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HUNVIUVTGUIUAUAUUUUL A AULT MTA IVICIUTTIUU ii UUTICUUITUTUTUOTUUTAU TUTTE e ILI ( 4 \ ii ( E a ( nt AMAA NIUUTAUAAI IUUVUUIEIU VOL. 45 CLEVELAND FEBRUARY, 1915 NEW YORK A Brilliant Gathering of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine En- gineers—Homer L. Ferguson's Thoughtful Address at the Annual Dinner Te twenty-second annual meet- ing of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engin- eers was held in the Engineering So- cieties building, New York, on Thurs- day and Friday, Dec. 10 and. 11. Owing to the illness of Col. Robert M. Thompson, president, the meet- ing was presided over by Stevenson Taylor, past: president: . The ‘secre- tary’s report indicated that the socie- ty had a larger membership than ever before and that its financial con- dition was excellent. The address of Mr. Taylor as acting president was admirable and the gist of it follows: “As to the progress during the past year in naval architecture and marine engineering, more particularly the lat- ter, it is interesting to note that the number of commercial sea-going ves- sels provided with Diesel and other oil engines for motive power has in- creased somewhat so that now there are one hundred or more, the largest installation being one of 4,000 horse- power with six cylinders on each of two shafts. A much greater develop- ment has taken place in the method of propulsion by the system of geared turbines, combining the efficiencies of the high speed turbines with that of the comparatively moderate revolu- tions of the best propeller wheels. According to the latest report, the number of war, passenger and cargo vessels now built or building with all-geared or part-geared turbine ma- chinery is 126 with a total of about 1,000,000 horsepower. Sixty-two of these vessels with a total of 620,000 horsepower have been ordered dur- ing the last year. The horsepower being transmitted through one line of shafting by means of gearing, is now up to 20,000. The electrical propul- sion of vessels, strictly an American idea, is progressing and the installa- tion of same in a battleship is con- templated as will be noted from one of the interesting papers presented at this meeting. The First Submarine “During the past four months the submarine, the aeroplane, hydroplane and dirigible air ship have proved their importance in time of war. Its is: about) 30 years «since .J.-P. Holland designed his first submarine which was constructed by the De Lamater Iron Works, of this city, at the foot of West Thirteenth street. It was cigar-shaped, about 75 feet -long and 12 feet diameter in the cen- ter, a mere cockle-shell compared to the submarine of this day which the wonderful improvements in motive power have made possible. I well re- member seeing this submarine sub- merged alongside of the wharf, buf held by the slings of a derrick to make sure it would come to the sur- face when required. “The submarine of the present day is quite a different vessel. There are now under construction large subma- rines capable of steaming 20 knots on the surface, developing 5,000 horsepower with a combination of boilers with oil fuel and _ turbine- geared machinery. The two-cycle Diesel engine is also still used for surface running while the storage bat- tery remains the driving power while submerged. The new submarines will encompass a radius of from three to four thousand miles on the surface and from one hundred and twenty to one hundred and fifty miles while submerged. “The submarine has proven its ef- ficiency for a certain phase of war- fare but that it has removed the use of the battleship entirely from the field remains to be seen. Possibly the ‘effect of the submarine may change the construction of battle- ships and a reduction in the size of the units. “There has been lately published by Captain Baldwin, a well known American aviator,. an interesting ar- ticle written before but proven cor- rect since the commencement of the war in Europe, clearly showing the great advance abroad in the art of navigating the air, an advance so much beyond that of the United States that one wonders if we are not losing our reputation for fore- sight, enterprise and ingenuity. This is more remarkable when we remem- ber that the aeroplane was developed and made really successful in this country by two Americans, the Wright brothers, who have not re- ceived the same recognition here that they have in England and France. “The loss of the steamship Titanic, supposedly the finest vessel of the time, in April, 1912, on her first voy- age to New York aroused the mari-