Ships and the Sea

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 150, 21 December 1929, Page 56

Ships and the Sea

lighting a Liner. ! Ship lighting is a branch of marine ■ .■lec'trieity. which has developed so , jjowly as to be almost unobserved, I A-rites the "Syren aud Shipping." In I argo passenger liners tho technique of ■ighting has proceeded on parallel lines ; with that-of "shore" decoration in ijo far.as this can bo applied to ships— oven in cargo carriers there i; a noticeable improvement. The modern passenger liner requires so many lamps, not only as a complete "contract but dso for spares, and. renewals, that a |oo.d many, lanip-making iirms find ship.jwners. v.cry/goo.d customers. Larger amps of higher:wattage are called for, and where formerly these were arranged, as single; units, now .they are fixed m,groups iii the public rooms. . There is also a distinct vogue for concealed . lighting in conjunction with more modI crn styles of decoration. A big liver may have in use at one time as many as 6800 individual lamps; these, with the spares carried for replacements, ■ represent a valuable contract to any progressive lamp-making company. ■Ounard.Line's. Plans. Sir Percy Bates, deputy-chairman of r.hu Cunard Steam Shi]) Company, went to the trouble of denying categoficaliy thu story to the-effect "that his firm ■had placed orders .- for two 60,00-tou liners, states the "Syren and Shipping." He would not express any opinion as to the probability of them, doinft so in the future, but he added, if the cablegram from Montreal may be trusted, that the-, company would have to consider carefully before embarking on such an ambitious programme. : There

was no particular necessity for denying the report, as it was not taken seriously by anyone who knew-the rucli;monts of the present position on the i JNprtJi Atlantic, but the denial was welcome all the same, if only becauso it showed how far astray people go who write about things of which they have not sufficient understanding. The same may be said of the stories about fitting to the Mauretania new gadgets capable of increasing her speed to more than that of the Bremen. But there is still another Cunard Line yard, this time concerning the Aquitania. It is that tho ro-engining of this most efficient and most-successful of vessels is being- seriously considered, and that the directors, have a mind to give her a . quadruple- screw arrangement of geared turbines, capable of making her travel at a speed of 28 knots. At present she has quadruple screw directdriving turbines, and her service speed is between.23 and 24 knots. Whether her speed can be, increased by from 4 to 5 knots is a point- which the technical advisers of her owners are quite capable ;of: apswering, satisfactorily. The lilies of the'.hulLwere not designed for such a high-speed; but that, too, is a matter for the • experts, and, after all, it is merely a case 'of providing tho necessary .: ; horsepower, operating through the most economical and most efficient of mechanism. If it is worth while it can be-done; but the cost will be heavy, arid th.c money would go a considerable dtatance.dn paying for a whpllynew;ship.:,..-;. : , .- Aquitania^s History. The Aquitania was built at Clydebank in 1914, launched before the wai begun, and partly completed. She was hurriedly taken over by tho Government late in 1914, many fine and valuable fittings '• were unceremoniously thrown out on a certain dockside, and the ship, as a huge skeleton, was used for, a time for the purpose of transporting motor vehicles by the thousand to France. On being reconditioned atter the war she at once, took a leading place ,on the: North Atlantic'as one of the most popular of liners, and it is said that tho Cunard Company never had a better paying vessel in their fleet. - ■ ■ ! London's Shipping Traffic. The increase in London's shipping traffic which- has been taking place for some years is still strongly in evidence writes the "Syren and' Shipping." The figures, for. tho half-year ended 30th September last indicate that the current twelve months will break even the record for tho. previous year, as a further increase- of .1,82(5,314 net register I tons has taken place over the corresponding six.months of last year No other port in the United Kingdom approaches- tho London figures Last year over 55,000,000 net register tons entered and left London, being over 61 tota) Cent' ' 1U; 6X°eSS °f the "eXt lai 'gest Big Whaling Tactories; As specimens of naval architecture apart from the purposes for which they are intended, the large-floating whaling factories which have been, or are being constructed in Great Britain are vessels of exceptional interest, states the "Syren and Shipping." The Vilungen, which Messrs. Swan, Hunter, and Wigham Kiehardson, of Wallsend-on-Tyne, have completed for the Vikine Whaling Company, of London, has a deadweight carrying capacity.of more than 14,000 tons... Sho is built on the lsherwood longitudinal system of construction, with a closed superstructure deck,, and has been specially designed all through for dealing with earcassls of whales. In addition, she will act as a mother ship for a flotilla of small, fast whale-catchers, each equipped with a gun on the forecastle, and capable of manoeuvring very smartly. When the harpoon strikes the whale an explosive charge in the head kills almost at once. The carcass' is. then inflated with compressed air so.that it may conI tinuc auoat,-..a]i'd it is marked by a "agr -. When several have been thus captured they ~afe~tovved to the factory hauled on board by the largo slipway at the stern, and cut up and converted (into their component parts. Meantime I tho catchers have, obtained from the mother -ship what supplies they require,

