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18 MARINE REVIEW. ; [March 27, SOME NOTABLE PRODUCTS OF BRITISH SHIP YARDS. Glasgow, March 17.--The battleship Queen, which was launched a few days ago by Queen' Alexandra at Devonport dock yard, and the Prince of Wales* which will be launched next week by the Prince _of Wales at Chatham dock yard, are sister ships with some differences. They have also both some differences in constructive details from preceding ships of their class, though of the same dimensions, namely, 400 ft. length, breadth 75 ft., and draught at 15,000 tons displacement, 26 ft. 9 in. The earlier ships had a boat deck extending from the forward to the aiter bridge, 8 ft. wide inwards from the shell of the ship, but in the Queen and Prince of Wales this deck has been done away with, excepting for a short length of shelter in proximity to the bridges. There are instead bulwarks fitted with the usual partitions for stowing hammocks, according to the practice prevailing in battleships and cruisers twelve years ago. It reduces the freeboard by 4 ft. and lessens the weight of the upper structure. There are no metal cowls for ventilating the stokeholes, the idea being that in action such "upper works" when destroyed may greatly hamper the working of the ship owing to the large number of splinters that would be flying about. Wind-sails are erected when required to direct the air down the shafts communicating with the machinery compartments. The new ships also will have quick-acting hydraulic boat derricks. The boats to be carried are four launches, two of them 56 ft. in length and two 40 ft., with thirteen sail and row boats, the largest being of 42 ft. in length. The large steam launches will have a speed of 13% knots, and will be able to discharge the smaller size of Whitehead torpedo. There will be two masts in each ship--one with a semaphore 160 ft. above the waterline, and the other arranged for wireless telegraphy. The machinery for the Prince of Wales is being built by the Green- ock Foundry Co. and that for the Queen by Harland & Wolff, Belfast. In both cases the speed is to be 18 knots when the engines are developing 15,000 H.P., maintained with a steam pressure at the engine of 250 Tbs. while running at 108 revolutions per minute, equal to a piston speed of 918 ft. The two engines have each three cylinders arranged for working the steam on the triple-compound system. The high-pressure cylinder is 3114 in. in diameter, the intermediate 5114 in. and the low pressure 84 in., the stroke being 4 ft. 3 in. Piston valves are used on the high pressure and intermediate cylinders and flat valves on the third, all of them ope- rated by the usual double eccentric and link motion. The engines have the cylinders supported in front by six forged steel columns, and at back by three cast iron frames, the latter having large surfaces as slipper guides. The bed plates, of cast iron, are arranged for six main bearings, each 21 in. long. The three-throw'crank shaft is of 17 in. diameter, the propeller shaft slightly larger, and throughout there is a 9-in. hole bored in the center. The propellers, which are manganese bronze, with four blades, have a diameter of 17 ft. 6 iti., with a pitch of 19 ft. The engines are made to turn inwards when going ahead, by which arrangement the chief engi- neer has always both engines directly under his personal control. There are two condensers for each engine, the collective surface of the coiling tubes being 16,000 sq. ft. The Prince of Wales is to have twenty boilers of the Belleville type, with economizers--fifteen of them with ten elements in the generators and eight elements in the economizers and the remaining five boilers with nine elements of generating tubes and seven of economizers, that is in all 195 steam generating elements and 155 economizer elements. The total heating surface is 37,040 sq. ft. and the area of the fire grates is 1,170 sq. ft. The twenty boilers are arranged in three compartments, one hav. ing four boilers and each of the other compartments eight. There are two funnels, the forward ote taking the smoke and gases from the eight forward boilers, while the other funnel is connected to the uptake from the remaining twelve boilers. There are ten steam fans in the stokehold, as well as three furnace air-pumping engines, while in the engine room there are two motor fans for ventilation. The Queen has Babcock \& Wilcox boilers, fifteen in all, the total heating surface in their case being 34,400 sq. ft., while the grate area is 1,147 sq. ft. The machinery of the Queen weighs in all 1,530 tons, or 100 tons more than that of the Prince of Wales constructed at Greenock. In the one case 9.80 I.H.P. is generated from each ton of machinery, in the other it is 10.49 I.H.P. The steamer Oscar II. which is, even while I write, making her maiden voyage across