Ships and the Sea

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 41, 16 August 1930, Page 28

Ships and the Sea

Two Systems of Propulsion. Up to withiii the last eighteen months or two years, those who believed in the Diesel engine and those who pinned their faith to the steam engine, whether reciprocating or turbine, wero sharply divided (writes the "Shipping World"). It is now recognised that both systems of propulsion have their spheres of usefulness, which may sometimes overlap. The competition of the two systems has led to enormous improvements in the efficiency of all types-of marine machinery for all types of ships. ■ That has been all to the good. For this reason, the advent of the Britannic on the North Atlantic route will be welcomed even by those ■who still remain faithful to the turbine, either geared direct to the shaft or driving it through an electric motor, for the propulsion of-Atlantic liners. It is only by practical experience that the ■.relative merits of any system can be determined. In these days of intense competition on every ocean route, and unremunerative freights, enter-' prise and courage must be translated into action if advantage is to be gained "from the rapidly accumulating theoretical data relating to the.powering of ships. A vessel, like the Britannic costs a large sum to build, and serious mistakes in her design, equipment, ov propelling machinery, could not be. rectified afterwards, and,1 consequently, the task' of designing and {building such a, vessel is one involving no little responsibility. ' She could not, as. Mr. Budyard Kipling has said,' bo thrown, into the wastepapcr basket: "She is there- —every foot and. ton of her—a burden on her shareholders and a museum of useful warnings to her

owners' rivals in the same game." There is no reason to ■ fear for the future of the Britannic. This ship, which ■will rank as the ship of the year, did well, it is reported, on her trials, and there is every expectation.that she will do weli oh service. She marks a further stag© towards the evolution of the-100"per cent, efficient motor-ship. Her appearance at sea will stimulate further progress in marine engineering;. The day of the perfect passenger ship is still in the future. The great liner companies realise that' they cannot stand still, but must press on. The enterprise which they are exhibiting" under conditions of much embarrassment,, bearing in mind tho uneconomic aids to which resort is being had in many other countries, deserves the fullest recognition on the part of the people of thjs country. Atlantic Motor Liners. It was in the North Atlantic liner service that the, steam turbine in tho early days of its development first proved itself a thoroughly efficient agent for the propulsion of merchant ships (states the "Shipping World"). It-was, indeed, the turbine which made possible the large, and ' fast Atlantic liners with which wo have become familiar, the Mauretania foremost among them by reason, of age and speed. The efficiency of the Diesel engine, on the other hand, was first demonstrated- on other routes, and in vessels of the cargo-liner typo. It was not until 1925 that a Diesel engined liner was placed on the North Atlantic service. She was tho Gripsholm, of the Swedish American Line, a vessel of 17,715 - tons . gross, built, with conspicuous success, by Sir W. Gr. Armstrong, ' Whitworth and Co.; Ltd.,. at-Newcastle-on-Tyne. ■ Her .success led to the laying down of the Augustus. Owned by the Navigazione Generale Italiana, this vessel was completed in the Ansaldo yard at Sestri Ponente, and lemTains the largest motor vessel afloat under any flag, being of 32,650 tons gross. :; This year another notable motor liner has been placed on the North Atlantic service, the Lafayette, of 21,500 tons gross, belonging to the Compagnie Generate Transatlantique, and built in the St. Nazaire yard at Penhoet; and now the Britannic, of 26,840 tons gross, built by Messrs. Harland and Wolff, Ltd., Belfast, has passed into commission. Tho first motor vessel in the White Star fleet, the Britannic is the-largest motor vessel on the British register. Inventor of Gyro-Compass. .. Mr.'E. A. Sperry, the American electrical engineer, whoso death at the ago of "69 is announced from New York, was the inventor of the gyro-compass, gryoscopic; aeroplane . and ship stabilisers, and numerous other devices which have aided navigation at sea (states 'the ''Shipping World"). He- was the designer (in 1915) of a new high-inten-sity arc searchlight giving a brilliancy over five times as great as that previously obtainable. This searchlight has since become the standard for the principal armies and navies of the world. His most important invention, the gyrocompass, was first installed in the battleship Delaware in 1911. He was appointed a member of the Naval Consulting Board in .1915, and became chairman of the committees on aeronautics, mines, and torpedoes, and aids to navigators. Shortly before the Armistice he devised a form of wireless control- for aeroplanes which, it was claimed, made it possible to direct an "aerial torpedo" against a target up to a distance of 35 miles. Mr. Sperry received many awards in recognition of his work. Ho,was a founder of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, and of the American Electrochemical Society.' Since 1910 he had been president of tho Sperry Gyroscopic Company, Brooklyn, engaged in manufacturing his inventions, for which he hold over 400 patents in tho United States and Europe. Frenchmen Impresisecl. On completing its series of visits to foreign port* with a journey, to.England, the Commission of Inquiry appointed by, the French Government, with th© help of the Association dcs Grands Ports Francais, returned from England, with, it appears, few new technical ideas, but with a strong.im-, prossiori of the practical character of the British port equipment and the perseverance and tenacity with which we in this country are maintaining our maritime supremacy (writes "The Engineer")- The French declare that they cannot compote with British ports

