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U. i Classification Bureau Grows American Society Now Gives Support to Marine Industry Essential for Latter's Progress LASSIFICATION of vessels built C for the merchant marine is funda- mentally a matter of national im- portance. This view. is justified. by the fact that the certificate of class issued by a registration society is a guarantee that the vessel so classed is properly constructed. Such a certificate assures the owner and the insurance underwriter that the strength of the vessel is un- questionable and that its character of construction is in accordance ~ with the standards of the classiffcation society. The enormous risk incidental to an in- ferior construction is eliminated, and only the hazards common to sea service re- main to be considered. The result, there- fore, of building to the rules and sur- vey of a classification society, in so far as providing for and obtaining proper construction goes, is the assurance that the lives of those who travel by sea in vessels so constructed, and the vessels themselves with their cargoes are to that extent safeguarded. Life and property, so safeguarded, become a part of the MNation's assets. " What Classification. Means The purpose of any society for the registration of vessels is to classify them in accordance with their strength and seaworthiness, with proper regard on the one hand, for the safety of life and property, and, on the other, to ob- tain the necessary strength and seagoing qualities without impairing the earn- ing power of the vessel by carrying around for its lifetime an unnecessary weight of structure that reduces the cargo-carrying capacity. Among other responsibilities, a moral obligation rests upon the classification society, as repre- senting the owners, to use every en- deavor to prevent the incorporation of unnecessary weight, thereby assuring a vessel of the maximum earning capacity combined with a satisfactory strength. With the introduction of iron as a building material, it became practicable to consider the hull proper as a girder and closely to approximate the stresses brought upon a vessel floating in a highly disturbed medium. The art of arranging the scantling for safely meet- ing such stresses became the study of naval architects of all nations, and while Read at twenty-ninth general meeting of the Society of Naval Architects and arine Engi- neers, New York, Nov. 17-18. _The author, W. A. Dobson, is vice president of the society. -- were well BY W. A. DOBSON new combinations are constantly being developed, the general principles involyed are well known and carefully considered in any standard arrangement of scant- lings. As a result of such investigations, combined with many years of sea-experi- ence, tables or rules have been prepared by the classification societies which in- sure that vessels built in accordance therewith will have the required strength successfully to meet the varying con- ditions of ocean traffic. It is to be noted that such rules are not on a pure- ly academic basis but are the result of mathematical investigation applied to sea experience with all types of con- struction, wherein stresses are 'kept within well defined limits. The. salient features of such rules known to the framers of the merchant marine act of 1920. This act provides for the classification of vessels, other than military, owned by the United States, and for such: other purposes in connection therewith as are the proper functions of a classification bureau. The act directs that all de- partments, boards, bureaus 'and com- missions of the government recognize the American Bureau of Shipping as_ their agency, so long as that bureau con- tinues to be maintained as an organiza- tion which has no capital stock and pays no dividends. This being the case, it is deemed proper and opportune to review the history of the only existing American classification society and_ to show its growth and present condition. On April 22, 1862, the legislature of the state of New York incorporated the American Shipmasters' 'association, the incorporators being men well known in shipping and maritime insurance. The purposes of the association were those of collecting and disseminating informa- tion upon subjects of marine or com- mercial interest, of encouraging and ad- vancing worthy and well qualified com- manders and other officers of vessels in the merchant service, of ascertaining and certifying the qualifications of such persons as applied to be recommended as commanders or officers, and of pro- -moting the security of life and property on the seas. The last-named purpose necessarily carried with it the preparation and adop- tion of rules for construction and sur- vey which, when complied with in the construction of a vessel, entitled it to 531 . the proper classification in the association. The association continued to function under the title of "The American Ship- masters' association" until the first of November, 1898, when, by order of the supreme court of the state of New York, the association was authorized to assume another corporate name, name- ly, "The American Bureau of Ship- ping." The bureau affairs are administered by representatives of shipping interests in its broadest sense, and although tthe bureau is incorporated, it has no shares upon which dividends are payable. In other words, it has no capital' stock and pays no dividends. Regains Former Strength During the period' which had elapsed from its original incorporation as the American Shipmasters' association and its continuation as the American Bureau of Shipping, the work of classification had been chiefly confined to American built coastwise vessels. At one time, shipping interests of the United States under federal aid, in the shape of. wise legislation and encouragement, had assumed large proportions, but upon the withdrawal of such aid, and acquiescence with treaties decidedly favorable to for- eign shipping, these interests gradually declined. This shrinkage, resulting in the relatively small amount of merchant shipbuilding done here, combined with the lack of vision on the part of the bureau in not making alliances outside of this country, caused: its power and influence to parallel the downward tend- ency of American shipping. In the meantime foreign classification societies, from large and extended experience,- had so built up their staffs of advisers and surveyors, had so revised their rules and broadened their activities in all phases relating to building, insur- ing and salvaging vessels, that the Amer-~ ican shipowners found their interests best served by building under foreign classification rules. This~ tendency be- came so pronounced that, prior to the shipping board assuming control of the building facilities of this country, 96 per cent of the United States sea- going vessels was built under the rules of foreign classification societies. There- - fore, in 1915, the American bureau found it necessary to reorganize and to consider the advisability of making connection