Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1890-05-18
NEW OCEAN RACER.
TIE SHIP THAT MAY BEAT ALL PAST
RECORDS NEXT SEASON.
sh. In, Realized Greater Speed on the
Measured Mile Than ANY Other
Atlantic-Liner.
u.ordon Times.l


Arov connection In the Atlantic service
,ba Normannla (Hamburg-Amer1can Line)
wae tried on the CLYDE last week with re-
r,arkahle resulte. IL IL only twelve months
! s;nce tho first proposals 10 build the vessel
,rsre made. and II is difficult to imagine
how so enormous q structure. 0OO rect ID
isnetb ri feet 6-inch beam. and inca
suring 3. 500 tons could be put together;
with two sets Of engines, ana FURNISHED
with all the innumeTable htnngs necessary
for an ocean-going ship. in so short space
| of tine No steamer of the same size has
over been produced with such expedition
and few have been delivered. as the Nor
MAMMA was. the very day sho was Que.
Another feature of this vessel as regards
,vnrknanship consists in the fact that
within three davs Of her leaving the dock
che achieved q speed of over twenty-one
knots on the measured milo and OF twenty
and half IN a run on saturday from tne
Cloch-light 20 the CuGbrae. Inc Norman
MIA has realized q greater speed on tne
measured mile than any other a,ihnIic-
liner on her trials, and with distinctly less
effort. II
eioht furnaces in each, and three tunnels,
Int has no forced draught. She Is. now
ever. provided with open fans to veptilate
tho stoke-hnles. This Is eminenily s9tis-
factory and NAV lead to engineers ABANDON
inc the pclicv Of forcing air through the
furnaces 10 tho destruction of tia, boiler
plates and furnace lsrs, straining the boil
ers by excessive contraction on cooling.
The engines are two sets Of trlpie-expan-
sion cylinders. with a downward stroke OF
81 feet. The diameters of the cyllnuers
are 20 inches IN the high pressure, 81 lnches
IN tho intermediate, and 106 inches IN tne
low pressure. the steam IL worked az 10y 10y
pounds. and tho revolutions at sea VIII
probably be about IS. On some occasions
on the trial they made SO. ,.
These screws are only - feet in diameter,
the smallest of any blades yet gut upon
twin-screw Atlantic steamer. The horse
power contracted for was 1900, with
need OF ~ knots but over ij,9OJ-hor59-
power have been Indicated, and the coal
consumption is not much over pound ana
a half per horsepower per hour.
The form Of the hull and the number
and character of the compartments INTO
which il is subdivided are matters OF spe-
cial interest to the public. There are SIX
teen bulkheads, making seventeen water
tirht commitments. and there are door
WAYS through ONLY FIVE of the transverse
buIkheads. The subdivision Of the hull.
however, does not stop here. Throughout
the whole length of the ship the floor OF
the vessel has double skin, and the inner
floor is throughout four inches aroYe the
lower OF outer bottom. except IN the part
under the engines. where the intervening
space is seven feet deep. There are no fewer
than nineteen OF these spaces, so that
the hull is sub-divided into as many as
thirty-siX wGtor-tlght compartments
These spaces are largely utilized for water
ballast. and their contents are controlled
by pumps, which are in all cases worked
from the main deck, where the donkey-en-
gine and dOnkey-boicr for pumping are
also placed. This arrangement OF the
pumps permits Of continuous steam
jumping ID the event Of an accident, such
that which befel tie City of Paris. whose
pumps were below the water-llne, and
and therefore useless as soon as they were
swamped.
TO put out the fires and stop the engines
OF the Nori0anna il would bee necessary 70
make havoc of five compartments. The
nine boilers are placed three abreast. and
each triplet il contained in the centre Of
three water-tisht compartments. Two OF
these commitments IN each set are coal
bunkers, stretching right across the snip,
and each set Of three boilers communicates
by separate steam-pipes with both sets OF
engines. The boilers are. o. before stated;
further protected by the double Moor and
its subdivisions, and thus 1t will be seen
the engineer has three sources from which
to draw his steam, besides having the two
sets of engines for locomotiOn.