SHIPS & THE SEA

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 126, 29 May 1915, Page 13

SHIPS & THE SEA

SHIPBUILDING RETURNS. Lloyd's Register Shipbuilding Returns for the quarter ended the 31st March do not contain, in consequence of the war, the usual information regarding tho shipbuilding industry throughout the world. They are confined to morchant veiisele in course of construction in the United Kingdom, but even so are full of interest. The complete story of naval construction during these months must wait upon the conclusion of peace (says a Home exchange). The returns only take into account vessels of 100 tons and upwards, the construction of which has actually begun. Excluding warships, there wore 471 vessels of 1,587,467 tons gross under construction in the United Kiugdora at the oloee of last quarter. Of these, 465 were steamers, representing 1,585,967 tons gross, compared with 453 of 1,625,105 tons on 31st December, 1914, and 503 of 1,884,946 tons on 31st March, 1914. Only six sailing vessels of 1500 tons were under construction at the end of March. Tho total tonnage now under construction in the United Kingdom is about 40,000 tons less than that which was in hand at the end of last quarter, and about 303,000 tons less than the total building twelve months ago.., It will be understood that the rate of (progress in merchant ship construction is very much reduced in the present circumstances, and that the immediate output will be considerably loss than that which would be obtained under normal conditions. Of the vessels being built ' in the United Kingdom at the end of March, 412 of 1,290,933 tons are under the inspection of tho Surveyors of Lloyd's Register with a view to classification by the sooiety. ECHO OF THE TITANIC DISASTER. The hearing of the action brought by the Oceanic Steam Navigation Company, owners of the steamer Titanio, which sank with the loss of more than 1600 lives in April, 1912, to .determine the extent of the company's liability, was to commence in the Federal District Court at New York last week. ' NORWEGIAN SHIPPING. A larger number of steamers is being built in Norway than has ever before been the case, most of these vessels being between 1800 and 3000 tons. It is at present (says tho Svensk Sjofarts Tidning) very difficult to get steel platos, and price-) for materials, especially copper, have risen. The prices for vessels have therefore advanced nearly 50 per cent, since the autumn. At Fredriksstad's works, the largest yard in Norway, 21 steamers are being built. Altogether there are under construction 102 steamers, of about 220,000 tons', valued at about 44,000,000 cro>\ns. A number of these vessels have been ordered abroad, especially by Sweden and Denmark. GERMAN VESSELS IN THE EAST. Captain Ris, of tho Royal Packet liner Le Maire, which recently arrived at Sydney from Macassar, stated in the course of conversation that all the German vessels interned in Eastern waters were being kepfc in the best of condition. The steamers wore,, being painted and overhauled internally ; indeed, it would appear from the captain's statement that everything in connection with the vessels was being so well attended to that many would be able to resume running at any time. Any others than Germans who happened to bo on board when they sought the shelter of neutral waters had been returned to their homes. AN IMPORTANT EXPEDITION. j Even now the waters of the globe are 1 very imperfectly known, and it is stated thnt tho uncharted rocks, reofs, and other dangers to navigation reported in tho lncific Ocean alone nu'nber more than 35C0. This quite justifies the great work to be undertaken by the Tntornationnl Oceanographies ExperliH-in, which has been organised under J. Foster Stackhou«e for a voyage of seven ye.irs, to chart tho seas. Starting from London in Jure, there will be son. c surveying in the North Atlantic, including a search for the rook nllcrpd to exist nenr the spot where the Ilfcnnic sank, and then fouv yenrs will be spent in the Ppoific. with sp-einl attention to the little-known coral and volcanic lslfimK The Rubserjiwnt work will be chiefly in the Irxlinn Ocean and th« »rent unevrnowd regions of the Antniotio and South .Atlantic. The stnff of inve-ti-a-tmn is to nurriber twelve men, nnrl important discoveries in i-rious branches of science may be' expected. FRENCH VESSEL USES THE CANAL. The honour- of being tho first French merchant vessel to pass through the lanama Canal has fallen to the steamer Saint Andre, which, whiM bound to Glasgow from Tahiti with 6COO tons of ore, entered tho Canal on 16th March. The Saint Andre is wpll-known in Au^rnlia i in ?,£ un!t of the La Cotnrasnie Naval© c(o I, Ocpanic s fleet, which up to the boginnimr of thn war maintained regular sailings from Bordeaux and othor French ports to Sydney and New Caledonia. BIG DEMAND FOR MOTOR SHIPS. Messrs Burmeister and Wan, tho big Copenhagen shipbuilding firm which specialises in motor ship construction, and wh>oh bu-"lt the Annam, tho first deep-sea motor vcsspl soon in Australia, are to bo kept busy for some time to come, such a. demand having sot in for that class of vessol Advice* state that the orders now on hand will k e pp the works fully employed until the end of 1918, the vessels under construction including fourteen of about 10.000 tons each, two of 9000 ton«. four of 8000 tons, and five of about 6500. It is interesting to note that tho successful experiments with th« Dievs motor for submarines is expected to have an effect in .influencing additional business, for tho Diesel motors proved so much superior to the motors hitherto used. IMPROVEMENT IN CARGO STEAMERS. In his presidential addross at the British Institute of Marine Engineers. Sir Arohihnld Denny, of the* well-known Dumbarton shipbuilding firm said, that as regards cargo vessels, apart altogether from their increaso in size, there has been a marked change in design. About twenty years ago the ordinary tramp vessel had developed into the pure "beast of burden," capable of steaming 8 and 9 knots in favourablo weather, while in bad weather they frequently stood still, or ovon went backwards, One owner said that in the old days he nevor know when his ships would arrive in port; now he knows to a day when to .expect thorn; and the saving in time compensates for tho loss in absoluto deadweight. Tho next change in cargo vessels scorns to be towards soared turbines. Engineers remember that Sir Charles Parsons proved the efficiency of this combination in tho Vespasian, wheve ho showed that keeping tho same shafting and propeller, and changing the engines only he was able to got ii considerable gain m coal consumption and that with an old converted steamer. Already some of these gearedturhino cargo voesels havo been built, and somo havo even adopted the cruiber stern ; but whether thp cruisor stern has como to stay or not. time will ■orove. Engineers are indobted i to tho bu'lders of tramp-ves-sels for considerable refinements in engino design which lead to economy. Some of tho most economical engines, triplp and quadruple, havo been fitfod in plain tramp-steamers, and now tho use of superheated steam in theso steamers is developing with the most gratifying results, THE TERM "SKIPPER." ( The Council of the Mercantile Marine Service Association protests against tho continued and extending ute in the press of the word "skipper" as applied, to the masters in charge of British merchant ships (says an English shipping papor). The term "skipper," it is remarked, is quite rightly applied to persons in charge of coasters and _ fishing vessels, but the "master mariner" has good reason to be annoyed, offended, antl disgusted by the application of the low Dutch "sehipper" to the rank ho holds by Government sanction.

Admiral Do Robeck. commanding tho Allied fleet at the Dardanelles, is the g>«eu-t-p;randson of o Swedo who was naturalised in the reicn of Goorjzo HL