Marine Tattle

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 262, 26 January 1928, Page 2

Marine Tattle

RECENT LAUNCHING.—From the yards of Sir W. G. Armstrong, Whitworth and Company, Newcastle-on-Tyne, the motor vessel Belpamela, 340 feet in length overall, 325 feet between perpendiculars, by 49 feet in breadth moulded, by 23 feet 6 inches in depth moulded to upper deck, to carry about 4,325 tons deadweight on a draft of 13 feet 9 inches, was launched on November 9. The owners are the A/S Rederiet Belmoira, Oslo, She is specially designed for the carriage of locomotives. From the yards of the Ayrshire Dockyard Company, Irvine, the steamer Baron Cochrane, 340 feet in length, by 48 feet 6 inches in breadth, by 25 feet 3 inches in depth, about 3,400 tons gross and to carry about 5,800 tons deadweight, was also launched on November 9. The owners are Messrs. H. Hogarth and Sons, Glasgow. _ PATENT LlFEßOATS.— Represents.- | tives of the State and Commonwealth i Navigation Departments, and of many shipping companies, gathered at Careening Cove, Neutral Bay, in December, to watch a demonstration of a patent lifeboat, the invention of Mr. F. A. Hammer. It is claimed that not only is the boat unsinkable, but that when filled with water it empties itself without assistance from the people in it. The boat was deliberately capsized. It righted itself with apparent ease, and the crew scrambled back while the water that had been shipped rushed through two patent valves in the bottom. It Is on these valves that the success of the boat depends. The bottom of the boat is fitted with water-tight decking, pierced by the valves, which, apparently, allow' the water to escape, while preventing it from rushing up through the bottom. FUEL OIL BUNKERING.—At the Mercantile Wharf, Bullmba, Brisbane, on December 7, 36,000 gallons of fuel oil were pumped into the tanks or! the Commonwealth lighthouse steamer Cape York, from the i hulk storage reservoirs recenUy erected by the 'Britich Imperial Oil Company, Ltd., at Newstcad. This is the «first occasion that a vessel has bunkered with fuel oil in Queensland. The Commonwealth Lighthouse Department recently had the steamer Cape York, from the bulk storage reservoirs ing vessel, and it is stated that similar work will be carried out on the steamer Cape Leeuwin. _ Imperial Oil Company, Ltd., has just completed the erection of bulk Installation at Newstead, and work has been commenced on a T-shaped wharf on the company’s property. The structure should be completed by the next year. A channel is being dredged to enable ships to approach the wharf. It Jk anticipated that dredging operations will be finished by March. It is now possible for any vessel burnmg fuel oil to receive supplies here, thus bringing Brisbane into line with other important ports in the world. The fact that fuel oil is stored in bulk at Newstead makes it possible for shipowners rates supplies at very much cheaper NEW C. AND D. MOTOR-SHIP.—The Commonwealth and Dominion Line has placed an order with Messrs. Swan, Hunter and Wigham Richardson, Ltd., tor two new ships. These will be almost similar in design to the recentlyPort Gisborne and Port Fremantle. Pi’ 1 ' 1 , of have made excellent time In their first trips. The Port Gisborne, tor instance, maintained a speed of 15.3 knots across the Pacific. Going round the Cape of Good Hope and sailing direct to Melbourne, they are able to beat the mail vessels—which, of course, call at a number of ports along the Suez route —by three days. A passage of 84 or 35 days from England to Melbourne is now recognised as a standard for these motor vessels. “if Interesting to note that the oldest vessel of the C. and D. fleet is the Port Hacking, previously known as the Mimiro. This ship was built in 1900, and on her latest trip out to Australia she made a better passage than she had e^ r TTI^ dc * Sh ® IS * at present returning to England, and the company may sell may be mentioned incidentallv that for the amount of money it costs to build, a ship like the Port Gisborne Fremantle four ships like the Fort Hacking could have been built in 1900 If the company does sell this last of the old ships, no unit of the fleet

