Birmingham state herald. (Birmingham, Ala.) 1895-1897, 1896-10-22
LARGEST STEAMER IN THE WORLD
The Gigantic Pennsylvania, Now Building
at Belfast.


James Budget.
The new ship launched last week at
Belfast for the neutrality-suspicious. line
brings us back very nearly, If not quite,
to the Great Eastern. The Pennsylvania
Is a twin screw steamer of 10000 tons dis
placement and 10000 tons carrying capac-
ity, 5S5 feet long, go feet beam and AZ feet
deep. The vessel Is the largest ever built
by Messrs. Harland & Wolff, or any other
firm in the world, and it must be source
of qualification to the people of Ireland
that the Hamburg American company
should have considered it to their interest
to place so important an order in Belfast
and not in Germany. The machinery for
the steamer is being also constructed by
Messrs. Harland q Wolff, and is specially
designed to avoid all vibration by the
adoption of four cylinders and special
arrangement of the cranks, in the merit
of which the builders have such conf
dence that they are at present engaged
in the construction of several sets of
machinery on the same principle. The
ship will be lighted throughout with
electric light. The owners were repre-
sented on the occasion by Mr.. Van der
Smissin and Captain Kopff. Her weight
at present is 5000 tons, but her displace-
ment, as mentioned above, will be little
short of 10000 tons. The engines will be
quadruple expansion (Schlick's) patent,
with 5000 indicated horse power, giving
an average speed of ia knots an hour.
Trading between Hamburg and New
York, she will accommodate 200 first
class passengers. $50 second class and
1000 steerage. These three classes will
have all modern comforts provided for
them, while her great dimensions have
enabled the builders to increase the size
of the dining rooms. parlors and state
rooms, as well as the quarters for the
ships officers and men. The ship from
stem to stern is replete with every con-
trivance which will make her easy to
handle, comfortable for passengers and
crew, and secure for goods. She is to be
fitted with seventeen steam winches on
deck, four steam cranes. while loading
and unloading will be carried on through
nine hatchways. The normal pressure on
the boilers will be 210 pounds to the
square inch: and reverting to her en-
gines 1t is worthy of notice that the pro-
peller shafting is 230 feet in length. the
longest known. One would think that
the building of so huge a vessel would
satisfy for time at least, the wants
and ambition of the Hamburg American
line, but we understand that the keel Of a
sister ship is actually being laid at Ham
burg. In addition to this, two more ves-
sells of 5000 tons each. destined for the
Baltimore business will shortly be turned
out at Messrs. Harland &c VOLTS. while
four other big boats are on order at New
castIe-on-Tyne. The tendency to increase
the size of merchant ships continues and
probabl will continue, as improvements
in machinery are effected 1t Is obvious
that the greater amount of cargo got into
one bottom the more carriage Is econo-
mized provided that you are able to drive
the large ship at the same relative cost
as the small one. That was the cause Of
the Great Eastern's failure. Mr.. Scott
RusselIs magnificent conception was
only little in advance of her time. Her
coal consumption was so enormous I'M
der the then existing conditions that she
could not pay