Marine Tattle

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 201, 14 November 1927, Page 2

Marine Tattle

! R.N.R. DECORATION.—At the Canada ' Dock offices of the White Star Line Com- [ inodore A. C. Bartlett last month pre- : sented the Reserve decoration granted by ; the King for long and efficient service to Lieut.-Commander H. G. Lowe, who is at : present serving as second officer in the . , White Star liner Ceramic. Lieu.-Com- ■ mander Lowe during the war saw con- ! siderable service, mostly in cruisers, j being in the Hogue <North Sea), the Donegal (chasing the raider MoeweL and ’ the Suffolk. In the last-named vessel he ' : operated against the Bolsheviks in . | Siberia. PANAMA CANAL TRAFFIC.—Aecord- ! ! ing to official figures just published, 5,475 I vessels, paying 6,658,507 dollars in tolls, passed through the Panama Canal during ! the fiscal year ended June 30. Of this number 55 per cent, were westbound, but 1 over 35 per cent, were in ballast, whereas I of the eastbound ships less than 2 per cent, were without useful cargoes. Tanker j vessels represented the largest individual class of ship, no fewer than 1.324 vessels carrying 7.250.579 tons of oil and byproducts having paid tolls. The total ! quantity of cargo carried through the ! canal was 27,745,214 tons. I H.M.S. LONDON. —The cruiser London was launched at Portsmouth Dockyard on i September 14. the naming ceremony being performed by Lady Blades, wife of the Lord Mayor of London. The ship belongs to the 1925 programme of new naval construction. the four cruisers in which are the London, the Devonshire, the Shropshire and the Sussex. They are similar to the five ‘‘Kent” class cruisers in the 1924 programme, which are 630 ft. in extreme length and 6Sft. 4in. in breadth, and have a draught of 16ft. Jin. at 10,000 tons standard displacement. The armament includes eight Sin. and four 4in. anti-aircraft guns. MATSON LINE. —A new system of handling ship’s stores has been inaugurated by the Matson Line with the opening of its new five-storey accessories building on the Embarcadero, San Francisco. The new department, which will supply the needs of all the Matson ships, is complete to the smallest detail. Laundry work for all of the ships will be done on the ton floor of the building. The commissary includes fourteen huge refrigerators, with variable temperatures, a smokehouse for curing ham and bacon, and a bakery for making bread and desserts. One entire floor is devoted to groceries, carrying a stock valued at more than 100,000 dollars. THE AMERICAN LEGION. —The great pilgrimage of 20,000 ex-soldiers of the United States army who fought in France, was taken across the Atlantic in 20 liners, including the Cunarders Caronia, Caledonia, Antonia and Tuscania: the White Star liners Arabic and Celtic: the Canadian Pacific vessels Montroyal and Montnairn. and in the Leviathan. President Harding and Republic, of the United States Lines. By excellent organisation every legionary of the 20,000 crossed the Atlantic and returned home at the extraordinarily low inclusive fare of roughly £4O. For the first time in history the French Government granted nationals of a foreign Power the privilege of marching in an official procession through the Arch do Triomphe, where the French Unknown Soldier is buried. ELECTRIC - DRIVEN LINER. Announcement has been made by the International Mercantile Marine Company that the 22,000-ton passenger liner California, under construction at the yard of the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company for the Panama Pacific Line's service between New York and California ports, via the Panama Canal, is to be launched on October 1. The California and her sister ship will be electrically driven, and will rank as the largest passenger liners in existence with this type of drive. Their propelling machinery will be similar to that in successful operation on four of the largest battleships in the United States Navy. It is announced that the California will be ready for service on the Panama Canal route in January next, and the second ship in 1929. rv? r'rc m t'k & Hr rr m

