THE MODERN MAMMOTH STEAMSHIP
In the history of the steamship during the short space of time that she
has been employed, the changes in connection with her have followed
with singular celerity. We have, during the previous pages, witnessed
in the material of which she is built the gradual transition from wood
to iron and steel; we have seen how steam pressures became greater, and
the ensuing introduction of the compound system, the triple-expansion
and the quadruple. We have also watched the change from paddle-wheels
to a single screw, and thence to twin-screws. Each change has seemed to
be so excellent in its nature, so beneficial in results, that almost
on each occasion we might have thought that finality had been reached.
At times our minds have been wearied with the constant reiteration of
the latest wonders, and our imaginations have found some difficulty in
responding to the demands which one invention after another has put
forward. It has all happened within so short a time, and on a scale
of such unheard-of magnitude, that scarcely have we been able to find
expressions adequate to our subject.
But now we enter upon what is the most wonderful of any period since
the steamship came into the world, and for this we have to thank the
introduction of the turbine, merely the beginnings of which we are
now watching; whose influence, not merely in the engineering world
generally, but in the domain of the steamship particularly, is already
marking, in the most certain manner, a distinct cleavage between the
things of yesterday and those of to-morrow. The turbine is only in
its infancy, yet since its infantile influence has caused already so
great a revolution, one hesitates to reckon what it will do before it
is as old as the old-fashioned reciprocating engine, whose history we
have outlined. Its modern practical invention is due to two men, one
an Englishman, the other a Swede, who during the early ’eighties made
their systems public. The latter is Dr. Gustav de Laval; the former
the Hon. Charles Algernon Parsons, son of the Earl of Rosse, who after
a distinguished career at Cambridge, where he graduated as eleventh
Wrangler, brought out this new method in 1884. Five years later Dr.
de Laval, working at the same problem, developed a somewhat similar
engine. We have spoken of the _modern_ invention advisedly, for there
is nothing new under the sun, and we shall see that the bare principle
is hundreds of years old. In its simplest form, the turbine is similar
to a water-wheel, a jet of steam taking the place of water. As far
back as 1629, Giovanni Branca, an Italian engineer, had suggested much
the same thing, and if the reader will now refer to the illustration
opposite he will be able to gain some idea of the form in which his
idea took shape.
[Illustration: GIOVANNI BRANCA’S STEAM ENGINE (1629).
The simplest form of Turbine.
_From the Exhibit in the Victoria and Albert Museum._]
Steam was to be raised as usual, by applying heat to a vessel
containing water. (In the picture this vessel is seen to be in the
shape of a man’s head and neck, the steam, so soon as it is formed,
issuing out of his mouth. The original illustration was published
in _Le Machine_ by Giovanni Branca, printed in 1629, and containing
all sorts of most interesting labour-saving devices, such as the
employment of winches, chain-pumps, water-wheels, water-buckets and
pumps of many kinds.) As the steam escaped it was directed against the
vanes on the circumference of a wheel fitted with little fans like
a water-wheel, and so causing it to revolve. In the picture the wheel
is being utilised by means of gearing for lifting pestles. Speaking
generally, this resembles roughly the idea of the de Laval turbine, but
in actual application de Laval allows the steam to issue through one or
more nozzles placed as close as one-sixteenth of an inch to the blades
or fans, so that every particle of steam shall strike a blade.
[Illustration: THE BLADES OF A PARSONS TURBINE.
_By permission of Messrs. C. A. Parsons & Co., Newcastle-on-Tyne._]
But the Parsons system differs in detail from this, and employs a
number of wheels mounted on the same shaft, the steam entering at one
end, working its way along and expending its energy to each wheel as it
passes. If the reader will examine the illustration facing page 186, he
will see a section of one of these turbines, which is here reproduced
through the courtesy of Messrs. C. A. Parsons and Co. But before we
deal with the actual working of this, we would also call attention
to the drawings on page 185, which depict alternate rows of fixed and
moving blades. Steam enters the turbine in a direction parallel with
the axis of the shaft, and flows through the length of the turbine in
a zig-zag fashion. Looking at the top line in this diagram, we see a
row of fixed discs or blades sloping in one direction, on to which
the steam pours. These, so to speak, reflect the steam so that it
passes at right angles from the slope of the fixed blade to the first
row of moving blades which are on the shaft, thus giving them and it
a rotational force in the direction indicated by the arrow. But the
curved shape of the moving blades causes the steam to issue from them
in a direction exactly opposite to that in which it had entered, and
thus the reaction gives additional rotational force to these moving
blades. The steam now reaches the next row of fixed blades and repeats
the same action again on the next row of moving blades.
[Illustration: THE PARSONS TURBINE.
_By permission of Messrs. C. A. Parsons & Co._]
Turning now to the illustration of the turbine facing this page, let us
see how this applies in actuality. This sketch represents a section of
a cylindrical case with rows of inwardly projecting blades, and within
this cylinder revolves a shaft with outwardly projecting blades. Steam
enters at the point marked _A_ on the lower half of the cylinder, and
then passes through the different rows of fixed and moving blades,
as previously explained, finally leaving the cylinder at the exhaust
pipe, marked _B_. But it will be noticed that the diameter of the shaft
varies in three different stages, the reason for this being that a
method analogous to the compound method in the triple-expansion engines
is here employed. Thus the whole expansive force of the steam is not
converted into speed all at one stage, but working its way along,
expands as it goes. It should be added that the fixed blades are on the
case of the cylinder, but the moving blades are on the rotor (or
rotating part, consisting of a hollow steel drum), the steam rebounding
from the fixed blades to the moving ones much as one billiard ball
cannons off another.
The cylindrical case is divided horizontally, and can be taken off,
so that the blades may be got at. The illustration facing page 188
shows the lower half of the fixed portion or cylinder of one of the
_Carmania’s_ turbines. The blades themselves are made either of brass
or copper, and are caulked one by one into grooves in the cylinder and
shaft, but a newer method enables them to be assembled in complete
sectors ready for insertion. The Allan Line turbine-steamer _Virginian_
contains no fewer than 750,000 of these blades on the rotating part,
but together with those which are fixed, they total a million and a
half, the diameter of the largest blade being 8 feet 6 inches.
