74 THE INFLUENCE OF NATIONAL POLICIES ON SHIPS' DESIGN. 



Mr. Francis T. Bowles, Past President: — ^This paper, I think, ought to be a gratifica- 

 tion to the members of this Society. I can recall times when officers in the line of the Navy- 

 have been heard to complain of the methods of design, etc., that they were not what they 

 ought to be, and criticize the views of naval architects and marine engineers. 



This paper informs us, to our gratification, that the Navy Department has now a method 

 of producing the designs of vessels which are suitable, and that the vessels produced are 

 creditable, and I am very much pleased to hear it. No doubt the members of the Society 

 are gratified. 



The Chairman : — Obviously this is a subject on which those who have been and are 

 still keeping in close touch with the matter are the ones most naturally pointed out to discuss 

 the paper. It may be that some others here, although not feeling themselves in this category, 

 have, nevertheless, taken it up as a subject in which they are interested, and they might 

 have something to say. 



Apparently we shall have to trust, for a reply to the discussion, to having the steno- 

 graphic report sent to the author, and he will make such comments as he wishes. 



Captain W. L. Rodgers (Communicated) : — -Mr. Robinson remarks that I referred 

 "To the fact that our" (naval constructors) "lack of ability resulted in the production of 

 unsuitable types of ships." I did not mean to reflect upon the technical ability of the con- 

 structors of the Navy, for from the beginning of the American Navy it has at every 

 period built ships which have commanded admiration for the technical skill of their design. 

 The Navy has always had able designers. 



As I have tried to show in my paper, the broad features of design must suit the par- 

 ticular requirements of national policy and geography, and this requirement has not always 

 been met. The tool must fit the hand of the workman. It is therefore necessary for those 

 who are going to use naval ships to lay down the qualities to be embodied in them. The 

 technical means employed to secure these qualities belong to the sphere of the naval architect. 

 . The seaman and the architect must co-operate to produce suitable types of ships, and 

 each has his own responsibility in the product. If either architect or seaman outsteps his own 

 limits, he may perhaps be wise and correct in his views, but in offering them he does so as an 

 amateur and not as an authority. 



The Chairman: — The next paper is No. 13, entitled, "General Consideration of Navy 

 Yard Design, Location, Capacity and Maintenance, with Plan and Description of a Large, 

 Efficient Yard Properly Located," by Captain L. S. Van Duzer, U. S. Navy. In the absence 

 of Captain Van Duzer, the paper will be read by the Secretary. 



The Secretary presented the paper. 



