Marine Tattle

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 86, 2 July 1927, Page 2

Marine Tattle

MOLUCCA CRUISE.—The Royal Packet Navigation Company (K.P.M.*) announces the third cruise to the Molucca Islands and Bali, where an opportunity is offered to visit the Spice Islands, attend native festivities on the quaint island of Bali, etc. Leaving Batavia on November 9 on the newlvbuilt 9,000-ton steamer, Op Ten Noort, passengers will visit Singapore, Bangkok, Saigon, Manila, Tarakan, Menado (Borneo), Ternnate (Celebes), Banda (Moluccas), Ambon (Spice Islands), Sunda Islands, Bali, and Java. Arrangements have been made for passengers from New Zealand and Australia to join the cruise- steamer at Manila, Singapore, or other intermediate ports. The s.s. Houtman, leaving Melbourne on October 16, Sydney October 22 and Brisbane October 24, will connect with the cruise steamer. An attractive illustrated folder has been issued by the K.P M., and is to be had free of charge on application to the company’s agents, Russell and Somers.

; PORT HUON’S SPEED.—Over . - measured mile. the CommoMdH I and Dominion Line's motor-ship?^ * Huon. registered a speed of 16.3£ I (states the “Sydney Daily TelegyjJS The Port Huon is the third vessel built recently for the IW]J j was launched from the Tyneside W. I of Swan. Hunter and Wigham Rl ardson. and will engage in the Au»; lian and New Zealand trade. DEPTHS OF THE SEA.—Whe®j. realised that before the war a tota] 15.000 deep-sea soundings, made lahn. ously by the old method of weight*!, miles of wire, represented our I knowledge of ocean depths, it *5? : I seen that there is still much deep.^ I surveying to be done. Many of tL soundings were taken along the | of cable routes, so that in the hapJJ million square miles of ocean flooifL. an infinitesimal part has beenexamined. This ignorance is steadily rectified by the new genrera 11 v known as “echo-soundW with which data that months of labour can now be gatW in days. THE DISCOVERY. —Memorfe* t | Captain Scott are revived with | sailing of the Newfoundland fleet, for by far the most unit is the Terra Nova, the ship th ! went to his release In 1903, whet L I was caught in the Antarctic ip * I Discovery, and which he later chi* to take him on his last tragic jour* | She was built in ISS4. and is still ; : splendid condition, while her repot, tion as a particularly lucky causes her always to be fixed up yfc, a full crew many weeks before is due to sail. She is one of little steamers that for a few w**; will be engaged in sealing along ft. ice off the cost of Labrador, practic. ! ally all of them barque-rigged ami j aries of the old type, which wiffhx" as exciting an experience as is to* found at sea these days. All haa* share in the profits, which one y*. ■ may amount to a considerable set and the next just as likely to be r thing at all, and the crews are mosth made up from fishermen who nornaj work on the Grand Banks. WHITE STAR’S NEW LINERS For a long time past it has been knov that the White Star Line proppJ adding to the tonnage of its North aJ lan tic fleet, states the Shipps World.” Messrs. Harland and YVof Ltd., of Belfast, have already cocmenced the construction of a Die*, driven motor passenger liner of 26,6*, tons, which will be the largest Brttisi. built motor-ship—a distinction at pre> out held by the Royal Mail vessels A eantara and Asturias. It is also wt known that another liner of about ft. size of the Olympic <46.500 tons), «• even bigger, is projected for the \Vhi.. Star Southampton-New York servicf. Speculation has been and is rife as; the method of propulsion to be adopts for this vessel. Lord Kylsant, & chairman of the R.M.S.F. and Whfo Star companies, is the world’s strong est and most consistent supporter t the internal-combustion engine. Ti* Asturias and the Alcantara have amp justified his faith, and have proved very successful on the South American nc. From 22,500 tons (the size of tto Asturias) to 26,000 tons is not a bi; jump, and although service condition are not quite the same on the Non. Atlanitc as on the South Atlant route, no one was surprised that thDiesel engine was specified for the nei White Star boat of the latter aii-. particularly as a speed higher thanll* knots was apparently not necessary. ! AMERICAN SHIPBUILDING.