1 68 Book of Steamships 



particulars. I am specially privileged in 

 this as the builders, Messrs. Swan, Hunter 

 and Wigham Richardson, Ltd., have 

 kindly sent me details. The engines are 

 specially interesting to my readers, so we 

 will take them first. 



Unlike their predecessors, and many 

 successors, the Cunard fliers depended 

 entirely on turbines, whereas on many 

 vessels a combination of turbines and 

 reciprocating engines was installed. There 

 are six turbines to drive the four propellers. 

 The turbines are divided up in the follow- 

 ing fashion. Two high-pressure turbines 

 drive the two wing propellers; two low- 

 pressure turbines the inner pair of screws ; 

 and another pair of turbines are used for 

 going astern. The turbines are placed 

 in watertight compartments, so that the 

 flooding of one division would not neces- 

 sarily place the ship out of action. The 

 weight of the high-pressure turbine rotor 

 is 72 tons, the turbine having a diameter 

 of 8 ft. The low-pressure turbine rotor is 