and have set out on another chase. As tho whales vary in length from 40 to ; lOC feet, and may weigh anything up ' to 100 tons, the task of handling the carcasses is no light ono, and powerful wmehes ana other apparatus are required to haul them up the slipway ; on to the "blubber .deck," which is practically flat and is sheathed with ; wood. In tho 'tween decks there are a largo number of great Ueain boilers and tanks, and also pumps and other appliances for boiliug down the blubber, flesh, and bones, and extracting from them tho various grades of oil. Practically nothing is wasted -hven the offal is utilised. Pi g 3 are kept on board, and these eat it up, and themselves provide fresh ..meat later for the crews of the ships In addition to the "factory" appliances, the Vilnngcn has a number of heavy ■decricks for lifting and turning the carcasses, and about. a dozen lighter derricks for moving whales •in the water alongside the ship. The main propelling engines are twin screw and they and the steam , generating plant are well aft, leaving the rest of the hull clear for the special whaling work. Tho machinery, supplied by the builders, is j of tho triple expansion reciprocating j type, developing 4300 i.h.p. and obtain-1 mg steam from four single-ended boilers working at .a pressure of 210 lb per square .inch.

In addition there" are two auxiliary boilers, at the forward end of tho machinery space, supplying steam for the-deck machinery and the plant in the factory. Tho Kosmos, built by Messrs. Workman, Clark, of Belfast, tor Sanderfjord owners, was the first of the series. The Vikengen, launched

in July, was -tlio second. Tho third will likely bo'the vessel of 18,000 tons ordered in May last by tho Kcrguelen Sealing and Whaling Company of Cape Town, from Sir'W.G.: Armstrong Whitworth and Co., Newcastle-on-Tyne, and the fourth tho' niotorship of 16 000 tons ordered in June from the Furness Shipbuilding Company by a combine of Sanderfjord and Copenhagen--owners inese are new construction only. In addition there are, of course, all the 'converted" vessels. Interesting Tests. While-many British shipowners feel that it is in the national, interest' for British ships,to burn, coal, and are satisned that steam has not ,yet said its last word, on tho Continent shipowners J have assumed,.with marked unanimity i that the advantage is with the motor-! snip, states the "Shipping world." It '• is significant, of the open mind whieb i is preserved-'in.1-this country that two' British :shipping,.&ms .have determined ! to. test f or,.,thsniselves: the; respective! merits of .the.nidtorship and the steam-1 shipV: .^Tho first ; i 3/ :Mr.-W. A. Souter •! managing, director/of the; Sheaf Steam '■ Shipping Company^ Neweastlo-on-Tyne ! and vow President-of 'the Baltic and i International Maritime Conference I who, as previously, recorded, .has added■' to that company's fleet a motor vessel: and a steam vessel of identical size and '■ design, which will.be employed in.the! same trade soas. to obtain comparative ■results.. . The mptorship^ the : Sheaf^ Holme, has just completed her maiden-: voyage, and by, reason of the clever I utilisation of tho waste heat from the! Doxford engine, has done uncommonly.' well in the way of economic results■ The other firm is the Blue Star Line : whose well-known vessels are all steamers, but who have just launched their first motor liner, the Tuscan Star of 12,000 tons, 9000 h.p., and with -I speed of 16 knots, which it is intended'^ to put into tho South American service and run in conjunction with their^ existing steamers. The most carcfuli records of he.r .performances will -.bo. kept and compared with the"results ob--tamed from the steamers, especially' with their pulverised fuel burning vessels Nothing could-be fairer or more: satisfying than these tests, and there cannot fa-il to be,a. deep interest in tho results. . ■ New American Liners. ] It is now revealed that when the United btates^ines asked leading ship builders to tender for the two passenger and cargo vessels of 750 feet they were informed that bids for four additional ships, would bo considered the construction of which -.would follow' after the two liners had been, launched states the "Shipping World. 3' The plans specify vessels of 30,000 cross registered tons, and a speed of w knots, which is faster than any American ship on the, seas with the. exception of the Leviathan. The new tonnage is intended for the weekly expresservice with- the latter named vessel on the North Atlantic route, and will be ready for operation in the summer of 1931 according to the building ■■ schedule. It is intended to provide i accommodation for 1300 passengers,' first, tourist, and third class, the second class having been eliminated so as to leave ample space for such luxuries as swimming pools, automobile caraees spacious decks, and large public rooms! Whether these brief details of the dosigns have been published in order to stir up-public opinion may be a matter of speculation, for it is pointed out that the construction of the new liners hinge? upon the granting pf a construction loan by the .Shipping Board in accordance with the Merchant Marinp Act of 1928, by which three-fourS^ the construction cost will be lent by the United States Government and upon the securing "of "a "mail contract from the .Post Office ..Department for the transportation of mail on tho routes served by the tonnage.