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18 MARINE REVIEW. [September 20, STEAM TRIALS OF THE NEW ROYAL YACHT. The new royal yacht Victoria and Albert has now completed her steam trials, and the official results are given in the appended table, which shows that in all respects the expectations have been more than realized. The yacht was designed by Sir William H. White, the director of naval construction, and was built at the Pembroke dock yard. The vessel is 380 ft. long by 50 ft. beam, and her displacement is 4,700 tons, with 350 tons of coal in the bunkers. Great importance was attached to her sta- bility, and the stormy weather experienced afforded opportunity of test- ing it, and on all occasions with satisfactory results. In each engine there are four cylinders, the parts being 'balanced on the Yarrow-Schlick- Tweedy system. The high pressure cylinder is 26% in. in diameter, the intermediate 4414 in., and two low-pressure cylinders 53 in., with a stroke of 3 ft. 3 in. The boilers are of the Belleville type, with economizers, and have 26,000 sq. ft. of heating surface, and 840 sq. ft. of grate area. The stoke holds are artificially ventilated, there being no cowls. The ma- chinery was designed and constructed under the special direction of Sir John Durston, engineer-in-chief of the navy. The steam trials set by con- tract consisted of four runs, the first of 48 hours' duration, the next two, each of 48 hours' duration, at 7,500 I.H.P., and the fourth of 8 hours, at full power. The results of all four are tabulated. RESULTS OF CONTRAOT STEAM TRIALS OF THE ROYAL YACHT VICTORIA AND ALBERT. 48 hours at| 46 hours at | 48 hours at | 8 hours at 50001. H. P.|7500 I. H. P.|7500 I. H. P.|full power. Draught of water, forward......... 18 ft. 2in.| 18 ft. 214 in.|/18 ft. 2% in.| 18 ft. 2 in. Draught of water, ait: ... 00)... cece 20 ft. Lin.| 20ft. 0 in.}/19 ft. 11% in.| 20 ft. Lin. Steam pressure, Ib. ............ 25 254 268 272 306 Veet in: ae. ne 26.9} - 26.0 25.25 25.25 Revolutions #sicccss...... 00006 Sr: 110.9 128.4 128.4 147.4 Indicated horse power......... ie 5142 7625 7649 11298 Speed over long course, knots....., 16.32. 18.33 18.47 20.53 Coal consumption, Ibs. ............, 1.94* 1.94* 1.87* < dusateste *For 40 hours. The first trial took place on Aug. 9 and 11. As the yacht proceeded down channel she cleared the rain, but the wind increased in violence till at night it reached three-fourths of a gale. At this time the yacht was steaming between the Lizard and the Scilly islands to avoid the ordi- nary mercantile traffic and to be ready at daylight to get on the measured course off the Cornish coast. ..Twice during the night the course was altered, and the stability of the ship under trying conditions was thus fully tested. In running before the wind she was perfectly steady; against the wind she pitched, but her movement synchronized with the action of the sea; with the wind abeam she rolled, but even in turning the heel did not exceed 10 degrees, and the time taken in rolling from one side to the other was about the average of a well-found warship. At no time did the yacht dip her nose into the sea, but the spray was of such volume that the funnels for more than half their height remain coated with salt. On Friday morning, with a strong breeze still blowing, the yacht reached the measured course between Rame head and Dodman point, over which: she made four runs. She had started with only twelve out of her eighteen boilers in use, but during Thursday night's run in the open sea three addi- tional boilers were lighted up as a precautionary measure, and they con- tinued in use for. the remainder of the trial. The exact distance of the course is 23.2 miles, and the mean result of four runs gave the time as 85 minutes 25%4 seconds, or a speed of 16.8 knots. The pressure at the boilers was 256 lbs. and at the engines 23734 lbs. The vacuum was 27.3 in, starboard and 26.75 in. port. .The revolutions were 113.71 per minute. The engines and boilers gave as much satisfaction as the hull. With the exception of the capstans and boat hoists, all the machinery is below the water line and under the immediate observation of the engineer on watch. The second trial, which lasted only 46 hours, owing to fog, was on Aug. 16 to 18. The weather was more moderate, and there was neither pitching nor rolling. Six runs were made over the measured course, the mean speed being 18.3 knots, the maximum with the tide being 19.6 knots. Vice-Admiral Sir John Fullerton commands the royal yachts and Rear ae