The Washington times., 1918-11-03

NTRICTLY speaking, no ocean steam
ship can be "unsinkable." A reef OF
rocks and the hammering of wind and
sea could pound to pieces anything which
the ingenuity of man could construct.
But the menace of the submarines has
turned the attention of naval designers to
the problem of constructing what is prac-
tically an unsuitable freighter. French,
Italian and American experts have each
evolved a model which their respective
Governments have adopted as worth trial.
At the top of this page are diagrams
showing the design of NJ. lie Parmentier,
a distinguished French naval engineer.
This unsinkable ship has really two
separate hulls, joined together with the
superstructures. These two separate
parallel hulIs each have six water
tight compartments. Extensive exper.
iments have shown that a torpedo
might crash through, every one of the six
watertight compartments on one side Of
the ship and yet the ship would float with
all six Of these compartments filed with
water But to accomplish this Il would
ne necessary to explode not less than
three torpedoes against one side of one
hull, each torpedo striking in such a
position as to penetrate two compartments.
1t has been demonstrated that even II
such a thing happened the ship would still
float at no very uncomfortable angle, and
would be able to continue her way without
damage to her engine room.
New York shipbuilding company is
already at work upon the construction and
equipment of five or six of these new steel
cargo steamers for the French Govern.
ment
The United States Government has sp-
proved a design for an unsinkable ship
which was worked out by Mr.. Hudson
Maxim. the famous inventor of smokeless
powder and one Of the leading world ex-
perts on high explosives. Mr.. Maxim's
ship is protected by a water-tight Jacket
which may be filled with fuel oil or with
water This structure is the water or oil
barrier which is relied upon to save the
ship from sinking in case it is penetrated
by torpedo or jagged rock.
Mr.. Maxim has described his new inyen.
tion in an article in Popular Science. A
series of vertical steel cylinders are pro-
vided for carrying pulverized coal, and
these cylinders are placed just inside the
liduid barrier, connected with and form
ing an integral part of it. Through the
centre of the cylinders is run a screen Of
dc m n
ders.
In his descriptive article Mr.. Maxim
points out that the warhead of a German
torpedo carries about 400 pounds Of very
high explosive When a ship is struck by
a torpedo deep in the water there is
striking force of about 100000 pounds per
square inch. The pressure exerted by such
an enormous blow is 50 great that often
shin is broken in two. What Is wanted,
Mr.. Maxim explains, is q shock absorber.
az find" writes Mr.. Maxim in Popular
Science, that pulverized coal, on account
of its compressability and elasticity, is a
very effectual shock absorber. As pulver-
ized coal may be used for driving the ship,
I have chosen Il as the main shock alb
sorber. The idea has been offered to the
United States Government free OF charge
during the war.
when a torpedo strikes snip Con-
structed according to my plan the hot,
RAPIDLY expanding gases first encounter
barrier of water or oil in the hull, then
tout screen Of round steel rods, and lastly
- series of vertical steel cylinders in which
u ,wdered coal is carried. Since it is essen
tial that the gases should be allowed to
expand without bursting the ships COM
partments, / provide free upward vents
through the ships deck.
IF such a ship should be struck by
torpedo the water or oil OF the barrier in
the path Of the blast will be driven forward
through the steel screen, commingling its
spray with the hot gases, with the result
that the heat Of the gases will be instantly
absorbed by the spray and their volume
reduced II is safe to assume, think, that
the volume of gases will be reduced at least
three-quarters.