Marine Tattle

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 61, 3 June 1927, Page 2

Marine Tattle

DECEMBER SHIPPING LOSSES. —Maritime casualties recorded during the month of December, 1926, concerning all flags. are as follow; Steamers—ll American, 14 British, 3 Danish, 6 German, 1 Greek, 2 Japanese, 3 Norwegian, 1 Spanish, 4 Swedish. 1 Jugo-Slav, total 49; motor and sailing vessels fitted with auxiliary motors—4 American, 4 British, 1 Colombian, 3 Danish, 1 Esthonian, 1 French, 1 German, 1 Latvian, 4 Norwegian, total 20; sailing vessels—3 American, 16 British. 2 Danish, 1 Esthonian, 1 Finnish, 4 French, 2 Italian, 1 Latvian, 3 Portuguese 3 Swedish, total 36.

STATENDAM TO BE COMPLETED.—It -is now definitely announced that the Statendam is to be completed, states “The Shipping World.” She was launched by Messrs. Harland and Wolff, Ltd., two and ahalf years ago. The contract for the completion of the vessel has been awarded by the owners, the HollandAmerica Line, to Messrs. Wilton’s, of Rotterdam. The Statendam has a gross tonnage of 28,125, with a length of 697 ft, a breadth of 81ft, and a depth of 56ft 6in. She is also the largest vessel launched from a British shipyard since the war.

NEWCASTLE'S FLOATING DOCK —lt is again reported from Australia that a 15,000-ton floating dock is to be built at the Walsh Island Dockyard, Newcastle (N.S.W.), for the Government of *New South Wales, at a cost of £400,000, to which the Federal Government will contribute £135,000, states “The Syren and Shipping.” The construction of the dock, it is added, will extend over three years. It will be capable of taking the new Commonwealth cruisers, and of being towed to any Australian port, if necessary, in time of war.

SUBMARINE CONSIDERATIONS There is a popular misconception that submarines are cheap to build and cheap to maintain, but there are a good many considerations which are familiar to naval officers, although the general public know little of the matter, states the “Shipping World.” In the first place, a submarine costs per ton from two to three times as much as any other type of man-of-war; in the second place, as the Germans discovered, the cost of making good the mechanical defects in submarines is far higher than in the case of any other vessel; in the third place, submarines are not habitable for any con - siderable period, with the result that spare crews have to be maintained and a vast depot ship organisation has to be maintained wherever it is expected to employ them; in the fourth place, the technique of managing submarines is far more exacting than in the case of *ny other type of man-of-war owing to their delicate mechanism; and, in the fifth place, the loss of life in submarines is far higher than in other vessels of war.

SPEED OF SAILING SHIPS.—A discussion has been raised in “The Blue Peter” as to the highest authentically recorded speed attained by a sailing ship. An instance is given of the Boston clipper, Sovereign of the Seas, having logged 19 knots. The record was doubted by an old sailing ship captain, who asserted that no sailingship could exceed 15 or 16 knots. In reply to this an article on the Lightning is referred to. The captain of the Lightning claimed to have run 430 knots in 235 hours. A few old sailors in Australia will still remember that famous clipper the Lightning. The Lightning Rock at Port Phillip Heads was named after her as she hit it going out on a homeward voyage and knocked the pinnacle off the top of it. The pinnacle of the rock pierced a hole in the ship’s bottom, but remained stuck in the hole throughout the voyage to England, captain, crew and passengers being blissfully ignorant of their danger. If the piece of rock had dropped out the ship must have foundered. Eventually she caught fire in Geelong Harbour and was completely destroyed. Among the passengers whom the Lightning brought to Australia was Mr. W. T. Appleton, who was then a child, and is now chairman of directors of Huddart, Parker and Co., Ltd.