Abstract
ELECTRIC welding, instead of rivetting, is being widely adopted in shipbuilding. In German naval dockyards it has practically superseded rivetting. Electrically welded ships have practically no leakage and there is little corrosion or wastage of plates around the welded joints. Economies are effected by welding in the weight and cost of a ship's hull. The welded ship therefore yields greater service for a smaller investment of capital. The University of Glasgow has introduced welding work into its laboratories and the design of welding joints has been introduced into all its engineering courses. The Glasgow Education Committee is also taking steps to form a new skilled class of workmen called ship welders. Before a change of this kind can be made it is necessary for the employers and the trade unions to meet. In the Times of May 26 an account is given of a conference held in Edinburgh between employers' federations and trade unions on this subject. Mr. J. B. Hutchison, the chairman of the employers, stated that it is of the greatest importance that the development of welding should proceed as rapidly and smoothly as possible in Great Britain on economical lines in order that competition with other shipbuilding nations may be successfully faced. It is understood that the employers made it clear that the selection of ship welders is likely to be made from the most suitable men, not confined to any one class and not necessarily from men directly displaced by the new process. Mr. Sherwood, on behalf of the unions, said that the proposals were of such a far-reaching character that full and careful consideration was necessary.
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Electric Welding in Ship Construction. Nature 131, 796 (1933). https://doi.org/10.1038/131796a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/131796a0