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likewise. The need for such a tank is outstanding and all of those who are informed as to the situation are agreed as to its importance to the merchant marine, both oceangoing and inland waterways, as well as to the navy. The navy department has selected a site and has completed plans and specifications for construction of the tank and its attendant buildings and facilities. (Two illustrations accom- pany the address—editor’s note). There are to be four model test- ing basins—one 1600 feet long for sea plane models and friction tests, one deep water basin and one shal- low water basin for ship model tests, and one basin for steering and rud- der tests; also a shop building for the fabrication of models and test- ing equipment, a laboratory building for testing materials and ship’s struc- tures and for making propeller tests, an office building for personnel, drafting rooms, and photographic lab- oratory, a building for the two wind tunnels and the power plant build- ing. It is to be noted that this is a na- tional project as it involves all ship- ping and aeronautic interests. Also, it is to a large degree a self-liquidat- ing project, as all tests, ete., for in- dividuals or private companies are done at cost for the individual or company. Everything is ready to proceed and there is lacking only the allotment or authorization of neces- sary funds. I know of no single project that would do more to pro- mote the art and science of ship- building, which is the prime object of this society, than the construc- tion of such an up-to-date model tank. + + + Technical Papers Presented WELVE papers were. presented during the two days’ meeting of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, Nov. 15 and 16. These papers and all of the discus- sions will be published in full in Vol. 42 of the transactions of the society which should be ready for distribu- ton sometime prior to June, 1935. Titles of the papers, names of the authors and brief abstracts follow: + + + 1 Robert Fulton’s Original Draw- » ings, by Frederick D. Herbert, member. The author in his foreword to this paper said in part: A valuable set of Robert Fulton’s patent drawings was recently discov- ered in London when the offices of The Engineer were being moved to a new location. These drawings were brought by the writer to this coun- try as a gift from The Engineer to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. After cleaning and mounting, they were shown to sev- eral members of our society and, be- cause of their great historical value, it is deemed wise to place them in the form of a permanent record in the transactions of our _ society; therefore, the most important sixteen of the set of twenty drawings are re- produced in this paper. The orig- inals are tinted drawings 30 inches by 20 inches. In a letter announcing the discov- ery of the drawings and offering them to the American Society of Me- chanical Engineers, Loughman St. L. Pendred, editor of The Engineer, stated that he had submitted the drawings to H. W. Dickinson, keep- er of the Science Museum, South Kensington, and honorary secretary of the Newcomen Society for the Study of Engineering and Technol- ogy. Mr. Dickinson at once advised him that the collection was a wonderfully and wholly unexpected find. The drawings are in fact duplicates of those made by Fulton on his patent specifications. Then followed an interesting mem- crandum prepared by Mr. Dickinson, who is the author of Robert Fulton, Engineer and Artist, published in London in 1912. + + + 9 Ship Structural Design, by » Edward F. Spanner, member. This paper concerns three groups of suggestions in connection with the construction of ships aiming at (1) modification of certain of the main structural features of ships in a man- ner likely to prove of advantage against collision risks, (2) rear- rangement of the shell and double- bottom structure in a manner likely to render vessels more thoroughly protected against underwater dam- age, and also more easily construct- ea by electric welding, and (3) im- provement in operation of the pump- ing power available in a _ ship in emergency. These three main headings are generally related to the construc- tional safety of ships at sea. They merit consideration at one and the same time, since the ideas and prin- ciples involved are intertwined so closely that it is only by taking a comprehensive survey of the ‘whole series that a proper estimate can be reached in regard to the value of the several individual proposals offered for comment. Briefly, the first group of sugges- tions contains proposals for: (a) The re-design of the bow structure of all future vessels in a manner which will eliminate the pos- sibility of the bow of a ramming ves- sel cutting deeply into the side of another ship into which she may run. (b) The re-design of beam-frame connections along lines which will ensure that, in future, there shall be no weakness in the link between beam and frame such as frequently permits of collapse of the side and MARINE REVIEw—December, 1934 deck plating under the shock of col- lision. (c) The re-design of bulkhead stiffening members and connections and the adoption of principles of con- tinuity in bulkhead stiffening which should safeguard bulkheads against overstraining in emergency flooding conditions. The second group proposes: (a) A novel arrangement of bal- last and fuel and or feed tanks which will have the effect of benefiting the ships treated by so disposing these tanks that they will be much more effective than hitherto in providing safeguards against certain important types of risk, without detracting from the general efficiency essential to fluid storage and pumping sys- tems in modern tonnage. (b) The production of a type of ship construction which shall be bet- ter adapted to the extended use of electric welding than is the normal double-bottomed ship. (c) The arrangement of longitu- dinal stiffening in single-skin ships and ships which virtually become single skin ships when designed in accordance with some of the fore- going proposals, in such a manner that there will be greater flexibility in the shell plating and a greater chance of shocks and overload stress- es being absorbed without fracture of the shell plating. The third group of proposals deals with: (a) Methods of improving present conditions by improving bilge-pump- ing systems. : (b) The provision of facilities by means of which the whole of the pumping power can be rallied to as- sist in dealing with inflow of water following serious damage, The author is an English naval architect. He suggests that advance in ship design and construction can never be general until a periodical survey is made in order to determine how far new proposals can be made to serve practical ends. ¢ ¢ ¢ The Efficient Length for a 3 » Given Form and Speed, by L A. Baier, B.S., member: In this paper the author, who is assistant professor of naval architec- ture and marine engineering at the University of Michigan, has under- taken to determine the efficient length for given form and speed. He points out that considerable at- tention is given in the modern text on ship form resistance to the neces- sity of choosing the operating speed of a vessel such that this speed will be located in the hollow rather than on the hump of the resistance curve. In conclusion the author states in part: It appears from the above analysis that for a given form and a required speed there is a definite length (displacement and sail area), which will drive easier than a short- 11