the Atlantic from 'Copenhagen to New York, is in many respects a noteworthy vessel, a product of the renowned yard of Alexander Stephen & Sons, Linthouse, Glasgow. She was launched in November last and is 520 ft. in length, 59 ft. in depth from keel to highest deck, and of 10,500 tons gross. Her construction was effected in nine months. She has seven complete or partial decks, of steel wood sheathed, the exposed weather deck covering being of teak. She was constructed under the rules of the Bureau Veritas to the requirements of their highest class, special survey. She has enormous strength forward (the shell plates are 1% in. thickness and the framing in proportion) in view of the pos- sibility of meeting ice at the European end of the Copenhagen and New York route. The bulkheads are so arranged that the vessel is practically unsinkable, and to ensure greater strength and rigidity a steel bulkhead is placed fore-and-aft at the center line. The builders have fitted two sets of triple-expansion engines, supplied with steam by nine boilers, and the engine room is admirably arranged and is most complete. The vessel has excellent accommodation for passengers. The first and second-class occupy the awning deck under the bridge, while special rooms have been built for superior first-class on the top of the bridge deck, The emigrant and third-class berths occupy the whole length of the upper 'tween decks. Acommodation is altogether provided for about 1,200 people, including 150 first-class, eighty second-class and 700 third-class passengers, and the rooms in comfort, convenience and elegance, can hardly be surpassed. The vessel is intended to carry a deadweight of 8,000 tons, and she has every possible facility for rapid handling of cargo. The Oscar II. belongs to the fleet of the ever-growing United Steamship 'Co. of Denmark. It is said that in the docks at Copenhagen every second steamer has the red and black funnel of the United Steamship Co. They are engaged in many and various trades, and the ships are of all sizes. Altogether they own some 130 to 140 steamers. Some years ago they confined themselves very mtich to North Europe, but lately they took over the vessels of a. line engaged in the Atlantic trade, and now, the develo i ne engaged in th antic , ' opment having been sticcessful, they are going in for larger and faster steamers, of winieh the _ *This battleship was launched according 16 prograth March 9,09 n. ROTIBY : Oscar II. is the first. This means a great deal, not only to the company but to Denmark and the rest of Scandinavia. Formerly passengers from these countries for America had either to go to Germany or to Britain and re-ship, but now they can sail direct from their own country. The Oscar II. is double the tonnage of any of the company's other vessels, of very much larger carrying capacity, and she has four knots more speed. Twenty-six years ago William Denny & Bros., Dumbarton, Scotland, built for the Union Steamship Co. of New Zealand the two vessels with which they began business. These were serviceable steamers of the type of their time, measuring 215 ft. in length and 27 ft. in beam. Since then Denny & Bros. have built no fewer than thirty-two vessels for this com- pany, and have a thirty-third on the stocks. No. 32 was launched this week under the name Aparima, and it is significant of the progress of the company that she is fully double the length and breadth of the two pioneers from the same yard. The Aparima 1s of the shelter-deck type, and she is built to the requirements and under the survey of the British Corporation. She is principally intended for cargo, of which she is capa~ ble of carrying 8,600 tons, but accommodation has been provided for a dozen first-class passengers in large well-ventilated cabins, each cabin being arranged for only two passengers, SO that there will be no over- crowding. The saloon is a large and handsome apartment, framed in polished hardwood and upholstered in velvet. The ceiling is panelled and painted in artistic tints relieved with gold. The boats are carried on a boat deck above the accommodation, which, extending right out to the ship's side, forms a promenade in good weather, while the space below it forms a sheltered promenade in wet weather. For handling the large amount of cargo carried the vessel is fitted with ten powerful steam winches, each with a derrick capable of plumbing 12 ft. clear of the ship's side, so that cargo may be lifted directly from the holds into either of two lines of trucks on the wharf alongside. The upper and main decks are arranged for the carriage of horses, and special arrangements have been made for their safe transport, the ventilation being a special feature of the ship. The vessel is fitted with an electric light installation, including mast head, side signal lamps, and cargo lamps. A powerful steam steer- ing gear by Alley & McLellan is fitted at the after end of the engine room, and controlled from a standard on the flying bridge. The bottom of the vessel is arranged for carrying water ballast, and both peaks and a deep tank amidships are arranged for holding additional water ballast, The propelling machinery by Denny & Co., Dumbarton, consists of two sets of triple-expansion engines, each having three cylinders. The valve gear is of the double eccentric type, the high-pressure slide valve of the piston pattern, the intermediate and low pressure valves double ported. The air pumps are of Edwards' patent pattern, and separate centrifugal circulating pumps are provided to each condenser. 