ABSTRACT
The problem of constructing a ship of adequate strength is a very interesting one. The old wooden ship was of no great length, and no great strength was required in a longitudinal direction. The usual speed of a cargo boat is 10 to 12 knots, though the newer ships which bring chilled beef from the Argentine and frozen mutton from Australia and New Zealand are capable of steaming at 15 knots. The practice of stating the speed of a ship in knots is somewhat confusing to a landsman, who often fails to realise exactly what the figures mean. For the stream lines tend to close in gradually as the ship moves; and a blunt stern would tend to cause cavities behind, which would act as a drag on the ship’s progress. Large engines of any type whatever run at slower speeds than small ones, yet the turbines of the Mauretania make 700 revolutions per minute.