GOLD FREIGHT FOR ARGENTINA.— The Blue Star liner Almeda, which left London on September 9 for South America, had on board for a large English and South American grain company 500,000 newly-minted sovereigns, weighing approximately 9,5501 b., • which are to be temporarily lodged in Buenos Ayres against the purchase of Argentine grain. The gold, which represents approximately two-thirds of the value of the Almeda, was collected in 100 boxes from the Bank of England in two motor vans, and conveyed to North Woolwich. Two detective inspectors accompanied each van as far as King George V. Dock. The boxes were placed in a special safe in one of the Almeda.’s holds, which was then sealed with the captain’s seal. YOUNG AUSTRALIA LEAGUE. —About three years ago a party of Australian boys arrived in England by the Australian Commonwealth liner Jervis Bay. These bovs travelled under the auspices of the Young Australia League, a Western Australian organisation, which is to some extent fathered by the Government of that State. An interesting sequel to the visit is the fact that the Young Australia League has made ararngements. through the migration department of Australia House, to find employment for 50 British boys between the ages of 15 and 17. These British boys, who have been specially selected and who are of a particularly fine type, will be met on arrival at Fremantle and settled on specially-selected farms at usual beginners’ wages and looked after by the league until they attain manhood, exactly as if they had been natives of Western Australia. The first section of the party sailed for Western Australia in the Australian Commonwealth liner Largs Bay on September 13 and the remainder of the party will leave England within the next few weeks. FUTURE SERVICES?—The question of the feasibility of some of the plans proposed by Americans for future transatlantic services is dealt with editorially in a recent number of “The Syren and Shipping’’:_ “From America., where all sorts of weird plans for building up a profitable mercantile marine are perpetually being hatched, comes an amusing story of an American syndicate which is. it is alleged, to construct a fleet of ten 20,000-ton liners with a speed of over 31 knots, built apparently on the lines of a naval aircraft-carrier. That in itseif is a sufficiently startling proposition to put before the shipowners of effete old Europe, but the Transatlantic genius does not stop there. The service is to be a daily one between Montauk Point and Plymouth and Havre, and so intense is to be the concentration on the time-saving feature that the elaborate provision for the accommodation and handling of the: airplanes, which it is anticipated passengers will desire to employ while yet far : distant from land, will leave no room for 1 such frivolities as palatial lounges and i other public apartments or for roomy cabins, much less suites de luxe. The i passengers, in fact, will be accommodated. J so we are told, in cabins no larger than the average railway sleeping compart- * inent, while so much space will be taken 1 up by the machinery that no cargo will i be carried, even if there were time to load or discharge it. It would be a pity 1 to damp the ardour of the enterprising 1 Americans responsible for this wonderful project, and therefore we will make n<> attempt to discuss the financial aspect. All we will say is that if there are anv sane individuals ready to And the neces'sary capital, it will not be long before they are realising the truth of the old -aymg anent fools and their money.’’ . Pl LFERAGE.— “The Shipping World,’’ in a note on the prevalence of pilferage, pillage was rampant at the Port of London a few years ago it , was found that sometimes, when a thief ; was convicted and sentenced to pav a fine, his mates at the clocks passed i lound the hat and the fine was paid bv general subscription. The magistrate I at the Thames police court effectually j stopped such proceeding by declaring hfs intention to pass sentence of imprisonment on every person found guilty of pilfering merchandise at the docks. Con- ! trast this attitude with the following case , reported from Sydney:—'A watchman. J while on duty at Sydney, discovered a ■ man apparently attempting to break into : one of the holds. He was fortunate in > being able to advice the chief officer, who obtained police assistance. As a result, • the door of a special cargo lock-up was found to have been forced and a man was caught in the act of forcing a case open. The man showed signs of violence, and was arrested by the police at the 1 point of a revolver. On being brought ; before the court, the jury found the man guilty, but the judge accepted the man’s own surety to be of good behaviour for I three years, and he was released.’ Is it i a.ny wonder that .pilferage of cargo <-onUnues to be at Australian ports2 ”. 1

