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Marine Review November 1931 — « EDITORIAL » Position of Diesel Power in American Vessels S IN former years in this issue of MARINE REVIEW an attempt has been / \ made to present in a practical manner the position of the diesel engine in marine propulsion in the United States. The plan of presentation continues the same, which is to il- lustrate by actual installations just what the trend and progress has been in the marine ap- plication of this type of power. Though the United States now stands sec- ond to Great Britain and Ireland in shipbuild- ing under way, it has been found in the search for practical installations that only one Ameri- can diesel engine builder has built and in- stalled in any vessel what might be termed a large powered diesel engine, and the largest engine which this company built and installed for marine use is only 2800 brake horsepower. In other words, the largest American marine diesel engine installation accomplished or projected is under 3000 horsepower. Few Orders Placed for Larger Engines OTHING else that can be said here can be as significant of the true status of the diesel engine in the American merchant ma- rine in the larger powers. A number of im- portant vessels have been completed and others have been under construction in American shipyards during the past year, but in every instance, with the comparatively insignificant exception noted above and any similar vessel by the same company, these new vessels that are now being added to the merchant marine are propelled by the use of steam power; in- _ yariably turbines, either reduction geared or electric motor drive. of than oil for making steam on these ships. In this respect, therefore, in the United States we are following diametrically the opposite course to that recommended by the managing director of the well-known Danish diesel en- No other fuel is thought gine building company in his paper before the Institution of Naval Architects in March of this year. He said: ‘“‘At the present stage of the ma- rine diesel engine it is adaptable for all types of ships from a 35-horsepower engine such as is used in fishing craft to a 20,000-horsepower plant as installed in the motorship BRITAN- Nic,” and finally, ‘‘that the diesel engine should be adopted when burning oil and the steam engine when burning coal.’’ . The picture is entirely different when it comes to the application of diesel engines from 1000 horsepower down. In this range the United States is not only keeping pace with, but is probably ahead of European practice. The variety of applications are well illustrated by the 10 different marine installations in the lesser powers given in the following pages. The installation shown in each case it must be remembered is the choice of the diesel engine builder represented as one of his best. Use of the internal combustion engine in world merchant tonnage on a large scale is noted in the quarterly review of Lloyd’s Reg- ister of Shipping. Of the 505,258 gross tons of tankers building in the world as of Sept. 30, no less than 474,978 tons are fitted with this type of power. This represents 94 per cent in tonnage of all tankers now building. . Many Smaller Units are Installed HE review also shows that a greater ton- nage of vessels equipped with diesel pro- pelling power is now being built than of all other types combined. The proportion in mo- torships under construction at the end of the quarter Sept. 30, is 50.7 of all construction which is an increase of three per cent above the end of the second quarter. On Sept. 30, there were under construction in the world 776,431 gross tons of motorships and 754,689 vessels with other types of power. The pro- portion of motorships in the total shipbuilding of Great Britain and Ireland moved up fror 38 per cent at the end of the June quarter to 40 per cent at the end of September. In all the other countries combined the percentage in motorships moved up to 55 per cent of all 20 MARINE REVIEw—November, 1931