OIL-ENGINED SHIPS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1662, 31 January 1913, Page 5

OIL-ENGINED SHIPS.

. BRITISH. COMPANY FORMED. By Telegraph—Proas' A6 r sopiation-oopyrlp;lit ..-. - •':'■.;> .', '■':.. !■London,' January,29., A British company,- with a capital of .£1,000,000, privately'subscribed, has : beeh formed to exploit. oil-eiigiued ; merchant vessels.' /■ ■ ?y,. "<,,' •'■''' ' • ■ ■' ' : ; [■''' '■ .Contracts.fpr ; 'several\ 6000-ton vessels have heen placed.with the firms of Swan, Hunter, 'vai'd-..Wigham-Eichnrdson; and Armstrong',Whitwbrth,; and Co. , The engines ft be used will be of British desigri. -•>';.,':• "i\ ' '■•' '■ ' . : .;/

The *chiei point' in v. connection with motor liners is that during a very 6mall nuniberof years ■'remarkable strides have been made in tlie construction of large enginesj with'the. successful increaso in size, econotoy still appears paramount, and economy/ is very. much needed in view |of' ; the Vgreati competition between shipping compan'ics.'lFive years ago (says tho "Daily. MailH the largest internal combustion, running was' of only 450 horse-power (; now ; the horse-power is •beginning to;run into several thousands. .Considering tho supremacy of Great Britain in matters maritime, it is a little astonishing that, the ..'great ■'• bulk '. of the pioneer work in connection with oil-driven ships is, being, done on the Continent, One instance', of British [industry-in this respect is aship recently built on the Clyde, o? 5000 tons, 3000 hoTse-powor, but from the information that-is available it would appear that to one oil-ship of any 6ize built in' Great Britain, there are many being constructed abroad—chiefly on the Continent. A! 14,000-ton liner is under construction in aGerman. shipbuilding yard;,,- •;;,••■'.■ '■•"'.,•■.'•■■..»' ■, \ ■ : The Diesel.engines for these ocean-going liners \ nto, of course,* of relatively low horse-power. As an instance of, what is being done huthe. way of; the far moro powerful engines above hinted at, such as would,be-suitable fdr battleships or fast passenger vessels, it may be stated that a six-cylinder, engine has, been designed at Nuremberg of something like 12,000 horsepower, and when built, it is proposed to mstalit in a German battleship. A successful; engine' on these lines has been' already, constructed of moderately largo horse-power for ,a Hamburg-Amcrican liner. Several engineers of the German Navy, are already studying the constructhese engines atone of the', prin-: , .Continentar mariho engineering!