The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-04-11
LARGEST IN THE WORLD.
THE GREAT STE1MEI CELTIC WHITE ST.1R LINE.

Leviathan of the Deep-Comforf, Con
 venicncc, Safety and Capacity the Ain
 in Building and Equipping Her.
 The following interesting extract is
 from the Shipping Gazette and Lloyd's
 steamer Celtic of the White Star Line:
 The launch at Belfast on April ot
 the White Star liner Celtic was an
 event of considerable importance in the
 chipping world This vessel is the
 largest ever built, and both the owners
 Messrs. Ismay. Imrie & Co.,, and the
 builders, Messrs. Harland & Wolff, may
 be congratulated on the appropriateness
 of floating her at the dawn of a new
 century, for the old centurys close saw
 the builders in safe possession of the
 record for big ships-11, S05 tons was
 their average for 1899, and 11,300 tons for last year-and twenty thousand
 tons is decidedly promising effort in maintenance of this supremacy The owners, too, are to be felicitated on the commercially sound way in which they are developing the ocean steamer The story of the steamship need not be re- told; it's marvellous growth may now be left to the retrospective bookman. The aspect of the problem about which the trading world is concerned is how, in constantly changing modern conditions, the achievements of the engineer and the shipbuilder may have their great est efficiency. One need not discuss the commercial results of high speed; the fast, luxurously appointed Atlantic liner is a necessity of the age. But the filling up of new continents, the Won- ;derful manufacturing growth of Amer ica, and the closer relationship of the whole business world have created con- ditions which absolutely call for halt in the race for records. The blue rib bon of the Atlantic is not in the keep ing of the White Star Line; yet it's ex- press boats are among the most popular that cross. The safety, the comfort and the convenience of passengers are the first consideration of it's managers. This quality enabled them to be the practical pioneers of the leviathan in- termediate boat on the Atlantic, and to build up the Australian fleet to which the "Suevic" is the latest addition. The express boats are beyond the means of a great portion of the travelling public, which views the prospect of an extra day at sea with equanimity; and with plenty of passengers one way and plen- ty of cargo the other, an economically true line had to be found between the carrier pure and simple and the expen- sive liner. Out-of- date mail boats were useless, and a new type, embodying the capacity of the one with as nearly as possible the accommodation of the oth- CT, had to be evolved. It is unnecessa- ny to enumerate the earlier vessels of this class; the Celtic" represents their highest development so far, and the times are obviously ripe for her.
 The Celtic is absolutely the largest vessel that ever was built. Her hand some elder sister, the "Oceanic''-the queen of the White Star fleet-is still the longest: but the new boat has more beam and her gross tonnage is 880 as compared with 17,274. Her displace- ment at load draft of thirty-six feet six inches will be 6,700 tons, as com- pared with the modern battleship's IA GOO tons and the Great Eastern's' 3D. 160 tons. How she stands compared with other notable Atlantic steamers is shown in the following table:
 Length
 Vessel Over All Breadth Depth Tons
 Feet. Feet. Feet. Gross Great Eastern. .... .691 82.8 4S2 1895 ..........6 .620 65 43 12,950 Kaiser Wilhelm der
 Crosse ............ .626.7 66 39 14.349 Oceanic ....... .. ...705.6 68 49 17,274 Deutschland ...... .66O.9 67.3 4o.3 16,5O2 Celtic .... ........ 700 75 49 20,S80
 The Celtic it is almost unnecessary to say, is built on the cellular double- bottom principle A flat bar keel is riv- eted on to the skin plating and through riveted on to the inner vertical keel, which is necessarily deeper below the engine spaces to insure rigidity. The greatest care has been taken that the hull shall be proof against all ordi- nary stresses and time may safely be eft to prove it's stiffness. The bilge | strakes have been doubled and so have he sheer strake and the strake next | put one below it, while the upper deck | ,tringers have also been doubled in the i natter of plates, except at the extreme | .nds. All the riveting here was done by | lydraulic machinery, operated from the gantry used first in the build ng of the Oceanic" and in all the cir one is justified in doLbting f the work could have been accom- ,liShed by other means. Whenever pos ;ible machine riveting was followed, tnd altogether 167 ,095 inch and quar- CT rivets were so driven in the keel, iouble bottom, hull and stringers Six ongitudinals worked intercostally; hree on each side of the vertical keel increase the fore and aft strength of the tructure, and with the thwartship critical divisions make the cellular dou- sual fashion with margin plates. The rame brackets are attached to the mar in plates by double angles, and the oor plates have been similarly treated Two intercosta1 keelsons add further to he longitudinal sticness. Altogether here is a beam to every frame instead f one to every other frame. The decks re described as Lower Orlop, Orlop, lower, Middle, Upper, Bridge, Upper ridge, Boat and Sun decks. These de- ails indicate pretty fairly the care that xceptional stiffness. One can hardly nagine any construction more general ! perfect, and it's success in the condi- ]