by following: British methods, bocause j they are distinctive of a maritime race. Tho visitors were impressed with the strength of the maritime influence throughout tlie country,' an influence which is almost entirely lacking in France. Kevertholess, ; the French believe that by adopting their own methods in the light of what has been learned from, the visits to' foreign ports, they will bo able to monopolise their own home and colonial truflic, even if they' have to content themselves with' only a small share of the international,-carrying, trade. This j development, they hope, will fullyjustify'the'expenditure'that has been made, and continues to :be made, upon port extensions and equipment. High-Powered Motor Ships. The Britannic is to. date the highest powered British motor liner completed (states the "Shipping _ World"), ' and she is the second (highest powered motor-ship in. the world, giving place' only to the big Italian quadruple?" screw motor liner Augustus, Which has approximately 27,000 horse-power with four shafts, each driven by a ; double-' acting M.A.N. -2-cycle Diesel engine. If too tho new.Pacific Steam Navigation Company's motor-ship Reina del PacificV is completed before the end of the year—arid; sailing lists published by this company, appear to indicate ' that such will be the case —then she will take third-place as far as power, considerations are concerned, for this ship will develop some 22,000 horse-ppwer on four shafts, each being driven by a 12-eylinder 4-cycle single-acting trunk piston engine of airless injection type. The Beina del Pacifico will, however, it may be noted, be a smaller ship,

having a length of. 550 ft, compared with 680 ft. of the Britannic, and a gross tonnage of 17,000 compared with 26,840 of the Britannic. Both ships are products of tl^; Harland and Wolff Belfast yavds. . . Bills of Health. ~ . ■ It is satisfactory to learn that though progress is slow the provisions of the International Sanitary Convention are year by. year being more widely adopted by maritime countries (writes "Syren and Shipping")- A good deal of ground rornains to be covered, however, before reason and uniformity prevail. Why some countries should still cling to the system of requiring bills of health is difficult to understand, but. old customs die hard, No one can pretend that bills of health any longer serve a useful purpose, and yet the amount of money , which shipowners are called upon to disburse in some countries in order to comply with the regulations is almost unbelievable. ] Mr. Leslie Buhciman, speaking at the | recent annual meeting of the Baltic and International Maritime Conference at Copenhagen, stated that a vessel which made a five weeks' voyage round j Spain, had to obtain 14 bills of health I and two visas/ while another one, which voyaged for two months- round Mediterranean countries, had to have 11 bills of health, and the visas numbered'lß. The- necessity for these documents disappeared with the intro-1 duction of telegraphy, as before then the.ship brought news of the state of things at the port at which she had last called. It js high time that all countries came'into line and realised that the maintenance of an antiquated and troublesome system serves no good purpose,\but is -a, cause, of delay and expense and. frequently of friction. Activity at Southampton. One of the busiest periods ever experienced ■ at; Southampton Docks occurred on Saturday, 14th "June, when in the twelve hours between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. the big ship tonnage dealt, with at the.port:amounted to well over half a. .million. There were eleven inward bound liners aggregating 212,154 tons, and 14 outward bound ships totalling 322,326 tons. Seven of the. outward bound vessels left ior New York, and within half a day Southampton was linked with the Dutch East Indies, Australia, Germany, Belgium, Holland, Finland, the United States, Canada, Japan, and the Mediterranean, as well as the countries served by the intermediate calls of the ships. Problem before Tanker Owners. The volume of idle tonnage throughout the world, variously estimated at from 4J to 6 million tons (excluding the Ameri'/m war-time vessels), may soon be still further increased by the layingup of a considerable number of newly constructed oil-tankers before they have mado even a singlo voyage, stated a writer in the "Syren and Shipping" recently. When the tanker chartering market began to. boom several months ago many orders for- new .ships were given, the impetus to build being stimulated,, apart from favourable financial facilities, by the readiness.of charterers to take the vessels for a period of five or ten years after delivery. Everything promised well while the market was active, but the inevitable has happened. A slump has set in and the fall in rates has been almost as rapid as was the rise. : The rate 'from tho Gulf to U.K./Continent reached at ouo time 50s, but it is now only 22a, and it may fall still further. When no more than from 14s to 15s is offering, which may be regarded as the very lowest rate, perhaps, that an owner could possibly accept, unless he desired to run his ship at a grievous loss, there will be, the choice of either doing this or laying up his vessel. The owner who decides on the former course would join p. fairly large company of those engaged in general trades who for various reasons avo continuing to run their vessels without making both ends meet. There soems, however, no reason at all why in the tanker market so unprofitable an. example should be followed. Hence.the likelihood of a large addition of, laidup tonnage, which, incidentally, would provide the additional problem of "parking space" at some ports. There are believed to be plentiful stocks of oil everywhere, and there is a decided lull in tanker chartering .just now as, with a falling market, charterers are waiting in the hope of obtaining still more favourable figures before entering into tho few contracts that are possible of fulfilment.