| This number agrees closely with that obtained by the board's rule | L × B × D × .6 8 | . |
These boats, moreover, have a much smaller freeboard than is considered desirable in the merchant navy; but the occupants are all under discipline and in charge of experienced seamen. In the mercantile marine it may, and often does, happen, that the boats are crowded with panic-stricken men, women, and children, and instances have occurred, I believe, wherein there has not been a single man in the boat who has ever handled an oar before. Having these points in view, I do not agree that the navy type of boat is the most suitable for our purpose.
The chief desiderata in a ship's boat as a life-saving appliance are, (1) to carry the maximum number of people without overcrowding; and with (2) a reasonable amount of stability and freeboard; (3) and without undue interference with the use of oars.
(1) Is almost wholly dependent on the length and breadth of the boat; provided (2) is satisfied; depth has very little influence on it. For example, take a boat 30 × 9 × 3.5, 567 cubic feet by our rule, as a section (D) or (E) boat it should carry
| 567 8 | =72 |
people; such a boat should allow
|
30 × 9 × 8 72 | =3 |
square feet of area per person at the gunwale, which should be ample if all sit in the bottom who can not find seating room on the side benches or thwarts.
(2) Stability and freeboard are dependent upon the boat's breadth, depth, and form. The element of length does not enter into it, and it would be most unreasonable to limit the ratio of length to breadth, as suggested from Liverpool, or to limit the depth to the cube root of the length, as proposed by one of the London surveyors. Mr. Gemmell gives particulars, M. 26,298, of four boats tested, which proved to have ample accommodation and stability for the complements allowed by the regulations; the ratio of depth to breadth varied from 0.41 to 0.45.
Capt. O'Sullivan also reported five boats which he tested with ratios of D to B, varying from 0.4 to 0.44, all except one being satisfactory, the exception being rather tender and overcrowded, due to poor lines. The freeboards of all these boats when loaded were, I think, sufficient. The depth in no case exceeded 3.6, and only in one case did the ratio exceed 0.44.