“LIFEBOATS IN NAME"

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 513, 16 November 1928, Page 2

“LIFEBOATS IN NAME"

ATTACK ON EFFICIENCY EQUIPMENT OF STEAMERS “Many hundred#, and proh.k: many thousands of lives have heedlessly sacrificed by easily ventible inefficiency," writes u A. Brittain, of 46 Kiwi Ro,j’ Devonport, who alleges that ihi„ : "lifeboats” are only so in name. His comment has considerable t„ at this time when the news „ Vestris disaster is fresh. Mr. Brim says that in 1916 he initiated a , ’ paign to induce the Board of TrJi ' amend its regulations about lifSL t: ' equipment, but nothing whatever 7?; been done. na u “It cannot bo disputed.” "that the present day steamer's boat possesses nothing whatever . prevent her being smashed again., k" steamers side when loweringa, heavy sea, and that this is faeili,,. 3 by the weakness of the boat’. function, and the height from wS' m modern passenger boats it t ered. It possesses absolutely noth?’ to prevent capsizing, while thh : most materially assisted by thkU fc feetly ridiculous, even childish pL?:" of the passengers’ seats, on topZZ side air cases a few inches below iT boat s gunwale, where the »k,7 their weight, say two-three mi* M far above the boat’s watering ls i the worst possible position, whet. have nothing they can hold on e U, ' T ttie whole mass of them is liable ’. 31 flung from side to side in a And further, if they are able m on these seats they double the t ' exposed to the wind. ne *** “Added to all these vital tages, the bodies of the probably only half-clad jZ?. B *’ tarnly all seasick, are fuilve™noLT wind and sea- probably" i n , ” !c winter Atlantic gale. “*• Further, in this position, the pas, gers are as much in the way crew working the oars or sails a?„ possible for them to be. Wh.lf 11 * sized, which is the logical outrem” M> ' these conditions there i„ “ tco, »e of nothing for the occupants ofTh“w to hold on to, and absolutely non? 3 to which the helpless one/ lashed. I once had to ZZ b capsized boat for some in ° 3 heavy so. so I know ■ urs in a what it means. The, invariably of the oDpn.n,. o !! o nnwhich means that it is q^m oZr te S, «£| blab 10 No provision is made for th. of “ steering oar in the rudder being carried away or for 1 mg on a beach in surf. r “There is never, even sufficient locker room to”™ I ions, tobacco, matches. flares, ete dr I in bad weather. The laa-gestolilf sail suggested by the ri W 1 ts unhandy to stand i n the I most difficult for an inexperienced ’ to set or handle, and boite of the Kboat model can neither work to win*, ward nor lay to under iL The enn struction is frequently too the work the boat is expected te * passenger liners, most o’ on b °n‘? are on the boat deck, abor 60 or *0 feet above sea-level. No nr. vision is made to carry them clear t projecting mouldings, rails, port-hoi hooks, and the boat falls have to >. of abnormal length. Hence the luxe ing of boats on the high side (am probably also the windward side), i; a heavy list, is practically impossible so that half the steamer’s boats an in many cases useless. ONLY GOOD POINTS 'To sum up. Die only good anc efficient points in the present-day steamers' lifeboats are the sharp gterr. and the stem and stern air cases, an-: even these latter are not nearly so » efficient as they might be made; yet all these vital defects above mentioned can be remedied at slight expense in the case of existing boats, while new boats, as efficient and seaworthy as is humanly possible, could probably be built at about the same figure as the present contraption with which the crew of an ordinary tramp steamer has an infinitely better chance of surviving a catastrophe than the millionaire who has paid £IOO or more lor his four-day trip across the Atlantic Under the Board of Trade nailplan the lifeboat model can neither lay to nor, in any tea, do anything but run before wind and sea, and for this the mast it in the wrong position, and the foresail a useless complication.