Los Angeles herald., 1910-09-16
NEWS OF THE MINES AND OIL FIELDS
COMBUSTION ENGINES
WILL OPERATE SHIPS
England Plans Transformation of
Several Dreadnoughts to
Motor-PropeIIed Craft

The most important development in
the oil industry for years is the re-
ported decision of the British admir-
atty to introduce petrol and oil-driYen
engines in a new type OF battlesnlp.
The use of oil motors in battleships
has come UP for discussion n the form
of a Portsmouth rumor that the next
Dreadnought will be without tunnels,
boilers, stokeholds and other promi-
nent features of steam. The ship VIII
use oil as a motive power.
In the past the internal combustion
marine engine has only been used on
submarines and other small craft, but
it has been brought to such pitch
of perfection that it cannot be doubted
that it will, when tried, be found cap
able of developing the 10000 to 10000
horse power required in the next pat
tleship.
This will bring us to the dawn of a
new era in naval affairs, and place on
the seas smokeless squadrons of great
speed, with no tunnels to hinder fore
and aft gunfire, and an enormous saw
ing in space, which will be devoted
to fuel and ammunition, thus AIDING
enormously to radius and effectiveness
of action.
The news emanates from the Ports
mouth Evening News, which has Of
ten shown itself we'll in touch with
admiralty opinion. and now states in
it's editorial columns that:
ON GOOD AUTHORITY
1--WE have an excellent authority for
predicting a great surprise in connec-
tion WITH the new battleships to be
laid down. The admiralty has decid-
ed to try the experiment OF motor
driven battleship with internal COM
buston engines. The possibilities are
tremendous. Boilers will be unneees-
sary stoking will not be required, the
smokestacks will disappear, there will
be a great economy of weight and
space, and the battleship of the fu-
ture will be an uncanny monster or
amazing power, rushing through the
water at a great speed"
This is a sequel to a number of ru-
more which have been floating about
in the service for some time. 1t IS
now established by experiment that
the navy is compelled to use petrol
for its submarines, the only British
warships at present motor-driven;
they are utilizing heavy liquid fuel
much of it made from Scotch shale,
and some supplied by the Anglo
American Oil company, and the re-
suits have given satisfaction. En-
gines using heavy crude have been
placed aboard some experimental
I -.
Rather, and presumably the admiralty
is satisfied that number of high
mower oil engines can be built upon
one shaft to develop about 7O0O-horse
power a shaft. With four shafts, as
| in the case of the Dreadnoughts, suf-
| fcient horsepower would be developed
to give a speed of 81 knots. Details or
the proposals are being worked out
at the admiralty, and it is understood
that a set of engines will be tried
upon an unarmored cruiser of the scout
| class before being actually built into
a Dreadnought.
Portsmouth dockyard, it is stated,
will build the first notor-driven bat
tleship, which, by reason of Its low
weight of machinery horsepower de-
yeloped, as compared with the steam
turbine, will utterly revolutionize war
ship construction.
A naval expert states that expert
ence with internal combustion en-
gines, using small powers, began to
achieve better results, and reversing
engines were tried, but it seemed to
constructors that many problems re-
mained to be solved, and that we
were still a, long way from the super
session of steam as the prime motive
power of large ships. The advantages
were however, obvious, and inquiry
and experiment were restless.
It was recently said that the ad-
miralty had given orders for an ex-
detrimental internal combustion plant
of 100O0-horse power, and although
engineers regarded the difficulties as
enormous, 1t is now clear that the
problems are being solved, and in
ventive genius is active both at home
and abroad. The order which has
been given by the Hamburg -Ameri-
ka line of Messrs. Blohm and Voss
for a. vessel of considerable size pro-
peIled by internal combustion engines
is proof enough that a revolution is
in sight.
1t is unnecessary to enter into the
various systems that have been pro-
| posed and experimental with. Even
| if engines of 3O,0OO-horse power were
required. it would still be possible to
save largely in weight and space.
The immediate result would be to add
enormously to the fighting power of
ships. The absence of funnels would
greatly increase the training arc of
| fire of gun barbettes, and the ships
would become more than ever floating
g11n-mountings of enormous capacity.
! The reduction in engine space would
permit larger ammunition supplies, and
the problem of mounting heavy guns
would be greatly simplified. The alb
sence of smoke would be another ad-
vantage,