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The Importance of Welding in the Building of Ships LTHOUGH welding has been A making steady progress in the fabrication of ships dur- ing recent years, one feature, the foundations for machinery, for some unexplainable reason has been largely overlooked, according to engineers who discussed this subject at the an- nual meeting of the American Weld- ing society at New York recently. G. H. Moore, Jr., Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., Newport News, Va., presented a paper on weld- ed machinery foundations for ships which gave in considerable detail the results of experience and practice of his company. Foundations of the weld- ed type have many advantages, ac- cording to Mr. Moore. They effect a saving in weight, eliminate connect- ing angles and are usually less ex- pensive. James W. Owens, Welding Engineering & Research Corp., New York, said that the use of welded con- struction in foundations for auxiliary equipment on shipboard offered to de- signers the great advantage of not having to complete plans for such auxiliaries at the time the main fa- bricating contracts were made. Work on the main structure of the ship, he said, could continue to completion and the location of the auxiliaries could then be determined as it was easy to weld these in place at such points as might be determined. Often the design of auxiliary equipment is changed after the first plans have been com- pleted and with riveted construction this may mean considerable altera- tion. Others to discuss this paper were C. W. Bryan of the Federal Shipbuild- ing & Dry Dock Corp., Kearny, N. J.; L. C. Bibber, United States Navy, Washington; F. T. Llewellyn United States Steel Corp., New York; and Capt. Hermann Lottman, in charge of construction at the Wil- helmshaven navy yard, Germany. Capt. Lottman gave a description of the extensive welding in ship con- struction in Germany today. He said that at his yards they found welding construction reduced the cost of ships by about three per cent and that. it reduced the weight in some cases as much as 12 per cent. He said, “In Ger- many we will never go back to riveted construction.” At the navy yard at Wilhelmshaven 12 welded destroyers and three cruisers are nearing comple- tion and nearly 200 are welders and many gas welders are at work. Welded boilers for United States navy scout cruisers were described in a paper presented by J. C. Hodge Babcock & Wilcox Co., Barberton, O. 36 The fact that the navy has accepted specifications covering welded boilers is an outstanding development for heretofore the navy has been reluctant to give its stamp of approval on the welding of many less vital factors in connection with its ships. Credit for this acceptance, according to Mr. Hodge, must be given chiefly to the nature of the specifications and tests. The specifications were summarized in a table in the paper and covered thermo stress relieving tension test, bending test, a sharp impact test, a minimum specific gravity of welded metal of 7.80, a chemical analysis covering manganese, phosphorus, sul- phur, carbon and nitrogen (as iron nitride), macroscopic and microscopic examinations, a hydraulic test to twice the working pressure and an X-ray examination of joints. This last item is one of the important features and according to discussion of the paper it was probably this one item more than anything else which caused the navy department to permit welding construction. Twenty-four boilers were supplied and 23 passed the X-ray test. A defect was indicated in the twenty- fourth and it had to be rebuilt. C. W. Obert, Union Carbide & Car- bon Co., New York, who presided at the shipbuilding session said that the important and encouraging thing in the boiler construction for the scout cruisers was the fact that specifica-- tions have been so carefully worked out that the navy without hesitation has accepted them and put its stamp of approval on work produced in con- formity to them. Dr. Ancel St. John, St. John X-ray Service Corp., New York, in discussing the question of X- ray testing said that it was common practice to detect a defect. of 2 per cent of the thickness of the shell by this means. He said they found de- fects as small as 1/16 inch in 24% and even 3 inch plates. Mr. Owens said that the use of the X-ray or some other form of nondestructive test was undoubtedly invaluable at the present time in the construction and accept- ance of large heavy duty boilers. He said that the boiler code allows the use of higher stresses in the design of Joints that are X-rayed, and that this alone would go a long way toward paying the expense of examination. He spoke of the gamma ray and magnetic tests as worthy of consideration. Mr. Scott, bureau of engineering, United States Navy, asked for further details in the actual welding proce- dure on the boilers constructed for the cruisers and Mr. Obert replied that the boiler code committee had MARINE REVIEW—July, 1931 first tried to specify these details but found that this often conflicted with priority rights or with methods which were more or less secret, and that this first plan had been entirely abandoned in favor of one specifying results only. New Radiobeacon Chart A new radiobeacon. chart, showing at a glance the location of every ra- diobeacon on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, giving the sending period of each station and its distinguishing characteristic, has been prepared by the lighthouse service of the depart- ment of commerce, and is now ready for distribution. Such charts are in- tended for posting in the pilot houses of vessels using radiocompasses in navigation. Record of Europa and Bremen in Years of Operation The North German Lloyd express liner Europa completed her first year of service March 25. During this year she made 17 round voyages. On her maiden voyage she broke the west- bound transatlantic record by making the crossing in 4 days, 17 hours and 6 minutes at a speed of 27.91 knots. During the year’s operation the EUROPA maintained an average speed of 25 98 knots. During her first year of service the Europa carriéd 44,383 passengers and covered 127,000 miles on her 17 transatlartic round voyr2g°9s (n each trip to Europe she carried an average 1455 passengers and on the westbound voyage she carried an average of 1478 passengers. Of the total passengers car- ried during the year, 22,343 were car- ried westbound and 22,040 eastbound. The BREMEN on her maiden voyage in July 1929 established a new record of 4 days, 17 hours and 42 minutes. She bettered. her sailing in October 1929 when she crossed in 4 days, 17 hours and 24 minutes, at an average speed of 27.20 knots. This record was again lowered by the BREMEN when she made the passage from Cherbourg to Am- brose lightship in October 1930 in 4 days, 17 hours and 18 minutes. During the two years the BREMEN has been in ‘service, she has made 32 transatlantic round trips. In 1929 beginning July 27 the BReE- MEN made seven trips eastbound, car- rying a total of 11,354 passengers. West- bound during 1929 beginning July 22 she made seven trips, totaling 13,606 passengers. In 1930 she made 17 east- bound trips and carried a total of 23,- 608 passengers. Westbound for this year she made 18 trips carrying 26,- 151 passengers. In 1931 eastbound up to May 13, the Bremen made eight trips carrying 8064 passengers. During this year up to May 10, she has made seven westbound trips and has carried 5209 passengers.