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Order Is Placed for Giant French Passenger Ship Orders have been placed for the construction of a new giant trans- Atlantic passenger liner to succeed the ILE DE FRANCE as flagship of the French line’s fleet, according to an announcement made Jan. 16 by Jean Tillier, general manager of the line for the United States and Canada. The order was placed with the Pen- hoet Shipyard in St. Nazaire. The new ship will have a length of almost 1100 feet and a speed of over 30 knots. The cost of the ship has been estimated at from $27,500,000 to $30,000,000. The keel of the giant liner will be laid next month and it is expected that she will enter serv- ice between Havre and New York in the spring of 1934. The propelling equipment will be turbine electric. She will have quad- ruple screws, four groups of turbo generators and 30 water tube high pressure, super heated steam boilers of the improved Penhoet type. The motors have been ordered from the firm of Alsthom, of Belfort. It is be- lieved that the new ship will be ca- pable of developing approximately 150,000 horsepower in order to main- tain a speed in excess of 30 knots. This new liner which will accom- modate 3000 passengers and crew will be the largest and one of the fastest in the world. Building and Repair Work The Sun Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co. at Chester, Pa. has under con- struction four large tankers and is employing a total of 3400. ship workers. The NorTHERN SwuN, being con- structed for the Motor Tankship Corp., is scheduled for launching on Jan. 31 with Miss Josephine S. Ec- kert, daughter of the vice president of the Sun Oil Co., acting as sponsor. Two other tankers of the same size are being built for the same corpora- tion and are scheduled for delivery in March and May. This yard also has under construc- tion a 200-foot tanker which is to be all-welded. The tanker Daytigut building at the Chester yard for the Standard Trans- portation OCo., shipping subsidiary of the Standard Oil Co. of New York, is approximately 40 per cent com- plete. It is expected that this vessel will be ready for delivery in May. This craft is of 13,450 tons similar to those being built for the Motor Tankship Corp. When completed, this vessel will round out the shipbuild- ing program of the Standard Trans- portation Co., two other tankers hav- ing already been delivered. This yard has been doing considerable repair work on many types of vessels and the two floating drydocks at the yards have been exceptionally busy. To Develop the Diesel The committee which ordered the Hale naval bill reported to the sen- ate Jan. 19 added an amendment au- thorizing the expenditure of $3,000,- 000 to promote development of the diesel engine. Adds Tugs to Service The Erie railroad has added four diesel electric tugs each with engines of 1000 horsepower to its marine equipment in New York harbor. This makes a fleet total of 295 units in- cluding tugs, ferryboats' lighters, barges and car floats. These new tugs are named the CLEVELAND,’ the OLEAN, the RocHESTER and_ the ScRANTON. They are to be used in handling heavy floats between the various interchange points and the Jersey terminals. These tugs are 108 feet long, 26 feet beam and 13 feet depth. Each vessel is driven by two six cylinder Ingersoll Rand vertical four cycle 15-inch bore, 20-inch stroke, oil en- gines which develop 500 horsepower each at 265 revolutions per minute. Each engine is direct connected to a 330-kilowatt, 250-volt General Elec- tric generator supplying electric cur- rent to a motor which is direct con- nected to the propellor. Construction Going Ahead on New Grace Liners Shown in the accompanying illus- tration is an artist’s drawing of one of the four 19-knot passenger and car- go liners which are to be built by the Federal Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co. at Kearny, N. J. for the Grace line. These vessels were designed by Cox & Gibbs and will cost $4,250,000 each. These new vessels will have a length of 508 feet, a beam of 70 feet and a displacement of 15,600 tons. They will have geared turbine drive and will be built to maintain a speed of 19 knots with reserve power to in- crease this speed if occasion arises. They will have nine transverse bulk- heads and will be of the two-com- partment type. They will have ac- commodations for 222 first and 70 tourist class passengers. They will have space for 7000 tons of cargo and will have refrigerator facilities for carrying perishable and semi-perish- able products. : These new liners will be built in excess of the requirements of the Lon- don Conference for the Safety of Life at Sea and the United States regula- tions. United Drydocks Inc. has under con- struction a new ferryboat for New York City and a 250-foot cutter for the coast guard. Building Three Vessels A summary of the construction work at the Tebo plant of the Todd Shipyards Corp. at the present time shows that three vessels are being built at this yard. These include two municipal ferryboats and one munic- ipal fireboat. The ferryboats are each to be 151 feet long overall, 35 feet beam and depth 14 feet 3 inches. The fireboat is to be 130 feet long overall, 123 feet at the water line, 26 feet beam with a draft of 7 feet 7 inches. This vessel will have a speed of 18 miles an hour and will be capable of pumping 16,000 gallons of water a minute. Beaten oO Artist’s Drawing of One of the Four Passenger and Cargo Liners Building for the Panama Pacific Line (Grace) MARINE REVIEw—February, 1931 41