SHIP 



5354 



SHIP 



feet, and a depth from keel plate to topmost 

 structure of almost 100 feet about the height 

 of an eight-story building. Engines of 62,000 

 horse power, consuming 1,000 tons of coal a 

 day, drive it through the water at an average 

 speed of twenty-three knots (almost twenty- 

 six and one-half miles) an hour. Such a vessel 

 as the Imperator provides accommodation for 

 800 first-cabin passengers, 600 second-cabin, 900 

 third-cabin and 1,700 steerage passengers. The 

 crew numbers 1,200. In laying down the Im- 

 perator its owners decided to sacrifice a certain 

 amount of speed in order to gain carrying 

 power, so that its speed record does not indi- 

 cate the full ingenuity of modern builders. The 

 English-built ship Mauretania of the Cunard 

 Line maintained a speed of twenty-seven knots 



bath, have been developed by keen competi- 

 tion for the passenger-carrying trade between 

 Europe and America. The rise of Germany as 

 a maritime power greatly stimulated rivalry 

 during the last decade, and it is worth noting 

 that a German-built ship, the Deutschland, es- 

 tablished a new record between Sandy Hook 

 lighthouse and the coast of Ireland in 1900. 



The Hamburg-American Company built the 

 great Vaterland, completed in 1914, and at that 

 time the largest steamer on the seas. It has a 

 gross tonnage of 54,300. When the War of the 

 Nations began this steamer was interned in 

 New York harbor and was kept there until 

 America joined the allies in 1917. After the 

 break between the United States and Germany 

 the American government took over the Vater- 



DEVELOPMENT IN A FEW YEARS OF SHIPBUILDING 



At the left is the Oceanic of 1880, supplied with sails as well as with steam power, to lessen 

 running expenses. At the right is a type of the great steamships of to-day. 



for several hundred miles on its trial trip, and 

 later kept up an average of more than twenty- 

 six knots an- hour for the transatlantic voyage. 

 The 4 Mauretania is 790 feet long and eighty- 

 eight feet wide, and its hold is over sixty feet 

 deep. It is driven by Parsons turbine engines 

 of 70,000 horse power, turning four screws. The 

 Lusitania, sunk by a German submarine in 

 1915, was a sister ship of 31,550 gross tonnage, 

 a trifle less than that of the Mauretania. 



The Titanic, of the White Star Line, de- 

 stroyed by an iceberg collision in 1912, was a 

 ship of 43,500 tons, 850 feet long, 92.5 feet wide, 

 with a depth of 64.5 feet. It was designed for 

 a speed of twenty-one knots. The Olympic, 

 also of the White Star Line, is a ship of sub- 

 stantially the same model, driven by Parsons 

 turbines and reciprocating engines, and having 

 three screws. Such ships as these, as perfectly ap- 

 pointed as the most expensive of private clubs, 

 offering even the luxury of a marble swimming 



land, which had been damaged by its crew, 

 made the necessary repairs and put the steamer 

 afloat under the American flag. 



Construction. The change from sail to steam 

 and from wood to iron and steel in steamship 

 construction progressed together. The Savan- 

 nah was the first ship to steam across the At- 

 lantic. It was laid down at New York as a 

 sailing vessel, but was equipped with steam 

 power and fitted with paddles. The Savannah 

 made the crossing in 1819, covering the distance 

 between Savannah and Liverpool in twenty-five 

 days, arriving just as the scientists of England 

 had decided that such a feat was impossible. 

 Conservative builders were likewise distrustful 

 of iron. Iron, they argued, is heavier than 

 water; how can an iron ship be expected to 

 float? Experience has now shown that the 

 steel ship is lighter than the old wooden ship, 

 more durable and stancher. In particular, the 

 requisite strength at points subjected to ten- 



