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With an all Build New Vessel to Aid in Study of Ocean Life stitution, newest of scientific or- ganizations for the study of oceanography, was made possible by a recent appropriation of the Rockefel- ler foundation for its organization. Its director is Dr. Henry B. Bigelow of Harvard ‘university, distinguished oceanographer and marine biologist, and curator of oceanography at the museum of comparative zoology. Ts Woods Hole Oceanographic in- Shortly after the organization of the institution, Dr. Bigelow retained Messrs. Owen and Minot, the Boston firm of consulting engineers and naval architects, to study the requirements for a vessel for oceanographic research and to prepare her design. In early July 1930 plans and specifications were completed and the contract for the vessel was placed with Burmeister and Wain of Copenhagen, Denmark—the great Danish shipbuilding and engi- . neering firm and one of the largest builders of diesel engines in the world. The ATLANTIS, designed primarily as a sailing ship for extended ocean voy- ages, is a steel auxiliary ketch with a Marconi rig and built to Lloyd’s high- est class and is probably the largest steel sailing vessel of its type and rig ever constructed. The vessel is 142 feet 6 inches long, 28 foot beam and 16 foot draft with a depth of 22 feet and a displacement of about 410 tons. inboard sail spread of about 7000 square feet and a propelling engine of 260 brake horsepower, a hull designed particularly. for strength, seaworthiness and steadiness at sea, this vessel is specifically planned to perform her duties in ocean conditions. Quarters are provided for a master, two mates, three engineers, cook and mess boy, eight hands, a chief scientist and . four assistants and a num- ber of scientific students. An above deck and below deck laboratory afford facilities for scientific work, and a wheelhouse Provides shelter for the helmsman and officer of the watch. In order to tow delicate nets and _ other scientific gear at extremely low and steady speeds, the main engine is connected to an adjustable blade pro- Peller, which allows the Most accurate speed ad- justment while the engine Auxiliary turns at constant revolu- hagen, tions. The engine, which is the Bur- meister & Wain’s two cycle direct scavenging mechanical injection type, also actuates a 60 kilowatt direct current generator of Westing- house manufacture through a clutch and silent chain drive, and so fur- nishes power for the principal tool for scientific work on board. This is a single drum electric winch de- veloped by the designers and the Lidgerwood Mfg. Co., to carry 30,000 feet of % inch flexible wire for work in ocean depths. This winch is con- trolled from a station amidships on the starboard side of the vessel, where the winch man has in view a spring type dynamometer which re- cords the tension on the warp and a sheave which records the amount of warp overboard. The winch is fitted with a slipping friction which re- leases at any desired tension and an automatic reversing switch which re- verses the motor when a critical load is encountered. The wire warp is led overboard at the main rigging by a boom fitted with special shock absorb- ing devices. In addition to the main trawling winch a smaller electric winch of special design is fitted on the quarter deck for hydrographic work, as are sounding machines and other scienti- fic appliances for ocean work. The sea trials of the Atlantis i i i in, Copen- Atlantis Built by Burmeister & Wain, ( a Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution MARINE REvIEw—October, 1931 were held in the sound between Den- mark and Sweden June 18. Over an official measured course the vessel attained a speed of 9.8 knots under power alone with full equipment and some fifty guests on board and on a displacement of 412 tons. The fuel consumption at full power on the main engine alone was .383 pounds per brake horsepower per hour and for all purposes .445 pounds per brake horsepower per hour. Limited Liability Is Denied In Vestris Disaster Owners of the ill-fated liner Vesrrts, which sank Nov. 12, 1928 with the loss of 110 lives, were denied a lim- ited liability of $90,000 in a ruling made in Federal court on Sept. 17. Judge Henry Goddard held that 600 claimants were within their rights in bringing suits for sums aggregating $5,000,000. The owners of the line, the Liverpool, Brazil & River Platte Navigation Co., Ltd. and Lamport & Holt, Ltd., sought to have their lia- bility limited to $90,000, the value of the cargo sunk with the vessel. - The litigation against the Vxrsrris owners is of a peculiar status since most of it will be tried in American courts, yet the law under which it is tried is British law. The court held that the British statutory provision which provides that the plimsoll, or waterline mark, must remain above water when fully loaded, did not ap- ply when the Vesrris left New York, following inspection here, for Buenos Aires, Nov. 10, 1928. The plimsoll mark could not be seen when the boat cleared, New York witnesses said. Judge Goddard ruled against scat- tered claimants who filed ' belated suits against the owners and operators of the boat, holding that such claims, many of which were filed 12 months after the catastrophe, were barred by the provisions of the so- called Lord Campbell’s act in British Admiralty. It is under this act that actions brought to trial here must be administered, he _ said. Although he refused to lim- it liability, Judge Goddard found it unnecessary to pass upon the allegations of the steamship corporations that a storm had wrecked the vessel and that they therefore were not respons- - ible for the sinking of the vessel and the resultant loss of life. Lord Campbell’s act, he said, provided the nec- essary jurisdiction. He ruled that the American limita- tion act could not apply. 31