TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION G. 081 



may expect to see ships to increase not onh' in leiigtii and depth, but also in 

 width. 



The largest steamer twenty years ago (excepting of course the ' Great Eastern,' 

 •which was a magnificent conception, though in advance of her tirar; and its 

 requirements) was, I believe, the ' City of IJcrlin,' of 5,500 tons burden. Iler 

 length was 488 feet, and her draught and beam were 2o feet and 44 feet respec- 

 tively. At the present time the ' ICaiser Wilhelm der Grosse ' is &2o ieet long; 

 lier beam is 66 feet and her draught is 27 feet, and we know that those dimensions 

 will soon be exceeded. 



A modern liner now being built will have a length of 704 feet (or 24 feet 

 longer than the ' Great Eastern ') with a beam of GS feet and a draught of 28Jr 

 feet. The great steamers for the transport of cuttle are 585 feet long, 64 feet 

 beam, and 30 feet draught and upwards, carrying 14,000 tons of cargo. Some of the 

 large sailing vessels carryover 6,000 tons dead weight and draw 28^r feet. Ships of 

 war, though not so long as liners, have a beam of 75 feet with a draught of 31 feet, 

 and though in the commercial marine we need not perhaps anticipate any great 

 further increase of draught of water, the demand for which is largely governed 

 by what is available in foreign ports or rivers and in the Suez Canal, The fact that 

 men-of-war can, with due regard to economy of propulsion, be built with great 

 width of beam in proportion to length, seems to indicate that we must be prep.Tved 

 in the future for a considerable increase of beam for cargo-carrying vessels. 



We have further to note that, owing, no doubt, to the vast improvements of 

 marine steam-engines and boilers realising unlooked-for economy in the com- 

 bustion of coal, steam vessels are supplanting all but the largest class of sailing 

 vessels as carriers of commerce, almost as rapidlj- as they did forty or fifty years 

 ago in the conveyance of passengers and as ships of war. 



In 1897, out of a total shipping trade (cargoes and ballast) dealt with in ships 

 of all nations at the ports of the United Kingdom, amounting to ninety million.? 

 of tons, eightj"-one millions of tons, or 90 per cent., were conveyed by steam vessels ; 

 whereas, in 1885, out of a total of sixty-four millions of tons, tifty millions of tons, 

 or 78 per cent., were in steamers. If we take, however, the tonnage of cargoes 

 and ballast conveyed to and from her own ports by British ships only, we find that 

 in 1897, out of a total of sixty-four millions of tons, sixty-one millions of tons, or 

 95 per cent., were in steam vessels ; whereas, in 1885, but 85 per cent, of the total 

 tonnage conveyed by British vessels was in steamships. 



Of the tonnage of vessels built in the United Kingdom in 1885, 50 per cent. 

 Avere steamers, but in 1897 the proportion was 86 per cent. ; and, to sum up, we 

 find that in the commercial fleet of the United Kingdom and British Possessions, 

 as between 1887 and 1897, sailing ships have decreased 16 per cent, in number and 

 have, in spite of the building of a certain number of exceptionally large vessels, 

 decreased U per cent, in average size ; while steamers have increased 23 per cent, in 

 number and 16 per cent, in average size. The total sailing tonnage has decreased in 

 the .same period by 24 per cent., and the steam tonnage has increased by 36 per cent. 



The problems thus confronting us, as results of the increased size of all descrip- 

 tions of oversea steamships, require much consideration from an engineering point of 

 view, and are further puzzling, and will continue to puzzle, our financial authorities, 

 Avithout whose aid the engineer can do but little. 



We ask, Where is all this expansion of requirements to stop, and how far are 

 we justified in extending our view of the wants of the future from the contem- 

 plation of the conditions of the present and of what has occurred in the past ? 

 This is undoubtedly a difficult question, and he would be a bold man who thought 

 that we had reached finality in the size of ships. Bound up with this consideration 

 are not merely matters of first cost of the accommodation to be provided, but 

 also of the annual expenses in working and maintenance, not only of the docks 

 themselves, but in what is perhaps of more importance — viz, in the preservation 

 of sufficiently deep and wide approaches to them. 



Apart from length, depth, and beam, the midship cross-section of modern cargo 

 ships has altered completely of late years, and is now nearly as rectangular in shape 

 as a packing-case, excepting only that at the bilges the sides and floor are joined 



