PROFESSIONAL NOTES
Prepared by Lieutenant R. A. Hall, U. S. Navy
FRANCE
Naval Construction.—After undergoing several modifications since its introduction two years ago, the programme of naval construction, providing for an expenditure of 755 million francs to be spread over a period of four years, has been adopted by the Senate. The five battleships of the Normandie class, which were started upon before the war and are now hopelessly out-of-date, are, of course, to be scrapped. The Beam, which was near completion at the armistice, is alone to be utilized as a seaplane carrier. The new constructions comprise three light cruisers of 8,000 tons, which are to carry eight guns of 150 mm., four of 75 mm., and eighteen torpedo tubes, and to be capable of steaming at 34 knots; six destroyers of 2,500 tons with a speed of 35 knots; twelve torpedo boats of 1,400 tons with a speed of 32 ½ knots; and twelve submarines with an immersed displacement of 1,100 tons and having a radius of action of 7,000 miles. The programme came in for some stringent criticism on the ground that it was a continuance of the policy adopted for so many years past of equipping the navy with a variety of "samples" that prevented the constitution of a homogeneous fleet. It was admittedly a provisional programme, adapted to the present financial conditions, and was intended to "carry over" until such time as a more ambitious scheme of construction could be introduced, for the general tendency of the debate was in favor of France possessing an adequate defensive navy which could not be sacrificed even if the security of the country were guaranteed by other naval powers. The idea of constructing capital ships up to the tonnage allowed by the Washington Conference seems, for the moment, to have been abandoned. No one suggested their necessity or even their utility, and it is noticeable that French naval strategy is centered entirely in the light and fast cruisers, destroyers, submarines, and air craft. The minister of marine affirmed that the future programme would provide for a complete organization of aeroplanes in association with a large number of submarines, and it was evident from the debate that no concession is likely to be made to other Powers in the number of submarines that may be constructed, for vessels of that type are regarded as indispensable for the security of the country and for maintaining a seaway between France and North Africa.—The Engineer, 24 March, 1922.
French Take Over Russian Steamer.—The steamship Chicago of the French line arrived from Havre on Saturday last bringing Captain August Vioulles and twenty-one officers and men to take over the Russian steamer Pensa, formerly of the Russian volunteer fleet, which has been lying for months in the Erie Basin, Brooklyn. Her name will be changed to La Moras. She is a vessel of 2,679 gross tons and was built at the Schichau Yard, Danzig, in 1909.
It is stated that the Soviet government is very much exercised at the way in which vessels of the Czar's government have been acquired by foreign powers and that it intends to demand the return of these ships at the coming Genoa conference.—Nautical Gazette, 8 April, 1922.
GERMANY
German Naval Notes.—Further particulars are to hand of the post-war German naval organization. The establishment of armoured ships and light cruisers, as specified by the peace treaty, is equally divided between the Baltic and North Sea stations, but for some reason—probably not unconnected with the financial situation—only a few ships are in full commission so far. The active squadron in the Baltic comprises the battleship Hannover, the light cruiser Medusa, the tender Nordsec and a torpedo flotilla of 12 boats with the T-44 as leader. There are also in commission a half-flotilla of minesweepers, the gunnery tenders Drache, Delphin, and Hay, the surveying ship Panther (ex-gunboat), and a few miscellaneous auxiliaries. In reserve on the Baltic station are the battleships Hessen and Schleswig-Holstein, and the light cruisers Berlin and Thetis. The active North Sea squadron, based upon Wilhelmshaven, consists of the battleship Braunschweig, light cruisers Hamburg and Arcana, and a minesweeping flotilla which includes the large fleet sweepers M-134, M-138, and M-81 (511 tons, 16 knots), besides a few auxiliary craft. In reserve are the battleships Elsass and Schlesien and the light cruiser Amasone.
Most of the vessels mentioned above have undergone a certain amount of reconstruction since the war. Schlesien and Schleswig-Holstein have each been given a secondary armament of fourteen 5.9 in. in place of the original fourteen 6.7-in. guns; the five submerged torpedo-tubes on the broadside and at the stern have been removed and four 19.7-in. deck tubes fitted instead, this latter change having been made also in all the remaining pre-dreadnought battleships. The light cruisers Berlin, Hamburg, Arkona, Medusa, Amazone, Thetis, Nymphe, and Niobe have been rearmed with ten 44.1-in., 45-cal. guns and two 19.7-in. deck tubes, in place of the 40-cal. guns and 17.7-in. tubes originally mounted; and the 16 largest destroyers, T-175 to S-23, now carry two 4.1-in. 45-cal, Q.F. apiece.
The first authentic details of new ships that were in hand at the armistice have lately been published in Germany. They included the battleships Sachsen and Wurttemberg, launched in 1916 and 1917 respectively, which were identical in every way with the Baden and Bayern, and the battle cruisers Graf Spec (Ersatz-Blucher) and Mackensen (Ers. Viktoria Liuse). These two last-named ships are of unusual interest, for they were designed in 1913-14 and thus represented the German reply to our Lion class and the Tiger. Their displacement was 31,000 tons, the designed speed 28 knots, and the armament was to have been eight 14-in. guns, twelve 5-9in. and eight 3.4-in. Q.F., and five torpedo-tubes. The complement was 1,429. They were thus considerably larger and more powerfully armed than their British contemporaries, and showed a distinct advance over the Derfflinger-Lutsow class, of 26,000 tons, 26 ½ knots, and eight 12-in. guns. The 14-in. (35.s6-c.m.) gun was 50 cals. in length, firing a 1,364 lb. projectile with an initial velocity of 2,870 ft.-secs., and penetrating 44.8 in. of steel near the muzzle. In spite of its larger calibre, this gun weighed rather less than the British 13.5-in., 45-cal., so that in the two German ships, with their increased tonnage and less powerful machinery, a large margin must have been available for protection. It is clear that Germany still preferred to differentiate between battleship and battle cruiser in armament as well as in speed, for the battleships coeval with Graf Spec and Mackensen were armed with 15-in. guns.
Besides those scuttled at Scapa Flow, there were five light cruisers, completing at the date of the armistice, viz., Wiesbaden, Rostock, Magdeburg, Fraunelob, and Leipzig, all of which had been launched in 1917 or 1918. Together with the Dresden and Koln, both lost at Scapa, these five vessels belonged to a type which had evidently been standardized as the most appropriate for German requirements. It differed from the majority of our cruisers built under the war programme in having greater displacement, higher freeboard, and heavier armament, but less speed, and was probably superior for general purposes, though perhaps unnecessarily large and expensive for service in the North Sea and the Baltic.—Naval and Military Record, 5 April, 1922.
German Aviation.—The following is a translation of an article by Lieut. Colonel Reboul of the French army, which appeared in a recent issue of the French publication Le Temps:
The ministry of war of Germany has just published regulations which enlighten us on the state of mind of the German high command and its designs. The "Instruction on the employment of aviation to be used for maneuvers, regimental exercises and drills in tactics" is a statement in concise form of the opinions of the German high command on the employment of aviation during the war.
Article 198 of the Treaty of Versailles prohibits Germany from keeping any aeronautical force whatever. This, however, does not prevent the minister of war from declaring in this instruction: "In the distribution and employment of the aviation formations we have taken as a basis a modernly equipped army for use in giving decisive combats." It does not prevent the cadres of the Reichswchr from already undergoing training in the use of the aeroplane. In their Kriegspiele they assign missions to it and receive information from it. They are accustoming themselves to handle it, to consider it as an arm, the collaboration of which is indispensable. They are making preparations to use aeronautics in connection with the other arms.
Doubtless the Reichswehr will be unable to begin the actual exercises so long as our control commissions remain in Germany. But the day they leave, the "Instruction on aviation" will immediately be put into effect. The plan being already known to all, it would require but a short time to put it into operation and have an aviation force working in close union with its command, its infantry, its artillery and its cavalry.
Chapter II of the regulations treats of the aerial formations. It provides for an exceedingly high aviation equipment for each large unit.
The infantry division includes organically a strong squadron of two escadrilles. One of these, the reconnaissance escadrille, will be used for close missions and for observation of the battlefield. The other will work with the divisional artillery. Each of these escadrilles comprises twelve aeroplanes. The German army thus realizes the desiderata which we expressed at the end of the campaign of 1918. The division is henceforth permanently equipped with its eyes and observers. Its aviation will work constantly with the same units. They know one another wonderfully well; they have confidence in one another; they conform to one another's customs and idiosyncrasies. The results will be incomparably greater than those obtained with escadrilles that are assigned only temporarily to the divisions. At the moment that everyone begins to speak the same language the escadrille is replaced by a new one. Everything must be begun all over again.
The army corps has its own squadron which has the same composition as the divisional squadron. Its reconnaissance escadrille will specialize in photography and in night reconnaissance; its artillery escadrille will regulate the heavy artillery firing of the army corps.
The army is very strongly equipped with aviation units. The regulations provide for the assignment to it of one observation squadron, combat squadrons, pursuit squadrons and bombarding squadrons.
The observation squadron is of the same type as the divisional squadron; but its aeroplanes will as a rule be superior. They will, in fact, penetrate more deeply into the enemy lines. The reconnaissance escadrille will make distant reconnaissances and photographs of the enemy's rear areas. The artillery escadrille will regulate the fire of the high powered heavy artillery which will be directed against the enemy quarters, its parks, railways, installations and points through which it is compelled to pass.
Each army in active operations has assigned to it a combat unit with a strength of three or four squadrons. Each squadron comprises four escadrilles of twelve aeroplanes each. This represents a body of 150 to 200 aeroplanes which will have as its mission to take part in all the phases of the battle, both in aerial combats and in combat against the other arms. In an attack it will act with the assaulting troops, will precede the first waves, mowing down the enemy reserves and bombarding the centers of resistance.
The pursuit unit will be especially charged with the aerial fighting. It comprises from four to six pursuit squadrons, each squadron comprising three escadrilles of twenty-one planes. Its mission is to hinder the enemy reconnaissance and prevent the enemy combat aviation from taking part in the battle. It must enable its own reconnaissance aeroplanes to accomplish their mission. Its object is aerial combat. Pursuit planes should act in mass so as to be master of the air, at least during certain hours. They may be reinforced for certain missions by combat and bombarding squadrons.
The bombing aviation is less strong numerically than the combat and pursuit aviations. It consists of from one to three squadrons, each formed of three escadrilles of twelve planes. It is to be used in bombarding by day as well as by night.
The group of armies has only a very limited aviation force, which consists of one escadrille of twelve planes for making reconnaissance which are of special importance to it and which it wishes to entrust to observers whom it knows and can rely upon, and one artillery escadrille of twelve planes for the long-range and very mobile guns, especially those on railways, which it fires now in one direction, now in another.
The general headquarters reserves a few combat and pursuit squadrons both for its own safety as well as for an aerial reserve. It will itself conduct the fighting against vital points in the enemy's back areas by means of bombing squadrons and giant aeroplanes which it will bring into action.—Aerial Age Weekly, 3 April, 1922.
Germany Need Only Build 126,000 Tons for Allies.—One by one the reparation clauses of the Versailles Treaty are being either disregarded or whittled down. The latest one to be almost entirely waived is the one in regard to the construction by Germany of 1,000,000 tons of shipping for the Allies.
In accordance with the terms of the treaty, Germany was obligated to lay down 200,000 tons gross of new merchant shipping each year for a period of five years beginning with April 10, 1920. As explained in the British House of Commons, by Sir Robert Home, chancellor of the exchequer, however, no such tonnage has as yet been laid down, and in view of the fact that Great Britain and Japan have waived their claims, the maximum that can be required from Germany after April 10, 1922, is only 42,000 gross tons a year for three years. France and Italy intend to have a few vessels laid down in Germany on their own account—Nautical Gazette, 22 April, 1922.
GREAT BRITAIN
Naval Vessels Under Construction.—According to information given in the course of Parliamentary business, there are thirty-two vessels at present under construction for the navy, representing a total cost, including guns, of about £20,500,000. The vessels are all cruisers or smaller craft, the exact details being seven light cruisers, six destroyers, eight submarines, six coastal motor boats, one mine layer, two flotilla leaders, and two aircraft carriers. Many of the vessels have been under construction since 1917. It was added on the same occasion that since the armistice no subsidies had been paid to any armament firm.—The Engineer, 7 April, 1922.
Inflexible to be Broken Up in Germany.—The battle cruiser Inflexible, which helped to sink von Spec's German squadron off The Falkland Islands, and thus avenged the loss of the Good Hope and Monmouth, left Devonport on Saturday in tow of the Dutch tugs Zwartzee and Witte-see for Germany, where she is to be broken up.
Launched in 1907, the Inflexible is one of the three first battle cruisers built for the royal navy, the others being the Invincible, which was sunk at Jutland, and the Indomitable. The Inflexible was the vessel which had the distinction of flying an admiral of the fleet's Union Jack across the Atlantic when she visited New York as flagship of Admiral of the Fleet Sir Edward Seymour for the Hudson-Fulton celebrations in 1909.
Early in the late war the Inflexible took part in the Heligoland Bight action, and the next time she came into contact with the Germans was off the Falkland Islands against von Spec's squadron. She also took part in the battle of Jutland.
Last year the Inflexible was taken to Devonport to be converted into a training ship for boys, but the proposal was abandoned on the ground of cost.—Naval and Military Record, 12 April, 1922.
Oil Carrier "Nassa."—The single-screw oil carrier Nassa, which has been built by the admiralty at Devonport on a fixed price contract for the Anglo-Saxon Petroleum Co., Ltd., London, is the second oiler to be built in the Devonport yard, under the repayment system inaugurated by the Colwyn committee, to provide work for the employees in the admiralty dockyards, but the launching this week is especially interesting, as she is the first vessel laid down in the yard for an outside firm. Laid down on March 8, 1921, the vessel is being built on No. 4 slip at the South Yard. She is being built on the Isherwood system of framing, so that the main frames are longitudinal instead of transverse, and she will have a deadweight capacity of about 8,400 tons. Her principal dimensions are: length (between perpendiculars), 417 ft; breadth (extreme), 53 ft. 4 in.; depth (moulded), 31 ft; gross tonnage, about 5,680; under deck tonnage, 5,263; net tonnage, 3,435 tons; and she will have a speed of 11 knots. Her engines are of the triple expansion type with cylinders of 27-in., 45-in., and 74- in. diameter, and with a stroke of 48 in. these are estimated to produce 2,800 horsepower at from 78 to 80 revolutions per minute. Her three single-ended boilers, 15 ft. 6 in. in diameter, by 11 ft. 7 ½ in., are designed to burn either coal or oil fuel. She will carry about 1,140 tons of fuel.
The vessel has been designed to carry oil in bulk in nine main tanks and five other tanks, and a 10-in. double pipe line is intended to obviate mixing when different kinds of oil are being carried.—Naval and Military Record, 29 March, 1922.
A Vanished Fleet.—Before the end of the present year the reserve fleet, as we have known it for many years will have ceased to exist, and for the first time in the modern history of the navy there will be no second line of ships to reinforce the battle fleet This is one of the consequences of the Washington naval agreement, which provides for the scrapping of practically all the capital ships now in reserve. It is possible that further units will be withdrawn from the Atlantic and Mediterranean fleets in the near future, in which case the ships thus released would go to build up a new reserve, though the admiralty are known to be strongly opposed to any further cut in the strength of those formations. This virtual abolition of the reserve fleet is a step that could not have been taken unless accompanied by similar action on the part of other naval powers, but, as the United States and Japan have both agreed to scrap all their second-line capital ships, the disappearance of the reserve fleet will involve no weakening of our relative position at sea.