\siU be more than 17 t 1 were built in 1910 - dates. * • th * rest v - ! The two new shins wm v - ' Port Fairy and the' PoJl ~ former name Is after Tv* which was owned bv the^u^ ll ' burn Line, one of the • which amalgamated to fonS D. Line. The other C j of the old shlpf w hi Pf m ; * uir*p' : name of Indialema. flrst bc£ £ Richardson have Sreaiy I keels of the Port Alma, and the former i. 7 .-V 4 the pt” ! tonst'with pros*, poser than the Port dishAr- '** hen. Fremantle. unp* The fact that both are to v Hoxford opposed system tv seems to indicate that tin; 1 '“Cis, well pleased w ith t “ . enpines in the other ship, "iP B . of w ill be remembered that’ in l^ <1 ~ type the explosion takes “carmiddle of the cylinder between*. r; tt. tons. One piston eoes up and,?”’ »»• down. It is maintained OL '" new type of cylinder the fjll oiL. 1 ” ti, explosion is brought Into use RnJi* ot is wasted against wi?, up-going piston is 1 nked to by f"'° arra ,, 3 leading downward'"*' l each side of the cylinder «5 In recent months the patent Hoxford have made a fmthwT** development. The up-min, made as not to make sneiTa * ‘ as the downward piston r™. *'•'tithe circle described by the^ c f C; which the up-going piston is at SSL ‘ smaller than that of the downw.sd?* 1 1 1 It is claimed that this innovJtLw* 1 f the efTect of doing deal of the vibration, and test, hf'*'works have already proved 'MiT » < important point in the the internal combustion eturin£r* at ..« '■ new vessels will be fitted with tin. *** design of Hoxford. “ “* ANGLO-EGYPTIAN SOLO—W. informed that Messrs V T Ttll. * ?1 and Arneli. London, have jiist .StT steamer Anglo-Egyption, built at land in 1912, about 9,090 tons a w 4 *’ fitted with quadruple engines at stated to be about £41,500, sav. «T. ney “Daily Commercial News - cl*. 8 ” owned by the Nitrate Product TV Company. Ltd. (Messrs. Lawther ifand Co., Ltd managers), of nas been sold to Finns. Theves**!’ E c a regular visitor to Australia. SHIPS’ FIGUREHEADS.— The strW utilitarian lines of the modem has caused the old graceful clirm--Tr and figurehead to be things of the tT’ and it is interesting to recall one cr of the more noteworthy ships in whir these works of art featured. ~ One of the last big British linen „ be given a figurehead was the Unw liner Scot, which has just been soldr Italian shipbreakera. The work in case was exceptionally fine, and .t hit been suggested in Southampton that th figurehead should be purchased and w* served in that town. The firurtb**has always had a wonderful senthn«ti : interest for the sailor, as is shown i> the case of the famous Royal G«on* when, retiring before the French, an oid seaman climbed-out forward over th* beakhead and nailed a sou'wester o\r King Georges’ face, that he might no* »- her disgrace. The last British fight*** ship to carry a figurehead was the nloo ; Odin, and when she was sc rappee »• Bombay there was quite a. rusk to at-cu* this relic, although naturally the B*nioofficer was successful. WITHIN WIRELESS RANGE— The folio-wing vessels are expeettd ta be within range of the underraent onwireless stations to-night:— Auckland.—Luceric, Rimutaka, Horonu Waiotapu, H.M.S. Diomede, H.MS Dunedin, Kanna, Waihemo, Palp--. Point, Hinemoa, Kaitangata, Rwu Aorangi, Middlesex, Kartigi. Chatham Islands. —Port Sydney, Ctebridge, Tamaroa. Wellington.—Maori. Wahine, TamahirArahura, Ngaio. Surrey. Niagara, M« milius, Manchester Merchant, Kaponga. Port Dunedin, Canadian Prc* pector. Paua, Gallic, Tairoa, Cumb' land, Karetu. * Awarua.—Sir J. C. Ross. C.A. Larwr Makura, Tahiti, Manuka. Kurow, Por. Caroline, Cydonia, Waikouaiti, Suroti PORT OF ONEHUNGA—ARRIVALS YESTERDAY ARATAPU (7.20 p.m.), 130 tons, Henderson, from Waitara. ARRIVAL TO-DAY KAITOA (8 a.m.), 319 tons, liftriis, from Nelson. The Ngapuhi sails from Onehunga a! four o’clock this afternoon for New Plymouth. She arrives back again at : o’clock on Saturday morning. The Hauturu is due from Raglan, Kswhia and Port Waikato at 4 o'clock tomorrow morning. She is scheduled to sail again at 3 o’clock the same afternoon for Hokianga. The Anchor steamer Kaitoa arrived »t Onehunga at 8 o’clock this morning free. Picton. At 3 o’clock to-morrow afternoon she is to be dispatched with cuye for Nelson and West Coast ports. CARGO FOR WAITARA.—Memo. Watkin and Wallis advise that the Ge«tad. McGonnell and Company steamer Aratapu. which arrived at Onehunga ha evening from Waitara, is to sail this etw* ing with cargo for the same port, ie* will make trips between the two port* as cargo comes forward.