SHIPS FOR LAKE ERIE.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XIV, Issue 80, 12 March 1924, Page 7

SHIPS FOR LAKE ERIE.

OF UNIQUE DESIGN. Two sister ships for inland water transportation arc being built by the ’ American Shipbuilding Company of ' Lorain, Ohio, which are expected to com- . pare in size and appointments with many of the trans-Atlantic liners (states the Now YorJ< “Times”). Their unique design is the result of life-long study by Frank E. Kirby, an engineering authority on Great Lake steamers. The construction of these ships required the meeting of unusual conditions. They are designed for service in the highspeed run between Detroit and Buffalo. This route is complicated by shallow channels, /and traverses the length of Lake Erie. The trip is slightly more than 260 miles, and it must be made on schedule to meet trains at both ends of the route. It also was necessary to design these lake boats so that they would be able to carry a largo number of automobiles and a quantity of express freight. | Each ship has a relined steel hull carrying a great superstructure of wood supported by braces. Each deck on the support is about three-quarters of an acre in area. The length over all is 550 ft; the breadth of the hull is 58ft, and the breadth over the guards in the middle is 100 ft. The depth of the boat is 24ft 6in. The exceptional size of the ship is shown by the number of rooms on the various decks. On the promenade deck there are 206 rooms, including 12 parlours and baths, several with shower baths. On the gallery deck there are 254 rooms, including 12 parlours and bath-rooms. On the upper deck there are 166 double-berth rooms. The ship has 650 rooms, with a total of 1200 passenger berths and beds. | Unusual features are the two rudders, one at the bow and the other at the stern. The rudder at the bow’ is necessary to facilitate the handling of the ship in narrow waters at each end o.i the run. There are 11 water-tight compartments, formed by steel-tight bulk- | heads extending from keel to the main deck. The double bottom is subdivid- | eel into 16 water-tight compartments. Raw water is carried in steel tanks of 36,000 gallons capacity, and there are 1 tanks for 8000 gallons of sterilised ' water, which is chilled and pumped to drinking fountains throughout the boat. I Sterilised water is also used for wash- 1 ing purposes. Other unusual features for ' a paddle- wheel steamer arc telephones in every state room, and two electric j elevators for service use.