10 ON THE MAXIMUM DIMENSIONS OF SHIPS. 
consideration of the harbor and docking accommodation which will be avail- 
. able, in case of war, for the reception and repair of the largest vessels. For 
warships as well as for merchant ships expenditure on ships and armaments 
must be considered concurrently with that on harbors and docks, and in 
every well-devised programme the two things must be dealt with concur- 
rently. ‘This is a truism, no doubt; but past events prove that it may none 
the less be neglected in the excitement of a race to produce the “biggest 
warships’’ each carrying the greatest number of the heaviest guns. 
XI. Enlarged dimensions, of course, enable certain advantages to be 
obtained, outside the fundamental gains of economy in sea-transport or 
increased speed. Amongst these advantages are: 
(a) Maintenance of speed at sea in rough weather, and increased uni- 
formity of service between terminal ports. 
(6) Greater steadiness and- good behavior in rough water and in- 
creased comfort for passengers, if naval architects are left free to utilize 
fully the greater size of ships. Not infrequently they do not enjoy such 
freedom, because the conditions laid down impose limitations on their choice 
of dimensions and proportions. 
(c) Better and more spacious accommodation for larger numbers of 
passengers. ; 
(d) The attraction which many passengers have toward the “biggest 
ships afloat.”’ 
A few remarks may be added respecting the first and second of these 
supplementary gains due to larger size in passenger steamships. 
Maintenance of speed in rough seas and storms is obviously affected 
by the relative dimensions of ships and waves. Storm waves in the Atlantic 
Ocean and elsewhere attain certain maximum dimensions. The observations 
of Dr. Scoresby, Lieutenant Paris, and others have enabled us to accumulate 
a great body of information respecting the sizes and speeds of ocean waves, 
and more than thirty years ago I brought these facts together in the “ Man- 
ual of Naval Architecture.” Certain additions to our knowledge of wave- 
phenomena have been made since that date, but the main facts remain 
substantially as I stated them in 1877 for the information and guidance of 
naval architects. Ocean waves have not grown in size because larger ships 
have been built; and obviously there must be an upper limit of size, 
beyond which, so far as maintenance of speed is concerned, further increase 
in the dimensions of ships will have little or no effect upon regularity of 
performance of service between terminal ports. I have previously recorded 
my opinion that this upper limit of size has been reached for the Trans- 
Atlantic service in the Mauretania and her sister ship, and I will now briefly 
state certain facts on which that opinion is based. 
