SEA CHANGE

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 124, 21 November 1935, Page 27

SEA CHANGE

SHIPS COMING- SOUTH THEIR GREAT GROWTH When, the- luxurious' new. "Orient liner Orion entered Sydney .Heads tills week'she. was accompanied ,by , two, phantom ships, writes J. H. Adams in the Sydney "Telegraph'." Those to, whom memories '.of;,thx: past were vivid could see: in their mind's eye the tiny Chusan, first Australian mail steamer, perched On the fo'c'sle of the giant. What will gazers into the future see? Perhaps a stream-lined liner'with tremendous speed, torpedo nosed, a hull as sleek as that of a modern aeroplane, no decks, and small windows. For that is an Italian conception of the ship of the year 2000.

The Orion, with her 23,371 tons, her luxury in advance of our most palatial hotel, is only-keeping abreast of the tunes. More and more speed is the demand. Greater comfort, and still bigger ships. Today she is-the largest liner in the Australian trade. For how long? In 1852 the Chusan was hailed as the last wbrd in" ships for the Australian trade. This is : how the two would compare:— v

CUusan. Orion. Touiukc ' ..: U99 1!3,371 licnfttli (between perils.) , lTOft 630 ft lircadth •..:...... 27ft 81ft Horse-power SO 21,000

The Chusan was fitted with sails, and the P. and O. Company terminated her at Adelaide. Since the Chusan, step by step, size and luxury have been advancing. In 1879 the Orient Line built, the famous Orient, specially for the Australian trade, with a trial speed of 17 knots. She was then the largest vessel to enter the Thames.. The Ophir, 7000 tons, followed in' 1891, the first twin-screw passenger vessel to go east of Suez.

The Ophir was a ship fit for a king. King George and Queen Mary, then Duke and Duchess of York, visited Australia in her in 1901. Her firstclass would not satisfy a tourist passenger of 1935.

Tonnages rose steadily till the White Star liner Ceramic, Luilt in 1913, became the largest, with 18,495 gross. She held her place for ten years till the P. and O. liners Maloja (20,914) and Mooltan (20,952) came along. Then 20,000-tonncrs were a novelty. .Today there are ten of them.

With a length of 655 ft lin between perpendiculars the Ceramic is still the longest vessel calling here. The Maloja and Mooltan are 600 ft Bin, while the Orion is 630 ft. The Strathnaver and Straithaird, of 22,500 tons each, took the honour from the Mooltan .and Maloja. HIGH COSTS. While Australia is provided with a wonderful shipping service, our liners'

are minnows compared with the Western Ocean whales.

The Strathnaver and Strathaird together cost £3,000,000 sterling to build. The Queen Mary, the Empire's largest liner, and probably the largest in the world: when the final figures go up, will cost between £5,000,000 and £6,000,000 to build.

It is expected that her tonnage will be over 80,000, as against the 79,280 of the Normandie, the monster Frenchman. '

British shipping men are confident that she will take the Blue Riband of the Atlantic from the Normandie, which in June of this year went from Southampton to New York in 107 hours 33 minutes, beating the German liner

firemen's record by three iho'urs. Her average speed was 31.5 kriotsVand her greatest 31.58.

In the earlier days the main consideration was to build a ship. Plain cabins, a little wood panelling ia the public rooms, perhaps, and all was well. Today the interior decorator applies his genius to the job. ,; Lounges and cabins must be decorated to catch and please the eye. She must, be,a ship primarily, but after. that a palatial hotel, for in these days. of-keen competition an artistically decorated interior helps to sell passages.. /Where possible, windows replace portholes and stained glass hides the ports In the saloon, to the eternal disgust of the old shellbacks. While the mail stoamers have been increasing in size and speed the demand of modern business has left its mark upon, the cargo" services.'. No longer are woolbuyer. and meat shippers satisfied with low speeds. VANISHING SHIPS. Past steamers and motor-ships oh th« regular services today are bigger than the mail .steamers, of;a. quarter of a century ago. Old slowjtbnnage' is vanishing. Lloyd's Register is being filled with freighters capable ■ of, 16 knots. The Japanese plan an 18-knot service to cope with increasing -trade*-' between Australia and JajSari. • ''■ '• :-f -.'.•. The best example pfthisj Is to oe seen in the records of the-Wool Derby, once a romantic'race.between wool clippers the 1 Horn;. ; 'v In the last four, years; there has been a steady whittling-doyrfr-ot the time for the non-stop run''between Sydney and Dunkirk,-:via'Suez. "Records, ail by motor-ships, ivyere:-^-• V ?k

1931—Port. Alma} '(British^ ■■ 32 days 7 hours 45 minutes.'..,''i

1932.—P0rt Fairy/(British), 32 days 48 minutes. .'■'■.:.,"'. v . 1933.—Tricolour (Norwegian), 30 days 19 hours. . '■* ' 1935.—P0rt Wyndham (British), 39 days 5J hours. . ..■.''■'•

.Following the latest naval "trend, the one mast and one funnel of > the Orion fgive a distinct advantage.7 The naval belief is that the smaller-' the superstructure the smaller'the target. Bvit in building, the Orion oh these lines, the aim was to increase the deck space. One of these days, perhaps, the Empress of Britain, truly a show ship, may be induced to call here on one of her world cruises, and we may see her full-size tennis court, complete with umpire's stand and spectators' gallery.