HIGH MASTS

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 160, 29 February 1932, Page 2

HIGH MASTS

JAPANESE BARQUENTINE BERTHS IN SYDNEY HARBOUR. [I SYDNEY, Friday. || Shohld the Japanese barquentine Shintoku Maru have been in urgent n need of docking when she entered Syd- || ney, she would have been unfortunate, ' for her masts are too high to pass II under the Harbour Bridge! With a height of I99ft 3in frcm i'i the heel to the top of the rnain-rnast, || the Shintoku Maru, fully loaded, ar.cl at dead low tide, would foul the bridge II by several inches. At flood tide, and [ in light ti-im, her masts would be [ 11ft 8in higher than the roadway. At | flood tide, the bridge roadway is 172ft ; 6in from the water-line. The Shintoku Maru is one oi the I most perfectly equipped training sh'ps : that has entered the port. She is | fitted with a Sperrv Gyro compass, ■ which keeps the ship cn a true course without a man at the whcel; an eeho I depth indicatcr, which automatically j registers the depth of water beneath tho ship whenever required; wireless , direction finder, and many other aids | to navigation. The inStruction of the cadets is in ' the hands of Mr. K. Tamura, wliose duty it is to train them in seamansh'p, navigation, stowage, and all instruments, each one of nvhich is a life study in itself.