1 82 THE SCIENTIFIC PAPERS OF 



condition, and in going across the Atlantic it showed certain 

 signs of weakness. It was thought prudent to lock the rudder, 

 although the rudder was not disabled, and to manoeuvre entirely 

 by the propellers. We brought up the two ends of the cable where 

 it was ruptured in 100 fathoms of water, and laid the connecting 

 bit, and made the splice whilst it was blowing very hard, and the 

 sea was very rough : I say that accomplishing all that without a 

 rudder proves the advantage of the arrangement adopted. Then 

 there is one other point of difference between this and an ordinary 

 ship of that size, which is that it has a rudder at each end, and 

 has no stern. I was told that we should be pooped. An empty 

 cable ship may be pooped if she lie still, trying to hold fast to the 

 end of a cable ; but it occurred to us that if we gave her no stem 

 she could not very well be pooped, and the result has proved that 

 she can lie in a seaway without the least harm arising. On the 

 whole I may say that the ship in actual work has proved a 

 thorough success. 



The Chairman : Before you sit down would you inform us how 

 many miles of cable you carried ? 



Dr. Siemens : Two thousand miles of Atlantic cable. 



The Chairman : Was the bow rudder of any advantage ? 



Dr. Siemens : Occasionally it has been an advantage. If you 

 had to take back a cable it would be an advantage to take it back 

 by the same machine as paid it put previously, and in that case 

 you would steer by the bow rudder. Another case where the bow 

 rudder has been an advantage is in manoeuvring the ship against 

 the wind, because for turning it one way or the other you get an 

 additional power of manoeuvring. 



The Chairman : But if you built another would you put a bow 

 rudder to her ? 



Dr. Siemens : I think so. 



Mr. Charles W. Merrifield, F.R.S.: The bow rudder in that 

 case does not actually act as a bow rudder, but it is only when the 

 ship has stern-way ? 



Dr. Siemens : Yes. 



The Chairman: You alluded to the weakness of your stern 

 rudder, but a weakness forward would of course be of still more 

 importance. Of course one would not like to have a weak move- 

 able joint in any part of a sea-going ship. 



