♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



[November 1, 1887 



Some ten years ago (if my memory serves) occurred the 

 disastious collision between the Grosser Kurfiirst and the 

 KiJnig Wilhelin. The focts of this catastrophe prove, as it 

 seems to me, the principle above stated, and the ignorance 

 of the commanding officers in regard to it. The two vessels 

 in question had in the course of manoeuvring got into dan- 

 gerous proximity while steaming parallel to each other, and 

 orders were given to sheer off and separate, the belief being 

 that, if one helm were put down and the other up, the 

 vessels would diverge in regular curves. What actually 

 occurred was that the sterns of the two vessels approached 

 each other until the collision occurred, which resulted in the 

 sinking of the weaker vessel, and the drowning of the 

 greater part of her crew. In the mquiry wliich was made 

 into the cause of this disaster the officers of both ships were 

 pronounced free of blame, and it was determined to institute 

 a course of experiments to ascertain how the vessels could 

 have come into contact while efforts were being made to 

 separate them. I have never heard what the result of 

 the experiments was, and do not think that it was pub- 

 lished. 



To illustrate by a diagram. No. I represents the intended 



No. 1. 



No. 2. 



course of the two ships when separating ; No. 2 represents 

 their actual course. 



Not long after the preceding catastrophe occurred the 

 following collision, which must be well remembered. Two 

 Sound (Long Island Sound, U.S.A.) steamers of the same 

 line, the Stonwgton and Narragansett, were proceeding to 

 their destinations. They had been accustomed to pass each 

 other midway of the route for years, but on this occasion 

 they proved to be approaching each other too directly. The 

 rule of the road was followed on this occasion. Each vessel 

 obeyed the sailing instructions, as was afterwards admitted. 

 If these were adapted to such cases the vessels should have 

 cleared each other. But they were approaching head-on 

 with great speed ; there was not sufficient interval to allow 

 for the stern deflection, and they were brought into collision 

 with such violence that one sank with the loss of many 

 lives. The newspapers commented upon this collision as 



inexplicable because the sunk steamer was struck upon the 

 reverse side to what would have been expected, which fact 

 is easily explained upon my hypothesis. It was, I believe, 

 by ordering the helms of the Merlin in a sense directly 

 opposed to the published instructions that Captain S. so 

 deflected the after part of his ship in the few moments 

 allowed to him as to receive a glancing instead of a direct 

 blow. 



As a last illustration, I will instance the loss of the fine 

 steamer Oregon. The facts in this case are unfortunately 

 not very clearly known, but it is generally admitted that 

 she was sunk by a vessel apjiroaching her obliquely from 

 the port side, which in the fog had got too near to be avoided. 

 It seems to me possible that the collision was owing again 

 to the following of sailing directions, based upon ignorance 

 of the principle I am seeking to establish. Diagram No. 1 



No. 1. 



No. 2. 



shows my idea of what actually happened. No. 2 what might 

 have happened if the instructions had been directly dis- 

 obeyed ; had the vessels then struck, it would have been a 

 glancing blow, which would not have seriously injured the 

 steamer. 



It is to be hoped that a series of experiments as to the 

 amount of this deflection and its relation to the length, 

 draught, and speed of the vessel might result (if it is not 

 presumptuous in a landsman to say so) in a modification of 

 the sailing instructions for such critical cases as I have 

 above instanced, as may avert collisions arising from similar 

 causes in the future. 



Since a conversation on this subject here incited by the 

 accounts of two quite recent collisions of English ironclads, 

 a friend informs me that he has observed a steamboat 

 leaving a wharf in Toronto Bay, which he carefully lined by 

 means of a stationary object on the island opposite. The 

 boat was steaming directly away from him at five or six 

 knots, when the helm was ported, and he saw that the 

 whole vessel was deflected to the left side of the line on 

 which she had been travelling, and that it was some seconds 

 after the helm had been ported before her bows crossed that 

 line. Thus : — 