Such, briefly, is the principle of the new form of engine which is
causing so thorough an alteration in the means of propelling the
steamship. Practically all the turbine craft are of the Parsons type.
For some years this system was employed for driving electric dynamos on
land, for pumping stations, colliery fans and the like, but in 1894 it
was first installed in the now celebrated little ship, the _Turbinia_,
which was built for the purpose of exhibiting the capabilities of the
turbine. She was of only 44 tons, developing 2,000 horse-power, but
those who happened to see her racing along the water at Spithead, doing
her 34 knots without distress, were in no further need of conviction as
to her speed abilities. But therein lay the drawback; the difficulty at
first was to obtain such a speed as should be suitable for slow-going
vessels, though we shall see that this difficulty is now disappearing.
[Illustration: THE “CARMANIA” (1905).
_From a Photograph. By Permission of the Cunard Steamship Co._]
[Illustration: LOWER HALF OF THE FIXED PORTION OF ONE OF THE
“CARMANIA’S” TURBINES.
_From a Photograph. By Permission of the Cunard Steamship Co._]
Another great fault of the turbine is that it can only go one way,
so that in order to enable a ship to go astern, she has to be fitted
with an additional propeller and turbine, the blades in the latter
being placed in the opposite way; when the ship is going ahead, these
just revolve idly. In practice it is usual to employ two propellers
and turbines for going astern instead of one. For driving other than
fast ships the turbine was found not to be economical, but the reader
may ask the question: “Why not let the ship go fast? Why detain her,
if she is anxious to get to port?” The answer is that she wouldn’t
get there as fast, for the reason that unless the ship is designed to
travel at very high speeds, the propeller, revolving at a great rate,
loses its efficiency; for, instead of being able to use the water,
much as an oarsman uses the water for his oar to get a good grip, the
water is simply carried round with the screw. In order to counteract
this failing, therefore, it has been suggested that the turbine should
not drive the propeller direct but drive a dynamo, the current from
which should actuate electric motors for such a speed as will suit the
propellers. With this would also vanish the reversing difficulty, for
a motor is easily reversible. But a paper was read by the Hon. C. A.
Parsons, the Vice-President, at the annual meeting of the Institution
of Naval Architects, in March, 1910, in which he gave particulars of a
scheme to enable a high-speed turbine to be suitable for a low-speed
tramp steamer. As Mr. Parsons’ theory has actually been put into
practice, and will no doubt be found to be the solution of the problem,
we may here outline so interesting an experiment. In a word, the method
employed is just that which we saw was used in those early days, when
the screw engines were first brought in. As the reader will recollect,
the difficulty was then overcome by means of gearing, instead of the
engines working directly on to the shaft; so, in principle, at least,
is it in the present instance.
With a view of putting to a test turbines mechanically geared to the
propeller shaft, an old screw steamer, named the _Vespasian_, was
purchased in 1909. She was built in 1887, and has a displacement of
4,350 tons. Originally, she was fitted with ordinary triple-expansion
engines, and before making any alterations it was decided to run
trials with those engines in use. But in order that these should
show their best performances, they were overhauled, and rendered
thoroughly efficient. It was further decided, in order that the proper
data under service conditions might be obtained, that she was to be
run properly loaded. Arrangements were therefore made with a firm
of shipbrokers to take a cargo of coal from the Tyne to Malta, and
during this voyage a special recording staff on board made careful
measurements of the coal and water consumed. She then returned to the
Turbinia Works, and her triple-expansion engines were taken out, and
in their place were installed two turbines, one high-pressure and
one low-pressure, the former being placed on the starboard side, the
latter to port, a reversing turbine being incorporated in the exhaust
casing of the low-pressure turbine. By means of mechanical gearing
the power was conveyed from the turbine to the shaft, and without
having made any alterations to the propeller, the vessel was loaded
again to her proper trim and sent out to sea in February, 1910. The
results are significant, and may be summed up thus: the _Vespasian_
was found to possess under normal full-speed conditions an increase
of about one knot per hour owing to the higher efficiency of the
turbine, but with reduced water-consumption, and consequently coal
consumption, amounting to nearly 20 per cent. Further, the weight of
the reciprocating engines was 100 tons; that of the turbines is only
75. Thus the ship is enabled to carry a larger amount of cargo, whilst
simultaneously she effects a saving in coal, in oil, in engine-room
staff and in up-keep. Mr. Parsons asserts that the turbines and gearing
have given no trouble, have caused very little noise or vibration, and
there is no appreciable wear on the teeth of the gearing.
To the Allan Line belongs the honour of having been the first to
introduce the turbine upon the Atlantic, and at the beginning of the
year 1905, the _Victorian_ and _Virginian_, which had been contracted
for two years earlier, began running. These two ships are employed on
the Liverpool-Montreal service, and were built to be of as great a
size as safe navigation of the river St. Lawrence would permit. They
displace 12,000 tons each, and are fitted with Parsons triplicate
turbines, driving three independent shafts and maintaining a speed of
17 knots average; but on her trials the _Virginian_ attained a speed
of 19·8 knots, and the _Victorian_ 19·2 knots. Three propellers are
used for steaming ahead, and two low-pressure turbines are employed
for manœuvring either ahead or astern; these are provided with a
supplementary turbine for going astern. When going ahead, the steam
is first used in the high-pressure turbine engine and then allowed
to flow therefrom to the two low-pressure turbines, after which it
passes to the condensers. Owing to the turbine system the vibration is
reduced to a minimum, and since it is possible, from their nature, to
place the turbine engines very low in the hull, it follows that the
screws also can be placed very low. The practical effect of this is
that the propellers are rarely out of the water in a heavy sea, and so
the objectionable “racing” disappears. The _Virginian_ soon showed
that she was not merely a comfortable, but a comparatively fast ship,
for she made an eastward trip in the shortest time hitherto occupied
between Canada and England.
