Ships and the Sea

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 117, 13 November 1926, Page 28

Ships and the Sea

Prominent Shipping Man. The death occurred on. the 3rd November, at liis home in Melbourne, of Mr..Edward Northcote, who for many years was managing director of the Adelaide Steamship Company. Before coming to Australia in 1885, the late Mr. Northcote had an adventurous career from the time in 1868 that ho first went to sea as a cadet in H.M.S. Worcester. He subsequently joined the mercantile marine, and was in the service of the Orient Company for several

years. As navigating officer of this company, lie travelled extensively, and was in charge of the Orient when she arrived at Alexandria a day after its bombardment. Among thpse on board was his Royal Highness the Duke of Connaught. Mr. Northcote was shipwrecked on three occasions. After landing in Australia he joined the Adelaide Steamship Company, and for the past thirty-two years had been connected with the firm as managing director. He was chairman of the Steamship Owners' Federation in 1904, and it .was upon his suggestion, that the shipping companies adopted the policy of Becoming proprietors of coal mines rather than purchasers of coal. He was' a director of several collieries in New South Wales. New Motor Ship. .On her maiden voyage to Australia the Blue Funnel Line motor-ship Idomoncus arrived in Sydney on the 4th November, after a trip of fifty-three days from Liverpool. A sister-ahip to the Orestes, now on the retvrn voyage to the United Kingdom, the Idomeneus is a vessel of 7587 tons, and has a length of 476 feet, a beam of 58 feet. The vessel has six cargo holds,- two of which are fitted for the carriage of refrigerated meat, provisions, and fruit. Tho Idomeneus is to cater for the new season's wool. A speed of fifteen knots was maintained by the vessel throughout the greater part of the voyage to Australia. Two Fine Tankers. Speaking after the launching by Lithgows, Ltd., Port Glasgow, on 27th August, of the Vacuum Oil Company's new tank steamer Pulpit Point, Mr. John Muirhead (reports the "Daily Commercial News") said it was the fashion at trial trips and launches for speakers to strike a pessimistic note with regard to the difficulties, economic and otherwise, which beset the shipbuilding industry. He did notipropose to adopt that attitude. It was a remarkable fact that during the construction of the Pulpit. Point and her sistership the Plume they had not had a solitary dispute, and had thus been able to deliver the vessels a little ahead of contract time. It was the sincere wish of the firm that the trade of the Vacuum Oil Company might so extend that they jvould, find it absolutely necessary to instruct them to build some new steamers. Mr. E. W. Lycett (chairman of the Vacuum OJI Company), who also spoke, expressed the opinion that the Pulpit Point and the Plume were as fine tanker chips as the Clyde had ever produced. The vessels have been built on the Isherwood system, and'are 476 feet long overall, 62ft 6 inches in moulded breadth, and 36 feet in moulded depth from the upper deck. They will carry 12,300 tons dead-weight on a draft of 28 feet. British Vessels Preferred. Up to the present nearly 200,000 bales of the new season's wool have been shipped at Sydney for British and European ports (reports the Sydney "Morning Herald" on 26th October). The view appears to be held in certain quarters that most of the wool is being carried by foreign-owned vessels, but an exiiminatio.n.- of the. figures, shows that such is riot the case. With several exceptions, the foreign vessels' have received lai-ga „• individual consignments, and. this fact,,.no doubt,, has led to. a belief {Hat British-bwiiecT Vessels have lost :ground' in 'securing caTgoes. Altogether 197,817 bales of wool have been lifted at Sydney since the beginning of. September,'when the sales opened. Of that amount 108,149 bales havo been taken by 35 British vessels, while 11 foreign vessels have taken 89,668 bales. Among the largest- consignments taken by ; -British. vessels .were the Port Victor, 13253 bales; "Nowshera, 11,341 bale's; Me'rlones,'- 10.500 bales; Clan^ Macta'ggart,. 7514. bales. The principal shipments by foreign vessels were as follows .—Tricolour ' (Norwegian), ' 21,643 bales; Aagtekerk (Dutch), 15,209 bales; Tourcoing ..(Norwegian), 12,381 bales; Ville de' "Strasbourg ' (French), 8987 bales. German Ship at Sydney. The Norddeutscher Lloyd steamer Crefeld, which arrived in Sydney on 24th October, brought 128 passengers from Germany to Australia, and these included 25 immigrants for New South Wales." Nearly all the immigrants had their passages paid by relatives living in Australia. Captain "T. Thele, in command of ;tho Crefeld, was in the German navy during the war. The paper weight on his desk is constructed of iron taken from the submarine Deutachland,. which went to New York in 1916, It has the form of an iron cross, and was presented to .him by Captain Konig, the commander of the Deutschland. A Satisfactory Vessel. The British Inventor, the first Isherwood "bracketleas" tanker, which commenced her maiden voyage on. Bth July, returned to England in the middle of September last on the completion of her first round voyage. Built by Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company, Ltd., of Jarrow and Hebburn, she sailed from the Tyne in ballast condition for Abadan, in tho Persian Gulf, and returned to Grangemouth fully laden with crude oil. On tlie outward trip, in ballast, site experienced heavy weather in the monsoon, during which

