SHIPS AND THE SEA

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 148, 25 June 1938, Page 24

SHIPS AND THE SEA

(By "Helmsman.")

DOCK PROPOSAL OF 1858

Few people stop to consider what a boon the Jubilee Floating Dock is to Wellington and the ships that use it. Nor do they think of it as a wonderful construction and a great piece of engineering—to most it is as commonplace a thing as a tramcar or a steamer. It is useful and as such they dismiss it from their' thoughts. It has no romance. It is merely one of the inventions of an age which is full of inventions.

But is it? It will probably come as a surprise to many to know that, a floating dock for New Zealand and Australia was proposed as far back as 1858. But for an apathetic and scorn-

ful public it is likely that the Dominion would have owned not only a "floating dock" but one which could be sailed from one harbour to another. The success of the proposal, had it been carried out, is, of course, in doubt, but there is no reason to believe that the plan, would not have worked.

Whatever the merits of the scheme it certainly showed that its originator was a man with uncommon fore-j sight and it was probably the fac> that it came before its time that condemned the plan. The man whose idea it was to construct the dock was Captain F. G. Moore, who traded up and down the coast of New Zealand as early as 1840. Of him we shall hear more later. It was in May, 1858, that 'he issued, at Melbourne, a prospectus (the original of which his relatives "*in Wellington still have) setting out his proposal in detail. This prospectus is headed "Particulars of Moore's , Improved Air Hegulating Floating Dock, For Shipping of All Sizes." It is a very interesting document and discloses much about the shipping conditions of the middle of last century. LIKE A SHIP. The dock, which is pictured on this page, was to be constructed entirely of iron in the form of the shell of a ship with long, flat floors, sharp bows, and a.rounded, moveable stern._ Her sides were to be double and divided into airtight compartments "of great buoyant power" and the tops of these sides were to be covered in with a flat deck of sufficient and strength to form an efficient wharfage the length of the dock. The fore part was also to be fitted with airtight compartments with cabin-workshops, coal bunkers, and storerooms. The stern of the dock was to be fitted with gates for the ingress and egress of ships and the airtight compartments were to regulate the draught of water and to float the whole dock with the gates open without any other aid. The idea was that if a ship required to be docked her draught of water, length, and breadth were ascertained first. The dock was then lowered to the necessary depth (the example given, for_ "a Mail Ship of the largest Tonnage in the World or a first-rate War Ship" was twenty or thirty feet) by the opening of certain water and air valves to allow the water to flow in.

Wheii the dock had sunk to the required depth the valves were closed and the gates opened. The ship was then towed into the dock and the water in the air compartments pumped out again. When the dock had risen and the water flown out, the gates were closed and the workmen commenced their job. When the work was finished the dock was lowered as before, the ship towed out, and the dock made ready for another vessel. The time occupied for the largest ships to be cleaned, Captain Moore estimated, would be about four hours. \ i ITS' MANY MERITS.' Among the merits of the dock, it was pointed out, were its efficiency for all docking and building purposes and the "facility offered for cleansing Ship Bottoms at a short notice without necessitating the discharge of cargoes or the removal of machinery or stores." It could be constructed large enough to dock several ordinary-sized vessels at the one time, or, if required, ships of a larger tonnage than the great Leviathan. It was to be made of iron and consequently would be much lighter than if made of wood, of greater floating'power, of more than double the strength, and much more durable. It would also be less expensive and "not liable to leakage from excess of temperature or exposed to the ravages of the Worm as Wooden Vessels are." "The dock can either be moored close to a Wharf or in the midst of Shipping in any moderately good harbour," the prospectus states, "or be moved from one Harbour to another at little expense; or can be towed to any Ship in a sinking state, by collision or otherwise, and there, and tvien dock her safely. The cost of construction is very moderate, as compared with the generality of Hepairing Docks now in use, and is adapted for .any Bort where the physical nature of the coast precludes the excavation of Graving Docks of ordinary construction, or where economy and great dispatch is desirable." Warships of any size and armament could dock, it was claimed, without danger of straining or injury, with all their guns and stores aboard. Mail ships could dock to clean or repair with all stores, machinery, etc., aboard, and remain there until ready to sail, when they could proceed to sea without dropping anchor.

