The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1899-04-20
REM sRKABLE RUN
Supply Steamer Solace
Establishes a Record.
Long Distance Trip From Norfolk
to ManiIa-A Minute and De-
tailed Report.

Wy Department officials have compiled
data based on the run recently made
by the naval supply-steamer Solace
from Norfolk to Manila which would
seem TO credit to the Soiace the world 5
record for a long-dlsJance run. Conn
mander Dunlap OF the So.ace has been
caIied upon, it is said, TO furnish
minute and detailed report on The sub
Jcct, Tor navaI onucIais here Deileve
lnac iii the showing made Dy his yes
SEA ,nS country can CIaIIn record dof
ole CT rs aA4ls <.IIo,,d VI >Dny lniAS
of yeu nIes>to.
lne ua,- supplied by the naval Oil
cla4S Snow 'uno oO4aoe cONefeu
oi-.5.,,IYce OI 11,o.U knoo, IA Iorty-onree
DAYS. inns Iruie inciuuou aI Stops,
ana also lncIuueu me SLOW speed
which Is demanded through che ouez
Canal. Inclusive OF ali stops, and m
cIuQung the Tess IMAM SIX AnouS speed
unrougn the SueZ CanaI, the SoFace
averaged for the IL 900 knots a speed
CT II l-3 knots per hour. Naval OIL
clals freely express the opinion that IN
order TO MAKE the ABOVE record the
SOIace must have maintained IN the
open sea a mean speed of about 10 IL
knots per hour The coal-bunker cap
acity of the Solace is 500 tons.
Some idea of the remarkable show
ing made by the lSolace may be gained
from a comparison with the run OF the
Oregon. The performance OF the lat
ter ship was truly a magnificent one,
as naval men say, for DA0tleShlp,
but as an actual steaming record 1t
l. of h.
lace. The Oregon travelled over a
course from Puget Sound TO Jupiter
Inlet of 14,511 knots. Seven stops
| were made, the stops varying from
one to ten days. The time consumed
| by the Oregon was seventyfour days.
| Deducting all stop periods, the Oregon
made a mean average speed of 11.16
| knots per hour; including all stops
| the Oregon made 7.65 knots per hour
| The Solace, it is reported, made only
| three stops between Norfolk and
| Manila. This fact in itself, naval men
say, is indicative of the large cruising
radius of the ship. An effort has been
made by each of the three English
built transports Grant, Sherman, and
| Sheridan to lower the record of the
Sol3ce but without success. Naval
men believe that the showing made
| by Commander Dunlap's vessel will
stand for many days to come as the
record For high speed, long-distance
runs the Steamer Scot, running be-
tween Southampton and~Cape of Good
Hope, probably makes for the distance
| traversed the best showing of amy for
eign-buiIt steamer. The mean average
speed of the Scot is reported to be
nearly IL knots per hour. This speed
| lis exclusive OF stops. 1t is a question
| in the minds of naval men as to whe5h-
er the Scots record is ahead of that
| of the Solace, when stops and OSher
| features are considered.
The Solace was formerly the CrOm-
we'll Line steamer Creole. Her prin-
cipal dimensions are: Length, 376
| feet; beam, "A feet; and depth OF hold,
| 321a feet The draught is about IS
| feet normal, and 20 feet when deep
| loaded. The engines are of the single
screw triple-eXpansion type, designed
to develop $500 horsepower. Steam is
developed in three double-ended Scotch
| marine boilers, the working pressure
! being $50 pounds per square inch. AS
| the Creole the ship was launched from
| the Newport News ship-yard in 1896.
| She was designed by and built under
the superintendency of Horace See.
| The ship was bought by the naval
authorities just prior to the breaking
out Of hostilities with Spain, and was
| fitted up as a hospital vessel. The
| great bulk of the Spanish wounded,
following the naval fight of July 3,
were taken care of on board the So
| lace. Prior to her purchase by the
| United States the Solace, under her
launching name, piled between New
York and New Orleans. Her average
| speed ON the coast was II knots per
hour.
1t is an interesting fact that the
| designer of the Solace, Mr.. See, de-
signed and superintendent the construc-
| ton Of FL Rio, the only steamer ON
| the Atlantic Coast that ever equalled
| the Solace in speed. To M See is
also due the credit of having altered
the engines and boiler arrangements OF
the cruiser Philadelphia, which result
ed in that vessel holding at one time
one of the best long-distance speed
| runs ever made by a warShIp. The
| Philadelphia at economical steaming
| covered the distance between CallaO
and Honolulu, roughly 5000 miles, at a
mean speed slightly in excess Of twelve
knots. The English-design ed engines
| for the Philadelphia called for a work
| ing steam-preSsure of 135 pounds. Mr..
| See, who was then at the head Of the
| machinery department at the Cramps ,
| induced the authorities to accept his
| recommendations which were in effect
| to cut down the size of the cylinders
| and use steam at 160 pounds per square
| inch. 1t was a considerable advance,
! this step, in the early history Of the
| new navy, but it showed that even
| ten years ago American designers were
prepared to go farther, If necessary
in the matter of high steam than
English builders.
CLIPPER PASSAGE