In the same year the Cunard Line followed with the _Carmania_, their
first turbine liner, fitted with three turbines and three screws. She
was preceded a little by the _Caronia_, a sister ship in every way
except that the latter is propelled by two sets of quadruple-expansion
reciprocating engines, driving twin-screws. These ships have a
displacement of 30,000 tons, and a length over all of 675 feet. They
were built of a strength that was in excess of Board of Trade and other
requirements, and when we state that no fewer than 1,800,000 rivets
were used in the construction of each, one begins to realise something
of the amount of work that was put into them. Their steel plating
varies in thickness from three-quarters of an inch to an inch and an
eighth in thickness, the length of each plate being 32 feet. Fitted
with a cellular bottom which is carried well up the sides of the ship
above the bilges, they can thus carry three and a half thousand tons of
water-ballast. The principles underlying the design and construction
of these ships were steadiness and strength, and in the attainment of
this they have been eminently successful. There are eight decks, which
may be detailed by reference to the photograph of the _Carmania_ facing
page 188. Immediately below the bridge is the boat deck. Then follow
successively the upper promenade deck, the promenade, the saloon,
upper, and main decks. Below the water-line come two other decks for
stores and cargo, the depth from the boat deck being eighty feet. Both
of these ships are fitted with the now well-known Stone-Lloyd system
of safety water-tight doors, which renders the vessel practically
unsinkable. This enables the doors to be closed by the captain from
his bridge, after sufficient notice has been given by the sounding of
gongs, so that everyone may move away from the neighbourhood of these
doors. But should it chance that, after they have been shut, any of the
crew or passengers have had their retreat cut off, it is only necessary
to turn a handle, when the door will at once open and afterwards
automatically shut again. The system is worked by hydraulics, and is
a vast improvement on the early methods employed to retain a ship’s
buoyancy after collision with an iceberg, vessel or other object.
A glance at the illustration will show that a very great amount of
consideration was paid to the subject of giving the _Carmania_ a
comprehensive system of ventilation, a principle which has been carried
still further in the _Mauretania_ and _Lusitania_.
In the event of war the _Carmania_ and _Caronia_ would be fitted with
twelve large quick-firing guns, for the hulls were built in accordance
with the Admiralty’s requirements for armed cruisers. For this reason,
also, the rudder is placed entirely under water, and besides the
ordinary set of steering gear, there is another placed below the
water-line.
[Illustration: A STUDY IN COMPARISONS: THE “MAGNETIC” AND “BALTIC.”
_From a Photograph. By Permission of the London & North Western
Railway._]
On her trials the _Carmania_ attained a speed of over 20 knots, and
the saving in weight by adopting turbine engines as compared with the
_Caronia’s_ reciprocating engines was found to amount to 5 per cent.
In actual size these fine ships are inferior to the _Great Eastern_,
but they were built with meticulous regard for strength, and needed
2,000 tons more material than was used in the old Brunel ship. The
arrangements of the _Carmania’s_ turbines are worthy of note. There are
three propellers and shafts. That in the centre is the high-pressure
turbine, whilst the “wing” (or two side) turbines placed
respectively to starboard and port are the low-pressure and astern
turbines. Steam is supplied by eight double-ended and five single-ended
boilers, which are fitted with Howden’s system of forced draught. This
latter enables the air to be heated before it enters the furnace, and
was patented in 1883. It is also in use on the _Mauretania_.
The beautiful picture facing page 192 was taken in Holyhead Harbour
in June, 1909, and is a study in comparisons. At the left, first come
the two small steam craft, then the White Star passenger tender, the
_Magnetic_, a twin-screw steamer of 619 tons, and, finally, the other
White Star twin-screw mammoth _Baltic_, of 23,876 tons. The _Magnetic_
happens to be less than 100 tons smaller than the little _Sirius_,
which was the first steamer to cross the Atlantic entirely under steam
power in 1838. Therefore, if we but imagine in place of the twin-screw
tender the paddle _Sirius_, we can form some fairly accurate idea of
the extent to which the Atlantic steamship has developed in less than
seventy years, a development that neither Fulton nor anyone else could
have foretold in their wildest flights of imagination. This _Baltic_,
with her 24,000 tons, is one of the largest vessels in the world--about
9,000 tons larger than Noah’s Ark, if we take the Biblical cubit as
equal to a foot and a half, which makes that historic craft about
15,000 tons register. The _Baltic_ has a length of 725¾ feet; the Ark
measured 450 feet in length. The _Baltic_ can carry with the utmost
ease and luxury 3,000 passengers, as well as 350 crew. Just how many
animals she could put away in her holds as well, if called upon, I do
not know; but in any case it would be able to put up a keen competition
with the capacities of Noah’s craft.
Here, again, we find a White Star ship excelling not in speed, but in
size, for she was designed to do only 16½ knots at the outside. She
is propelled by quadruple-expansion engines. She made her appearance
in 1905, and is additionally interesting, as she exhibits a slight
divergence from the ten beams to the length principle, which governed
for so long a time the White Star ships; to come up to this rule this
vessel would have to be another 30 feet in length.
We have already explained the reason which underlies the comparatively
moderate speed of these ships, and mentioned that the question of
economical steaming was at the root of the matter. As an example we
might quote the case of the _Majestic_, belonging to the same line, as
an instance. This vessel consumes 316 tons of coal per day to get a
speed of 19 knots; the _Baltic_, a vessel nearly twice and a half the
size, requires only 260 tons of fuel a day for her 16½ knots.
And so we come to those two leviathans which form, without exception,
the most extraordinary, the most massive, the fastest, and the most
luxurious ships that ever crossed an ocean. Caligula’s galleys, which
were wondrously furnished with trees, marbles and other luxuries
which ought never to desecrate the sweet, dignified character of the
ship, were less sea-craft than floating villas exuding decadence at
every feature. There are some characteristics of the _Mauretania_ and
_Lusitania_, with their lifts, their marbles, curtains, ceilings,
trees, and other expressions of twentieth century luxury, which,
while appreciated by the landsman and his wife, are nauseating to
the man who loves the sea and its ships for their own sakes, and not
for the chance of enjoying self-indulgence in some new form. But all
the same these two Cunarders are ships first, and floating mansions
only in a secondary sense. They are even more than that: they are
ocean-greyhounds of a new breed with a pace that surpasses any other of
the mercantile sea dogs.