One of the indirect effects of this measure will be to exalt the value of small craft for their knowledge that the battle fleet can neither be reinforced nor replaced in an emergency will certainly encourage the naval authorities to assign the smaller types of vessels a more important role in the general scheme of strategy and tactics than they have played up to now. Apart from a few capital ships which have either been withdrawn from the Atlantic or Mediterranean fleets or temporarily paid off for repairs, the reserve fleet will henceforth consist chiefly of aircraft-carriers, light cruisers, destroyers, and submarines. If the necessary funds were available for organizing periodical exercises by this force, in co-operation with the active battle fleet, our senior officers would gain much valuable experience in the tactics which are likely to govern naval operations in the new era, but it is to be feared that, there will be no money to spare for this purpose.—Naval and Military Record, 19 April, 1922.
Imperial Airship Services.—Just in time to prevent the carrying out of the government's announced intention to dispose of our remaining airships, an offer to take them over and use them for the establishment of an imperial airship service was received from Commander C. D. Burney, supported by Vickers, Limited, and the Shell oil group. The scheme submitted contemplates at the outset a bi-weekly service to India, and later on an alternate-day service to India, with a weekly extension to Australia. The government is to hand over free of cost the four airships in its possession, all airship material and the airship bases, to supply wireless telegraphy and meteorological services, and to guarantee—in conjunction with the governments of India and Australia—the interest on the capital involved. The vessels taken over, it is proposed, should be used for training and short journeys only, five new vessels of 3,800,000 cubic feet capacity being constructed for regular use on the extended routes. These vessels would have a maximum speed of 70 knots, but taking the average speed at 40 knots, they would enable Bombay to be reached in five and one-half days, and Perth, West Australia, in eleven and one-half. The promoters of the scheme believe that the services, after an initial experimental period, would become self-supporting, and finally show a good profit. They are not deterred by recent airship disasters, for they argue that they could have been prevented. In the case of R-38, they say, the disaster was caused by certain errors in the design, and, moreover, the performance demanded of the ship was far in excess of that required of a commercial vessel. The Roma, they urge, was lost because she was being subjected to speed trials at a height above the ground so low that it allowed no opportunity for recovery from even a trifling mishap.—The Engineer, 7 April, 1922.
The Future of Malta.—Although there has been no confirmation of the report current a few weeks ago that Malta was about to be placed under the admiralty jurisdiction, the government is known to be considering the administrative future of this island fortress, and it is not impossible that a change such as that indicated will be announced during the year. When the post of governor became vacant in 1919 it was widely rumored that a naval officer would be appointed as the new incumbent. but in the end the choice fell upon that distinguished soldier. Field Marshal Lord Plumer. By all the rules of logic the governance of Malta should be in naval hands, for the strategic importance of the island is essentially maritime. It is a fleet base pure and simple, and responsibility for its defence in time of war would rest entirely on the navy. Unfortunately it is not the custom in this country to determine such matters on logical principles, and so, with our usual disregard for the fitness of things, we have had a succession of military governors for our most important naval strongholds. Nevertheless, it is believed that a break in this tradition is contemplated in the interests of economy, and that the next governor of Malta will be a naval officer.
Drastic cuts have already been made in the dockyard there, but we do not suppose there is any intention of allowing the station to deteriorate as a repairing base for the fleet. When the lords commissioners of the admiralty made their last inspection of Malta before the war they announced their purpose of "making full use of the facilities of this important and complete naval base, the value of which to the British navy is of a permanent character." It was further stated that such proportion of refitting and repair work would be assigned to the dockyard as to keep it in a normal condition of activity, thus rendering it at all times capable of attending to the needs in peace or war of any naval force cruising or operating in the Mediterranean.—Naval and Military Record, 5 April, 1922.
British Air Policy.—A question much discussed lately—to what extent developments in aviation may make naval warfare obsolete—was raised in the House of Commons March 16 in a debate on the naval estimates. Austin Chamberlain, Lord Privy Seal, outlined the present policy of the government on the question.
Mr. Chamberlain said he could imagine circumstances might soon lead the world to believe that limitation of battleships or armament would be of little use unless similar limitation was placed on aircraft. Therefore, he could only declare the government's policy as things stood at present.
Believing, as the government did, that the air force had immense potentialities, quite distinct from its duties as an adjunct to the naval and military services, and convinced that in the future the greatest danger to Great Britain might well be from an action by air forces, the government considered it would be a retrograde step to abolish the air ministry and re-absorb the air force into the admiralty and the war office.
Mr. Chamberlain announced that the standing committee of the committee on imperial defense, after long and careful inquiry, had arrived at the following conclusions:
First—That the air force shall be autonomous in matters of administration and education. Second—In case of defense against air raids the army and navy must play a secondary role. Third—In case of military or navy operations the air force must be in strict subordination to the general or admiral in supreme command. Fourth—In other cases, such as the protection of commerce and an attack on enemy harbors and inland towns, the relations between the air forces and the other services shall be regarded as a matter of co-operation.
Mr. Chamberlain added that the government had decided to appoint a committee to advise further how to secure the utmost efficiency in the air service.—Aerial Age Weekly, 3 April, 1922.
Air Estimates.—The following table gives an abstract of the air estimates, which were issued last week. The estimates show a net reduction on last year's figures of £7,516,477, the total for the coming year being 110,895,000. A reduction in the numbers of the R. A. F. by 9,704 is provided for.
Effective Services | 1922-23 | 1921-22 | Decrease |
Pay, etc. | £3,781,000 | £4,084,010 | £1,023,010 |
Quartering Stores, Supplies, and Transport | £1,530,000 | £3,105,000 | £1,575,000 |
Technical and War-like Stores | £1,295,000 | £3,758,000 | £2,463,000 |
Works, Buildings, and Lands | £1,826,000 | £3,018,000 | £1,192,000 |
Air Ministry | £680,000 | £915,467 | £235,467 |
Miscellaneous | £85,000 | £191,000 | £34,000 |
Civil Aviation | (a) £364,000 | (a) £880,000 | £516,000 |
Research | (a) £1,177,000 | (a) £1,706,000 | £59,000 |
Total Effective Services | £10,738,000 | £18,305,477 | £7,567,477 |
Non-Effective Services | ? | ? | ? |
Half Pay, Pensions, etc. | (b) £157,000 | (b) £106,000 | £51,000 |
Total | £10,895,000 | £18,411,477 | £7,516,477 |
(a) Includes certain non-effective changes in respect of these Services. | |||
(b) Includes certain non-effective charges in respect of these services and experimental and research services. Those are included under votes 8 and 9 respectively. |
—Army, Navy, and Air Force Gazette, 25 March, 1922.
The Loss of Submarine "H-42."—At 9:30 in the morning of the twenty-third of the month the British submarine H-42 was rammed and sunk by the destroyer Versatile, with the loss of all hands. The submarine was engaged in exercising off Europa Point, Gibraltar, and it appears that she came to the surface but a few yards ahead of the destroyer, which was steaming at twenty knots. There was no time to alter course sufficiently to avoid a collision, and the submarine was struck at right angles just abaft the conning tower. The H-42 belonged to Portsmouth and was attached to the submarine depot ship Maidstone. She was a vessel of 440 tons surface displacement and 500 tons submerged, her dimensions being 171 ft. long overall, beam 15 ft. 6 in. and draught about 14 ft. She was built by Sir W. G. Armstrong, Whitworth and Co., Limited, in 1918, and her engines were constructed by Ruston and Hornsby. Her surface speed with 480 horsepower was thirteen knots, and submerged with 320 shaft horsepower she could make twelve knots. She had on board at the time of the disaster twenty-six officers and men.—The Engineer, 7 April, 1922.
Sir Ross Smith and Lt. Bennett Killed.—A terrible air disaster occurred at Weybridge on Thursday, in which Sir Ross Smith and Lieutenant Bennett lost their lives.
Sir Ross Smith, with the assistance of Sir Keith Smith and Lieutenant Bennett, was to have started on an attempt to make the first aerial journey around the world on April 25.
Sir Ross Smith was a noted airman. With his brother, Sir Keith Smith, he won the Australian government's iio.ooo prize for a flight from England to Australia. The brothers were made Knights of the British Empire in recognition of this pioneer flight. Sir Ross Smith in 1914 sailed with the first Australian troops as a trooper. He won his commission in Gallipoli and after serving in Egypt in 1916, joined the Australian squadron of the royal flying corps and saw service in Palestine. After the armistice he was sent with General Borton to survey the route between India and Australia.—Naval and Military Record, 19 April, 1922.
Proportion of Officers to be Retired.—Delay in issuing the scheme of retirement for naval officers is, says The Times, due to the difficulty experienced in adjusting the fair and reasonable claims of the officers as set forth by the admiralty board with the limits which the treasury consider to be fixed by the urgent demands of economy. The number of officers to be retired has been under-estimated.
It was assumed when the admiralty announced that the flag list was to be reduced by one-fifth that somewhere about this proportion would rule in the case of the ranks, next below, and that there would be nothing like differential treatment. It is understood now that the proportion of captains and commanders to be retired will be more nearly one-third than one-fifth, or, roughly, 120 of the former and 200 of the latter rank.
The case of the junior officers will be still worse, as, owing to a decision not to retire any of the 600 lieutenant commanders, a large proportion of lieutenants must be sacrificed, and it is estimated that from one-half to three-fifths may have to go. Several hundred young officers will have to seek a new career.—Naval and Military Record, 19 April, 1922.
Retired Pay.—A fleet order states that the board have had under consideration the rates of retired pay to be granted to officers of the rank or relative rank of lieutenant commander or lieutenant who are retired for non-service under the age of forty years; provision for such cases not having been made in the revised scales of retired pay promulgated in M. O. 24833/19.
The following rates have been approved for lieutenant commanders and lieutenants and officers of corresponding ranks in the engineer and accountant branches, exclusive of: (a) Officers on the supplementary list; (b) officers promoted from the rank of mate or mate (E); (c) officers formerly of warrant rank, promoted for long and zealous service; (d) officers, formerly of warrant rank, promoted for acts of gallantry or daring; (e) officers specially promoted to the rank or corresponding rank of lieutenant during the war from warrant rank or commissioned officer from warrant rank.
Such officers if retired for non-service under the age of forty will be granted retired pay at the rate of £75 a year, with an addition of £7 10s. a year for each of the first six complete years' service, and an addition of £12 10s. for each complete year of service subsequent thereto in the ranks or relative ranks of lieutenant and lieutenant commander. Unemployed time and half-pay time will count as one-third for the purposes of the above scale.
The above rates of retired pay will be subject to review on or after July 1, 1924, in accordance with paragraph 41 of M. O. 24832/19. The foregoing arrangements will have effect as from April 1, 1919.
The rates of retired pay to be granted on retirement for non-service at ages under forty to officers of the rank or relative rank of lieutenant commander or lieutenant who are not included in the scope of this order are under consideration and will be promulgated in due course.—Naval and Military Record, 12 April, 1922.
British Exhibition Ship to Sail Next Month.—The steamer Orontes of 9,020 gross tons, heretofore engaged in the Australian trade, has been sold by the Orient line to a syndicate which is planning to convert her into an exhibition ship immediately. She is to be renamed the British Trader, and is scheduled to sail at the beginning of May on an eight months' cruise covering 40,000 miles.
Comparatively few alterations are to be made in the vessel. It is intended to utilize the present extensive first and second-class accommodations as living quarters and offices, while the steerage quarters and 'tween decks and holds are to be fitted up with 300 exhibition booths or stalls. Particular attention is to be paid to the machinery and motor trades.—Nautical Gazette, 22 April, 1922.
"Majestic" Reaches Southampton.—The giant liner Majestic, the largest ship in the world, arrived at Southhampton on Monday last and will be delivered to the White Star line during the course of the week. On her trial run in the North Sea she proved herself ready for service in every respect, developing an average speed of 23 knots and 68,000 indicated horsepower.—Nautical Gazette, 15 April, 1922.
Lloyd's Shipbuilding Report for First Quarter.—According to Lloyd's Register of Shipping, 955 merchant vessels of 3,679,622 gross tons were under construction at the end of March in the various maritime states except Germany. The showing by countries is as follows:
Country | No. | Gross Tonnage |
Belgium | 7 | 17,313 |
Brazil | 1 | 2,170 |
British Dominions | 38 | 63,502 |
China | 7 | 8,170 |
Denmark | 26 | 61,738 |
Estonia | 20 | 6,531 |
Fiume District | 9 | 7,859 |
France | 60 | 286,255 |
Greece | 1 | 600 |
Holland | 109 | 258,240 |
Italy | 96 | 311,888 |
Japan | 26 | 117,312 |
Norway | 32 | 49,534 |
Portugal | 14 | 5,983 |
Spain | 13 | 54,707 |
Sweden | 28 | 55,556 |
United Kingdom | 437 | 2,235,998 |
United States | 31 | 136,266 |
Total | 955 | 3,679,622 |
Details of motorship construction are given in the next table:
Country | No. | Gross Tonnage |
Brazil | 1 | 2,170 |
British Dominions | 1 | 100 |
Denmark | 7 | 29,808 |
Estonia | 7 | 2,491 |
Fiume District | 2 | 600 |
France | 1 | 8,500 |
Greece | 1 | 600 |
Holland | 14 | 13,550 |
Italy | 24 | 23,308 |
Japan | 1 | 310 |
Norway | 4 | 13,620 |
Portugal | 3 | 1,700 |
Sweden | 13 | 42,830 |
United Kingdom | 29 | 133,991 |
United States | 6 | 19,945 |
Total | 104 | 293,523 |
The number of tankers under construction at the end of March, 1922, is shown in the following table:
Country | No. | Gross Tonnage |
British Dominions | 2 | 11,600 |
Fiume | 2 | 3,284 |
France | 6 | 40,460 |
Holland | 3 | 9,766 |
Italy | 7 | 41,800 |
Japan | 3 | 18,400 |
Sweden | 1 | 5,450 |
United Kingdom | 64 | 416,654 |
United States | 7 | 67,976 |
Total | 95 | 615,390 |
—Nautical Gazette, 29 April, 1922.
JAPAN
Japanese Naval Construction.—Although the Naval Limitation Treaty has not yet been ratified by Japan, work was cancelled as early as last February on the capital ships which are surplus to the agreement. This is evident from a statement issued early in that month by the Mitsubishi yard at Nagasaki, to the effect that in compliance with instructions from the authorities work must cease forthwith on the battleship Tosa and the battle cruiser Takao. Keen disappointment is expressed that the yard should thus be deprived of the opportunity of demonstrating its skill in equipping and completing the Tosa, which was launched a few months ago as the largest battleship in the world. This sentiment will doubtless be shared by the workmen in general, but their disappointment, the statement adds, will be mitigated when they remember that the decision has been prompted by a desire to promote the world's peace. Full preparations were being made at the Nagasaki yard for the building of further vessels similar to the Tosa and Takao, and the order to suspend these plans has created serious difficulties, as there is not nearly sufficient alternative work to maintain the number of men at present employed. A statement has also been issued by the Kawasaki yard at Kobe, where instructions were received on February 5 for the stoppage of all work on the battleship Kaga and the battle cruiser Atago. The former was then considerably more than half completed, and wanted only her armor, guns, and equipment. In the case of the Atago, however, the work done was limited to laying the keel and assembling material. In order to avoid discharging the 3,000 men who had been engaged in the construction of these two ships, the yard management has decided to put them to work on two destroyers and twelve submarines, as well as on the light cruiser Kimi and the very fast cruiser Jintsu, which are already building there. In addition, two special service ships ordered by the navy for completion in 1925-26 are to be accelerated.
Unemployment threatens to assume such serious proportions in the Japanese shipbuilding industry that the various yards which undertake admiralty work are considering a scheme for pooling current and impending contracts for cruisers, destroyers, submarines, and auxiliaries, and allotting to each yard a share of work proportionate to its capacity. Should this scheme be adopted, it may be extended also to mercantile tonnage, for it is realized that exceptional measures will have to be taken if the national shipbuilding industry is to survive the crisis which has been brought about by naval disarmament.
