Ke Alakai o Hawaii, Volume VI, Number 3, 18 Mei 1933 — THE TOY THAT STEADIES GIANT OCEAN LINERS [ARTICLE]

THE TOY THAT STEADIES GIANT OCEAN LINERS

"When ' the ' newest. oeean greyhound, the huge Conte di Savoia, reached New York ā few days ago, the most widely featured part of the great vessel's equipment was her 'gyroscopes, whleh were sūccessfully test.ed and put in operation on the voyage. Designed to eheek the roiiing movement of the jship— whieh so many travelerg r in all ages haVe been unable to endure —£hese great rotating aisc-s are the largest ever made, far surpasslng those whieii have been appiied to smaller craft used for pleasure and in naval operat'ions. The cost of the installation is stated to have been about a million. dollars. Every rēader is familiar with, at least, the small toy gyroscopes, sold from 10 cents up, whieh illustrates the behavior of this device. The gyroscope even resists the rotation of the earth, when ;4hi&-4s-gxerted-at an angle-to lts | disc. Like the it will ! hold its course wlille the earth j is visibly revolving beneath it It has been pos§ible therefore, to make the gyroscope CGmpass, which.is unaffected by the eleetric and magnetic vaiiations encountered by the magnetic and inductor compasses. For stabilizing purposes, howevef, the gy-roscope is used in jlifferent fashion. Tt is employed as an automatic snubber to the roll of the vessel; being a form of ballast whieh does not lie dead, but actively oppp§es any tilting of the vessel. A single wave, changing the angle of the ship would not be Oigre&t importance, The ,nip. when again in smooth water, would oscillate for a minutve or twOj and ride again on an even haiel. But the waves eome, one after another, and if their periods are timed righfc, the ship will swing like a pendelurn tapped :• t tntervals correspondmg its natural oseilations—further and further eaeh time. At last the roeking will become severe. On tbe gyroscope-equipped ship, redstance against eaeh roll prevents the waves from building up an oscilation, The gyroscope is a huge disc of iroh, on a great sthaft, perfectly balaneed. and working in bearings through whieh oil is continually pumped under pressure. The bearings are in a frame or cradle. also pivoted, and the whole stabelizer !s controlled by a small maste* gyroscope.—E.B.M.