THE “JOHN S. COLBY” WHALEBACK.
From a photo presented by Mr. D. G. Thomson, of Montreal.
The above cut is a faithful representation of a type of steamer peculiar to the Upper Lakes, which, though somewhat odd-looking, is said to answer its purpose well as a grain-carrier.
The latest addition to the fleet is the biggest vessel of her class, and just now the largest grain-carrier on the lakes. This vessel, named after the inventor, Alexander McDougall, is 130 feet in length over all, 50 feet moulded breadth, and 27 feet in depth. Her double bottom is five feet deep, giving her a total water ballast capacity of 2,000 tons. Her displacement on a draught of 18 feet is about 10,000 tons, and she is able to carry the enormous cargo of 7,200 tons, equivalent to 240,000 bushels of wheat. She is built of steel, and has quadruple expansion engines. The only departure from the original whaleback in this instance is the substitution of the perpendicular stem for the “swinish snout” or “spoon bow,” which has called forth so many uncomplimentary remarks, and which is much in evidence in our cut.
In 1891 the whaleback Wetmore was the first of this class of vessels to bring a cargo of grain from the Upper Lakes to Montreal and continue the voyage to Liverpool, where she arrived safely on July 21st. From Liverpool the Wetmore sailed to the Pacific coast via Cape Horn, and while carrying a cargo of coal from Puget Sound to San Francisco she was disabled in a violent storm, went ashore, and was wrecked.
III. THE TURRET STEAMSHIP.
The hull of the turret ship closely resembles that of the whaleback, but instead of the “spoon bow” it has the straight stem, and is further distinguished by a “turret deck,” so called, about one-third the width of the vessel and extending over its entire length, at a height of some five or six feet above the turn of the hull. This forms the working deck, and towering above it are the bridge, the cook’s galley, the engineers’ quarters, and other two-story erections, forming an unship-shapely tout ensemble of a most unprepossessing appearance; and yet, this is the type of steamship at one time seriously proposed by the contractors for the Canadian fast-line service! There are some thirty-five such vessels afloat in different parts of the world, all built at Sunderland, and most of them engaged in the coal trade, for which they are said to be well adapted.
The Turret Age, which plies between Sydney, C.B., and Montreal during the season of navigation, was built in 1893, and is owned by Messrs. Peterson, Tate & Co., of Newcastle-on-Tyne. She is one of the largest of her class, being 311 feet in length, 38.2 feet in width, and 21.6 feet deep. She is propelled by a single screw, has a speed of eleven knots, and carries 3,700 tons of coal. Her capacious, unobstructed hold and continuous hatchway permit of loading and discharging cargo with marvellous rapidity, and she is said to be a fairly good sea-boat.
IV. WATER JET SYSTEM OF PROPULSION.
While Ericsson, Smith, Woodcroft and Lowe were busying themselves with experiments for perfecting the principle of the submerged screw as a means of propelling vessels through the water, another plan was being devised which, for a time, excited much interest, and was very nearly becoming a success. This was Ruthven’s water-jet propeller. It differed from Ericsson’s in the singular fact that the actual propeller was placed inside of the ship instead of on the outside. This propeller, in the shape of a fan-wheel with curved blades, was made to revolve horizontally and rapidly in a tank of water placed in the hold of the vessel, fed from the sea through openings in the hull. The power of the steam-engine was applied to expelling the water from this tank through curved pipes with nozzles, on either side of the ship. In proportion to the velocity with which the water was forced through these pipes into the sea below the water-line, an impetus in the opposite direction was given to the vessel. The nozzles were so constructed that they could be turned easily towards the bow or stern, as occasion required, for forward or backward motion. The first experiment with this appliance was made by Messrs. Ruthven, of Edinburgh, on the Frith of Forth, with an iron boat 40 feet in length, in 1843, when a speed of seven miles an hour was attained. The Enterprise, 90 feet long and 100 tons burthen, was built on this principle, and made her trial trip, January 16th, 1854, when she developed a speed of 9.35 miles an hour. This vessel was intended for the deep-sea fishing, and the jet-propeller was suggested in this case as being less liable to become entangled with the nets than the screw or paddle. The water-jet system was also tried on a Rhine passenger steamboat with some measure of success; but while the theory was upheld, it seems to have failed in practice, because the results in speed and in other respects were not proportioned to the working power and the consumption of fuel. See En. Britannica, 8th ed., vol. xx., p. 661.