AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF MINING ENGINEERS, TRANSACTIONS PITTSBURGH MEETING, FEBRUARY, 1886.
Theories accounting for the recent failure of steel boiler plates in England. Notes on the constitution of cast iron. Proposed apparatus for determining the heating power of different fuels. A new method of laying submarine tunnels and tubes. Peculiar phenomena in the heating of open-hearth and Bessemer steel. Soft steel for boiler plates. The Clapp-Griffith converter. The mineral resources of the Hudson Bay Territories. Miti’s castings from wrought iron or steel. The specific gravity of low-carbon steel. The Heine safety boiler.
J. K. B.
ANNALEN DER HYDROGRAPHIE.
Part II. Tidal and current observations on the east coast of Africa. Port Hamilton—Notes by the commander of the Nautilus. Caleta Buena in Chili. Meteorological and hydrographic notes.
Part III. Researches of Prof. E. Loomis on the form and motions of cyclones. Notes by the commanders of several German cruisers. Meteorological and hydrographic notes.
Part IV. The sun as the cause of variations in the earth’s magnetism and in the Northern Light. The Marshall Islands. Nautical, hydrographic and meteorological observations. Cruise of the Nautilus on the south coast of Corea. Porto Plaza on St. Iago. Temperature coefficients in testing chronometers. Meteorological and hydrographic notes.
J. T. S.
BULLETIN DE LA RÉUNION DES OFFICIERS.
March 13, 1886. Repeating arms.
There is no longer any question as to the efficacy of repeating arms; they have been adopted and are being gradually supplied to the European armies. Austria has in use the Mannlicher, a positive-motion gun, the magazine containing 5 cartridges, fired at the rate of 30 a minute. France is experimenting with the Gras-Kropatchek and the Gras-Lee. Germany is substituting a gun which is said to weigh five pounds less than its predecessor. The paper then describes the Hébler gun.
C. B.
FRANKLIN INSTITUTE JOURNAL.
March, 1886. The development of dynamic electricity, by Wm. D. Marks.
April. Tornado study, by Lieutenant J. P. Finley. Construction of a large proxy brake, Prof. R. H. Thurston. Summary of engineering and industrial progress for the year 1885, by Dr. Wm. H. Wahl. Report of committee on Delany’s system of multiplex telegraphy.
May. The blast furnace, by John M. Hartman. Hydrographic work of the United States Navy, by Lieutenant A. B. Wyckoff, U. S. N. The law of cylinder condensation in steam engines, by L. d’Auria.
June. Experiments made at New York Navy Yard to ascertain the economic effect of using in a non-condensing engine saturated steam alone, and of using it mixed with compressed hot air, by Chief Engineer Isherwood, U. S. N.
These experiments were made by a Board of Naval Engineers, with an apparatus submitted by Mr. E. M. Strange, for the purpose of ascertaining how much economic gain, if any, attended the use in a non-condensing cylinder of a mixture of saturated steam and of air compressed to the pressure of the steam and containing its heat of compression. The opening for the passage of the compressed air was in the steam pipe below the throttle valve. The results of the trial showed neither gain nor loss in economy of fuel due to the use of combined air and steam, comparably with the use of steam alone.
To the question : How could any other result be expected? Mr. Isherwood states in substance that the condensation of steam is greatly lessened by the admixture of air with it, as is shown upon a large scale in the atmosphere, which holds aqueous vapor in a state of gas at temperatures enormously below the liquefaction point of the vapor when not mixed with air. Professor Osborne Reynolds has also proved by direct experiment that by mixing air with the steam before it was used, the condensation at the surface of a cylinder may be greatly diminished, and consequently the efficiency of the engine increased. The use of air, however, in connection with steam will not produce any economic effect, unless the two are intimately mixed; merely delivering them in masses avails nothing. There is, of course, great difficulty in producing any such thorough mixture. Time for such mixing is utterly wanting during the operations of a steam engine.
In the experiment with Mr. Strange’s apparatus the steam and the air were delivered into the cylinder in distinct masses, separately and successively. There was no time for natural mixing, and no provision had been made for artificial mixing by means of appropriate mechanism; consequently no saving in fuel was produced; but this want of economic effect was not due to any unsoundness or error in the principle or theory, but solely to the fact that the principle was not applied under the conditions requisite for success. And here will be found the explanation of many similar failures in which the practical results were a most disappointing outcome from unquestionably sound premises.
