178 Master Minds of Modern Science 



while the space saved in Carmania by the adoption of the 

 turbines enabled her to carry more cargo. 



The tide was now turned fully in favour of the turbine, 

 and a very large number of new passenger vessels, includ- 

 ing two for Japan, were fitted with the Parsons steam 

 turbine. The Ben-ma-Chree, built for service to the Isle 

 of Man, surprised every one most pleasantly by doing 

 twenty-five knots on her trials. 



Still bigger things were in prospect, for the Government, 

 aware that British trans- Atlantic traffic was threatened by 

 German competition, made a large loan to the Cunard 

 Company for the purpose of building two mammoth 

 vessels of great speed. These were the Mauretania and 

 Lusitania, and the company decided to fit them both with 

 turbines. The new Cunarders were by far the greatest 

 vessels yet built, being roughly eight hundred feet long, 

 eighty-eight beam, and sixty-six feet deep. The high- 

 pressure turbines were ninety-six inches in diameter, the 

 low were one hundred and forty inches. The Lusitania 

 was launched first, and on a forty-eight-hour trial run 

 attained a speed of 25*4 knots. The Mauretania did even 

 better, being half a knot faster than her sister. Probably 

 two finer ships were never built, for the Mauretania 

 remained the fastest trans-Atlantic ship afloat for more 

 than twenty-one years, and was never beaten until 1929, 

 when the German-built Bremen exceeded her record. The 

 Mauretania has crossed the Atlantic at a speed exceeding 

 twenty-six knots, while none of her predecessors ever 

 exceeded 23*58 knots. 



Large cruisers now being built were engined with 

 turbines. One of them, the Indomitable, beat all records 

 for warships by crossing the Atlantic from Canada to 

 England at a speed of 24*3 knots. 



So far we have considered chiefly the uses of the steam 

 turbine afloat. But for every turbine installed in a ship 

 there must be a score in use ashore. As we have already 



