PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
י
Reference :-
MC.O. 885
22 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC: COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
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The vessels employed are registered in the United Kingdom, but are manned entirely by foreigners. The question was raised recently of the title of these firms to own British ships, but, in accordance with the expressed wish of the Irish Department of Agriculture, the Board refrained from initiating an enquiry.
It will be seen that this country has an interest, not large but possibly increasing, in the whaling industry. The question as to how it compares with other countries in this respect can only be determined when the Foreign Office have obtained the information which they have asked for from the British representatives abroad.
LIST OF WHALING FIRMS ESTABLISHED IN THE UNITED KINGDOM.
(NOTE-Particulars are given as far as they can be ascertained, but the accuracy of the information is not guaranteed.)
Name of Firm.
Bases of Operations.
No. of Vessels Employed. | Capital, Paid up (approximate).
Southern Whaling and
Sealing Company.
South Georgia, Durban, Port Alexander (West Africa).
Nine (two building).
more
Salvesen & Company
South Georgia, South
Shetlande.
Seven at last (pos-
sibly more).
Five
Consolidated Whaling and South Africa
£20,000 (all British).
Not ascertained, but pro-
bably all British.
£47,500, all British (about £30,000 18 held by a Canadian Company).
Not ascertained, but pro-
bably all British.
Fishing Company of South Africa.
Olna Whaling Company
Olna Firth (Shetlands)
Four
Salvesen & Company).
Alexandra Whaling Com- Collafirth (Shetlands) ...
Two
Not ascertained.
pany (apparently con-
nected in some way with
Salvesen & Company).
Arranmore Whaling Com- West of Ireland
Three
pany.
Blacksod Whaling Com
West of Ireland
Two
pany.
R. Kinnes
James Mitchell & Sons...
Davis Strait, Hudson's
Strait, Greenland,
Greenland
Seven at most (fre- quently fewer).
One
Albert Whaling Company Hudson Bay
41273
No. 17.
One
£10,000 (about 10 per
cent. British).
£20,000 (about 10 per
cent. British).
Not ascertained, but pro-
bably all British.
Not ascertained, but pro-
bably all British.
£3,000 (all British).
MEMORANDUM ON THE OPERATIONS OF THE FLOATING WHALE FACTORY "BENGUELA."
The floating factory" Benguela belongs to the Kastor Company of Tönsberg and is 7,400 tons dead weight, 1,800 horse-power. She is 400 feet long by 47 feet beam, and cost £22,000 two years ago, when ships were cheaper, and before being equipped with whaling plant. Her value is now estimated at £40,000. She has tank accommodation equivalent to 19,000 barrels of oil, and can carry 6,000 actual barrels in all, accommodation for 25,000 barrels or about 4,000 tons. She has a crew of 75.
The ordinary hands receive 55 kroner (about £3 2s.) a month and a share per barrel of oil produced. A steam launch is carried.
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The "Benguela" left Tönsberg on 20th April, 1912, for Tiger Bay in Portu- guese Angola, and reached Liverpool on her return on 18th December, with about 13,500 barrels (2,250 tons) of oil. Of this, 8,000 barrels were of No. 1 quality (blubber oil), 1,500 barrels No. 2 (oil from the tongues, kidney fat, and residues of the blubber boilings), and 4,000 barrels No. 3 (oil derived from the flesh).
The work of the " Benguela " was entirely carried on in Tiger Bay. The whales were caught and towed to the floating factory by three whaling steamers of 11 knots speed, two 96 feet long and 300 horse-power and one 110 feet long and 400 horse- power.
Each carried a crew of 10 men, making with the crew of the " Benguela
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a total of 105 men employed. The catch consisted almost entirely of humpback whales.
vats.
The Benguela" is fitted with a blubber factory forward and a meat factory aft. Each whale is first moored to the fore part of the ship, and the blubber is cut off by men in small boats while the whale is still in the water. When the blubber has been hoisted to the upper deck, the carcase is moved to the after part of the ship and hoisted bodily on board by the aid of two powerful derricks each tested to carry 30 tons.
The actual weight of the whales dealt with seldom reaches 50 tons. Blubber factory-The blubber is fed down into a slicing machine on the main An elevator brings it deck, which cuts it into pieces about half an inch thick. back to the upper deck whence it is again fed down, this time into open boilers of There are eight such vats, each 11 feet 9 inches high by 7 feet 9 inches diameter, The bottom of each vat con- arranged on the main deck in two fore and aft rows. tains a coiled pipe provided with small holes, and the heat required for boiling is supplied by steam driven through the pipe and escaping through the holes. The maximum output of the vats is 240 barrels of oil a day, equivalent to about 10 bump. back whales of the size found in West Africa, or 12 to 15 in the South Shetlands, where humpbacks are smaller. After boiling the oil is left to stand in the vats for an hour or two, when the water and residues sink to the bottom and the clear oil floats on top. The oil is next run into clearing tanks on the lower deck, where it is left about twenty-four hours for further clearing. Finally it is run into storage tanks in the hold. It is very important that the oil should be thoroughly separated from all solid matter before it is stored, otherwise it will gor dealing with the tongues, and bad. Two pressure boilers are provided in the neighbourhood of the open vats. inferior blubber, such as that from the whale's belly.
Carcase factory. The meat factory aft, which deals also with the bones, consists of 16 pressure boilers arranged in two rows fore and aft on the main deck. Each boiler is 9 feet high by 7 feet 6 inches in diameter, and is heated by steam at a pressure of 60 lbs. per square inch. Near the bottom of each boiler is a perforated horizontal plate beneath which the oil and water collect For treating the flesh the upper part is provided with shelves radiating from a central column. These are removable and are not required for treating the bones. The boilers used for the meat and for the bones do not differ otherwise; 10 to 12 are used for the former and 6 to 4 for the latter. The capacity of this factory is about eight humpbacks per day of The the size found in West Africa, as compared with 10 for the blubber factory. output of oil from the meat and bones of a whale is only about half that obtained froin the blubber and is of 15 to 20 per cent. less value per ton.
When the carcase is hoisted on to the upper deck, it is cut up by hand, and meat and bones are loaded into the respective pressure boilers through openings flush with the upper deck and fitted with steam-tight lids to screw on. Boiling lasts twelve to fifteen hours. The" Benguela" has no drier with which to treat the residues of the flesh and bones after boiling, and these residues are thrown away through' holes provided in the sides of the ship for the purpose.
Utilisation of residues after extraction of all oil-The utilisation of these residues as guano would involve the provision of a tunnel drier, and a disintegrator for powdering the product of the drier. Incidentally, coke would have to be carried for firing the drier, and a good deal of space would be required for the machinery, the fuel, and the storage of the finished product.
Distilling apparatus.-The vessel also carries an apparatus for distilling sea water, capable of making about 80 tons of fresh water a day. Such an apparatus has to be used both at Tiger Bay and at the South Shetlands.
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