Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1882-09-01
THE SHIP BUILDING TRADE
Why American Builders of IRON
Ships Cannot Compete with For
eIgners.


prletors OF the Flushing Iron Works, has
has given considerable thought to the
subject of the construction Of iron YES
sells in this country, and the causes to
which he attributes the decadence of
American tonnage are somewhat differ
emit from those usually advanced. Mr..
Stratton has the advantage of a thorough
training as q machinist and mechanic.
and he has also had practical experience
in shipbuilding. Besides his actual ex-
perience in mechanics, he held the 30
sitlon of Local United States INSPECTOR
of Steam Vessels in this city for seven
years, and subsequently the more impor-
tant post of Supervising Inspector of
Steam Vessels. A Times reporter called
upon him recently for the purpose of
obtaining his views on iron ship build.
ing in this country.
TO what do you attribute the de-
crease of American tonnage?' asked the
reporter.
Primarily it is caused by the change
from wooden to iron hulls," said Mr..
Stratton. you take a wooden vessel
and an iron one of the same size, and
the latter will be fully 10 per cent.
lighter, and consequently will carry
about 10 per cent. more cargo on the
same draught of water. The prime fac.
tor in commercial pursuits is to carry the
greatest amount of cargo upon the
lightest weight of hull. The English
ship builders and merchants were quick
to perceive the lasting qualities of an iron
vessel over a wooden one. A boat built
OF wood will deteriorate about 10 per
cent. year. while an iron boat will not
deteriorate more than per cent in the
same length of time OF course. | do
not take into calculation accidents or
special causes that might work injury to
avessel, but merely allude to the natural
war and tear. Take the relative quality
of American and English iron, such as
IS used in the construction of iron
ships, and you will find that the Ameri-
can iron is from to 10 per cent
stronger than the foreign material. In
place of considering this fact, which is
a most important one in its relation to
iron ship building, the Boards of Marine
Underwriters of the principal seaports
of America seemingly preferred to err on
the side Of safety in the under writing
business, and decided to adopt the Eng
lish Lloyd rules for the construction of
iron ships. By taking this step the
Board of Underwriters made it necessary
for American ship builders to construct
their vessels from to 10 per cent
stronger than vessels of similar size and
pattern built abroad"
Upon what is the estimated cost of
an iron vessel based?"
''The cost of an iron boat is based
entirely upon the number of pounds of
iron used in her construction. If the
American marine underwriters would
adopt rules recognizing the superiority
of American iron for shipbuilding pur-
poses they would decrease the weight of
the hulls Of American vessels in the
exact proportion of the superiority of
American over English iron, which will
figure not less than per cent. In dem
Onstraion of this theory the English
people are now going extensively into
the construction of steel vessels. A
plate of steel is fully 80 per cent.
stronger than plate of iron of the same
size The use of steel in the construc-
ton of ships reduces the weight of the
hull, and enables the vessel to carry a
proportionately increased amount of
dead weight in the shape of cargo.
From what period do you date the
6ulDDlHPI
This condition of things has been
going on for fully ten years, aud is due
purely to the lack of proper attention
and consideration on the part of Ameri-
can marine underwriters. A majority of
the men appointed as inspectors by the
marine underwriters have little, if any.
scientific or mechanical knowledge of
ship building. Most of the inspectors
are undoubtedly able navigators and
competent ship masters, and are proba-
bly, good judges of the strength and con.
dition of wooden ships, but they know
very little of the tensile strength of any
other material than wood and the Gus
tomary methods of ship construction
and fastening. The character of con.
struction and the class of workmanship
in an iron ship, as compared with a
wooden one, is as different as the skill of
the mechanic VINO may be required to
build a steam boiler is from the cooper,
who may be required to construct bar
rel. The principal source of strength in
wooden ship is her frame, while the
principal source Of strength in an iron
boat is her plating This principle you
will find laid down in the works of John
Scott Russell, the eminent English ma
rine architect"
How do you regard the question of
labor as pertaining to iron shipbuilding
in this countryP"
1.-The matter of labor ought not to be
considered as an obstacle in the way of
building iron vessels in this country. AS
a matter of fact it requires less skilled
labor to construct an IRON ship than it
does to construct a wooden one OF
course certain exceptions are to be made
in relation to those who have charge of
the construction of the different parts of
the work. Such men must necessarily
be specially educated up to their
duties. The greater part of the labor
that is now employed in the nu-
merous ship yards on the Kennebec river
in Maine could in a very brief period be
educated so as TO make very fair class
of iron ship builders. OF course, the
value of their services would continue to
improve as their experience increased, as
has been thoroughly demonstrated in the
experience Of the ship building firms who
were first to start their works on the line
of the Delaware river. AS regards the
cost of the production of the power
necessary to propel an ocean steamer,
the iron manufacturers of this country
are fully up to the manufacturers of any
other country"
'Does the tariff, in your opinion,
operate disadvantageously on American
ship buildingY"
IL do not think it does to any great
extent. The truth is, the tariff has no
thing like the bearing upon ship building
that most people think 1t has. The ten
dency now is strongly toward steel in
the place of iron for ship building pur-
poses, That being the case, the duties