The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Big Tanker Of Improved Design Large Oil Carrier Given Greater Loading and Unloading Facilities T oe plans of the Standard Oil Co. include the construc- tion of some of the most ad- vanced oil carriers of the sea. The program calls for the early delivery of some of the largest tankers built, in- cluding two tankers which will exceed in. size anything so far constructed in the world. The Standard Oil com panies as a whole have 23 tankers under construction, the building pro- gram of the Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey being especially extensive. For this company orders call for three tankers of 10,000 tons to be built by the Moore Shipbuilding Co., Oakland, Cal.; two tankers of 10,400 tons to be built by the Sun Shipbuilding Co., Chester, Pa.; three tankers .of 11,790 tons to be built by the G. M. Standifer Construction Corp., Vancouver, Wash.; two tankers of 11,900 tons to be built by the Oscar Daniels Shipbuilding Co., Brunswick, Ga., and five tankers of 15100 tons. each to be built by. the Federal Shipbuilding Co, Kearny, Nv J. The. five tankers building at the Federal yards are twin-screw vessels capable of making 11.5 knots on trial. In this respect they depart from the 'accepted plans of tankers which have heretofore been practically uniformly single-screw. The building program of the Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey, however, did not rest with the large Federal tankers but the company ordered two other twin-screw tankers which will exceed in size even the record-breaking British tankers. These two are being built by the Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co., Newport News, Va., and when fully classified it is expected they will measure at least 20,000 tons dead- weight and probably more. These giant tankers will measure 555 feet between perpendiculars and have a 75-foot beam. They will have a molded depth of 43 feet and a loaded draft of 30 feet. It is planned to have them Propelled by two triple expansion en- Sines of 38,000 indicated horsepower. Their Capacity will be 135,000 barrels O gi. This building program will place the Standard Oil Company in the front tanks of the great dispensors of oil of the world. It will bring under one house flag Probably the largest indus- trial fleet in existence, for the company owned some #7 tankers before the new Ships were designed. The fleet of 47 To Cut tankers already in existence boats of from 6000 to 17,000 tons deadweight. The Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey before the new construc- tion plans were announced had a total of 52 seagoing vessels. documented under the American flag measuring from 1000 gross tons up. The Stand- ard Oil Co. of New. York had -26 seagoing vessels» under the American flag, and the Standard Oil Co. of Cali- fornia had 12 vessels. These fleets gave to the Standard Oil interests a power in the oil trade that was con- sidered enviable even before the Ger- man war, but inasmuch as the Stand- ard Oil Co. of New Jersey alone has let contracts for approximately 225,000 deadweight tons of new tankers, the prewar record will soon be surpassed. includes Design of Large Tankers In shipbuilding circles considerable interest surrounded the design of the two largest tankers which are to be built at Newport News, especially in- asmuch as they are so far in advance of anything built by English yards. | The designs of the tankers now under construction at the Federal yard, how- ever, afford the key to these' plans. The five tankers' building by the Federal company, until the Newport News contract was let, were probably the largest tankers ever attempted in the United States. The plans and specifications prepared in this instance, it is understood, have been utilized for drafting the design of the big 20,000- ton ships, According to the contract signed with the Federal Shipbuilding Co., the five 15,100-ton tankers to be built at Kearny will be constructed according to Lloyd's highest classification. They will measure 500 feet between perpen- diculars, have a 58-foot beam, and will be 38 feet 9 inches deep. Their loaded draft will be 27 feet 6 inches. These ships will have 19 oiltight, watertight transverse bulkheads, and one con- tinuous oiltight center line bulkhead with the usual expansion trunks. These vessels are the 3-deck, shelter deck type, and the expansion trunks ex- tend from the main to the shelter deck. A cofferdam forward will separate the oil cargo space from a cargo space in the prow which will also carry chain locker and_ stores. room is located amidships and an- other cofferdam half-way between this 495 A pump : Speed and Advanced Labor Cost and the forward cofferdam. A third cofferdam will separate the oil cargo space and the space for fuel oil, and a fourth cofferdam will separate the fuel oil space from the boiler room. The engines will be carried aft with a boat deck above, and the bridge and usual deck houses accompanying will be placed forward of the second coffer- dam. A vessel of this class will Calry. a crew of over 60 men and the accom- modations for the men are planned according to the oil company's usual high standard. These accommodations are more than the law requires, a Separate room being supplied for each officer as well as three spare rooms, Two of these spare rooms will have detached baths, and while one is as- signed to a doctor and another to a purser, these officers are not normally carried on ships of this class. The wheel and chart rooms are on the flying bridge forward, below being the captain's cabin, captain's office, and the wireless room. The spares and officers' rooms and dining saloon are below the captain's quarters. The crew will be housed in the stern, over the en- gine room space. Three masts will carry the antennae, the forward and the stern mast being fitted with beams and hoists. Probably the most important feature of these tankers, however, will be the loading and unloading equipment planned for handling oil. Each vessel will have two main cargo oil pumps of the horizontal duplex type. They will be fitted with suction lines 14 inches in diameter, and be capable of discharging at least 3000 barrels per hour at a piston speed not exceeding 100 feet per minute working against a head of 100 pounds per square inch. These are the largest suction lines ever fitted on a tanker and the pumps are supposed to be the most powerful. In addition to these two main cargo pumps, each vessel will be cquipped with one small stripping pump with a separate line 6 inches in diamcter. All deck machinery will be supplied by the Hyde Windlass Co. The twin wheels will be of built-up bronze. The ships will be equipped with two tripie expansion engines, 20% x 35 x 60 wth a 42-inch stroke. Making 90-revoiu- tions per minute, these engines shou'd drive the vessels 11.5 knots. Each ship have three Scotch single-end 16 feet in diameter and 11 will boilers,