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First Turbine Geared Tug Underway at Manitowoc About the middle of February the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Corp., Mani- towoc, Wis., was employing around 550 men in the shipyard. The most recently completed job was the steel carferry Crry or Mn- WAUKEE for the Grand Trunk rail- road. The general features of this vessel were given in the January is- sue of MARINE Revirw. She is the third carferry designed and built at this yard for the same owner within the past four years. With the other three boats of the company she is now operating on regular runs from Milwaukee across Lake Michigan and back. A contract was recently received from the Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co. for a large steam turbine driven tug. This tug will be unusually up to date in every respect. The dimen- sions are, 115 feet in length, 26 feet in beam, and 15 feet in depth. The power will be a Westinghouse geared turbine, the first of its kind on the Great Lakes and said to be the first geared turbine drive for a tugboat anywhere in the world. This unit will give 1000 shaft horsepower and 100 per cent astern power. The gears are to be enclosed in a welded steel case. Steam at 325 pounds per square inch, 200 degrees Fahr. will be gen- erated in a Babcock & Wilcox water- tube boiler supplied with that com- pany’s burners and _ superheaters. Other Westinghouse machinery equipment for this tug will consist of a welded steel condenser, exhaust trunk, oil cooler and feed water heater, also the blower and circulat- ing pump, which will both be of the propeller type. In addition there is -under con- struction one 500 yard dump scow for Edward E. Gillen Co., Milwau- kee; one scow for the United States Engineers office, Chicago; and two channel deck scows, 130 feet long by 39 feet 9 inches in beam by 9 feet 9 inches in depth, for the Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co., Chicago. Maiden Voyage of Liner Set Three Weeks Ahead The new 42,500-ton liner EMPRESS OF BriTAIN will sail from Southamp- ton May 29 on her maiden voyage to Quebec, according to an announce- ment made Feb. 7 by the Canadian Pacific Steamship line. This date is three weeks earlier than was original- ly planned and is made possible by a Speeding-up in the work of complet- ing the liner. Under the new schedule the Empress or Britain when she ar- rives in Quebec will make the west- bound crossing in less than five day’s time. Making a quick turnabout she will leave Quebec for her first east- bound voyage on June 6. With a carrying capacity of only 1153 passengers, the EMPRESS OF BrRI- TAIN was built specially for de luxe travel, and will be the largest ship yet built to carry such a limited num- ber of passengers, the whole idea be- ing to provide spacious apartments, public rooms and promenade area for the convenience of the ship’s patrons. The liner’s public rooms have been de- signed by some of England’s most famous artists. Discuss Proposal for New Lake Coast Guard Cutter Plans for the construction of a new coast guard cutter which is to be sta- tioned on Lake Michigan were dis- cussed in Cleveland Jan. 30 by rep- resentatives of the coast guard, Lake Carriers Association, and Great Lakes shipbuilding companies. A sum of $650,000 has been appropriated by con- gress for the construction of this craft and tentative plans have been made. These plans were submitted to shipping men on the lakes in order to get their opinion of the proper type. The general opinion was that the cutter should be from 150 to 170 feet long, from 34 to 36 feet beam, with a maximum draft of 14 feet, and have a speed of 15% miles per hour. The division of the coast guard was represented by Capt. J. J. Walton, senior machinery constructor; Com- mander F. A. Hunnewell, in charge of construction; H. F. Johnson, machin- ery constructor; and HE. M. Kent, junior constructor. The Lake Car- riers association was represented by L. C. Sabin and George A. Marr. N. H. Herriman represented the American Bureau of Shipping. ee An Air View of the World’s Largest Ship, Building in the Yard of John Brown & Co. Contract Awarded for Two New Ford Cargo Ships Contract for the construction of two 300-foot cargo ships has been awarded by the Ford Motor Co. to the Great Lakes Engineering Works, River Rouge, Mich. These vessels, which will be the largest of their type ever built for operation between the Great Lakes and salt water, will be the first ot their type to be powered with turbine propelling equipment. They were designed by Henry Gielow Ine., naval architects of New York City, and will be delivered June 1 and June 15, respectively. Each vessel will be powered with a pair of 800-horsepower geared tur- bines deriving steam from oil burning boilers at 400-pounds per square inch working pressure. The turbines, turn- ing at the rate of 7200 revolutions per minute, will deliver power through reduction gearing to twin screws at 250 revoiutions per minute. The vesseis will have a speed of 14 miles per nour and will have cargo space for 2000 tons of boxed freight. Each vessel will have a beam of 43 feet, a molded depth of 20 feet and a Graft of 10 feet. _No wood is to be used in the construction and all the deck superstructure will be collapsi- ble so that the masts and stack may be dropped to the deck and the pilot house dropped into a well to afford adequate clearance when passing un- der bridges. These ships will have one deck running full-length. The propulsion and operating machinery will be located in the after end; quarters for a crew of 17 will be lo- cated immediately forward. Both vessels wiil be operated entirely by telemotor from the pilot house in the bow. Steering will be by electrically controlled double rudders. Cargo will be handled through nine hatches. Ltd., Clydebank, Scotland, for the Cunard Line. The Giant Liner will Be 1018 Feet Long With a Displacement of 73,000 Tons. In Background, Empress of Britain MARINE REVIEW—March, 1931 35