LARGEST MOTOR LINER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 18951, 24 February 1925, Page 10

LARGEST MOTOR LINER.

.... THE STATELY AORANGI. - NEW ERA IN SHIPBUILDING. WORLD-WIDE INTEREST. MODERN IN EVERY DETAIL. The enterprise tbat placed the Aorangi on the seas reflects credit upon the Union Steam Ship Co. and the whole Dominion. That a company of the youngest Dominion should have built a vessel that marks a new era in shipbuilding is a matter- for great pride to New Zealanders, and the arrival of the Aorangi at Auckland to-day, from her maiden voyage down the Pacific, is an event of nati.psal moment. The Dominion, so recently receiving recognition of distinct nationhood, is bound to gain by the advertisement which the Aorangi gives her. The vessel is the largest motor liner in the world,, and marks such an advance upon the motor-driven ships that preceded her that her advent has everywhere been proclaimed as a pioneering occasion. Among passenger motor-ships that preceded her are' the Adda and Aba of the African Steamship Company, but they are only of-.-8000 tons, and are 12knot ships. The- Aorangi has a gross tonnage of 18,500 tons, and a displacement of 23,000 tons, and. has a speed of 18 knots. She-is-v&us in an entirely difr ferent class and • of - the other 13 large motor liners now building she will be exceeded in size by- only three to be owned by the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company and the Union-Castle Mail Steamship Company. The Latest in Engines. The architecture and equipment of the Aorangi make her one of the most luxurious liners afloat and in some respects she is unique, embodying the very latest ideas that make for comfort and efficiency and safety, but the feature which brought a record gathering of experts' to her trials is her propelling machinery—four Fairfield-Sulzer engines of the Diesel type developing 13,000 h.p., with "a. substantial overload capacity. Ffce output of each engine, 3250 h.p., is higher than that of any other oil engine in service. It cannot be said .that any experiment is involved. The motors - are of six cvl'jiders, 27iin. in diameter and a 39in. stroke, but, four 'cylinder sets of the same type have already been constructed with equal or larger evlinder diameters and piston strokes. Chief interest, perhaps, centres in the changes that h,.ve teen made from what may be considered normal design. The engines run at a relatively high speed, and at 18 knots wi.'i operate at 127 revoluiions at a piston speed of 825 ft. per minute. It is for this reason that the piston stroke is comparatively short, in view of the power, as the normal piston speed of standard engines has hitherto been kfpt down to 750 ft. per minute. Absence of Vibration. Much of the technical detail available as to the machinery of the ship is too abstruse for the lay mind and may well be passed over for the present, but one consequence of the adoption of the internal combustion engine that will .appeal to every traveller is that a complete absence of vibration has been achieved. The absence of vibration was made a feature of the reports of the trials. "It was with difficulty," wrote one journalist, who was on board, "one realised when away from the promenade decks that the ship was under- way." Another technical point of general into.-est is that the vessel has four propellers. When the plans were first adopted, there was some criticism by experts of the installing of four propellers but one of the representatives of the builders, the Fairfield Company, of Glasgow, addressing the gathering of shipbuilders at the trials, said that the trials had justified the experiment. The stage of development which 'the Diesel engine had reached at the period the ship was contracted for was such that each unit was a safe unit and each unit had begun and had done its work successfully The auxiliary machinery arrangements are along original lines, a combination of steam and electrical drive being utilised. Two boilers supply steam to several auxiliaries as well as for heating and cooking purposes. The steam-driven pumps include the feed, condenser circulating, ballast, bilge, fresh water, general service, and lubricating oil pumps. Four Diesel engines, each of <llO h.p., drive the dynamos of the electrical plant. There are two sets of refrigerating machinery to deal with perishable cargo and the extensive storerooms of the vessel. The bunkers have a capacity for nearly 3000 tons of oil fuel, sufficient to take (he vessel from Vancouver to Sydney and back again, a total distance of 15,000 nautical miles, which is equivalent to five trips across the Atlantic. Fresh water tanks hold 1000 tons. A Handsome Vessel. Tile Aorangi has been described as one of the most handsome vessels afloat. She has a straight sj.em and a cruiser stern. Her length is 600 ft,, beam 72ft., and depth to the lowest weather deck 46ft. bin. Above this deck there are four more and below it two. Two tall masts and two funnels giVe her a stateliness that suggests a huge steam yacht. She has accommodation for 440 first-class, 300 second class and 230 third class passengers, and quarters for a complement of 330 officers and crew. An idea of the size of the vessel and the manner in which passengers will be served may be gathered from the fact that so large a crew will be required, notwithstanding the elimination of practically all firemen and trimmer ratings. In design arid furnishing the public rooms would do justice to a West End hotel. The first-class dining saloon is 'a handsome and spacious apartment designed after the period of Louis XIV. The first-class lounge lias a Georgian scheme of decoration, and the smoke room conforms with the Jacobean period. Two verandah cafes have' been treated as garden cafes, open to the principal promenade deck, lit a word, the entire appointments maintain a dignified elegance. There is a children's dining room, a large nursery, music* and writing rooms, and a gymnasium on the open deck well equipped with apparatus. An elaborate system of bathroom accommodation includes a number of spray and needle baths. A large area of promenade deck has been allotted for open-air dancing in tropical latitudes, and arrangements have been made for film displays. A full description of all the features of the ship, so far as passengers are concerned, would here be impossible, but there is everything from a barber's shop to a printing establishment, a dark room for photography to telephones. The health and medical wants of passengers have, not been overlooked, for apart from cabin accommodation for two doctors, there is a suite comprising a consulting room, a waiting room and dispensary, and four Well-equipped hospitals. The life-saving plant is most complete and modern, including a motor lifeboat, equipped with all aids to navigation', including submarine signalling gear md directional wireless equipment.