This has been established not only by our long experience, but by the numerous tests recently conducted by the board's surveyors at various ports, and the attention of the advisory committee might be drawn to this fact.
It is, of course, necessary also to have a good freeboard, but a well-proportioned boat does not require so much freeboard as the commoner type, as with proper sheer and under-water surface she is easy in a seaway. If the gunwale is too high, there is loss of power over the oars, which is serious when for the safety of the boat she is required to be kept head-on to sea, and with a fresh breeze, even in a good boat, this is not always an easy matter.
It is a matter for consideration that at the tests made by our surveyors the conditions were most favorable, being usually in smooth water of a sheltered dock, and, in not a few instances, considerable anxiety was felt for the safety of those on board when crowded in accordance to the existing rules. If it was thus in smooth water, one dare hardly contemplate the results in a seaway. If the shipowner does not see to it that a safe type of boat is provided, then the number of persons to be accommodated in boats which do not come up to the proportions deemed safe by the board of trade should be very considerably curtailed.
A. H. Y.
MARCH 23, 1912.
CONSTRUCTION OF SHIP'S BOATS.
It will, I think, be useful to consider the principal factors that govern the dimensions of boats forming part of the life-saving apparatus in merchant ships.
The minimum number and capacity of boats are determined by the regulations, and the capacity is determined by the product of the length, breadth, and depth of the boats. As the space on the ship in which to stow the boats is generally limited, it is generally found easier to increase their depth than the length or breadth, and this is further encouraged, I believe, by the cost of boats being quoted at so much per foot in length. The builder or owner determines the dimensions of the boat; the boatbuilder is concerned merely with the construction and, in most cases, usually their form or lines.
Attention has been called by the mark lane surveyors to the form and proportions of the boats used in the Royal navy. The proportion of depth to breadth is greater than is apparent from the particulars given, as all boats larger than a 30-foot gig have 6-1/2-inch washboards above the gunwale, and even the gigs and many of the smaller boats have portable washboards. It must also be remembered that all the navy boats are square-sterned, except the whaleboat, and are designed with easy lines so as to make good sailers; no air cases are fitted, and the seats are kept very low. The boats are not provided simply as life-saving appliances; as a matter of fact, the life-saving equipment of a warship is extremely small. It is true that each type of boat is given a certain "life-saving capacity," which is ascertained by crowding in as many men as practicable with boat in still water and all equipment on board.