The nine yards which at present have admiralty contracts on their books are the Mitsubishi, Kawasaki, Kobe Steel Works, Uraga Dock, Asano, Osaka Iron Works, Ishikawajima, Fujinagata, and Alitsui. Between them they employ 60,000 hands, and have sufficient material in stock to build 300,000 tons of shipping. The majority have enough work to carry them over this year, but after that they will not need more than half their present number of hands.
The light cruiser Yura, laid down at Sasebo dockyard in May last, was launched on February 15. Very little is known about this ship, which may be either a replica of the Kuma class, displacing under 6,000 tons, or the first of a new and heavier type of fast cruiser which the Japanese navy is understood to be developing. Including the Yura, there are now at least eight cruisers building in Japan, and eight others have been authorized, while twelve such ships less than ten years of age are already in service. Japan is therefore far ahead of the United States and second only to Great Britain in a type of vessel the importance of which is universally acknowledged.
In February last a collision took place between the light cruiser Tenryu and the second-class destroyer Tsuta. The latter, which had been completed only a few weeks previously, was seriously damaged.
In accordance with the Limitation Treaty the following ships have been ordered to be withdrawn from service with a view to being broken up: battleships Shikishima, Asahi, Mikasa, Hizen, Katori, Kashima, Satsuma, Aki, and the cruisers Ikoma, Ihuki, and Kurama. The Mikasa, however—Togo's famous flagship during the war with Russia—is to be moored at Yokosuka as a souvenir.—Naval and Military Record, 12 April, 1922.
Japan's Defence Policy.—Now that the Anglo-Japanese Alliance has ceased to operate and its place has been taken by a treaty which investigation shows to be no effective substitute for the former defensive and offensive league which had existed between this country and Japan for twenty years, it is not surprising to learn that the Japanese naval and military authorities are endeavoring to adjust their defensive plans to the new strategic conditions with which they are faced. Since the wording of the Pacific Treaty, and particularly of the reservation inserted by the American Senate, makes it clear that the signatory parties are under no obligation to take up arms in defence of the principles enunciated in the document, Japan argues that she must henceforth rely entirely upon her own strength for the protection of those interests which she considers vital to her existence. According to messages from Tokio received early in the present month, the military and naval general staffs have taken counsel together, and, in view of the Washington agreement, limiting the fortification of islands in the Pacific to the status quo, have resolved to make certain changes in their traditional policy. In future, therefore, the cordon of defence, which formerly extended well into the Pacific Ocean, will be reduced to a much narrower limit, and while maintaining such forces afloat and ashore as will be adequate to guard her coasts against attack from the west, Japan will pay special attention to securing her communications with the Asiatic mainland, whence in time of war she would have to draw no inconsiderable part of her foodstuffs and other essential supplies.
The news of this readjustment of defence policy has been interpreted in some quarters as an announcement of Japan's intention to extend her political and economic hold over China in order to compensate for the restrictions which the Washington agreement has placed upon her naval expansion. Time must show whether this reading of the facts is correct, but it seems premature at this stage to accuse Japan of contemplating a line of action that would be difficult to reconcile with the spirit of the treaties to which she has set her signature. Her strategical problems are in many aspects similar to those which we ourselves have had to solve in the past and may have to solve again in the future. As an island state, with important colonial possessions, she is primarily dependent on naval power for security against attack, and ever since she emerged from centuries of hermit-like seclusion to take her place in the ranks of the great powers, her aim has been to maintain a fleet sufficiently strong to ensure her supremacy in the Sea of Japan and its adjacent waters. This object she finally achieved after the war with Russia, since when no power has maintained in the far east a naval force comparable in strength with the Japanese fleet; while Japan on her part has done her utmost to discourage the creation of foreign naval bases on her side of the Pacific, realizing as she did that so long as such bases were non-existent she would have little to fear from attack, even by a would-be aggressor whose combined naval resources were far superior to her own.
A few years ago, however, the United States seemed disposed to establish large naval bases in the Philippine and Ladrone Islands. Although little was said openly, it is known that Japan was gravely perturbed at the prospect of having as it were, the United States navy brought to within easy reach of her coasts, a development calculated to threaten that local command of the sea which she has always regarded as something to be maintained at all costs. While it might be too much to affirm that the execution of the American fortification scheme would have been regarded by Japan as a casus belli, it was very widely believed in the far east that war between the two countries would have become simply a matter of time if the Americans had persisted in their plan. Without some clause relating to these Pacific fortifications the Washington naval agreement would have been practically valueless as a safeguard against war, and in fact, would probably not have been negotiated at all; for it has just been revealed by the Tokio newspapers that the Japanese delegates made it clear at the outset that they attached infinitely more importance to this question than to the scrapping of ships. It was only after the United States and Great Britain had agreed to the Japanese proposal regarding the suspension of all further work on the insular naval bases in the Pacific that Admiral Baron Kato felt himself free to accept Mr. Hughes's drastic scheme for reducing the respective ship establishments.
The abandonment of the projected American bases in the Western Pacific is, of course, an enormous gain from Japan's point of view, but it cannot be said to have absolved her from the necessity of keeping up a naval force strong enough to deal with any fleet that might be sent to make flying raids on her Coasts and communications. All impartial observers must admit that the battle fleet with which Japan has agreed to content herself under the terms of the treaty is modest enough in view of the important part which sea power plays in her scheme of defence. She retains only ten capital ships in all, and four of these are battle cruisers of a design more or less obsolete. This fleet is so small and the possibility of reinforcing it in an emergency so remote that Japanese strategists will probably regard it as a last card to be played only as a dernier resort. Their tendency in future will be to rely more and more upon those smaller and cheaper factors of naval defence, such as cruisers, submarines, and aircraft, in regard to which the treaty leaves them a free hand. Indeed, it is already known that the construction of such types is to be pushed forward with all speed, partly to relieve the industrial depression caused by the stoppage of capital shipbuilding and partly, no doubt, to make up by a substantial margin in auxiliary craft for the weakness of the battle fleet.
As regards Japanese military policy, the principles that govern it are somewhat obscure, for in spite of there being at present no visible menace to the island empire, she is maintaining an army of twenty-one divisions, with very large reserves in the background. It is true that the government is now considering the disbandment of several divisions, but it has been made clear that the money saved thereby will be spent on improving the equipment of the reduced army, which is notoriously deficient in certain items, such as heavy mobile artillery and tanks, which the European war showed to be indispensable for the conduct of a major campaign. There will consequently be no reduction in the cost of the Japanese army, nor will the cut in naval expenditure be so great as might have been anticipated, as the cost of the additional cruisers, submarines, etc., which it is proposed to lay down at an early date will make a large hole in the gross amount saved by cancelling the battleship programme.
What effect, if any, this new orientation of Japan's defence policy will have on her attitude towards China cannot be clearly foreseen at the moment, but there is no reason to assume that it heralds any further absorption of Chinese territory. On the other hand, Japan undoubtedly means to hold what she already has in the way of political and economic advantages and those who suppose that in signing the various Washington treaties she formally renounced her privileged position in China are sadly deceiving themselves. Rightly or wrongly, the Japanese think that they have made quite enough sacrifices to please America and England, and they show no disposition to accept further dictation as to their defensive or foreign policy from any quarter whatsoever. And in any case, seeing that the ink on the treaties is scarcely dry, it will be well to wait a little before lecturing Japan on her supposed designs in East Asia. So far, at any rate, nothing whatever has happened to give grounds for the suspicion that she does not mean to observe with perfect loyalty all the pledges into which she has entered. Those who assert the contrary have evidently read into the treaties much more than they really contain, particularly the one that relates to future international activities in China.—Naval and Military Record, 19 April, 1922.
UNITED STATES
Navy Department, Bureau of Construction and Repair
Washington, D.C.
April 10, 1922
Vessels Under Construction, United States Navy—Progress as of March 31, 1922
Type, Number and Name | Contractor | Per Cent of Completion | |||
April 1, 1922 | March 1, 1922 | ||||
Total | On Ship | Total | On Ship | ||
Battleships (BB) | |||||
45 Colorado | New York S.B. Cpn. | 90.7 | 90 | 89.6 | 88.7 |
47 Washington | New York S.B. Cpn. | 75.9 | 70.3 | 75.9 | 70.3 |
48 West Virginia | Newport News S.B. & D.D. Co. | 78 | 76 | 74 | 70.2 |
49 South Dakota | New York Navy Yard | 38.5 | 31.6 | 38.5 | 31.6 |
50 Indiana | New York Navy Yard | 34.7 | 27.2 | 34.7 | 27.2 |
51 Montana | Mare Island Navy Yard | 27.6 | 19 | 27.6 | 19 |
52 North Carolina | Norfolk Navy Yard | 36.7 | 27.1 | 36.7 | 27.1 |
53 Iowa | Newport News S.B. & D.D. Co. | 31.8 | 27.4 | 31.8 | 27.4 |
54 Massachusetts | Beth. S.B. Cpn. (Fore River) | 11 | 4.3 | 11 | 4.3 |
Battle Cruisers (CC) | |||||
1 Lexington | Beth. S.B. Cpn. (Fore River) | 33.8 | 24.2 | 33.8 | 24.2 |
2 Constellation | Newport News S.B. & D.D. Co. | 22.7 | 19.5 | 22.7 | 19.5 |
3 Saratoga | New York S.B. Cpn. | 35.4 | 28 | 35.4 | 28 |
4 Ranger | Newport News S.B. & D.D. Co. | 4 | 1.5 | 4 | 1.5 |
5 Constitution | Philadelphia Navy Yard | 13.4 | 8.4 | 13.4 | 8.4 |
6 United States | Philadelphia Navy Yard | 12.1 | 7.1 | 12.1 | 7.1 |
Scout Cruisers (Light Cruisers) (CL) | |||||
4 Omaha | Todd D.D. Const. Cpn. | 99.2 | 94.8 | 99.2 | 94.7 |
5 Milwaukee | Todd D.D. Const. Cpn. | 94.9 | 87.9 | 94.4 | 87 |
6 Cincinnati | Todd D.D. Const. Cpn. | 88.2 | 82 | 88.1 | 81.8 |
7 Raleigh | Beth. S.B. Cpn. (Fore River) | 64.9 | 47.6 | 64.2 | 46.6 |
8 Detroit | Beth. S.B. Cpn. (Fore River) | 82.8 | 70.8 | 81 | 68.1 |
9 Richmond | Wm. Cramp & Sons Co. | 89 | 82 | 87 | 80 |
10 Concord | Wm. Cramp & Sons Co. | 85 | 78 | 83 | 77 |
11 Trenton | Wm. Cramp & Sons Co. | 59 | 47 | 58 | 46 |
12 Marblehead | Wm. Cramp & Sons Co. | 47 | 33 | 47 | 33 |
13 Memphis | Wm. Cramp & Sons Co. | 40 | 26 | 40 | 26 |
Auxiliaries | |||||
Repair Ship No. 1 Medusa (AR1) | Puget Sound Navy Yard | 79.3 | 70.8 | 77.6 | 69.8 |
Dest. Tender No. 3 Dobbin (AD3) | Philadelphia Navy Yard | 69.9 | 69.6 | 68.1 | 67.8 |
Dest. Tender No. 4 Whitney (AD4) | Boston Navy Yard | 51.8 | 45.1 | 50.9 | 42.1 |
Sub. Tender No. 3 Holland (AS3) | Puget Sound Navy Yard | 21.5 | 5.5 | 21.5 | 5.5 |
Patrol Vessels | |||||
Gunboat No. 22 Tulsa (PG22) | Charleston Navy Yard | 72.7 | 61.3 | 72.3 | 60 |
Destroyers | |||||
*339 Trever | Mare Island Navy Yard | 99.8 | 99.8 | 99.8 | 99.8 |
340 Perry | Mare Island Navy Yard | 95.2 | 95.2 | 90.7 | 90.7 |
341 Decatur | Mare Island Navy Yard | 86.1 | 86.1 | 84.3 | 84.3 |
Destroyers authorized but not under construction or contract. | |||||
(12) Nos. 348 to 359 inclusive. | |||||
*Ready for commission. |
There are three fleet submarines and thirty-eight submarines under construction.
There are six fleet submarines and one submarine authorized but not under construction nor contract.
Navy Increases Win by Large Majority.—By an overwhelming vote of 221 to 148 the House on April 19 defeated the efforts of the "little" navy men and voted to fix the navy enlisted personnel at 86,000, as demanded by Secretary of the Navy Denby and urged by President Harding.
The committee recommendation of 67,000 enlisted men, which was so signally defeated on April 15, was up for a record vote and members on both sides of the question were eager for a decision.
The House for the first time in many days was crowded to the doors and the galleries were filled to capacity. It was a gathering marked by numbers of women visitors to the D. A. R. convention, Annapolis midshipmen and officers of the navy.
After reading the bill for amendment, Representative Kelley, chairman of the sub-committee on appropriations, alluded to by Representative Dupre of Louisiana as the "wrecker of the navy," demanded a record vote on the personnel sections and on the subsistence amendment offered by Representative Swing of California, as well as a vote on the McArthur amendment increasing the various items for the pay of the navy.
Vote Is Cheered
When the vote was read by the speaker prolonged cheering resulted and the navy group was confident that its fight for an adequate navy would be sustained by the Senate. The McArthur amendment and the Vare amendment increasing the personnel to 86,000 men, 80,000 enlisted men and 6,000 apprentices, was sustained by a vote of 221 to 148. The Swing amendment increasing subsistence allowances was adopted by a viva voce vote.
The House increased the appropriation for the temporary government of the Virgin Islands from $250,000 to $343,440 on an amendment proposed by Representative Towner of Iowa. No opposition developed.
The first snag encountered developed over the discussion of the maintenance of the Dahlgren Proving Grounds, Va. Mr. Stephenson of Ohio, who was opposed to any fresh expenditures, introduced an amendment providing that "no part of the appropriation (for the bureau of ordnance) or any other appropriation shall be available for expenditure for the navy proving grounds at Dahlgren, Va., except as much as may be necessary in continuing the establishment on a closed-down basis." This was adopted.
In a discussion of the appropriations for the bureau of aeronautics Mr. Hicks of New York proposed that the appropriation authorized (of $5,475,000) by the committee be increased to $7,093,000. He asserted that the increase would provide only the necessary equipment for aviation and would not permit of the expenditure of funds for great extensions.
Amendment Voted Down
The House apparently was in no disposition to contest the committee attitude, and after limited debate voted against the Hicks amendment. 75 to 34.
Chairman Kelley, leading the fight for reduced appropriation, explained that between $8,000,000 and $9,000,000 would become available for aviation purposes later that could not be provided in the naval appropriation bill. This sum, he said, would bring the total amount for this purpose up to approximately $16,000,000.
Mr. Herrick, who has become somewhat of an interesting personality to naval officers stationed in and around Washington, and is a flier himself, proposed an amendment to the $400,000 appropriation advocated by the committee for aircraft and accessories in course of construction or manufacture to $500,000. The amendment was for the purpose of building a government airplane factory to manufacture planes. This was lost on a viva voce vote.
An amendment by Mr. Lanahan of Texas proposed an appropriation of $400,000 for a helium plant. This was agreed to without dissent.
When the section of the bill dealing with the naval academy was reached a general free-for-all fight ensued between the big and the little navy groups. Speeches delivered by members centered largely around the proposed action of the committee in reducing the number of members of the 1922 class of midshipmen who were to be commissioned.
Civilian Instructors Retained
An amendment which started things going, proposed by Mr. Denison of Illinois, authorized an increase in the appropriation for the pay of professors and instructors from $346,500 to $421,500. It was for the purpose of retaining in the service the civilian instructors at the academy who have contracts with the navy department for terms of years.
