THE LIFE-BOAT. JOURNAL OF THE IRo^al Bational %ife=Boat Jnstftution, (ISSUED QUARTERLY.) VOL. XXIL—No. 251.] 2ND FEBRUARY, 1914. [PRICE 3d. Motor Life-boats. IN accordance with our annual custom motor Life-boat costs £3,000. Of this we give with this month's issue of the latter type the ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE- BOAT INSTITUTION has now 19 in service, Journal a table showing the various and four new ones have been ordered motor Life-boats now on the coast, or for service at Arklow, Fraserburgh, under construction; and in this con- Teesmouth, and Sunderland. New nexion we print, by the courtesy of The motor boats have been approved for St. Mary's, Scilly, Baltimore (Ireland), Times, an interesting article which Spurn, Blyth, and the Lizard stations, appeared in its columns on 3rd Decem- so that the number of motor Life-boats ber last which may have escaped the in service and on order for British notice of some of our readers. stations is 28. " It is in the United States, however, " At a time when the question of that the power-propelled Life-boat has safety at sea is under consideration by reached its greatest development in a conference which includes representa- point of numbers. The statistics pub- tives of all the great maritime nations, lished by the official organ of the British attention may be directed to recent society show that the United States developments in connexion with the Life-saving Service now places chief saving of life when ships are wrecked or reliance for rescue work on the motor their safety imperilled near shore. The boat, the total number in commission at design of the boats in which the work the close of the last finanial year being of rescue may be carried out has passed 109, including 39 motor surf-boats. through several stages, and in recent Many of these are, however, compara- years has called for the services of the tively small craft, and the largest of marine engineer as well as the boat them are only 36 ft. in length, a size builder; and no more striking com- exceeded by practically all the British parison of the craft used for the work boats. The large American boats are could be made than that between the equipped with a six-cylinder four-cycle coble 21 ft. long and 6 ft. broad used Holmes auto-marine engine. by Grace Darling in 1838 and now " The German society has five open exhibited in the Dove Marine Labora- motor-boats and an equal number of tory at Cullercoats, and the 76-H.P. decked motor-boats in service; France motor-boat about 50 ft. in length which had last year three Life-boats fitted with has just been put in commission by the internal-combustion engines in service; South Holland Company. the Netherlands three—-all of powerful " The older type of boat used for type; and Spain one of the Roberts life-saving could be built and equipped type of boat fitted with a 50-60 H.P. for a total oosb of about £400: the engine. VOL. XXII.—No. 251.—LIFE-BOAT JOURNAL, 100 THE LIFE-BOAT. |>D FEBKUARY, 1914. " CONDITIONS TO BE MET. a boat of the self-righting type capsizing the engine should stop automatically to " When the services of the engineer prevent the boat from going away from were first enlisted it was soon realized the men in the water or their injury by that the conditions to be met by an the propeller. Further, the weight and engine in Life-boat service were quite disposition of the machinery was to be different from those imposed upon the such as not to interfere with the balance designer of engines for other classes of of the vessel or with its rowing and boats. The first power-propelled Life- sailing qualities. It should be men- boats were steam - driven, but the tioned that while in the earlier type of internal-combustion engine is likely to motor-boats the engine was installed as supersede the steam - engine for this auxiliary power, in those recently built service.* THE ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE- the engine furnishes the main power. BOAT INSTITUTION has only four steam " Another important condition which Life-boats on the coast. They vary has to be fulfilled by engines intended from 50 ffc. to 56 ft. in length, are built for Life-boats is that the weight per of galvanized steel, and have a displace- horse-power developed shall be reduced ment of 30 to 35 tons. Like the other to a minimum ; and in the Tylor engine boats, they free themselves of water. which has been fitted to those built They are also as nearly as possible recently, a motor developing 40 H.P. at unsinkable, being divided by longi- 700 r.p.m. has been cut down to a tudinal and athwartship steel bulkheads weight of 1,450 Ibs. This requirement into a large number of watertight has removed the engine out of the compartments. A water-tube boiler is ordinary class of commercial marine worked under forced draught on the motor, and the list of manufacturers closed stokehold plan, in a watertight willing to supply such an engine in small compartment. The engines are also in numbers as required has been so re- a watertight compartment and develop stricted as to retard development. 150 to 200 I.H.F., giving a speed of about nine knots. Both 'jet' and " RESULTS ACHIEVED. ' screw ' propellers have been tried, the " It is gratifying to be able to record screw in a tunnel proving most satisfac- that the onerous conditions imposed tory, apart from questions of economy. upon motor-boat designers have been " The steam - boats were, however, met. The experimental period extended found to be very expensive in upkeep, over some years, the first tests having costing about £1,000 each annually, and, been carried out at Folkestone in 1903, although they gave good service over a when a two-cylinder 10-H.P. motor was period of twenty years, it was obvious fitted to a boat which was afterwards to those charged with the design of put in service at Newhaven. The Life-boats that if the rigorous require- newer boats, of which the Frederick ments laid down for life-saving craft Kitchen, in which the King made a could be met, the internal-combustion trip recently, is an example, are 40 ft. engine would be far better adapted for to 45 ft. long, by 12 ft. 6 ins. in beam. the work. In inviting designs for a The Frederick Kitchen, which is of the petrol motor-boat it was stipulated that, Watson type, is 43 ft. by 12 ft. 6 ins., by reason of the heavy weather in and is equipped with a 60-H.P. Tylor which the boats had to put to sea, the engine giving a speed of about 7j knots, motor must be enclosed in a perfectly which is considered ample for the con- watertight case, and that, owing to ditions of service. This boat is provided the difficulty of giving skilled attention with a Gardner reverse gear. The to it, the engine must be absolutely ingine is of the four-cylinder vertical automatic in operation. Further con- type ; the cylinders, 6f ins. in bore by ditions were that the design of the ins. in stroke, are separately cast, carburetter must make provision for a and the valves are placed on opposite proper supply of mixture during periods sides. Low tension ignition is employed. of heavy list or when the boat was on The propeller, which is protected by its beam ends, and that in the event of aeing placed in a tunnel, is 24 ins. in 2ND FEBRUARY, 1914.] THE LIFE-BOAT. 101 diameter with a pitch of 26 ins. la launching. It is not always easy, Life-boat engines it is usual to admit air however, to obtain a suitable site for a to the carburetter, for the reason indi- slipway, and in that case recourse is cated above, by indirect communication sometimes had, as at Marseilles, to a with the atmosphere, and a common pontoon boathouse. In that case use practice is to draw the air from the is made of two pontoons of rectangular hold of the boat through a large copper section, each 44 ft. in length, 3 ft. wide, pipe fitted inside the engine compart- and 9 ft. 10 ins. high. There is a space ment for that purpose. Forced lubrica- of about 16 ft. between the two plat- tion is employed to all the main bearings, forms, which are kept parallel to each but splash lubrication is also fitted. other by iron ties and cross-bars. At Two fuel tanks are generally carried, the rear ends the pontoons are held the engine being supplied on the together by a metallic partition, and at pressure-feed system, and the capacity the forward end the bottom gussets are of the tanks is required to be sufficient shaped to take the boat. The Life-boat to run the engine at full-speed for 21* is carried on a metal platform slung on hours. Petrol is at present the only four steel cables, fitted with rigging suitable fuel for the motor Life-boat. screws and coiled round the drums of The boats are all built of wood, and four windlasses with worm gear. The the dead-wood aft, which in the ordinary windlasses are connected in pairs by way would be cut away in making the longitudinal shafts, and can be simul- propeller tunnel, is retained for steering taneously operated through bevelled purposes in broken seas.