How to Make Life and Property Safer Afloat Before the Staten Island Chamber of Com- At the invitation of the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce Mr. William T. Donnelly delivered early last month a most interesting illustrated address on the possibilities of rendering life and property in our harbor more safe. He referred to our recent "Safety First" week, to reduce loss of life in our city streets, but stated that he was unaware of any particular attention being given to dangers in our harbor, which he declared, because of increased congestion, "are becoming more and more serious." While accidents on the water are not as numerous as on land, he said, they often collect a much greater toll. He then referred to the destruction of the steamboat Seawanhaka, in 1880, and the destruction of the General Slocum, in 1904 each by fire, with frightful losses of lives, as a result of which he declared recreation on the water in New York harbor has practically ceased. He also mentioned the loss of the Eastland, by turning over alongside her dock in Chicago, more recently. "Now the serious question which we have before us and which I am to discuss tonight," he continued, "is whether it is possible by foresight and reasonable expenditure to eliminate or reduce to a large extent the possibility of such accidents. I myself am thoroughly convinced that this is possible and that it should be done. I have not arrived at this conclusion hastily or without the consideration of a great many facts, and with the possibility and hope of bringing all or some of you to the same conclusion, I am here tonight, to explain the principles involved and the possibilities from an engineering point of view of making ships safe against disaster from fire and sinking." Dry Dock Construction Furnishes Suggestions Mr. Donnelly then went into some detail regarding a drydock he built at Prince Rupert, in British Columbia, within 40 miles of Alaska, a drydock with a lifting capacity of 20,000 tons, in the construction of which 4,000,000 feet of lumber, 3,000 tons of steel, 500 tons of machinery, and 400 tons of iron fastenings, which required an additional weight of 500 tons for after much thought and experimentation by adding adits submergence, were used. This he accomplished ditional wood which he described as follows: "The wood I placed in the wings of the floating drydock at such a height that it would not enter the water until the dock had settled down as far as I wanted it to go. The wood then would enter the water and as it displaced water it increased the displacement of the dock as a whole and prevented it from going down any further. In other words, by using a light material for ballast I obtained the unique result of having it act as ballast as long as I wanted it to serve that purpose, and then reversing its work and performing the opposite function of keeping my drydock from sinking entirely......If anyone should undertake to destroy the dock under these conditions by blowing off the HARBOR AND MARINE REVIEW "Perhaps I should pause here to explain to those entirely unfamilar with the subject the fundamental principle of floatation. A body floats upon the surface of the water when it is placed there, if it occupies so must space in the water that it will displace or crowd out of place below the surface of the water a weight of water equal to its own weight. If it is of such weight or density then it will pass below the surface before it displaces a weight of water equal to itself it will continue to sink until it reaches the bottom, and there is no exception to this rule. The matter of rendering boats to be moved upon the water non-sinkable involves the study of their relative weight and displacement and if we can so arrange the displacement or volume of a body in proportion to its weight that its volume as a whole exceeds the weight of the water it displaces it will not become submerged. "My work on the Prince Rupert floating drydock set me to thinking regarding the possibilities of rendering ships equally safe against sinking. That study resulted in the adaptation of the principle to ships and as every thinking man should I embodied this in a statement to the United States Government, called a patent application, filed it, and was granted a patent on a method of rendering ships safe against sinking. President Abraham Lincoln Once Patented a Similar Device "To show that others have followed a similar line of thought and action, I am throwing upon the screen a picture of a primitive construction adapted to the same end. It is a copy of a patent office drawing filed in 1849, and shows a vessel with additional floatation in the form of boxes on each side adapted to be forced down into the water to increase the buoyancy of the vessel, in this case to assist the vessel over shoal water or to keep her off the bottom. Now, the point about. this drawing, and one in which I am sure you will have the most interest, is the name that I found attached to it. The name was simply A. Lincoln, and it took a little time to determine that this meant Abraham Lincoln, and it was easy to determine beyond question that this was the invention of a man who afterward became President of the United States. Now, perhaps, I am showing you this only to convince you that I am sailing in good company, at any rate I am sure you will be pleased to know that Abraham Lincoln many years before he had any idea of becoming President of the United States was thinking of 'Safety First.' The invention is believed to have resulted from his experience on a trip down the Mississippi River on a flat boat which was almost the only means of travel at that time." Mr. Donnelly then proceeded to explain, graphically, the deadly effects of the submarines in the recent World War, and the appointment of a committee of three of which he was one, to which was turned over all ideas having to do with the possibility of protecting vessels against the submarine. Without his knowledge, and on the initiative of an employee in the patent offce. Mr. Donnelly found his own invention submitted. He thereupon passed it around to see what others thought of it. "Everyone seemed to think," he said, "that the principle was perfectly simple and plain and offered possibilities, and when the first report of the Ship Protection Committee was made to the Shipping Board this suggestion was called specifically to Municipal Staten Island Ferryboat President