OCEAN GREYHOUNDS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21983, 19 June 1933, Page 12

OCEAN GREYHOUNDS

PLANS FOR INCREASED SPEED THE NEW CUNARDER. While constructional work on the giant £5,000,000 Cunarder on the Clyde is at a standstill, secret research is v being undertaken by experts with a view to improving the original design. One of the most famous naval architects in the country discussed with a representative of the Sunday Chronicle ■ (Manchester) the secrets which will be incorporated in the British liner. "For the past five years'," he said, "experts at the National Physical Laboratory at Teddington have been carrying out exhaustive experiments on the hull of the vessel with a view to making her the fastest mercantile vessel afloat. " France with the Normandie, Italy with the Conte de Savoia, and German with the Europa and Bremen have declared their hands. "British designers know to within a fraction of a knot their maximum speeds, and they can only obtain more knots by installing new machinery at enormous expense," he said. "The total power available for the new Cunarder has not yet been finally decided. It was originally intended that she should be fitted with turbines developing between 180,000 and 200,000 horse power, which would give her an estimated speed of 30 knots, approximating to a land speed of nearly 40 m.p.h." The turbines for the new liner have not been completed, and there is ample time for arrangements to be made for the speed of No. 534 to be increased. While the broad details of her design are well known to naval architects, there are some features that will be kept secret even for some time after she goes into commission. It is confidently expected that she will be able to carry her full complement of 4000 passengers 'from Southampton to New York in four days—some hours faster than the record held by the Bremen.