SHIPS AND THE SEA

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 77, 30 March 1912, Page 12

SHIPS AND THE SEA

THE MALOJA. With the arrival of tha P. and 0. Co.'b new liner Maloja at Sydney last week, the history of this noted company is revived. It is 62 years ago since tho first of the P. and 0. Co.'s eteamers, the Cliusan, arrived at Sydney. To-day tho company's fleet comprises 67 fino vessels of a total tonnage of 489,913. The Chusan was an auxiliary of 699 tons register and an indicated horse-power of 80. She was a palatial liner in her time, but only managed to hit up about seven knots when under steam. She wtw barque-rigged, and as, in her days, coaling stations were few and far between, sail played a prominent part in her first voyage to Australia. The Chusan's voyage was made in th« days of tho rush of immigrants to Australia, and she wa^ a full ship when ehe reached Sydney. But she is a hulk to-day, and her successors are of over 12,000 tons register, and finer ships were never seen in this part of the world. The Maloja has accommodation for over 670 passengers under ordinary cirounißtances, and 6he is, without doubt, a handsome vessel, both internally and externally. The richness of her fittings and the numberless appliances for tho safety and comfort of her passeni gere are a surprise to all who visit her. The dining room alone accommodates 320 people. The Maloja, is fully cquinped for the carriage of "cold stuff"' between Australia and England, and Can stow 40,000 cases of fruit in her refrigerating chambers. She! is in direct contrast to the Chusan, being' of 14,000 horse-power, and can steam at' the rate of 18£ knots per hous. She carries a crew ot 337, and when her whole passenger berths are full she has over 1000* people aboard — the population of a small town. There were 450 passengers aboard the liner when she arrived, and excepting for a "dusting" in the Bay of Biscay the voyage was described as being pleasant. A NEW TYSER LJNER. On 3rd February Messrs Workman, Olark and Company, Ltd., Belfast, launched the twin screw steamer Makorini for the Tyaer Line, Ltd., London, The Makarini, whioh is 486 ft in length, with a gross tonnage of over 10,500, is a vessel of the «helter-deck type, and hue been built under speoial survey lor the highest class in Lloyd's Register. The cargo space is divided into five spacious holds, three of these being insulated for tfie carriage of frozen meat cargoes. Accommodation for about 750 steerage passengers is provided on the upper 'tween decks, the rooms being large and woll lighted 'and ventilated. A comfortable smoking room and lounge are provided on the shelter deck, and a large dining ealoon to accommodate all the passengers at one sitting is arranged on the upper deck. The propelling machinery consists of two sets of triple-expansion engines complete with all the necessary auxiliary appliance;, and supplied with steam from four single-ended steel boilers working under forced draught. A SALVAGE PROJECT. It is understood (says a Sydney exchange of 21st March) that a Sydney syndioate has completed negotiations for the purchase of the wrecked steamer Knight of St. George, and intends despatching salvage plant almost immediately. Higu hopes are held out of her being refloated, and in the event of her being got off tho 1 reef it is understood the intention, is to take her to Auckland for repairs. The Knight of St. George, it will be remembered, was en route to Auckland and Sydney from Puget Sound when she grounded near Nukualofa (Tonga). From the first great hopus have been held out by different parties of the possibilities or getting her clear of the rock bed, but when the master passed through Sydney some time ago, en route to London, he expressed the opinion that she was fast for all time, THE LARGEST BRITISH-BUILT SHIP The Belfast correspondent of the Daily News writes : —A striking indication of the keen competition amongst the great shipping companies is forthcoming in the announcement that the White Star Line havo ordered from Messrs. Harland and Wolff, of Belfast, a vessel which will be the largest British-built ship in the world. The giant liner is to measure 882 ft 6in over all, with a beam of 93ft 6in, and a gross tonnage of 47,000. She will thus be a foot broader and 2000 tons heavier than the Olympic and Titanic. Th« new liner, which will be propelled by the now familiar combination of reciprocating engines with a low-pressure turbine, will be remarkable for its first-class passenger accommodation. During the next two and a half yeafo a email army of men will be engaged in building and fitting out the gres/i liner, whioh will cost about £1,500,000. One-third of this etun will be spent in wage*. A NOVEL ENGINEERING FEAT. The somewhat remarkable feqfc of removing a lighthouse from one position and depositing it bodily in another was performed at Hartlepool,_ England, recently. The structure, which is of wood, is forty feet high, surmounted by a fourth order red dioptric light. "Reoently the Old Pier, on whioh it stands, was longhtened, and the task was to move the lighthouse about thirty feet on to the new part. The work Was accomplished by means of ways, similar to those used in launching a steamer, being laid under the lighthouse. Along those ways the atruoture was drawn by tho use of purchase blooks and taokle, about twenty men hauling on the ropGB. So steadily did the lighthouse glide along that even an incandosoent gaß mantle up aloft remained undamaged. The actual process of removal barely ocoupied half an hour. TO STOP ENGINES RACING. N A young New Zealandor, Mr. A. C. Robertson, has just porfeoted an instrument for preventing marine engines from racing (says an oxcharige). An instrument of this kind has been engaging the attention of the best engineers in the world, and up to the present nothing has j been successful. Mr. Robertson's instru- ] ment has been betforo several well-known engineers in Now Zealand, ' and they doclaro that it will prove one of the greatest of benefits to marine •engines, saving the wear and tear on the engines, tho breaking of shafts, and losing of propellers, which Occur in heavy aeaway.s. The principle of tho machine is to* replace the lost resistance which the blades of tho propeller have whilst immersed in the water, but which they lose as soon as the blades como out. In heavy weather tho engineers have to put a man on the throttle valve and shut oft' steam as soon as the blades aro coining out, so as to save the raking of his engines. The whole ship vibrates, and heavy strains are brought on all the machinery. With the instrument attaohed all this is completely eliminated, and the engine always runs at its ordinary revolutions at all times in all conditions of_ weather, the full power of the engine being available, a thing up to the present' considered impossible. Tho machine is purely automatic in its action, nnd yet very simple in. its construction. The great . feature in the working of the instrument is the fact that_ steam to the engine is never shut off whilst tho engine is working, and yet ifc^ is impossible for the engino .to exoeod its set number of revolutions. ' A very successful trial was made on the steamor Wairoa, at Auck> land, during a stormy the engine being run up to itß limit without the slightest acceleration in the engines and Without vibration of the boat. LAUNCH OF H.M.S. ATTACK. Meesrs. Yarrow and Co. Scotetown, launohrd a new torpedo-boat destroyer — the Attack— in December last. She is the second of five special destroyers they have under construction for tho British Admiralty, and is 240 ft. in length by 25ft 7in in breadth. Sho is propellod by twin screws, driven by Brown-Curtis turbines, made by the builders. Steam w supplied by three Yarrow water-tube boilers, burning oil fuel. The boilers aro fitted with anew fortn of super-heater. Stated to date back to tho sixteenth century, an anchor, recovered from tho sea, has. boen seuurod as a relio for the public park at Lowostoft. It has taken • long time to weigh, that anchor 1