Roosevelt, Showing Buoyancy Tanks to Prevent Sinking Due to Collision. HARBOR AND MARINE REVIEW the attention of the Shipping Board," which led the board to place the steamer Lucia at his disposal for the installation of his non-sinkable device. The contractor was authorized "to expend the amount necessary to equip the vessel under Mr. Donnelly's directions." The Lucia was an Austrian ship lying at a pier in Mobile where she was interned at the opening of the war, and was a vessel of approximately 10,000 deadweight tons capacity. How The Lucia Was Made Non-Sinkable "The proposed method of rendering this ship nonsinkable," said Mr. Donnelly, was exceedingly simple. The ship without cargo was known to have a definite weight, and also a definite displacement...... Now, in considering first the floating of the Lucia we arrived at by well known methods the total weight and volume of steel in the ship and then considered how best to increase the volume of steel in the ship until it would be more than equal to the same weight of water. Now we are to bear in mind that we must have this increased displacement in such form that it will be safe. against destruction by torpedo attack. Furthermore, it was already well known that the destructive area or zone of a torpedo was a hole or damage in the side of the ship approximately 20 by 30 feet. The plan, therefore, was to distribute buoyancy boxes or cases all over the interior of the ship, of such form and of such material as to add to the volume of the steel in the ship without unduly increasing the weight or occupying too much of the cargo space within the ship." Mr. Donnelly then described the location of the boxes in the hull of the Lucia, illustrating this with views of the finished work. The boxes were made of dimensions that would enable them to fit within the frames of the ship, "and it was found that a lining of about one foot between the frames on the sides and under the deck beams with a like amount on each side of the bulkheads would add sufficient displacement, even when considering the added weight of the boxes themselves, to float all the steel used in the hull and machinery of the steamer. "Of course," went on Mr. Donnelly, "the next question was, how much space would be left for cargo? Surely this was easy to determine, and it was, with the result that we discovered that if we should carry coal in the Lucia, and fill up all the space left after making the hull non-sinkable it would be of such weight as to totally submerge the vessel; in other words, we had more cargo space left, considering a cargo of coal, than we had any use for." So they put in additional buoyancy boxes that occupied room into which coal could not be put under any circumstances, with the result that the additional buoyancy boxes more than floated the coal, making both ship and cargo unsinkable. What Would Happen if the Lucia Were Torpedoed Of course, if torpedoed, the water would enter only where vacant space permitted, and, says Mr. Donnelly, "if that were not sufficient to decrease the total volume below the volume of water displaced the Lucia would continue to float, the coal would not be damaged and the ship would be towed to port. The buoyancy boxes being distributed all over a ship more than 500 feet long it would plainly be impossible to destroy a sufficient number of them by one or two or even three torpedoes to sink the ship and if she could be towed to port the cargo would be saved. Mr. Donnelly said he had every reason to believe all this was understood by the Shipping Board. But when she was finished Mr. Donnelly was peremptorily told that the Lucia must. be turned over to the War Department, which had no coal to handle, whereupon a contention arose that the boxes took up too much room. Said Mr. Donnelly: "If the Lucia was loaded entirely with light material it was perfectly plain there was not room enough, if loaded with heavy material there was too much room." It became necessary to have her loaded with a combination of heavy and light material to fill the entire. space available with the proper weight, which he succeeded in having done on several voyages, and upon her last voyage he believed this was done. He then showed slides of the Lucia the next day after she was torpedoed between the West Indies and Cape Verde Islands at 5:30 p. m., October 17, 1918, the torpedo striking the after engine room bulkhead so low as to destroy the double bottom. Yet she floated until 3:15 p. m. the next day, or nearly 22 hours after she was torpedoed. The reason she was sunk he explains was solely due to the manner in which she was loaded, as he explained in detail, there being 40,000 cubic feet of space with nothing in it. He read a letter from Theodore Brent, at that time vice chairman of the Shipping Board, who stated that he thought "her performance in the emergency demonstrated all you claimed of your method of installation." Strangely, he says, ship operators both during the war and since, are opposed to rendering ships non-sinkable, for reasons he said that were too difficult to explain that night. Mr. Donnelly's Unsinkable Boats He Mr. Donnelly then described what he has done since the war to render vessels safe against sinking, showing pictures of several boats of his design and construction in use for several years on the Atlantic Coast. mentioned the Dawn, a yacht commanded by his son, used as a defense boat offi Newport, and the New Era which have been operated together, the New Era receiving electricity over a cable from the power plant on the Daren. With these two boats propelled in this novel manner, Mr. Donnelly during 1920-21, made two trips to Florida and return. On the way north in the spring of 1922, when making the outside run on the Atlantic Ocean between Charleston, South Carolina and Beaufort, North Carolina, a distance of 250 miles, the yachts went ashore on a bar a mile off the entrance to Little River inlet on the coast of South Carolina, and a hole was pounded in the bottom of the Dawn. The New Era was more fortunate in pounding across the bar without springing deep water and strange as it may seem, floated with the a leak. The Dawn was finally gotten over the bar into water level inside and out the same, without wetting the cabin floor, thus fully demonstrating Mr. Donnelly's claim, that his boats were non-sinkable. The boats proceeded up Little River and temporary repair was made upon a sloping beach, after which the