Maritime History of the Great Lakes

Marine Review (Cleveland, OH), 1 Dec 1892, p. 8

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A Lake-Built Ocean Tug. At the ship yard of F. W. Wheeler & Co., West Bay City, Mich., where there is now under construction four steel steamers, one wooden steamer and two schooners, valued in all at $1,050,000 and capable of carrying about 21,000 gross tons of freight on 16 feet draft, the launch of a steel tug is nota jf, matter of special importance, but there is presented here some \ engravings showing the launch of the tug W. G. Wilmot, to which considerable interest is attached from the fact that the (4 boat after being fully equipped, at West Bay City, made the trip down the River St. Lawrence and the Canadian canals, and is now in the service of her owner, W. G. Wilmot of New Orleans. Industries, one of the engineering publications of London, printed engravings of this vessel in a recent number MARINE REVIEW. and discussed at some length the development of ship build- fe ing on the lakes. 'The accompanying engravings are from.the Railroad and Engineering Journal of New York, another high class journal, whose publishers are impressed with the import- ance of an undertaking of this kind on the part of lake builders. The dimensions of the W. G, Wilmot are: Length of keel, 99 feet; length over all, 110 feet 6 inches; beam, moulded, 23 feet; extreme draft, 11 feet. The propeller is of the H. G. Trout (Buffalo) pattern, and is 9 feet 3 inches in diameter and 12 feet pitch. It is driven by a triple-expansion engine with cylin- ders 16 inches, 24 inches, and noe tube injector. A filter for extracting grease from the feed-water is also fitted. An important feature in the equipment of the fire-_ room is a feed-water heater having 69 brass tubes 1%4 inches in diameter and 8 feet long, through which all the exhaust steam from the pumps passes, heating the water surrounding the tubes. There is a large fire pump, a 6-inch bilge suction, and the tug is 40 inches. diameter by 28 inches stroke. 'The engine is provided with steam revers- ing gear, this gear being con- trolled by a differential mo- tion. The valves are bal- anced, the high-pressure cylin- ders being controlled by a piston-valve, the intermediate and low-pressure by ordinary double-ported slide-valves driven by a link-motion of the double side-bar type. The engine has a Wheeler patent condenser with combined air and circulating pump. The boiler is of the cylindrical type, 12 feet 6 inches in diameter and 12 feet 8 inches long. There are three furnaces 40 inches in diameter and 8 feet long, and 218 tubes 31 inches in diameter and 8 feet 6 inches long. The grate area is 63 square feet, and the heating surface 2,100 square feet. There is also a horizontal return.tube donkey boiler and feed-pump of ample size and a Metropolitan double- provided with hose for wreck- ing purposes. A steam steer- ing gear operated by a single lever in the pilot house and a complete electrical outfit, in- cluding search light, are other important features in the boat's equipment. On her trial trip in Saginaw bay the Wilmot made 16 miles an hour under partial power, developing 700 horse power on 160 pounds of | steam, and 125 revolutions per minute. Humanity Demands It. Although a full month has passed since the loss of a crew of eighteen men on the steel steamer W. H. Gilcher, -- the owners have as yet learned the names of only ten of the men as follows: IL. H. Weeks, master, Vermillion, O.; Edward H. Porter, mate, Lorain, O.; Sidney B. Jones, engineer, Marine City, Mich.; Thomas Finley, second engineer, Buffalo; Charles E. Huntoon, oiler, Marine City, Mich.; Charles Thompson, oiler, Vermillion, O.; Charles EK. Williams, steward, Picton, Ont.; F. W. King, wheelman, Chicago; Robert McElhern, watch- man, Kingston, Ont.: Albert Bulgreen, fireman, Marine City, Mich. 'This accident goes to prove more forcibly than any- thing that has. occurred this season the necessity of vessel owners making some arrangements during the coming winter whereby lists of all crews will be left ashore. Ifthey do not do so, congress will very probably pass a law that may put masters to considerable inconvenience, and no objection can be raised to it. Mr. J. C. Gilchrist, managing owner of the Gilcher, has received a number of letters relative to the accident, from which he is satisfied that the Gilcher went out between the Beavers and the Foxes on the course toward the west shore of the lake, and did not go near the reef south of the Foxes. The most valuable information is from Capt. Charles Roe of Harbor Springs, Mich., who found the two bodies on the north end of South Fox island. Capt. Roe also writes that the boat found on High island, which is west of Beaver island,

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