OCEAN STEAMSHIPS


A POPULAR ACCOUNT OF THEIR CONSTRUCTION
DEVELOPMENT, MANAGEMENT
AND APPLIANCES

Slow Growth of the Idea of Steam Propulsion—Models Shown at theLiverpool Exhibition in 1886—Claims of Precedence in the Inventionof Steamboats—What Fulton Accomplished—The Clermont—TheVoyage of the Savannah in 1819—The First War Steamer—TheAtlantic Crossed by the Sirius and Great Western in 1838—Foundingof the Cunard Company—Invention of the Screw Propeller—ItsApplication to the Archimedes and the Great Britain—EarlyFleet of the Cunard Company—American Enterprises—TheScrew Steamer Princeton—Establishment of the Pacific Mail—TheCollins Line—Its Success and Ultimate Failure—The GreatEastern—Beginning of Great Rivalry in Speed—Triple ExpansionEngines—Important Changes in Design.

The Viking’s Craft and the Modern “Greyhound”—Problems of Inertiaand Resistance—Primary Condition for High Speed—What isMeant by “Coefficient of Fineness” and “Indicated Horse-Power”—Advancein Economical Engines—What the Compound Engine Effected—AComparison of Fast Steamers from 1836 to 1890—PrejudiceAgainst Propellers and High Pressures—Advantages of morethan One Screw Propeller—Attempts at Propulsion by TurbineviiiWheels, Ejections, and Pumps—The Introduction of Siemens-MartinSteel in 1875 the Chief Factor in the Success of Modern FastSteamers—Decrease in Coal Consumption—Importance of ForcedDraughts—The Problem of Mechanical Stoking—Possibilities ofLiquid Fuel—Is the Present Speed Likely to be Increased?