Part 8

Voyage No. +------------------------------------------------------------ | Coal, Indicated Horse-Power per Hour. | +----------------------------------------------------- | | Total Coal on Voyage. | | +---------------------------------------------- | | | Coal for Boilers only. | | | +--------------------------------------- | | | | Sea Miles on Voyage. | | | | +------------------------------ | | | | | Cargo Carried. | | | | | +--------------------- | | | | | | Average Speed. | | | | | | +------------- | | | | | | | Horse-Power | | | | | | | On Voyage. ---------+------+------+------+--------+--------+-------+------------- | lb. | tons | tons | miles | tons | knots | I.H.P. ---------+------+------+------+--------+--------+-------+------------- 15 | 1.60 | 918 | 822 | 3,447 | 10,298 | 10.85 | 3,713 | 1.58 | | | | | | 3,900 16 | 1.59 | 923 | 834 | 3,403 | 10,289 | 10.80 | 3,951 | 1.64 | | | | | | 3,775 | 1.63 | | | | | | 3,668 17 | 1.50 | 924 | 836 | 3,469 | 10,499 | 10.40 | 3,949 | 1.53 | | | | | | 3,796 18 | 1.50 | 847 | 775 | 3,441 | 10,563 | 11.10 | 3,937 | 1.50 | | | | | | 3,720 19 | 1.44 | 837 | 760 | 3,423 | 10,570 | 10.85 | 3,909 | 1.43 | | | | | | 3,813 20 | 1.50 | 780 | 707 | 3,312 | 10,641 | 11.50 | 4,107 | 1.32 | | | | | | 3,817 21 | 1.56 | 846 | 766 | 3,330 | 10,651 | 10.60 | 3,909 | 1.44 | | | | | | 3,870 | 1.46 | | | | | | 3,746 ---------+------+------+------+--------+--------+-------+------------- Totals | | 6075 | 5500 | 23,825 | 73,511 | | Averages | 1.51 | 868 | 786 | 3,404 | 10,501 | 10.87 | 3,848 ---------+------+------+------+--------+--------+-------+-------------

The China Navigation Company of London, for whom the Scotts began building in 1875, have had in the thirty years sixty-four vessels, which have been an important factor not only in the development of trade in China, but also in the advancement of British interests in the Far East.

In an earlier Chapter we referred to the extent of the service conducted by these vessels, and also to the Company's continuous progressive spirit, which, for instance, induced them, on the suggestion of the Scotts, to adopt twin-screws. The launch of one of these ships is illustrated on Plate XXXI., facing this page, while the next Plate, XXXII., illustrates the _Fengtien_, which was built in 1905 in an exceptionally short period of time. The contract was made in the closing week of 1904, the first keel-plate was laid on the 15th January, 1905, the vessel was launched on the 20th April, and arrived in Shanghai on the 14th July--less than twenty-six weeks from the date when the building was commenced. This performance indicates not only the satisfactory character of the organisation, but also of the equipment of the shipyard and marine engineering works.

The _Fengtien_ has a length between perpendiculars of 267 ft., a beam of 40 ft., and a depth, moulded, of 18 ft., with a deck-house having accommodation for thirty-three European first-class passengers; while on the top of this house there is, as shown in the engraving, a promenade for passengers. The accommodation provided for first-class passengers is exceptionally satisfactory, both in respect of state-rooms and of public saloons. Fifty-six first-class Chinese passengers are also carried, as well as seventy steerage native passengers. In addition to this considerable source of revenue, the ship carries 1720 tons of deadweight cargo on a draught of 14 ft.

The _Fengtien_ on her trial, when developing 2146 horse-power, attained a speed of 13-1/4 knots, which was considered highly satisfactory, in view of the unusual dimensions. The engines are of the triple-expansion, three-cylinder type, fitted with every accessory which experience has shown to ensure regularity of working, with the minimum of expense in respect of upkeep and working cost. Steam at 190-lb. pressure is supplied by two boilers, 15 ft. in diameter and 11 ft. 6 in. long, having 5184 square feet of heating surface, and 121 square feet of grate area.

We have referred generally to the passenger accommodation in the ships built by the firm, and it may be interesting to refer here to the character of the work done and illustrated on Plate XXVII., facing page 73. The first view shows the dining-room of one of four Portuguese steamers. This room is designed in the Jacobean style. The walls are framed and panelled in solid walnut, and all the mouldings, cornices, architraves, pilasters, columns, pediments, and also the furniture, are beautifully carved. The floor is laid in mosaic tiles, in geometrical patterns, with Brussels carpet runners in the passage-ways. The ceiling is of yellow pine, moulded, ribbed, and broken up with carved panels, painted a flat white and relieved with gold. The dome skylight is in teak, with richly-carved beams and mouldings; and glazed with embossed plate glass, while the side windows are fitted with jalousie blinds, stout double-line teak shutters, and glass bull's-eyes in brass frames. The upholstery is in crimson Utrecht velvet, and seating accommodation is provided for sixty-eight saloon passengers.