A. K. Wilson, V. C., the controller of the navy, were present at this trial. The third trial was on Aug. 23 to 25. A heavy sea, with ground swell, was running in the channel throughout the trial, but it had no effect upon the yacht, which, as on the last occasion, proved a thoroughly trustworthy sea boat. There was no perceptible vibration, and in the saloon it was difficult to realize that she was under way in a heavy sea. The mean results, it will be seen, closely approximated to those on the previous trial at the same power, the difference in indicated horse power being 24, but the coal consumption was rather better, probably a result of experience, being 1:87 Ibs. instead of 1.94 Ibs. in the two preceding trials. On the previous trial, at the same horse power, the speed averaged 18.33 knots; now it was 18.47 knots. With regard to indicated horse power it should be explained that, although the mean result is given there was very little variation from start to finish. The full power trial was on Aug. 29, and it was in fine weather. The yacht drew 18 ft. 2 in. forward and 20 ft. 1 in. aft. The steam pressure at the boilers was 306 lbs. The vacuum was 25.2 in. starboard and 25.3 in. port; the revolutions 147.2 starboard and 147.6 port. The indicated horse power was 9,620 starboard and 5,678 port, and the collective indicated horse power 11,298. The mean air pressure was .6 in., and the mean of four runs over the measured course gave a speed of 20.53 knots. This being a full power trial, the coal consumption was not taken. On the 30th ult. the yacht carried out her circle, starting and stopping, and anchor trials. Any doubts entertained as to stability have been entirely dissipated by the behavior of the yacht in two gales, when her speed did not fall off to an appreciable degree, while in a moderate breeze she was perfectly steady. Whether she has had to steam through a heavy sea or through smooth water the bow wave has been clean and regular, with a fine run from the stem to the midship section, and no volumes of water of weight have been thrown off from any part. Nor has there 'been any churning or thumping under the quarter, whether the ship has been traveling at her highest speed or running through a gale. Each trial also disclosed an absence of vibration over the propellers, while the tests that were made in the worst weather she encountered showed that the angle of heel in rolling did not exceed 8 degrees or 10 degrees. The hull and engines have thus answered all the requirements of the designers. In consequence of continued ill health Sir W. H. White, director of naval construction, was unable to be present, but the final trial was attended by Sir John Durston, engineer-in-chief. The vessel was in charge of Gapt. Av A. G: Parr for the purposes of the trial. The admiralty was represented throughout the trials by Mr. H. J. Oram, senior engineer inspector, and Mr. J. Rogers, the constructor; Fleet Engineer W. H. 'Matthews repre- sented the Portsmouth dock yard reserve, and Chief Engineer W. H. Beckett represented the chief engineer's department. Fleet Engineer J. 'M. C. Bennett was the chief engineer of the ship; the contractors of machinery, Humphreys & Tennant, were represented by Mr. Robert Humphreys.--Engineering. WRECK STATISTICS FOR 1899. The statistical summary of vessels totally lost, condemned, etc., just published by Lloyd's register (British), shows that during 1899 the gross reduction in the effective mercantile marine of the world amounted to 996 vessels of 783,508 tons, excluding all vessels of less than 100 tons. Of this total, 330 vessels of 469,621 tons were steamers, and 666 of 313,887 tons were Sailing vessels. ~As regards steamers the present return exceeds the average of the preceding eight years by fifty-seven vessels and 124,730 tons; as regards sailing vessels it is below the average by 169 vessels and 68,579 tons. Similarly, the figures relating to steam tonnage owned in the United Kingdom are above the average, while those relating to sailing vessels are below. The excess in the case of steamers follows upon the great increase during recent years in the amount of steam ton- nage afloat, and is partly attributable also to the amount of tonnage broken up, condemned, etc. Apart from cases which come within this lat- ter category, the United Kingdom steam tonnage lost during 1899. - exceeds the average of the preceding eight years by about 32,000 tons, while the tonnage owned has increased since 1891 by nearly 3,000,000 tons. The summary exhibits interesting data as to the