ACTIVE TYPE OF STABIUZING GYRO. 203 



2. ADVANTAGES APPLYING ESPECIALLY TO MEN-OF-WAR. 



(a) Decreasing the amount of under-water armor, which it is necessary 

 to place on men-of-war at present in order to protect that portion of the hull 

 which might be exposed to the enemy by rolhng. 



(6) Steady gun platform. 



(c) Ability to go into action in any state of sea or upon any course in 

 rough weather. 



(d) Improving the condition of men and officers by eliminating the 

 fatiguing and other effects of incessant and constant rolling. 



{e) Ability to roll the ship artifically to standard angles, as desired, in 

 competitive target practice. 



Since the unique and enlightening discussion recorded in the last pro- 

 ceedings of the British Institution of Naval Architects, the character and 

 extent of the early work of Sir Philip Watts, Professor Biles and others in 

 attempts at improving the stability of ships by the use of damping tanks, 

 in England, have been better understood. The original detailed proposition 

 of Sir Philip for the construction of the tanks on the Invincible and other 

 ships has also become known, and the completeness of their understanding 

 of the underlying principle of the operation of these tanks, namely, their 

 necessary synchronism with the ship's period, for developing secondary 

 resonance, leaves little to be desired. 



Without dwelling upon the claims to originality which were made by 

 the author of the paper which led the discussion, I think we all agree that 

 he is entitled to much credit for his persistent work in this line and for the 

 certain applications to ships which have resulted from these activities. 



There is no doubt about the very great desirability of steady ships. 

 We believe that shipping interests and the marine generally are indebted 

 to the recent German workers for again bringing this important subject 

 into prominence. Both Dr. Schlick and Herr Frahm have been working 

 in the same line in one particular, namely, damping roll of ships after motion 

 of some magnitude has set in. In point of fact, they diminish the amount 

 of such roll by setting up counter forces having their origin in the motions 

 themselves and depending upon such motions for their existence. 



This meeting of the Institution was remarkable in a way, for there were 

 present England's foremost thinkers and workers in this field — men who have 

 achieved distinction and impressed the manifold results of their long- 

 continued service upon both the navies and merchant service of the world. 



Turning again to the operation of damping tanks in the original paper 

 by Mr. Frahm, much stress is laid upon the point that the fundamental 



