42 TEAR-BOOK OF FACTS. 



of construction. The Great Eastern was, perhaps, the only large 

 vessel in which this principle has been effectually applied ; and 

 although the exact form there adopted could only be employed in 

 very large ships, yet the principle is correct, and probably the pro- 

 portions also. He concluded by a strong appeal to Lloyd's Com- 

 mittee fundamentally to alter their Regulations, and to issue them 

 as Recommendations, and not to make them binding ; also to private 

 builders to study good work. 



Mr. Fairbairn has also read to the Institute a paper upon this 

 inquiry, in which he proposes the following plan for securing the 

 most effective distribution of the material which is to be added to 

 the upper part of the ship : — " Iron vessels are ordinarily constructed 

 with ribs or frames placed from fifteen to eighteen inches apart. 

 They are about two feet deep at the keel and taper to the width of 

 the angle iron round the bilge on each side. From that point to 

 the top of the deck the angle iron is in some cases considered of 

 sufficient strength for the reception of the sheathing plates. On. 

 the top side of the ribs a lighter description of angle iron is 

 riveted, and to this the flooring, whether of wood or iron, is 

 attached. This plan of construction is not objectionable, provided 

 two more longitudinal stringers on each side of the keel are made 

 to run from one end of the ship to the other, and in large ships 

 chain riveted as previously recommended, which will greatly en- 

 hance the value of the ship. If this were done so as to give the 

 required midship section necessary for the security of the vessel, 

 it would prove highly advantageous. The Great Eastern, which is 

 probably the strongest vessel in proportion to her size ever built, 

 is constructed on this principle, and the designer, the late Mr. 

 Brunei, was too sagacious an engineer to lose sight of the cellular 

 system, developed first in the Britannia Bridge, to neglect its ap- 

 plication to the deck as well as the hull of the monster ship. 

 The result of this application, with the longitudinal bulkheads, con- 

 stitutes the enormous strength of this magnificent vessel, proving 

 the importance of the cellular system for vessels of huge tonnage. 

 It combines lightness with strength, and the doable sheathing 

 gives immense rigidity to the construction ; in fact, the Great 

 Eastern is a double ship up to the water-line. With smaller vessels, 

 however, this system is not applicable, but a modification of it 

 may be safely adopted, with advantage to both builder and owner. 

 The exchange from the old system to the one I am urging will 

 not call tor any great sacrifice ; the change I propose is a new and 

 more scientific distribution of the mat rial, and not any great in- 

 crease of sectional area, and consequently of weight throughout tho 

 construction. 



"In the formation of the deck, it is essential for public security 

 that a new principle of construction should be immediafc 

 and that the cross beams forming the upper deck should be covered 



With iron Stringer platOS, thickest, towards the middle of the \ 



and tapering from j to ,',-. inch thick as they approach the stem and 



stern. The sectional area thus obtained, however, is short of 