—Fe» events of recent years have throv: into such sharp relief the crisis in tr United States shipbuilding industry*! the announcement by Messrs. WiUfca Cramp and Sons’ Ship and Engit Building Company, Philadelphia, th they are about to close their shipyjr. and to discontinue all shipbuilflfci operations on the conclusion of the cn*j tracts in hand, states the “Syren ail Shipping.” To America this meei much more than would the eclipse tf any one firm in Great Britain, 1 Cramp’s have occupied a unique pos: tion on the other side of the Atlant;' for nearly a century. The firm was founded by Mr. William Cramp wi: a very modest amount of capital it IS3O. He was successful from the beginning, and at a very early date h began building men-of-war. The ironclad which opened the Civil War b 1863 by bombarding Fort Sumter caicfrom Cramp’s Y'ard, and cost 845.1 W dollars. Many of the monitors used b the same conflict were also constructs there, and it was not long befon orders from other countries. At the present time there is under construction in the Cramp yar* the Matson Navigation Company) Malolo and two steamers for the Eastern Steamship Company, whilst tb* company have surrendered to the Navy Department its contract for th* completion of the cruiser Salt Lak» City, which was placed a year ago, but the keel of which was never laid, although a large amount of material hai been assembled. The announcement o! the company’s decision to close tbs yard stated that there were no other shipbuilding contracts in hand, “auc sufficient business does not appear tc be in prospect to justify the continuation of the extended facilities of the shipyard.” HIGHER SPEED IN MOTOR SHlPS.—Experiments for the purpo* of developing a new type of carf motor-ship, with an average sea pptfof about 15 knots, are reported beincarried on in the model basin of tiWashington Navy Yard, under Indirection of Shipping Board Commissioner W. S. Benson and Rear-Admir-Taylor, former head of the construe tion and repair bureau of the Na r Department. No indication has bet' given as to whether the plan contemplates the building of new ships ' structural alteration of some of & laid-up vessels of the Shipping Boar so as to give them the finer Hurequisite for higher speed than tk first group of 12 DieSelised sbiF ; which will average about 12 knots. > survey of the laid-up fleet was order last year for the purpose of dete mining whether such alterations we feasible, and how many of the ve ; sels were suitable for such convf sions. It has been pointed out ] Shipping Board operators that, wbi* the first group of converted ships undoubtedly will show great economy operation as compared with steamer the gain in speed effected by the cor version was hardly large enough 1 warrant further conversions at t’ same average price of about 800,0" dollars for each vessel. Particulreference has been made to the cor struction by British and Scandinavia lines of cargo motor-ships wi* speeds ranging from 14 to 16 kuo’ 1 Advocates of the conversion plan, the other hand, assert that operatf; of cargo ships at a higher speed tW--12 knots is uneconomical unless u. cargo carried is paying the high* rates. At the same time, it is mitted that it would be to have vessels with finer lines, out undue sacrifice of space, as smaller amount of fuel would be r quired to drive the vessel at the speed as the more unwieldy tyjj; Shipbuilding interests are awwfl the announcement of the intentions, the Shipping Board in regard to a proposed reconditioning of the Mow Vernon, but some scepticism I s pressed as to the possibility of re^ i ditioning the vessel at as low a as 2,500,000 dollars. The Agam»i non has been dry-docked fer in®P*. tion at Newport News. Rebuil®* r«-boilering, and re-engining -j two vessels at a cost of about dollars each has been suggested- , has been pointed out that suen thorough reconditioning would vessels for at least ten years of aci . service, despite their present age. it has t£en asserted that they wo have sufficient passenger accommo® tion to enable them to more than lrj for themselves within the 1®!”; period mentioned as members o r , United States Lines’ fleets, vvhic . badly in need of additional t