Ancient and Modern Ships Part 8

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 59.--Heavy French frigate of 1780.]

In the year 1812 the United States declared war against Great Britain.

The struggle was memorable for several naval duels between the frigates of the two nations. When the war broke out the United States possessed some frigates of unusual dimensions and armament. The British cruisers were quite overmatched, and in several instances were captured. In consequence of these disasters a new and improved cla.s.s of frigate was introduced into the Royal Navy. What had happened in the case of the frigates took place also in regard to the sloops employed as cruisers.

They were completely outmatched by the American vessels of corresponding cla.s.s, and many of them were taken.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 60.--Heavy French frigate of 1780.]

In 1815, on the conclusion of the long wars with France, there was, of course, a marked diminution in the number of ships built for purposes of war. The _Howe_, of 120 guns (Fig. 61), is given as an ill.u.s.tration of a first-rate of this period.

During the earlier years of the present century great improvements were introduced by Sir Robert Seppings and others into the structural arrangements of ships. During the long wars abundant experience had been gained as to the particular kinds of weakness which ships exhibited when exposed to the strains produced by waves. It had been felt for many years that the system of building was very defective, and the life of a man-of-war was consequently short, only fifteen years for a ship built of English oak in the Royal dockyards, and about twelve years for similar vessels built in private yards. Amongst the greatest defects was the absence of longitudinal strength to enable a ship to resist the effects of hogging and sagging strains in a sea-way.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 61.--The _Howe_. 1815.]

When a ship at sea is so placed that the crest of a large wave is pa.s.sing about the midship section, the two ends may happen to be in the hollows between the waves, and in this case are to a great extent unsupported by the water, and consequently have a tendency to droop. The result is that the ship tends to arch up in the centre like a hog's back, and the upper decks are put into a state of tension, while the bottom of the vessel, on the contrary, undergoes compression. The strains set up in this way are called hogging strains. When the position of the waves is exactly reversed so that the two ends are supported by the crests, while the hollow between them pa.s.ses under the middle, the latter part of the ship has a tendency to droop or sag, and the bottom is consequently extended, while the upper works are put into a state of compression.

It will be noticed, on referring to the ill.u.s.tration of the _Royal George_ (Fig. 55), that the framework of ships built on the old system consisted of a series of transverse ribs which were connected together in the longitudinal direction by the outside planking and by the ceiling. As there was no filling between the ribs, the latter tended alternately to come closer together, or recede further apart, according as they experienced the influence of hogging or sagging stresses. The French during the eighteenth century had at various times proposed methods of overcoming this defect. One was to cross the ceiling with oblique iron riders. Another was to lay the ceiling itself and the outside planking diagonally. Sometimes the holds were strengthened with vertical and sometimes with diagonal riders, but none of these plans gave lasting satisfaction.

The means adopted by Sir Robert Seppings were as follows:--

Firstly, the s.p.a.ces between the frames were filled in solid with timber (Fig. 62). In this way the bottom of the ship was transformed into a solid ma.s.s of timber admirably adapted to resist working. At the same time the customary interior planking below the orlop beams was omitted.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 62.--Sir Robert Seppings' system of construction.]

Secondly, the beams were connected with the sides of the ship by means of thick longitudinal timbers below the knees running fore and aft, called shelf-pieces, _a_, _a_ (Fig. 63), and similar pieces above the beams, _b_, _b_ (Fig. 63), called waterways. These not only added to the longitudinal strength of the ship, but formed also very convenient features in the connection between the deck-beams and the ship's sides.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 63.--Sir Robert Seppings' system of construction.]

Thirdly, a trussed frame was laid on the inside of the transverse frames in the hold of the ship. This frame consisted of diagonal riders making an angle of about 45 with the vertical, together with trusses crossing them, and longitudinal pieces, as shown in Fig. 62. This trussed frame was firmly bolted through the transverse frames and the planking of the ship.

Fourthly, it was proposed to lay the decks diagonally; but this system does not appear to have ever come into general use.