These two historic craft are regarded in different ways by different
people. You may think of them as hotels, you may look at them as
representing the outcome of the greatest minds in naval architecture,
ship-construction and marine engineering. Or, again, you may reckon
up how much capital is tied up within their walls, how much material
they have eaten up, how many hundreds of men they have given, and are
giving, employment to. But whichever way you regard them, from whatever
standpoint you choose, there is nothing comparable to them, there are
no standards whatsoever by which to judge them. We can only doff our
hats to the organising and originating geniuses who in one way or
another brought these marvels from out of the realm of impossibility to
the actuality of the broad Atlantic. Cover them with tier upon tier of
decks, scatter over them a forest of ventilators, roofs and chimneys,
till they look like the tops of a small town; fill them inside with
handsome furniture, line their walls with costly decorations; throw in
a few electric cranes, a coal mine, several restaurants, the population
of a large-sized village and a good many other things besides; give
them each a length equal to that of the Houses of Parliament, a height
greater than the buildings in Northumberland Avenue, disguise them in
any way you please, and for all that these are _ships_, which have to
obey the laws of Nature, of the Great Sea, just as the first sailing
ship and the first Atlantic steamship had to show their submission. I
submit that to look upon these two ships as mere speed-manufacturers
engaged in the record industry, as palatial abodes, or even as
dividend-earners is an insult to the brains that conceived them, to
the honourable name of “ship” which they bear.
The _Mauretania_ and _Lusitania_ are the outcome of an agreement made
between the British Government and the Cunard Steamship Company,
in which it was contracted to produce two steamships “capable of
maintaining a minimum average ocean speed of from 24 to 25 knots an
hour in moderate weather.” In every way these ships have exceeded the
dimensions of the _Great Eastern_. There was no precedent for them
in dimensions, engine power, displacement or aught else. It was not
to be expected that such gigantic productions as these could be the
outcome of one mind; such a thing would be impossible. It was only as
a result of an exhaustive inquiry made on behalf of the Cunard Company
by some of the most experienced ship-builders and marine engineers of
this country, aided by the constructive and engineering staff of the
Admiralty, as well as by the preliminary knowledge derived from models,
that the best form for obtaining this unprecedented speed was evolved.
Whatever was best in existing knowledge or materials was investigated.
A special committee, representing the Cunard Company, the Admiralty
and private industries went deeply into the question of engines; and
with right judgment, and, it must be said, with no little courage and
enterprising foresight, decided, after conferring with Mr. Parsons, to
choose turbines, applied to four shafts, each carrying a single screw.
[Illustration: THE “MAURETANIA,” WHEN COMPLETING AT WALLSEND-ON-TYNE.
_From a Photograph. By Permission of the Cunard Steamship Co._]
These two absolutely unique steamships differ entirely from the
previous fast liners that we have enumerated, as well as from
those large “intermediates” with moderate speed. The size of these
mammoths was decided upon, not with reference to their cargo-carrying
capacity--for they have practically no space for this--but in order to
be able to steam at an average speed of 25 knots in moderate weather
for 3,000 miles, to carry enough coal to last them the voyage when
consuming about a 1,000 tons per day, and to carry an adequate number
of passengers to allow the ships to pay their way. It was impossible,
therefore, to have given them any smaller dimensions. I make this
statement on the authority of no less an expert than Sir William H.
White, K.C.B., the illustrious naval architect who was connected so
closely with the birth of the _Mauretania_. It was a happy coincidence
that the turbine had already shown itself capable of so much that
to employ it in these ships seemed a justifiable experiment. For
otherwise, in order to obtain the requisite speed the vessel could not
have contained the large amount of propelling apparatus. The working
speeds of these two ships exceeds by 1½ knots the highest speeds ever
attained in the Atlantic service. Had the reciprocating engine been
employed instead of the turbine there would have been serious risk of
troublesome vibration, the shafts would have had to have been of very
large dimensions; large-sized propellers would have been necessary,
and these latter, of course, would have been unfavourable to high
efficiency of propulsion, whilst with the more rapidly revolving
turbine the screws are still of moderate diameter. But apart altogether
from the questions of economy of space, liability to accident and so
on, there was a national consideration to be reckoned. This country
has now for many hundreds of years prided itself on being the mistress
of the seas, a title that was only won after serious, hard struggles.
Although that title has reference rather to matters immediately
connected with the Royal Navy, yet national industry and a series of
private enterprises had, as we have seen, given us also an analogous
position in regard to our mercantile marine. This was until the German
_Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse_, followed by the _Kaiser Wilhelm II_.
and the _Deutschland_, took away--in speed, at least--this title. It
was, therefore, a matter affecting our honour and our pride that we
should put on to the water some ship or ships that should be capable
of winning back the “blue ribbon” of the Atlantic, and restoring to
us the supremacy of speed at sea. There is, however, a more practical
consideration. Without the assistance of the Government it would have
been financially impracticable even for so wealthy a corporation as the
Cunard Company to cause such a couple of ships as these to be built.
And yet it was worth while that the nation should help the Company, for
in the event of war breaking out between us and another first-class
nation, it would not be long before we should be starved into
submission if by any chance our over-seas food supply were cut off. It
has been suggested with every appearance of probability, that in such
a condition the _Mauretania_ and _Lusitania_ might render the highest
service by making rapid passages across the Atlantic and, being there
loaded up with grain, might hurry back home again. Their speed alone
would save them from the enemy, except perhaps from the latest and
fastest types of fighting-ships. But if convoyed by the _Indomitable_
and _Invincible_ battleship-cruisers, with their enormous speed and
equally enormous “smashing power,” the chances would be in favour
of the grain-ships reaching port. Thus when the British Government
advanced the sum of £2,000,000 sterling (which amount represents about
one-half of the total cost of the two vessels) it was acting with a
wisdom and a power for looking well ahead that is not always possessed
by political bodies. With their very considerable capacities for
passenger accommodation, these two ships would also be invaluable if
called upon to act as transports.
The singularly impressive picture facing page 198 shows the
_Mauretania_ whilst she was still lying on the Tyne at Wallsend before
being quite ready for service. It is by a happy coincidence that the
same picture shows a delightful contrast between this last word of
modern invention and the old-fashioned type of steam tug-boat in the
river, to the right. There is, in fact, so mighty a divergence in
character that it is not easy to catalogue both under the very elastic
and comprehensive title of steamship. Only by comparison with existing
ships can one gain any idea of the _Mauretania’s_ colossal qualities.