relative frequency of the different kinds of casualty which conclude the existence of vessels. Strandings and kindred casualties which are comprised under the term wrecked are much the most prolific cause of disaster. To such casualties are attributable 39 per cent. of the losses of steamers and 44 per cent. of the losses of sailing vessels. The next most frequent termination of a ves- sel's career is by condemnation, dismantling, etc.; about 21 per cent. of the vessels removed from the. merchant fleets of the world are accounted for in this manner. Of the remaining causes of loss, collision is the most general for steamers (12 per cent.); while, for sailing vessels, the cate- gories of missing (11 per cent.) and abandoned (10 per cent.) rank next in order of frequency. Cases of abandoned, foundered and missing ves- sels may perhaps be regarded as frequently more or less similar in the circumstances of loss. If these be taken collectively, they comprehend 22 per cent. of the losses of steamers and 26 per cent. of the losses of sailing vessels. The return has been compiled by Lloyd's register in such a manner as to enable a comparison to be made between the percentages of loss suffered by each of the principal merchant navies in the world. Great as the- absolute annual loss of vessels belonging to the United Kingdom appears to be, it is seen to form a very moderate percentage of the mer- cantile marine of the country, and to compare favorably with the losses sustained by other leading maritime countries. The merchant navies which exceed a total of 1,000,000 tons are those of the United Kingdom, the British colonies, the United States of America, France, Germany and Norway. Of these countries the United Kingdom shows the small- est percentage of loss, viz., 2.59 per cent. of the vessels owned; Germany follows with 2.8 per cent.; and Norway is the highest with 5.93 per cent. As regards steamers, while the percentage for the United Kingdom stands at 2.24, the average of the percentages of loss for the other five coun- tries is 2.68. For sailing vessels, the other five countries show an average He centage of 5.88 as compared with 3.75 per cent. for the United King- om. The percentages given at the end of the preceding paragraph suggest that steamers have a much greater immunity from disaster than have sailing vessels. This inference is sustained if the losses suffered by the remaining merchant fleets of Europe be also taken into account. While the losses of steamers amount only to 2.24 per cent. of the number and 2.38 per cent. of the tonnage owned, the losses of sailing vessels reach 5.388 per cent. of the number and 4.66 per cent. of the tonnage. The statistics for the United States show that of the steam vessels one of 1,052 tons was condemned; four of 3,155 tons were burned; one of 698 tons collided; four of 2,214 tons foundered; one of 1,889 tons was missing; nine of 5,886 tons were wrecked; making a total of twenty ves- sels of 14,894 tons, a percentage of vessels owned of 3.31 per cent. and of tonnage owned of 2.78 per cent. Of the sailing vessels of the United States thirteen of 6,781 tons were abandoned at sea; five of 1,085 tons were condemned; four of 3,740 tons were burned; seven of 1,846 tons col- lided; seven of 3,051 tons foundered; three of 490 tons were lost; ten of 5,249 tons were missing; sixty-one of 28,404 tons were wrecked; a total of 110 vessels of 50,596 tons, making a percentage of vessels owned of 5.15 and of tonnage owned of 4.55. The grand total of American vessels lost is 180 of 71,728 tons, a percentage of vessels owned of 4.75 per cent. and of tonnage owned of 3.83. These figures are exclusive of vessels trading on the great lakes. MEDALS FOR SHAW ELECTRIC CRANE CO. Prominent among the representative machinery concerns of the coun- try who have carried off high honors at the Paris exposition is the Shaw Electric Crane Co. of Muskegon, Mich., manufacturers of the celebrated Shaw three-motor electric traveling cranes for machine and railroad shops and ship builders' and boiler makers' use. Word has just been re- ceived by Manning, (Maxwell & Moore, who are the sole sales agents of the Shaw company, with offices at New York City, Chicago, Pittsburg and Cleveland, that the international jury of award has awarded the Shaw company a gold medal in class 21, general mechanical apparatus, and a silver medal in class 28, electrical appliances for hoisting. The awards show a gratifying recognition of the superior merit of the Shaw cranes and bespeak an increased demand for them abroad.