SHIPS' BOATS PART I INTRODUCTORY MANY valuable books dealing with the design and construction of ships have been written at periodical intervals by eminent Naval Architects, and become standard works of reference in the libraries of our Technical Societies and Institutions. Many questions associated with the theoretical and practical aspects of the subject have been thoroughly investigated and published for the benefit of students desiring to extend their knowledge in the Science. The sources of information are therefore numerous and varied. It is a matter of some surprise that the important subject of the equipment of cargo and passenger vessels with life-saving appliances has never been dealt with in detail and presented as a technical volume for the guidance of those "that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters." Information hitherto has, to some extent, remained sealed, not from any desire to hinder the circulation of knowledge, but due mainly to the fact that such technical literature must necessarily be written during the leisure hours of a practical man, after the labours of the day, when physically and mentally he is not at his best. The attention of the whole world was directed to the terrible disasters which hefell the large passenger steamers Titanic, Empress of Ireland, Falaba, Lusitania, and hundreds of other vessels sunk at sight by the unconstitutional methods of an arrogant enemy, during the recent war. The subject of providing the best apparatus for securing the greatest measure of safety for passengers and crew, has created widespread interest and demanded the close attention of the governing authorities. B In spite of many difficulties, the writer has been prompted to bring together in concrete form the results of some measure of practical experience associated with the methods of equipping merchant vessels with life-saving appliances. The present volume is mainly devoted to the subject of Boats: their construction, stowage, equipment, and launching appliances. It has been found impossible to make any detailed reference to the subject of life-rafts and buoyant apparatus, but the general instructions relating to these portions of the life-saving equipment have been inserted in the Appendix. No pretence has been made to deal with abstruse calculations, and the author has endeavoured to confine himself to everyday language in explaining the various methods of construction operating in the boat yards and engineering works. A feature of the present edition is the large number of illustrations, which it is anticipated will prove of some assistance to Shipbuilders and Ships' Officers, who have little opportunity to secure the complete information in suitable form for reference. It is not considered out of place to give a brief summary of the progress of legislation which insists on certain requirements being carried out on all merchant vessels for the safety of passengers and crew. Previous to the year 1890, the boat accommodation for all British ships and foreign ships carrying passengers between places in the United Kingdom, was governed by Clause 292 of the Merchant Shipping Act of 1854, and based on the vessel's registertonnage. The limit for a vessel of 1000 tons and upwards was seven boats, provided one was a lifeboat, in the case of a passenger vessel. Provision was not made for additional lifesaving appliances beyond the supply of a number of lifebuoys. In March, 1886, a Departmental Committee was appointed by the Board of Trade to inquire into the question of boats, rafts, and life-saving apparatus carried by sea-going merchant vessels, and when considering the equipment of passenger steam vessels carrying large numbers of emigrants across the Atlantic, it was recommended that the provision under the statutory requirements was inadequate and that each ship should have sufficient life-saving apparatus for all persons on board. As a result of the recommendations of a Select Committee of the House of Commons, presided over by Lord Charles Beresford, in the year 1887, Rules for Life-saving Appliances came into operation on the 31st March, 1890, which adopted the principle that on all Foreign and Home Trade cargo vessels, the boat accommodation should be sufficient for all on board, and that on steamships engaged in such trades, this accommodation should be provided in boats under davits on each side of the vessel. These rules substituted gross for register tonnage as the basis of scale for the equipment of emigrant and passenger ships up to 9000 tons and upwards; which limit was again increased in 1894 to 10,000 tons and upwards. This substitution was the means of increasing the boat accommodation in steamships by about 50 per cent. Provision was also made for life-belts and other buoyant apparatus to be carried for all persons on board. Further rules and regulations relating to life-saving appliances were. introduced at various periods between the years 1902 and 1914, to provide for the adequate equipment of vessels which were constantly increasing in size