24th Feb. From Lloyd's Register, that prosaic and statistics-loving substitute for the sweet little cherub that sits up' aloft and looks after the life of poor Jack, we have received two very interesting papers; one a summary of shipbuild= ing at home and abroad in 1897 5 the other the returns for the quarter ended on the 81st of December last of vessels under. construction.' It is difficult to condense' the notes that explain the former paper, for they are very closely compacted already, but we must try not to omit any important item.
1897 then, excluding war- Ki ships,.545 steamers of 924,382 tons and 46 sailing vessels of 28,104 tous were launched in the' United Kingdom. Tu the rest of the world (vessels of under 100 tons being excluded) 253 steamers of 278,443 tons and.L46 stiling vessels of 100,995 tous were Taunched in the same year, Of war-"ships, 48 of 95,465 tons were launclie! in the United Kingdom, and 42 of 183,435 tons in the rest of the world, So the total tonnage. launched in the United Kingdom in 1897 was a trifle more than double.that launched in all the rest of the world together, and this notwithstanding the great strike of the engineers, which has delayed the completion of a large number of vessels in the United Kingdom.
Looked at comparatively, the output for the year in the United Kingdom is about 207,000 tons less. th that in 1896, but.abont equal to.1895. "The construction of sailing vessels, "Which has been rapidly falling off since 1892, has this year reached a lower
has previous record, In 1892, sailing than any of which Lloyd's Register tonnage formed 24 per cent of the output; in 1897, it forms only 3 per cent of a considerably smaller total."
It is explained that it has been customary to take 1889 as the year of the maximum productive capacity of the shipbuilding yards of the United Kingdom. In that year 595 steamers of 1,083,793 tons, and 95 sailing vessels of 125,568 tons were launched.
1889 asa standard, the shipb facilities of the country were ut in 1897 to the extent of five-sixths. Uf the. steam tonnage in 1897, 98.8 per cent was built of steel and 11 per cent of.iron, which metal was only used for trawlers and for vessels under "196 tons. Of the sailing vessels, 95,5 per cent were built of steel, and 4.5 per cent of wood.
Of the total output-last year, over three-fourths, or 716,126 tons in all, were for British owners. 'I'he losses during the year, according to Lloyd's Register, amnuuted to 272,000 tous, and the sales to foreign and colonial owners to 465,000 tons. But 68,400 -tous were bought from foreign and colonial owners. 'I'he net increase of United Kingdom tonnage was thus -about 48,000 tons, the increase of steam tonnage alone being 206,000 tons. The net increase in 1896 was 217,000 tons, in 1895; 129,000, and in 1896, 429,000. tons.
OF the total output Inst: year, about 25 per cent was built for foreign "and colonial owners, as compared with '30 per: cent in 1896-and 20 per -cent in 1895. ' Japan was onr- best customer; taking 14 vessels of 59,425 tons, Germany comes next with 8 "vessels: of 30,507 tons,.'I'he Colonies took 23,000 tons, Holland 18,800 tons, and Russia 16,000 tous; while Norway, Denmark, France, and Spain each took between 12,000 and 14,000: tons, "he largest steamers launched in the United kingdom were the Oymric 12,840 tons, Brasilia 11,100, Briton 10;248, Delphic 8,273, Rotterdam 8,200, Monmouth 7,920, and two ships for the Ca, the! Arabia and Egypt, of 7,920 and 7,912 tons, respectively. he largest sailing vessels: launched were the Wivelle, 2,430 tons, and the Hou-gamont, 2;428 tous, While the actual output last year was below that of some: previous years, the amount of tenn under construction at the end of the year was nnprecedentedly large. It amounted to no less than 1,013,319 tons, of which only 4,127 tons were sailing vessels. No doubt, a considerable portion of this would have been Inuuched in 1897, but for the engineers' strike though it is allowed that this really interfered with shipbuilding work at home much les was at one time apprehended. here can -be little doubt that so large an amount of tonnage has never.before been'in' hand in the United Kingdom at. one time. It should be added that the warship tonnage under construction he country remains at a high evel. Four years ago it stood at 95,000 tons displacement. In December, 1894, it amounted to 260,000 tons; in 1895, to 306,000 tons in 1896, to 330,000 tons; and at the present time it amounts to 313,000 tons, There were built abroad during 1897,253 steamers of 278,443 tons and j 146 sailing vessels of 100,995 tons, in addition to 42 warships of 188,485 tons, 'The leading builders were Germany 140,000 tons, the United States 87,000 tons, and France 49,000 tons. Germany built. three monster steamers, the Kaiser' Wilhelm der Grosse 14,349 tons, and the Kaiser Friederich and Germany launched also warships to: the Pretoria of about 12,500 tons "ench. amount of 51,000. tons. Of the tonnage built in the United States, about 60 per celt is "exclusively"for" service on the -Great/: Lakes. "As "regards French: shipbuilding, the most noticeable feature *has:-recently.—been:-'the development of the constraction of large sailing vessels. Five..such vessels, of. 2,900 tous.and-above, have been launched during the year....-The largest. of these,.and also. the largest seagoing sailing vessels" - (still larger sailing barges have been -built.in=the United States) "built int.the.world-in 1897 are the Quevilly.. 3482 tons, Atlantique 3,094 tous, and Jacqueline 3,017:.tons,." "Thus the total-output of the world, exclusive of -wat-ships, appears to have "been about 1,202,000 tous "steam and 129,000. tons sail; while during the year, 316,000 tons steam and 396,000 tons sail disappeared from active existence by. one means or another. Thus, during ithe year, the steam tonnage of the world inorensed. -by about 886,600 tons, and the sailing tonnage decreased by: about 267,000 leaving a net increase of the world's mercantile tonnage. of. 619,000 tons, The increase in carrying capacity is really much larger than-this, as a: steamer transports in a. year very much more than a-sailing vessel: dues of -the same tonnage, We conclude: this brief-.review with the. summary of the.table showing the size of—the.-merchant and other vessels (not warships) launched in the United Kingdom during 1897
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.