the bulkheads and docks "vver; carefully examined by the ship's officers; but no sign oi weakness or leakage could be found. On arrival at Grangemoutli, a further thorough examination was made as far as was practical by the owners,, the builders, and the experts of Sir Joseph W. Isherwod, Bart., and the vessel was then found in first-class condition, structurally sound, perfectly oil tight, and ready for sea again. No repairs of even a minor character were required. ■ , • Dredging the St. Lawrence. It is announced that the New North Channel in the St. Lawrence River below Quebec will be opened to navigation on Ist June, 1927. On the completion of the work of dredging, which has been going on. for the past ten years, the depth of water in the channel will be not loss than 35ft. New Naval Arsenal. The Portuguese Government has invited tenders for the construction of a new naval arsenal at Lisbon. The firm securing the contract will have the right for 75 years to execute the no cessary work in connection with naval required by the naval and Merchant marines. Salvage Abandoned. The attempt to salve the gold of the P.'and O. liner Egypt, which sank on 21st May, 1922, off Ushant, with over £1,000,000 in specie on board, has been abandoned for this year. The German diver succeeded in descending several times to the bottom at a depth of 410 ft, but was unable to bring up anything by which the wreck could be identified. . i New Pilot Vessel. The Queensland Government is inviting tenders for the construction and delivery of a steel single-screw steamer for use as a pilot vessel at Moreton Bay. Wool for Japan. More than 23,000 bales of Australian wool have been shipped to Japan this season, the two largest consignments being 77G9 bales <m the China Maru, and 4900 bales on the Madras Maru. Several small shipments have also been sent to America. The export of wool will continue until about April next. "Waitomo." The following appeared recently in "The Shipping World":—"An Australian contemporary relates how, ■in one of the labour disputes for which Australasia is becoming rather notorious, a ship got held up at Auckland for four and a half months because the firemen objected to the cook. And the ship happened to be named the Waitomo. Evidently the firemen thought she might appropriately bear the /lame of Wait-a-mo-nth-or-two. '' Alternative Proposals. ■ ! Tenders have now been received, by the Admiralty for the large floating dock which is required for.the nay.l base at Singapore. It is understood, says "The Syren and Shipping," that some of the tenderers havo submitted alternative proposals—one for completing the dock in this country and having it towed out, and another for constructing it in sections for shipment to Singapore and final erection there. Matra Launched; TheMatra, a screw steamer with a deadweight carrying capacity of 11,----500 tons, which lias been built by Wm. Hamilton and Company, Ltd., Port Glasgow, for a Liverpool Urm, was launched on 9th September. Constructed under Lloyd's special survey with a cruiser stern, poop, bridge, and forecastle, she is 470 ft long, 62ft 2in broad, and 34ft lOin deep from the upper deck, and has a full equipment of derricks and steam winches. Electric light and wireless telegraphy are installed. The propelling machinery consists of single reduction gearel turbines and four single-ended 17ft by 12ft 6in, working at 2001b pressure. Future of Big Ships. Sir Alfred Yarrow has been giving his views on the future "development of Transatlantic V lers, reports "The Syren And Shipping." Interviewed at Southampton on his retujn from Canada, he expressed doubts as to the advisability of any shipowners ordering a 1000 ft vessel, his argument being that it is quite possible within 20. years poople who are in a hurry to 'c-'s's the Atlantic will do so in airships or aeroplanes, and that the 23 to 25-knot ship will be no longer required, those of 19 or 20 knots being then able to meet all requirements. As regards the shipbuilding situation, he was distinctly pessimistic, asserting that the bulk of that trade is even now passing to countries with better educated and more industrious populations, who can build ships more cheaply than England can. i \ Tricolour's Past Passage. Tho Norwegian motor-ship Tricolor, which left Sydney on 12th September, carried a record cargo of 21,643 bales of wool, and made the trip to Dunkirk in the very fast time of 36 day. • Suez was the only port of call en route, and the vessel was the first to reach the Continent with tho new season's clip. Tho first British vessel to reach Hull was the Australian Commonwealth liner Fordsdale, which" left Sydney on 7th September, carrying 2098 bales. Calls were made at Melbourne, Adelaide, and Fremantle. The voyage from Fremantlo to Hull occupied 28 days. A Turbine Liner. When the Empress of Australia leaves the works of the Fairfield Company in the spring-of next year she will be propelled by twin-screws, each driven by one set of single-reduction geared turbines of the latest Parsons type, made in accordance with tho best marine practice, reports "The Syren and Shipping." The port and starboard seta will each consist of highpressure, medium-pressure, and lowpressure turbines, each unit driving jts own pinion in the reduction gearing. The ahead turbines will be all reactionand the astera turbines will be partly impulse and partly reaction. The disposition of the three turbines in relation to the main gear wheel is such that arrangement of the machinery will permitr of easy and convenient access w r ■ all parts. The installation will i- I velop a total combined shaft horsepower of 20,000 on ordinary service, witli propeller revolutions of 125 per minute, a boiler pressure of 2201b, and a superheat of 200deg Fahr. Increased Freight Rates. A recent edition of "The Syren and Shipping" states that it has been decided to increase the freight rates by conferonco vessels sailing from Canada to tho United Kingdom by 15 per cent. This is due not only to the high price of coal, but also to the fact that these vessels owing to tho coal trouble at Home now bunker in Canada for the round voyage, and consequently cannot carry so much cargo. It is understood that the conference ships sailing from United States ports will make a similar increase but it is not yet known whether the Canadian Government Merchant Marine boats will como into line and augment their rates.