The Navy Vol_22_Part2 1960 - Navy League of Australia

New "Super-Tanker" to beBuilt at WhyallaHE keel for Ampol'x newT "super tanker" was laidat the B.H.P. shipyards atWhyalla, South Australia, onWednesday. April 27."This marked the birth ofthe biggest ship and the firstoil tanker ever to he constructedin Australia," saiil the ManagingDirector of Ampol PetroleumLtd., Mr. W. (!. Walkley."Of 32,250 tons deadweight,the tanker will cost an estimated£4 million, and is due to beready for sea trials in July-AugUBt, 1962."The new tanker will be 670ft. long and 87 ft. across thebeam."She will be Australia's first'super' tanker. We call them'super' tankers wheu they areover 30,000 tons."The Broken Hill ProprietaryCo. Ltd. will build the newtanker for Ampol."Mr. Walkley emphasised thatwherever possible. Australianmaterials and equipment wouldbe used.Construction of the tankerwill provide employment forhundreds of skilled craftsmen,shipyard workmen and others.The tanker will exceed bymore than 13,000 tons the biggestship so far built in Australia.Much preparatory work hasbeen required to adapt theWhyalla shipyard to the constructionof this monster ship,and more than 1,000 tons ofplate-work have already beenprepared for the laying of thekeel.The tanker will be driven bya Parson's Steam Turbine, suppliedwith super-heated steamfrom two oil-fired, selectablesuperheat boilers made by Babcockand Wilcox of AustraliaPty. Ltd., at Regents Park,Sydney.The first piece of ship'sequipment delivered to theshipyard was the huge propeller.Of 21 ft. diameter, it weighs21 tons, and is made from spec-A new £250.000 copper cablemanufacturing factory establishedat St rath pine (Queensland)by Cable Makers (Australia)Pty. Ltd., is now inproduction. In its initial stagesthe plant will employ a staffof about 50.The new factory represents acombined venture, as CableMakers' electric cable manufacturingplant and a wiredrawing and stranding factoryof Metal Manufactures(Queensland) Pty. Ltd. havebeen established in conjunction.At a function to celebratecommencement of production.Mr. M. Dillon, general managerof Cable Makers (Australia)Pty. Ltd.,- said that thenew factory would be staffedand operated by Queenslanders;would use copper fromQueensland mines; and, as faras possible, would draw all itsmaterials and services fromQueensland sources.Mr. Dillon further statedthat the buildings and equipmentat Strathpine are morethan adequate to produce sufficientelectric cable and wire tomeet the full requirements ofthe Queensland market.ial cunial bronze to give it addedstrength and efficiency andfreedom from corrosion.When completed, the tankerwill join Ampol's existing fleetof four tankers, carrying crudeoil to the Australian Oil Refineryat Kurnell, Botany Bay.She will carry approximately30,000 tons of crude oil cargo.Ampol already owns Australia'sbiggest ship—the "LES-LIE J. THOMPSON," a 25,000ton tanker, named after thecompany's Chairman of Directors.C.M.A. QUEENSLAND FACTORYCOMMENCESPRODUCTION"The venture," he stated,"has been undertaken ill conjunctionwith our associatedcompany. Metal Manufactures(Q'land) Pty. Ltd., and alsowith Cable Makers' distributorsthroughout the State.There will, therefore, be a veryeffective liaison between coppersupplies, electric cablemanufacture, selling and distribution,which will provevery beneficial to the user ofour product and enable us togive the ultimate in service toour customers."Mr. Dillon said that the newbuildings at Strathpine, wherethe two companies had acquired25 acres of land, had beenspecially designed and erectedto give the most effective andefficient layout of plant andequipment.The plant, which had beeninstalled, was composed of themost modern automatic machinesavailable in the world.Although the new plant is notlarge compared with our Liverpool,N.S.W., factory, it isthe most modern plant operatingin Australia today for theproduction of electric wiresand cables.