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18 MARINE REVIEW. [March 13, SCOTTISH SHIP BUILDING LETTER. Glasgow, Feb. 22, 1902.--The annual meeting of the British Corpora- tion for the Survey and Registry of Shipping was held here this week. It was presided over by Mr. Nathaniel Dunlop of the Allan-State line. Mr. Francis Henderson of the Anchor line was appointed chairman ol the committee of management for the ensuing year. Mr. Dunlop ex- plained the character and object of the corporation with a view to remov- ing the misapprehension of those ship owners who have not yet joined it, although partaking of the benefits it has conferred on shipping. The British Corporation was established eleven years ago to secure that the load line question should be wisely settled, and that the laws relating to the assignment of load line should be so administered that life and prop- erty on the seas might be preserved without sacrificing the usefulness ol the carrying ship, and without risking the transference of the carrying trade to foreigners, who are not subject to our load line laws. In this it has rendered, and continues to render, unobtrusive and incalculable services to shipping, the usefulness of which the government cheerfully recognizes. But this was only, as Mr. Dunlop explained, one step in. the work to which the founders of the corporation set themselves. They resolved to bring the highest achievements of science to the help of the ship builder, and the rules for ship construction which they devised and which constituted the corporation's building rules were the result. These rules, which were attached to the corporation's register, were not only those that regulate building, but they had become the model upon which the more recent improvements in the rules of ship construction all the world over had been framed. Ship owners should in greater numbers than heretofore rally round the institution and give to it that support it so much deserved, securing its permanence and obtaining from it those great advantages it was capable of yielding. Many of the largest and best ships in the mercantile marine had been built to its rules, and had their place in its registry. The book contains upwards of 1,500,000 tons of shipping, and the corporation has assigned load lines to about 2,500,000 tons. The adaptability of its rules to variations of form has enabled the ship architect to effect improvements in structural design freed from the limitations that formerly prevailed. They could point to the turret class of vessels, which had almost wholly been built under its supervision, as evidence of this, and at present the corporation has in process of con- struction an improved system of water ballasting, designed to overcome the disadvantages that attach to the ordinary cellular and deep-tank sys- tems. These improvements are well worth the attention of owners of the cargo-carrying types of vessel. The finances of the corporation have been well maintained, and the ships presently building to its rules, though not as numerous as could be wished, are ample for its needs. The staff continues to be upheld in numbers and efficiency, and their surveyors may now be found at every important port in the world. It is noteworthy, too, that men have been found during all these years to form the committee of management--ship owners, ship builders, marine architects, engineers, and underwriters--and that they have given their services without regard, save that which springs from the knowledge that they are doing some- thing for the maintenance and advancement of the trade and commerce of the country. : Great interest is being taken here in the trials of the armored cruiser Good Hope, the first of which was completed at Spithead a few days ago with very satisfactory results. She is the latest of the many additions to the navy by the Fairfield Co., Glasgow, and is the first of the class to complete her trials. With a displacement of 14,100 tons, she will be re- quired to run 23 knots for eight hours, for which purpose the twin engines are designed to develop 30,000 I.H.P., the greatest power ever got in a warship. But at the first trial the engines were only required to indicate one-fifth of the maximum with a view of determining the coal consumption, which was found to average for thirty hours 1.87 lbs. per horse power per hour, the mean power being 6,054 I.H.P., average revo- lutions being seventy-one. Only twelve of the boilers were in use. Everything worked well, and no attempt was made to determine the speed of the ship as she is to proceed on a separate series of progressive speed runs, The recent trial was a thirty hours' run at 22,000 H.P., with engines giving most satisfactory results. The next trial will be