A MODERN WHALER

Hokitika Guardian, 24 October 1925, Page 4

A MODERN WHALER

It is many years since a whaling ship has hceii seen in Lyttelton, says last Monday's Christchurch “Press,” hut one which arrived at Ihe port yesterday morning is entirely ditlcrcni from anything in the whaling line ever seen 1 here previously 'file arrival was the •''ii' -Limes C lark Ros-, named after lie’ discoverer of the Ross Sea. whither Hie vessel is hound in her annual wlialehunt ing expedil inn. I in- vessel leli her home port ol Sandefjnrd on August J.YtHi for Norfolk. Virgina. The weather across the Atlantic was moderate, with strung westerly winds. At Norfolk, where she arrived mi .September 2nd, BoOj tons of bunker coal were taken in. and the ship sailed again on the nth. At Colon the whaler remained four days, while the ship's surgeon, who was Hrk, was in hospital. Leaving; Colon on September Lstli the vessel had an uneventful voyage to Lyl tel I on. Captain O. Nilsen is in command of the Sir James Clark Ross, Dr. Rish-i-vd is Dm surgeon, and the radio operators are Messrs L. Jensen, and E. Wrasfergaard.

A THllf-iTY SHIP. The Sir James (.'lurk Russ fill loti at I.yiLelton !o take in Jib! i lons ol' fresh water, :i i t u;i> l l iI v which will lax the Lyttelton waterworks to some extent, kilt which will he the menus nf addin./ a substantial amoiiiit to the bnmmrh receipts. As soon as the ship her! 1 '"! four hoses were connected from the high pressure mains on the Gladstone Pier. It is hoped incomplete watering this afternoon when the vessel will sail for Stewart island. She expects in leave the base there about Sunday next, for tin* Ross Sea. where she will work until the end of February. The whaler is a vessel of B‘_’lM lons gross, and was formerly a canto steamer. In addition to tile huge tanks on deck and other er|tiipment for dealing with, the whales, a most noticeable feature is iiie wooden shield built around the vessel’s bows as a protection against the ice. This sheathing extends from a few feet, above the water line to l.j feet below it and consists uf thick planks of Urban greenheart 1

timber, loosely held in an iron frame. I so that when it is damaged by the he, new pieces can he Inserted. j .MODEItN WIIAI.TNH METHODS. j With the advent of huge steamers | like tile Sir James Clarklf Boss in the j trade, most of the rumnnre litis gone from winding. The hn-iness now is just scientific whale-hunting and i slaughter oil a large scale. The Vessel itself does not actually chase j whales. That is done by hall' a dozen whale-chasers, small steamers of ah mt j | 11,I 1 , i i ms. xvhuh have been in winter j quarters down tii Stewart Island, while the Sir .Inines Clark' Rms t , k last year's catch home to Norway. .As the whales are killed, the chav-!--' lake them In tow until each has as much as it can pull, and they then j take i heir rate!) to the mother sVn. The latter vessel is r.-:!!Iv a huge In - i toi-y. equipped fur rendering do.', u the whale blubber, ihe whales sire ettr tip alongside tic- ship. and tin- huge strips of blubber ate hoisted on to the de •!; to the (-hoping machine which iinieklv | cuts them into smaller lumps. Theu'-e j the lumps are convoyed by elevator into i one of the ten open steam-heated I n!- I res u here it is melted down, and tiie j ml uni n|f into one of the many tanks in ilie demits of the -hip. Nothing i< wasted. The re-idue left in the tanks after each boiling is ...nvrxvd by another elevator to one of four smnli Boilers, xvliere it is again boiled and more oil extracted.

The carcase from which the hhiMv-r lias liccii stripped is then i ut in to =-•■< - linns. ;iml ihc sections hoisted a hoard. Here it is cut up further, a steam «aw being used to cut the Fine. and the whole i< luiled amiiu in digesters, under pressure. About ldO barrels of :il is the vield from a medium-sized whale. FACTO:;V AXI) sTOi!K. Besides being a hailing down factory. the motor ship is store ship for the fleet of chasers, and is fuliv equipped to meet fill emergencies. There is a hospital on hoard, with a surgeon in charge, and there are machine and repair shops. The crew

is composed of a dozen firemen and a liko number of deckhands, but the total number on board is 100. the remainder being made up of whale workers, denser.-., as (he blubber strippers are called. and boiling down hands. The vessel also carries a few new hands for some of the chasers.

The chasers this year number seven. Formerly there were five. bill ibis season two new and faster chasers were sent out to Stewart Island. It is predicted that the season will he a good one. The first season was poor, only 17.000 barrels lining secured. Last season was very successful, when .'12.000 barrels were iaken hack to Norway.

Strange as it may seem, much of the oil is used for goods of an edible nature. Margarine, and table oils arc made from it. Of course, that is after it has been refined at borne, when it becomes very clear and devoid of the fishv taste and smell. The coarser oil is used for soaps and lubricants. RATIO INSTALLATION. AVliat should interest radio enthusiasts. both professional and amateur, are the wireless sets used in the Sit .rallies Clark Loss. There are realL three or four sets. There is first ; Alareoni 3kw set. which can receive from any high power station in the world. This set has a normal sending range of 2000' miles, but when ii: the Ross flea last year, communication

was established with San Francisco, r distance of 70flft miles. This set can be transformed in a moment into telephone set. by the mere changing of a switch, and telephone message! can be transmitted up to 1800 miles. At that distance Awnriui was .spoken oil tile radio ’phone. This sel has a (i valve high frequency detector and a two valve low frequency amplifier. Al' the chasers are equipped with small sets, ami the mother ship is thus in constant- commiiiiieai ion with nil the fleet .

On this voyage, for the first time, the vessel carries a shon wave set. working oil 57 metres, for experimental purposes, and for eomniiinieation with amateurs. New Zealand amateurs will doubtless bear more of tliis set during the next few months. ltather a. novelty for ships in these waters, but- one wliieli lias been louud of immense -erviee in the Antarctic, is the direction sending and receiving set carried by the whaler. With this she can receive direction, and can also send direction to the chasers. In the far south there is considerable disturbance of the magnetic compass, but every hour the Sir .James Clark Ross (sends out direction waves to the chasers. On Saturday night, when off Ranks Peninsula, in a dense fog, the vessel received her bearings from the Wellington station, at a distance of 180 miles.