The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1897-04-16
NEW LIGHTS FOR VESSELS

Increasing speed of the ocean going
steam craft is likely before long 10
necessitate radical change in the
character of sailing lights, says the
( New York Times The red port and
green (starboarD lights now used on
| vessels at sea are required by the rules
Of the road 10 be visible for two miles
on a dark, clear night. The rule was
made. however, when ten knots was
good speed. Now twenty knots is not
uncommon.
Masthead lights used by steamers
must be visible for five miles on a
dark, clear night, but the lookout on
another vessel cannot tell from the
| light the direction in which the vessel
carrying it is steaming. To determine
| therefore. what course to take in order
] to keep clear of another vessel, the
master must depend on the side lights,
which as prescribed, under the most
| favorable conditions, can be seen only
two miles distant. In misty weather
or in moonlight they cannot be seen
so far.
Vessels going in opposite directions
at the rate of twenty knots an hour
are, of course, approaching each other
at the rate of forty knots an hour.
The time in which they cover the two
miles between the points of sighting
and of passing is shown in the pro-
portion as forty knots is to sixty min
utes, two miles is to three minutes.
In other words, there is only three
minutes in which to change courses,
if that is necessary, under the most
So, nf icih
AS the fast vessels are very long,
they steer slowly, and three minutes is
but little time for action, while, if the
necessity occurs in the more prevalent
weather of moonlight or mist the time
is lessened.
The Paris some time ago, then the
City of Paris, while bound into port
and not far from Sandy Hook, was in
collision with the British tramp ship
Delano, bound out. Both of these.ves-
sells carried lights that exceeded the
requirements, yet they were unable to
get out of each others way.
Another difficulty is met in the case
of sailing vessels They carry only
side lights, which are sometimes hung
on the, forward rigging and sometimes
on davits at the quarter deck. A sail
ing vessel has the right of way over a
steamer. The Plant line steamship |
Mascot, bound from Boston to Bar !
HarbOr, once ran into three-maSted |
ice schooner and cut off her stern. AL |
lOwance had been made for the lights |
being aft at the quarter deck when it |
happened they were on the forward |
shrouds.
Besides the questions of visibility |
and position of lights there. is another |
The side light of vessel is partially |
i.
of 112 degrees, or from dead ahead to |
III degrees TO a point of the compass |
The exact direction of another vessels |
course cannot therefore be determined |
within that radius.
A French admiral once got up n |
system of lights in which various col |
ors were used, but it was so compli- |
Gated that it was rejected, and others |
since devise dhave been rejected for |
the same reason. or because of lack OF |
visibility. Instantaneous action needs |
The German Government some time |
ago appointed a commission to study |
the visibility of lights at sea. 1t was |
found that white light OF one-candle |
power was visible $500 yards on a |
clear night in a dark atmosphere. If |
the weather was misty it was visible /
one mile. Three candle power was Wis
IDLE two miles; ten-candle power, four
miles, and nineteen-candle power, five
miles
A green light. with glass of pure
green, was visible with one-candle
power at an eighth of miles; two-can-
die power, at one mile; fifteen-candle
power, at two miles; fifty candle
power at three miles, and 106-candle
power at four miles. A red light with
results.
Four miles would be desirable dis
lance of visibility, but 106-candle pow
er would be almost out of the question
for most vessels. AS frequent changes
in the rules of the road in the matter
of lights would add to the confusion,
any scheme for improvement must an
ticipate the most sanguine estimate of
future speed, which may perhaps be
figured at four-day journey across
the Atlantic. The question is one that
is 'of interest not alone to mariners,
and shippers, but to all
and tourists, and through
these to well-nigh everybody else.
The big Atlantic liners exceed re-
quirements in the matter of visibility
of lights, while the majority of craft
may fall short of requirements. Poor
oil is used on many steam and sail
ing vessel, while lights are often OBJ
scured by sails and gear.
An ideal system must be simple, pro-
ride for great visibility. and indicate
as closely as possible the sailing di-
rection.