a full power one of eight hours' duration. In the navy estimates just presented to parliament provision is made for the following new ships to be commenced in the fiscal year 1902-3 (in addition, of course, to those for which the contracts are now being adjusted), viz., two battleships, two armored cruisers, two third-class cruisers, four scouts, nine destroyers, four torpedo boats and four sub- marines. Only one of the two new battleships will be laid down in the government dock yards, and also one of the two armored cruisers, but the machinery of both will be built in private works. All the other vessels will be given out to contract. Thus private ship builders will get a battle- ship, an armored cruiser, two third-class cruisers, four scouts, nine de- stroyers, four torpedo boats, and four submarine boats. The design of the large ships has not yet been settled. The four scouts are to be designed by the contractors on the lines of the destroyers, but much larger and not so fast. In the French navy there are somewhat corresponding vessels, _ known as Estafette cruisers, which, on a length of 256 ft., displace 896 tons, and are driven at 23 knots by engines indicating 7,000 H.P. The Rus- sian. new vessel Novik has a length of 347 ft. 8 in. Her beam is 40 ft. and draught 16 ft.5in. She has thickened steel (nearly 2 in.) for protect- ing the machinery, while her engine power, 18,000 I.H.P., gives her a speed of 26 knots. She carries 900 tons of coal, and thus can run 900 miles at full speed and 5,000 miles at 14 knots. These two foreign vessels are to be improved upon. The nine new destroyers will resemble the ten now under consideration on tenders from private firms. In their case 125 tons of dead weight must be carried on board during the trial as compared with 35 tons in existing boats, the idea being to give them a much greater radius of action. The engines are to attain the power necessary with a number of revolutions not exceeding 350 per minute. The trials to be made with Parsons steam turbine, in com- bination with triple-expansion reciprocating engines for low speeds, may yield results to encourage more extensive use of this system. The ex- perimental destroyer with this machinery is already launched. and will - soon be ready for exhaustive trials. The four torpedo boats will be of the same type as the 25-knot craft under construction. The four submarine alice, boats will doubtless be ordered from Vickers Sons & Maxim, who built he last lot. ' a re important new departure is to be made in the new battleships, the tenders for which are now being considered by the admiralty under the 1901 program, in the matter of armor plating. These new battleships, to be named respectively King Edward V1I., Commonwealth and Dominion, will be far ahead of any ship constructed tor the British fleet, the only one vessel to compare with them being the Japanese battleship Mikasa, built by the Vickers company. 'The main broadside armor of the new British ships is to be carried to the upper deck, so that all broadside guns on the main deck will be completely protected by the armor of the citadel. This was the system in the old broadside ironclads, but with this difference that in the modern ships each 6-in. gun 1s isolated within armor walls, which run partly athwart the ship as 'traverses with others parallel to the skin plating forming square casements for each gun. The new British ships will excel the Japanese Mikasa 1n the thickness of plating, due to their larger total displacement, for while the Mikasa is of 15,200 tons these new vessels are to be of 16,350 tons. This main belt will be between 21 ft. and 92 ft. deep, extending 5 ft. below the water line. In the Duncan the depth is only 14 ft., in the Majestic 16 ft., in the old Inflexible only 15 ft. 8 in, Over 70 per cent. of the bulk of the new ships will be protected by belts, whereas in the Majestic the proportion of the length armored was 55 per cent., in the Admiral class 43 per cent., and in the Inflexible 34 per eent. The water line belts in the new ships will be 9 in. thick in the citadel, reduced by stages to 4 in. at the ends. For the length of the citadel the thickness will be 8 in. from the main belt up to the level of the main deck, and from the main deck to the upper deck 7 in. The division bulkheads between the 6-in. guns on the main deck and the longitudinal armor walls behind the guns will be of hardened steel. oe Some idea of the increased power of the armor is given by the state- ment that, while only about 15 per cent. of the displacement is given up to armor in these later ships, the proportion in the Royal Sovereign, which was not so effectively armed in the upper works, was 20 per cent., her armor being of a compound type. In the