Mr. Denison charged that the committee was seeking to throw these instructors out and supplant them with regular officers of the navy. His arguments finally won out after the House had fought over the proposition for nearly one hour and a half. Another amendment proposed by Mr. Denison was lost by a vote of 85 to 53. It provided that "no part of any sum in this act shall be expended in the pay or allowance of any commissioned officer of the navy detailed for duty as professor or instructor at the U. S. Naval Academy to perform the duties which were performed by civilian professors or instructors on January 1, 1922." This amendment would have produced the situation that no officers may be used as teachers in places provided by civilians.
In discussion of the naval academy needs the House engaged in a lively fight on the personnel section, Messrs. Kelley, Longworth of Ohio, Rogers of Massachusetts, and others participating.
Secretary Denby's Letter Read
Mr. Rogers demanded that Mr. Kelley produce Secretary Denby's letter showing the increases in appropriations that were called for under the increased personnel. Mr. Kelley balked and attempted to deflect the demand, but cries of "Read," "Read," came from members from various parts of the House, and he was forced to read the letter.
After an analysis of it by Mr. Mills of New York, Secretary Denby's letter showed that the increases would amount to approximately $39,500,000. But he contended that of this sum $19,000,000 was for increases called for in other sections of the bill which did not go into the personnel item.
"It's money got for increased activities of the navy because of the increased personnel," responded Mr. Kelley. He was drowned out, however, and the Denby letter, it was thought, swung the vote in favor of the increased personnel.
Reading of the bill was resumed and much progress was made until Mr. Byrnes of South Carolina sought to amend the section dealing with the increase in the navy by having stated in figures the amount of money necessary to be expended, which he said was $46,250,000.—Army and Navy Journal, 22 April, 1922.
$3,000,000 Project at Mare Island.—The navy bill as reported to the House contains an appropriation of $750,000 to be immediately available to meet an emergency of a serious character that has arisen at the Mare Island navy yard and which requires rebuilding timber wharves and quay walls with repair to dykes, to cost, according to an estimate of the bureau of yards and docks of the navy department, $2,800,000. Secretary Denby recently convened for the investigation of the situation at Vallejo a special board composed of Rear Admiral H. H. Rousseau, Captain F. P. Chambers, Commander George A. McKay, and Lieutenant Commander H. D. Rouzer, C. E. C. The condition at Mare Island on which the board was called upon to report arose from the presence of marine borers, principally the teredo, in San Pablo Bay and Mare Island Strait, within the last few years, that have attacked all wooden structures in those waters. Prior to 1913 the borers had never been reported in San Pablo Bay, and until September, 1919, there had been no evidence of damage from this source in Mare Island. Strait proper according to navy yard authorities. Naturally, therefore, up to that time all wooden structures, both in San Pablo Bay and Mare Island Strait had been constructed of uncreosoted material, as the increased cost of creosoted material would not have been justified. The board examined the recent reports in the bureau files on the condition of the dykes, sea walls, wharves, etc., at the Mare Island yard, from which it learned that these dykes, quay walls, wharves, and various other waterfront construction of untreated timber have been damaged to such a degree within the last two and one-half years that portions have already collapsed, and the bulk of the remaining works are in imminent danger of failure, which may be expected to occur without warning at practically any moment. This condition is a serious menace to life and property and has necessitated placing certain portions of the navy yard waterfront structures out of commission. The report of the board stated as its unqualified opinion that there is only one course open in the way of remedy and that is to repair and replace the damaged structures with construction that will not be affected by marine borers, so as to maintain Mare Island on the same plane of importance and usefulness as before its structures were attacked, adding: "No lowering of this plane or lessening of the usefulness or facilities of the yard should be contemplated." It is proposed to expend $1,500,000 in rebuilding wharves and quay walls and $1,300,000 for repairs to dykes. The board also recommended that every effort be made to secure appropriations as quickly as possible, and it was with this information in his possession that Rear Admiral L. E. Gregory, chief of bureau, urged the appropriation of $750,000 as an initial expenditure.—Army and Navy Register, 15 April, 1922.
Fate of Naval Reserve Fliers.—Charges that naval reserve flying officers were "thrown out like so much junk" by heads of the naval air service were made by Senator Walsh, Massachusetts, before the Senate naval committee, at an investigation of his allegations of unfairness by the navy in the examination given the reserve fliers. His resolution, adopted in December, asserted that the examinations for transfer were unfair and unreasonable and held that the individual ability of the officer was not given consideration.
Detailing his charges before the committee, the Massachusetts senator said that about 200 officers, mostly volunteers during the war, were about to be forced out of the navy because they had failed in examinations for which they had no opportunity to prepare and which included subjects wholly unrelated to aviation.—Aviation, 17 April, 1922.
Board's March Deficit.—The operating deficit of the shipping board was $3,704,155 last month as compared with $3,089,459 in February. The poorer showing is attributed to March being a longer month, with total voyages of 183, against 155 voyages in February.
The excess of outlay over income on voyage operations, excluding overhead, repairs and insurance, was $1,019,860, as against $593,290 for February.—Nautical Gazette, 29 April, 1922.
March Shipbuilding Output in Detail.—The bureau of navigation, department of commerce, reports 62 sailing, steam, gas and unrigged vessels of 6,203 gross tons built in the United States and officially numbered during the month of March, 1922, as follows:
? | Atlantic and Gulf | Pacific | Great Lakes | Western Rivers | Total | |||||
? | No. | Gross | No. | Gross | No. | Gross | No. | Gross | No. | Gross |
Wood | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Sailing | 3 | 1,314 | … | … | … | … | … | … | 3 | 1,314 |
Steam | … | … | … | … | … | … | 1 | 75 | 1 | 75 |
Gas | 35 | 991 | 9 | 350 | 2 | 33 | … | … | 46 | 1,374 |
Unrigged | 7 | 1,941 | 2 | 354 | … | … | … | … | 9 | 2,295 |
Total | 45 | 4,246 | 11 | 704 | 2 | 33 | 1 | 75 | 59 | 5,058 |
Metal | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Sailing | … | … | … | … | … | … | … | … | … | … |
Steam | 2 | 831 | … | … | … | … | … | … | 2 | 831 |
Gas | 1 | 314 | … | … | … | … | … | … | 1 | 314 |
Unrigged | … | … | … | … | … | … | … | … | … | … |
Total | 3 | 1,145 | .. | … | … | … | … | … | 3 | 1,145 |
Totals | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Sailing | 3 | 1,314 | … | … | … | … | … | … | 3 | 1,314 |
Steam | 2 | 831 | … | … | … | … | 1 | 75 | 3 | 906 |
Gas | 36 | 1,305 | 9 | 350 | 2 | 33 | … | … | 47 | 1,688 |
Unrigged | 7 | 1,941 | 2 | 354 | … | … | … | … | 9 | 2,295 |
Grand Total | 48 | 5,391 | 11 | 704 | 2 | 33 | 1 | 75 | 62 | 6,203 |
The above total includes 21 rigged vessels of 643 gross tons and 6 unrigged vessels of 1,430 gross tons, total 27 vessels of 2,073 gross tons built in years previous to 1922. There were not any steam or gas vessels of 1,000 gross tons and over built during the month of March, 1922.—Nautical Gazette, 15 April, 1922.
U.S. Needs Merchant Fleet of 7,500,000 Tons.—On the supposition that the American merchant marine should be in a position to handle sixty per cent of our total water-borne commerce, the shipping board figures that on this basis there would be required a fleet composed something as follows:
? | Gross Tons |
Cargo ships and passenger and cargo ships | 5,700,000 |
Tankers | 1,400,000 |
Express passenger ships | 400,000 |
Total tonnage | 7,500,000 |
In explaining how this result was arrived at, the shipping board, in an official statement, said that the figure of 5,700,000 gross tons of cargo ships was arrived at by a method of proportion using actual figures of present operating vessels. As a check against this method we may compute the tonnage required from the purely theoretical standpoint, estimating the distribution of our exports and the number of voyages per year in the various routes. This would give a table something as follows:
Route | Tons, Exports | Voyage Per Year | Voyage, Tons |
Middle America | 4,500,000 | 10 | 450,000 |
United Kingdom and Atlantic Europe | 8,500,000 | 5 | 1,700,000 |
Baltic, Mediterranean, Europe, W.C.S.A. | 19,500,000 | 4 | 4,875,000 |
East C.S.A., Trans-Pacific, etc. | 4,500,000 | 3 | 1,500,000 |
Long-hauls, indirect, etc. | 3,000,000 | 2 | 1,500,000 |
Total | 40,000,000 | ? | 10,025,000 |
One-half | 20,000,000 | ? | 5,013,000 |
? | ? | ? | Deadweight |
With assumed attainable efficiency of 60 per cent of total dwt., per voyage, it would require | 8,333,000 | ||
Converted to gross | 5,600,000 | ||
Plus tankers | 1,400,000 | ||
Plus express passenger ships | 400,000 | ||
Total gross tons of ocean-going ships | 7,400,000 |
—Nautical Gazette, 15 April, 1922.
Percentage of January’s Trade Carried in U.S. Ships—According to figures compiled by the department of commerce, American flag vessels carried 32.99 and 38.99 per cent respectively of the ocean-borne imports and exports of the United States during the month of January. As regards tonnage entered and cleared 50.4 per cent of all merchant ships entering American ports flew the Stars and Stripes, while 51.45 per cent of those clearing were of United States registry.
In January a year ago American vessels carried 39 per cent of the imports and 36 per cent of the exports. The better showing in the export trade last January is said to be due to the Russian relief movement.—Nautical Gazette, 1 April, 1922.
Panama Canal Traffic.—During February 212 commercial vessels of 710,548 net tons passed through the Panama Canal carrying 838,074 tons of cargo. In the corresponding month of last year, 241 ships of 764,519 tons and carrying 882,313 tons of cargo passed through the waterway. The showing by countries is as follows:
Nationality | No. of Ships | Net Tons | Tons of Cargo |
British | 74 | 255,414 | 276,073 |
Chilean | 5 | 8,926 | 4,534 |
Danish | 2 | 6,569 | 10,610 |
Dutch | 4 | 11,042 | 16,773 |
French | 5 | 16,040 | 17,430 |
German | 6 | 18,846 | 18,061 |
Japanese | 9 | 40,220 | 57,176 |
Italian | 2 | 5,822 | 1,110 |
Norwegian | 9 | 26,185 | 40,337 |
Peruvian | 4 | 6,042 | 4,453 |
Swedish | 4 | 7,018 | 11,388 |
United States | 88 | 308,424 | 380,129 |
Totals | 212 | 710,548 | 838,074 |
—Nautical Gazette, 22 April, 1922.
Suggested Changes in U.S. Navigation Laws.—The shipping board has made public the findings of the Franklin committee on revision of navigation laws, which for some unknown reason has been kept secret for two years. The recommendations are unimportant, holding that the laws as they exist should be changed in minor details but that they do not constitute as serious a handicap to American shipping as they have been represented to be.
Among other features the board recommends a codification of our navigation laws and the issuance of more lenient regulations by the steamboat inspection service. It also advises that Section 13 of the Seamen's act be amended so as to reduce the preliminary service required before men are to be rated as able seamen and the percentage of able seamen required in the deck crews.
A change is also suggested in the section of the La Follette act requiring masters to pay sailors half of their wages, which should be amended so as to reduce the prescribed payment to one-quarter of the wages due. Only one payment should be made in the same harbor on the same entry. It is also urged that seamen be provided with continuous discharge books.—Nautical Gazette, 8 April, 1922.
Present Status of Board's Steel Vessel Fleet.—In his address on Tuesday to the joint congressional committee on behalf of the administration’s ship subsidy bill, Chairman Lasker said that the government-owned steel fleet is divided as follows: Passenger ships, 500,000 tons gross; freighters, 6,000,000 tons gross; tankers, 550,000 tons gross.
Of the passenger ships, 300,000 tons are ex-Germans, of which 140,000 tons are so old as to be of no potential continuing value; their life is but short, and they can be, by and large, only academically considered an asset. Of fast cargo ships, we have but 15 ships of a total of 116,000 gross tons.
In passenger tonnage, both governmental owned and privately owned and including ships designed for the short runs to the West Indies, we have but 80 good ships, aggregating 600,000 tons; while of fast cargo ships of both classes we have but 53 ships of 390,000 tons.
To have a merchant marine that can effectively meet 50 per cent of all our peace-time carrying needs, we require a million and a quarter gross tons of passenger ships and about the same amount of the faster cargo ships.
Of our 6,000,000 tons of freighters, about half the steel tonnage is good tonnage, comparable to the best in the world. The other half ranges from fair to not usable for our purposes and should be either sold abroad for use in such trades where we have every assurance it will not find itself in competition with our ships, or dismantled.
Of the six million tons of freighters the government possesses, it is the hope of the shipping board that ultimately a great measure of the three million good tons will find itself in the hands of American owners, should the legislation now proposed be adopted. It is doubtful if, under the happiest conditions, the American flag will need the three million good tons in its entirety, and ways and means must be found to dispose of such of the good tonnage as remains, so that American interests will not be hurt.
Automatically the three million poor tons must be done away with. Part of it can be used by selling to Americans the hulls at low figures for conversion to types of freighters of which we are not possessed. The balance may either be sold in small quantities in local trades abroad, if any, where, because of shorter runs and cheaper labor, local operation may be possible, or it must largely be dismantled.
In the genuinely competitive ocean-carrying trade in December, a normal month, American ships carried only 24 per cent of American exports. It is appalling to think that 19 per cent of this 24 per cent was carried in government-owned ships and only 5 per cent in privately-owned ships, when it is considered that the government, through the shipping board, admits its inability to operate on an equally efficient basis in competition with the private ships of the world.
We are carrying 87 per cent of the Mexican oil trade and 57 per cent of the Caribbean trade, but vessels designed for these trades are not of the types needed for naval auxiliary use in war.—Nautical Gazette, 8 April, 1922.
Piers and Berthing Spaces for Ships.—In his report on water terminals and transfer facilities, Captain F. T. Chambers of the United States navy, says that in the United States by far the greatest percentage of berthing space for ships is in the form of piers, and beyond a doubt the present tendency to comparatively long and narrow row piers is a growth from conditions natural enough in the past, but now so far modified that those contemplating water-front improvements should weigh the facts carefully before deciding upon such construction.
The pier has an advantage over the wharf or quay construction in that it furnishes two berths, one on each side. Thus where little water front is available a much larger number of berths can be constructed upon the pier system than upon the quay system. It has the disadvantage that projecting at right angles, or nearly so, into the stream it is difficult to maneuver vessels into or from their berths except at slack water, with the further disadvantage that for modern ships of large capacity there is in general not sufficient width opposite the ship's berth for the accommodation of the enormous quantity of cargo which must be handled in and out.
Piers of moderate width are quite suitable for fitting out berths for ships at a shipyard, or even for accommodation of cargo of small vessels, but it should be borne in mind that within the past few years the sizes of ships have increased enormously, and that it is now considered that for overseas business ships of 10,000 tons deadweight capacity are the most economical.
The port of Jacksonville furnishes an effective comparison between pier and quay layouts for port terminal construction. The river at Jacksonville is none too wide for the manipulation of large ships, and had the city of Jacksonville in the early days acquired the entire water front on both sides of the river it would have made available about ten miles of water front for a port layout. The transit sheds would then have been built parallel to the water front and the railway brought in directly behind, with ample space reserved for classification and makeup yards. Furthermore, the largest ships could, under their own steam, have made their berths alongside the quay with ease, as they would have been pointed directly into the current.
Instead of this, industrial concerns for whose operation direct waterfront connection is not essential, or which could under the quay system have been placed directly behind the railroad, quite as convenient to the water front as with the pier system, have acquired water-front property, and they, the railroads, and individuals have thrust narrow piers into the stream in the uneconomical American fashion.—Nautical Gazette, 28 April, 1922.
Large Liners Show Profit.—According to T. H. Rossbottom, general manager of the United States lines, the steamships America and George Washington earned a profit of $686,292 in the four months ending December 31 without making any allowance for depreciation or insurance charges.—Nautical Gazette, 22 April, 1922.
