'urther Blue Riband Contests 161 



on very easy terms, a good deal of the first 

 cost of the fliers. 



The record breakers were sister ships, but 

 whilst the Lusitania was built on the Clyde, 

 her rival came from the Tyne. They had 

 a length of 780 ft., beam 88 ft., depth 

 6o ft., tonnage of 32,000, and greatest of 

 all, engines developing 70,000 horse-power ! 

 In these monsters the Parsons turbine, 

 having been proved on other ships, was 

 now employed in its direct form. 



To realise fully what the one-and-a-half 

 knots extra speed over their German rivals 

 meant, we can note that, to get it, the 

 horse-power had to be doubled, and the 

 coal required leapt up to i ,000 tons a day. 

 Since the War such speed has not been 

 aimed at (except in the case of the German 

 fliers to be noted later) because of the 

 enormously increased running cost, and 

 especially the enhanced price of coal. The 

 Mauretania, and practically all new ships, 

 are now oil burners, but whilst there is 

 some economy in this, especially in getting 



