NOTES.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XVIII, Issue 12121, 24 December 1913, Page 4

NOTES.

The well-known sliip Dimsdale, which became world-famous 0w«»g.t0..the sensational collision she luid with the Won-a Shoal lighthouse, South Australia, some months ago, and wlncli subsoquentlv loaded wheat loi ■ o United! Kingdom or Contmeiat, has, been sold to Belgians for £6UUU. The world's fastest sea-going vessel lias recently performed its "trial runs. According to German Press notices, the Russian torpedo-destroyer Isovik, built in the shipyards of Werke. attained ou licr official tnals a maximum speed of over 3i knots. The- engines -mid boilers, despite this lii<di speed, were not puslied to the limits of their capacity, and no smoke issued frbin the funnels of the >oilcrs. which tt'ere fired exclusively with liquid. fU l'h e United States delegation to the -International Conference on Safety at Sea have agreed to urge as or hrsfc Importance a greater number of water'tight compartments and bulkheads, a subject on whic{h British Admiralty experts have. been working at considerable expense for some time. I ' l_ tended to J>s as rigid as possible to brace against defects in hull construc-tion-along this line, and yet not too 'drastic to interfer seriously with-eargo requirements, are to be pressed. Other reforms to.,be urged include a readiustment: of steamship lanes on the ocean, changing the northern route at certain seasons', '-adequate protection against fire, a requirement that every Jwiean craft shall carry sufficient lifeboats and rafts to accommodate all passengers and c.rew, adequate wireless : telegraphy equipment and manning, international patrol of tlic ice-berg-fiedds in the path of ocean travel, and tlie adoption of complete rules or the road at sea. . " i As a- test of modern guns and shells, the old battleship Empress of India was iLs'ed as a- target and sunk off Portland by Dreadnoughts appointed to" experiment' upon lier. The firing was very., deadly, and the battleship, whicJi' was- practically kuockcd to piejSS, sank. According to the pubiisHed'stai'emenls, the Colossus, armed witi-?iit puns, was to fire at the Emprej§s (jf India, at long range np to 9000f-Vards; 'The target vessel liad a quantity of buoyant material fitted into hei> as the object- was to keep Tier aflqatin order that the damage done liiight be investigated. If she was sunt in water of, any depth, therefore, either she will have to be raised at considerable expense, or the authorities must 'depend on divers' reports for their data. One object of tlie firing •was to ascertain the power of shells fired at an elevation to inflict vita! damage. The main armor-belt of the Empress of India was of 18in of compound, armor—equal; roughly, to half its thickness of Krupp cemented steel. Her Assistance. therefore. Would pbout eoHal that of a battleship of the Belleroplioii or St. V incent classes, ."but would be less than that of the Dreadnought herself or of our later Ships. r