(1910) Steamships & Their Story

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STEAMSHIPS
AND THEIR STORY
BY
E. KEBLE CHATTERTON
Author of "Sailing Ships and Their Story"
WITH 153 ILLUSTRATIONS
GASSELL AND COMPANY, LTD.

London, New York, Toronto and Melbourne
1910
J h -.^
ALL RIGHTS RESERVBD

;
PREFACE
The exceptionally kind reception on the part of both Press
and public which greeted the appearance of my history of
the sailingship last year, and the numerous expressions
of appreciation that have reached me from so many parts of
the world, have encouraged me to attempt in a similar manner
to set out the story of the steamship from the earliest times
to the present day.
I am by no means unaware that between the sailing ship
and the steamship there is a wide difference, as well in
character as in their respective development. But that is
no reason for supposing that the steamship is less interesting
in her history or less deserving of admiration in her final

presentation. Around the sailing ship there hovers eternally
a halo of romance ; that is undeniable even by the most modem

enthusiast. But, on the other hand, the sailing ship in the
whole of her career has not done more for the good of humanity
than the steamship within a century or less. It requires but
a moment of thought to realise the truth of this statement
and for that reason alone, the history of the steamship makes
its appeal not to a special class of reader, but to all who interest
themselves in progress, in the development of their own country
and empire, in the welfare of the world generally, and the
evolution from stagnation to beneficial activity and prosperity.
There are but few civilised people nowadays who have not
been brought into contact with the steamship in one way or
another. Perhaps sometimes it has been unmllingly, though
211707
vi PREFACE
at other times to their great gain. In some of those moments
which have seemed to drag on wearily during the enforced
idleness of a voyage, the inquiring mind has over and over
again exhibited a desire toknow something of the nature of
the fine creature which him from one distant country
is carrying
to another. He has desired to know in plain, non-technical
language, how the steamship idea began; how it developed;
how its progress was modified, and what were the influences
at work that moulded its character as we know it to-day.
Further, he has felt the desire to show an intelligent interest
in her various characteristics and to obtain a fair grasp of the
principles which underlay the building and working of the
steamship. As a normal being himself, with mind and sympathy,
he has wished to be able to enter into the difficulties that
have been overcome so splendidly by the skill and enterprise
of others, both past and present. If he talks to the professional
sailor or marine engineer, they may not, even if they have the
inclination to unbend, be able easily to separate their explana-
tion from the vesture of technicality, and the inquirer is scarcely
less satisfied than before. It is, then, with a view of supplying
this want that I have aimed to write such a book as will interest
without, I trust, wearying, the general reader.

The plan on which I have worked has been to give the
historical continuity of the steamship from the most reliable
and authoritative material obtainable, and to supplement

and correct a number of false statements by comparison with
the latest researches. At the same time, my object has been
not merely to ensure absolute historical accuracy, but to show
how in a special manner and peculiar to itself the steamship
is every bit as romantic, and equally deserving of our affec-
tionate regard, as her predecessor the sailing ship, whose sphere

PREFACE vii
of utility she has succeeded so materially in limiting. After

having been brought safe and sound through gales of wind,
across many thousands of miles of ocean, past cruel coast,
and through treacherous channels, until at last the fairway
and the harbour of safety have been reached, no one who has
any heart at all can step ashore without feeling that he is
parting from one of the noblest and best friends that a man
ever had. True, there are some people, as an officer on one
of the crack liners once remarked to me, who, as soon as ever
the big ship is tied up alongside the landing-stage, hurry
ashore from her as if she were a plague-ship. But such, let
us hope, are the few rather than representative of the majority
who have been brought into intimate relationship with the
steamship.
Nor only to the history and the glamour of the great
steam-driven vessel have I confined myself. The sea is not
merely a wide ocean, but contains within its mighty bosom
many smaller areas such as channels and bays wherein the

