The Mechanical Handling and Storing of Material

COALING VESSELS AT SEA 335 device is forced out, which separates the multiple sheaves and thereby takes up the slack, and in the reversal of conditions the plunger is driven back in the cylinder by the extra tension, and the necessary extra length of rope is paid out. The apparatus is capable of keeping the rope at the same tension between the limits of the maximum and minimum distance between the vessels. There are obvious, if not serious, objections to this, viz., that the rope must pass over eight or twelve comparatively small sheaves, which is not good for the rope, and also adds to the driving power consumed. Such a coaling appliance has been experimented with in the German Navy, and found capable of transferring 50 tons of coal per hour. Latest Developments.1—Considerable success has attended the experiments under the Navy Department of coaling at sea, the latest demonstration being with an improved type of the Lidgerwood-Miller marine cableway. In the latest experiments, which were conducted as an acceptance test of the contractor’s equipment, the naval collier “ Cyclops ” was used in conjunction with the U.S.S. “South Carolina,” and the test was conducted on Saturday, 12th April 1913. The contract of the Navy Department with the builders of the system called for a delivery of 480 tons of coal in a period of eight hours. The mechanism was operated for six hours under most unfavourable conditions of weather, and was pronounced a success. The maximum amount of fuel transferred within an hour was 83 tons. The test was con- ducted for four hours, or long enough to convince the naval board that the system would answer all the purposes of the service. The transfer of coal from the “ Cyclops ” to the “South Carolina” at sea in a driving rain, with the collier rolling 20°, was preceded by a dock trial. The test was observed by a board composed of Captain Thomas Snowden, in command of the “South Carolina”; Naval Constructor L. B. M'Bride, of the Bureau of Construction and Repair; and Lieutenant Halsey Powell, of the U.S.S. “South Carolina.” Under this improved system of coaling at sea all of the gear is installed on the collier. The plant includes an automatic tension engine, and even the mast necessary to erect on the coal-receiving ship is carried, when not in use, on board the collier. In order to attach the load to the cableway carriage all the lines are hauled down to the deck, and a group of bags hooked on. The haul-down gear is then released and the conveying engines set in motion to convey the load. This load travels at very high speed, attaining a maximum of 3,000 ft. per minute. The load carriage is provided with an automatic tripping device. When the load arrives over the deck of the battleship it collides with a bumper block which actuates this automatic trip, thus releasing the load. Before the load is released the cableway is let down at the battle- ship so that the bags of coal are dropped only a few feet. The regular winches and regular gear of the battleship are used to lower the bags to the battleship’s deck, making it possible for a collier to tie up to any battleship and coal. The fuel is delivered at the rate of five or six bags, carrying 700 to 800 lb., on each trip, or a total delivery of 3,500 or 4,000 lb. The rate of delivery is from 50 to 60 secs, in a distance of 500 ft. between the collier and the battleship, which in the recent test were steaming at the rate of from 7 to 8 knots. The maximum amount of coal transported within an hour during this test was 83 tons. On board the battleship some difficulty was encountered in taking away the coal from the forecastle on account of the driving rainstorm. The cableway was frequently stopped in its operation to enable the men on the battleship to clear away the coal. In 1 From the “Army and Navy Register” (Washington), 17th May 1913.