THE BRITISH "M.L.'S."

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 5, 1 October 1917, Page 6

THE BRITISH "M.L.'S."

■ v • — «—- — OVERSEA V. UNTERSEE BOATS (By Gerald Biss, iju the "Daily Mail.") . Hertf is tho romance of the "M.L.'s" (uiotor launclies) jjuilt ou\ the other side oi' the Atluntio for patrolling ttie waters round the British Isles against th.e Hun U-boats, which has at last been given to the public on the other side owing to' the enterprises of the-"Motor Boat" of America. Many references to tUem have appeared, especially in America; but very little has actually been known either of the boats themselves, the uses to which they wejjc being put by our "Admiralty, or the remarkable accomplishment of their construction at the rate 'of more than a boat a day .by a comparatively small firm, financed by backors, when even American bankers looked askance at this the biggest undertaking in the history of boat-buiidim;. Bankers would not credit that a company. which, in time of peace,' built perI haps a dozen, yachts and twenty or thirty smaller craft, could tackle a: 22,000,000dollar. (M,400,000) contract and turn out so' many boats on\totally new lines in such a short time: but Mr. Sutphen. the vice-president of the Elco Company, of Bayonne, N.J.. and outside financiers were prepared to back their opinion.-Our Admiralty had awakened to the urgency of tho German submarine campaign and had sent a special commissioner to the States in February, 1915, who got into touch with -Mr. Sutphen and "cottoned on" to his idea of a "mosquito" fleet bie enough to patrol our coastal waters. The idea soon crystallised into a type, and early in April a contract for 50 of these "chasers" was signed for delivery in February, 1916. Then in May came the torpedoing of the Lusitania. which gave things such an impetus -that an order for more was that same month fixed/ip by . cable for delivery bv. November 15, 1916. which only allowed the Elco 501 workine days, Sundavs excluded. However,.Mr. Sutphen had realised from the beginning that the only possible way and the touchstone of success was scientific standardisation, such as' had in comparatively small machines made possible the 'immense outaut of the huge American-motor factories: but to prpduce a boat with twin sixcylincfer "Standard" motors, capable of making high speed in/aJJ weathers, and a carrying in ■ addition of 20,000 pounds of\supplies, guns, ammunition, and water, involved half a ] million separate and distinct parts. Each one of these pieces, large nnd small, had to be duplicated as many times as required and assembled, and any one. of those half million parts a fraction wrong would.have thrown out the whole series.

To meet market shortages white oak from Virginia and yellow pine from the couth had to be contracted for—four million feet of it in 42 feet-lengths, and as much ash, pine, and other"" wood for joinery woTk. Three million pounds of various metals nnd piping,- enormous quantities "of electric fittings. 150.000 gallons of paint, 611,050 feet of Manila rope, UtO.OflO feet of galvanised wire rope, i .IOOjOOO pounds of galvanised nails, 250.000 pounds of copper nails, 400.000 pounds of galvanised washers and rivgs, 1,000,000 iron bolts and nuts, 3,700,000 wood plugs —these represent a few of the figures involved in this colossal new feat of naval <;nsineering against time. , 'The crux of the ,whole job was tho \making of the templates, moulds, and patterns for the first or master boat. After that it was simply , duplication, with Perfection of accuracy, and the assembling at Montreal and Quebec. Then, when complete, by express across the thousand-mile stretch of rail from Quebec to Halifax, for thoir tests and subsequent shipment to- this country after they had been handed over to"tho British authorities. One hundred and thirty transports were required to take the "M.L>'s" across with all their spares and equipment; and every one of them got over safely. Two days after arrival they were in the water and ready for their j Admiralty tests. It was a colossal'masi terpiece of organisation effected by standardisation, and shows what unexpected things can be. done when' they have- to be done. / '