It should here be mentioned that the use of shelf-pieces and thick waterways in connection with the ends of the beams was first adopted by the French in very small vessels; also the system of fillings between the frames was an extension of a method which had been in use for some time, for it was customary to fill in the s.p.a.ces as far as the heads of the floors, in order to strengthen the ship's bottom against the shocks and strains due to grounding.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 64.--Sir Robert Seppings' system of construction.]

Sir Robert Seppings further introduced many minor improvements into the details of the construction and the forms of ships. Amongst these may be mentioned the method of combining the frame-timbers. The old method of shaping the heads and heels of these timbers and of combining them with triangular chocks is shown on the left-hand side of Fig. 64. In the new method the heads and heels were cut square, and combined with circular coaks, as shown on the right-hand side in the same Fig.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 65.--The _Waterloo_.]

The princ.i.p.al alterations in the forms of ships introduced by Sir Robert Seppings, were connected with the shapes of the bow and stern. Hitherto the bow was cut straight across at the cathead, so as to form a vertical wall extending down to the level of the upper deck portsills, and formed of thin boarding and stanchions. The old shape of the bow is clearly shown in Figs. 52 and 55. The disadvantage of this arrangement was that it exposed the ship to the raking fire of an enemy. The old form of bow was also deficient in structural strength, and was liable to cause leakage. Sir Robert Seppings carried the rounding of the bow right up to the upper deck, and made it as strong as any other part of the ship to resist either shot or stresses. This alteration also enabled him to provide for firing several guns in a line with the keel. The old square stern was also abolished and a circular one introduced, which enabled a more powerful battery to be carried aft.

In order to bring up the account of British sailing line-of-battle ships to the period when they were superseded by the adoption of steam-power in the Royal Navy, we give ill.u.s.trations of a first-rate launched in the reign of William IV., called the _Waterloo_ (Fig. 65), of 120 guns, and of the _Queen_ (Fig. 66), of 110 guns: the latter was the first three-decker launched in the reign of Queen Victoria. A comparison of these ill.u.s.trations with those representing the largest men-of-war in the time of the Stuart sovereigns, will do more than any verbal description to show the great alterations in form and size which had taken place during two centuries. The _Waterloo_ had a length on deck of 205 ft. 6 in., extreme breadth of 54 ft. 9 in., and a tonnage of 2,718; while the corresponding dimensions of the _Queen_ were 204 ft. 2-1/2 in., 55 ft. 2-1/2 in., and 3,104 tons.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 66.--The _Queen_.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 67.--The _Thames_. East Indiaman. 1819.]

During the epoch covered in this chapter the chronicles of the British Mercantile Marine were extremely meagre. The seaborne commerce of the country had increased enormously since the time of the Restoration. It had, in fact, kept pace with the development of the Royal Navy, and, in proportion as the naval power of the country was increased so was her commerce extended and her Mercantile Marine increased. In the year 1801 the total amount of British Mercantile shipping was about 1,726,000 tons; in 1811 it had increased to 2,163,094 tons, and in 1816 to 2,489,068; while in 1846 it had reached 3,220,685 tons. The East India Company was by far the largest mercantile shipowner and ship-hirer in the country. In the year 1772 the Company employed 33 ships of the aggregate burthen of 23,159 tons, builders' measurement. It was about this period that the Company commenced the construction of a larger type of vessel for their own use. These vessels afterwards became famous for their exploits, and were called East Indiamen. Fig. 67 is an ill.u.s.tration of one of them named the _Thames_, built in 1819, of 1,360 tons register. She carried 26 guns, and had a crew of 130 men.

East Indiamen were designed to serve simultaneously as freight-carriers, pa.s.senger-ships and men-of-war. In the latter capacity they fought many important actions and won many victories. Having had to fill so many purposes, they were naturally expensive ships both to build and work.

Their crews were nearly four times as numerous as would be required for modern merchant sailing-ships of similar size.

