALES. Cfbom our. own coEJSSSjoiro&ST.; LONDON, April o. At the annual dinner of ilaruio Engineers, which the Prince of Wales attended. Lord Kyl&ant said they were now auout to witness another great development m marine engineering—namely, the application Ot electrical energy to the propulsion oi large ships. As tiiey were aware, tliere wub bunding at lieilast a vessel 1000 ft long for tiie trails-Atlantic mail service ot the V\ into otar Xjiiie. A lie fnuco ot Wales might teei more thau ordinary interest iu mat siiiy, tor he took part in tne nuuiutactuiv ot one oi tue Keel-plates Curing ius visit last year to the great steelworks at Alotherweil. lhat big vessel would be electrically propelled, but the question whether the maelunery tor generatitig the electricity should take the torm ot steam turbines or motor engines had been receiving long and anxious consideration, tverything indicated the probability that internal combustion engines would be best adapted to produce the enormous eieo trical power required to be developed to propo] so huge a vessel at lugh speed, l'he fact that it might ho possible to, utilise motor engines, coupled with the electric drive, tor that ship j constituted a further remarkable development m marine engineering. One thmsi was certain —it was inevitable that" the progress oi events should oblige shipowners to adopt the latest type of machinery for new vessels, and to take the fullest possible advantage of marine engineering achievement. The march of progress could not be arrested, and they must keep pace with it if the British mercantile marine was j to maintain its pre-eminent position, j Princo ts Cade". \ 'l'he Prince, in his speech, referred j to the long-suffering instructors who i did their best in the years when lie j was a naval cadet to teach him a little about' marine engineering. ! "1 may say that the result of their : efiorts was that among half a dozen of my class 1 shared tho honourable position of last place, or what we used to call bottom of the term. (Laughter.) I am not blanun iiv.se i<n instructors. I think we have to put tins rather bad state of affairs down to either my shortcomings or rny idleness. But, despite my inability to assimilate much knowledge of the techniealfties of your profession, 1 was always, even as a naval cadet, interested in en'gineering, and 1 have been ever since, oecause 1 know that a amp is as useless without its engines as a 'splash' without a Scotch. "We have for many years held the blue riband of the Atlantic," continued the Prince. "No ship has ever beaten the record of the Mauretania, Long may we keep it, and von can help to keep it. (Cheers.) The other day, on account of the ve?;y serious illness of his Majesty th# King. I had what I believe was a record trip for any ship in his Majesty's Navy. I have been talking to the - First Sea Lord to-night, and he agreed that this was of great use—apart from the fact that I wft« brought back in fine time, it was a help to the Admiralty as an experiment, because no ship had been put to a test equal to this before. A Great Service. "I know that your institution has been founded 40 years, and that your membership hag risen from 30 to nearly 4000. (Cheers.) Although I was not at sea during the Great War, and I did not have the experiences of the great nerve strain it must have been, menaced by the submarine warfare, how much greater was it for the men in the engine-room and the boiler-room, as compared with those who were not hemmed in and bottled down under water-tight doors. There are many here to-night who went through that, and to those who did not it is a thing we admire intensely I have this fine toast to propose to-night, and I think that just a few lines of Kipling are not unsuitable:— Some water, coal and oil is all we ask And a thousandth of an inch to give us play, And now if you will set us to' our task Wo will save you, serve you, four and twenty hours a day. "That is a great service to keep up with and to support. I should also like to mention, as 1 have only referred to the large shipping lines which your chairman represents, the smaller lines, the trawlers, anud the small fishing vessels, which are doing a splendid work. I have the great honour of proposing this toast and I do not think this expression will be foreign to a great many of you—'Lang may your lum reek.' " ("Long may your chimney smoke.") (Laughter and cheers.)