The Growth of a Leviathan. 5 



had the rare privilege of enjoying a hereditary knowledge of ships, 

 for his father was regarded as a perfect cyclopaedia on everything 

 pertaining to a ship. Starting with such advantages, he had the 

 valuable opportunity of studying under the distinguished expert 

 Mr. Robert Edmund Froude, F.R.S., superintendent of the 

 Admiralty Experiment Works, Haslar, Gosport, and he was 

 formerly a member of the Royal Corps of Naval Constructors, 

 and was naval architect to the Admiralty. But in addition to 

 having a thorough theoretical and practical knowledge of ship- 

 building, Mr. Wilding possessed the greatest enthusiasm and love 

 for his work, and he (Sir John Byers) was sure all those present 

 would have a most enjoyable treat in hearing his lecture that 

 evening. 



Mr. Wilding, who was cordially received, at the outset of 

 his lecture defined a large ship in the restricted sense of the word 

 large, as being one having a tonnage of over 10,000, and the 

 oldest existing ship reaching this size and the newest one — both 

 as for the same owners — were illustrated. A slide of a large 

 cruiser was also shown to illustrate a large vessel for naval service. 

 The cause of the growth in size of ships was explained, and the 

 limitations restraining this growth — the amount of trade and port 

 facilities — were pointed out. The character of the growth for 

 the last sixty years was illustrated, and the extent to which large 

 vessels had been and were being built was dealt with, the share 

 of Belfast in this work being duly indicated, The lecturer 

 explained the way in which the construction of a large vessel 

 began, and gave a general indication of the process followed in 

 the preparation of the design, mentioning the wide area from 

 which materials had to be collected, and the method by which 

 the required quantities of these were ordered. The fashioning of 

 the steel, the handling and preparation of the materials on their 

 arrival at the shipyard, the preparation of the slip, the laying of 

 the keel, the process of riveting, the progress of the structure of 

 the double bottom both in the sheds and on the slip, the 

 erection of the main framing above the tank, the placing in 

 position of the steel decks, the method of construction and the 



