The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1909-02-04
GERMAN SHIPS ALL
BUILT AT HOME
Shipbuilding Has Become One
of the Most Important In
dustries in the Empire.

Berlin had a marine exhibition last
hummer which has emphasized the
progress made by Germany as a ship
building nation.
Hand In hand with the rapid dSvel-
opment OF German shipbuilding has
+ gone the Improvement. in sailing yes
sells. vessels for special purposes, and
appliances belonging to che shipping
tpdustry. such as docks, equipment.
cIane machines, tools, etc.
Immense vessels can be built to adj
vantage only by the use OF the most
effective machinery. Special machines
for planning and riveting the parts had
10 he designed and built, while the
works had also to be equipped with
transportation appliances similar to
those used in American shops.
There Is now hardly n works in
Germany, according TO "Cassier's Mag
azine," which is not provided with a
network Of shop railways, travelling
cranes. turntables and eficisnt wharf
cranes. Electricity and compressed air
are largely employed, and the machine
cry is OF the most modern design.
The requirements of the industry
viii be better understood II we con-
slider the immense moun OF work to
be done. Thus, in the construction of
an average ocean liner, about 1000, 900
rivets are required, and there are about
20 miles OF seams and joints to be
made watertight.
An important department OF work Is
the Improvement OF older vessels by
cutting in two md l~engthening, an op-
GRAFTON formerly done almost entirely
in England. In many cases his has
proved more economical than the con
struction of a new ship, and IL has been
effectively done in Germany.
The construction Of stationary, and
floating docks has also been developed,
and at present 81 docks are IN general
use, of which 20 are OF the floating
type. To these must be added % be-
longing TO the government yards and
the two owned and used by the North
German Lloyd and the Hamburg
American Line.
At the present time there IS being
constructed at the works OF Blohm &
Voss a dock OF $4,000 tons capacity,
which will be the largest In the world.
A dock OF $4,000 tons capacity Is also
d construction at the Stettin
works. Well executed models OF these
docks and their appliances are exhib-
tied at Berlin
Both the North German Lloyds and
the Hamburg American Line being the
largest shipping concerns. have taken
much space at the exhibition. and they
have hung UP large diagrams showing
the number OF vessels ordered at home
and abroad. From these diagrams IL
appears that during the first half OF
the existence OF these companies by
far the greater portion Of their vessels
We're built in foreign yards. chiefly in
England. RIG,
At the close OF the last century the
orders were divided about equally be-
tween the home yards and abroad,
while at the present time IL is com
~paratively rare to find q steamer or
dered elsewhere than in a German
yard.
Similar diagrams are shown by the
government for naval vessels and the
transfer of the work from the British
to German yards is still more notice.
able in these. as it began earlier and
was effected soone During the last
ten years not a single German nayal
vessel has been built abroad, while
on h other hand the German yards
governments.