The other view on Plate XXVII. illustrates the drawing-room of the steam yacht _Foros_, built for M. Kousenzoff, of Moscow. It is in the Elizabethan style. The walls are framed in solid East Indian satinwood, highly finished and French polished, with figured silk tapestry panels of a shade that harmonises and blends with the wood-work. Neat and delicate carving in low relief is introduced where most effective. The ceiling, of yellow pine, has square panels of Tynecastle tapestry, relieved with rich carving in cornices and beams. The room is lighted and ventilated by eight large round lights in the ship's side, each enclosed in a recess with a sliding screen of beautifully-stained and leaded glass. The large circular skylight in the centre of the room, finished to suit the ceiling, has large opening sashes, glazed with stained glass. The floor is laid with oak parquetry, with a Parisian mat in the centre. The room is heated by a slow-combustion grate with rich brass mounts, tiled hearth, fire-brasses and fender. The mantelpiece and overmantel, in satinwood, is a beautiful piece of work--carved and relieved with colonnades and pilasters. This room is fitted with a complete installation of electric bells and lights, with two graceful electric candelabra, one on each side of the fireplace. The stained glazing is illumined at nights by electric lights on the outside. The drawing-room is completely and artistically furnished with high mirrors, fitments, writing-tables, card and occasional tables, and with a variety of beautifully upholstered chairs and sofas. All the metal-work is of ormolu.

The British India Steam Navigation Company is another of the old clients of the Scotts. This Company, originally formed in 1856, under the title of the Calcutta and Burmah Steam Navigation Company, which was changed in 1862 to the title now known in all maritime countries, had its first steamship built by the Scotts, and it is therefore interesting to illustrate the one recently built at the same Works--the _Bharata_. This vessel is of the intermediate type, carrying a large number of British and native passengers, and nearly 4000 tons of cargo. The length between perpendiculars is 373 ft., the beam 45 ft., and the depth, moulded, 29 ft. 6 in. The cargo carried on a draught of 24 ft. is 3940 tons, and this is handled by eight hydraulic cranes, some of them of high power. The passenger accommodation, in the centre part of the ship, includes state rooms and saloons for forty-two first-class and thirty-six second-class European travellers, while in the 'tween decks a large number of native passengers are accommodated.

The machinery of the _Bharata_ gives a speed of 16 knots, when the displacement is 5560 tons. The engines are of the triple-expansion type, and develop 6000 indicated horse-power. Five single-ended boilers supply steam at 180 lb. pressure. This vessel in service carries her cargo of about 4000 tons and her passengers at a speed of 16 knots, for a consumption of ordinary coal of about 50 tons per day.

In our historical Chapters it has been clearly shown that the Scotts took a prominent part in the evolution of Channel steamers, and reference may be made to the latest vessels of this class now being built at the Company's works--two steamers for the old and successful firm of G. and J. Burns, Limited. These vessels, the dimensions of which are:--Length 233 ft., breadth 33 ft., depth 24 ft., are to have a speed of 13 knots. They are to be employed on the service between Glasgow and Manchester, and are fitted for steerage passengers, and also for conveying cattle, horses and sheep. The machinery consists of three-cylinder triple-expansion engines of 1750 indicated horse-power, having cylinders 23 in., 36 in., and 58 in. in diameter respectively, with a stroke of 42 in. The boilers, of which there are two in each ship, are 14 ft. in diameter and 12 ft. 6 in. in length, with a heating surface of 4000 square feet, and a grate area of 120 square feet. They work under natural draught at a pressure of 175 lb. per square inch.

We might continue almost indefinitely describing different types of ships, but will content ourselves with a reference to the fleet of Thames passenger steamers built in 1905 for the London County Council. Of the thirty vessels constructed for the Council, twenty had their boilers and engines from the Scotts' Works. Ten of the steamers, in which this machinery was fitted, were built on the Clyde by Messrs. Napier and Miller; six at Southampton, by Messrs. John I. Thornycroft and Company; and four at Greenwich, by Messrs. G. Rennie and Company. These vessels are 130 ft. long, and of very light draught--2 ft. 10 in. when loaded. An idea of their proportions is given by the engraving on Plate XXXIV., facing this page, showing one of the Clyde-built vessels ready to steam from Greenock to London.

The engines for all of these vessels are of the compound, diagonal, surface-condensing type, the two cylinders being 16 in. and 31 in. in diameter, with a stroke of 3 ft.

