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py April, 1909 "'TAE Marine REVIEW Oil Fired Launches. HE great point upon which the suction gas plant threatens the supremacy of steam as a mo- tive power for poses is that of so. considerable as compared with steam as to admit the possibility of the use of the former power for com- mercial work in spite of its present great disabilities in regard to starting, stopping and reversing. That the mak- ers of steam engines have not been slow to realize the danger, and take steps to counteract it, is evident from marine pur- economy, which is plating. The keel is 2% in. by. 34 in. straight, with a stern post carrying a boss for the stern tube. . Two steel water-tight bulkheads are fitted, one forward and one aft of the machinery space, and steel waterways and coam- ings are fitted right round the boat to assist her in a sea, a teak deck be- ing carried right forward and aft out- side the coamings. Forward is the fore peak, "closed by a .water tght door. Aft of this is a small well from which the boat is steered by means of- a wheel. Then comes the machinery Ou-Firep LaAuNcH Butt By SIMPSON, STRICKLAND & Co., DARTMOUTH, ENGLAND. the following description of three launches built by Simpson Strickland & Co., Ltd. of Dartmouth, for a large Indian trading house. These boats were required by the owners to tow large barges to the carrying steamers, which have to lie some distance off in the roadstead, and with a view to econ- omy, tenders were asked for launches which could use crude oil fuel, of which a very large quantity is available on the spot. The launches are designed as before stated for work as _ tugs, to operate in fairly rough and _ open roadsteads, and to be good sea_ boats. To this end, though their length is only 27 ft. 6 in. b. p. the. molded beam over the frames is 8 ft. with a molded depth of 4 ft. 5 in, so that it will be seen that they are big-bodied craft. The mean draught in salt water was not to exceed 2 ft. 8 in. with one ton 'deadweight on board. The hull is en- tirely constructed of galvanized steel, the plating being 2-20 in. thick, the keel is a bar 2 in. by ¥% in, into which the stern is scarphed; the stem is re- bated to-protect the fore edge of the Borer oF O1t-Firep LauNncH BUILT BY Simpson, STRICKLAND & Co, - DARTMOUTH, ENGLAND. space, and aft of this another small well with teak sets. Each boat is fit- ted with a pair of strong lifting hooks to enable it to be hoisted in davits, and a strong towing hook mounted on a spring is fitted. on the bulkhead aft of the machinery space, and a_ towing beam on the after deck. To enable the boats better to face the. sea, a canvas hood is fitted "oyer fhe fore well, while as a protection against the sun, canvas awnings are spread over the well on galvanized stanchions. To come now to the machinery, the speci- fications called for engines capable of indicating not less than 35 HH. Po on service, at not more than 420 revolu- tions. The - builders supplied their standard compound surface condensing engines having cylinders 5 in. and 10 in. by 6 in. stroke, with a working pressure of 150 lb., the revolutions on trial being actually about 330. The cylinders are carried on cast iron back frames with turned steel front col- umns; the valves are both flat and worked by link motion of the slotted link type. The air and feed pumps are direct driven off the crosshead of the low-pressure cylinder, while the con- denser is of the ordinary inside type of galvanized steel with brass_ tube plates and tubes, the circulating pump being driven off the forward end of the crank shaft. Unusual Type of Boiler. The boiler, which is probably the most interesting part of the whole installa--- tion, presents several features of a somewhat unusual type. Generally it is of the Kingdon vertical fire-tube type, but as will be seen from the il- lustration, the water space is not car- ried down round the fire bars but stops short at the bottom tube plate. Further as the boiler has to be used in parts where the water is very impure, the outer shell is secured to the inner part, which carries tfe tube plates by studs, so that the boiler can be en- tirely dismantled for cleaning purposes without disturbing the tube plates. As has already been stated, the fuel to be used is Indian crude oil. This has a specific gravity ot about 0.914 and a flash point of about 340 degrees Fahr., while the "setting" point is 110 degrees so that, at atmospheric tem- peratures which obtain generally in these higher latitudes, it becomes prac- tically solid and about the consistency of butter. To keep this therefore in fluid state, to 'enable it to be burnt, it was found necessary to introduce a sys- tem of steam coils into the fuel tanks which are in the wings, and also into the filter which immediately adjoins the tank, while the fuel pipe for its whole