5o8 



NATURE 



[SeITEMBER 2 2, 1898 



construction of new docks and in the alteration of old docks, I 

 propose now to say a few words on what appear to me to be at 

 present the salient points on these subjects in relation to the 

 growth and the requirements of our merchant navj*. 



In the first place one cannot but be struck with the great 

 demands which have come with some suddenness on the present 

 generation for increased dock and quay accommodation. The 

 British people are the chief carriers of the world, and are 

 indeed those " that go down to the sea in ships, and occupy 

 their business in great waters." This can be appreciated when 

 We consider that annually our over-sea import registered tonnage 

 is thirty-four millions, and our export registered tonnage is 

 thirty- eight millions. Our coastwise trafific amounts to sixty- 

 three million tons per annum, making together a tonnage to be 

 dealt with of one hundred and thirty-five million tons. If we 

 add to these figures the tonnage of vessels in ballast and the 

 number of calls of those vessels in the coasting trade which touch 

 at several ports in the course of one voyage, we must add a 

 further fifty-five millions of tonnage, making a total of one 

 hundred and ninety millions of tonnage using our ports yearly ; 

 and if we divide these figures by, say, three hundred days, to 

 provide against more or less idle days, bad weather, and the 

 like, we have the result of six hundred and thirty-three thousand 

 tons per diem entering and leaving our ports. If we assume an 

 average ship of three hundred registered tons, which is probably 

 not far wrong, we have about two thousand one hundred trading 

 vessels entering or leaving our ports daily— a flotilla of startling 

 numbers. 



In truth, the magnitude of our mercantile navy, as compared 

 with that of other countries, is astonishing. We have ten and 

 a half millions of tons, against a total of thirteen millions of tons 

 belonging to all the other nations of the world, in which are in- 

 cluded three millions of tons of steam vessels engaged in the lake 

 and river traffic of the United States. Descending to particulars, 

 our merchant fleet is eleven and a half times that of France, 

 seven times that of Germany, eighteen times that of Russia (in 

 Europe), two and three-quarter times that of the United States 

 (inclusive of the craft on the great lakes), six and three-quarter 

 limes that of Norway, fourteen times that of Italy, and fourteen 

 times that of Spain. Out of our total tonnage of ten and a half 

 millions, six and three-quarter millions are steam vessels, and 

 the proportions in relation to the steam tonnage of the other 

 countries above referred to are approximately the same. 



Again, it is instructive to note how small a proportion of the 

 trade of other countries, even including coasting traffic, is carried 

 in ships belonging to the country in question. Thus, whereas 

 we as a nation convey in steamships 76 percent, of the aggregate 

 tonnage of our own ports, only the following proportions of the 

 total trade of other nations are carried by the shipping of each 

 country in question : — 



France about 30 per cent. 



Italy ,. 19 ,, 



Germany ... ... ... ,, 43 ,, 



Russia (in Europe) ,, 7 ,, 



Norway ... ... ... ,, 56 ,, 



Sweden ... ... ... ., 29 ,, 



Holland ... ... ,, 26 ,, 



United States (over-sea) ... ,, 15 ,, 



Further, it is a recognised fact that a very large part of the 

 balance of the above proportions is conveyed in British ships 

 frequenting the various foreign ports and acting, as I have said, 

 as the ocean carriers of the world. 



Thus in the best returns available I find that British shipping 

 conveys the following proportions of the over-sea commerce of 

 other countries : — 



Italy 



Germany 



Russia .. 



Norway 



Sweden 



Holland 



United States 



France 



44 per cent. 



38 „ 



57 „ 



18 „ 



27 „ 



54 ,, 



60 ,, 



(not given) 



The experience of the Suez Canal again tells the same tale, 

 for of the total tonnage passing through that international 

 waterway 66 per cent, is British. This is nearly seven times 

 that of the shipping of the next largest contributor, which is 

 Germany, and nine times that of France. 



NO. 1508, VOL. 58] 



This vast amount of carrying trade is in British hands, be- 

 cause we can do it cheaply as well as efficiently. I believe that 

 the whole of our commercial fleet is worked at a very narrow 

 margin of average profit, though in the aggregate it forms one 

 of the most important factors in our country's position among, 

 the nations of the world. 



