The Timaru Herald THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1934. BRITISH PRESTIGE AT SEA.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 19915, 27 September 1934, Page 8

The Timaru Herald THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1934. BRITISH PRESTIGE AT SEA.

One of the most gratifying features of the launching of the giant Cunarder which “took the water” in the Clyde yesterday, after being christened by the Queen, is that the appearance on the high seas of the world of the 73,000 ton British liner, will serve to demonstrate to the shipping interests of the world that Britain still holds a proud place of honour on the Seven Seas of the globe. It is worthy of note in passing that in spite of the most adverse conditions the British mercantile marine remains the largest and most efficient instrument of sea transport in the world, embracing 38.32 per cent, of the ocean-going tonnage of the world less than ten years old. The launching of another leviathan of the seas (named after Queen Mary herself) that will carry the Red Ensign into proud and powerful rivalry with the great ships now holding the blue ribands of the Atlantic service, will no doubt be regarded as symbolical of Britain’s remarkable emergence from the fogs of financial and economic depression. As a matter of fact the launching of the largest and most powerful merchant ship ever built, designed not merely to maintain the prestige of a single shipping- line, but British prestige on the Atlantic, is a memorable event in the history of British shipping. Moreover the launching is regarded as an event of first class national importance. It is interesting to recall that some ten years ago the Cunard Line decided to build new ships for its trans-Atlantic express service, hitherto run by three large fast steamers. For the first time in the history of marine engineering and naval architecture it was found possible for the company’s express weekly service to be maintained by two ships instead of three, and the Cunard authorities decided to provide such a ship as would eventually require but a single sister to fulfil the exacting requirements: The giant Cunarder is no freak ship built at haphazard. Away back in 1925 the actual planning and designing of the ship began, and it extended over a period of four years before the formal contract for her construction was signed on December 1, 1930. In the minds of those entrusted with her design was the fundamental factor of regularity of service. The speed is dictated by the time necessary to perform the journey at all seasons of the year, in all weathers, and in both directions, plus the numbers of hours required in port on each side of the Atlantic. Speed requires power and size, the latter being also dictated by the necessity to make money by providing sufficient saleable passenger accommodation to pay for the speed. That {To. 534 will be absolutely the largest ship ever built is certain, and that she will be the fastest merchant liner admits of very little doubt. Her form is the result of numberless tank experiments with scale models under conditions simulating with great accuracy every sort of weather she can expect to meet in the service on the Atlantic. The experiments enabled the naval architects to plan with certainty the size and form of hull and the power required to enable the completed ship to be and do everything required of her under all conditions. And numberless other experiments with models decided many other things, including the height and disposition of funnels to keep smoke and boiler fumes clear of the decks at all times.

British shipmasters have found, however, that the over-supply of tonnage and economic stress created problems which have made it impossible for private enterprise to finance the completion of the twin giant Cunarders which will maintain British prestige on the seas. Hence the gratification felt at the decision of the Imperial Government to afford financial assistance to the Cunard Line. And on the Clyde yesterday, the world witnessed the magnificent revelation of the capacity of the State in co-oper-ation with private enterprise, to overcome almost insurmountable difficulties, and to-day there proudly floats in the waters of the Clyde the greatest merchant ship the world has ever seen—the product of the union of British inventive genius, industrial skill and enterprise and indestructable financial stability. The day may be regarded as a triumph for British shipping enterprise. British shipowners, who have shown such enterprise in cultivating travel by sea, believe that the sea-consciousness of the British people has t>een i increased during recent years—particularly by the cultivation of the cruising habit —and that when more prosperous times return, tens of thousands of British travellers, no less than foreign sea tourists, will avail themselves of the services offered by Britain’s well-equipped and thoroughly up-to-date mercantile marine; indeed, the launching of the giant Cunarder on the Clyde yesterday, may well he confidently regarded as heralding the dawn of a new era of returning prosperity for British merchant shipping.