Sir Edward Harland
It is very difficult to give to any one man the credit for the great improvements which have been made, but I think ship designing owes much to the late Sir Edward Harland, of Belfast. He was the first to introduce the long ship with easy lines—easily propelled and excellent sea boats.
In designing passenger ships, Sir Edward Harland was the first to see the advantage of placing the saloon passenger accommodation in the centre of the ship (citadel fashion), thus adding greatly to the comfort of ocean travel.
The modern cargo boat—the so-called “tramp,” because she has no fixed trade, but vagrant-like seeks her cargoes at any likely port—owes much also to the genius of Sir Edward. The old-fashioned wave line theory in design, with its concave water lines and hollow sections, had produced bad sea boats and poor cargo carriers. Sir Edward was the first to perceive that long, easy convex water lines, with full sections, gave buoyancy at every point, were more easily propelled, and had large deadweight and measurement capacity. I think, therefore, when considering who were the makers of the shipping industry of to-day, his name must ever occupy a foremost position.
We must also give credit to Messrs. Randolf Elder & Co., for the introduction of the compound engine, and to Sir William Pearse (who became the head of the firm) for the “Atlantic greyhounds,” the “Arizona,” followed by the “Alaska” and the “Oregon.” These ships were the first to make speed one of the first considerations of Atlantic travel.