In the Life-boat Journal for November 1890, will be found a full description of j the first steam Life - boat, Duke of Northumberland, which boat has been' continuously "in commission," so to speak, since that year, first at Harwich, next at Holyhead, and then at New Brighton. She has now been relieved at New Brighton by the Queen, and has been re-stationed at Holyhead. In the February 1894 number of the journal there is an account of the second steam Life-boat, the City of Glasgow, which has been stationed at Harwich. A reference to these articles will show in what way these two boats differed. The principle of propulsion was the same in each—namely, by turbine—but the engines and boilers were different,-those of the first boat being of Messrs. Thorny- croft's design, and the second boat of Messrs. Penn'a, the chief difference in the propulsion being that, whereas the former was driven by one turbine placed nearly horizontally, in the latter the boat had two turbines placed vertically. The hulls of both were built by Messrs. B. & H.

Green. A steam Life-boat similar to the City of Glasgow was built by Messrs. Green at the same time, which boat is now in Australia, and in 1895 Messrs. Thorny- croft constructed for the South Holland Life-boat Society another, the machinery of which was precisely similar to that on board the Duke of Northumberland, but the boat herself was rather larger. A short description of this boat is to be found in the journal for November 1895, and in Engineering, 4th Oct. and 11th Oct., 1891, and 24th Dec., 1897. So far as is known to the ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION, the above four were the only existing steam Life-boats until the Queen was launched on the 12th June, 1897.

The object of these preliminary remarks is chiefly to give those who have followed the course of steam Life-boat building the necessary information where to find descriptions of the Queen's forerunners, for it will be impossible to enter into a minute comparison of the boats in this article. Before deciding on the exact type of boat the Queen was to be, the matter was not only thrashed out well by the Committee and officers of the ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE-BOA.T INSTITUTION, but the committee of tie Port of Liverpool Branch were frequently consulted, and Mr. Q. L. WATSON, the Institution's naval architect, submitted his designs to them before the boat was ordered.

The great expense of upkeep of a steam life-boat was always before the authorities, and many schemes were discussed to try to reduce this; it was hoped that by the use of oil fuel the permanent staff might be reduced from four to at most three. The annual upkeep of a steam Life-boat is approximately 8002. The engineers' staff consists of chief engineer, assistant engineer, and two firemen—a large staff; but it must be remembered that the circumstances are special, and that the Institution must have entire control of the men. An engineer or fireman capable of attending to the somewhat complicated machinery and water-tube boiler is not to be picked up at five minutes' notice, like a first- class boatman on Deal beach.

The great feature in the Queen, then, is the introduction of a method of using liquid fuel, which will be referred to later on in this article.

The boat was designed by Mr. G. L. WATSON, and the dimensions are as follows:— Length over all ....

Length on load water-line Breadth, moulded ....

Breadth over sponsons Breadth, extreme, over belting Depth, moulded ....

Ft.

55 53 13 15 16 5 In.

0 (5 ft. longer than the Duke of Northumberland and 1 ft. 6 in. more beam (moulded), and 2 ft.

longer than the City of Glasgow, but the same beam.) Her draught of water when ready for service is 2 ft. 9 in. forward, 3 ft. 4J in.

amidships, and 3 ft. 1J in. aft, the greatest draught being amidships on account of the form of scoop or intake to admit the water to the turbine. Her displacement, when fully equipped and ready for service, is about 31 tons. Messrs. Thornycroft & Co., of Chiswick, constructed the boat entirely. The hull is built of steel, and is divided into numerous water-tight compartments, and there is a turtle back at the fore and after ends of the boat. The internal arrangements pretty generally follow those of the Duke of Northumberland and City of Glasgow.

There is a large cockpit aft, with a steel deck above the water-line, and relieving valves fitted into the deck, as in other Life-boats, so as to allow any water which may be shipped to run out. Abaft the cockpit are two water-tight compartments, and before the cockpit is the engine- room, which is separated by a water- tight bulkhead from the boiler-room, and before the boiler-room the boat is divided into four water-tight compartments. All heavy weights are kept out of the ends of the boat.

A steam capstan is fitted forward, and the cable, which is 2 -inch steel wire, is kept on a reel in the cockpit. The coal bunkers and oil (fuel) tanks are on each side of the boiler- and engine-rooms, and the latter are so fitted that if oil should prove unsuccessful they can easily be converted into coal bunkers. The bunkers can take 3| tons of coal, and the oil tanks will hold 2 tons of oil. The boat is fitted with one mast for setting a standing lug and jib.

The mode of propulsion is similar to that of the Duke of Northumberland—that is to say, the engines drive a centrifugal pump or turbine placed almost horizontally.

