Shipbuilding statistics and engine design
A Paxman 1,650 bhp V16 engine on the test bed, complete with reverse-reduction gearbox
Most of the July 1960 issue of 'The Motor Ship' was taken up by tables of ships on order arranged by country, which showed Great Britain still held a leading position, closely followed by Germany and Japan.
Today’s leaders, China and Korea, figured nowhere. This was the first time the tables had been published; they continued for some 30 years, after which the cost of employing a statistician, either on the staff or an outside consultant, proved too much for the owners at the time. It would be good to revive this facility, though we feel that in this era of databases and information providers the data are readily available elsewhere so there is little point in duplicating the effort.
The August 1960 issue comprised mostly ship descriptions; in those days the British and European builders, and the shipowners, were somewhat les reluctant to hand over information to the press. Both issues, though, featured high-power engines prominently – ‘high power’ 50 years ago meaning 20,000bhp. Not a lot by 2010 standards.
One interesting development in the July issue was the choice of Paxman V16 engines for two new cross-Channel ferries. The two previous, slightly smaller, ships in the class had two 10-cylinder two-stroke trunk-piston Sulzer engines, each of 1,500bhp at 300 rpm, whereas the two new vessels’ engines would develop 1,680 bhp at 750 rpm. This new engine looked very modern in concept, with turbochargers, intercooling and four valves per cylinder. It will be interesting to see if a subsequent issue reports on the operational benefits.
Images for this article - click to enlarge
Unless otherwise stated, all images copyright © Mercator Media 2012. This does not exclude the owner's assertion of copyright over the material.
