January 30, 1896.]
arrang-
no hole in the skin. Certainly, it is impossible to build a ship with a flat nose, because such a ship could not be easily propelled, and besides, if we make the fore part of the ship flat we should be safe only when the blow was perpendicular. In order to show the difference of the effect of the sharp bow and the flat bow, allow me to give you the following example. Suppose I see the Chairman in danger and I wish to move him in order to save him. If I try to move him by pressing him with the point of a sharp knife I am sure to kill or at least to wound him before the force of my blow sends him back- ward. Now suppose I push him with the flat of my hand. He will be neither wounded nor killed; he will simply be moved from his place. This clearly shows that the solution of the pro- blem is to build a ship in such a way that her fore-part should be sharp while she is propelled through the water, but that at the moment the nose of the ship touches the skin of another her fore-part should collapse and present a flat sur- face. The power of the shock will consequently be distributed over a wide surface of the skin, bending inside ribs, beams, &c., without making a hole in the skin. Some part of the power of the shock will be exerted in collapsing the fore part of the colliding ship, and if this part is designed properly the collapse will absorb the greater portion of the blow. It would be most desirable that at the moment of touching the false nose should begin collapsing before the skin of the other ship begins to give way. The force required for collapsing should increase with the progress of this collapse, because more surface of the striking ship is engaged in resisting the shock-may be it will be possible to altogether avoid damage to the vessel which is struck by so ing the false nose that the full power of the shock will be utilised for smashing this nose. By that time the ship which strikes will lose the greater part of her speed, and the other will recede in a corresponding manner. Let us examine the question whether ships can be provided with a false nose strong enough to resist the effect of the sea and weak enough to give way at the moment of collision. I feel that engineers whom I see in this audience are more expert than I to decide this question. If I venture to propose something it is for the simple reason that I wish to exchange ideas upon the subject in order to arrive at a proper conclusion. Let us imagine that the nose of the ship is built as usual, and that the false nose is an additional part which can be put on or taken off when necessary. I imagine that it ought to consist of very thin sheets of steel. say one-eighth of an inch, and should run in front of the ship as shown upon the diagram. Many little ribs and stays inside ought to give enough strength to the skin to enable it to resist the force of the waves. The space between the false shell and the nose of the ship ought to be filled with some soft, fibrous substance (not powder). This sub- stance is intended to play the role of a cushion and the shell will play the role of a pillow-case. After collision the false nose will present the appearance as shown in the diagram. The ship's nose will not be damaged, and as generally there is no cargo in the fore compartment of the ship in front of the collision bulkhead, it will be the work of a few hours to unfasten the bolts and remove the smashed false nose in order that the ship may continue her voyage as if nothing had happened. I believe that it is necessary to carry on experiments on a large scale in order to find out which is the best way of constructing the false nose of the ship. The cost of these experiments will amount to only a trifling percentage of the loss which is being continually caused by col- lisions. Let the best engineers work out their plans and submit them to experts for examination. After this a general law might be passed making it compulsory for every ship to be provided with a false nose. Unfortunately in this matter everybody is in- terested in a general manner but nobody in particular. Insurance Companies prefer to be liberal and they do not interfere much with the particulars of the building of a ship. They are obliged for a certain percentage to guarantee any risk. If one Insurance Company insists upon shipowners providing ships with a false nose then surely the number of the Company's clients will diminish, and that will be followed
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by a diminution of the Company's income. Now should one shipowner put a false nose on his ships he would lose, because the false nose would weigh about two tons and cost about £200, and for this reason his ships would be dearer than the ships of his competitors and carry less cargo. The reasons mentioned before interfere very much with the furtherance of this improvement. Only public opinion can give an effective incen- tive to the matter, and really if by subscriptions a fund can be raised and given to the Board of Trade or to any institution which will carry on the necessary experiments, then progress is bound to follow. We are not bound to decide the question in a moment, but everyone should be reminded that the loss of property from collision is immense, and that almost every day many lives are lust, owing to the absence of any means to minimise the effect of collisions at sea. (Applause.)
The CHAIRMAN-The Admiral will be very pleased if any gentleman will make any remarks or ask questions.
Mr. WOOLLEY-I should like to ask a ques- tion. In the naval manœuvres to which your Excellency referred, at what rate of speed was the ramming vessel going?
His EXCELLENCY-Six knots; the same speed at which the torpedo-catcher that struck the Pamiat Azova was going.
Hon. COMMANDER R, M. RUMSEY-I should like to ask his Excellency whether he has wit- nessed any experiments on a large scale with this special false nose ?
His EXCELLENCY-In answer to that ques- tion I may say that such experiments would be too expensive for a private individual, and the experiments I carried out were with a model which was provided with a kind of cotton buffer. These experiments were carried out on board the Emperor Nicholai, and nothing has yet been done on a large scale.
