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eae ae PEE SOOM OSE : Fi i February, 1919 fortable, and we want their families, as well as themselves, to believe that sea- going is an alluring and desirable occu- pation. “The United States shipping board is rearranging the plan of accommodations on its ships. It plans to give the sea- men two-berth rooms.. We are _ pro- viding a room where they can change their oilskins, wet clothing and boots when coming off watch. We are also making other improvements for their comfort and convenience, such as a smoking or recreation room for the men when they are off watch. We are pro- viding mess accommodations for the officers apart from the men, in order to avoid the familiarity which, of course, must be banished if good tratning and respect for authority is to be assured.” At the right, the Gulfmaid, an eastern built tanker. This type of vessel has proved of immense value in war service. Vessel be- low is the Poitiers, a lake-built ocean freighter. Craft of this type have made a splendid war record. They have proved to be well adapted for Baltic trade. ‘ These plans may be somewhat utopian, but they are certain to prove expensive. Aside from the cost of maintaining such accommodations and paying the higher wages which seamen are today demand- ing, the space in the new merchant ships which will be occupied with quarters for the crew will be much greater. A ship’s space must not be lightly considered. All of it is valuable and economy of operation demands that it all be used to its limit. These ideas of comfort and safety, however, are in part responsible for the shift in the construction plans. These things may not be had if ship- building is to continue under the high pressure that has been the order during the past summer. Seamen will not be recruited if the vessels built prove un- seaworthy. High wages, good food and luxurious accommodations will not entice men to take to the sea in poor ships. The efficiency of wooden ships is questioned today much more generally than a year ago. This is undoubtedly due to the fact that some of these vessels have proved unseaworthy. Aside from the utility of such ships during the emergency, it must be acknowledged that they are not the most economical vessel that can be built for the Amer- ican merchant marine. A total of 51 yards were building wooden ships on Nov. 1, 1917. This number had been increased. to 130 by Sept. 1, 1918. Of these, 78 were build- ing cargo-carrying wood ships, four were building cargo-carrying composite vessels, 28 were devoted to the building of barges, and 20 to tugs. “The first authorization for the con- struction of ocean-going tugs,” the ship- ping board announced, “was made early in the spring of 1918, and some of these will be delivered for service on or be- fore Jan. 1. Authorization for harbor tugs and additional ocean-going tugs was made in July. Contracts for these tugs have been let and construction is now beginning to proceed.” HE merchant marine when _in- creased to the size planned, will require a great number of tugs and barges. The supply of these small craft is comparatively limited and dur- ing 1919, the wooden shipyards as well as the other shipbuilding capacity of the country which is .not adapted to the building of large steel ships may with great profit be diverted to the con- struction of vessels of this type. Fur- thermore the wood shipyards, where it THE MARINE REVIEW 67 is shown that there is an_ efficient organization in existence, may turm their attention to the building of wooden ships, of designs which experience has proved to be economical and efficient. The shipping board has made but a belated acknowledgement of some of the weaknesses of the standard wooden ships that were built on account of the government. In a preliminary re- ‘port te congress only recently, it said: “The wood ship division has recog- nized that more attention should be given to the ships of larger size, and after careful investigation decided to recommend that efforts be concentrated upon the construction of a 5000-ton flush-deck wood ship which would be as strong as the 3500-ton type now being built and which could be produced at a . saving of ap- proximately $20. per ton. The soundness of wood ships has been demonstrat- ed in operation, for all of the troubles which have developed. have been due to secondary causes such as. green lumber seams which were not suff- ciently calked, and in certain cases lack of rudder power. This has been borne out in reports received from masters of ships: now in operation.” ; The speed in production which was: maintained during the past year has tended to force to sea many vessels which will develop inherent weaknesses. The keavy storms of the Atlantic this winter will show up these weaknesses, soon cnough and from this experience the Emergency Fleet corporation should! profit. Criticism may not be aimed at the wooden ships alone. Some of the standardized and the fabricated ships: have shown weakness as well. Any vessel, thrown together hurriedly, no matter whether made of steel or of wood, will be faulty. When turbines are hurriedly installed on these ships, reduction gear troubles are likely to develop. In other cases crank shafts.