Engineering Wonders of the World
Volume I

____________ __________________ THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SHIP. 319 necessity for constructing an integral portion of a and in 1876, Mr. G. B. Sunderland, and now of attention to the ballast tanks as ship’s structure ; Hunter (then of Wallsend-on-Tyne) introduced in the bottom of the Fenton, a small iron steamer, the com- bination of transverse framing with cellular arrangement of floors and keelsons for carrying water ballast, now almost universally adopted. Steel, as a substitute for iron, was first used for ship construction between the years 1873 and 1878. The new material was introduced into portions of the structure of French war- ships in 1873. Tn the same year the British Government ordered two dispatch vessels, the Iris and Mercury, to be built entirely of steel, and the use of this material soon became general in the construction of ships for the Royal Navy. In 1878 several steel merchant vessels, both sail and steam, were built in this country, and since that time practically all large vessels have been constructed of steel. Since the advent of the steamship, the largest vessels afloat have been employed in the mail and Increase in Size and Speed. passenger trade between Great Britain, Germany, or France and North America. The diagram of notable Atlantic vessels which, we give (page 318) therefore illustrates the development in the size of steamships. To make this diagram more interesting and comprehensive, an outline of His Majesty’s battleship Dread- nought has been added. As to the increase in speed of steamers, it was natural that the problems connected with the attainment of high speed should be first solved in the case of cross-channel vessels designed for comparatively short sea passages. Notable examples of successful steamers of this type were the Connaught, Ulster, Munster, and Leinster, built in I860, for the conveyance of passengers and mails between Kingstown and Holy head. These vessels, with their paddle engines, attained a speed of over 20 knots on trial. The development in speed of ocean-going vessels from the year in which the Great Eastern was completed (1859) to THE “MAURETANIA” COMPARED WITH THE GREAT PYRAMID OF CHEOPS. the present is shown in the following list of notable transatlantic steamers :— Name of Steamer and Line. Scotia (Cunard).......................... Adriatic (White Star).................... Britannic (White Star).................... Arizona (Guion).......................... City of Borne (Anchor).................... Umbria and Etruria (Cunard)............ City of Paris (Inman)..................... Majestic and Teutonic (White Star)........ Campania and Lucania (Cunard)__________ St. Louis and St. Paul (International)..... ............................... Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse (Norddeutscher Lloyd)................................ Oceanic (White Star)...................... Deutschland (Hamburg-Amerika).......... Kronprinz Wilhelm (Norddeutscher Lloyd).. Kaiser Wilhelm II. (Norddeutscher Lloyd).. La Provence (Générale Transatlantique).... Kronprinzessin Cecilie (Norddeutscher Lloyd) Lusitania and Mauretania (Cunard)....... Date Built. Speed at Sea. 1862 14| knots. 1872 14} knots. 1874 15 to 16 knots. 1879 17 knots. 1881 17$ knots. 1884 18J to 19J knots 1888 19 knots. 1889 19 knots. 1893 22 knots. 1895 21 knots. I 1898 22 J knots. 1899 20 J knots. 1900 28J knots. 1901 23J knots. 1904 23J knots. 1905 22 knots. 1906 23| knots. 1907 25 knots. Will Steamships continue to grow in Size and Speed ? As to the future, the question is often asked, Will steamships continue to grow in size and speed ? The problem is an interesting one. To deal with the last part of the question first, it may be said that the 25 knots speed of the Cunard liners Lusitania and Mauretania probably re- presents the maximum that will be attempted in mercantile vessels for some years to come, unless some revolutionary change be made in the mode of propulsion. Limitation of speed, however, is mainly the