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

- Rudder of New Type Is Tested | : on LS . S (Converse HE United States navy in de- veloping the design and con- struction of vessels of all types for its own purposes has contributed much of direct value to the mer- chant marine. In line with this policy it has pioneered in experi- menting with devices which if proven suitable for its own use are entirely adaptable for merchant ships. It is therefore, not surprising that the navy department authorized the in- stallation of the Flettner rudder on a destroyer. After having demon- strated the practicability of this rud- der on a sub-chaser it was decided to install a full size rudder on _ the U. S. S. ConversE. This installation was made last April-and it has been in continuous operation ‘since. Through the courtesy of the secre- tary of the navy, at the request of the American Steamship Owners as- sociation, the CONVERSE was ordered to New York for purposes of dem- onstrating the practical operation of this rudder. On Oct. 7, a group of shipping men witnessed an actual demonstration on the destroyer in U. a Ss. CONVERSE IN DRYDOCK SHOWING INSTALLATION OF FLETTNER RUDDER 24 New York bay in the neighborhood of Ambrose lightship. The U. S. S. CONVERSE was in command of Lt. Commander Wells E. Goodhue, U. S. N. Lieut. Thomas F. O’Brien, C. C. U. S. N. who had been directly con- nected with the installation of the rudder explained its operation. For the purposes of the trial the commander of the CONVERSE put the vessel through the following evolu- tion: Rudder hard over, right and left at 15, 20 and 25 knots, speed respectively, slowing down to a speed of 1 knot to show the maneuvering ability of the rudder at this speed; backing up, going astern at 5 and 15 knots. From. reports’ received these maneuvers showed that the ship was always under perfect con- trol and that this new type of rud- der is more sensitive and quicker act- ing than the old style. At full speed the rudder was put hard over in five seconds and the turning circle of the ship was reduced about 35 per cent. The U. S. S. CONVERSE is the first American vessel equipped with the Flettner rudder. Abroad however, MARINE REVIEW—December, 1927 SECTIONAL VIEW OF FLETTNER RUDDER FITTED ON THE M. S. SORRENTO it has been successfully installed on practically every type of craft, mo- torboats, river barges, river towboats, (both paddle and screw propelled), freighters, liners up to °9000 tons, ferry steamers and naval vessels of various nations. The accompanying illustrations in- dicate the general principles of the rudder. It is in fact the steering of the main rudder by means of a small auxiliary rudder in the same way that the hull of the ship is steered by the usual rudder. The main rudder is perfectly free to swing about its turning axis and it will therefore, at any given moment, as- sume a neutral position with respect to the current if it were not con- trolled by the auxiliary rudder or the so-called Flettner finn, which is attached to the trailing edge of the main rudder. ‘This finn is small in area compared to the main rudder, is hinged to and may be swung into any desired angle with respect to the main rudder by means of the usual mechanism which transmits mo- tion from the wheel on the bridge to the rudder shaft. A rotable shaft inside the hollow main rudder stock, by means of yokes and rods enclosed in .the hollow stream line main rud- der, transmits the desired motion to the finn. The finn area being but:a (Continued on Page 54) css escapes ia