Los Angeles Developing into Great Ocean Port.—The last few years have witnessed a tremendous growth in the business of the port of Los Angeles. In 1919 its commerce barely reached 2,000,000 tons, while last year the total cargo movement approximated 4,800,000 tons. This was 500,000 tons more than in 1920.
Los Angeles is now connected by direct line with practically every port of importance in the world. In the last twelve months twenty-three new steamship services have been inaugurated out of the port. Of these the principal ones are the Compagnie Generale Transatlantique, to Havre; the Robert Dollar line, to the Orient; the British India East Asiatic line, to Copenhagen and Hamburg; the Wilson line, to the United Kingdom and European ports; the Java-Pacific line, from Java and the Philippine islands; the Luckenbach Company's line, to Mobile arid New Orleans; the Matson Navigation Company's line, to Hawaii; the Nippon Yusen Kaisha, to the Orient; the Isthmain line to Honolulu; the Diamond line to the United Kingdom and European ports; the American-Australasian line, to New Zealand and Australia, and the Struthers and Barry line, to Hawaii and the Orient. Every available slip and foot of dockage is now occupied and the city is engaged in spending millions of dollars widening the entrance to its harbor, building new wharves and dredging new channels to care for the business being offered.—Nautical Gazette, 15 April, 1922.
AERONAUTICS
Portugal to Brazil Flight.—Captains Sacadura Cabral and Gago Coutinho, of the Portuguese naval air service, have been forced to abandon their gallant attempt to reach Pernambuco, Brazil, when their seaplane was severely damaged upon beaching at St. Paul's Rock, in the South Atlantic, which the two fliers reached after a twelve-hour flight over a stretch of water devoid of any land.
The two fliers flew on April 17 from St. Vincent, Cape Verde Islands, to Porto Praya, in the same archipelago, a distance of about 200 miles, which they covered in two and one-half hours.
They left Porto Praya at 5:50 a. m. on April 18 heading for St. Paul's Rock, about 900 miles away, where they landed at 8 p. m. On landing the machine was unfortunately damaged to such an extent that it became impossible to resume the journey in the direction of Fernando Noronha, 350 miles away, whence only 378 miles separated them from the South American mainland.
The seaplane Lusitama which Captains Cabral and Coutinho were flying was, as has been foreshadowed in Aviation, the special type of Fairey floatplane which was recently launched in England.
This seaplane is a modification of the Fairey C3D, and has a span of 62 ft. and an overall length of 36 ft. 6 in. The engine is a 375 hp. Rolls-Royce "Eagle" and the fuel supply permits of a continuous flight of 18 hours. At the trials in England the machine developed a high speed of 95 m.p.h. with a wing loading of over 10 lb./sq. ft. and a power loading of 19 Ib./hp., and the low speed 48 m.p.h. The weight empty is 4,150 lb., and the weight loaded 7,250.
According to latest advice, the Portuguese government has decided to ship a new seaplane to St. Paul's Rock so the two aviators may complete their flight to Brazil, a matter of 700 miles with one intermediate stop.—Aviation, 1 May, 1922.
Our Stored Helium Supply.—The helium plant at Fort Worth, Tex., was shut down December 1 last owing to lack of funds. At the time it was shut down, it had been operating in a fairly consistent manner, and had produced helium in notable quantities for a period of several months. The total production by this plant was about 2,100,000 cu. ft., and the total amount of helium which the navy has in storage is between 2,300,000 and 2,400,000 cu. ft. In one day (24 hours) the plant produced over 40,000 cu. ft. of helium.
There are still a few adjustments which are needed, and undoubtedly increased efficiency can be obtained in the future after further operation.
The army bill was recently presented to Congress with an appropriation of $400,000 for helium. It is hoped that the navy bill will be reported out with an equal amount, giving a total of $800,000. If this amount is granted, it will be possible to operate the plant at Forth Worth the larger part of next year, and this should give an amount of helium sufficient to take care of immediate needs for both the army and the navy.—Aviation, 17 April, 1922.
Meeting of N. A. C. A.—A complete and detailed study of the plans and specifications of the navy's rigid airship ZR-1 was requested of the national advisory committee for aeronautics at its session on April 20 by Rear Admiral Wm. A. Moffett, chief of the naval bureau of aeronautics. Before the airship, whose parts are now being fabricated, but which has not yet been assembled, is completed. Admiral Moffett is desirous of having a thorough study made of all the stresses and strains it is likely to encounter in the air under service conditions and it is for this reason that he has asked the committee to appoint a special technical subcommittee of aeronautical experts and engineers to make a special study of its design and structure. While the navy is confident that its own plans for the airship are correct, it is nevertheless desirous of securing the opinion of an independent committee of experts to avoid the possibility of future adverse criticism. The whole committee approved Admiral Moffett's request and authorized its chairman, Dr. Walcott, to appoint a special technical subcommittee for this purpose.
Dr. J. S. Ames, chairman of the executive committee, reported on the progress made at the committee's research laboratory at Langley Field in the development of a new heavy-oil, fuel-injection aircraft engine for the bureau of aeronautics, navy department. While the details of the development are still held confidential, it is known that its use will greatly reduce the fuel fire hazard in aircraft. This new engine not only does away with the use of gasoline, but also operates without carburetor and spark plugs, thus eliminating certain causes of trouble.
Dawings and performance characteristic of a new high-speed airplane wing, just developed at the committee's laboratory, Dr. Ames stated, have been turned over to the army air service for use in the design of a new high-speed pursuit type airplane. This new wing is a thick wing section with space for internally bracing the wing and eliminating any wires or struts in the design of the airplane. The wing is both tapered in section and in plane form, conforming somewhat to the general shape of a bird's wing that is tapering toward the tip, both of which features add materially to the speed characteristics of the wing.—Aviation, 1 May, 1922.
Six Killed in Collision in France.—The first disaster on the commercial air routes between England and France occurred on Friday afternoon with the result that six people were killed and one person gravely injured.
The French machine was the Goliath. F. G. E. A. D., belonging to the Grands Express Airiens, which left Paris at noon under Pilot Hire, who was accompanied by a mechanic, with three passengers and goods, and when in the region of Thienloy St. Antoine, near Grand Villiers, it collided with the De Havilland 18 machine G. E. A. W. O., belonging to the Daimler Hire, Ltd., which left Croydon for Paris at 10 o'clock with goods and mails, and was piloted by Lt. R. E. Duke, who is stated to have been accompanied by only a steward.
A telegram received by Le Bourget from the chief of the gendarmerie at Grand Villiers states that the accident happened at 1.20, and that both machines are completely destroyed. "Six are dead, and one is in a critical state," the message adds.
It is stated at the air ministry that at the time the collision is said to have taken place the visibility was fairly good, but there were low clouds and light rain, and that possibly the machines were caught in a current.
Pilot Duke had a splendid flying record during the war, and had been for a long time engaged in civil aviation. He was a pilot in the Aircraft Transport Travel Co., which were the pioneers of commercial aviation, and had only recently joined the Daimler Co., immediately previous to which he was employed by the Royal Dutch Co. on the Amsterdam route.
The British machine formerly belonged to the air ministry, and was let on hire to the Instone air line. A few days ago she was acquired by the Daimler Hire Company, and this was her first flight under the new company.
The De Havilland 18 was a single engine biplane, capable of carrying eight passengers and 500 lb. of baggage. She had an endurance of 3% hours, giving a range of about 400 miles.
An official of Daimler Hire, Ltd., said last night that the machine had been on the Paris air service for over two years. "Owing to the delivery of our own machines not being up to date," he added, "the De Havilland 18 was loaned to us by the air ministry. It is not one of the machines of the type that we are using in our passenger air service." She carried only mails and newspapers, and the only person on board, according to this official, was the pilot Duke.—Naval and Military Record, 10 April, 1922.
The Uses of Airplane Carriers.—The organization for naval air operations requires that many squadrons of airplanes can be put into the air at short notice, and naturally arrangements must be such that this can be done as promptly in a gale of wind as in fair weather. Airplane carriers answer this purpose because they are the only means by which airplanes may be used with the fleet in sufficient numbers and in all kinds of weather.
Airplane Carrier Is Floating Airdrome
Airplane carriers not only carry at sea a large number of planes—in other words, a much larger number that can be carried on the present type of ships—they also provide a means for getting them back after they have taken the air. Even if it were practicable to have planes land on the water alongside of a ship, with the idea of picking them up by means of a derrick, it must be remembered that in time of war the ships at sea must go at the maximum speed, and also zigzag. It was impracticable to pick up an ordinary boat under these conditions, and more impracticable to pick up a delicate airplane.
The radius of action of all planes, including bombers, is very limited, and bombing planes have to be protected by fighters. The airplane carrier is thus a large floating, mobile airdrome. It differs radically from the ordinary airdrome in that it is a means of putting into effect the offensive qualities of aviation, on which so many claims are being made, including a great many extravagant ones. The bombing of ships from shore, provided the ships come within the radius of action of land planes, is perfectly feasible and easy, but before this, the land plane, or whatever type of plane is used, must have a base from which to operate, at least in the present state of development of aviation.
A plane can take the air from the deck of a ship—using a catapult if the available length for take off is short—no matter how bad the weather may be. But a seaplane can take the air from the surface of the water only when the sea conditions are favorable: the sea must be smooth enough for the plane to be able to work up to flying speed while running on the surface. This means a water speed usually greater than the speed of the fastest trans-Atlantic steamer: consequently we cannot hope to improve matters very much by increasing the size of seaplanes; it is well known that the state of the sea frequently forces the largest steamers to slow down.
Developed by Practical Experience
The airplane carrier has been developed by practical experience in naval air operations. At first, in the late war, seaplanes were carried on tenders from which they were hoisted overboard to take the air from the surface of the water. Used in this way the airplane was naturally unpopular with the navy, for, as explained above, it was of necessity a fair weather apparatus. The next step was to put airplanes with wheels on extemporized platforms built on tops of turrets of the fighting ships; this was a step in advance because the planes taking off from the platforms did not have to wait for smooth sea conditions, and consequently could operate in bad as well as good weather. But in this kind of operation, there was no satisfactory means of recovering the planes after flight, and there was not enough available space for platforms to permit operation of a sufficient number of squadrons. The next step was the carrier with a flying-on deck as well as facilities for flying off the deck. The use of carriers made it possible to increase the number of planes operating with the fleet, and made it possible to recover planes after they had finished their flights.
Catapult Supersedes Flying-off Platform
In the United States navy the flying-off platforms on turrets have been superseded by catapults which permit operation of more efficient planes from the fighting ships than was possible from the platforms. The length of run on the catapult is about the same as with the turret platform, but the mechanism of the catapult assists the plane to get up flying speed in the short run; consequently we can now use much faster or heavier planes than was possible with turret platform. The catapult also makes it possible to use planes on all types of ships, whether there be provision for this purpose or not.
Resuming it may be said that the airplane carrier is simply a means of furnishing transportation for planes over the sea, instead of restricting them to operations within a few miles of the shore. The putting of catapults aboard, and the placing of planes on ships, necessarily of a restricted number, is well enough, and in doing it the navy is doing the best it can with the means at hand. It is believed that battleship design will ultimately be radically modified so that they carry fewer guns, and the number of guns sacrificed will give a part of the deck space to planes, and re-arranged so that they can carry a greater number of planes. All wars are settled by gaining control of the sea, and this control is in the ultimate analysis generally gained by a fleet action, so that one must think of aviation as taking a role which in its own province, must on a very large scale, be decisive. Hence in order to carry planes in large numbers the airplane carrier is essential.—Aviation, 17 April, 1922.
"Currenium"—What Is It?—Newspaper reports announce the production in Los Angeles of a new lifting gas, called currenium, which, it is claimed, is non-explosive and non-inflammable, and for which the further claim is made that its lift is essentially that of hydrogen.
In this connection George B. Harrison, formerly secretary of the Aero Club of Southern California, has favored us with the following communication, which is published for the sake of information.
"Currenium, a new gas which is non-explosive and non-inflammable and which can be manufactured cheaply, has been developed by the International Transportation and Manufacturing Co. It is the discovery of Dr. E. Curran, chief of the research department of that company. He has been experimenting for more than twenty years to devise a means of producing a non-inflammable lighter-than-air gas, and in 1918 practically perfected such a process. Since then he has been developing the method of quantity production of the gas in order to attain a low priced method of manufacturing with the assurance of constant purity.
"A lift equal to that of 98 per cent hydrogen is claimed for the new gas, with a much better maintenance of purity than is possible with hydrogen. Dr. Curran has kept the gas in an airship compartment of his own design for more than a year without noticeable loss of purity. He asserts that the gas may be manufactured at less than $40.00 per 1,000 cu. ft., and that its production is feasible whenever machinery can be installed.
"Tests of currenium have been made at Los Angeles, which were witnessed by members of Aero Club of Southern California and of the Commercial Aircraft Association of Southern California, in which a flame and electric spark were introduced into the gas without causing fire or explosion, and after which small balloons were filled to demonstrate its buoyancy. The actual lift of the currenium is almost that of hydrogen, but better than helium."—Aviation, 17 April, 1922.
The World's New Airships.—Major G. H. Scott, who commanded R-34, is one of the officers interested in the development of an imperial air service, whose naval and military usefulness is obvious. On this question of our own airships now for disposal he has some very clear views which have been put before the air conference recently. If not now, then in the immediate future, our own policy must be shaped by what other nations are doing with regard to airship work, and this Major Scott has tabulated.
Owing to the incentive of the war, the airship has been brought to that state of development where it may justly be said to take its place amongst the useful inventions of the world. Like all other engineering achievements which have reached such a stage, there can be no question of it standing still; it is certain great efforts will be made to establish it as a means of long distance transport, and to utilize it for defence purposes. British airships are in a peculiar position, says Major Scott. The British public really know little about their great possibilities, as although our existing airships are capable of carrying out long flights of three to four days, it has been impossible to demonstrate the commercial value and possibilities of this performance, as no ground organization is available outside Great Britain. The public in this country have seen nothing but the irregular, although long, flights carried out by our ships.
The airship position in this country has now reached a critical stage, and issues of vital importance to the empire depend upon the steps which we take now. There can be no doubt that the world will continue the development of the airship, and eventually airships will be flying commercially on all the main world routes. Major Scott holds the view that if a move is not made now one will be forced on us at no distant date, probably within two years. His reasons for thinking that if a move is not made now by this country, it will have to be made within two years, are based not on any revolutionary improvements in air ship design, but on the airship position in other countries.
The United States naval department have arranged with the Allies for the construction of an airship by Germany at the Zeppelin works as part of America's share of aerial reparations. This ship, we may take for granted, will embody the latest features of airship design, and should be flying within twelve months. The United States navy department are also building in America the Z.R.I., modeled on a German ship. The U. S. Army have recently purchased an Italian semi-rigid ship, which is the largest airship of its type in the world, and have also in commission several smaller non-rigid airships. With such a programme progress will be very rapid. A large base at Lakehurst has been erected; it has a shed with twice the floor space of anything in this country, capable of housing ships three to four times the size of any built to date. There are also several other bases in being and in use by the army and navy authorities, notably Langley Field. It is also known that a powerful commercial combine exists in America today, with a view to running commercial airships, probably in the first instance trans-continental—the Atlantic being considered a later development, says Major Scott.
