240 HEAVY-OIL ENGINES FOR MARINE PROPULSION. 
independent unit. Not being dependent upon so many external units such 
as boilers, feed pumps, condensers, air pumps, lines of steam piping, the 
probabilities of any accident external to the engine causing the plant to 
stop, are very remote in comparison with the steam plant. In the event 
of an accident to one cylinder such as a fracture, such cylinder could be run 
idle while the other cylinders would independently develop their power. 
Absence of Smoke.—This is a purely military advantage, much sought 
after but not heretofore obtained with coal. With oil engines there is a 
complete absence of smoke. 
Funnels.—In a war vessel, it has been found that unprotected funnels 
are a great menace in action. With the oil engines, the need for a funnel 
disappears. 
Cleanliness.—Having no coal smoke nor cinders, a vessel using oil 
engines would be as easy to keep clean as one of the old sailing ships. 
Readiness for Action.—With modern water tube boilers and turbines 
it is still necessary to spend about an hour getting up steam, warming the 
engines, etc., before the vessel is ready to move. With oil engines, none of 
these preparations are necessary. The engine is ready to run at a few 
seconds notice. 
Time for Loading Fuel.—To coal a war vessel quickly is of such para- 
mount importance that it is now the custom to make an evolution of this 
event, the services of every officer and man of the crew being required. 
But in spite of this, coaling is still a matter of one or more days. With 
oil fuel, it ceases to be a matter of manual labor but is dependent solely on 
the equipment used—on the pumps and sizes of piping used, and with any 
vessel could be easily reduced to a matter of an hour. 
In order to illustrate the above-mentioned advantages by a concrete 
case, we shall take the United States Destroyer Paul Jones, a complete 
account of which will be found in the Proceedings of the American Society 
of Naval Engineers, Vol. XIV, No. 3. 
This vessel has been selected as an example, primarily, because she is 
a very successful high powered coal burning destroyer, and represents the 
most economical and efficient installation of coal burning water tube boilers, 
and reciprocating steam engines. By taking a vessel of this type for com- 
parative purposes, it is believed that we can make a short cut, because we 
are comparing the most efficient and lightest type of marine steam plant 
with an engine of the future. Of course, we realize that we have a later 
type of destroyer which uses oil fuel under its boilers, and is driven by steam 
turbines. With this later installation, there is a certain amount of saving 
of weight as regards machinery, and a difference of economy, a slight gain 
