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16 Tae MarRINE REVIEW TRANSLANTIC LINES AND STEAMSHIPS.* - BY ARTHUR J. MAGINNES, M. INST., C. E., M. L MAR. E. It is with no little pleasure and gratification that the author once more finds it a pleasing duty to again bring be- fore the Liverpool Engineering Society a brief resume of the great steamship trade, which, although now no longer a monopoly of our city, is the one in which it is still para- mount. So far back as January, 1878, that is, 28 years ago, when our society was but in its early youth, this subject was brought forward under the above title, and was so appreciated, not only in Liverpool, but in the whole shipping world, that it encouraged one to become more conversant with its history to that date, and to watch and record its develop- ments in the future. Fourteen years afterwards, in January, 1892, the time was considered ripe for a second paper on the subject, and now in this year of grace, 1906, our worthy President, Mr. Reney Smith, and indomitable Hon. Secretary, Mr. R. Cc. F. An- nett, are of opinion that the doings of the past decade and the unusually rapid advances of the past few years, should have a place in our Transactions, Coming then to the subject, it is with no little feelings of pleasure and satisfaction, that notwithstanding the numerous changes which have taken place in the proprietary of the lines, due to the ambitions of other nations, and the financial jugglings of firms and financiers, it remains to be recorded that the premier and most honored line of steamships afloat today, namely, the Cunard line, is wholly British through- out all the phases of ownership. Remembering the dread' rumors which were noised abroad some few years back, as to impending changes, it will not be out of place to give a word of praise to the memory of the late Lord Inverclyde, who so courageously and patriot- ically held out against tempting financial proposals, which, had it not been for him, might have placed the actual control of the great Atlantic lines out of this country. Thanks, however, to his far-seeing judgment and that of his co-directors, the Cunard line today flies both justly and proudly, the flag under which it was brought forth and developed to its present enviable position. ~~ So far as the progress of this line is concerned, since m last paper in 1892, there remains little to record until the coming of the new century. The performances of the Cam- pania and Lucania in the mail service are fully up to the mark, as they, together with the single screw Umbria and Etruria, today carry on a regular and satisfactory Saturday service. This is not the case with the Wednesday service, the want of a fourth fast steamer having been acutely felt - for the past ten years. With the commencement of the century, and for a year or two previously, a movement to modernize the whole fleet set in, with the result that such well-known -crafts as the Servia, November. 1901, Aurania, February 1905, and others, were disposed of, and new large twin screws of moderate * ' speed, but extensive passenger accommodation were added, - the Saxonia, built on the Clyde in May i900, Ivernia, from the Tyne in April 1900, the Carpathia brought out in 1893, also a twin-screw vessel, possessed the peculiar feature of being fitted out for third-class passengers only, this was done to develop the new departure made in 1893, of a direct line from Fiume and Adriatic ports to New York This service was inaugurated in consequence of the com- bination formed by the other lines, and gave rise to keen competition and cutting of rates, but with a result favorable to this company, although not financially. Before commencing on the origin of the next great ship of this line, it is proposed to notice two interesting crafts _ which may in later years be cited as the decisive resultants *Read before the Liverpool Engineering Society. in bringing about a complete departure in the propelling ma- chinery of steamships. In stating this, however, the fact should not be lost sight of that the Allan liners Victorian and Virginian, fitted with turbine machinery, had been in existence for some months, but that two ocean liners of the newest and highest class should be built of identical hulls, but with different machinery in order to test the relative merits of the latter, is unique, and of inestimable value to the shipping world at large. Similar pairs of vessels on smaller scale had previously been built to test the merits in the Channel trades around the United Kingdom, but to test this by building two such costly crafts as the Caronia and Carmania, is a feat worthy of the Cunard Line. Both of these vessels were built by Messrs. John Brown & Co., the successors of J. & G. Thomson, the builders of many early Cunarders, at Clydebank on the Clyde, in the past year, 1905. The dimensions of each are:--Caronia, 672.5 and 650 _ by 72 by 52; displacement = 31,000; Carmania, 672.5 and 650 by 72 by 52; displacement = 31,000; and so far as possible they are identical. For the machinery, however, two entirely different de- signs have been adopted, that for the Caronia being twin- screw quadruple-expansion reciprocating engine, and for the Carmania triple-screw Parsons turbine. The former vessel sailed on her first voyage in February, 1905, and the latter on December 3 of the same year, since when the excellent performances of the latter vessel have proved that for the North Atlantic high-speed passen- ger service, the turbine form of propulsion is the more suitable. The next feature to be considered when dealing with the Cunard Line, is the one to which brief reference has al- ready been made, that is the completion in September 1902 of an important agreement with the British government, which was received with universal satisfaction throughout the country, and commended in every way. The whole maritime feeling was suddenly aroused, and the attention of the governing powers called to the necessity of some au- thoritative action being taken by the company at large to pre- vent the control of the great steamship lines of the country from passing into the hands of other nations. This change was brought about by the operations of a wealthy syndicate formed abroad for the purchase of various British lines of steamers, en bloc, and so gaining control of the whole organizations, not only for commercial, but also, if required, for naval purposes. Once this was accomplished, but little further steps would be necessary to quickly change the registered nationality and flag of the. vessels if circum- stances so required it. This, however, was not a state of things to be permitted, as it was felt that if the financial wants of too ambitious and grasping ship builders and needy steamship owners were to be placed before the higher considerations 'of patriotism, some steps must be taken to prevent money buying that which all efforts at legitimate trading had been utterly un- able to effect in the past, namely, wresting from the British flag the ocean-carry trade of the world and maintaining the supremacy of the seas. Profiting by the lesson, and recognizing that the day had gone by when it was possible for any private company or ownership to build and maintain the fastest Atlantic liners afloat which would be dividend-paying, the Government en- tered into an agreement with the Cunard, by which. they would obtain financial aid, not only for carrying mail pur- poses, but also to enable them to build the largest, fastest,' and finest vessels afloat. Previous to this arrangement being made, the British lines had practically abandoned the building of high-speed vessels, as it was found that the large, slower type of vessels, fitted with but moderate engine power,