The Oram system of marine propulsion.
The Oram system of propulsion is designed to procure higher speed in steamships, with an increased carrying capacity, and to avoid some of the risks of accident incident to propulsion by stern screws. It consists of an improved form and construction of hull, in which provision is made for a novel location and operation of screw propellers in cavities or recesses on both sides of the vessel.
The propellers are located about one-fifth of the length of the vessel abaft the bow. The cavities in which they are placed are so shaped as to guide the water to and from the propellers with the least possible friction and resistance. The propellers are susceptible of rotating independently; they are attached directly to the shafts of the engines, on angles of divergence which cause a downward, outward and rearward discharge of the water, attended with a corresponding reaction propelling the vessel.
The advantages claimed for the system are : a saving in weight and cost of machinery; the long shaft and alley to contain it are avoided and the space made available for storage, a degree of elasticity and flexibility in hull construction becomes admissible, which in stern-screw propellers could not be tolerated.
Experiments on the transmission of power by gearing, by Mr. Wilfred Lewis.
J. K. B.
JOURNAL DU MATELOT.
No. 12, 1886. By a decree of the Minister of Marine, diverging torpedoes will no longer be used by French ships, and all torpedoes of that type are to be turned into store upon the arrival of a ship at a naval station.
No. 18. The P. & O. S. S. Carthage recently went through the Suez Canal by night, and from the testimony of six of the oldest pilots who were onboard, the passage by night is as easy as by day. The passage was made by means of electric lights on board the ship, one ahead, one on each side, and one astern (the latter being used only in the entrances and in the curves), and of ordinary kerosene oil lights on the banks of the Canal.
The electric-light apparatus, including engine and dynamo, is movable, and is taken on board at the entrance and put ashore at the other end; it belongs to the P. & O. Co., and is reserved for the use of their steamers.
C. B.
MECHANICAL ENGINEER.
May 29, 1886. U. S. S. Puritan.
A history and description of the Puritan, with full-page illustrations of the engines.
Relative strength of hollow and solid-wrought shafts. Instructions for treatment of mild steel ship-plates. Heating feed-water at sea.
MITTHEILUNGEN A. D. GEBIETE D. SEEWESENS.
Vol. XIV., No. 1. Retrospect of maritime law and legislation, 1884 and 1885. Artillery of the United States. Ericsson’s submarine cannon. Trials of torpedo boats for the English Navy. The Russian Navy. French Navy. Torpedo boats for Chinese waters.
Nos. 2 and 3. Tactics of torpedo boats (trans.). Retrospect of maritime law and legislation, 1884 and 1885 (end). Magnetic observations, by Professor Gelcich. Illuminants for lighthouses. Notes on torpedo boats of the English, French and Spanish Navies. New vessels for the French Navy. Budget of the Russian Navy for 1886. The yachts Puritan and Genesta. Cruise of the Austrian corvette Hilgoland on the west coast of Africa in the years 1884 and 1885.
This volume contains much important information, commercial and otherwise, in reference to most of the West African ports, as well as to the Canary and Cape de Verde Islands.
J. T. S.
NORTHEAST COAST INSTITUTION OF ENGINEERS AND SHIPBUILDERS.
Vol. II., 1885. On the application of hydraulic pressure to the driving of machines, by Mr. R. H. Tweddell. On the construction and fittings of salvage steamers, by Mr. Otto Ullstrom. On the stiffening of collision bulkheads, by Mr. M. C. James. Forced draught, by Jas. Pattison and Magnus Sandison.
J. K. B.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIÉTÉ DES INGÉNIEURS CIVILS.
October, 1885. Trials of a steam engine constructed on the Quéruel system.
Floating dock at Rotterdam.
Built of iron, in two parts, each forming a distinct and separate dock complete in itself; one 90 m., the other 48 m. long. Exclusive of their own weight, the larger dock can raise 4000 tons, and the smaller dock about 2000 tons. Both docks can be emptied in two hours.