The re-erection of three large sheds in France, which were taken from Germany under the peace terms, is proceeding. These sheds are being erected, one near Paris, one near Marseilles and one in Algiers. These, together with the two existing bases at Maubeuge and Marseilles, will place France in a very strong position, when she can finance the construction of ships (which undoubtedly is her present intention), both from an international traffic point of view and for the operation of an airship service from Paris to her principal colony. There is abundant proof that the Germans are firm believers in the future of airships. They have, in various ways, managed to keep their technical staff together, and are still in a position, technically, to design and construct airships. The latest move, and one which will give them what may well turn out to be a commanding lead in airships, is the arrangement now being completed between Spanish commercial interests and Zeppelin interests to establish an airship service between Spain and the Argentine. There is no reason why the first leg of this route, say, to Las Palmas, should not be operating within two years from now in spite of the fact that a shed must be erected in Spain, and quite possibly in this time the service may have reached Brazil. Italy recently constructed a 1 ½-million cubic feet semi-rigid, which America has purchased. They are now engaged in building a still larger airship of this type, which will have a range of about 4,000 to 5,000 miles. Italy also has under consideration a commercial airship service from Rome to her North African colony, Tripoli.—Army, Navy and Air Force Gazette, 22 April, 1922.
The Unified Air Force Vindicated.—Opponents of the idea of a single fighting air service, controlled by a separate air department, independent of, and co-equal in status with the war and navy departments will do well to ponder over the speech recently made in the House of Commons by Austen Chamberlain, speaking for the British government. The most important portions of this speech are reproduced elsewhere in this issue, but it seems worth while quoting here a few of its high lights, for they make clear why Great Britain does not intend to "wash out" her unified air force—as the admiralty, had hoped would occur.
If the royal air force were to be reabsorbed by the army and navy, said Mr. Chamberlain, "sailors and soldiers would continue to think of the force in terms of their own service and would not pursue its development as an independent force outside the purpose with which it was associated, and for which they desire that it should be employed."
This is an argument which has been put forth many times, but we do not believe that it has ever before been expressed in such a clear and convincing language. And it was precisely because soldiers and sailors "thought in terms of their respective services," and not in terms of air warfare, that the British government created in the pressure of war the air ministry and the royal air force. "Until that time the air was purely under naval or military command, and was only thought of in terms of naval and military warfare," said Mr. Chamberlain, and it was only after the air ministry was constituted with its air staff that "the aeronautical aspects of war were considered from an aerial point of view."
This was the situation which Great Britain found wanting in 1918 and remedied despite considerable opposition from the Senior Services. The opponents of the innovation then claimed that before long the unified air force would again be split up into its constituent parts and handed back to the war office and to the admiralty. Today, however, there can no longer be any doubt that the much criticized single air force idea was right. It is generally agreed that in the future hostilities will open up with a surprise attack from the air, and that this situation must be met by an air force which will consider the matter from an aerial and not a naval, or a military viewpoint. Hence the second conclusion the British government has arrived at with respect to national defense: That in the case of defense against air raids the army and the navy must play a secondary role. This means, in other words, that the royal air force is today Great Britain's first line of defense, while the navy is relegated to secondary place.
Students of national defense cannot afford to ignore the significance of the upheaval that has taken place in the traditions of a country which like Great Britain has for centuries chiefly relied on its naval service for keeping its shores inviolate of enemy attacks.—Aviation, 17 April, 1922.
Amundsen to Take Airplanes to Pole.—Captain Roald Amundsen, the polar explorer who is soon to start on another venture into the Arctic Ocean, will use two airplanes in connection with his expedition. One of these, a JL-6 metal monoplane, is to be used for the final dash to the North Pole, while the other machine, an Avro 504-K, is to be employed as an advance scout of the ship for spotting icebergs, free water, etc.—Aviation, 10 April, 1922.
Air Service Plans Flying Aircraft Carriers.—The air service is developing plans for aerial aircraft carriers, it is learned in Washington. Means and methods for launching and taking on board small airplanes, carrying gas, ammunition and bombs for distribution to its fleet of planes, are being studied in connection with the employment of large airships by officers of the army air service.
"What the air service needs to day," said one officer, "are lighter-than-air transports for carrying personnel, equipment, spares, gas, and oil, with facilities for picking up and dropping planes, so that the pilots and observers can be relieved in the air, the planes gassed, and ammunition and bombs supplied, without necessitating a return to a land or ship base. Just as the air craft of the navy are cared for by a mother ship or airplane carrier, so must the army craft be supplied from an aerial mother ship," he continued.
Originally Planned with Roma
"We were making just such plans for experimenting with the Roma, but with the delay of getting her into shape and the installation of six new Liberty engines, we had not yet undertaken experiments when she was destroyed. Now we are without a ship with which to conduct our tests and trials, which are based upon sound reasoning and are still believed practical," he said.
The bombing tests off the Virginia Capes last summer, it was pointed out, revealed the fact that airplanes could keep a sea fleet at bay when met at the coast line, or 200 miles out at sea, but it was explained, the planes had to return to their base for a new gasoline supply and for additional bombs, which required considerable time and consumed a lot of fuel. With an aerial supply cruiser such as has been outlined, there would be no limit to the distance off the coast to which land planes could operate without returning to land, remaining at sea continually. Even small pursuit planes could be so used, it is said, enabling a defensive air force to meet the combat planes of an enemy fleet well at sea, while their mother airship remained aloof and secure from attack at a given location not too distant from the scene of action.
Another use of the aerial transports would be for quick concentrations of air forces at a particular spot lacking in supplies and fuel. The planes could probably reach the spot independently and the mother airship would soon be on hand with the spares, gas and ammunition enough for a long engagement. Nothing would prevent the ships of the air from taking the war into the enemy country with such a portable supply base, it was explained.
Secretary Weeks's Views
The possible use of airships for this purpose was mentioned for the first time by Secretary Weeks in commenting on the replacement of the Roma. He only mentioned, however, the value of taking airplanes to a distant zone of action, without passing over territory of another power en route.
An aerial aircraft carrier, might also be of considerable value in times of peace, it was pointed out, when it became necessary for example to send a number of short distance aircraft to the Canal Zone. A ship like the Roma could have carried several planes suspended from her rigid keel, sailed either down the coast or by a sea route to the Canal, thus avoiding a flight over the confines of another country where national or international aerial laws might prohibit the flight of foreign military aircraft. Airplanes with short cruising radius could not accomplish such a trip without breaking any such existing laws.
Although no experiments had yet been conducted in connection with the development of large lighter-than-air carriers, the plans of the army air service contemplated experiments with the Roma in dropping and picking up small pursuit planes while in flight. Just as soon as the Roma had made a long trip or two it was planned to take up a small plane suspended by a cable carrying a large hook which was to have been passed through a large and strong ring fixed in the upper wing of the plane before leaving the ground. By means of a reel the plane was to have been hauled up against the rigid keel of the airship and held steady by small auxiliary braces, so that it would point directly ahead, parallel to the course followed and not whip about when the mother craft was under way.
The release of the plane when the carrier was under way was believed a simple problem. The pilot would get into his cockpit from the keel of the airship, start his engine and take the controls of his craft, then the plane would have been lowered slowly by a winch or reel, the pilot keeping the nose of his plane in the wind stream as he sped up his engines. When a safe distance below the big airship, the pull of his propeller keeping his suspension cable nearly vertical, he would signal to the handlers to let go. The catch on the hook would have been released, permitting him to fly off the hook, as it were, which would have been pointing ahead. Officers say that there might have been a slight drop as the plane took off, but if the pilot speeded up his engine gradually in excess of the airship's speed, his momentum and air speed would undoubtedly have taken him off the hook without any difficulty.
Picking Up a Plane in the Air
Picking up a plane in the air would have been a little more difficult it was expected, but if the airship lowered her hook pointing it aft, it was believed that with care a pilot could have flown his plane directly onto the hook. He would have had to fly steadily at a trifle over the airship's speed, directly parallel to her course and exactly beneath her center, so that he could engage the large ring on his upper plane with the open hook on the trailing cable. Once caught on the hook which would have been closed immediately, he would have slowed his engine down as the cable was hauled up, and finally his plane would have been secured and braced against the keel of the mother ship, whereupon the pilot would have stopped his engine and climbed aboard.
With airplanes carried below big airships in this fashion it would be an easy matter, to refuel them, supply bombs and machine gun ammunition and change pilots, enabling a weary air man to secure some rest without keeping the plane out of action, air service officers say.
Much remains to be carried out before the plan can be tried officially, but army officers are most enthusiastic about its possibilities although today the army is without an airship capable of carrying out the experiments, officers believe that a replacement ship will be secured for this purpose.—Aviation, 3 April, 1922.
Notice to Aviators Issued by Hydrographic Office, U. S. Navy.—Aircraft distress signals.—Mariners and others are notified that when any aircraft is in distress and requires assistance, the following shall be the signals displayed by her, either together or separately:
- The International Signal "S O S" by means of visual or wireless telegraphy.
- The International Code Signal of Distress indicated by N C.
- The Distant Signal, consisting of a square flag having above or below it a ball or anything resembling a ball.
- A continuous sounding with any sound apparatus.
- A signal consisting of a succession of white Very's lights fired at short intervals.
- A white flare from which at intervals of about 3 seconds a white light is ejected into the air.
Note.—The above signals are subject to such modification as shall be published from time to time.—N. A., 2 February, 1922.
ENGINEERING
The Gas Turbine.—Outside of German engine builders apparently no engineering manufacturer has recognized the possibilities of the oil-gas turbine. While the cost of development work is high, still the organization that places a commercial gas turbine upon the market should find the returns ample to justify the outlay.
The oil-gas unit has shown an over-all thermal efficiency of 28 per cent. This represents a marked increase over the best steam-plant results. In addition, the labor charge should be largely reduced by the elimination of the boiler room. True, the gas turbine has been built only in comparatively small experimental units, but the experimental work has gone far toward eliminating the blade trouble that existed in the first machines.
At the present time a ten-thousand-kilowatt unit arranged to burn oil is being built in Germany. This machine is a decided advance over the first units, and there is every reason to expect that it will prove reliable. The blade temperatures, which have been the stumbling block, are kept within reasonable bounds by making the process of combustion intermittent instead of continuous. This reduces by about one-half the blade and wheel temperature. If this ten-thousand kilowatt machine proves successful, engineers may confidently look forward to the time when at least some of the larger stations as well as small plants will be equipped with gas turbines.—Power, 18 April, 1922.
Distillation of Mixtures of Coal and Oil.—In the course of some experiments conducted by the United States bureau of mines in conjunction with the Trent Process Corporation, it was observed that mixtures of pulverized coal and heavy oils yielded a denser coke than the coal alone, and that even anthracite could be coked in this way. The bureau therefore resolved to investigate whether intimate mixtures of coal and oil would, on low-temperature carbonization, give more valuable products than could be obtained from the separate constituents. The problem—which is not altogether new—was also approached in the hope of producing a coke for domestic use in one operation from low-grade coal mixed with oil.
The report on this investigation, by J. D. Davis and C. E. Coleman, of the Pittsburgh Experiment Station, speaks of the intimate mixtures used as "amalgams"—not a term to be recommended. The amalgams were prepared by churning 12 kg. of non-coking coal, powdered to 200 mesh, with 12 litres of water and 5 kg. of a highly viscous, asphaltic Californian oil; the mixture, agglomerated to lumps of pea size, was drained and air dried. The retort used for the carbonization at 600 deg. C, was a very heavy 6-in. iron pipe, wound with nichrome wire; the retort was charged with about 5 kg. of the material. In parallel tests ordinary mixtures and the separate materials were distilled. An interesting part of the apparatus was an electric high-tension precipitator for the tar mists; this precipitator consisted of a vertical glass tube, 1 ¼ in. or 2 in. in diameter, over 3 ft. high, wound outside with aluminum ribbon; the internal electrode, charged to 20,000 volts, was an axial copper wire. This small tube only operated satisfactorily as long as the rate of the gas flow through the tube did not exceed 0.1 cu. ft. per minute. The condensed vapors were distinguished as light oils or gasoline stock, boiling below 221 deg. C.; heavy oils or kerosene stock boiling between 221 deg. and 300 deg. C, and gases.
Considering our scanty knowledge of the real nature of coal carbonization it would have been inadvisable to predict the probable effect of distilling the intimate mixture upon the quantity and quality of the products. It was found that the mixture yielded more than twice as much gas, but only half as much tar as the constituents distilled separately. The amalgam gas was, however, by 43 B. Th. U., or 5 per cent, richer per cubic foot than the combined gases from the coal and oil, and thus the total heating value of the amalgam gas considerably exceeded that of the sum of the gases from the coal and oil. The additional gas came mainly from the oil. The coke amount obtained was increased by 18 per cent by mixing the constituents before distillation, and the coke, though not very firm, was denser than the coke from the coal alone. The yields of oils, gasoline stock and also kerosene stock, were decidedly, lower. Light oils strongly predominated in the distillate; the original oil was probably absorbed by the coal and held in contact with it at temperatures far above its normal boiling point. The proportion of light oil might be raised by distilling at reduced pressure. The chief result of the combined distillation was an increase in the amount of gas obtainable. That will be an advantage under certain conditions. To draw an economic balance large-scale experiments would be required.—Engineering, 14 April, 1922.
Work Ahead for Naval Engineers.—Instead of being the death knell of progress in the navy, the new treaty means, in the opinion of Admiral Robison, engineer-in-chief, that naval engineering will set new goals to achieve. It is the engineer who will take the most important part, he says, in improving the existing plant of the navy until it is comparable with new construction. Ships already old must be rejuvenated to the extent necessary to make them last as long as a new ship and make them capable of standing in the battle line as fit sisters with the few new ships that may be constructed under the treaty. This is in no way inconsistent with the spirit of the agreement which provides for limitation rather than disarmament, and it is important that the units remaining be maintained in the most efficient state.
Improvements that would have been unwise under the old order will be made on vessels that would have been approaching retirement age. By the application of clever engineering Admiral Robison expects to see such ships brought to a high state of efficiency. This is especially true of their power plants. The reduced appropriations will mean, necessarily, that the navy's engineers be given every encouragement to exercise the fundamental function of all engineers—that of eliminating waste. Waste heat can be trapped, Diesel engines can be installed to furnish auxiliary electric power, lubricating oil can be purified before re-use, thereby cutting down the cost of bearing renewals, and greater use can be made of exhaust steam.
This is only a portion of Admiral Robinson's conception of the part the engineer is to play in the new navy. Force of circumstances will spur engineering endeavor to a point never before attained in that branch of the service, he believes.—Power, 11 April, 1922.
The Sproule Internal-Combustion Engine.—A new type of internal combustion engine, the Sproule, has appeared in England. The principal drawbacks in present-day internal-combustion engines are limited flexibility and absence of overload capacity, low efficiency at light loads, and difficulty of reversing. That is, the internal-combustion engine can give the best results only at full speed.
In the design of this engine a pair of pistons work in a common combustion space, each piston operating a separate crankshaft. The two shafts are geared together at a 2 to 1 ratio, so that one piston makes two complete strokes while the other makes four. The method of gearing the two cranks is such that the relative angular setting of the two crankshafts in respect to each other can be varied at will, whether the engine is in motion or not.
When the two cranks are set so that at a given time in the cycle the two pistons are together at the back end of their strokes, the minimum, compression space is available. In this case a small charge of gas will be compressed normally, but will be expanded to more than its original volume, giving an increased efficiency. If, now, the two-stroke crank is advanced relatively to the four-stroke crank, the two pistons cannot coincide at the back position, so that the minimum compression space becomes the fixed space plus a small portion of the two-stroke cylinder volume, the total giving the larger space necessary for a heavy load. The expansion ratio will now be less, but up to the normal full load it is still greater than the compression ratio and gives a high expansion efficiency at loads up to full load. The two-stroke crank can be advanced to give about 40 per cent more than the normal full-load charge, the expansion ratio being then a little lower than the compression ratio, so that a large overload capacity is provided with only a slight drop in efficiency.
It is claimed that this engine, while retaining all the advantages of the ordinary internal-combustion engine, is as flexible as the steam engine.—Power, 11 April, 1922.
A Fifty-Knot Torpedo.—An ingenious application of the gyroscopic method for steering torpedoes invented about 1884 by Captain John A. Howell, an American naval officer, has recently been introduced in a high-powered turbine-driven airplane torpedo designed by Mr. H. W. Shonnard of Montclair, N.J., who for several years was associated with the development of the well-known Bliss-Leavitt torpedo, now the standard weapon of its kind of the American navy.
