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Large Airplane Carrier Delivered to Navy The U. S. S. SARATOGA, one of the navy’s two mammoth airplane car- riers now under construction—the largest and fastest American naval vessels ever constructed—was taken over by the United States navy Nov. 16. Official commissioning took place on that day when Rear Admiral Latimer, commandant of the League Island navy yard, Philadelphia, re- ceived the vessel from its builders. The carrier will be completed in the Philadelphia navy yard, will undergo extensive trials covering some months and will probably go into service about the middle of 1928. The SARATOGA is a 33,000-ton ves- sel, originally designed as a_ battle cruiser under the 1916 naval program, but completely redesigned and con- verted to an airplane carrier as a result of the limitation of arms con- ference in 1921. She will be capable of developing a speed of 33 knots. A sister ship, the LEXINGTON, is now under construction at the Fore River plant of the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp., Quincy, Mass. The SARATOGA is 888 feet long. The flying -deck extends over the length of the ship, with no obstruc- tion except on one side where a mas- sive combined funnel enclosure houses masts, uptakes, turrets and _ super- structure. ‘The beam of the flying deck is 106 feet at its widest. She will carry more than 300 officers and men, and will have a complement of 88 planes including three squadrons of 18 fighting plans each, two squad- rons of 16 bombers, a squadron of 12 observation planes and one squadron of three utility planes. - The vessel is propelled by electric- ity, using a turbine generating plant and complete propulsion equipment and auxiliaries supplied by the Gen- eral Electric Co. Its power plant will have a maximum rating of 180,- 000 horsepower, and the propellers will be driven by eight 22,500-horse- power motors, two being connected to each propeller shaft. Steam for the turbines will be generated by 16 oil- fired boilers. To Launch Tanker The oil tanker ROBERT W. STEWART under construction at the Lorain, O. yard of the American Ship Building Co. will be launched at noon, Dec. 3. This vessel is similar to the tank- er RENOWN and will, when complet- ed cost about $1,000,000. She is 400 feet in length, 52 feet in beam, 25 feet deep and has a capacity of 40,- 000 barrels of oil. Her service will be the carrying of petroleum products on the Great Lakes for the Standard Oil Co. of Indiana, the owner. Mrs. Robert W. Stewart will be the spon- sor at the christening. Maine's Governor Speaks In an address before the Boston chamber of commerce early in No- vember, Governor Ralph O. Brewster said in part: “In construction and operating costs American shipping today must accept a handicap of 10 per cent. There is absolutely no warrant to ask the patriotism of American shippers to make up that lack, either through di- rect patronage of American merchant lines at higher costs or through im- position of the burden upon the rail- roads of the United States. No com- bination of railroads can make two and two equal five. The law has long permitted railroads to engage in the carrying trade overseas but James J. Hill years ago demonstrated its impracticability and paid a handsome price for the lesson. “There are not lacking powerful voices that seemingly do not desire government aid. They say, ‘Repeal the La Follette bill.’ Certain of its provisions may be prudently modified, but in its stamping of American ship- ping with an American character it is vital for the purpose for which alone the marine exists. Foreign per- sonnel would be useless in time of war and largely worthless in time of peace in the extension of our trade in the lands beyond the seas. ; “They say, ‘Sell the shipping to pri- vate interests and let the government get out of the way. No American ships can survive in the foreign trade except by mail subventions or by in- direct government aid in the price at which the boats are bought. Captain Dollar has made it abundantly clear that the lines cannot be replaced.” Fast Lakes Passage The S. S. LAKE GEORGE, one of the salt water ships of James Davidson, ship builder, Bay City, Mich., made the fastest run ever recorded from Duluth, Minn., to Montreal; passing through five lakes—Superior, Huron, St. Clair, Erie and Ontario—as well as the St. Lawrence river and about 50 locks, covering the entire distance in 7 days and 21 hours. She left Duluth loaded to full Welland canal draft with 65,200 bushels of grain at 11 a. m., Oct. 20, and arrived at Montreal 8 a. m., Oct. 28. This is a remarkably good run for her type. MARINE REVIEW—December, 1927 Keel for Sister Ship Laid at Newport News Word was received Nov. 17 by the International Mercantile Marine Co. that the keel of its second ship for the Panama Pacific line, a companion to the CALIFORNIA, the largest steam- ship yet built in an American yard, has been laid on the same ways at Newport News from which the lat- ter was launched Oct. 1. Fabrication of frames and plates for the new vessel has been going on for some months, and construc- tion of the hull is expected to prog- ress rapidly. ‘The vessel should be ready for launching in 13 months. It is probable that she will be named the VIRGINIA. She will be practically a counterpart of the CALIFORNIA, except of about 12 feet greater length, and will have the same form of propulsion, turbo-electric drive, with oil-fired boilers. Her twin driy- ing motors, which aré rated at 17,- 000 horsepower, are practically com- pleted at the General Electric Co. Schenectady, N. Y. The CALIFORNIA will be ready for delivery to her owner on Jan. 15, and is scheduled to sail from New York to the Pacific coast on her first voyage Jan. 28. It was stated Nov. 17 that all her first class passenger accommodation for this voyage al- ready has been sold or is under option, and that bookings are heavy for the tourist class accommodation. She will carry 751 passengers. The fireproof construction of ex- cursion boats is urged by D. N. Hoover, supervising inspecting general of the United States steamboat in- spection service in his annual report made public Nov. 26. “It is true,” Mr. Hoover states, “that pumps, fire extinguishers and _ well disciplined crews are now provided on these boats but the fact is obvious that the best protection would be super-structures built of fire proof material.” In the annual report of the United States Commissioner of Navigation A. J. Tyrer, attention is called to the desirability of legislation on the load line of American vessels. With a fleet in the foreign trade of around 1300 vessels of a tonnage of 6,290,000 the United States is now the only mari- time nation of importance which does not have a law on this subject. As it is now American ships loading in foreign ports are obliged to comply with the detailed requirements of these ports in the absence of similar regu- lations of our own. 43