ALQUIST GEARING FOR SHIP PROPULSION. 
By W. L. R. Emmet, Eso., MEMBER oF CoUNCIL. 
[Read at the twenty-third general meeting of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, held in 
New York, November 18 and 19, 1915.] 
The designs described in this paper are based upon the inventions of Mr. Karl 
Alquist. Mr. Alquist is an accomplished engineer and was formerly connected with 
the Turbine Department of the English branch of the General Electric Company, 
the British Thomson-Houston Company. His gear inventions were first brought to 
the attention of the writer early in the year 1911. For some time previous, Mr. Al- 
quist had endeavored to arouse interest in his methods in England and on the Con- 
tinent but had accomplished nothing. At that time the General Electric Company 
had not begun the commercial manufacture of high-speed spiral gears, but had for 
some time been conducting experiments to determine the limits of speed, pressure, 
etc., which were practicable with such gearing. The importance of high-speed gear- 
ing in connection with turbine and electrical applications is obvious and we were 
working with a view to development of the best standards. 
Certain features of Mr. Alquist’s proposals appealed strongly to the writer, and 
arrangements were made with Mr. Alquist to come to America and assist in ex- 
perimental developments along the line of his inventions. 
The result of this undertaking has been that many sets of gearing have been 
built and experimented with exhaustively under a variety of conditions, and by these 
experiments certain standards of practicability have been established and extensive 
commercial developments have been undertaken. Gearing of this character has been 
applied to about seventy-two sets where steam turbines drive electric generators of 
various types. Contracts have been closed for machinery for the propulsion of sev- 
enty ships aggregating 215,200 horse-power. Some of these electric generating 
sets have been in service one and one-half years and about seven of the ship sets are 
in service, some of them having made many long voyages. Among these are high- 
pressure cruising units for the battleship Nevada which have been in service for 
some time and shown very fine results. Among the ship equipments not yet com- 
pleted are included the propelling machinery for Destroyer No. 69, built at Mare 
Island, and new propelling machinery for the scout cruiser Salem. In all of this 
practical experience no case of trouble with gearing has developed and no appreci- 
able deterioration of gears has been observed. 
One of the important reasons for adopting this type of gearing was that its de- 
sign tended to afford a distribution of strains and means by which excessive strains 
would not be imposed upon any part through slight imperfections, distortions, or in- 
accuracies. The uniform success which has been accomplished with an entirely new 