One set of engines is illustrated on Plate XXXV., adjoining page 85. They have forged steel guide columns, to bind the cylinders to the three entablature frames. The crank-shaft is a solid steel forging, 6-5/8 in. in diameter, coupled to the steel paddle-shafts by flexible couplings. The surface-condenser, cylindrical in form and constructed of light brass sheets, is placed below the guide bars close to the cylinders. The water-ends are of cast brass, arranged for double circulation of the water. The air-pump, of the trunk type, is driven by bell-crank levers off the low-pressure connecting-rod. Two independent feed-pumps are driven off the same crosshead.

The auxiliary machinery includes a circulating pump with auxiliary air-pump attached, a direct-acting feed and bilge pump, a fan and engine for the forced draught, and an electric engine and dynamo.

Each steamer has one cylindrical steam boiler, 9 ft. in diameter by 9 ft. 3 in. long. The working steam pressure is 110 lb. The boilers are also illustrated on Plate XXXV. The twenty sets of engines and boilers were completed in a remarkably short space of time.

These steamers were designed for a service speed of 12 statute miles per hour, and a trial speed of 13 miles per hour, or 11.285 knots. The best trial performances were attained by the _FitzAilwin_ and the _Turner_, both built on the Clyde; they attained a speed of 14.1 miles per hour, or 12-1/4 knots, with the engines making 69.8 revolutions per minute, and indicating 360 horse-power. This is nearly 1 sea mile per hour more than was required by the contract.

We illustrate on Plate XXXVI., facing page 86, a typical set of triple-expansion engines. The practice in respect of the design of engines and boilers is necessarily very varied. From the designs for a small steam launch to those for a first-class cruiser or battleship there is a wide range, and all classes of work, with not a few of special interest, come between those extremes. In connection with the three-crank triple-expansion engine, now generally adopted for merchant work, an arrangement well favoured for sizes up to about 1000 indicated horse-power is that in which the high-pressure cylinder is in the centre with a piston valve, the intermediate-pressure cylinder being forward, and the low-pressure cylinder aft, each with a slide valve at the extreme ends. This has been found to give a handy arrangement of gear, and to be easily accessible. With twin-screw engines of this power it is customary, and has been found very convenient, to lead all the hand-gear for both engines to a pedestal placed midway between the engines and ahead of the forward cylinders.

A description of the types of engines built by the Scotts for the China Navigation Company during the past thirty years would be practically a history of the progress of marine engineering during that period. The customary sequence of cylinders has in the main been adhered to in the design of these engines--viz., high-pressure cylinder forward and low-pressure cylinder aft in the case of compound engines: the intermediate-pressure cylinder, in the case of triple-expansion machinery, is placed between the high- and low-pressure cylinders. Indeed, this latter is the arrangement invariably adopted by the firm in the design of all large-size ordinary cargo steamer engines. The valve gear is forward of its cylinder in each case. This has also been the design adopted in the case of recent high-class passenger and mail steamers with three cylinders, and in the case also of steamers for special trades. Twin-screw engines present little deviation from the above, and such as there is mainly affects pipe connections.

All engines of whatever type up to about 1000 indicated horse-power are usually arranged with forged columns in front. The condenser is ordinarily designed to form part of the engine structure, having the columns cast on, and supporting the cylinders; but not infrequently it is entirely separate from the main engines, and is carried either on the back of the columns, or fitted in the wing of the ship.

Of engines for the Navy nothing need be said beyond stating that they form quite a class by themselves, and all present the special features of design so characteristic of Admiralty work referred to in an earlier Chapter. The latest types of large-size engines for the Admiralty are being fitted with a system of forced lubrication to main bearings and crank-pins.

The Scotts' practice with respect to paddle engines has been no less varied than that in the case of screw machinery, ranging as it does from the ponderous side-lever engine of past years to the stern-wheel engine of the shallow-draught steamers of the present day. Oscillating and diagonal engines, both compound and triple-expansion, are also within the experience of the Company, the three-stage expansion being the type now usually adopted.

With respect to auxiliary machinery, the Scotts invariably fit a separate centrifugal pump for circulating the water through the condenser for all classes of engines, excepting only those for the ordinary tramp steamer. The air, bilge, and sanitary pumps are usually worked from the main engine by levers. The feed pumps are generally independent. Frequently, especially in yachts, all the pumps are entirely independent of the main engines. The Scotts in some cases make all auxiliary machinery for their own engines: such as centrifugal pumps, fans, feed-heaters, auxiliary condensers, duplex feed and ballast pumps, etc.

