Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1918-01-18
ITO Re Cont.nued.)
SHIPS OF CONCRETE.
Vessels Of This Material Are to Be
Given a Trial.

To the average person the notion
of building a ship OF concrete seems
rather absurd-not less so. indeed
than the idea of using iron for like
purpose appeared to our great grand
fathers.
NcvcrtTeTess. the thing IS beng
done successfully. L. Is within the
bounds OF reasonable likelihood that
many OF our contemplated cargo car
ricrs will he concrete vessels.
To build n ship of concrete Is cheap.
Its construction demands half the
labor. half the time, and half the
money required for the making of a
steel or wooden ship. This Is to put
the matter very roughly.
Why, then. If concrete ships are so
cheap and quickly built. should we not
give preference to that material in the
construction of our projected cargo
fleets? Why bother with steel or
wood?
The answer is that concrete ship
building is as yet in an experimental
stage No vessel of that material
bigger than loo tons has been con-
structcd up to date. For all that any
body knows TO the contrary. larger
ones may not prove serviceable.
The earliest experiments in this line
were made with boats no bigger than
launches. Each new success was fol-
lowed by the building OF larger craft.
IIt has been a progressive performance.
with nothing taken for granted in ad-
vance, because there were no reliable
data to 20 upon.
At San Francisco there is now in
process Of construction n cargo YES
sci of 5000 tons Of concrete. VIII II
swim? Presumably yes. But nobody
really knows. OF course, II can he put
anoat. but will II stay afioat? Its
weight might break ii down.
Consider the steel ship. Its skin Is
half an inch thick-sometimes more,
sometimes less. Concrete, weighs lest
than steel. per cubic foot. but the skin
OF concrete vessel Is four or I'VE
inches thick. That is why such craft
weighs so much more.
The 5000-ton ship now building at
San Francisco Is to be used. 10 hcSin
with, for experimental voyages be-
tween the Golden Gate and Portland.
Ore. II it proves serviceable, others
life it, and bigger ones OF similar pat
tern will be constructed.
4 concrete house is cheap because IL
can be poured" Wooden forms are
placed in position. and the mixture In
fluid state is dumped into them. The
ing OF a ship-which. however may be
built upside down. to be launched in
such fashion that it turns right side
up when put into the wa.cr.
One easily sees that this method OF
building n ship must be cheap. hccause
of time saving and labor saving. But
how serviceable will the ship be? And
what will be it's qualities for the prac-
tical purpose Of carrying cargoes
across the ocean-with possible attack
by submarines to reckon with?
l, our government experts were able
to answer these questions. much hght
would be thrown upon very hnpor-
|tant war problem. But they cannot do
1t. The possibilities Of the concrete
ship today are undetermined.
II may be said incidentally that the
CONSTITUTIONAL recipe" for making a
concrete ship is different from that
utilized for building on land. The
stuff used is Ordinarily about per
cent cement, ] 1-2 per cent gravel or
broken stone and IL per cent sand.
there il to be considered. OF course.
the item Of resistance offered by the
concrete ship to attack by high-eNpio-
sive projectile or torpedo. The point
is undetermined. but 1t Is undeniable
that such a vessel, IL wounded, could
not patch its skin for emergency pur-
poses as a steel vessel might.
One should realize. Of course. that
the skin of a concrete ship is not
merely a coat Of artificial stone. The
coat has a skeleton Of steel rods. run
ming fore and aft. with ribs or inter-
laced vertical rods Of steel. supple
mented by wire mesh. to hold the ma
terial together. Thus the structure Is,
as a whole, of great strength and dur
ability.-Philadelphia Ledger.