THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. TUESDAY, AUGUST 19, 1913. SAFETY AT SEA.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXV, Issue 10713, 19 August 1913, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. TUESDAY, AUGUST 19, 1913. SAFETY AT SEA.

There a great many people who dread the sea, not so much on account of the temporary physical discomfort they may suffer, but by reason of the supposed peril of being out on the water. It would, perhaps, surprise these good people to know'that the number of lives lost by accident at sea is comparatively small compared with the mrnbor who die from violence on the land. Mr Percy A. Hillhouse, in a paper recently read on the subject of "Safety of Life at Sea," referred to the various shipping accidents which had occurred on the North Atlantic during the 20 years from 1892 to 1911, involving the loss of 1057 crew and 80 passengers out of, a total of about 350,000 and 9,390,000 respectively who had started on iai voyage from Great Britain to America. These figures showed that on the average life at sea was exceedingly safe. The main object of the paper was to discuss precautions that might be taken in order to minimise the loss of life in the case of accident. Of all the oases of loss of shipping, that over which the naval architect could probably exercise the greatest control wa3 that of foundering whether through stress of weather or as the result of collision. Subdivision of the hull into separate watertight compartments, in conjunction with the provision of a suitable freeboard, was the most valuable means at the disposal of the naval architect towards limiting the amount of sinkage consequent upon any given ! extent of damage to the shell plating. An absolutely unsmkable ship was impossible, unless the average density of hull, machinery and loads was less than that of water. In the days of wooden sailing vessels this might have been realisable, but in the case of modern vessels, built largely of steel and carrying great weights of machinery aud boilers, it was not pos-

sible. Inoreased safety might be obtained by means of transverse bulkheads in two, ways: —(1) by increasing their height so that the vessel might sink more deeply before their tops become submerged, and (2) by decreasing their spacing, fitting more bulkheads, and so reducing the sizes of the holds and 'tween decks. Great care had to be observed when introducing longitudinal bulkheads as a means of limiting the extent of flooding on account of the fact that water admitted to one side of the ship only would produce a heeling tendency, which might have the effect of bringing the tops of bulkheads upon that side nearer to the water surface than would be the case were both sides simultaneously open to the sea. There were many objections to the fitting of An inner skin in mercantile vessels. Wing bulkheads already served a useful purpose as bunker boundaries, and so did not add materially to the vessel's weight or cost, but on inner skin was a definite addition to both. It reduced tho space available for cargo, coal, machinery, and passenger accommodation, and on account of its comparative nearness to the' ship's side was difficult to dissociate from any damage occurring to the outer skin. Watertight docks formed an exceedingly valuable form of subdivision. Very little additional weight was involved, a» the deck was already required for other purposes. If the deck was above the" waterline and * between passenger accommodation and cargo spaces' its into an effective watertight division was comparatively simple; and the only alteration involved was that of enclosing the cargo hatches-, by watertight trunks extending up to the bulkheads, deck../ If,-- however, there happened to bepassenger aocoinniodation below the watertight depk, it became necessary also to carry watertight exit stairways up to the bulkhead deck, and inmost cases this would mean a, considerable amount of convenience to passengers.