Marine Tattle

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 324, 9 April 1928, Page 2

Marine Tattle

LAST OF THE PALOONA. —The old Ptm - Port Chalmers to be dismantled, was built at Dundee in 1899. Her length is 327 ft. and gross tonnage 2.793. Her original owners, the Huddart-Barker Co., christened her the Zealandia. and the name was well known in the intercolonial service for a number of years. She - afterwards renamed the Palot-na. and fb w the Union Company's colours to the end of her active career.

WHALING WRECK RECALLED The stranding of the Norwegian whaler C. A. Larsen at Stewart Island on Ft bruary 21 conies close to the seventieth anniversary of the loss of an American whaliug ship, the Alexander, which met disaster in Cook Strait after a very successful cruise of over two years in the South Seas. The Alexander, a 42l -*.< >n ship, struck a reef six miles off shore, near Cape Campbell. The captain succeeded in beaching the ship and a few days later an auction sale was held. The cargo of 1.300 barrels of sperm oil brought £2.500. The hull and whaling equipment realised £495.

DEATH OF CAPTAIN SMlTH.—Captain W. Smith, relieving master for the Australian Commonwealth Line, died in hospital at Brisbane last month. He took the steamer Ferndale to Brisbane, from Sydney, and ofl the following day he was taken ill. He was successfully operated on, but collapsed later. The late captain had been in the employ of the line during the last four years. He was for many years with the A.U.S.N. Company, and comnianded a number of its steamers, including the Levuk:’. and Me Ifina.

ANOTHER OLD SAILER SOLD. —A 41-year-old vessel lias been sold for £10,500. Site is the Peruvian iron auxiliary motor tanker Katherine, and she has been purchased by Mediterranean buyers. This vessel was in Sydney during the late war, but was then the fullrigged four-masted ship County of Linlithgow. She was a fast and beautiful vessel, and made many a trip to Australian ports. The late Captain J. Peters was master of one of her sister ships. Built by Messrs. Barclay, Curie and Co..

of Glasgow, in ISB7, she was of 2,29 J tons gross and tons net, and as the Katherine was owned by the Cia Ballenera del Peru, Ltd. (Mr. Hans Borge), Tonsberg.

NEW DUTCH STEAMERS. —This year the Tasman and the Houtman, the two Royal Dutch Packet Line steamers, will be replaced by new and larger vessels, the Nieuw Zeeland and the Nieuw Holland. The new steamers have a gross tonnage of 10,000, compared with the older vessels* 5,000 tons, and will maintain a speed of 15 knots. They are specially constructed for the Straits, Java, Australian trade, and offer accommodation for 23 first-class passengers, and one of the many improvements will be large permanent swimming pools. The greater speed of the new vessels, which are oil-burning, will allow the extension of the service to Penang, and Belawao Deli. The Nieuw Zeeland will arrive in Australia early in June, and will be followed month later by the sister ship.

FIGHTING SHIPS.—The new edition of “Jane's Fighting Ships" makes a timely appearance. Public interest in naval questions, always more or less active, has been stimulated by the great American building programme and its potential reactions. In spite of the ep forts made during the past year, at Geneva and elsewhere, to extend tin principle of disarmament limitation, most of the maritime nations are either building new warships or maintaining their present fleets at undiminished strength. Moreover, there is a widespread tendency to prolong the effective life of existing warships by drastic renovation, including the conversion of coal-burning boilers (o oil, the fitting of extra protection, changes in armament and rig. and the addition of aircraft to the ship s equipment. Progress to date in both the construction and modernisation of navies is fully recorded in this handsome volume. The editors have spared no effort to secure authentic details and the latest photographs of every vessel that can be classed as a combatant unit or fleet auxiliary, and their labours have, once again, been crowned with complete success. In the British section will be found a great deal of new data about our latest*battleships and cruisers, all of which are adequately illustrated. Vessels of outstanding importance, such as H.M.S. Nelson, the new

“County" cruisers, and certain British and other aircraft carriers, are each the subject of several photographs taken from different positions. Thanks to these views, supplemented by the shaded profiles which have replaced the old block silhouettes, the identification of individual ships at sea should present little difficulty even to the untrained eye. Turning over the 470 odd pages of illustrations one is impressed with the steady progress of the French and Italian navies in regard to light craft, the formidable parade of American strength, the oddlooking but highly efficient specimens cf Japanese naval design, and the increasing use of aircraft on'shipboard. The far-reaching influence of British design is revealed by the hi test foreign aircraft carriers, all of which resemble one or other of our own vessels. There are welcome signs of a revolt against the standard type of cruiser adopted at the Washington Conference. it is true that many of these 10,000-ton ships are being built, but several of the latest cruisers in England, Japan, Italy and other States are smaller by 2,000 or 3,000 tons. There is unfortunately no sign of a reduction in the world’s submarine flotillas. On the contrary, these boats appear to be gaining in popularity, judging from the heavy programmes now under way. It will not have escaped notice that no fewer than 32 submarines, apparently of the largest class, are included in the new American building scheme. Of submabuilding, France and Japan appear to have the most. As “Fighting Ships" has IdVig been recognised as the only illustrated encyclopedia of current naval progress, its unique value hardly calls for emphasis. Dr. Parkes and Mr. McMurtrie deserve all praise for the brilliant performance of editorial duties which must be arduous and responsible to a degree.

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