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stronger construction. A year or two ago two British coasting ships were lost and during a consequent investi- gation by the British board of trade, it developed that the probable cause for the disasters was obsolete wooden hatch covers. It was decided that if these vessels had been supplied with adequate hatch covers, the vessels would not have been lost. Three new types of steel hatch covers have been put on the market recently, two of which are intended to make tarpaulins unnecessary. The development of steel hatch covers is not new. The Von Tell steel hatch cover is the invention of Captain Von Tell, a Swede. This cover is made in two sections, hinged at the end coamings. Each section is also hinged. When hinged back the entire hatchway is open, and the covers are convenient- ly stowed. Tarpaulins, wedges, bat- tening and locking bars are unneces- sary and strongbacks are also elimi- nated. An important advantage is that the deck abreast of the hatch- way is quite unencumbered, this be- ing achieved by hinging of the cov- ers at the end coamings. The opera- tion of opening and closing can be effected rapidly by means of winches and ships tackle. The Isherwood Steel Hatch The Isherwood steel hatch is made up of steel sections which are small enough to be handled by hand. When the covers are all placed in position they are locked and held in place by a simple arrangement. The follow- ing description of the cover is from the Nov. 27, 1930, Fairplay. “On each of the webs extending over the length of the hatch on which the covers are supported is fitted a sliding channel bar. On the sides of this channel are fitted wedge pieces of metal (the broad end of the wedge being at the channel top), which, when the movable channel is free, are placed adjacent to, and in oppo- sition to, similar metal wedge pieces on the steel covers (the broad end of the wedge being at the bottom edge of the cover). The sliding channel is actuated by a simple screw gear fixed on the web beam and op- erated by hand power by a key in- serted through a small hole made for the purpose through the top of the coamings. ‘‘When the sliding panel is moved toward the side of the hatch, the wedges on the channel engage with the wedges on the covers and the whole are securely locked together. On the underside of the channel are fitted several steel wedge _ pieces, which slide into suitable fittings placed in opposition thereto on the hatch web beam, thus securely hold- ing down the channel... The wedge pieces on the channel are somewhat longer than those on the covers, and so arranged that the covers may be disengaged by operating the screw gear while the movable channel is UOUUUUUOUUUUOUUUUUUUUTULUUUUULUNUUNUIUOUUNH Patented steel gas- tight cover for 30- foot Hatch on the S.S. Taraqgi known as the ‘‘Macank- ing”’ pais Hatch cover designed b MacGregor & King Ltd. COUUUATUALUUTUUOUUUUUUQUUULUAUATEUEUANHUH still secured to the hatch beam. When, however, it is desired to re- move the channel altogether for cleaning or other purposes, this can be quickly and easily effected by a little more lateral movement of the channel bar itself by means of the screw gear, when it becomes quite free and can be lifted off. Each slid- ing channel is fitted in two sections, and operated in two movements, one from each side of the hatchway coam- ing, but it is obvious that the method of securing the hatches can be modi- fied in several ways by the adoption of the device.”’ The ‘‘Macanking” steel hatch cover was described in the December, 1930, issue of MARINE Review. The T & D sliding strongback was described in the June, 1930, issue of MARINE RE- view. Wooden hatch covers are used with this sliding strongback. Steamers on the lakes and some ships in the coastwise trade have had steel hatch covers for years. In 1912 two tramp ships were built in Sun- derland, England, of 4175 tons dead- weight, and were fitted with steel hatch covers of a simple design. These ships were provided with four hatches 24 feet by 12 feet and cov- ered with steel hatch covers. There are three cross beams and four cov- ers, making a total of seven parts to the hatch. If these hatches had been covered in the usual way there would have been five cross beams and 24 wooden covers, making a total of 29 parts to each hatch to handle. The PA TCUUHTUUTATUUCHTUUUHAUCCELULOAUCCOA LCL Steel hatch cover on new American freight and passen- ger steamer. This cover is of more or less conventional shipyard design with holding down bolts and rubber gaskets for water- tightness TUTUVUQUOHHTUILUCLUUGHELEULLOUGELLLLLLLL MARINE REview—April, 1931 vessels have been in constant service and have carried almost every cargo to almost every part of the world. In the 19 years these ships have been in use, the master of one of the ships reports that the only expense on the steel covers has been to re- new about 100 rivets—and setting a price of $1 for each rivet—-$100 has been spent in 19 years for repairs. The time saved in covering and un- covering the hatches, and the in- creased safety to vessel, crew and cargo has been of inestimable value. Awarded Willans Medal Francis Hodgkinson, consulting en- gineer of the Westinghouse Electric & Mfg. Co., and an authority on steam turbines and marine machinery, has been awarded the Willans premium, a distinguished British engineering honor, by the Institution of Mechani- cal Engineers of London. Mr. Hodg- kinson has been notified that the award, given for the best paper pub- lished in the proceedings of the insti- tute from 1925 to 1930, inclusive, is being forwarded him from London in the form of a gold medal, following a recent general meeting of the insti- tute. The paper on which the award was made was entitled ‘Journal Bearing Practice.”’ The author was born in London in 1867 and was associated with the late Sir Charles A. Parsons in his early experiments with turbines in England. 85