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Naval Strate Society of Naval Avchiiects and Marine Engineers Performs Important Service for Preparedness — Many ITH every ship yard in the W United States rushed to the limit of its capacity, the American. merchant marine is rapidly forging to the front. Behind the ‘merchant marine, protecting it in the performance of its duty, stands the navy, and it is now generally recog- nized that the navy and the merchant marine are mutually dependent. In view of this close relationship, it is only natural that a large proportion of the discussion at the twenty-fourth annual meeting of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engi- neers, which was held in New York City, Nov. 16 and 17, should have centered around naval problems. Out of 17 papers presented at the four half-day -sessions, seven dealt spe- cifically with naval subjects and two others were based on the researches of naval officers. This group of papers forms an ex- ceptionally valuable contribution to the literature of naval preparedness. The authors were wise enough to cut loose from the relatively narrow confines of naval architecture and ma- rine engineering and strike out into the more broadly interesting ques- tions of military strategy and naval policy. Among the papers in the lat- ter category the following were par- ticularly interesting: “Military and Technical Considerations of Battle- ship Design,” by: R. D. Gatewood, naval constructor, U. S. N.; “On the Suitability of Current Designs of Submarines to the Needs of the Unit- ed “States Navy,” by: Capt.. W.. L. Rodgers, U. S. N., and “Naval Sta- tions and Naval Bases,’ by Capt. A. Pe Niblack, U;S..N: In: addition, a number of interesting papers dealing with problems relating to the mer- chant marine were presented. In this group were included papers on ‘‘Feath- ering Paddle Wheels,” “Alquist Gear- ing for Ship Propulsion,’ “Electric Pumping Equipment for Tankers,” “The Design of an Oil Engine,” ete. Membership is Growing The report of the secretary-treas- urer, Daniel H. Cox, showed that the society had 808 members of all grades on Nov. 1, 1916. There were four deaths and 14 resignations during the year ending Oct. 31, 1916. The financial statement presented by the secretary-treasurer showed that the society is in a flourishing condition. The receipts for the year ending Oct. 31, 1916, were $15,404.08 and the bal- ance on hand Nov. 1 was $1,340.79. The statement of assets and liabilities shows that the society now has total resources of over $31,000, including $20,000 invested in well seasoned bonds. The annual address of the retiring president, Stevenson Taylor, presi- dent, American Bureau of Shipping, is published in full elsewhere in this issue. This address constitutes a masterly review of the shipping situa- tion at the present time, including a forecast of future conditions which in- dicates that there will be a shortage of 6,500,000 tons of ships on the high seas at the end of 1918. On account of the growing impor- tance of the relations between the merchant service and the govern- ment, a resolution was introduced by T. M. Cornbrooks, chief engineer, Maryland Steel Co., Sparrows Point, Md., directing the council of the society to appoint_a permanent com- mittee to represent the organization in negotiations with the~ government. This resolution was passed unani- mously. . RT. Hall; rear: admiral; U.S, -N; presented the first paper at the Thurs- day morning session, Nov. 16. Rear Admiral Hall described a new device for indicating the density of smoke installed on the U. S. S. ConynuHAmM. The apparatus includes a light trans- mitter installed on one side of the stack, a light receiver installed on the opposite side, and an indicating meter with suitable control appliances installed in the ‘boiler room. A de- vice of this sort is essential to the proper maneuvering of a _ destroyer, since it is occasionally necessary for vessels of this class to throw out dense volumes of smoke to screen the operation of ships of the line. Following Rear Admiral Hall, Naval Constructor J. A. Furer presented an exhaustive paper describing ‘the “Sal- vage Equipment Used in Raising Sub- marine F-4’, This vessel, it will be recalled, sank in 304 feet of water outside of Honolulu harbor on March 25, 1915. The work of bringing the wrecked vessel safely to shore was divided into two parts. The initial salvage operations involved sweeping four-wire hawsers under the vessel, two forward and two aft. The ends of these hawsers were brought up Papers Read through mud-pocket openings in two large scows, and were attached to specially constructed windlasses mount- ed. over the pockets. Two windlasses were installed on each scow, one for each hawser.. By winding up the hawsers on these windlasses the vessel was lifted in the loops of the four slings. In this manner the hulk was raised and towed from its original position to a point where the water was only 50 feet: in depth. To com- plete the operation, four cylindrical pontoons, 32 feet long and 11 feet in diameter, were made. These pontoons were filled with water and sunk beside the submarine. After being properly connected to the wrecked hull they were unwatered, giving a combined lifting capacity of 420 tons. This was 160 tons in excess of the estimated weight of the submarine. In this man- ner the operation was successfully completed. Design of an Oil Engine John F. Wentworth, naval archi- tect, navy yard, Boston, Mass., read a paper entitled “The Design of an Oil. Engine”. This paper contains some interesting theories regarding the adaptability of low _.compression to diesel engine design. The paper will be published in a_ subsequent issue of The Marine Review. “Areonautics in Relation to Naval Architecture” was the title of a paper presented by H. C. Richardson, naval constructor, United. States navy. F. G. Coburn, naval constructor, navy yard, Boston, Mass., read a paper on “The Power Forging of Chain Cables”. This subject was covered thoroughly by: Mr. Coburn in an article pub- lished in ‘tthe March, 1916, ‘issue of The Marine Review. E. A. Stevens Jr., assistant superintendent, Tietjen & Lang Dry Dock Co., Hoboken, N. J., read a paper entitled “Descrip- tion and Trials of the Turbine Steam Yacht Winchester”. “Theory of Fluid ‘Friction’ and- “Notes From the Model Basin” were the titles of ‘two papers. presented respectively by William Gatewood, naval architect, Newport News Ship Building & Dry Dock Co., and Wil- liam McEntee, naval constructor, - United States navy. These papers concluded the sessions on Thursday, Nov. 16. Mr. Gatewood’s paper was discussed by W. L. R. Emmet, Gen- eral Electric Co., Schenectady. Mr.