The present writer was one of those who watched the _Mauretania_ docked
for the first time at Liverpool immediately after she had come round
to the Mersey from the Tyne. By her was lying another steamship, by
no means out of date, whose appearance at one time called forth some
of the expressions of amazement and wonder that these two Cunarders
have brought about. For size and speed this older “greyhound” was
properly and legitimately famous, but yet within the comparatively
small dimensions of the dock-space one was able to obtain a more
accurate idea as to the exact proportions of the _Mauretania_ than
when lying outside in the river, where space brings with it deception;
and it was amazing to remark how utterly and unconditionally the new
steamship overshadowed the old. Even in such close proximity as one
stood, everything else looked small by comparison. The captain on the
_Mauretania’s_ bridge resembled a small, black dot, the funnels looked
like four great, red caverns. A brand new thick rope warp was brought
to the shore to stop the _Mauretania’s_ way. It was so heavy that a
score of men were needed to move it about. And yet although she seemed
scarcely to be moving the liner broke it in two just as a toy model
breaks a piece of cotton. Or, again, one may look at this same ship
lying at her mooring buoy on the Cheshire side of the Mersey and be
lost in wonder at her graceful curves. With such sweet lines you could
not doubt that she was also speedy. But it is not until one sees a
good-sized steam-tug go shooting by the buoy that one obtains any idea
as to measurements. The buoy is as big and bigger than the tug, and,
therefore, how many more times must the liner herself be bigger than
the tug? You see another steamer alongside this mountain of steel and
the steamer is nothing remarkable. But presently as she comes down by
the landing-stage, past a smaller liner brought up to her anchor in the
middle of the river, you find that that little steamer is several sizes
bigger than a moderate coaster. It would have been so easy to make this
finest ship in the world look also the largest; it is a much finer
achievement to have made her look, what she is, the handsomest.
[Illustration: STERN OF THE “MAURETANIA.”
_From a Photograph. By permission of the Cunard Steamship Co._]
Passing then to some of the details of these leviathans, we find that
they measure 790 feet long, 88 feet broad, whilst the depth from the
topmost deck to the bottom is 80 feet. Choose out some high building
or cliff 150 feet high, and it will still be 5 feet less than the
height of these ships from the bottom to the top of their funnels.
Their displacement at load draught is 40,000 tons; they each develop
68,000 horse-power, and draw, when fully loaded, 37½ feet of water.
When crew and passengers are on board each ship represents a community
of 3,200 persons. They are fitted with bilge keels, double bottoms,
water-tight doors, and there are eight decks in all. To hold such
massive weights as these ships exceptionally powerful ground tackle is
necessitated. The main cable alone weighs about 100 tons, and there
are about 2,000 feet of this, or 333 fathoms. The double bottom of the
_Mauretania_ averages in depth 5 to 6 feet, and she has five stokeholds
containing twenty-three double-ended and two single-ended boilers;
the coal bunkers are arranged along the ship’s sides in such a manner
as to be handy and as a protection to the hull in case of collision.
Three hundred and twenty-four firemen and trimmers are engaged in three
watches of four hours in the stokehold.
The striking illustration facing page 200 shows the stern of the
_Mauretania_ out of water, the photograph having been taken whilst
the vessel was being built at Wallsend-on-Tyne by Messrs. Swan,
Hunter and Wigham Richardson. It will be noticed that there are two
propellers on either side of the rudder. The two outermost are driven
by the high-pressure and the inside two by the low-pressure turbines.
The two inner propellers are also used for going astern, and since
the turbine can only turn in one direction these two are each fitted
with a high-pressure turbine, and when the ship is steaming ahead
these astern-turbines are simply revolving idly. When we examined the
interior of a turbine on page 186, we noted that the steam is allowed
to expand in stages therein. The turbines of the _Mauretania_ are
arranged with eight stages of steam expansion, while the blades vary in
length from 2½ to 12 inches.
[Illustration: THE “LUSITANIA.”
_From a Photograph. By permission of the Cunard Steamship Co._]
We would call attention once more to the modern custom introduced by
Harland and Wolff of cutting a hole, or “port,” in the deadwood of
the ship. On referring to the illustration facing page 200, it will
be seen that the _Mauretania_ possesses this feature in a remarkable
degree, so that the flow of water to the screws is very free indeed.
It will be noticed also that the rudder is of the balanced type, so
that part of it projects forward of its axis, whilst the whole of
it is some distance below the water-line. It will also be remarked
that the two “wing,” or outermost, propellers are placed a good
deal forward of the two inner screws, the object aimed at being to
give these forward screws plenty of clear water to work in without
either pair of propellers having to revolve in water disturbed by
the other pair. In examining this picture the reader will readily be
able to obtain the scale by remembering that the draught up to the
water-line shown is 37½ feet. The illustration facing this page shows
the appearance these sister ships possess at the bows. The present
photograph shows the _Lusitania_ under way. The navigating bridge,
which will be discerned at a great height, has been necessarily
placed comparatively much nearer to the bows of the ship than is
customary in many liners. Here the binnacle, the engine-room telegraph
instruments, and other apparatus employed in the controlling of the
ship, are stationed, whilst immediately abaft of this bridge, but
in a connecting room, is the wheel-house. Into this small space is
concentrated the exceptionally serious responsibility of ruling the
ship, a responsibility which, though it now lasts but a short time,
thanks to the shorter passages of the steamship, is far heavier than
it was when steamships were less complicated and less huge. It is a
responsibility which covers not merely the ship herself, the crew, the
mails, and the passengers’ lives, but sometimes a very precious cargo.
Only whilst these pages are being written the _Mauretania_ steamed
into Liverpool a veritable treasure ship, far surpassing in this
respect a whole fleet of some of those old Spanish treasure-frigates.
