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THE APPLICABILITY OF ELECTRICAL PROPULSION TO 



felt that it has made more substantial progress than any other form with which I have ac- 

 quaintance; but I sincerely trust that all the other forms of propulsion will also make ad- 

 vances, and that each one will stimulate the other, so that in the end we will get the very 

 best results, and after a certain further experience know definitely which is the most advan- 

 tageous for our ships of war. 



The attitude assumed by the author of the paper, who has been intimately associated 

 with the actual performance of this system of propulsion, is most commendable; he has 

 undoubtedly drawn his conclusions from the actual working of the machinery under his su- 

 pervision, and, so far as the records indicate, the results have been exceedingly satisfactory. 



All the comments made in this discussion will, of course, be transmitted to the author 

 of the paper, and he will have an opportunity of submitting his comments in response. I 

 think the Society is to be congratulated not only upon the paper, but upon having in its mem- 

 bership one who has accomplished such very fine results in such a comparatively limited 

 period of time; we are also fortunate in having had the very active and earnest co-operation 

 of the Navy Department and the Bureau of Steam Engineering in giving practical trial to 

 this method of propulsion, and their having the courage to continue to give it further trial 

 on an even greater scale. 



Lieutenant Robinson (Communicated): — 1. In regard to the question of oil engines, 

 which has been raised, I would refer back to the title of this paper which shows that it is 

 intended to deal only with the propulsion of battleships. In its present state of development 

 the oil engine is out of the question for this purpose; no predictions are made as to what the 

 future may bring about in its development. In the first place, oil engines have not been 

 built in sizes that would make them available for battleships, and in the second place their re- 

 liability is at present so poor as to unfit them for this purpose. 



2. In regard to the economy of the plant of the Jupiter, I do not think there is any 

 question of the great gain made over other ships of this class. There arc at present seven 

 colliers in our service of practically the same hull and displacement as the Jupiter. Next to 

 the Jupiter, the most efficient of these ships is the Cyclops, which has an identical hull and 

 boiler plant with that of the Jupiter, the two ships having been built from the same plans. 

 There is herewith given the following comparison of the two ships. The data are taken from 

 the average performance of the vessels while in actual service : — 



3. Doubt has been expressed as to the feasibility of using one generator on a battleship 

 to supply power for the motors at low speeds, but no reason was advanced for questioning this. 