'The feed arrange- ment consists of two feed pumps worked off the main engines, two Weir's pumps, a feed heater and a feed filter. One of Weir's distillers is also provided. The three boilers are designed for a working pressure of 180 Ibs., are fitted with cockscomb furnaces, are arranged to work under Howden's system of forced draft, and have been constructed in accord- ance with the British Corporation requirements. The power to be de- veloped by the machinery is to insure a speed at sea of 11 knots when the vessel is fully loaded. The Aparima will be employed in the Colonial and Indian service of the Union company. A notable product of the Fairfield Ship Building & Engineering Co., Glasgow, is a twin-screw steamer named the Panama, which they have just launched for the Pacific Steam Navigation Co. The dimensions of this steamer are: Length 400 ft., breadth 52 ft. and depth 29 ft. The Panama is a first-class mail and passenger steamer, built especially for the American west coast trade. She has been constructed in accordance with the American laws and British Board of Trade, and is in excess of Lloyd's requirements. Accommodation is provided for about 130 first-class pas- sengers and 200 steerage, with the usual complement of officers and crew. The arrangements throughout the vessel are of the highest character, the comfort of the passengers being specially considered. In addition to a handsome dining saloon, a large social hall and smoking room are pro- vided. Arrangements are made on the main deck for the carrying of cat- tle and on the spar deck aft traders' stalls are fitted, necessary in the particular trade in which this steamer will be engaged. A complete in- stallation of electric light is fitted, and also a complete refrigerating plant. The ventilating and pumping systems have been arranged to suit the special nature of the trade, and are very complete. The propelling machinery consists of two sets of triple-expansion, surface condensing engines, each set having three inverted cylinders working on three cranks. The high-pressure and intermediate-pressure cylinders are each fitted with | a piston valve, and each low-pressure cylinder with a double-ported flat slide valve, all worked by the usual double-eccentric and link-motion valve gear. Each set of valve gear is controlled by an all-round steam and hand reversing engine. The crank shaft is in three pieces, each piece being built up and interchangeable. Thrust, tunnel and propeller shafts are of forged mild steel. Each propeller has three blades of bronze, the bosses being of cast steel. The engines are fitted with the latest im- provements for economical working, including a feed heater and a feed filter, also a large evaporator for producing fresh water to supply the boiler. A complete system of donkey pumps is also fitted. Steam is supplied by two double-ended and two single-ended steel boilers. Each of the double-ended boilers has six furnaces and each single-ended three, making a total of eighteen furnaces. The boilers are adapted to work at a pressure of 190 Ibs. All the first steamers of the Pacific Steam Naviga- tion Co. were built at Fairfield, and now after an interval of some years the company have gone back to their original source of supply. A new addition to the fleet of the Indo-China Steam Navigation Co. has just been provided by the London and Glasgow Engineering & Ship Building Co., at their Glasgow yard. The dimensions of the vessel are 370 ft. by 47 ft. 'by 30 ft., molded, and about 4,200 tons gross, and she is designed to carry 6,000 tons dead weight on 24 ft. draught of water. She is built to class 100 Al at Lloyd's, three-deck rule under special survey, and to British Board of Trade requirements for passenger certificate, and is fitted with all the most modern appliances for quick handling of cargo, ete; including powerful steam cranes to the two midship hatches. . There is a double bottom for water ballast fore-and-aft, and the peaks can al be used for trimming the ship. The saloon and first-class passengers accommodation is in a steel house on bridge deck forward of the funnel casing; and has been specially designed with a view to meet the requi