Herr Flettner's . rotor ship has crossed the North Sea
with a, cargo and arrived at Leith on Tuesday. Most inte- resting reports of the. passage have been sent by wireless by a correspondent of the Manchester Guardian who was on board. It is disappointing to learn that the Buckau' used her. motor as well as her rotors during the greater part of the voyage. We must, however, withhold judg- ment till we have further details, for no doubt the object of the captain, as becomes a good seaman, was to bring his ship and cargo as quickly as possible into port, espe- cially as the weather at the end -of the -voyage was very bad. We cannot, say yet whether the tall revolving cylinders, or rotors, which are said to be five times as effective as sails, have acquitted themselves so well that they will be regarded in future as an -indispensable adjunct to steam or motor. What We do know for certain is that the ship was not made top-heavy by the great, cylinders, and that- she behaved reasonably well in heavy weather. The rotors, reach their maximum of efficiency with a beam wind, and in some winds they are of hardly any use at alL Rotors, therefore, can never wholly replace sails. The real question is whether they help enough to make it worth while- to fit them to ships which also depend upon steam or motor.
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