(Continued from page 27)in fact proceeded to build. Herecalled that knowledge derivedfrom actual constructionhad by now enabled Bahcock& Wilcox to offer a marine reactorwith 2.5 times the outputof the reactor in SAVANNAH,but which would require only20 per cent, more space in aship. He also spoke of the needfor service experience withsuch matters as fuelling andde-fuelling, disposal of waste(potentially one of the greatestsafety problems), and the effectsof rolling and pitchingon the reactor.The ball is now at tile(iovernment's feet. Perhapsit may. be of some little encouragementthat the Ministerof Transport said recently atthe annual dinner of the Instituteof Marine Engineers thathe was certain our first nuclearpowered ship would not beeconomic, but we must go ontrying until we got all economicunit.SHIPBUILDING.With the concurrence of bothsides of the industry, a specialsub-committee is to be set upby the Minister of Transportto consider the future of theshipbuilding industry. Shipbuildinghas been under firerecently from Lord Hailshamfor not spending enough, in hisopinion, on research and developmentof new techniques:and in the House of Commonsfor its demarcation troubles.It is pleasant, therefore, to finda Norwegian shipowner, Mr.Nerdrum. now settled in ixindon.on record that Britishyards can compete on price anddelivery with any in the world.Mr. Nerdrum suggests that oneof their great difficulties is thatthey cannot offer the same extendedcredit terms as some oftheir competitors. Fifty percent, down and five years topay off the balance is much lessattractive than 20 per cent,down and eight to 10 years topay. These figures, quoted byMr. Nerdrum. depend, ofcourse, on government subsidiesin the countries concerned.The last month has seen thelaunch of the CANBERRA,which with her running mate,ORIANA. is designed for theP. & O./Orient combined serviceto Australia, with its newextension across the Pacific.Both vessels show a considerableincrease in size anil speedover anything which has beenemployed in this service in thepast, being of 45.000 and 40.000tons respectively, with a servicespeed of 27J knots. TheirThe French ship. LA CAP-RICIEl'SE. visited Sydneyfrom the 13th to the 27th June,for the purpose of docking andoverhaul.She has a length of 258 feet,a breadth of 28 feet, and adraft of 11 feet, with a complementof 8 officers and 85men.She is propelled by 2 DieselSulzer engines, 2,000 h.p. each,giving 18 knots as a maximumspeed.She was built in France in1939. and belongs to the prewarclass "Aviso de 800 tonnes,"which revealed itself,during the war as a useful classof escort and patrol vessel.LA CAPRICIEUSE, not entirelycompleted in 1940, layuu-armed in fJreat Britain untilthe end of the war. Rearmedby the French Navy in1945, she made a very gooddraught, fnlly loaded, will bewell within the limits for useof the Suez Canal and theirspeed will cut the voyage fromthis country to Sydney bynearly a week.In both ships extensive useis being made of aluminium,about 1.000 tons going intothe superstructures of each.Plastics are also being usedvery largely for facing surfaces,so eliminating the needfor interior painting and reducingmaintenance costs. Theywill also be the first two majorliners to be fitted with a bowpropeller for manoeuvringwhen berthing, though themachinery has been fitted in anumber of ferries built duringthe past few years.FRENCH SHIP VISITS SYDNEYjob as a patrol vessel throughoutthe ludo-China war. Shejoined the French "ForcesMaritimes du Pacifique" in October,1959, coming from Dakarthrough Panama and Tahiti.Still armed as a small antisubmarineescort vessel, shereplaced, in the Pacific, theFrench frigate, LA CONFI-ANCE, which is going back toFrance.Main duty of LA CAPRI-CIEUSE. is to visit all FrenchTerritories of the South Pacific,and give assistance to thepopulations of these islands.Oil these tours, she is basedcither on Noumea or Papeete.She has already sailed morethan 19,000 miles around theSouth Pacific islands.In addition, LA CAPRI-CIEUSE takes part in hydrographicwork in the SouthPacific.30 THE NAVYJuly, I960II