Until Howell proposed the utilization of the gyroscopic force created by a spinning mass, and adapted such to practice by constructing a small torpedo fitted with a heavy fly-wheel having its axis in the horizontal plane athwartship, which fly-wheel when spun to a high rate of speed served the double purpose of furnishing gyroscopic force and also energy for propulsion, no reliable self-controlling means of steering torpedoes had been developed.
Under the plan devised by Howell, a lateral extraneous force that might tend to deflect the torpedo from its course, would cause the torpedo, through the gyroscopic action of the rotating fly-wheel, to roll slightly to port or starboard, according to the direction of said force, and bring into action a pendulum-controlled ratchet mechanism which operated a pair of vertical rudders. This means of steering was very effective and reliable. About 1888 the Whitehead Torpedo Works succeeded in applying a gyroscopic principle for steering in the form of a miniature removable unit, known, after its inventor, as the Obry steering gear. This device gave such control.
Throughout the subsequent evolution of the torpedo the excellent principle evolved by Howell has for many years apparently escaped the attention of inventors and engineers.
In the Howell method the elemental basis of control originates in the gyroscopic force of the torpedo's motive means, which, it will be remembered was a heavy fly-wheel in which necessity for delicate adjustment is eliminated, since any tendency of the torpedo to leave its course as a result of extraneous influence is automatically suppressed. On the other hand, in mechanism of the Obry type no automatic suppression or correction of gyroscopic precession is possible, the course of the torpedo being entirely dependent upon a miniature, delicately-mounted gyro-wheel remaining in the plane of rotation established at the time of launching the torpedo. Should it process, and it usually does, and often to a considerable extent, proportionate deflection in the torpedo's course results.
Continual advancement in the speed and range of torpedoes and the height from which it becomes desirable to launch them, now that the airplane is available for the purpose, calls for gyroscopic mechanism of a rugged nature that is capable of continuous and closer control than is characteristic of Obry gear. The solution of these requirements is to be found in the method of Howell, and the designer has accordingly applied the same to his turbine-driven torpedo in the manner illustrated.
In Fig. I is shown the general arrangement of the Shonnard 50-knot airplane torpedo, wherein turbine rotors create the gyroscopic force necessary for steering under the Howell system. By referring to Fig. 2 which is a view of the turbine compartment looking aft, it will be noted that the two turbine rotors 1, 1, of the DeLaval type, which are geared to revolve at 22,000 revolutions per minute in like direction as is indicated by arrows, are mounted upon horizontal axes, one each side of the major, or longitudinal, axis of the torpedo, and a servo-motor, or air engine 2, controlled by a pendulum 3, is located below the turbine. This pendulum unit which is connected with the vertical rudders 4, 4, by the rod 5, Fig. 1, operates said rudders in response to the gyroscopic action of the turbine rotors, exactly as the pendulum arrangement of Howell operated rudders in response to the gyroscopic action of a fly-wheel.
The motive energy used to operate the turbines is superheated steam in combination with the products of combustion of alcohol burned in compressed air; which mixture enters the turbine nozzles at a pressure of 500 pounds per square inch and, at a temperature of 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit.
In combining the steering and motive elements in a single unit, a further advantage is secured in the saving of weight due to the elimination of the Obry gear mechanism which effects sufficient change in moment to permit of the installation of a power plant capable of developing 500 horsepower without disturbing the normal horizontal trim of the torpedo. In view of the probable limitation of warship construction, Mr. Shonnard's proposal becomes of particular interest, since it presages a notable advance in airplane torpedoing for coast defense.—Scientific American, May, 1922.
Internal Diagonal Armor for Warships.—The diagram accompanying this article which shows the cross-section of a battleship, represents, by the two heavy black lines, a suggestion by one of our shipyard workers, Mr. C. H. Scheelky, for a method of armoring warships to meet attack by modern high-angle fire, by aerial bombs and by torpedoes.
In spite of its striking novelty and certain difficulties of interference with boiler and engine-room accommodations, the general idea is so much in keeping with the latest theories of warship armoring that we present it for consideration. The armor plan of ships built prior to the war calls for very heavy vertical armor, supplemented by light deck or horizontal armor. That was in the days when 10,000 yards was considered an extreme fighting range, and when shells fell upon a ship at an angle of 6 to 8 degrees. Today, the fighting will be at the extreme practical range, and the angle of fall will be from 18 to 25 degrees; which means that the greater part of the deck will be opened to direct attack. Hence the growth in favor of internal inclined armor.
The interesting point about the proposed method is that the design shows no vertical armor, and that the inclined armor is carried right down to the bilges. In answer to our question as to why this was done, Mr. Scheelky answers that torpedo attack has become so effective and deadly that it is necessary to keep the blast of explosion out of the engine and boiler rooms if the ship is not to be disabled.—Scientific American, May, 1922.
Kitchen Rudder for Ferris Wooden Ship.—Plans have now been completed by The McNab Company of Bridgeport for the installation of the Kitchen reversing rudder on one of the Ferris type wooden ships which certain California shipping interests propose to convert into a Diesel engined vessel. A 1,400-h.p. Diesel engine of American make is being thought of. With the Kitchen reversing rudder fitted the engine would not have to be reversible. The operating gear could be of either the electric or hydraulic type. With this rudder it is claimed the vessel would have a maneuvering ability equal to that of the best Diesel electric driven ship. In addition the propelling machinery would be simplified to quite some extent and all transmission losses eliminated.—Nautical Gazette, 22 April, 1922.
Alloy Castings to Resist High Temperature.—For the manufacture of retorts and other parts subjected to temperatures as high as 2,200 deg. Fah., the American General Electric Company has developed a new metal alloy known as "calite," which can be cast in the same way as iron and steel. The castings are adaptable for furnace parts, recuperators, heat exchangers, etc. Containers made of calite are used for carbonizing, casehardening, annealine, and heat treating. Retorts, pots, boxes and other containers are used for melting Babbitt metal, copper, lead, and tin; for holding chemicals giving off corrosive fumes, and for other purposes in high-temperature work. The melting point of this metal alloy is 2,777 deg. Fah.: its softening temperature, 2,500 deg.; and its safe and maximum working temperatures. 2,200 deg. and 2,370 deg. respectively. The specific heat 100 deg. to 15 deg. Cent is .123; thermal conductivity, 25 per cent that of iron; shrinkage from molten to cold condition, ¼ in. per foot. It has a specific gravity of 7.03, and weighs 0.25 lb. per cubic inch. In physical properties, calite has an elastic limit of 36,800 lb., a reduction of area (cast) of 2 to 3 per cent, and an elongation of 1 per cent. When annealed, it has a hardness of 286 by the Brinell method and 40 by the scleroscope. A bar 1 in. square supported on bearings 12 in. apart has a transverse test strength of 4,250 lb.—The Engineer, 14 April, 1922.
Device Automatically Shuts off Fuel Oil from Burners.—The increasing use of oil as fuel has led to the invention of many safety devices, one of the latest of these being the Todd Guardian which automatically shuts off the oil supply to the burners, when through any unforeseen condition the water has become dangerously low in the boiler.
The action of this device depends upon the water level in the boiler, which causes a bucket to fall. This movement sets a cradle in motion, permitting steam to escape to an oil-supply stop valve.
The device consists of a cast-iron body having two chambers. In one is a bucket float with anchor and chain suspensions to prevent the bucket from touching the sides of the chamber. The float is connected to a spindle. The steam connection is at the top and the water at the bottom. The bucket is always full of water, and it balances when four-fifths of its height is immersed in water.
When the water level falls in the boiler, it also drops in the float chamber, and the weight of water in the bucket will, at the danger level, produce by its weight a strong downward pull on the spindle and cause the cradle to tip, whereupon a ball falls out and strikes the ram head on top of a cartridge. The ram has a peculiar shaped point which perforates a copper disc and allows steam to escape through the opening thus made. This steam enters a stop valve above the diaphragm, which automatically shuts off oil fuel supply to burners.
As the cartridge is a complete unit, it is easily inserted, but not until the ball has been pushed back into the cradle by means of a rod.—Nautical Gazette. 29 April, 1922.
Diel-More Valve Drains Cylinders Automatically.—A relief valve for use with all kinds of reciprocating steam equipment, which automatically drains the cylinder when the throttle is closed, is shown in Fig. 1. The object of the device is to make it unnecessary for the engineer to bother with opening and closing the cylinder drain valves and to make for greater safety.
The drain pipes from the two ends of the cylinder are brought down just below the cylinder and connected to the valve body at both sides, as shown in Fig. 1. There being no valves in these pipes, the full steam pressure carried in the engine cylinder is let into the valve chamber, tending to lift the valve disc. However, the disc will not be raised by this pressure if the engine throttle is open, because the full steam pressure at the throttle is holding it down. This full steam pressure is let in through the top opening, to which a pipe from the steam chest is connected. The pressure in the steam chest is, of course, a little greater than that in the engine cylinder, and so the valve stays closed while the engine is running.
When the throttle is .closed and the engine is stopped, however, the valve disc no longer has more than atmospheric pressure above it, and so is raised by the spring beneath it. This leaves a free passageway from the two ends of the cylinder into the drain pipe, so that water runs out of the cylinder as fast as it condenses. When the throttle is opened later to start the engine again, the cylinder is already free of condensation, and the drain valve is closed by the steam pressure in the valve chest.
The top of the valve disc is so shaped as to give a sort of turbine action, the pressure of the steam tending to turn it. Since it is connected with its spring by a joint that leaves it free to turn, it is given a slight twist every time it is closed, and so may be said to be self-grinding. On the circumference of the disk are eight shallow grooves, as shown in Fig. 1, so that condensation from the steam chest can escape into the main drain, together with that from the cylinder itself.
The spring that holds the valve disk off its seat may be easily adjusted for tension by screwing it in or out, a helical groove being cut on the inside of the pipe to correspond with the turns of the spring. The device may act not only as a drain valve, but also as a relief valve, in this way: If water comes into the cylinder while the engine is running, the piston will force it through the drain pipe into the relief valve and up against the bottom of the valve disk; as the pressure under the disk will then be temporarily greater than over it, the disk will rise and let the water out. Of course, a large slug of water would scarcely pass through the small drain pipe fast enough to avoid wrecking the engine, but a certain amount of water could doubtless be handled by the valve in this way, and so partly, at least, protect the engine.
Another use of the device is with direct-connected engines, as locomotives. In such cases, when the engine is idling the valve disk is kept off its seat by the spring, there being no pressure over it, and hot air is drawn back and forth between the two ends of the cylinder. This avoids warping of the cylinder, which is otherwise likely to be caused by the cold drafts of air that are drawn in at every stroke through the usual type of drain cock.
By the addition of two extra drain inlets in the valve body, making four in all, the valve is made suitable for use on duplex pumps.
The smaller valve in Fig. 2 works on much the same principle, and is applied to whistles and similar devices that may give trouble with condensation. The spring holds the valve open until steam is turned on, when the pressure closes it.—Power, 4 April, 1922.
NAVIGATION AND RADIO
Consolidated Shipbuilding Corporation Turns out Largest Light Vessel in the World for Diamond Shoal Station.—The Consolidated Shipbuilding Corporation of Morris Heights, New York City, has just completed and delivered to the light house department, Washington, two 160-foot light house tenders named the Oak and Hawthorne, and one 147-foot lightship named the Diamond. These vessels have been under construction at the Consolidated yards for the past year and have been built to specifications of the United States government.
The tenders are constructed of steel with a continuous main deck, a raised forecastle deck, a main deckhouse and partial upper deck, and upper deckhouse aft. The steam generating plant consists of one Scotch type boiler using bituminous coal for fuel. The main propelling engine consists of one vertical triple expansion engine, surface condensing, driving a single screw, and developing 700 indicated horsepower.
The new lightship Diamond is the largest light vessel in the world and will be stationed off Cape Hatteras on the dangerous outer Diamond Shoal, one of the most treacherous and exposed points on the Atlantic coast. The vessel is to replace the former light vessel No. 72 which was sunk by a German submarine in August, 1918, while occupying this station.
She is 147 feet long overall, has a beam of 30 feet, and a displacement of 825 tons. She is of the self-propelled type, single screw, driven by a fore and aft compound engine with cylinder diameters 16" and 31" and a common stroke of 24". Steam will be supplied by two Scotch boilers using oil as fuel.
Description of Lights
The vessel will show a flashing light from a 375 m.m. lens lantern at the foremast head, the illuminant being acetylene gas, controlled by an electric flasher operating the gas burners, and giving the light a characteristic distinguishing it from other lights on the neighboring coast. This apparatus will be in duplicate, with a lantern on each of the two mastheads, so that in case of accident the other light may be used.
This vessel will be equipped with three distinct fog signals, a steam chime whistle, a submarine bell, and an automatic radio fog signal, thus using three different mediums for sending warnings to the mariner of danger in fog. The Diamond will be the first lightship of the lighthouse service to be equipped on construction with the radio fog signal.
The crew are provided with comfortable quarters and modern conveniences, including a refrigerating plant.—Nautical Gazette, 22 April, 1922.
Modern Deep Sea Sounder.—Among the crew of the new White Star-Dominion liner Regina is P. S. Hudson, who has invented a modern deep sea sounder, meant to supersede the ancient lead and to give authentic samples of ocean bottoms. Mr. Hudson states that his invention has been adopted by the British admiralty and accepted by the board of trade.
The Hudson sounder is approximately four feet long, and weighs about thirty-four pounds. It has been designed to meet the demands of immediate service, and to withstand the severest conditions of usage. The sinking weight is usually of cast iron, slung on a stout steel bar, and welded to ensure perfect rigidity. The cap is entirely of gun metal, and contains a small filter bag, to which the matter entering the cup is carried, and the salt water passing through the filter allows the solid constituents to remain in the filter bag.
The filter is made accessible by means of a screwed gun metal nose piece, perforated to permit the expulsion of salt water. This arrangement provides that the sample taken shall be comparatively pure, and as far as practicable free from salt water, and so collects the solid matter, thus giving excellent results.—Nautical Gazette, 15 April, 1922.
To Dredge Bermuda Channel.—Lloyd B. Sanderson of Sanderson and Son, New York agents of the R. M. S. P., announces that the Bermuda development board will soon begin dredging and blasting operations in Dundonald Channel, the sea entrance to Great Sound, twelve miles from Hamilton and on two rocky passages near Hamilton. The work will be completed by fall. Twenty-five to twenty-six feet at low water will be provided in the channels, so that big liners can dock at Hamilton instead of anchoring in Grassy Bay and landing their passengers by tender.—Nautical Gazette, 22 April, 1922.
One-Way Routes for Pacific.—In order to reduce the risk of collision at sea the hydrographic office of the navy department has taken definite steps towards double tracking the North Pacific Ocean. Co-operation of the Japanese, Canadian and British naval and steamship authorities has been sought, and data is accumulating on which a decision finally will be made, possibly in the near future. The project contemplates mapping out the most favorable courses from North Pacific ports on this side to Japan and return, westbound and eastbound traffic following prescribed routes well separated from each other.—Nautical Gazette, 15 April, 1922.
Measurement of Ocean Depths.—A new device just developed by the navy department and which makes possible the accurate measurement of any depth of the ocean possibly will result, hydrographers say, in the charting of spots in the sea which have never been measured because their depth was too great for the old method of sea sounding work.
The new device is said to employ sound apparatus similar to that used during the war for the detection of submarines. The principle of its use is that of creating a sound on the ship and listening for the echo of this sound from the bottom of the ocean, measuring the time between the creation of the sound and the return of the echo.—Nautical Gazette, 22 April, 1922.