November, 1885. The use of dynamite in large mining operations. Mutual forces and their application to mechanical, physical, and chemical phenomena. Marine exhibit of Belgium, France, England, Holland, Italy and Germany, at the Antwerp International Exposition. Outlines of an international language proposed by Mr. Maldant. Remarks by Mr. Kerckhoffs in favor of“ Volapük.”
December, 1885. Employment of dynamite for the blowing up of large mines (plate). Experiments with indicators on locomotives. Cannon tubes of Martin steel unhammered.
Composed of first-choice material, cast iron, waste forged iron, and a little ferromanganese containing silicon, treated by the Martin process. The steel obtained is absolutely without bubbles; it is reheated and allowed to cool in powdered coal: this rectifies the interior tensions and imparts high elasticity and resistance. Breaking strain 61 kilog. (134 pounds), with increase of length of 13 per cent.; elastic limit 22 kilog. (48.4 pounds), and diminution of section of rupture 14.4 per cent.
Cannons of 8.4 cm. (3.3 inches) thus manufactured have endured 2000 fires with service charges without injury or enlargement of the powder chamber.
E. B. B.
RIVISTA DI ARTIGLERIA E GENIO.
December, 1885. A mountain howitzer carriage. Rifle practice. The Spezia experiments of October, 1884.
January, 1886. A summary of contents for the years 1884, 1885. The Flood Rock explosion. Gen. Thayer’s system of aerial navigation.
February, 1886. Translation of No. 31 of the Naval Institute Proceedings (Report of the Gun Foundry Board). Italian military balloons.
March, 1886. Translation of No. 31 Naval Institute, continued. Formulae for indirect fire.
R. C. S.
RIVISTA MARITTIMA.
December, 1885. Hydrographic work by the Vettore Pisani: Patagonia, Chili, the Galapagos and Philippine Islands, 1882-1885. The battle of Ecnomus. The Italian Navy estimates.
March, 1886. Navigation notes from the cruise of the Vettore Pisani, continued. Italian Navy estimates. Report of the Fortifications Board, translated.
R. C. S.
REVUE MARITIME ET COLONIALE.
March, 1886. The ports of Tonquin. Cyclone off Cape Horn. Central administration (Navy Department) of the Navy and of the Colonies. Liquid fuel. Stockless anchor. The lighting of lighthouses by electricity.
April, 1886. Report of Lieutenant Le Roy of the passage from Brest to Toulon of Torpedo Boat No. 61. Finished or projected works upon the English Channel and North Sea harbors, and the influence they may exert upon the coast.
Hurricane in the Gulf of Aden, June, 1885.
Exceptional, owing to its terrific violence; the few instances known of a similar tempest in the Gulf; the fact of its course being from east to west; the diminution of its diameter as it advanced up the Gulf, contrary to all previous observations; and the total failure of the barometer to announce its coming.
The tides of the Charente. Atlantic currents.
Copper spheres, barrels and bottles, with suitable inscriptions in several languages, sealed up in glass phials, were put over at regular intervals from the Prince of Monaco’s yacht Hirondelle, upon a line 170 miles long, running about north 14° west. Ten spheres, 20 barrels, and 149 bottles were put over. Two bottles, 1 barrel, and 2 spheres have been recovered. Although nothing conclusive has been established, the drift of the recovered objects tends to show that no water from the southward of 42° N. reaches the coast of France; going to prove the object of the investigation—that the climate of the French Atlantic Coast is not influenced by the Gulf Stream.
May, 1886. Historical studies on the French Navy. Determination of currents by four altitudes taken at intervals.
Japanese cruiser Unébi.
