The Largest Ship Yet Constructed.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLVIII, Issue 11, 11 September 1912, Page 36

The Largest Ship Yet Constructed.

The Launch of the 65,000 Ton Liner Imperator.

ITH the loss of the Titanic V I fresh in the publi-e mind, speciai interest attaches to the recent I'auneh of the linperator. which exceeds that huge vessel by some 5,000 tons. The ship is being built for t'he Hamburg-American Company at the Vulcan Yard at Hamburg, and the

She will be equipped with water-tube boilers. A feature of the ship which will be appreciated by passengers is that she will be fitted' with the Frahm anti-rol-ling tanks, otherwise know.n from their shape as "I”' tanks. This device consists of tanks of large capacity, built on opposite sides of the vessel and von-

ceremony of naming the ship at the launching was performed by the Kaiser, whose interest in the German merchant marine is second only to that which he has shown in the upbuilding of the German navy. The length of the Imperator is 000 feet, and she thus has the distinction of being the first ship to come within 100 feet of the 1.000-foot ship of which naval architects have been wont to .■•peak in late years in naming the possibilities of length which might be reached before many years have passed. Iler beam is 00 feet ami her moulded depth 02 feet. From the keel to the boat deck will be 100 feet and the distance from the keel to the trucks of the masts will be 240 feet. The three funnels will be oval in section, measuring IS feet on the smaller and 20 feet on the greater axis. The rudder will weigh 00 ton* ami the diameter of the rudder stock will be 21 feet. The -hip will be driven by turbines of 70.000 horse-power which will be developed on four shafts, and the esti-

jiected by an inclosed waterway, through which the water can How from side to side of tlie ship as she rolls, its How being subject to control by valves. Experience in the few passenger ships which have been thus equipped has shown the Frahm tanks to be the most efficient anti-rolling device yet tried. With the Titanic disaster so recent a fact, the questions which at once arise with regard to the Imperator are those relating to her internal construction and particularly her construction below the water line What provision has been made for meeting such a deva sating accident as that which sent the huge Titanic to the bottom in two hours and thirty minutes! The sub-division of the Imperator below the water line has been carried out under the supervision of the Germanic Lloyd’s and the Immigration authorities. It consists of a series of intersecting transverse and longitudinal bulkheads.

Transversely, the ship is subdivided by twelve bulkheads, whieh are carried two decks above the water line, with th? exception of the collision bulkhead forward. which extends four decks above the same level. These bulkheads are intersected by longitudinal bulkheads whieh subdivide the boiler ■,nd engine rooms, the under water portion of the ship being divided altogether " twenty-f'our separate watertigh compartments. There are four Inn lei rooms, containing the water-tube boile.s the tvne used on this ship, lhe coal bunkers are placed above the boiler rooms, and along the sides of the ship. i n the latter ease being known as wing bunkers. • , • • Because of its great size special interest attaches to the turbine installation "'e present illustrations of one of the low-pressure turbines, from which one can gain a vivid impression of the ""eat size and weight of the various parts The rotor, or rotating part conkins' 50.000 blades, and is capable of developing over 22.000 horse-power The shafting of all four propellers i» la feet in diameter. The propellers, which ate nade of turbadium bronze, are lb felt 8 in-ehes in diameter. Although the engines are spoken of as being of 10000 V ,-k.nower it is probable that on test they will develop from 80.000 to 85.000 horse-power. The German government, in its supervision of the construction of passengereanviim ships, pays as much attention to the "question of fire-protection as it does to that of protection against sinking at sea. The tiers of passenger decks a hive ship of the size of the lmnerator”"are filled with a great amount of material of a highly combustible character, such as wainscotting, passenger stateroom partitions, paint, varnis i. and general architectural embellishment. This "material would afford highly inflammable fuel, should a fire once obtain a strong hold upon the ship; and the long alley ways if they were not shut off at intervals by the screens, would afford an easy means for the spread of fire throughout the full length of the deck. To prevent this, light steel bulkheads are run from side to side of the ship throughout the passenger accommodation spaces. They are provided with fire doors and drills are held at regular intervals, in which the fire mams are in full service, and the work of closing the smoke doors is carried through by such members of the crew as are detailed for this work. The Tmperator will probably make her 'maiden trip to Xew York in the early summer of 1913.