HEAVY WEATHER

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 147, 23 June 1928, Page 28

HEAVY WEATHER

," SHIPPING DISORGANISED Fierce southerly gales along ■ the Now Zealand coast and in the Tasman Sea have somewhat disorganised the schedules of the'large overseas steamers as"well as..the coastal fleet... It is noti often, that Royal Mail steamers from Sydney are delayed for many hours, so that the case of the Maunganui being over a day late gives a good indication of the conditions at sea. : The Maunganui was not fully loaded during her trip across the Tasman, and, it was consequently difficult to make-, good..headway against the 5t0rm..... : Vessels coming down from Auckland encountered the full force of the. gale, a notable incident being that of the.; Canadian /Challenger which was compelled on two occasions to heave to for • several hours. The arrivals and departures of the ferry steamers were not affected, by:the storm. Having completed her annual overhaul ar Lyt-telton,-the Wahine resumed her usual running on Thursday night from the South, and the Mahono was transferred to -the-Sydney..rim 4;o-take the place of the 'Maungaiiui. In. order to take up her running in conjunction witn the Wahine the Maori made a daylight trip from Lyttelton on. Thursday and sailed, from Wellington tho same day. There has been very little activity on the; waterfront this, week in the loading and discharging of overseas ships. The Matakana arrived at Wei-

lington early on Thursday afternoon from Napier to complete loading for London, and the Hurunui sailed on Wednesday, for London. To continue loading at Wanganui the Port Curtis sailed on Monday, but owing to the bad weather she was unable to berth at the Wanganui Port,, and was sent on to New Plymouth. The Maunganui, which arrived on Tuesday morning from Sydney, did jiot sail again until Wednesday afternoon in continuation of her voyage to San Francisco. Wind and Weather. A sea-going reader has drawn our attention to the recent great storm which swept the North Atlantic- and during which the liner Leviathan sustained "extraordinary" damage, a searchlight on "tli c ■ foremast "85f IT "above 'the" water-" line being ■ (wrecked by- a;sea which also smashed four /lifeboats .and did other damage ..(writes..the -"Syrejiand Shipping").; . Our . correspondent is yjuite right in his ropinion that the public; imagination is carried away by the accounts of such a: mishap and from, the fact that more or less "solid" -water :-struck- an object 80ft or so above the normal water-line; it-is argued that the wave must have .been of that elevation. There is much ;niisconecption concerning the height of seas,.and certainly no ordinary, gale produces such mounds of water. If the'contrary were the case', then the destruction to shipping would be such that,^ the navigation of the Atlantic, would bo. impossible. The explanation is fairly simple. A big ship is-;as.-a.rule of■ high speed, and. a ship butting into the waves is treated in the samcr way. as- a - lighthouse or breakwater and it may be. thatI.shu encounters an abonrmailyhigh sea-when she is least prepared for it.. ■ Whereas, however, a lighthouse is struck by a wave with its own velocity, the speed of a ship gives to the water striking it a velocity "equivalent to the rate at which flic ship is travelling, added to that of: the; wave. "It maybe taken as an established iae.t that -from-. about 35ft to.. 40ft. is. the. jri'aximuni elevation of Atlantic' waves.' Wind and weather are: variable factors, .and: their strength is dependable" not-only oii the physical forces fespo'nsible ; for their evolution, but also upon the ship they meet. There are many differences of design, some being better able than others to adapt themselves to a beam. swell or a head sea, while there is-'-also the human element which comes into operation, not only in regard to navigation but also to loading-' /, " 'v "V"-"" v Sale. of^the.Cpj|iiinonwealth. Line... _„ "Feelings of intense relief must have been' experiehced'iii "Australia when it was announced by Mr. Bruce.that the (poinrnonwoulth. Line of steamers had passed ii^to the hands of Lord .Kylsan.t,''' writes-' the Syren and Shipping." "Thus ends an ambitious ad-veiituro"-iir'&tater--man-agemont--of business eiiterprisc.,..wiiicJL...lias ..proved an extremely cosily "fa'Hiiro, only surpassed by"America's--monumental example as illustrated by the United States Shipping Board. . . ..Luckily for the taxpayers of this' country, our rulers, shortly after the war, resolved to sell the big 'fleet operated by tlie Shipping Controller, and did so nt a period when good prices were obtainable. . . Neither Australia nor America followed the lead of Great Britain, and they have paid i dearly for their, failure to do so."