At the close of the great wars in the early part of this century commercial pursuits naturally received a strong impetus. Great compet.i.tion arose, not only between individual owners, but also between the shipowning cla.s.ses in various countries. This caused considerable attention to be paid to the improvement of merchant-ships. The objects sought to be attained were greater economy in the working of vessels and increased speed combined with cargo-carrying capacity. The trade with the West Indies was not the subject of a monopoly as that with the East had been. It was consequently the subject of free compet.i.tion amongst shipowners, and the natural result was the development of a cla.s.s of vessel much better adapted to purely mercantile operations than were the ships owned or chartered by the East India Company. Fig. 68 is a late example of a West Indiaman, of the type common shortly after the commencement of the nineteenth century. The capacity for cargo of ships of this type was considerably in excess of their nominal tonnage, whereas in the case of the East Indiamen the reverse was the case. Also, the proportion of crew to tonnage was one-half of what was found necessary in the latter type of vessel. While possessing the above-named advantages, the West Indiamen were good boats for their time, both in sea-going qualities and in speed.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 68.]

When the trade with the East was thrown open an impetus was given to the construction of vessels which were suitable for carrying freight to any part of the world. These boats were known as "Free Traders." An ill.u.s.tration of one of them is given in Fig. 69. They were generally from 350 to 700 tons register. The vessels of all the types above referred to were very short, relatively, being rarely more than four beams in length.

To the Americans belongs the credit of having effected the greatest improvements in mercantile sailing-ships. In their celebrated Baltimore clippers they increased the length to five and even six times the beam, and thus secured greater sharpness of the water-lines and improved speed in sailing. At the same time, in order to reduce the cost of working, these vessels were lightly rigged in proportion to their tonnage, and mechanical devices, such as capstans and winches, were subst.i.tuted, wherever it was possible, for manual labour. The crew, including officers, of an American clipper of 1,450 tons, English measurement, numbered about forty.

The part played by the Americans in the carrying trade of the world during the period between the close of the great wars and the early fifties was so important that a few ill.u.s.trations of the types of vessels they employed will be interesting. Fig. 70 represents an American cotton-ship, which also carried pa.s.sengers on the route between New York and Havre in the year 1832. In form she was full and bluff; in fact, little more than a box with rounded ends.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 69.--Free-trade barque.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 70.--The _Bazaar_. American cotton-ship. 1832.]

In 1840, when steamers had already commenced to cross the Atlantic, a much faster and better-shaped type of sailing-packet was put upon the New York-Havre route. These vessels were of from 800 to 1,000 tons. One of them, the _Sir John Franklin_, is shown in Fig. 71. They offered to pa.s.sengers the advantages of a quick pa.s.sage, excellent sea-going qualities, and, compared with the cotton-ships, most comfortable quarters. The Americans had also about this time admirable sailing-packets trading with British ports.

In the early fifties the doom of the sailing-packet on comparatively short voyages, such as that between New York and Western European ports, had been already sealed; but, for distant countries, such as China and Australia, and for cargo-carrying purposes in many trades, the sailing-ship was still able to hold its own. Fig. 72 represents an American three-masted clipper called the _Ocean Herald_, built in the year 1855. She was 245 ft. long, 45 ft. in beam, and of 2,135 tons. Her ratio of length to breadth was 5.45 to 1.

Fig. 73 is an ill.u.s.tration of the _Great Republic_, which was one of the finest of the American clippers owned by Messrs. A. Law and Co., of New York. She was 305 ft. long, 53 ft. beam, 30 ft. depth of hold, and of 3,400 tons. She was the first vessel fitted with double topsails. Her spread of canvas, without counting stay-sails, amounted to about 4,500 square yards. She had four decks, and her timber structure was strengthened from end to end with a diagonal lattice-work of iron.

The speed attained by some of these vessels was most remarkable. In 1851 the _Nightingale_, built at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in a race from Shanghai to Deal, on one occasion ran 336 knots in twenty-four hours. In the same year the _Flying Cloud_, one of Donald McKay's American clippers, ran 427 knots in twenty-four hours in a voyage from New York to San Francisco. This performance was eclipsed by that of another vessel belonging to the same owner, the _Sovereign of the Seas_, which on one occasion averaged over eighteen miles an hour for twenty-four consecutive hours. This vessel had a length of keel of 245 ft., 44 ft. 6 in. beam, and 25 ft. 6 in. depth of hold. She was of 2,421 tons register.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 71.--The _Sir John Franklin_. American Transatlantic sailing-packet. 1840.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 72.--The _Ocean Herald_. American clipper. 1855.]