We are often reminded of how greatly the value of our 

 imports exceeds that of our exports ; but we should not forget 

 that the profit on the transport of both goes chiefly to the 

 British nation as shipowners, in addition to the profit which is 

 earned by them in the carriage of merchandise from one foreign, 

 port to another. 



What an important thing it thus is to the prosperity of this 

 country, not merely that our own ports should be convenient and 

 adequate to all demands, but that our ship-builders should be 

 able to keep pace with the demands of this huge transport 

 traffic ! We find in this connection that we add about half a 

 million of tons of shipping annually to our register, and that we 

 lose about 250,000 tons annually by wreck and by vessels- 

 becoming old or obsolete, so that, as a matter of fact, the 

 average annual increment of our mercantile navy for the past 

 twelve years is about a quarter of a million of tons. 



The remarkable development within recent years in the cheap- 

 ness of steam navigation, the improved methods of building and 

 •■'gging of sailing ships, and various economic causes have 

 resulted in a large increase of the average size of ship engaged 

 in over-sea voyages with a comparative diminution in the number 

 of the crews of each description of vessel. Greater draught of 

 water is consequently demanded, and as a better knowledge of 

 ship-building has indicated that the beam of ships can be con- 

 siderably increased without involving greater resistances, we 

 may expect to see ships to increase not only in length and depth, 

 but also in width. 



The largest steamer twenty years ago (excepting of course the 

 Great Eastern, which was a magnificent conception, though iii 

 advance of her time and its requirements) was, I believe, the 

 City pf Berlin, of 5500 tons burden. Her length was 488 feet, 

 and her draught and beam were 25 feet and 44 feet respectively. 

 At the present time the Kader Wilhel>n der Grosse is 625 feet 

 long, her beam is 66 feet, and her draught is 27 feet, and we 

 know that these dimensions will soon be exceeded. 



A modern liner now being built will have a length of 704 

 feet (or 24 feet longer than the Great Eastern) with a beam of 

 68 feet and a draught of 28| feet. The great steamers for the 

 transport of cattle are 5S5 feet long, 64 feet beam, and 30 feet 

 draught and upwards, carrying 14,000 tons of cargo. Some of 

 the large sailing vessels carry over 6000 tons dead weight and 

 draw 28<i feet. Ships of war, though not so long as liner."!, 

 have a beam of 75 feet with a draught of 31 feet, and though 

 in the commercial marine we need not perhaps anticipate any 

 great further increase of draught of water, the demand for which 

 is largely governed by what is available in foreign ports or 

 rivers and in the Suez canal, the fact that men-of-war can, with 

 due regard to economy of propulsion, be built with great width 

 of beam in proportion to length, seems to indicate that we must 

 be prepaied in the future for a considerable increase of beam 

 for cargo-carrying vessels. 



We have further to note that, owing, no doubt, to the vast 

 improvements of marine steam engines and boilers realising 

 unlooked-for economy in the combustion of coal, steam vessels 

 are supplanting all but the largest class of sailing vessels as 

 carriers of commerce, almost as rapidly as they did forty or fifty 

 years ago in the conveyance of passengers and as ships of war. 



In 1897, out of a total shipping trade (cargoes and ballast) 

 dealt with in ships of all nations at the ports of the United 

 Kingdom, amounting to ninety millions of tons, eighty-one 

 millions of tons, or 90 per cent., were conveyed by steam 

 vessels; whereas, in 1885, out of a total of sixty-four millions 

 of tons, fifty millions of tons, or 78 per cent., were in steamers. 

 If we take, however, the tonnage of cargoes and liallast con- 

 veyed to and from her own ports by British ships only, we find 

 that in 1897, out of a total of sixty-four millions of tons, sixty- 

 one millions of tons, or 95 per cent., were in steam vessels; 

 whereas, in 1885, but 85 per cent, of the total tonnage conveyed 

 by British vessels was in steamships. 



Of the tonnage of vessels built in the United Kingdom in 

 1885, 50 per cent, were steamers, but in 1897 the proportion 

 was 86 per cent. ; and to sum up, we find that in the com- 

 mercial fleet of the United Kingdom and British Possessions, 

 as between 1887 and 1897, sailing ships have decreased 16 per 



