180 THE SCIENTIFIC PAPERS OF 



In the discussion of the Paper 



"ON THE TELEGRAPH CABLE-SHIP 'FARADAY,'" 

 By C. W. MERRIFIELD, 



DR. CHARLES W. SIEMENS * said : As the owner and user of 

 the ss. " Faraday," I may be expected to make a few observa- 

 tions. First, with regard to her construction. Our object was 

 not to produce a ship of extraordinary dimensions or of peculiarity 

 of construction, but rather to accomplish an engineering object, 

 that of laying a cable across the Atlantic on more advantageous 

 terms than the " Great Eastern " would or could have done it. I 

 may therefore say that this ship grew under our hands. The 

 carrying capacity of the ship was given by the amount of cable 

 which had to be carried. The questions then arose how to 

 arrange this load in the ship, and how to make the ship manage- 

 able under all circumstances. The paper has stated already that 

 the ship was constructed by Messrs. Mitchell, who have discharged 

 their duty in a very perfect manner ; and I should hardly have 

 ventured upon so many points of novelty if I had not been sup- 

 ported by my friend Mr. Froude, who, as regards several of the 

 details adopted, assisted us with his advice throughout. One of 

 the difficulties in cable ships is that they roll enormously. It is 

 true that the load is in large masses in the cable tanks, and very 

 low, but still that hardly seems to account for the tendency these 

 ships have to roll. One of our objects was to make this ship free 

 from that great inconvenience, because in laying a cable, and still 

 more in grappling for one and in splicing, the rolling motion is a 

 very great evil. Mr. Froude suggested that there should be two 

 enormous bilge keels instead of an ordinary keel to this ship, and 

 the result has been very satisfactory indeed. But what is of still 

 greater importance is that a cable ship should be able to be 

 manosuvred in a way which is quite unnecessary in the case of 

 ordinary mercantile ships ; for not only has she to obey her helm 



* Excerpt Transactions of the Institute of Naval Architects, Vol. XVII. 1876,. 

 pp. 206-208. 



