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NAVAL ARCHITECTS Hold Forty-Second A\nnual Meeting tige of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers was evident in the unusually large attendance and lively interest of mem- bers and visitors at the forty-second annual meeting held in New York on Nov. 15 and 16. The president of the society, Rear Admiral George H. Rock, CC, U.S.N. (retired), presid- ed. Admiral Rock was elected pres- ident at last year’s meeting for a term of three years, beginning Jan. 1, 1934. Papers presented at the technical sessions, which opened at 9:30 a. m., Nov. 15 and continued throughout two days, brought out many valuable discussions with much additional in- formation, Foreign recognition of the high standing of the society was again indicated this year by an ex- cellent contribution on Ship Struc- tural Design, by the British naval architect, E. F. Spanner. At the morning session on Nov. 15 the annual address was present- ed by Admiral Rock. Address by Admiral Rock THANK you again for the great honor you have conferred upon me by election to the position which has been filled in the past by men out- standing in the profession—names nearly as well known and fully as much respected abroad as at home. It is a great regret that three of our ex-presidents who have contributed so much to the formation, growth and success of our society are pre- vented by illness from attending our meetings. Our thoughts and our af- fections are always for them as are our sympathies for them and their families, more particularly during our annual meeting when we feel the loss of the stimulation and support of their presence. Tis growing influence and pres- Report of Secretary-Treasurer From the report of our secretary- treasurer, you know the gratifying condition of the finances of the so- ciety. The membership shows a de- crease from the preceding year, but not more than is accounted for by conditions which have been cumula- tive over several years. Our mem- bership necessarily reflects the gen- eral condition of the shipbuilding in- dustry and it is only reasonable to expect that the recent and prospec- tive increase in shipbuilding employ- ment will be followed by an increase in our membership. Technical Progress During the year the construction of two superliners has been resumed abroad. These vessels, the British QUEEN Mary and the French Nor- MANDIE, are reported to be in the neighborhood of 75,000 gross tons and over 1000 feet long and will be the largest vessels constructed for the North Atlantic service. It is reported recently that a num- ber of cargo ships of 500 feet in length and about 16 knots, service speed are under construction for British companies engaged in the transport of refrigerated cargo. In Japan, due to the stimulus of government subsidy for the replace- Rear Admiral G. H. Rock (Ret.) President, Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers ment of obsolete vessels by new high speed cargo vessels, 39 cargo ships of about 18 knots speed and 277,000 gross tons have been built since the beginning of 1929. While these ves- sels have been built primarily to en- gage in the silk trade, they would also be valuable auxiliaries to the Japanese navy in a time of emer- gency. As shown by the amount of mer- chant tonnage under construction in the different countries for the quar- ter ended July 1, 1934, United States stands ninth. We are far behind in the new tonnage we should have to hold our position in foreign trade in competition with the more moder. vessels of other nations. During the year two cargo vessels were delivered by the Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., for the A. H. Bull Steamship Co. These ves- MARINE REVIEw—December, 1934 sels, the ANGELINA and the MANUELA, are the first cargo vessels designea for general use in overseas trade which have been delivered from American shipyards since 1922. Re- ports of their performance are very favorable. During the year the much herald- ed new type of British cargo ship of arcform design made its initial visit to the United States. The appear- ance of this vessel in New York har- bor aroused considerable interest among our members. The press re- ports indicate that the owners con- sider the performance satisfactory, and our members will watch with much interest the results of contin- ued operation of this type of vessel. Use of welding in ship construc- tior has continued to increase at a normal rate. In the United States a diesel oil tanker 260 feet long, 40 feet beam, and 14 feet depth, of all welded design, was launched on Aug. 3 at the Staten Island plant of Unit- ed Dry Docks Ine. This vessel is the largest American built merchant ves- sel of all welded construction to date. In recent years there has been a gradual but continual increase in the percentage of ships using oil for fuel instead of coal. While ten years ago the total tonnage of vessels of 100 gross tons and over which used oil was 28 per cent as compared with 72 per cent for coal burners. Re- cent records show that coal has fallen to 55 per cent and oil has risen to about 45 per cent of the total. Shipbuilding Employment Due primarily to the United States naval program of 1933 under which contracts for 37 naval vessels were placed with private shipyards and navy yards, it is gratifying to report that shipbuilding employment with- in our shipyards and navy yards is on the increase, although it is re- gretted that the private shipyards on the West coast and on the Great Lakes are not included in this state- ment. Reports of the National Coun- cil of American Shipbuilders show that while the private shipyard em- ployment on July 1, 1933 in those yards engaged in building of sea-go- ing vessels, was 10,400, by July 1, 1934, it had increased to 23,100. In August and September of this year, orders were placed for 24 additional naval vessels. There is, therefore, every assurance that employment on naval construction will continue to increase during the next year. To help stabilize conditions, it is hoped that the discrepancy now existing in 2