xxxii INTRODUCTORY PROCEEDINGS. 



He collected around him a corps of men who were experts in concrete work and also 

 a number of highly qualified engineers, and, in addition, men who really had been con- 

 nected with shipbuilding before. He went into the matter most thoroughly. It was not 

 only necessary to develop the art of concrete shipbuilding which had been begun, of course, 

 before this, but to apply it to the much larger hulls and endeavor to make the hulls satis- 

 factory when built. 



It was essential that weight should be saved as much as possible without sacrificing 

 the strength of the structure, and to that end very elaborate and exhaustive experiments 

 were made to determine the best form of concrete to use in the hull work. 



That Mr. Wig claims to have been satisfactorily developed, and I sincerely hope the 

 results may prove that the concrete ships, of which there will soon be in operation a num- 

 ber of 7,500-ton vessels, will prove lasting and serviceable. 



In order to make sure that his reinforced materials were properly disposed, so that he 

 could get the necessary structural strength without relying upon the concrete, except as a 

 form of rigidity, he endeavored to find, in so far as any record was available, what were 

 the actual stresses, strains, deflections and distortions which had been experienced with other 

 ships ; in other words, he went at the problem as scientifically as he could — he wished to see 

 what forces he would have to overcome, what stresses he would have to meet, and he did 

 these things, and I hope succeeded in placing his reinforcing material so that he would get 

 the best results. He really did use a great deal of determination, ingenuity and thought in 

 that matter. 



His previous paper, presented last year, gave a very clear idea of what he proposed 

 to do, and the paper which is to be presented this morning is in amplification of the first. 

 I am only sorry that Mr. Wig is not here to state his case, because he has a case to state. 

 I am afraid that the majority of people here will argue against himi. I am not advocating 

 concrete ships. I think the matter is still to be proven, but the points of my remarks have 

 been to try to express to the Society what an earnest effort Mr. Wig made in this direction, 

 and also my conviction that he made a remarkable advance in the art of building concrete 

 ships. 



Whether the construction of vessels of this material is going to be matter that will be 

 followed by subsequent construction or not is something we cannot tell, but, from observing 

 these vessels built from Mr. Wig's design, we will certainly learn the best that could be 

 accomplished in concrete construction up to the present time. 



I sincerely hope that the members will read the paper carefully and will be interested in 

 following the operation of these ships. For your infonnation I may say that certain of them 

 will be in operation in a very short time. The only concrete ship of considerable size that is 

 known to the world at large, as being a ship that will float and operate, is the good ship 

 Faith. I had the pleasure of inspecting that vessel after she had traveled some 12,000 miles, 

 and at that time I saw her in the dry dock, and also floating. She showed little or no sign of 

 deterioration, and I believe she has carried cargo many miles safely. I also have heard 

 rumors that she is giving certain trouble. On the other hand, any experience with the Faith 

 should not be taken as conclusive that concrete ships will not be serviceable. The Faith was 

 hastily built, designed without any very careful investigation of the conditions she would 

 have to meet, and I think Mr. Wig and his associates feel and know that their vessels are 

 much better from an engineering point of view, and they should, therefore, have a much better 

 chance to live and see a good many years of practical service. 