Stored in the strong-rooms of the Cunarder were precious metals of
the aggregate value of over a million pounds sterling, consisting of
6½ tons of gold coin and 36 tons of bullion in the shape of 1,100
bars of silver. Add all this to the value of the ship, her furniture
and her passengers’ belongings, and we get something between three and
four millions of money. The mere thought of it is enough to make Sir
Henry Morgan and other buccaneers and pirates turn restlessly in their
prison-graves.
Ever since they first came out the _Mauretania_ and _Lusitania_
have been improving on their speeds. Their most recent remarkable
performances have been caused by important alterations to
their propellers. These were preceded by experiments made by
the _Mauretania’s_ builders with their specially constructed
electrically-driven model launch. Since these two liners commenced
running, over twenty-four different sets of three-bladed, and seventeen
sets of four-bladed propellers have been tested, in addition to further
frequent experiments with models of the three-bladed propellers
originally supplied to the _Mauretania_. By modifying the bosses and
the blades, and adopting four blades instead of three, a very extensive
saving in horse-power was effected in experiments. Finally, the
_Mauretania_ was fitted with four-bladed propellers on the wing shafts,
while three-bladed propellers were retained on the inside shafts. The
result has been a substantial raising of her average speed, while the
coal consumption has been about the same or rather less, but this
latter is thought to be due probably to the improvements in stokehold
organisation. Sir William H. White has expressed himself as of the
opinion that the recently much increased speed of these two monsters
is due much more to the greater knowledge of the turbines, as well as
the better stokehold management, than to the propeller alterations. Up
to May of the year 1908 the best average speed of the _Mauretania_ on
her westward trip was 24·86 knots, but during the year 1909 it was
raised to 26·6 knots. It was officially stated, on March 24th, 1910,
that the _Lusitania_ made a new record on her westward trip by steaming
at 26·69 knots for a whole day, that is at the rate of 30·7 land miles.
Leaving Queenstown on the Sunday, she had up till noon of the following
Wednesday covered 2,022 knots, at an average of 25·97 sea miles. A
fortnight previous to this the _Mauretania_, for the last part of her
eastward voyage to Fishguard, steamed at an average speed of 27·47
knots per hour, or 31·59 land miles. The _Lusitania_ is now fitted with
the _Mauretania’s_ first propellers, and the chairman of the Cunard
Company has remarked that he has been informed that the _Mauretania_
would be glad to have them back again. The following tables will give
some idea of the comparative passages which these ships have made.
They are interesting as being reckoned not from Queenstown, but from
Liverpool landing-stage and the Cunard pier, New York:--
OUTWARD VOYAGES Days. H. M.
_Lusitania_ Quickest passage 5 7 0
_Mauretania_ Quickest passage 5 1 30
_Lusitania_ Longest passage 6 18 0
_Mauretania_ Longest passage 5 21 0
_Lusitania_ Average passage 5 21 35
_Mauretania_ Average passage 5 16 48
HOMEWARD VOYAGES.
_Lusitania_ Quickest passage 5 15 30
_Mauretania_ Quickest passage 5 5 0
_Lusitania_ Longest passage 5 22 0
_Mauretania_ Longest passage 5 17 0
_Lusitania_ Average passage 5 19 22
_Mauretania_ Average passage 5 12 14
But in spite of their bold dimensions and their efforts to prove
their superior prowess in contending with the mighty ocean, both the
_Mauretania_ and the _Lusitania_ have shown that after all they are
still yet ships, and are subject to those same laws which govern the
rusty old tramp, the square-yarded sailing ship, and the massive modern
liner. We may take but two recent instances, one as happening to each
of these two great vessels during the winter of 1910. In the month
of January, the _Lusitania_ made the slowest passage in her history,
having encountered adverse winds and mountainous waves ever since
leaving Daunt’s Rock. On Monday, the 10th of January, she ran into what
was thought to be a tidal wave. Immediately an avalanche of water broke
on the promenade deck. The officers on duty at the time calculated the
liquid weight that came aboard at 2,000 tons, and 100 feet high. At the
time of the occurrence the captain and the passengers were below at
dinner, and it was fortunate that no one was on deck. The wave wrecked
the pilot house, which is 84 feet above the water-line; four lifeboats
were smashed, as well as eleven windows in the wheel-house. Companion
ladders were carried away, while the captain’s, officers’ and their
stewards’ quarters below the bridge were so badly damaged that they
could not be used. The chief officer was on the bridge at the time,
and he found himself in water up to his armpits. The quartermaster was
swept off his feet, and struck against the chart-room bulkhead, with
the fragments of the steering wheel in his hands, and the chart-room
was flooded everywhere with water. As if that were not bad enough, the
masthead lights and sidelights were extinguished by the wave. Happily,
the chief officer kept his head above all this excitement, and finding
that the engine-room telegraph gear was undamaged, signalled down to
the engineer to reverse the turbines. The captain, who had only left
the bridge a few minutes earlier, rushed back, and in less than half an
hour the big ship was on her course again, heading for New York, where
she arrived twenty-six hours late.
It was during the following month that the _Mauretania_ also suffered
her worst passage on record. The weather was so bad from the first that
she was unable to land her pilot at Queenstown, who had to go all the
way to New York. During the first day or two the sea became worse and
worse. On the night of Sunday, February 20th, the _Mauretania_ was in
the thick of a heavy gale and meeting seas of rare magnitude. Some idea
may be gathered of the conditions, when it is mentioned that the speed
of this colossal liner had to be reduced to seven knots, and kept at
that for the next five hours. It may be remembered that the Astronomer
Royal reported that the wind-pressure at Greenwich that night showed
a velocity of 100 miles an hour. When full steam was again resumed,
the _Mauretania_ received some punishing blows, and the upper works
were subjected to a series of continuous batterings from heavy head
seas. The glass of the bridge-house was shattered, several of the
lifeboats were shifted, the water got below and flooded the forecastle,
and finally an anchor, weighing 10,000 lbs., and 50 fathoms of cable
were swept into the sea. Reading all this whilst having in mind the
magnitude of these two steamships, truly we can say that the sea is no
respecter of persons, nor even of the most marvellous products of naval
architecture.
[Illustration: THE “ADRIATIC.”