English shipowners were very slow to adopt these improvements, and it was not till the year 1850, after the abolition of the navigation laws, that our countrymen really bestirred themselves to produce sailing-ships which should rival and even surpa.s.s those of the Americans. The legislation in question so affected the prospects of British shipping, that nothing but the closest attention to the qualities of vessels and to economy in their navigation could save our carrying trade from the effects of American compet.i.tion. Mr. Richard Green, of the Blackwall Line, was the first English shipbuilder to take up the American challenge. In the year 1850 he laid down the clipper ship the _Challenger_. About the same time, Messrs. Jardine, Matheson, and Co.

gave an order to an Aberdeen firm of shipbuilders, Messrs. Hall and Co., to build two sharp ships on the American model, but of stronger construction. These vessels were named the _Stornoway_ and _Chrysolite_, and were the first of the celebrated cla.s.s of Aberdeen clippers. They were, however, only about half the dimensions of the larger American ships, and were, naturally, no match for them in sailing powers. The _Cairngorm_, built by the same firm, was the first vessel which equalled the Americans in speed, and, being of a stronger build, delivered her cargo in better condition, and consequently was preferred. In 1856 the _Lord of the Isles_, built by Messrs. Scott, of Greenock, beat two of the fastest American clippers in a race to this country from China, and from that time forward British merchant vessels gradually regained their ascendency in a trade which our transatlantic compet.i.tors had almost made their own.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG 73.--The _Great Republic_. American clipper. 1853.]

It was not, however, by wooden sailing-ships that the carrying trade of Great Britain was destined to eclipse that of all her rivals. During a portion of the period covered in this chapter, two revolutions--one in the means of propulsion, and the other in the materials of construction of vessels--were slowly making their influence felt. About twelve years before the close of the eighteenth century the first really practical experiment was made on Dalswinton Loch, by Messrs. Miller and Symington, on the utilization of steam as a means of propulsion for vessels. An account of these experiments, and of the subsequent application and development of the invention, are given in the "Handbook on Marine Engines and Boilers," and need not, therefore, be here referred to at greater length.

The other great revolution was the introduction of iron instead of wood as the material for constructing ships. The history of that achievement forms part of the subject-matter of Part II. During the first half of the nineteenth century, good English oak had been becoming scarcer and more expensive. Shortly after the Restoration the price paid for native-grown oak was about 2 15_s._ a load, this being double its value in the reign of James I. The great consumption at the end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the last century had so diminished the supply, that in 1815, the year in which the great Napoleonic wars terminated, the price had risen to 7 7_s._ a load, which was, probably, the highest figure ever reached. In 1833 it sank to 6, and then continued to rise till, in 1850, it had reached 6 18_s._ per load. In consequence of the scarcity of English oak many foreign timbers, such as Dantzic and Italian oak, Italian larch, fir, pitch pine, teak, and African timbers were tried with varying success. In America timber was abundant and cheap, and this was one of the causes which led to the extraordinary development of American shipping in the first half of the nineteenth century, and it is probable that, but for the introduction of iron, which was produced abundantly and cheaply in this country, the carrying trade of the world would have pa.s.sed definitely into the hands of the people of the United States.

The use of iron and steel as the materials for construction have enabled sailing ships to be built in modern times of dimensions which could not have been thought of in the olden days. These large vessels are chiefly employed in carrying wheat and nitrate of soda from the west coast of South America. Their structural arrangements do not differ greatly from those of iron and steel steamers which are described in Part II.

APPENDIX.

DESCRIPTION OF A GREEK BIREME OF ABOUT 800 B.C.

During the year 1899 the British Museum acquired a new vase of the Dipylon cla.s.s, which was found near Thebes in Boeotia, and dates from about 800 B.C. On one side of the vase are represented chariots and horses, apparently about to start for a race. On the other side is a painting of a complete bireme, which, on account of its antiquity and the peculiarities of its structure is of extraordinary interest.