in| o ß ou^emr R o? M JL PS ; L 0«. - I I troduced by t‘- e t*’ *>M B new service i . South a*■ B takes the form of an attxS2, riat ri? 1* i S a?. f d f I I j CHEAP I * te . an Y, rs formin S SeitafLjS Atlantic ports to .\~T uc ports, at the rate rf 2“ 8* ton dead-weight. The !IFiF/"Jha'v ,h £on> 1 ! which' d Anmr''c.7n I from th. G \ , rmru •» ,A * ar * obuZ* g the American * x. n,n R M,k. of vfw Y. I have u.ldrrtak. i to conttnu V >Urch **S ■ , the pi esent sei i ice for five h I Tb N e°,w^^ A^ hai rT U ' to F «- EET j i,rch x^h^ l cT h i o i ; ose. arrived at Bluff' » t t L h l fc *•-- 1 f eanesday. The vessels are vv ar 1 I respectively 1»> Captain 1 I Captain Stene. Both ships left s?*® *< ’I j the j.ejrney in k'l days'.' CB at Gibraltar. Port Said JdV, ' , r -‘'- Fremantle and Melbourne. V. 1 weather was met with on the vhnU 2? 1 nev until approaching N>w ZeabuLf 01 ' I was oppressively hot in the Red slfL i i two new chasers are rather ,a' I i the two they replace, havin—'a n ., V l4 * I nage of .S tons, are oil-hurnerC Jzt I a speed of 12 knots. The bd, StA 1 engines is 800. and they are fitted wireless telephones Cap tats StSL^T | not been to the Boss Sea previcwS? S’ ! he has a large whaling experWi' 1 I eluding 14 years in South ZethM - .2 iour years in South Africa. J each on the East and West PASSENGER FARE WAR.—The n. man nautical paper. Hansa, • at length the situation in thryZr’ Atlantic passenger trade and in lar the position of the German corrtJiT m the conference, reports ! The action of some members of I ference in reducing the fares for nL largest class of transatlantic 1 which was first started bv the 5 I pagnie Generale Transatlantic with p, $ lie de trance, is stated to be »iarnmr because the reductions go far bevondrv ? regular autumn reductions and I it seems probable that the United lines will lower their passage rsr so much that they will be less than tEH of all their competitors. Though outbreak of an official rate warij Jn denied and though only the largest li»S, are so far affected, there is thought tTs! the latent danger of the situation eettirmore serious. The only Germany (W pany, which owns one of the very in-* vessels, the North German Lloyd, fa* declared that it has no intention wha ever of reducing the fares on the bus. Thus the Germany companies Y far have not been affected bv the exir ing state of affairs, but if it Cievtfcm> which may well be possible as the ormsation of the conference must be fa. fluenced by the considerable number * new large ships, they cannot stand Under these circumstances it is thourht be probable that there must be sooq«or later a reorganisation of the Norik Atlantic passenger services, of which the present manoeuvring for position fa caiv the beginning. COURT CASE SETTLED.—Judge Tax. lor delivered his reserved judgment fa the Liverpool Court of Passage Imi month, in the action brought l.y th< owners of the Greek steamer ArtemfaaU against the White Star Line for dueages sustained by their vessel in thr St. Lawrence in October, 1924. report* “The Shipping Vtorld.” At the time of the occurrence the Artemissia was lyfat moored at the Victoria Pier, Montreal, and the White Star liner was passing up the river from Quebec to Montreal. It was alleged by the plaintiffs that their vessel sustained damage owing to tkc alleged negligent and improper navigation' of the Doric in passing ttj> the Sl Lawrence at such a high speed as cause the Artemissia to range heavily and part her moorings. For the defenc* it was denied that there had been an negligence on the part of those in charp of the Doric, and the contention was put forward that the Victoria Figr wai very exposed, and sufficiency of moorings and good attention to them wert necessary for vessels lying at the pitu. In delivering his judgment Judge Taylor said in regard to the navigation of th* Doric the assessor’s opinion coincSM with his own. He found that the Dork passed Victoria Pier on the usual ceum, and the speed was not excessive. The Whsh of the Doric caused the Artembsb to range, with resulting damage, but the cause of the damage was either that the equipment of the Artemissia waa not. in fact, of the character and condition alleged, or that the Artemissia was not properly and securely moored for her situation at Victoria Pier, or that tb* moorings had not been properly and diligently attended to. He therefore ga r * judgment for the defendants with cost*. A NAUTICAL HEIRLOOM.—In th* nineties of last century, there wa« launched on the coaly waters of the Tyne a vessel which has given birth to a new epoch in the art of navigation. She was not much to look a’externally; her dimensions were insignificant when compared with tho«e of some of the sea monsters then issuing from the Els wick, Wallsend or Jarrow shipyards. But when she put out t« sea and showed that she could atta;n a speed of 32.75 knots, it was a d» v of triumph for her distinguished inventor, Sir Charles Parsons. His faith J* the turbine system of ship propulsion had been justified, and the little Turbinia was acclaimed “the fastest ship in the world.” These events happened 30 years a£n. and the Turbinia is now an aged snip But it was unthinkable that a vesflf! with such a history should disappear as aged ships do, in the shipbreaker* yard. Some means must be found <« preserving her, if only for the encouragement of future inventors. Aaj so she passes—or at least one-half o her —to the South Kensington Sow* Museum, to be housed among notable exhibits of the inventive gem of the British race. Unfortunately the offer of tne directors of Messrs. Parsons Marine Turbine Company, Ltd., to present incomplete vessel to the museum cou not be taken advantage of, owan£ there not being sufficient space available in the building, and it was wi* some reluctance that the decision . arrived at to cut the vessel in two so enable the after-part, with the gines and propellers for a length o feet, to be placed in the muße^®U n , The directors of Messrs. Far - Steam Turbine Company, Ltd., are _ - the same time presenting to the Kensington Science Museum the • turbine engine—a single corapoun Z.£if»i bine engine of the radial . • was fitted to the Turbinia, and wa* drove one shaft; various arran^e t ._ T p ( } and pitches of propellers were 1 with this engine, but the results, co pared with the power registered d> transmission dynamometer, show » every case a very low propeller ciency; this original turbine, tner fore, was removed, and replay the existing machinery COl ? s * s *„*«■- three separate turbines, high« *. •_- mediate and low pressure, each drm * The construction of the rur 2lll was completed at Wallsend- on ' e in 1894, and during the two years many alterations and tnal . lllArS made. The following are of the Turbinia; Length, 100 feet.^ 9 feet; draught, 3 feet; displacement 44 h tons. t t be From the Turbinia ,n ~Rtrovturbine propelled torpedo boat a ' r ers in 1899, the Clyde pleasure s _. € i King Edward in 1901. 9 ro f?~ knd steamers in 1902, Atlantic other mercantile vessels in cruiser H.M.S. Amethyst in ’ battleship H.M.S. Dreadnought 1906 and the Atlantic liners Lusi^ o and Mauritania in 1907. a years, was surely conclusive ev , of the success of this mode w pulsion; the progress both in eco and capacity has been rapid* marine turbine having adv'an c ', output during 20 years’ * v< Turti®i» from thr 2,000 s.h.p. of the Turoi to the 150,000 s.h.p. of H.M-S. Franklin said the Ley land L ,n f- f(>r not sold. It would be developed the trade between Great Britain America, and would remain unae* 1.5120.