The principle has been so often described that it is unnecessary to do so again, except to say that the engines are always kept running in one direction, and that the movements of the boat are entirely controlled by a man in the cockpit, who, by moving two handles working sluice valves, can so direct the jets of water as to propel the boat ahead or astern, or if he wishes to turn quickly he can utilise the jets in the same manner as twin screws are used, by directing one ahead and the other astern. 'Should he wish to stop, the engines need not be touched; all that is required is to adjust the valves so that the water delivered by the turbine is directed equally ahead and astern.

The engines are compound, having one high- and one low-pressure cylinder, with surface condenser; the turbine is 2 ft.

6 in. diameter. The diameters of the cylinders are: high pressure, 8 inches ; low pressure, 14| inches; with a length of stroke of 12 inches.

The boiler is of Messrs. Thornycroft's well-known water-tube pattern, which is found not to prime even in so lively a boat as a steam Life-boat. Steam is supplied at 145 Iba, press-Hie, and can be raised it from twenty to twenty-five minutes from cold water; bat, of coarse, in bad and threatening -weather the water is kept warm, and the boat can leave her moorings under fifteen minutes.

Very exhaustive speed trials took place both on the Thames and on the Mersey.

With combined oil and coal 9 knots was obtained on the Mersey, the l.H.P.

being 222'2, and the engines running 400 revolutions, and with coal only, 8-85 knots was the result of the official double run over the Long Beach Mile.

Indicated H.P., 206-5; revolutions, 403.

To return to the arrangements for using oil fuel. After various systems had been considered, it was decided to adopt that employed on the Great Eastern Railway, the invention of Mr. James Holden, their locomotive superintendent.

In this system steam is raised by an ordinary coal fire, the oil is then sprayed into the furnace by means of steam jets, and it is found that very little coal is necessary to keep steam. The oil used is of a very high flashing point, about 280° Fahr.; that employed during the trials of the Queen was called "Astatki/' and was supplied to the Great Eastern Railway by a Russian Company.

In applying Mr. Holden's system to the Queen, several difficulties presented themselves. In the first place steam jets could not be used, for they waste so much steam that it would have been impossible to have carried sufficient fresh water to make up the deficiency. Consequently it was necessary to use an air- compressing engine and spray the oil into the furnace under air-pressure. This entailed extra weight being put in the boat, and as the air-compressing engine was run off the main engine it also meant that a certain amount of power was diverted from driving the boat. The shape of a locomotive furnace lends itself to the use of oil, and there is no trouble as to draught. The contrary is the case as regards a marine furnace, and that of the Queen had to be specially prepared by building a brick arch and wall at the back of it, with a recess in the wall. The oil jets were placed so that they impinged on this wall, and the arch had the effect of distributing the heat, which was found to concentrate itself at certain points too much before the arch was built. The beat position for the jets proved to be just inside the furnace at the foot of the furnace doors, and it was found necessary to protect them with masks to prevent their being melted.

Before the boiler was placed in the boat, a series of experiments took place at Messrs, Thornycroft's works, which soon demonstrated that the idea of using oil only must be abandoned, so, as at present constituted, coal can be used alone, or oil and coal combined. At first, considerable difficulty was encountered in getting proper combustion, but by degrees this was overcome.

On the 25th August the boat had a "consumption trial," both for coal only and for coal wand oil combined. Each trial lasted two hours, and the result may be seen by a glance at the following tables.

Coal only.

Mean I.H.P. developed during trial Mean revolutions per minute . .

148 862 IDs.

Mean steam pressure.....188 Total coal consumed ..... 878 Giving a fuel consumption of 2'96 Ibs. per l.H.P. per hour.

Goal and Oil combined.

Mean l.H.P. developed during trial 176-6 Mean revolutions per minute . . 377-3 Ibs.

Mean steam pressure .... 130-7 Total coal consumed .... 353-0 Total oil consumed..... 487-4 Total fuel.......• 840-4 Giving a fuel consumption of 2-37 Ibs, per I.H.P. per hour.

With regard to this latter trial Mr Holden's representative, Mr. Bell, who attended at the request of the Institution, in his report remarks: " On the run down the river (whilst the trial was taking place) the pressure of air available was only 30 Ibs. per square inch, as the extra duty put on the engines when that pres- sure was increased considerably reduced the revolutions per minute. With such a low pressure the oil fuel was not well atomised and sprayed, and the combustion was not nearly so perfect as it would have .been with higher pressure. The firemen had had but limited experience before taking this long run at full speed, and no doubt considerable improvement in the comparative consumption of fuel will be noticed after a regular fireman has had sufficient time to get accustomed.to the oil apparatus," and concludes by saying: "With everything in working order I doubt if the consumption of oil will be anything like as heavy as it appears to have been on the experimental run." The Chief Inspectors of the French and German Life-boat Institutions, both of whom have always shown a keen interest in the development of steam Life-boats, were on board during the trials on the 25th August.

