THE NEW BOILERS.
[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR." J
Sin,—I am very pleased to see that you are taking up the subject of boilers for the Navy, as it is one which is ripe for discussion. We have apparently arrived at the limit to which steam-pressures can be raised, and have exceeded that within which forced draught can be safely employed in the existing type of marine boiler. We do not want to stop at pressures of 180 lb., nor are we disposed to abandon the use of the fan. The desirability of allowing the steady increase which has taken place in steam-pressures to continue unchecked, will without doubt soon become apparent to those responsible for the machinery of the merchant marine, and will compel them to consider the best way to remove the artificial barrier now imposed by the construction of their boilers ; but for the- Navy the need for some change is far more urgent.
It may be said : Why cannot the cruiser be content with the boiler which satisfies the Atlantic liners ? Make the boilers large enough, we are told, use enough of them, and do not exceed the very moderate amount of forced draught which they employ, and your difficulties will disappear. But we want the cruiser to catch such ships as the City of Paris ' or- the ' Teutonic,' and it is not enough to overtake them ; the war-vessel must be provided with sufficient guns and ammu- nition to enable her to capture or sink them when overtaken, and she must have some amount of armour-protection against. the light guns with which such ships may be themselves. armed. In order that this may be done, it is necessary that weight should be economised somewhere in the cruiser as compared with the trader, and as such vessels as those mentioned carry very little dead-weight, this can only be- done by using lighter, faster-running engines, and smaller,. lighter, and more severely taxed boilers.
As you point out in your admirable article, the United States Bureau of Steam Engineering has arrived at the con- clusion that the coil-boiler is the most suitable one for fast, cruisers, and you do well to call attention to the pressing necessity for the earnest consideration of the subject by our-
own authorities.—I am, Sir, &c., M. Ixsx. C.E.
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