The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

328 and from $60,000,000 to $154,000,000 for the other. Table XII gives a comparison of the value of exports and imports carried under the flags of the different na- tions for May and for the 11 months ending with May. The American ship building industry provides for three distinct kinds of navigation—ocean navigation, naviga- tion on the Great’ Lakes, and on our extensive river systems. The unusual increase of American steel merchant ship building at the present time is wholly in the building of ocean- cargo steamships. Of the 385 steel ves- sels, of 1,225,784 gross tons, building or ordered in American ship yards. on July 1, 1916, 195 vessels, aggregating 1,037,103 gross tons, are ocean mer- chant steamships of 1,000 gross tons or over. While this output is about half that of British yards in times of peace, it exceeds the amount of similar merchant ship building in Germany at the date of the greatest activity of the industry in the his- tory of that empire, on Dec. 31, 1913. The bureau of navigation has prepared the comparison, shown in Table XI, of the number and gross tonnage of ocean steel merchant steamships of 1,000 gross tons or over building or ordered in American yards on July 1, 1916, and in German yards on Dec. » 31, 1913, the date of maximum activity for the two countries in this form of industry. American Cargo Boats and Tankers Only eight of the American steam- ships, aggregating 52,328 gross tons, are for passengers and cargo, the largest being the Matson line steamer Waxikl, 501 feet long, twin screws, turbine engines and 10,000 horsepower, of 9,728 gross tons, for the Hawaiian and possibly the transpacific trade. Two 8,000-ton passenger and cargo steamships of 17 knots speed are building for the Atlantic, Gulf & West Indies Co., one coastwise passenger ship of 6,000 tons, 14 knots, for the Mallory Line, two 5,800-ton steam- ships, 13 knots, for W. R. Grace & Co. for trade to the west coast of North and South America, and two coastwise steamers, 4,500 tons each, 12% knots, for the Savannah Line. The remaining tonnage is almost evenly divided between 72 steamers, of 496,138 gross tons, building es- pecially to carry oil in bulk, and 115 steamers of 488,637 gross tons, building to carry cargo generally. The use of oil as fuel for some: years past has been growing rapidly both on sea and land. The newest types of American battleships are oil burners and many British warships use this fuel. Doubt as to whether the ad- THE MARINE REVIEW vantages of oil as fuel on warships might not be more than offset by the added risk of explosion and fire in battle seem to have been dispelled by the results of the naval battle of Jutland in which British warships using oil fuel were engaged. The use of oil as fuel on American merchant steamers, especially on the Pacific, is increasing, and in replacing mer- chant shipping destroyed by the war both the belligerent and the neutral nations will undoubtedly use oil-burn- ing machinery extensively. That half Table XII. American Exports and Imports EXPORTS (000 OMITTED). 11 mos. end. —May— May, 1915-21916; 1915. 1916. American vessels $30,114 $49,879 $256,259 $429,311 Foreign vessels: MSTRIAN: ee ince ase pt WAVE te garter: Belgian 526 4,227 13,229 29,232 British 140,119 225,179 1,252,115 1,894,304 Danistit ee vaca (POA Peay eee 57,806 Dutch 13,013 13,206 99,434 103,868 French 16,874 19,696 117,987 160,734 Genmanc isaioter lesen s ie gloh Py ree eae Italian 6,787. 14,701 67,208 130,003 Japanese 3,704 19,197 30,807 118,238 Norw’g’n 13,822 32,887 144,780 218,594 Spanish® = o...0° BAT oceania 49,555 All other 19,181 28,366 194,537 188,645 To. fr’n 214,030 367,642 1,940,895 2,950,982 ~ *Not stated separately prior to Jan. 1, 1916. 5 1 IMPORTS (000 OMITTED). 11 mos, end. —May— May, 1915. 1916. 1915. 1916. American vessels $30,140 $47,602 $251,344 $387,320 Foreign vessels: PAIS URUATN oC iakie woe oo she pccals 3,023 5 Relgian 5 236 6,307 2,834 British 54,214 80,779 628,730 752,548 Manish 26 esc. c 6,926 sae.e. 455,813 Dutch 9,723. 14,334 “115,830 93,554 French 5,271. 7,533. 63,012 80,289 German sciatic ere 31,062 340 Italian 4,127. 3,779 45,621 42,023 Japanese 7,732 19,405 60,418 154,326 Norw’g’n 13,581 18,548 101,400 126,871 Smantshes cries IVAN Bete Soan 12,856 Allother 6,080 8,460 75,312 73,470 To. Pr’n 100,755 161,753 1,130,782 1,384,935 *Not stated separately prior to Jan. 1, 1916. of the tonnage of ocean cargo steam- ers building in the United States is made up of “tankers” is thus an evi- dence of judgment in anticipating the lines of development of American trade as a purveyor of modern fuel and incidentally a provision for one of the greatest future needs of the navy. The American merchant fleet already includes 102 tank steamers of 459,656 gross tons. If the tankers now build- ing in the United States sail under the American flag, in its oil-carrying fleet, the United States will rank first, Brit- ish tank tonnage numbering 208 steamers of 875,909 gross tons, the September, 1916 next nation being the Netherlands with 87,080 gross tons. The ships for general cargo building in the United States are adapted in size, power and construction to carry bulk cargoes to any part of the world. In short, the steel ocean steamers now building in the United States are adapted not only to present conditions but also when completed, to conditions likely to ob- tain after the close of the European war. German Tourist and Emigrant Ships In Germany, 21 steamships, of 385,- 000 gross tons, nearly half of the German tonnage building at the begin- ning of 1914, were passenger steam- ships, including the following Ham- burg-American and North German Lloyd liners for the American tourist and northern European and Russian emigrant trades: BisMaRcK, TUIRPITZ, VATERLAND, ZEPPELIN, BurcHARD, HIn- DENBURG and CotumBus. ‘These seven ships of from 18 to 24 knots speed, aggregating 236,200 tons, were build- ing also as naval auxiliaries and commerce destroyers, but, so far as completed, remain in port. The totals include also the Hamburg South American liner and commerce de- stroyer Cap TRAFALGAR, sunk in battle by the Cunarder CarmMania, and her sister ship Cap Potonto, launched in March, 1914, and reported still build- ing. Smaller passenger ships were three for the German East Africa line (19,400 tons) and five for the Olden- burg line to Portugal (10,600 tons). The cargo steamers building num- bered 83, of 425,000 gross tons, of which six, aggregating 40,000 tons, were to be put in the Australian trade in 1914 by the North German Lloyd, and seven, of 8,000 tons each, in trade with East Asia, Japan and Kaiochow. The Deutsch-Australia Line was building seven of 36,500 tons in all, the Hansa Line, for trade with British India and South Amer- ica, 14, of 92,500 gross tons, and the Kosmos Line seven, of 50,000 gross tons. Seven oil tank steamers, aggre- gating 45,600 tons, were building for trade with America and Roumania. Excepting small cargo boats, the re- mainder of the cargo steamers were building for the Hamburg-American company. Except VATERLAND, CAP TRAFALGAR and cargo steamers, com- pleted before August, 1914, ships build- ing or ordered in. Germany on Dec. 31, 1913, as shown by the German- ischer Lloyd, Hamburg-American and North German Lloyd reports for 1913- 14 were yet building in Germany on June 30, 1916, according to the Copen- hagen cabled interview of that date with Herr Ballin, general manager of the Hamburg-American Co.