THE FORESIGHT OF AN EARLY TRADER

vided for on board the Dock, together with a crew of good Workmen always on hand." The cost in Great Britain would be about £60,000 ready for sea. It was expected that the freight out would more than cover the expenses of the voyage and the material used for the deck, false stern, masts, rigging, etc., could be sold on the dock's arrival, reducing the total cost to about £50,000 ready for use. The dock could be built in Great Britain and, within eighteen months from the time the order was given for its construction, it could be delivered to any port in the world, the prospectus stated. "The Dock is very suit-v able for all Ports in Australia, including Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, King George's Sound, Fremantle, and, other ports on the Coasts; also in Tas-

"If an Iron Mail Ship puts to sea directly after her bottom has been cleaned," Captain Moore stated in his prospectus, "the germ of the Barnacle will not form when once in motion, consequently the Mails would be more regular, as much of the speed of Ships is diminished by the growth of the Barnacle and its attendant weeds. The proposed Docks would enable Mail Ships to lay in them until ready for sea at a trifling cost as compared with the great benefit that would accrue to the owners and to the Public Service. . . . Every necessity in the matter of Workshops, Wharfage, Cranes, and other appliances for repairs are pro-

mania and in New Zealand, including Auckland, Wellington, Nelson, Port] Cooper, and other Ports on those j Coasts where Ships frequent. Such Docks are required at many Ports touched by the Mail Steamers en route to" Australia and elsewhere, as Alexandria, Suez, and Ceylon. At present the Mail Ships requiring repairs or cleaning in the Red Sea are compelled to go to Calcutta, or Bombay, or on to Sydney—9ooo miles distant—to dock at an expense of several times the amount which would suffice for docking at the above Ports if the proposed Docks were supplied to those Ports. LOOKING TO FUTURE. "It frequently happens j that Ships receive damage in or near to Ports having no sufficient Dock accommodation and, in consequence, are abandoned or sold for a trifle at the risk of the Shipowners or Insurance Companies, entailing greater loss in a single case than the whole cost of a single Dock would come to. A few such losses are ruinous to the commercial interests of any Port; Shipowners, Shippers of Goods and Insurance Companies have to take into account these disadvantages and charge extra freight, interest, etc., for the increased risks that are incurred." Captain Moore shows that he was looking to the future, also, when .he says: "Iron Ships of an increasing size are fast superseding those built of wood and require more frequent cleaning; Ports where there is a chance of these Vessels frequenting should not be without a good Dock, of sufficient size and draught of water to dock them without necessitating the discharge of their cargoes or stores. If these advantages were attainable every Iron Ship would clean after a long passage; and the cost of cleaning in the proposed Dock would be so moderate as compared, with those in general use that no Iron Ship would leave "for a long passage without first cleaning." Melbourne could not be made the terminus of the mail ships, Captain Moore contended, because of its lack of dock accommodation for repairs. About £100,000 was spent yearly in Sydney for dockage, repairs, etc., and was lost to the commerce of the colony. All ships of very large tonnage which went to Melbourne and required cleaning or repairs had to leave for the nearest port where accommodation was afforded, entailing great delay, inconvenience, and' loss to the ship owners and to the community of Melbourne. The same loss occurred in any port not having accommodation for shipping of the largest size and draught of water. NO MEANS OF REPAIRS. Referring to the importance of a dock for the mail ships, the prospectus states: "En route to Sydney the Mail touches at Point de Galle and touches at or passes several good Ports at convenient distances . . . without having any means of cleaning or repairs, however crippled the Mail may be; as a consequence, slight damages J that might have easily been repaired at first increase by the continual strain and wear and tear of a long voyage. By the time she arrives at Sydney the Ship is either covered with Barnacles or the machinery is so out of order that it is next to a miracle if the Mails are not overdue ('not' being emphasised). The run from Sydney to Suez and back is 18,000 miles without a chance of docking. .The Mail Service will never be complete to the Australian Colonies until Docks for repairs are provided at all the principal Ports on the Coasts."

I The Japanese whaling depot ship Nisshin Mam, 16,764 tons, on her maiden trip to the Antarctic, caught 1570 whales which yielded 18,850 tons of oil.