Training in Sail. In a letter to the "Syren and Shipping," Commander F. G. Cooper, 8.D., E.N.E., A.1.N.A., writes:—"We pride ourselves on b^ing a great maritime na.tion, but it will no doubt surprise the' man in'the street to learn that we have only one equare-rigged ocean-going ship loft under our. flag—Garthpool (ex' Juteopolis), a four-mast barque of 2800 tons, .built, as'far ..back, as 1891. She is hoinewardrbonn'd from ,', Australia, and on arrival will, no doubt, .follow .her predecessor, William Mitchell, to the scrap heap., And yet nearly all other maritime nations retain their faith in the sailing ship as a means of training seamen. Even Soviet Russia runs the four-mast barque Tovaritsch (ex-. British. Lauristan, -built ,in ■ 189.2) ;.for. the .purpose #f.'training-officers' for her merchant navy, and the following countries still have sailing ships for-the same purpose, ■ viz.:- Germany, United States, Denmark, [Belgium," , Fiulandy Poland, Italy,' Portugal, Sweden, : and Brazil. '. . '■ ■ "If all these nations consider it necessary to train their seamen in. sail, are .we wise to abandon that, training? Under modern-conditions, and with the addition of. motor .power-for use entering and leaving harbour and making headway through, tho doldrums, t maintain that-the revival of the sailing ship would be- of immense advantage to the. future generation of officers and men of our merchant navy. The only trouble that can be foreseen would be the difficulty of manning. The officers and seamen of British nationality, who are to-day; available for. service in sailing ships are few,-and . we should be compelled i-. .to seek them abroad, a state of affairs' which in itr

self is a sad commentary on the declineof tills country from its once pre-emi-nent position in the world of ships and sailorinen. As regards our -foreign competitors, Germany is slowly but surely attaining to that position for j which she- strove so hard prior to the late war. Her merchant service ofli-, •cers are better trained and educated than our own, and the standard of examinations is much, higher. In common with France, Holland, Scandinavia,! and even Finland, service under square sail is demanded as a qualification for' certificates as master and mate, and I: cannot think :that- it is-/either, too late or beyond our power to revive the sailingship .for the .pijrpose of training, our futuref'SeamCu.'r''. ,!;.... American-Coastal, Trade, ..... .- In. the;-carl jest..days ;of;. this.vßepub.lic (says.,1 the; '■'.Pp.f.tv'of/New.-. Yqrk-")-;the policy :adopt'e.cl;';i)y ;tJio |q'u«ders .-strongly ■ discriminate,{i"fin*: : £avo,ur.r 0..f ,-Ain.erLcan and' against ■•.foreig.iir-rsliipsr..in-:QUr coastwise-carrying,''.lt .was notat first' by law made unlawful for. foreign ships to participate' in our- coastwise trade, but,., by : law,..it; was, made. : so costly-.to foreign ships there, to '. compete : with. American,-as;,to .exclude foreign ships from that carrying., . Then,-in .1817, and ever since, .it has/.beeny.by 'law,: unlawful, for any rbiit:..American-bui]t. -.' and American-o\yned:ships-, to- engage- in our: coashyis.e carrying,-. our coastwise.': laws from time to time being .extended--to our new possessions as we . acquired thorn, except in.the case of the Philippines, Guam, and. the Virgin -Islands...The domestic.carrying, of the United States,.thus;wholly reserved-for -American- vessels, .is. the .-richest; field of. maritime- endeavour in-the. world,..and .foreign; shipovyners just -fairly: itch .to find : a means of-entering.it,: by-, hook or ;by crook. . Attempts; to circumvent the.law have'been- repeatedly -made, but lmvb so;far proved futile. Italy'? Future on the Seas. - ; '„. When .the., new. lirier:...'C6ii.tp Grande reached .New..-York, a .luncheon was given on . board .by. the /.Italian Chamber of .Commerce.. Mr. A. H. Giannini, the Now York', banker, presided. In discussing, the recent, shipbuilding achievement of Italy, Mr. Giannini said: "The Italian ' merchant marine now holds'fourth place, in the.slupping of: the' world.! In a "little while she •may be, second,., theii first. V .'..'■ -... '.:'..;' Expensive' Naval Units. ■ : ■"■" . '• Thirty years ago a first-dlass battleship could' bo, built for; little morethan .£50.0,0.00, and economists were shocked at the extravagance of the sum,. What would Air. Gladstone or Lord Salisbury have said if, at any time: when cither of them was in oflioo, ho had been asked"to sanction the e>cpendituro of: £4,600,000 on a man-"of-war""not"'xveTrof:"flfo';iiiiptirtanco. of a '-'-capitaK^sliip:'.-'?.- :: -Tho!:.-.- proposal would have . been instantly- vetoed. That, however, is the amount that has been spent, on. the aircraft carrier Eagle, which lias been recently attached to the British Mediterranean INeel, She is not,. moreover, tho most costly vessel of 'Hie type, as the Americans have recent!^ completed a larger and more powerful aircraft carrier, the Saratoga, on which about £9,000,00 hns been laid out, and they have since sent to sea a sister ship, the Lexington.