Absence of Vibration in a Turbine Steamship

Abstract

RETURNING homeward to Paris the middle of September from the Tripoli eclipse, and finding passage to America difficult to obtain, I chanced to learn that the triple-screw turbine steamer R.M.S. Virginian was sailing from Liverpool for Montreal on September 30, so I was very glad to have the opportunity of a voyage in a ship full powered with this novel type of propulsion. After a week on board I have no hesitation in saying that for freedom from the nerve-annoying tremors incident to the usual reciprocating engines, the Virginian has proved far and away the quietest steamship I have ever voyaged on. Excellent evidence of this, I think, lies in the exceptionally large number of passengers who dined comfortably in the saloon at the roughest period of our entire passage. There was a fairly heavy sea on, and the ship was by no means free from wave-origined motion. So I am quite of the opinion that sea-sickness and all its train of discomforts must be greatly aggravated by the engine-borne tremors of the ordinary steamship, and that many people who are delicate sailors under ordinary conditions might take ocean journeys with comparative comfort in a turbined ship.