_From a Photograph. By permission of Messrs. Ismay, Imrie & Co._]
The four-masted steamship here illustrated is the White Star
_Adriatic_, which was built in 1906. This mighty vessel is of 25,000
tons, and though smaller than the two Cunarders with which we have
just dealt, is superior in size and speed to the White Star _Baltic_,
and until the advent of the _Olympic_ and _Titanic_, was the biggest
production which the White Star Line has conceived. Like the _Baltic_,
the second _Oceanic_, and the _Cedric_, this _Adriatic_ follows out
the modern White Star practice of giving mammoth size, moderate speed,
and considerable luxury. She steams at 17½ knots with an indicated
horse-power of 16,000. Unlike the more modern ships, the _Adriatic_ is
propelled not by triple or even quadruple screws, but by twin-screws,
and is employed on the Southampton-Cherbourg-Queenstown-New York route.
Although not provided with turbines, the _Adriatic_ exhibits a minimum
of vibration owing to the careful regard which is now paid to ensure
the balancing of the moving parts of the reciprocating engine. She has
two three-bladed screws, which are made of manganese bronze, driven by
twin engines, and her dimensions are: length, 725·9 feet; beam, 77·6;
depth, 54 feet. It will be seen, therefore, that the old ten-beams to
length rule is yet again broken in the modern White Star leviathans.
In 1905, the German Hamburg-American Line became possessed of the
_Amerika_, which with the length of 670½ feet, beam 74·6, and a tonnage
of 22,225, and a moderate speed, makes her rather a rival of the
White Star _Baltic_ and _Adriatic_, than of the Cunard ships or the
Norddeutscher Lloyd _Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse_ and _Kaiser Wilhelm
II._, and the Hamburg Company’s own fast steamship, the _Deutschland_.
Although sailing under a foreign flag, she is to all intents and
purposes a British ship, for she was built at Harland and Wolff’s
famous Belfast yard, where the White Star ships have come into being.
Her speed is 18 knots, so that she is rather faster than the latest
White Star ships, although inferior to the fastest contemporary liners.
Carrying a total of 4,000 passengers and crew, the _Amerika_ is one of
the finest vessels, not merely in the German fleet, but in the whole
world.
[Illustration: THE “GEORGE WASHINGTON.”
_From a Photograph. By permission of the Norddeutscher Lloyd Co.,
Bremen._]
[Illustration: THE “BERLIN.”
_From a Photograph. By permission of the Norddeutscher Lloyd Co.,
Bremen._]
The _George Washington_, which is seen steaming ahead in the
illustration herewith, was the first of the Norddeutscher Lloyd
steamers to make a considerable advance on the 20,000 tons (registered)
limit. In length, breadth and tonnage she was launched as the biggest
of all German ships, and some of her details are not without interest.
Her speed of 18½ knots is obtained by two engines with an indicated
horse-power of 20,000, and her gross register is 26,000 tons. She
is propelled by twin-screws, and was built of steel according to
the highest German standards, with five steel decks extending from
end to end, a double bottom, which is divided up into twenty-six
water-tight compartments, while the ship herself is divided by
thirteen transverse bulkheads which reach up to the upper deck, and
sometimes to the upper saloon deck, and separate the vessel into
fourteen water-tight compartments. A special feature was made in the
bulkheads to render them of such a strength as to be able to resist
the pressure of the water in the event of collision. The three upper
decks seen in the photograph show the awning, the upper promenade,
and the promenade-decks; while, as in the _Mauretania_ and her
sister, and in the _Adriatic_, electric lifts are installed for the
convenience of the passengers wishing to pass from one deck to the
other. The four pole-masts are of steel, and have between them no fewer
than twenty-nine derricks. The _George Washington’s_ engines are of
the quadruple-expansion type, with two sets of four cylinders, the
propellers being two three-bladed, made of bronze. The difficulty
with large reciprocating engines has always been to cause them to
work without giving forth considerable vibration. But the careful
arrangement of the cranks of the engine so as to balance each other
tends to neutralise the vibration. It is easier to balance four cranks
than three, and in this German ship the four-crank principle is
followed. Steam is supplied by four single-ended and eight double-ended
boilers, the Howden draught system being employed.
The _Berlin_, the other latest modern liner of the Norddeutscher Lloyd
Line, will be seen in the next illustration. Unlike her sister, she
has been given only two masts, and in another illustration, in a later
chapter, we show this ship under construction. She was recently built
at Bremen for the Mediterranean to New York service, and carries 3,630
persons, inclusive of crew. Like other modern German liners, this
vessel is handsomely furnished, and the public rooms are all united
in a deckhouse lighted by a large number of cupola-shaped sky-lights.
She has a registered tonnage of 19,200 gross, and in the Norddeutscher
fleet ranks next after the _Kaiser Wilhelm II._ She passed into the
hands of her owners at the end of 1909.
[Illustration: THE “LAURENTIC” ON THE STOCKS.
_From a Photograph. By permission of Messrs. Harland & Wolff._]
Two interesting new ships were commissioned in 1909 by the White
Star Line, for the Liverpool-Quebec service, named respectively the
_Laurentic_ and _Megantic_. An illustration, showing the former on
the stocks at Harland and Wolff’s yard, Belfast, is given opposite
page 210. The _Laurentic_ and _Megantic_ are, as to hulls, sister
ships, and each has a tonnage of 14,900, thus being among the largest
steamers in the Canadian trade. But whilst the latter is a twin-screw
ship propelled by reciprocating engines, the former has three screws
and a combination of reciprocating engines and a low-pressure
turbine, being the first large passenger steamship to be designed
with this ultra-modern method. Each of the “wing” propellers is
driven by four-crank triple balanced engines, the central propeller,
however, being driven by the turbine. The object aimed at by this
novel hybrid method was to retain the advantages of the carefully
balanced reciprocating engines, but at the same time to obtain the
benefit of the further expansion of steam in a low-pressure turbine,
without having to employ a turbine specially for going astern. The
reciprocating engines of the _Laurentic_ are adequate for manœuvring
in and out of port, and for going astern, since they develop more than
three-quarters of the total combined horse-power. This steamship,
single-funnelled and two-masted, measures 565 feet in length, and 67
feet 4 inches in width, and besides having accommodation for 1,690
passengers, carries a large quantity of cargo. Like many other big
steamships that we have noted in the course of our story, she has a
double cellular-bottom which extends the whole length of the ship,
being specially strengthened under the engines. Her nine bulkheads
divide her up into ten water-tight compartments. It will be noticed
that the rudder has gone back to the ordinary type common before the
introduction of the balance method. Notice, too, that the blades of the
propeller are each bolted to the shaft, and that the latter terminates
in a conical shape now so common on screw-ships. This is called the
“boss,” and was invented by Robert Griffiths in 1849. It was introduced
in order to reduce the pressure of the water towards the centre. This
method was first tried on a steamer in the following year at Bristol
and afterwards on H.M.S. _Fairy_. By reason of its shape, it naturally
causes less resistance through the water.
