The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1918-03-16
LARGEST CONCRETE
SHIP IN THE WORLDI
Was Launched at Pacific Port-The
Progress of Shipbuilding Was
Watched By the Gov
eminent.

A Pacific Port, March l6.--The largest
concrete ship in the world was launched
here yesterday. II the vessel stands al
tests, the builders hope this type will
help TO solve the nations need for ships
Every step of the construction has been
watched by the government. The yes.
sci is 800 feet between perpendiculars
44.6 feet wide and 80 feet deep, and
when loaded will draw "a feet of water
Her displacement will be 1000 tons and
she will have carrying capacity of 5000
tons and make 10 or II knots an hour
with triple expansion engines furnishing
| ! $50 horsepower. She is 10 times larger
than any concrete boat now on record in
this country.
Advantages claimed for the new YES
sci are that concrete construction does
not interfere with steel construction,
plenty of concrete can be lad; concrete
vessels can be built for the present cost
of wooden vessels; concrete vessels of
I 800 tons can be launched within 80
days after work starts; while the cost of
the plant" is las $4,000 to 100000"
compared with steel shpyard
when the first steel vessels were
built people said they'd not float, or if
they did, they would be too heayy to be
serviceable," said w Leslie Comyn, presi-
dent of the concern which built the boat.
"Now they say the same thing about
concrete But all the engineers we have
taken over this boat including many
who said it was an impossible undertake
ing, now agree that it is success"
The floor of the vessel is about four
and one-half inches thick; the side four
inches, with "a great steel shoe down the
bow Embedded in the concrete are $40
tons of steel; continuous basket work
of welded steel mesh, and hundreds OF
heavy iron bars, also welded together.
A watertight wood flooring resting on
the bottom beams constitutes the double
bottom of the vessel. No provision is
made for water ballast, the theory be
ing that the vessel will travel without
ballast, riding safely with her heavy
bottom. Six concrete bulkheads divide
the vessel. The main deck is wood laid
on concrete stringers; the shelter deck |
is concrete. The dead weight is put at
600 tons more than that OF steel vessel |
of like capacity The vessel will burn |
oil. using 100 barrels a day and her re-
concrete tank will carry 80 days
supply.
This boat will have to stand her tests, |
like any other vessel" said the builder
yesterday. II expect we will send her to |
the Orient, and when she gets back we
will know all about her. At present,
there are no insurance qpotations cover
ing concrete vessel; it's all as new to
everyone else as it was to us, as we had
to design our steel and have it rolled as
we needed it.
Besides the low first cost, we will save
70 per cent of our lumber, on later boats,
by reusing it. Two other vessels of 1900
tons each, will be started as soon as we
get this one out of the way. In these
we will use forms built in sections and
bolted. When we strip them from the
concrete, they will come off a section at
L time
"A concrete boat will last don't
know how long. We know that concrete
gets better the first nine years of its life
md after that it should last a long
while. The life of steel boat ordinar-
ly is % years"