Launched April 6th, at Havre. Built by Mr. Marmiesse. Length between perpendiculars, 321 ft. 3 in. (98 m.); draught (mean), 18 ft. 9.3 in. (5.72 m.); displacement, 3700 tons. Armored deck extending the whole length of the vessel. Divided above the armored deck into 57 compartments, separated by cofferdams formed of bulkheads, 17.71 in. (45 cm.) apart,’ and filled in with cork; the cofferdams also are divided into 40 compartments. Hull entirely of steel. Armament, 4 9.44-in. (24 c.) Krupp guns in half turrets, 170° train, 6 5.9- in. (15c.) Krupp in broadside and of the same calibre as a chase gun, all mounted on central-pivot Vavasseur-Canet carriages, built at Havre. In addition 2 6-lb. and rapid-firing Nordenfelts, 10 Nordenfelt mitrailleuses (4 barrels 25 mm.), and four Gatlings (new model), and four torpedo-discharging tubes. Ammunition giving no fires for the larger guns, and 4000 for the smaller. Estimated speed 17½ knots. Twin screws, each worked by independent engines; total horse-power 6000, with ordinary capacity to steam 5600 miles at 10 knots; by the addition of 200 tons, which can be done easily, she can steam at this speed 8000 miles. Barque-rigged. Fitted with a steam capstan capable of working all four chains, and two hoisting windlasses for ordinary deck work. Below the armored deck she is divided into 29 compartments. Crew 280 men.
Notes and observations by Lieut. M. E. Perrin, French Navy.
New Italian torpedo boats.
There are 24 of various types actually constructing, raising the number to 83.
E. B. B.
UNITED SERVICE GAZETTE.
February 13, 1886.
Admiral Aube, the French Minister of Marine, has decided to detach the torpedo service in each French port from the other branches of the harbor defense, and to place it under the supreme command of either a captain or a lieutenant in the Navy, according to the importance of the place.
February 20.
The Italian Admiralty have provided for the construction of twenty-eight torpedo boats of different types, all of which are to be built in Italy.
The Anson, a twin-screw armor-plated barbette ship, was launched February 17th, at Pembroke. The principal dimensions are : Length between perpendiculars, 330 feet; extreme breadth, 68½ feet; displacement, 10,000 tons; engines, 9500 H. P., and indicated speed, 16 knots. The belted armor will be 18 inches thick; she will carry four 64-ton guns, six 6-in. broadsides, 10 Nordenfelts, and 12 quick-firing guns; her complement of officers and men is 430.
February 27.
According to the Marine Zeitung, of Vienna, the German fleet at present consists of 13 ironclads, 14 armored gunboats, 9 armored frigates, 11 cruising corvettes, 5 unarmored cruisers, 4 unarmored gunboats, 8 dispatch vessels, 11 harbor-defense vessels, and 10 pilot ships; in all, 97 vessels, with 558 guns, 180,117 tons, 163,005 I. H. P., and 16,682 men.
March 13.
The French Minister of Marine has recently tested the navigability of torpedo boats and their action in discharging their projectiles. The boats were sent from Cherbourg around by Gibraltar to Toulon. While their sea-going qualities in bad weather are excellent, the vibration, want of fresh air and lack of comfort are such that the crews cannot endure more than thirty-six hours of continuous navigation, when they must have rest or be relieved. On the other hand, the projectiles worked admirably. While the Admiral Duperré was steaming in fine weather at a speed of 14 knots, two stationary boats discharged six torpedoes at different angles, and all struck and exploded. The Duperré, steaming 14½ nots, was again struck twice by torpedoes from boats going in the opposite direction at a speed of 9 and 12 knots, the discharges being made at a distance of about 500 yards. From observation on board the Duperré, it was found that the projectiles were totally unaffected by the wash of the ship.
April 3.
According to the Marine Zeitung, the torpedo organization of the German service is, in order to render it more efficient, to be placed under the charge of a “Torpedo Inspection,” with headquarters at Kiel. The Inspector-in-Chief will decide on all matters connected with the construction and equipment of the boats, training of their crews, laying of submarine mines, and the general torpedo defense of harbors. He will, however, have no authority over boats attached to a squadron.
April 17.
On March 24th, an obsolete armored vessel, the Armide, was towed to sea in the Juan Gulf and allowed to drift as a target for the French Mediterranean squadron, which fired at her while steaming at ranges of 3000, 4000 and 5000 metres, with 24, 27 and 32 cm. guns. In time the hull resembled a colander, and the vessel would have sunk had she not been filled with casks.
The Spanish Government has contracted for two first-class Yarrow torpedo boats of the Falke type, to have a speed of 23 knots fully equipped and 25 knots an hour light.