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think we may take it that now we know very nearly all we want to know as to what amount of stiffening is required in specific cases to make the bulkhead absolutely relia- ble in case may be taken as reliable in all first class of collision. Indeed, bulkheads steamers; they will not forsake you just at the moment of trial. per there is very little doubt that relying With regard to the leak stop- upon that is like relying on a broken reed. below the water line, a thousand tons of water you make a hole stx inches square and ten feet
an hour comes into the boat, and it is hardly necessary to say that there are few vessels that can have any appliances for turning out that amount of water. the method proposed by
Then coming directly to Admiral Maka- roff, I wish to say that I am of opinion that it rests on an entirely sound basis. The problem we have before us is to so direct the energy that it shall crush up useless material and so save the vessel from foundering. Ad- miral Makaroff very wisely limited his method to low speed. Take a 10,000 ton ship going fifteen knots. The energy in that vessel is so enormous that it would be very difficult to frustrate it. But when you come to a speed of four or five knots there is very little doubt indeed that some appliance of this kind would do a very great deal to promote the safety of the vessel struck. I hope I am not speaking at too great length on this matter, but there is onе other point I want to speak about. There is no doubt about the possibility of build- ing such a structure as is proposed by Admiral Makaroff, but whether it could be always carried is not a matter I am competent to discuss. It seems to me to present a great many difficulties. I have a doubt whether it would be readily cap- able of being disconnected when you were about to proceed into action. I do not say this is an insurmountable difficulty, but I do not see now how the difficulty can be overcome. How to minimise loss of life and property through col- lision is a question that certainly merits the attention of the whole mercantile world. (Ap- lause).
But
Commodore BOYES-Mr. Chairman, Admiral Makaroff has told you that I witnessed his experiments, and from what I saw it seems to me they were most successful when the buffer was applied to the model; what the result would be if applied to a large ship I cannot tell. but it was clearly shown in the experiments that the ram without the buffer easily penetrated the model, but when the small false nese, as Admiral Makaroff calls it, was applied to the ramming ship, the only result was a dent ; so that it was certainly proved that, as regards the model, the result would be successful As Mr. Whiting has just asked, what would be the case if the ship was going at a high rate of speed? The effect would probably be very disastrous however much the ramming was blunted. there are no doubt occasions when a collision is unavoidable, and the captain of the ship knows his ram is like a knife and most deadly, yet he cannot do anything to prevent the loss of life which must ensue. I have in my mind the case of the Utopia, an Italian transport, which in 1890 went into Gibraltar and owing to an accident-the steering gear was carried away, I believe the ship became helpless, and she drifted right down broadside on to the how of the Anson, one of our battleships. It was evident to all on board the Anson that this was going to happen, yet nothing could be done. A large hole was bored in the Utopia's side and in-after drifting a few hundred yards she sank, and a large number of people were drowned. As Mr. Whiting has said, special attention ought to be drawn to this matter. The Utopia is a case in point. If there had been a shield ou the ram a very serious ioss of life might have been averted. This was a case where there was scarcely any speed at all; the vessel was simply drifting down on the bow of a man-of-war with a ram.
Mr. WHITING-I have had the advantage of witnessing the very interesting experiments which his Excellency Admiral Makaroff has car- ried cut. I may say in the first place that the whole question has occupied the attention of ship- builders for the last fifty years-ever since ships have been built of iron-and the subject has hitherto been approached from just the opp site direction to that explained by Admiral Makaroff. Whereas Admiral Markaroff seeks to introduce a buffer on the Dose of the striking ship it bas ordinarily been attempted to devise a scheme whereby the ship struck, would be proof against disastrous results after collision." That idea fell into disuse until about eighteen years ago, when the Ad. miralty, for purely military purposes, thought it would be desirable to use merchant ships for war purposes, and a large number of bulkhead subdivisions were introduced int the ships. At that time-in 1877 or 1878-there were not twenty first class passenger steamships in the world of any nationality whatever which satisfied even the most rudimentary necessities for safety in time of collision, and only a small hole below the water line would cause a vessel to sink, as there were no means to check the inflow of water. In consequence, however, of the representations made to the Admiralty, the matter was-gradually pushed forward, and now, owing to the efforts of Lloyd's and the Board of Trade, all first class passenger steamships are more or less provided with bulk- heads against collision-always supposing that bulkheads are reliable. Even now news travels very slowly, and I should be very sorry if this meeting closed without some formation being given as to the conditions under which the bulkheads are put into the vessels and the tests to which they are subjected. At the present time in the Royal Navy all bulkheads of any moderate size and all compartments of moderate size are actually filled with water, not only to the level of the water line, but generally about five feet above the water line. With regard to the larger compartments you have no other test but the hose to apply, but it must be borne in mind that very elaborate calculations can be made, and I can speak in an impersonal way because they were made by members of Lloyds Registry and also by the Bulkhead Committee which sat about three years ago. Very useful work indeed was done by the Bulkhead Com- mittee and some valuable experiments were made as to the strength of bulkheads, and I
Admiral MAKAROFF-I wish to call attention to the remark made by Mr. Whiting about bulkheads being considered reliable because there was
a Committee which did much to enhance their safety. This Committee drew up certain rules under which bulkheads had to be constructed. e also mentioned that on board a man-of-war every compartment was tested with the exception of the big compartments. I do not speak of small bulkheads, because the
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