Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1912-08-06

A MONSTER

NEW YORK, July 20.-Some ten
years ago marine architects and
! ocean engineers prophesied that ocean
! greyhounds would in the near fu-
| lure measure 1000 feet in length.
this prophesy has not yet come true,
! but very near it. The Hamburg.
! American liner Imperator, recently
launched at the Vulcan Yard at Ham.
1 burg, Is 900 feet in length, and will
be the biggest vessel ever built. The
vessel Is designed to carry man, pas
sengers and a small amount of freight
between Hamburg and New York, and
will probably make her maiden voy-!
age to this side of the Atlantic in the
spring Of 1913.
The Imperator is sc feet wide, her
displacement $4,000 tons and her re-,
quired contract speed is 22k knots.
The new ship is in reality a vessel
within a vessel. The hull was built
with q double bottom extending her
entire length. and is equipped with
coal bunkers at the sides, which give
her almost double shell, after the
plan adopted by Brunei in the con-
struction of the Great Eastern fifty
years ago. Transverse bulkheads
equipped with doors operated by n.y.
draulic power and controlled on the
bridge of the vessel subdivide the
hull and different decks. The double
! bottom of the ship is extraordinarily
large in measurement, being 768 feet
/ long, IS feet wide and more than six
/ feet in height.
The turbines naturally attract great
attention because of their mammoth
size, One Of the rotors contains So,
600 blades, weighs 1876 tons, and is
| expected to develop more than $4,000
horsepower. The casing which will
inclose the rotors is 259 feet long and
IL feet wide. The shafts are a foot
and a half in thirlsnerss lathe bronze
Tr0Peiiers are more than 16 feet II
diameter. The anchors with which
the Imperator will be provided weigh
in the neighborhood of 5000 pounds
apiece, and the vessel will carry five
of these so-called mudhooks.
Bunks Are Eliminated. \
One of the new features of this new
leyiathan will be the elimination OF
| Uuilt-in berths in the first cabin
staterooms. Metal beds will replace
the hunks of former years and there
will be large number of individual
stateroon1s. The folding washstand
will give way to marble wash basin,
with running hot and cold water. A
gymnasium, equipped with every ap-1
paratus from a pair of dumbells to a
mechanical horse, will afford means
of exercise other than promenadfng
around the ship, distance of almost
| mile. A bath, built In accordance
| with ideas and methods of the Ro-
mans, will measure 65 feet in length
and will be Al feet wide; medical and
hygienic baths will also be a feature
OF this section of the Imperator.
To eliminate the rolling Of the yes
sci, even during rough weather, the
Imperator will be equipped with the
| Frahm system of "compensating
tanks" These tanks in heavy weather
through an ingenious system of 81,
phoning and distribution of water,
tounteract the rolling tendencies of
a ship in a. heavy sea. = 3 j
The crew of the new vessel viii
number '11QO. The bu1kheads of the
| Imperator are automatically closed by
the bridge control, and every depart;
ment of the vessel. from the stoke.
hold" to the crows nest" will be in
| telephone communication with the
navigating bridge. A further aid to-
safety win be the installation of the,
latest nautical instrument, the gyro-I
scopic compass. The delicate instru-#
ment, unlike the old mariners needle,
| will point to the geometrically cor
rect North. Pole, and will not be af-
fected in the slightest degree by mag
netic disturbances, which many times
throw q vessel off her course. Life
boats sufficient to accommodate every
Lerson aboard the vessel will rest on
the boat deck, ready to swing down
to the water at moments notice.
Belts with torches attached. which on
contact with the sea will light, will
be provided.
Dining-rooms Like Hotels.
The dinfng-rooms Of the Imperator
in size will compare easily with the
accommodations offered by the best
hotels. The main dining-room is 10
Gated amidships on two decks, the up
per portion forming a large open gal
lery. Above this gallery, which is
oval in shape, will rise cupola of
richly decorated glass, which will.
lend much to the lofty appearance OF
the great hall. What will probably
prove to be the most popular cabin
aboard the vessel will be the raths-
keller or cafe verandam, foored with
g stone pavement and furnished with
half timbered ceiling. One of the
features Of the ship will be the main
lounge 1t will be- so constructed that
it may be turned into a good-sized