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Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 389, 25 June 1928, Page 2

DAMAGE TO LEVIATHAN.-A 1 though first reports placed the damage suffered by the Leviathan when a huge wave broke over her in mid-ocean on April 5 at 40,000 dollars, it was later stated that this figure was much exaggerated and that, though there was some damage to the flagship of the United States Lines, no lay-up would be necessary. The gigantic wave broke over the steamer oiit of a relatively calm sea, j it was reported, and passengers declared • it must have been a tidal wave. No I verification of this belief was expressed by ship’s officers, however. | TANKERS AT SEA.—It is generally j considered that if a ship averages 250 j days at. sea annually she has made a. satisfactory performance, but it is well known that tankers have to operate under more arduous conditions. A notable instance is that of the twin-screw motor tanker Lumen, constructed by John Drown and Co. in 1025 for Messrs. H. E. Moss and Co., Liverpool. During the year commencing February 24, 1927, she covered 71,900 miles, including six round voyages to the Culf of Mexico and two to the Northern States. During this period she was under way for 311 days out of 365, the average stay in each port (excluding three days for dry-docking) being 2 days 21 hours. During the first year of her existence the owners were awarded £8,250 by the Admiralty Court on account of salving the French steam tanker C.1.P., which had a broken stern ' frame. The Lumen is a vessel of 9,000 i tons deadweight, and is fitted with two j 1,250 b.h.p. four-cylinder Brown-Sulzer , engines. CHINESE-BUILT MOTOR-SHIP.—A twin-screw motor-vessel, named the Palawan, has recently been completed by the Hong Kong and Whampoa Dock Co., Ltd., for Mr. M. J. Ossorio, of Manila, for service in the Philippines. She is 177 ft 6in in length overall, with a moulded beam of 29ft and a moulded depth of 13ft Sin. The new ship is of the single flush-deck type, with straight stem and elliptical overhanging stern, j She has a raised forecastle fjr the crew, and the engine-room is aft. The forepeak tank carries water ballast or fresh water, and there is one large cargo hold amidships. The accommodation for the captain, engineers, officers and a few passengers is situated on the upper and poop decks, whilst the crew is berthed in the forecastle. On a maximum draught of 10ft 4in in salt water, a total cargo of 600 tons can be carried. The vessel is to be used principally in the lumber trade, carrying logs weighing up to five tons or six tons, and the hold capacity is 29,700 cubic feet. Two Benz Diesel engines are installed. The deck machinery is driven by steam engines, but the engine-room auxiliary equipment is motor-driven. On trials a mean speed of 10. S knots was attained. THE NIEUW HOLLAND.—Satisfactory trials have been carried out by the twinscrew mail, passenger, and cargo steamer Nieuw Holland, built at Amsterdam by the Netherland Shipbuilding Company, for service between Java and Australia. A sister ship to the Nieuw Zealand, she is the largest unit in her owners’ fleet, measuring 540 ft in length, 62ft 9in in breadth, and 32ft 4in in depth, her gross tonnage being 10,903. Accommodation is provided for 174 passengers, and the public apartments include a social hail, smoking room and verandah cafe, whilst there is also a swimming bath on the I awning deck. Her propelling machinery consists of two sets of steam turbines ' developing a total of 8,000 b.h.p. and giving the vessel a service speed of 15 knots. DEATH OF UNION CASTLE CAPTAIN. —Captain Thomas Herbert Wilford, who died recently at Surbiton at the of 63, was connected with the Union Castle Line for 39 years, and had held command for 33 years. Just before his death he relinquished the command of the Windsor Castle, owing to ill-health During the South African War he commanded a transport, and during the Great War he was in command of the tarnsport Gloucester Castle at the Gallipoli landing in 3 915 In 1917. he was in charge of the j hospital ship Dover Castle when she was I tropedoed without warning in the Mediterranean. It was mainly owing to his i courage and fine seamanship that the 600 j wounded men on board were saved, togetlier with the whole of the medical staff. Of the crew, six fu*f-inen were J killed by the explosion of the torpedoes.