The electro motor capable of
giving four horse power on the screw shaft need not weigh 400 lb. if
economically designed; this added to the weight of the accumulators, and
allowing a margin for switches and leads, brings the whole apparatus up
to about 28 cwt.
An equally powerful launch engine and boiler, together with a maximum
stowage of fuel, will weigh about the same. There is, however, this
disadvantage about the steam power, that it occupies the most valuable
part of the vessel, taking away some eight or nine feet of the widest
and most convenient part, and in a launch of twenty-four feet length,
requiring such a power as we have been discussing, this is actually
one-third of the total length of the vessel, and one-half of the
passenger accommodation; therefore, I may safely assert that an electric
launch will carry about twice as many people as a steam launch of
similar dimensions.
The diagram on the wall represents sections of an electric launch built
by Messrs.
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