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December, 1914 Britannic's Low Pressure Turbine Despite the war active construction work continues on the 50,000-ton steamer Britannic, the largest vessel flying the British flag, which the White Star Line expects to place in service in 1915. The accompanying views show the low-pressure turbine rotor, which has just been installed in the steamship. This rotor is of the usual Parsons type, taking steam from the two reciprocating engines at about 9 pounds absolute pres- sure and exhausting at 1 pound abso- lute, and when running at 165 revolu- tions per minute will develop more than 16,000 horsepower. : The rotor is among the largest and most powerful ever constructed for marine service, and apart from its cas- ing, which weighs 152 tons, is 49 feet long and 16 feet 11 inches in diameter. The complete turbine installment weighs 420 tons. The blading is of the regular Parsons laced type, with distance pieces 'at the roots and binding soldered on the edge. The blades range in length from 18 inches to 2514 inches, and, to be exact, number 58,946, which if placed end to end would extend 12% miles. The ut- most care and precision, as in making a TURBINE ROTOR OF BRITANNIC _ fine watch, have been expended in the building of this splendid piece of ma- chinery. When the Britannic is being maneuvered, as in harbors, etc., the tur- bine is outof action, only the reciprocat- ing engines being used. Kingsley Montgomery, Chester, Pa., bought at auction recently the Roach ship yard at Chester for his clients at $5,000. Mr. Montgomery represented the bond holders. The mortgage on the property amounted to $100,000. THE MARINE REVIEW 483 TURBINE ROTOR OF BRITANNIC IN SHOP Items of Interest The Union: Iron. Works, San -Fran- cisco, Cal., has under construction two steel oil tankers, one for the Union Oil Co. and the other for the Standard Oil Go: Andrew Fletcher, president of the W. & A. Fletcher Co., Hoboken, N. J., has been elected a director of the American Locomotive Works to succeed Charles M. Schwab. The draftsmen of. the. Bath Iron Works held their annual outing and clambake on Oct. 10. The committee in charge consisted of W. A. Murtagh, R. P. Schlenker, R. R. Johnson and R. C. Cowles. William G. Abbott & Son, South Mil- ford, Del., have under construction two wooden steamers for service in New York harbor. One of the vessels will be a 400-ton freighter, while the other will be 112 feet long. The Polson Iron Works, Toronto, Ont., launched on November 7 the steamer Grenville for the Department of Marine and Fisheries, Ottawa, Canada. The Grenville is 154 feet 6 inches long, 30 feet beam and 13 feet deep. The M. J. Dady Engineering & Con- tracting Co. has leased the property of the Southern Ship Building - Co. of Staten Island and is preparing to build a modern shipbuilding plant at that point. The present plant covers an area of 15 acres. The E. W. Bliss Co., Brooklyn, N. Y., has given contract for a new steam gun- boat of the oil-burning type, to be 125 -veston and the feet long. The new craft will be fitted with air compressors, machine shop and quarters for a crew of thirty, and will be built during the winter at Sag Har- hor; L. Low oY Capt. John Barry, who was for sev- eral years superintendent of the Mc- Quade Stevedoring Co. of New York, has taken charge of a steamer in the oil carrying trade between Tampico, Gal- Crescent City. Capt. Barry was formerly in the employ of W. R. Grace & Co. Work is progressing rapidly on the new self-propelling dredge building at the yard of the Skinner Ship Building & Dry Dock Co., Baltimore, for, the U. S: Engineers' Department at San Fran- cisco. The new dredge will be 160 feet long, 30 feet beam and 17 feet deep and will cost $201,990, delivered at Balti- more. The following officers were elected at the annual meeting of the New Orleans Steamship Association recently: Presi- dent, S. T. DeMilt; vice president, A. R. LaFonta; treasurer, Frank A. Daniels; secretary, David B. Penn; assistant secretary and manager of cotton inspec- tion bureau, Fred Roehl; counsel, George H. Terriberry. The Southern Steamship Co., Galves- ton, Tex., was organized recently, being a merger of the Texas City Steamship Co. and the Southern Steamship Co. The combined fleet comprises eight steamers and the general offices of the company will be located at Galveston. J. H. W. Steele is president of the new company and George W. DeLonan, vice president and traffic manager.