Part 40

Part 38 of Shipping Wonders of the World was published on Tuesday 10th November 1936.

It included a centre photogravure supplement featuring the shipbreaking industry, which formed part of an article with the same title.

The Cover

This week’s cover shows the Rotterdam Lloyd Royal Dutch Mail liner Baloeran landing passengers and baggage by tenders at Southampton, assisted by the tug Romsey. The Baloeran has a gross tonnage of 16,981, and her main dimensions are 551 feet by 70 ft 5 in by 41 ft 7 in.

Contents of Part 40

Battle of the Nile

Concluding part (from issue 39) of this chapter.

The article is the fourth in the series on Decisive Naval Actions.

Deep Sea Fishing

The sailing fishing fleets of fifty years ago have disappeared, but the British fishermen still carry on the traditions of their predecessors, though in conditions less exacting. There are four modern methods of deep-sea fishing - trawling, drifting, seining and lining - and these are described in this chapter. The article also traces the development of the fishing boats from early primitive vessels to those of the present day.

The Shipbreaking Industry

In the days of the “wooden walls”, a ship condemned to destruction was often burned or even carefully “lost” in some convenient spot. The subject of shipbreaking is tinged with sadness. The thought of a fine ship, known to and loved by many who have travelled in her, being sold to the breakers to be dismantled and scrapped has something of tragedy in it. But no ship can last for ever, and it is perhaps preferable that she should be broken up at home than “sold foreign”.

The Shipbreaking Industry

(photogravure supplement)

The Shipbreaking Industry: Photogravure Supplement

ON THE FIRTH OF FORTH. Shipbreaking at Bo’ness, West Lothian. The American liner Columbia (right), almost completely stripped of her fittings, is awaiting her turn to be broken up while men are dealing with the San Sylvestre (left). The Columbia, formerly the Belgenland, was built in Belfast in 1917. She had a gross tonnage of 27,132, and her main dimensions were: length 870 ft 5 in, beam

78 ft 5 in and depth 44 ft 8 in.

The San Sylvestre, of the Eagle Oil and Shipping Co Ltd, was built at Newcastle-on-Tyne in 1913. She had a length of 420 ft 6 in, a beam of 54 ft 7 in and a depth of 32 ft 5 in. Her gross tonnage was 6,233.

The Shipbreaking Industry - 2

ONCE QUEEN OF THE ATLANTIC. The famous Mauretania, of the Cunard White Star Line, in the dock at Rosyth, on the Firth of Forth. Only one of her four funnels remains in position. Another, just removed, is lying on the deck. The Mauretania, and her sister ship, the Lusitania (torpedoed and sunk in 1915) were built for the Cunard Line in 1907. In that year the Lusitania took the Blue Riband of the Atlantic from Germany with an eastward average of 23.61 and a westward average of 24.25 knots. In 1909 the Mauretania logged an eastward record at 25.89 and a westward record at 26.06 knots. This record stood for twenty years. The Mauretania, built at Newcastle-on-Tyne, had a gross tonnage of 30,696. Her length was 762 ft 2 in, her beam 88 feet and her depth 57 ft 1 in.

The Shipbreaking Industry - 3

SCRAPPED UNDER INTERNATIONAL TREATY, two British super-dreadnoughts at Cox and Danks’ Yard, Queensborough, Kent. This photograph shows the deck of HMS Orion, with HMS Erin in the background. The Orion, a battleship of 22,500 tons displacement, was completed in 1912. She carried ten 13.5-in, sixteen 4-in and four 3-pounder guns, in addition to three torpedo tubes. The battleship Erin had a displacement of 23,000 tons was completed in 1914. The scrap price of a warship is calculated at so much a ton displacement. Age has comparatively little effect on the price, but the condition of the plates is an important factor. The Admiralty takes adequate precautions against the divulgence of naval secrets by the sale of ships.

The Shipbreaking Industry - 4

NO LONGER A STATELY SHIP, the Cunard White Star liner Doric (top) is in the hands of the shipbreakers at Newport, Mon. A crane is removing a section of the superstructure. The Doric, a twin-screw steamer of 16,484 tons, was built for the White Star Line at Belfast in 1923. She had a length of 575 ft 6 in, a beam of 67 ft 11 in and a depth of 41 ft 2 in. She was broken up in 1936.”

The lower photograph shows the ill-fated French liner Atlantique being broken up at Port Glasgow, Renfrewshire. The Atlantique, which was condemned after she had caught fire in the English Channel, was built in 1930 at St Nazaire, France. She had a gross tonnage of 40,945. Her length was 713 ft 7 in, her breadth 91 ft 9 in and her depth 57 ft 8 in. Passengers in the LMS train, shown in the foreground drawn by an ex-Caledonian Railway express locomotive, obtain an excellent view of the process of shipbreaking.

Contents of Part 40

The River Plate

The great South American waterways which rise in the heart of the continent and find their outlet in the estuary serving the capitals of Argentina and Uruguay are of vital importance to the world’s food supplies. This chapter is the fifteenth article in the series on World Waterways.

Non–Self-Propelling Bow Well Bucket Dredger

This strange-looking craft is non-self-propelling and has no hoppers within her hull into which the dredge spoil can be discharged. Instead it is sent over the side down chutes as the drawing below indicates. She is steam-operated and consists mainly of a boss-shaped hull, with a long oblong slot cut in the forward end. This is the thirtieth article in the series on Merchant Ship Types.

The Plucky Penshurst

One of the most famous of the Q-ships, though one of the smallest, the coaster Penshurst had a brilliant record of successes before she was lost in an engagement with an enemy submarine. The article is concluded in part 41. This chapter is the fifth article in the series on Mystery Ship Adventures.