Radio Compass Use.—The radio compass is rapidly coming into use on the Great Lake fleets. The United States navy has sold from its surplus stock many complete installations and with the aid of the three navy radio compass stations located at the so-called "graveyards" of the lake at Whitefish Point, Detour Point, and Grand Marais cross bearing may be obtained at any time. The radio compass has proved of special value in case of fog and snow in determining the relative position of the ships and ship owners are enabled to keep in direct communication with the vessels through the navy radio relay service.—Tech. Engineering News, May, 1922.
Radio Beacons can be Made to Operate Automatically.—Radio beacons, which are radio transmitting stations intended primarily for direction finding work, can be installed at small expense on lighthouses and light vessels. The transmitting equipment may be designed to operate automatically by simply throwing a switch, so that no additional personnel is necessary. The radio transmitting equipment is set into operation by the light keeper, just as the other signaling devices at the light station. The expense of operating the radio beacon is therefore small.
The department of commerce has established three radio beacons at the approaches to New York harbor, on Ambrose Light vessel, Fire Island Light vessel and at Sea Girt Lighthouse, Sea Girt, N. J. These three beacons are now in regular commission and transmit waves of a frequency of 300 kilocycles per second (wave length= 1,000 meters). A radio beacon is being installed on San Francisco Light vessel No. 70. These beacons have automatic transmitting equipment so that no operator is necessary.—Nautical Gazette, 22 April, 1922.
Radio on Mail Planes.—One of the big air mail ships came over from Chicago to Washington April 15 in the flying time of 6 hours and 2 minutes, piloted by E. Hamilton Lee. The mileage was 715 miles, which averaged 119 miles per hour. This ship came here for the purpose of having installed as a part of its equipment the radio sending and receiving telephones. This is the first of the transcontinental ships to be equipped with this wireless telephone outfit. It is expected to equip all of the air mail ships with these instruments. The radius is 200 miles. With this wireless telephone equipment attached to the airships the pilot will be in constant touch with the station just left and the one to which he is flying. There will also be a range finder to locate the station toward which he is flying during foggy and stormy weather.—Aerial Age Weekly, 24 April, 1922.
ORDNANCE
Manufacture and Properties of Steel Plates Containing Zirconium and other Elements, [abstract.]—This investigation originated from the need of the ordnance departments of the army and navy for information regarding the effects on the ballistic properties of light armor plate of certain chemical elements such as zirconium.
A joint program was outlined according to which the bureau of mines was to produce and analyze ingots of the desired compositions; the bureau of standards to manufacture and heat-treat plates, carry out physical tests, micro-examinations and chemical analyses, and develop methods of chemical analysis, when needed, for the more unusual elements in steel and in the presence of each other; and the navy department was to carry out the ballistic tests.
Although the results of the ballistic tests are not available for publication, an account of the mechanical properties and tests of this series of somewhat unusual steels was considered worthy of publication. These results may be summarized as follows:
About 193 heats of steel containing in various combinations the following principal variable elements: carbon, silicon, nickel, aluminum, titanium, zirconium, cerium, boron, copper, cobalt, uranium, molybdenum, chromium, and tungsten, have been studied.
None of the steels presented any difficulties in rolling into plate except those containing boron.
The usual mechanical properties and impart tests were carried out on all of the steels. It is shown that steel containing 0.40 to 0.50 per cent carbon, 1.00 to 1.50 per cent silicon, 3.00 to 3.25 per cent nickel, and 0.60 to 0.80 manganese and deoxidized with a simple deoxidizer such as aluminum can be produced having a tensile strength of approximately 300,000 pounds to the square inch, with excellent ductility and toughness. This type of steel is recommended for a structural material.
Although the same high properties are obtained in steels of the above composition with the aid of additional elements it does not appear necessary to resort to such additions of expensive alloying elements.
Zirconium, like titanium and aluminum, acts primarily as a scavenger, and when it is not removed as part of the slag remains in the steel in the forms of square bright yellow inclusions not directly visible at magnifications lower than 500 x. It is not considered that these inclusions can be very beneficial, and if they are segregated and rolled out into thin plate-like streaks they may be detrimental, especially in armor plate.—U. S. Standard Bureau of Notes, April, 1922.
Shrinkage of 4.7-Inch Gun Model 1920 MI.—The assembly of 4.7-inch gun Model 1920 MI. presented a difficult problem to accomplish the assembly of the jacket. The difficulty is due to the fact that the jacket is of unusual length in proportion to the diameter of its bore; the thickness of wall is also relatively thin which fact makes the radiating surface unusually great as compared to the weight of metal. Added to the unusual proportions of the jacket the fact that the jacket has to be shrunk over a wire wound surface for almost its entire length introduces another difficulty; it being more difficult to refrigerate the gun proper and contract the outer diameter of the wire-wound surface.
The difficulty in refrigerating is due to the fact that the lack of continuity of the metal between the tube and the different layers of wire forms zones which retard and make less effective the passage of the cooling water through the bore of the gun with the result that the heated jacket causes the wire-wound surface to expand and come in contact with the jacket before the jacket is assembled to its proper position.
The total length of the finished jacket is about 163 inches; the diameter of the bore at the muzzle end being 7.2 inches. The bore of the jacket is composed of four (4) cylindrical zones—the longest being 102 inches in length. The total length of the gun tube is 225 inches. This tube is wrapped with a series of layers of wire 1/10-inch square extending from a point 2 ½ inches forward of the breech end for a distance of approximately 142 inches.
A shoulder formed by a collar threaded on the breech end of the tube 1.5 inch, from the end provides a seat for a corresponding shoulder at the breech end of the jacket. The assembly of the jacket against the shoulder formed by this collar locks the tube to the jacket and assists in preventing a longitudinal movement of the tube forward in the jacket.
It is very important that it be made certain that the shoulder is in contact as any longitudinal movements of the tube would result in gas leakage due to faulty obturation. After the tube had been wire-wound the surface was turned smooth to the diameter of the bore of the jacket plus the prescribed shrinkage; care being taken to make the bore of the jacket of such size that the proper diameter of the wire-wound surface would result with the removal of very little metal from the last layer of wire.
A plug carrying two (2) water connections—one an inlet and the other an overflow or outlet was assembled into the breech end of the tube. Before the tube was assembled into the heated jacket it was lowered into the shrink pit muzzle end up and water connection made to the inlet plug at the bottom. The overflow pipe which is assembled in the interior of the tube extends from the plug upward to a point slightly above the surface corresponding to the muzzle end of the jacket when assembled. Water was then turned on until it just discharged through the overflow pipe. This arrangement was necessary to permit a continuous flow of cold water in the interior of the tube and to delay the absorption of heat by the tube from the jacket so as to maintain as much difference in temperature between the tube and the jacket as possible as it was expected that the tube with the wire-wound surface would rapidly extract heat from the jacket and cause the jacket to grip the tube before assembled to proper position.
As previously stated it is absolutely essential to maintain shoulder contact at the breech end of the jacket and tube. To accomplish this it is necessary that the jacket be made to grip the tube first at the breech end so that when longitudinal contraction takes place in cooling, the slippage of the jacket due to contraction should all be from the muzzle and towards the breech end of the jacket which should be held stationary.
To eliminate the tendency of the jacket to come in contact with the tube first at the muzzle end where the thickness of wall is a minimum, a heat retainer was assembled over the muzzle end of the jacket. This heat retainer consisted of an ordinary soil pipe which was slid over the muzzle end of the jacket against a shoulder about 76 inches from the muzzle end. The space between the heat retainer and the jacket was filled with coarse building sand after which the jacket with its heat retainer was lowered into the electric furnace, muzzle end up, and heated slowly through a period of about seven (7) hours to a temperature of 750° F, this temperature being held for a period of ten (10) hours.
The jacket was then removed from the furnace and lowered over the muzzle end of the tube; water being circulated through the tube constantly as previously stated. The jacket on being lowered over the tube gripped the tube at a point about it.6 inch from its contact shoulder, gripping it sufficiently to support its own weight thus preventing further assembly.
It was now decided that it would be necessary to apply pressure to the jacket if it was to be successfully assembled. There was some question, however, as to whether or not this could be successfully accomplished, due to the fact that it would be necessary to get a difference in temperature between the wire-wound surface and the jacket sufficient to move it at a pressure not exceeding the elastic limit of the metal. It would also be necessary to slide the jacket along the wire-wound surface at the muzzle end for 11.5 inches. This wire surface being exposed it would be necessary to cool it quickly without extracting any heat from the end of the jacket. The plug was made to fit into the breech end of the tube having a shoulder to bear against the breech face of the tube. The outer end of the plug would come in contact with the ram of the hydraulic press. Into the projecting sides of the plug two (2) holes were drilled connecting with a longitudinal hole also drilled in the plug.
These holes were tapped for two (2) 1.5-inch pipe connections to be used as water inlets. A plug was also fitted into the muzzle end which was tapped for a 2-inch pipe into which was assembled a pipe rising to a height which would permit the bore of the tube to be filled completely with water when in horizontal position. This pipe being used as a water outlet.
A forging was secured with a bore larger than the diameter of the tube at the forward end of the jacket and of sufficient length to extend from the muzzle end of the jacket to a point beyond the muzzle end of the tube to take the back thrust of the press. A slot through the side of this forging permitted the passage of the 2-inch outlet pipe from the plug in the muzzle end of the tube mentioned in the previous paragraph.
A baffle plate of thin sheet metal circular in form the same diameter as the wire-wound surface was assembled at the breech end of the jacket in order to permit the free application of water on the protruding wire surface without having it come in contact with the breech end of the jacket. When these preparations were completed the gun was placed in the electric furnace and heated as previously described to a temperature of 750° F. The gun was then removed from the furnace and placed in the horizontal hydraulic press; the plugs with their water connections were assembled and water connections were made to two (2) 1.5-inch inlets and the ram of the hydraulic press brought up against the plug at the breech end of the tube; a pressure of twenty (20) tons being applied. This pressure was applied to hold the plugs against their shoulders and to prevent the escape of any circulating water.
It is necessary that the lapse of time from the removal of the gun from the furnace to the hydraulic press be as short as possible as there is a large amount of radiating surface and the temperature drops rapidly. Therefore it is necessary to have all arrangement completed to the minutest detail.
The gun was removed from the furnace at 9:35 a.m. It was in position in the press at 9:40 a.m.; the pressure of twenty (20) tons being applied at 9:41 a.m. and water circulated through the tube one-half (½) minute later. As soon as the water was turned into the tube the pressure on the press was increased to forty (40) tons and at 9:42 ½ a.m. the tube started to move into the jacket which means that after water circulation had been obtained for one (1) minute the temperature between the jacket and the tube was of sufficient difference to contract the diameter of the tube sufficiently to nearly break contact. The approximate difference in temperature necessary to accomplish this result is 100° F.
In forcing the jacket onto its contact shoulder it was necessary that the pressure used be limited to that value which would not exceed the elastic limit of the metal. It was also necessary to continually measure the position of the jacket in order to quickly reduce the pressure when the jacket reached the contact shoulder as the cross section of the metal at this point made necessary a reduction in pressure in order not to exceed the elastic limit of the metal at this point to which the stress would now be transferred. The jacket was in contact with the shoulder at 9:49 ¼ a.m. As the shoulder came in contact the circulating water was discontinued and the pressure in the hydraulic press held to one hundred and fifty (150) tons in order to maintain shoulder contact, as the tendency in cooling would be to pull away from the shoulder. At 9:50 a. m. the pressure was reduced from one hundred and fifty (150) tons to one hundred (100) tons. The jacket was observed to move slightly off shoulder. The pressure was again raised to one hundred and fifty (150) tons bringing the shoulders again in contact. This pressure was held until 11:30 a.m. at which time the temperature of the jacket and tube was so nearly uniform as to preclude any tendency to change their relative positions.—Army Ordnance, March-April, 1922.
MISCELLANEOUS
Russian Notes.—News of the Russian navy comes through at rare intervals, and even then is not always reliable. It transpires, however, that the Soviet government has lately been exhibiting more than its ordinary interest in naval affairs, and has just issued a peremptory order to the Baltic fleet command, insisting on the maintenance of stricter discipline and a higher standard of efficiency. It remains to be seen whether this order will have any effect. All the evidence points to the navy as being in a state of hopeless disorganization. Training has been almost entirely in abeyance during the last few years, the few capable officers and skilled technicians who survived the Bolshevik revolution having since left the service, and the remaining personnel are said to be more or less ignorant of the rudiments of their profession. As these reports are largely based on hearsay evidence, they may be misleading, though, in view of the long period which has elapsed since any Russian warship was seen at sea, there can be little doubt that the fleet has greatly deteriorated both in personnel and material.
The dreadnought battleship Petropavlovsk and Sevastopol have been renamed Parishskaya Kommuna (Paris Commune) and Marat respectively, and some of the smaller vessels are also said to have new names. The Petropavlovsk, it will be recalled, was torpedoed in Kronstadt Harbour by a British c. m. b. in 1919, but having sunk in shallow water on an even keel, she was raised without much difficulty. In March last year both this vessel and the Sevastopol were reported to have been "blown up" at Kronstadt by revolutionaries of Colonel Koslovski's party, but as, according to all accounts, both are still in service the damage cannot have been very severe. An interesting feature of these ships and the other two of the class is that they are armed with 12-in. guns of 52 calibres, the longest main battery guns at present mounted in any capital ship. The Baltic fleet is credited with a present strength of 60 destroyers, including 22 large boats of 1,260 to 1,610 tons, and about 20 submarines, several of which are minelayers, carrying 42 mines each. This, however, is a paper estimate which is probably far in excess of the effective establishment.—Naval and Military Record, 5 April, 1922.
Argentine Notes.—According to reports published in Berlin, the Argentine government has adopted a submarine programme, and a number of boats have already been laid down at Bahia Blanca under the supervision of German engineers. The building material is to be imported from Germany and apparently the engines as well, though it is not easy to see how this can be done without violating the provisions of the peace treaty. The submarines are to be modeled on a design that was constructing in Germany at the armistice. Their displacement will be 820 tons on the surface and 1,010 tons submerged, the speed 15 ½ knots above and 8 knots below, and the armament two 4.1-in. guns and six tubes. The Argentine navy has not hitherto possessed any submarines, but both Brazil and Chile have a few in service.—Naval and Military Record, 5 April, 1922.
Red Fleet to be on War Footing.—The Soviet government has issued a decree ordering the fleet to be put on a war footing immediately. The Baltic fleet consists of two dreadnoughts, two cruisers, and torpedo boats, and submarines in comparatively good condition. The Caspian fleet is in poor condition, and the Black Sea fleet has disappeared. Personnel is reported at 48,000, but it is believed to be only 30,000.—Naval and Military Record, 19 April, 1922.
Gyroscopic Stabilizer Test Successful.—A very successful test of the gyroscopic stabilizer that has been built for the Shipping Board's passenger steamer Huron by the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company was made last week at the South Philadelphia Works. But for a few incidental adjustments, the stabilizer is practically ready for installation in the ship now. The contract for the stabilizer was secured by the Sperry Gyroscope Company direct from the Shipping Board and it was built from Sperry designs by the Westinghouse Company.—Nautical Gazette, 15 April, 1922.
Changes in Geographical Position.—Cambridge has moved twenty-six feet away from Greenwich in the period of forty years according to Professor J. W. Evans, scientific advisor to the colonial office. This unseemly conduct has not been confined to Cambridge, but Professor Evans states also that Greenwich, supposedly the stable center of time, has moved half a mile toward the equator in a period of eighteen years and also that Naples has moved a mile and a half in the same direction in a period of fifty-one years. Professor Evans also believes he has discovered the causes of the rise and fall of the earth's surface amounting to about eighteen inches, in response to the force of attraction of the sun and moon on the earth. The English scientist believes these phenomena are due to the effect of the sun's heat on the deserts south of Europe—the Sahara for instance. The intense heat generated there causes expansion of the surface and sufficient to lift the entire surface a distance that can be detected by delicate instruments.—Tech Engineering News, May, 1922.