THE NEW GIANT CUNARDER

Southland Times, Issue 23376, 7 December 1937, Page 3

THE NEW GIANT CUNARDER

MANY IMPROVEMENTS ON QUEEN MARY

BIG SAVING OF WEIGHT AND SPACE Many new features will be incorporated in the new Cunard-White Star liner No. 552, the Queen Mary’s sister ship, which, it is hoped, will be named the Queen Elizabeth (writes Mr Hector C. Bywater in an article contributed to The Daily Telegraph from Clydebank). As a result of the experience gained with the Queen Mary, hundreds of tons of weight and thousands of cubic feet of space are being saved. Although the gross tonnage of the new ship will be greater than that of her predecessor, her total weight or displacement may be less. This fact, coupled with her marked superiority in engine power, should make her without question the fastest and largest passenger ship in the world. There has been some delay in the delivery of certain materials, but the builders, John Brown and Company, are confident that the ship will be ready for launching early in October, 1938. When I went on board the ship this morning 3000 men were swarming over her colossal structure. So deafening was the noise of riveting and the blast of welding machines that conversation was impossible, and all orders had to conveyed by means of signs. DIFFERENCE IN HULL Even at first glance the difference between this future Atlantic greyhound and the Queen Mary leaps to the eye. The lines of the hull differ radically from those of her sister ship, the bows being much more raked while the fore part of the ship below the water line resembles a hollowground razor instead of the plane of an ordinary knife. It appeared to me as if the forward end of the new ship will be more completely water-borne than is the case with the Queen Mary. Massive web frames which are being fitted near the shaft and propellers should reduce vibration to vanishing point. In her design no attempt has been made to imitate the stream-line principle favoured by Continental builders. Strength, solidity, and safety are the keynotes of the construction. Secret elements of the design relate to the virtual elimination of rolling by an ingenious arrangement of ballast tanks and specially deep bilge keels. Whereas the general conception of the Queen Mary was largely based on such prototypes as the Aquitania, that of the No. 552 is in many respects unique. Numerous surprises are promised in the arrangement of the passenger accommodation and the decoration of public rooms. With an overall length of 1032 ft, the new ship will be 14ft longer than her predecessor, but the beam of 118 ft will be the same. Her gross tonnage is estimated at 85,000 an increase of more than 3000 tons, and she will have machinery for a contract output of 180,000 h.p., giving a speed of 29 to 30 knots. In appearance the liner will recall the record-breaking Campania of the nineties, multiplied six or sevenfold in size. The hull is flush deck—the top-gallant forecastle of the Queen Mary having been abandoned. There will be two enormous rake funnels 45ft to 50ft in diameter rising to a great height, and two pole masts. A radical change is being made in engine-room ventilation. Gone are the enormous deck ventilators of the first ship, which occupied much valuable space on the sports deck. In their place will be invisible air shafts carried through the ship’s superstructure, and .fitted with high-efficiency torpedo fans. FOURTEEN DECKS PROVIDED Altogether there will be 14 decks, including a sports deck, sun deck, and boat deck, promenade and main decks. The lay-out of the machinery spaces is quite different from that of the Queen Mary, for instead of 24 main boilers there are to be only 12. Thanks to the reduced space taken up by boilers and machinery in general, it will be possible to make a considerable increase in passenger accommodation, especially in the tourist and third-class categories. The No. 552 will be essentially a riveted ship, as electric welding is being employed on a very limited scale and only in internal structures. The cost of the No. 552 is unofficially returned as £5,750,000, an advance of about £750,000 on that of her predecessor. The liner is due to run her trials early in 1940, and should be ready to take up her duties in the spring of that year, thus inaugurating the weekly two-ship shuttle service between Southampton and New York which has long been the ambition of the Cunard-White Star management.