Whilst these lines are being written, there are building at Harland and
Wolff’s yard still another couple of ships for the White Star flag,
which, if not in speed, will be the most wonderful, and certainly the
largest ships in the world. After the _Baltics_ and _Mauretanias_ one
feels inclined to ask in amazement: “What next, indeed?” They will
measure 850 feet long, 90 feet broad, and be fitted with such luxuries
as roller-skating rinks and other novelties. They will each possess a
gross register of 45,000 tons. (By way of comparison we might remind
the reader that the _Mauretania_ has a gross register of 33,000 tons.)
Named respectively the _Olympic_ and _Titanic_, they will be propelled
by three screws, and have a speed of 21 knots, so that besides being
leviathans, they will also be greyhounds, and are destined for the
Southampton-New York route. The first of these, the _Olympic_, will
take the water in October, 1910, and some idea of her appearance may
be gathered from the illustration which forms our frontispiece. Like
the _Laurentic_, these ships will be fitted with a combination of the
turbine and reciprocating engines, and will thus be the first ships
running on the New York route to have this system. Their builders
estimate that the displacement of each of these mighty creatures will
be about 60,000 tons, which is about half as much again as that of
the _Baltic_. Each ship will cost at least a million and a half of
money, and it will be necessary for each of those harbours which they
are to visit to be dredged to a depth of 35 feet. It is a complaint
put forward by both ship-builders and owners of modern leviathans
that the governing bodies of ports have not shown the same spirit of
enterprise which the former have exhibited. To handicap the progress
of shipping by hesitating to give the harbours a required depth, they
say, is neither fair nor conducive to the advance of the prosperity
of the ports in question, and on the face of it, it would seem to be
but reasonable that if the honour of receiving a mammoth liner means
anything at all, it should be appreciated by responding in a practical
manner. In New York Harbour this fact is already recognised, for
dredging is being undertaken so as to provide a depth of 40 feet.
At the present moment the Cunard Company are also engaged in
replenishing their fleet, consequent on the removal from service of the
_Lucania_, the _Umbria_, the _Etruria_, and the _Slavonia_. An 18,000
ton steamship, to be called the _Franconia_, is being built by Messrs.
Swan, Hunter and Wigham Richardson, Ltd., the firm which turned out
the _Mauretania_, and will be ready some time in 1911. This latest
addition will not, it is understood, be a “flyer,” for her speed is
believed to be less than 20 knots, and it is therefore probable that
she is intended to replace the _Slavonia_. But it is supposed that
another vessel is to be built presently to relieve the _Mauretania_ and
_Lusitania_, or to co-operate with them, and that her speed will be
23 knots, though it must not be forgotten that this ship will not be
built with the help of Government money, but will be purely and solely
a commercial transaction.
In the meantime German enterprise shows but little signs of lagging.
The Hamburg-American Line are understood to have ordered from the
Vulcan Yards at Hamburg a new passenger liner of more than 800 feet in
length and a displacement of between 45,000 and 50,000 tons. Her speed
is to be 21 knots. Herr Ballin a couple of years ago had a similar
project in view, and entered into a contract with Harland and Wolff
for building the largest ship in the world, to be called the _Europa_.
But the condition of the Atlantic passenger trade became unfavourable
for the enterprise, and the contract was annulled. The contract now
goes, not to Belfast, but to Hamburg, for the Belfast yard has no slip
vacant for several months to come. It will mean, therefore, that this
_Europa_, which is destined to excel the big Cunarders in size though
not in speed, will be the largest undertaking that German ship-building
yards have yet had to face, for the biggest merchant ship which up till
now they have turned out is the _George Washington_, of 26,000 tons.
Since the _Deutschland_ lost the honour of holding the “blue ribbon,”
the Hamburg-American Line have not worried much about recapturing the
first position in speed. Economy plus a first-class service would
seem to be the modern combination of influence that is dominating the
great steamship lines. Speed is a great deal, but it is not everything
in a passenger steamship, and whether the limits have not already
been surpassed, and the _Mauretania_ and _Lusitania_ with their high
speeds and enormous cost of running will presently be regarded rather
as belonging to the category of white elephants than of practical
commercial steamships, time alone can show.
After all, the Atlantic and the other oceans were made by the Great
Designer as barriers between separate continents, and although we speak
of them casually as rather of the nature of a herring-pond, and build
our big ships to act as ferries, yet are we not flying in the face of
Nature, and asking for trouble? In the fight between Man and Nature, it
is fairly plain on which side victory will eventually come, in spite of
a series of clever dodges which throughout history man has conceived
and put into practice for outwitting her. You can fool her very well
in many ways for part of the time; but you cannot do this for ever
in every sphere. When we read of fine, handsome, well-found modern
liners going astray in the broad ocean, or of excellent, capable little
cross-channel steamships foundering between port and port, without
any living witnesses to tell how it all happened, we have a reminder
that the ways of man are clever beyond all words, but that Nature is
cleverer still. What the future of the steamship will be no one can
tell. Already ship-builders profess themselves capable of turning out
a monster up to 1,000 feet in length. But whether this will come about
depends on the courage of the great steamship lines, the state of the
financial barometer, and any improvements and inventions which the
marine engineer may introduce in the meantime. Perhaps the future rests
not with the steam, but the gas engine: we cannot say. It is sufficient
that we have endeavoured to show what a century and but little longer
has done in that short time for the steamship. Sufficient for the
century is the progress thereof.