Many varieties and types of boilers have been made. The old practice of having two or three rings in the length of the shell in ordinary cylindrical boilers has long since given place to one plate in the length. The boiler ends are seldom made in more than two plates; up to diameters of 11 ft. only one plate is used. The number of riveted seams is thereby reduced to a minimum, and the liability of the boiler to leak is minimised. The Scotts also have a system of forced draught for supplying either cold or heated air to the furnaces, which is fitted largely to their ships, and gives every satisfaction. Large installations of Belleville and Yarrow water-tube boilers for working under forced draught have also been made and fitted in H.M. ships, but they need no description here. A large installation for burning oil fuel has recently been completed and applied by the firm to the Babcock and Wilcox water-tube, and the cylindrical, boilers of H.M.S. _Argyll_.

FOOTNOTES:

[68] From _Lloyds' Register_ we classify, according to speed, the numbers of British and Foreign, and of Oversea and Channel, Steamers, of over 16 knots.

+----------+----------++----------+---------- Speed. | British. | Foreign. || Oversea. | Channel. ---------------------+----------+----------++----------+---------- Over 20 knots | 42 | 26 || 17 | 51 19 to 20 knots | 23 | 11 || 7 | 27 18 " 19 " | 38 | 14 || 15 | 37 17 " 18 " | 53 | 49 || 67 | 35 16 " 17 " | 70 | 56 || 77 | 49 +----------+----------++----------+---------- | 226 | 156 || 183 | 199 ---------------------+----------+----------++----------+----------

Efficiency: Design: Administration.

Having reviewed the history of the firm, and dealt briefly with the results obtained by some of the modern steamers constructed by them, we propose now to describe the Works in order to indicate the measures adopted to secure efficiency in design and construction of all types of ships and machinery. Organisation and administration are as important factors towards this end as the mechanical methods and appliances adopted, and it may be well, therefore, to deal first with these.

The firm have been responsible for the design of almost every merchant ship constructed by them. Success has been rendered more certain by the possession of carefully-collated records, the product of an organised system of working up all data, of tackling new problems, of making calculations regarding any scientific question, and of studying contemporaneous work as described in the technical press and in papers read at technical institutions. This continuous investigation produces a wealth of suggestion, which enables the chiefs of the respective departments to determine how far practice may be improved; and thus there is steady progress not only in design but in constructional methods. A well-selected technical library, from which the staff can borrow books, also contributes to the same end.

Admiralty and merchant work is initiated in separate drawing-offices. The "Printed Instructions to Draughtsmen" throws light on the general principles which influence design, and one or two quotations may be made:--"Every machine or structure is designed with a certain object in view; therefore, in designing, keep that object always to the front. Go straight to the point, and let the object be attained in as simple a manner as possible. Avoid all curves and indirect lines, except those conceived to give uniform strength or stiffness, or required for some definite purpose. There should be a reason for the contour and shape of every detail. It should be remembered that designs made in this way, requiring least material for the work to be done, usually look best. Besides keeping the object clearly to the front, it is necessary in designing to remember that certain facilities must be attended to for moulding, machining, and erecting. It is also necessary to keep in view the circumstances in which the structure or machine is to be used. Every little detail should be definitely attended to on the drawings, and not left to the judgment of the men in the shops; remember that it is usually the unexpected which happens, and that even the want of a split pin may cause a breakdown. In making drawings or sketches for ordering material or for the shops, assume that those who have to interpret the instructions have no knowledge of, or information concerning, the work in question, except what is contained in the drawing or order you are making out. This will ensure that all information issuing from the drawing-office is complete, and that no work is done in the shops without drawing-office instructions."

The draughtsman, in designing work, must so arrange details as to fully utilise, as far as is compatible with progress, the special machine tools available, the system of gauges, templates, and jigs extensively applied in the shops, and existing patterns. Bonuses are paid for improvements in design whereby economy may be effected in machine operations, etc.

There is a large estimating department, where records of costs, rates, wages, etc., are of the most complete description. The card system adopted is admirably suited for enabling references to be made at any time as to the cost of units in any contract. Here also it is possible, by the simple process of comparison, to effectually check the economy of design and manufacture, without which a high premium is placed against efficiency.

The staff in these departments is largely recruited from the shops, and thus there is an incentive to the willing apprentice to excel. The great majority of the vacancies in the technical staff are filled by apprentices who have spent three and a-half years in the shops, and who are chosen as a result of examination and of a satisfactory record in the shops. Financial facilities are afforded to boys and to progressive workmen to attend special classes, not only in Greenock but in Glasgow. Competitions are instituted at intervals to encourage expertness in some branch of work--for instance, in the use of the slide-rule, etc. Thus in many ways the growth of an active _esprit de corps_ is encouraged, apart altogether from the influence which the historical and present-day success of the firm engenders.