and passenger accommodation. After the regrettable loss of the s.s. Titanic in the Atlantic Ocean, a Merchant Shipping Advisory Committee was appointed, followed by a Departmental Committee on Boats and Davits, and the International Conference for the Safety of Life at Sea. The British authorities have always recognised the importance of safeguarding both passengers and crew, as the before-mentioned investigations will testify. The Rules for Life-saving Appliances, issued in 1914, are those which now govern the equipment of vessels. Boat accommodation and the number of davits to be provided depend, not on a tonnage scale, but on the registered length of the vessel. No doubt certain modifications and additions will be made in the future as a result of the experience gained during the recent war, but the standard of the present requirements are of a very high class. The foreword given in this text-book is a very beautiful and decorative expression of an author's view of the lines and form of an ordinary open boat. The practical man sometimes finds, when boats are constructed under certain conditions, that beauty of form is not always a guarantee that "it will keep out water." Experience has proved the necessity for regulating the construction of ships' boats by a very high standard of workmanship, and the builders are now guided by a complete and comprehensive specification. If the circulation of this text-book is the means of increasing the interest in the subject of the equipment of our merchant fleet with satisfactory life-saving appliances, the author will be gratified with the result. PART II SECTION A.-TRADES OF VESSELS AS AFFECTING BOAT ACCOMMODATION AND THE INSTALLATION OF DAVITS THE life-saving equipment of our Merchant Fleet is governed by the nature of the service for which the vessels are intended. The requirements of Clause 427 of the British Merchant Shipping Act of 1894 empower the Board of Trade to draw up regulations for the installation of life-saving appliances on vessels, which will ensure a large measure of safety at sea for the passengers and crew. From time to time the Marine Department of the Board of Trade have sought the advice, experience, and co-operation of influential Committees before bringing into operation their Regulations. The recommendations of the Departmental Committee on Boats and Davits, and the results of the investigations made by the International Conference on Safety of Life at Sea, have now been embodied in the latest rules. For the purpose of drawing up Rules for Life-saving Appliances the vessels have been classified under two headings, viz.(1) Foreign-going, and (2) Home Trade. Each of these classes has been sub-divided so as to include and separately identify the various vessels, to enable the equipment to suit the particular type of ship or trade in which the vessel is engaged. There are three important sections of the Rules for Life-saving Appliances which exercise a controlling influence on the question of equipping a vessel with the regulation number of boats and sets of davits, viz. General Rules Nos. 2, 10 and 20. Portions of these rules which affect all new vessels now under construction are, therefore, given in detail, to enable the reader to familiarise himself with the modifications which may become necessary owing to the special features of the ship's design. 66 These modifications are permissible under certain conditions, which are indicated in the rules and are as follows: GENERAL RULE 2 OF THE RULES FOR LIFESAVING APPLIANCES. Power of the Board of Trade to accept alternatives. “The Board of Trade shall have power, in general or in any "particular case, to accept any boat, raft, buoyant apparatus, "or other life-saving appliance, in lieu of a life-saving appliance "required by these rules, subject to such conditions as they may impose, if they are satisfied that under those conditions "it will be as effective as the appliance required by these rules. "Provided that in the case of a foreign-going passenger steamer no life-saving appliance shall be accepted in lieu of a lifeboat required by these rules, except either some other "approved type of lifeboat or a life-raft approved as being in every respect as efficient as the pontoon life-raft described "in General Rule 10. 66 66 Provided also that no life-raft shall be accepted on a foreigngoing passenger steamer unless the total cubic capacity of the lifeboats provided is at least equal to the greater of the two "following amounts: 66 “(i.) 75 per cent. of the total capacity required to "accommodate all the persons carried. or (ii.) The minimum capacity required by Column C of "the Table in Appendix I." (See p. 10.) GENERAL RULE 10 OF THE RULES FOR Life-rafts. "(1) An approved pontoon life-raft shall satisfy the following "conditions: "(i.) It shall be reversible and fitted with bulwarks of "wood, canvas, or other suitable material on 66 both sides. These bulwarks may be collapsible. "(i.) It shall be of such size, strength, and weight. 66 that it can be handled without mechanical |