old Inflexible, with a cita- del only one-third the length of the ship, the proportion was 20.8 per cent., but her armor was of wrought iron 24 in. thick, as against the 18 in. of the Royal Sovereign, and the average of 8 in. steel in the King Edward VII. The two pairs of 12-in. guns which are to be mounted within barbettes placed at the forward and after end of this citadel, are to have 12-in. armor with 6-in. hoods. There will be turrets for the four 9.2-in. guns, one at each corner of the citadel, with 4-in. armor, which will have the additional protection afforded by the broadside armor and the very heavy athwartship bulkhead constituting the forward and after walls of the main citadel in the new ships. These new ships are to have twin-screw engines of the triple-expan- sion four-cylinder type, with one high-pressure cylinder 33% in., one intermediate 5414 in., and two low-pressure cylinders 63 in. in diameter, with a stroke of 48 in. They will develop their power when running at 120 revolutions, using steam of 250 lbs. pressure. Sixteen boilers of the 'Babcock & Wilcox types will be fitted in two of the ships, while in the third there will be fourteen Babcock & Wilcox boilers and six cylindrical boilers, the steam pressure in this case being 45 lbs. less at the engines, the tank boilers necessitating a reduction in the initial pressure to 210 lbs. as compared with 270 lbs. in the ships having only water-tube boilers. The five armored cruisers for which contracts are about to be placed are to be of a modified County type, with a slight increase in length to en- able a different type of boiler to be used, and also to allow of 7.6-in. guns to be used in each turret at the forward and after end of the vessels, instead of twin 6-in. guns as in some of the preceding ships. These new vessels will be 450 ft. jong, 67 ft. beam, whereas the original County ships were 440 ft. long and of 66 ft. beam, the moulded depth being increased 1 in. to 88 ft. 4 in., with the same draught, 24 ft. 6 in. The displacement is thereby increased from 9,800 to 10,200 tons, but it is anticipated that the same speed of 28 knots will be attained with engines indicating 22,000 H.P. The change in boilers has necessitated the increase in displacement as greater space and greater weight have to be accommodated, 1,832 tons being the lowest estimate for the four alternative types of boilers pro- posed, as compared with 1,750 tons in the case of the boilers of the origi- nal ships. The engines are the same, the high-pressure cylinder being 37 in. diameter, the intermediate 60 in. and the two low-pressure 69 in., the stroke being 42 in. It is not yet known how many of the new vessels are to be built on the Clyde, where the orders will be very welcome this year, seeing that new contracts for merchant ships are still few and far between. ANNUAL MEETING OF CANADIAN MARINE ENGINEERS. At the third annual meeting of the National Association of Marine Engineers, which was held in Toronto lately, the president was authorized to organize a deputation to wait on the government with reference to the following matters: That all tug boats should carry licensed engineers; that British steamers running in Canadian waters should be compelled to carry at least two licensed engineers; that no temporary certificate or permits be issued to any who are not fully qualified engineers; that United States vessels purchased for use in Canada should not be brought in free of duty; that while the present law makes no distinction between ocean, lake and river side-wheel boats, smaller shafts are desirable on steamers navigating rivers only. The following were elected and installec as officers for the ensuing year: Grand president, T. J. S. Milne, Kings: ton; grand vice-president, O. L. Marchand, Montreal; grand secretary- treasurer, N. J. Morrison, St. John, N. B.; grand conductor, F..S. Hen- ning, Toronto; grand doorkeeper, Samuel Beatty, Collingwood; grand auditors, Robert Craig, Toronto; and James Gillies, Kingston. In the course of his statement before the house committee on naval affairs, Rear Admiral Bradford strongly urged the installation of ap- paratus for wireless telegraphy on some of the ships of the navy for pur- poses of instruction. Admiral Bradford still insists, however, that the field of usefulness for wireless telegraphy is limited and is practically con- fined to the sea. The apparatus is by no means perfected. It will mot -- work in very hot weather. After the heat of the day is passed, however. messages can be sent without difficulty. Foggy 'weather seems very favorable to the transmission of messages. Admiral Bradford was very earnest in his recommendation that.the ships of the navy be equipped with wireless telegraphic instruments.