boats proceeded to Wilmington, North Carolina. where complete repair was made. The damage to both boats was less than $500.00. Mr. Donnelly mentioned in contradistinction to this, that the Nehmeoka, an 85-foot boat, within ten days of that time pounded across a similar bar at the entrance to Rightsville Inlet a short distance further north, sank in deep water in shore, and was declared a total loss. HARBOR AND MARINE REVIEW Conditions in New York Harbor Mr. Donnelly continued: "Now, I have a few more slides to show you dealing with conditions here in New York harbor, and they include suggestions which I have to make. Beyond question New York harbor is the most congested port in the world, and is rapidly growing more so. Connecting the Borough of Richmond, which comprises all of Staten Island to Manhattan, you have the largest and most important ferry service existing anywhere in the country, and the fastest and most powerful boats. Now, the question is, are they safe, or, are they as safe as they can be made, all things considered? I have more than a passing interest in this, as two of my engineers are residents of Staten Island and come and go every morning and night on your boats. They have examined them carefully and find that one of the boats, the Manhattan, was built in 1905, and we have reviewed the plans of the boats now building, and find that, so far as safety against sinking is concerned there has been no change or modification in all the time since the first boat was built. They are built strictly according to the requirements of the American Bureau of Shipping and in conformity with all laws of the United States Government, which simply require that they shall float with any one compartment flooded, which simply means that if any bulkhead in any of your ferryboats was carried away the boat would not continue to float. Dangers in New York Harbor "Now, is this sufficient protection, or is it all the protection which can be given you? I can assure you that there is grave danger of collision from these boats, boats passing many times a day across such a congested harbor as New York in both fog and snow storm, winter and summer. Now, it is not practical to divide a boat into an unlimited number of compartments and still be able to operate it, but it is practical to stow buoyancy boxes in any and all of the compartments of your ferryboats where the room is not used for any purpose, and I can assure you that there is space enough not so used that is entirely vacant and of no particular use, into which sufficient buoyancy could be placed to bring about the condition under which ferryboats will float safely and with perfect stability with any three compartments flooded, and that would vastly increase the safety of your boats. In my judgment this condition could be brought about by an expenditure not to exceed 15 per cent of the cost of the boat. "Now, you are all well aware of what has been done in the way of fireproof construction in our cities and probably know somewhat of the extra cost of the fireproof construction. It is a well known fact that a modern fireproof building costs twice as much per cubic foot of space and in proportion to the size of the building, as a building non-fireproof. If this has been found a reasonable and proper expenditure upon land, how much more reasonable it is to spend a much smaller amount to increase the safety of life and property upon the water. There is another serious aspect to this proposition. I have previously referred to the practical annihilation of recreation on the water after former accidents to vessels from fire and sinking. It is beyond question that a serious accident on any of our ferries would greatly decrease their use, and the dependence which the Borough of Richmond has to place upon ferry communication to other boroughs of the city should make it of the utmost importance to have them and all ferries as safe as it is possible to make them." As a final slide Mr. Donnelly showed the design of a fireproof, non-sinkable excursion boat designed along the lines of his yachts Dawn and New Era, indicating that all power plant and fire is removed from the boat and that power of propulsion, lighting and other purposes is furnished from a small boat following on behind. Such a boat, said Mr. Donnelly, would make travel and recreation on the water as safe or safer than on land, and he believed, he said, that in years to come such construction will be insisted upon for all vessels of this kind. The committee had for its purpose an investigation Capt. H. F. DeNyse, Marine Surveyor and Appraiser. Mr. James H. Davidson, S. I. Shipbuilding Co. Mr. Charles D. Durkee, Durkee & Co. Mr. William H. Day, Secretary, S. I. Chamber of Commerce. Mr. W. Stewart, Marine Engineer. It was the unanimous opinion of all those present, that there was a grave and ever increasing need for something far more than the present measures of safeguarding the lives of the great throngs of people, traveling every day to and from Staten Island, and that as Mr. Donnelly's plans for making these boats safe against sinking were, in their opinion, entirely feasible, further and immediate action should be taken to bring this matter to the attention of the proper authorities, not only the municipality, but also the United States Steamboat Inspection Service. Silent John Tracy John Tracy, of the well known firm of M. & J. Tracy, owners of steamships, tugboats, and harbor craft of almost every description, and whose investments are known to be heavy in other great American maritime interests, happened to pass through Washington when the ship subsidy bill was voted on in the House of Representatives. John Tracy is a stalwart Democrat whose affiliations with Tammany Hall and its leaders are extremely close. He is one of the most close-mouthed men in the shipping business-in any business. He never employs press agents or brass bands, but he has the habit of getting what he goes after. he goes after. He went after a couple of popular Democrats in Congress with the result that they both voted for the ship subsidy bill, much to almost everybody's surprise. Would John Tracy admit this? Not in a thousand years; but the two Democrats referred to will not deny it. Mr. Tracy is attending strictly to the furtherance of his business interests most of the time which may account for the very notable success he has achieved. What is New York doing to maintain its port greatness? |