There are now 1173 guns in course of construction for the English Navy, S37 being for armored, 109 for protected, and 507 for unprotected. Of this total there are 5 no-ton and 18 66-ton; the rest are of smaller calibre, among which are 182 5-ton guns, 177 6-pounder Nordenfelt and Hotchkiss, 264 3-pounder Hotchkiss, 97 i-inch 4-barrel, 151 i-inch 2-barrel, 62 0.45-inch 5- barrel Nordenfelts, and 56 0.45-inch 5 and 2-barrel Gardners.
The Amphion.[1]
She has two 2-barrel Gardners in maintop and in the mizzen, and one Nordenfelt in the foretop. Under the forecastle and poop are two 4-barrel 1-inch Nordenfelts; there are two torpedo tubes on each of the lower decks. A fieldpiece is mounted on the poop, and it is intended to supply two 5-barrel Nordenfelts for tops and boats. The gun trials proved satisfactory. The ship, however, did not show much stability; in going about she rolled considerably and heeled 17°.
Regulations for training leading stokers and stokers in the use of arms and in the management of the machinery and boilers of torpedo boats.
The English Admiralty have issued a series of instructions in regard to the engineer force, in which it is provided that all stokers are to receive instruction in rifle, cutlass and pistol drill; second-class stokers not to be rated stokers without a fair knowledge of these drills; stokers to be trained in working of torpedo-boat boilers and machinery, and when qualified in this and in drills to be rated trained men and to receive id. a day extra pay; trained men to receive extra pay when on regular torpedo duty. The instructions also provide in details for the torpedo-boat exercises and for the qualification of the trained men.
May 1.
A new fast cruiser is to be built in Kiel to replace the German wooden corvette Ariadne. She is to be built on the cellular system, to have an armored deck, and to make 18 knots. Another similar vessel, the Elisabeth, is now building at Stettin.
At the trial of the Haytian gunboat Toussaint l'Ouverture, built at Havre, 13½ knots speed was attained; she is to carry two 12-cm. guns, arranged to deliver a fore and aft fire, and 16-cm. gun forward.
The Grasshopper, the first of a newly designed class of steel gun and torpedo vessels, is building at Sheerness. She will be 200 feet long, 23 feet beam, 6 feet 6 inches draught forward, and 9 feet 6 inches aft, and will have a speed of 19 knots in a rough sea. The armament is to consist of B. L. R., Gardner and Nordenfelt guns, and four torpedo tubes.
May 8. “Another gun bburst.”
On the 4th instant, a 43-ton gun burst on board the Collingwood, fortunately without injury to any one. The vessel left Portsmouth in the morning to try the Vavasseur mountings of her after pair of 43-ton guns. Six rounds were to be fired from each, two with reduced charges of 221^ pounds of cocoa powder, and four with full charges of 295 pounds. The projectile was a common shell weighing 714 pounds, filled with water. A scaling charge of 73¾ pounds was first fired from each gun to clear the rifling of any possible obstruction. The right gun was then fired with the reduced charge of 221¾ pounds; upon firing the left gun with the same charge it exploded, the separation occurring at the forward rim of the B3 coil.
The smoke of the explosion had so completely stained the face of the fracture that it was impossible, on a cursory survey, to observe any flaws or defects in the manufacture. The cleavage was exceedingly jagged, some of the rents showing that the core at the spot had been torn away from the hoop as from a socket.' About six inches from the point of fracture, the outer coil itself had been riven entirely round. This circular rent was about one inch in diameter, and extended through the jacket to the steel core of the gun, appearing as if the weld of the coil had been torn open at the moment of separation. The damage to the ship was considerable. Some of the fragments ploughed up the deck; the armored top and grate of the neighboring scuttle were smashed, the ladder to the barbette gallery was torn away, and the glacis plates deeply indented. The hinges of the armored door of the bulkhead were fractured; the shelter screen at the flying deck was bulged in and penetrated; the adjoining Gardner machine gun was broken and dismounted, and the face of the reflector was completely splintered. The entire muzzle of the gun, which was unprotected by sheet coiling, was blown away, leaving a deep fissure between the cylinder and the last coil.
C. B.