FUELLING THE FLEET.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18707, 13 May 1924, Page 10

FUELLING THE FLEET.

MISSION OP WAR KRISHNA. r:V. v ; \ -.V * — , ; - ' .v • ■■ .. ■ OIL THROUGH COPPER HOSE. ADVANTAGES OVER COALING. ■ All traits of the Special Service Squadron are being fuelled while in Auckland by the Admiralty tanker . War ' Krishna, which has been -in the ; Waitemata awaiting the arrival iof the fleet since April 22. The tanker carries about 8000 tons of fuel : oil.Already > the light cruisers Dauntless, Dunedin, Dragon and Danae have moored alongside and . drawn from her tanks ab6ut 600 tons■ each. This morning at seven the War Krishna goes alongside the Hood to pump over 2000 tons • into the great shin's bunkers. The Repulse will take a like amount to-morrow, the Adelaide and Delhi, smaller quantities on Thursday and Friday. With replenished bunkers the fleet will be ready to sail for Fiji on Saturday. Not so very long ago, when warships burned coal, bunkering the' ship meant a very strenuous day for all hands and the cook. Officers, midshipmen . and men joined in the heavy manual labour ; involved, and the ship and; its . company were, for the nonce, very grimy indeed. To-day there is 1 no * dirt, no sweat, little labour. If the case of the Dragon and Danae be taken, ' yesterday morning they moored to the War; Krishna, her tanks were linked with their bunkers, and within three hours they were bunkered. This is labour-saving with a vengeance. ; The oil is pumped , through flexible copper hose, sin. in diameter, at the rate of 250 tons an hour. On the War Krishna it is carried in'seven water-tight compartments, each 40ft. deep. The oil is not highly inflammable like motor spirit, and there is little danger in handling it. It is only when it is pumped in a very fine spray into the furnaces that it becomes highly combustible. The War Krishna is one of a fleet of about 40 oilers built to the order of the Admiralty since the war.. " Officers and crew are* supplied by 'the merchant services. The duties of the fleet comprise fleet oiling and the replenishment of tanks at naval depots On a cruise like, the present one, tankers meet the fleet at certain ports.' Thus' the War Krishna is at Auckland, the Nuknla will be at Fiji and the War Sepoy ;at Honolulu. Most of the tankers are named after Indian gods or soldiers. . Besides the separate compartments for oil, the ships have other compartments which make them practically unsinkable. ' ; The War Krishna is 400 ft. long, gross tonnage 5729, and displacement 11,680 tons. She has. a cargo of Persian • oil, coming direct from Abadan, in the Persian Gulf, to Auckland. She is a trunk-deck steamer, built five, years ago, on th& Isherwood system, but' differs from most of Admiralty tankers in having her engines aft instead of amidships. She will be alongside the Hood for about 10 hours today, as she is not equipped with the hose of large diameter uued in bunkering "the larger warships. i n. i...