50 Years Ago

Such is the dominance of the internal combustion engine in today’s ships that it is easy to forget that the prime purpose of ‘The Motor Ship’ when launched in 1920 was to…

Automation was the hot topic in 1964. The April issue of The Motor Ship devoted several articles to the subject.

The lead article in The Motor Ship, March 1964, suggested that the Diesel engine had been accepted as preferred ship propulsion technology everywhere except the USA.

The pages of The Motor Ship, February 1964, provided a breath of fresh air. Rather than the emphasis on large-bore engines, the reader was presented with a somewhat broader range of topics.

The January 1964 issue of The Motor Ship concentrated on reviewing shipbuilding in the previous year, with an emphasis on what were seen as the ‘hot topics’ of the time.

To many of us – myself included – 50 years doesn’t really seem that long ago. And looking at some items in old copies of The Motor Ship we think that little…

The Motor Ship for October 1963 began with reports that Shell Tankers was bucking the trend away from opposed-piston engines by chartering a newbuild tanker with the latest Doxford J-type engine.

In The Motor Ship, September 1963, the debate raged on about large bore marine diesel engines. Then, as now, there was discussion about whether a single large engine was a more economic…

One of ‘The Motor Ship’s’ campaigns was to promote the advantages of the Diesel engine over steam power. Therefore it was rather a surprise to read in the July 1963 issue a…