It was arranged to finish the consumption of fuel trials after the boat arrived at her station, New Brighton; so when she was ready she left London on the 8th October under the charge of Mr. Basil Hall, inspector of the Irish district, who navigated her round to the Mersey by way of the East Coast of England to Grange- mouth, then through, the Forth and Clyde Canal to Bowling, and from thence down the West Coast to her destination. Mr.

Hall wrote a most interesting report on the passage, but want of space precludes any extensive reference to it. The boat was sometimes running continuously for twenty-four hours. Coal was used, except for a short time between Grimsby and Berwick, when it was necessary to push on, and oil was tried, not very successfully, f./r some hours. No very heavy weather was experienced, but the boat appears to have behaved well, and the engines gave no serious trouble, which, considering the severe strain of so long a passage, and the fact of their being new to the engineers, was highly satisfactory.

Shortly after the Queen arrived at New Brighton her trials were resumed under the superintendence of Mr. W. B. Cuming, the consulting engineer to the ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION, and below will be found a table of the mean results.

TABLE OF MEAN RESULTS OF FOUR TRIALS, Two WITH COAL, AND Two WITH COAL AND OIL COMBINED.

Natural Draught, i Full Power.

Full Power.

Fuel . . .

Hours running Revolutions .

Air pressure .

Steam pressure Vacuum . .

Maximum] temperature [ engine-room) Maximum! temperature boiler-room*) Indicated H.P.

Speed . . .

Coal consumed Oil consumed.

coal / coal 4 i 4 318 | inch 147 27 375 It in.

145 92° 120° 95° 104° 385-7 1J inch.

145 26 90° 106° 107-6 177 (203 max.) 8 knots 8-7 knots / 189-3 | (222max.) 9 knots X-100 revs.) 980 Ibs. 1792Ibs.; 672 Ibs. — ' — i 1152 IbsJ i 1824 Ibs.

* Thermometer in hottest part of compartment.

With regard to the results obtained from liquid fuel, Mr. Coming remarks: " It is too early yet to express an opinion.

So far, the men are not in favour of it, although they admit there is more labour required in burning coal alone. . . there is little or no economy in its favour as against coal alone. It may, however, recommend itself inspite of this when tried in heavy weather and when the boat is being' tossed about in a heavy sea.The experience of this winter will be looked forward to with interest.

In the above table it will be very noticeable that, whereas under natural draught, 318 revolutions were obtained, giving a speed of 8 knots, at an expenditure of only 980 Ibs. of coal; to get the extra knot nearly double the amount of fuel was used! At any rate, the experiment of using liquid fuel is a valuable one, and its results will be eagerly watched by many outside the interests of the Life-boat Institution.

The steam Life-boat Queen cost, irrespective of the Consulting Naval Architect, engineer, and surveyor's charges, 4850?., to which must be added some extra?, which will bring the cost up, in round numbers, to 5000Z. Of this sum 1022Z. 14s. 3d. was raised in Liverpool by the Port of Liverpool Branch, and IOOOZ.

was contributed by the Mersey Dock and Harbour Board, according to their agreement with the Institution. The remainder was met by the appropriation of two legacies amounting to I474Z. 17s., and from the general funds of the Institution.

The boat was named the Queen by the Committee of Management, with the con- currence of the Port of Liverpool Local Committee, in commemoration of the completion of the sixtieth year of Her Majesty's reign, Her Majesty being the patron of the Institution.

On the 8th of December last the Life-boat was officially handed over to the custody of the Port of Liverpool Branch by Rear- Admiral Lord CHARLES BERESFORD. The day for the ceremony was much more suit- able for Life-boat work than a public ceremony. There was a strong gale from the .W.N.W., with squalls of rain and hail, and a considerable amount of sea even in the Mersey, which, if it did nothing else, gave the spectators the opportunity of seeing more of the lines of the Queen than they otherwise would have seen. The LORD MAYOR or LIVERPOOL, Lord CHARLES BEBESFOBD, Mr. FRANCIS HENDERSON, and several members of the Local Committee, embarked on board the Life-boat, which was in charge of Mr. BASIL HALL, Mr. WILLIAM MARTIN, in whoso permanent charge she is as coxswain, being at the helm. A series of manoeuvres were gone through which called forth the admiration of those on board and on shore.

At a reception given by the LORD MAYOR, attended by the leading citizens of Liverpool, Rear-Admiral Lord CHARLES BERESFORD, acting in the capacity of one of the governing body, formally handed over the Queen to the LORD MAYOR OF LIVERPOOL in a telling speech, reminding the public of their duty to the Life-boat Institution in subscribing liberally, and concluding by saying he "was satisfied that the storm warriors who formed her crew and had so often proved their gallantry, energy and pluck, would keep up the high name which they had already won.".