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

94 MARINE Diesel Engines Are Used (Continued from Page 13) In the first classification involving powers of from 3000 to 20,000 and in an exceptional case like the LEVIATHAN up to 60,000 horsepower no application of the diesel engine has been made. Use of the diesel engine in ships of this classifi- cation is making rapid headway abroad particu- larly in Great Britain, Italy and Sweden. Though a few important installations of diesels have been made in privately owned ocean cargo vessels such as the EAST INDIAN, CUBORE, CHAL- LENGER, SEEKONK, SUPHENCO, ASHBY and JACK- SONVILLE, the most ambitious program along this line is the conversion now underway of 12 ships by the shipping board. Private initiative has been more marked in the case of ocean tankers. Diesel engines have been used for at least two vessels and in a number of conversions. Among these are the twin-screw tanker GULFCREST, and one now building, the converted MILLER COUNTY, BIDWELL, Lio, J. W. VAN DYKE and LOS ALAMOS. No Diesels in Coastwise Ships No coastwise passenger and cargo vessel of which a number have recently been constructed has been fitted with diesel engines. So far there has been no competitive incentive to do so. Once someone takes the initiative and demonstrates greater economy of operation others will undoubt- edly follow. On the Great Lakes where coal is compara- tively cheap and is carried very often one way as cargo the day of the diesel would seem to be remote. However, two 600-foot bulk carriers built two years ago are fitted with diesel engines. They have operated with great regularity and at a low fuel cost. First two and, after a thor- ough tryout for two years, two more special Welland canal size freighters fitted with diesel engines are now operating on the St. Lawrence and the Great Lakes. In this case there can be no question that careful observation of the operation of the first two convinced the owners of their economic superiority over steam driven vessels for this service. Two vessels with diesel- electric drive were built three years ago for op- eration from the Great Lakes through the barge canal to New York. In smaller vessels, listed in item seven above, diesel and diesel-electric power are rapidly re- placing steam. The excellence of a number of smaller engines and the fine engineering work carried on by the larger electrical companies have firmly established the economic superiority of these types of drive. Six diesel-electric ferry- boats are now under construction in one ship- yard, and within the last few days two com- REVIEW November, 1926 panies on the Pacific coast have ordered a total of seven diesel-electric ferries. The growing needs of our own domestic trade for transpor- tation by water cannot be overemphasized. Pres- ent equipment, much of it old and antiquated, must be replaced and additional units must be provided. Traffic on our inland rivers is growing rap- idly. The government is carrying out extensive programs of improvement. In the last seven years tonnage carried on the Ohio river increased 350 per cent. A. number of installations of diesel and diesel-electric drive have already been made. It is difficult to visualize the tremendous fleet of tugs and harbor craft needed for our many great seaports and inland waters. Within the © last two years the use of the diesel engine in boats of this class has increased rapidly and the results obtained have created confidence in its superiority over steam. The diesel-electric drive nas been installed in a number of tugs with ex- cellent results. One large railroad company with extensive floating equipment has thoroughly dem- onstrated the efficiency, flexibility and maneuver- ing ease of this type of drive. Two other rail- roads are now building tugs with diesel-electric drive. A number of privately owned tug boats at sea- ports and on the Great Lakes have been fitted with diesel direct drive with uniform success. So thoroughly have these installations been justified by experience in service that no new tug would be built today without giving serious considera- tion to the use of the diesel engine as power. Favor Diesels in Special Craft The service of a fireboat makes the use of the diesel engine particularly suitable. A recent example is the fireboat City oF HOUSTON. No fireboat would be designed today without a care- ful study of the possible use of diesel-electric power. Diesel and diesel-electric power for hydraulic dredges and sand suckers is firmly established. The advantages over steam are so definite that it is no longer a debatable question except on the possible basis of first cost. However the service rendered by boats of this class is gen- erally such that convenience and efficiency out- weigh any difference in cost. Though it may take many years to build up — a privately owned merchant marine on the high seas the American operator can depend with confidence on the genius and the skill of the shipyards and the engine builders of the coun- try to provide him with ships equal to the best Europe can turn out. If this is not so we can- not hope to regain our ocean carrying trade.