steamboat is able to ply as well for pleasure as for profit ; and
besides the big, brave sisters with their enormous displacement
and their powerful engines, there are other children which
run across smaller sea-ways, and these, too, are not to be
passed over lightly. Then there are fleets of special steam-
ships which in a quiet, unostentatious manner do their noble
work, and are none the less efficient, even if they escape the
limelight of general publicity. I shall seek to show in the
following pages not merely the conditions which in the past

have hindered or helped the ship-maker, but to indicate
the modem problems which have still to be faced and over-
come.
The difficulty that awaits an author who writes on a technical
viii PREFACE
subject for the benefit of the non-technical, average reader,
is always to make himself intelligible without being allowed
the full use of the customary but technical terms. In order
that, as far as possible, the present volume may be both a full
and accurate account of the steamship, in all times and in
all the phases of her development, whilst yet being capable
of appreciation by those to whom technicalities do not usually
appeal, I have endeavoured whensoever possible to explain
the terms employed.
The story of the steamship may at the first mention seem
to be bereft of any interest beyond that which appeals to an
expert in marine engineering. Pipes and boilers and engines,
you are told, are not suggestive of romance. To this one might
reply that neither were sails and spars during the first stages
of their history; and I shall hope that after he has been so
kind as to read the following pages, the reader may feel dis-
posed to withdraw the suggestion that the steamship is a

mere inanimate mass of metal. On the contrary, she is as
nearly human as it is possible to made a steel shell, actuated
by ingenious machinery and, after all, it is the human mind
;
and hand which have brought her into being, and under which
she is kept continuously in control. It would be surprising,
therefore, since she has been and continues to be related so
closely to humanity, if she should not exhibit some of the
characteristics which a human possesses.
It is fitting that the history of the steamship should be
written at this time, for if final perfection has not yet arrived,
it cannot be very far distant. It is but three or four years
since the Lusiiania and Mauretania came into being, and only
during the present year have they shown themselves to possess
such exceptional speed for merchant ships. On the 20th of
PREFACE ix
October, 1910, will be launched the Olympic, whose size
will dominate even the Mauretania. Much further than a

45,000-ton ship, surely, it cannot be possible to go ; and the
likelihood is that with the commercial steamship's manifested
ability to steam at the rate of over thirty-one land miles per
hour, we are in sight of the limitations which encompass her.
As to the future of transport, changes happen so quickly, and
possess so revolutionary a character, that it is hardly safe
to prophesy ; but it is significant that the week before this
preface was written, an aeroplane succeeded in flying, in perfect

easeand safety, the 150 miles which separate Albany from
New York and thus, just a century after Fulton had convinced
;
the incredulous by traversing the same course through water

in his steamship, the latest means of travelling from one place
to another has caused to look insignificant the wonderful
record which Fulton, in his Clermont, was the first to set up.
If, then, as will be seen from this volume, the steamship has
done so much within a himdred years, what, we may legitimately
ask, will be accomplished by the airship or aeroplane before
another century has come to an end ? Those who have the
temerity to give expression to their opinions, suggest that the
steamship will ultimately be made obsolete by the flying craft.
If that be a true forecast, it is perhaps as well that the steam-

ship's story should be told here and now whilst yet she is at
her prime.
Of the matter contained within this volume, much has been
obtained at first hand, but much has also been derived from
the labours of others, and herewith I desire to acknowledge
my indebtedness. I would especially wish to mention in this
connection : "A Chronological History of the Origin and

Development of Steam Navigation, 1543-1882," by Geo.
;
X PREFACE
Henry Preble, Rear- Admiral U.S.N. (1883) ; certain articles
in the "Dictionary of National Biography"; "Ancient and

Modern Ships : Part II., The Era of Steam, Iron and Steel,"
by Sir George C. V. Holmes, K.C.V.O., C.B. (1906) ;
" The
Clyde Passenger Steamer and Progress," by Captain

: Its Rise
James Williamson (1904) " The History of American Steam

;
Navigation," by John H. Morrison (1903) " The History of ;
North Atlantic Steam Navigation," by Henry Fry (1896) ;
" The American Merchant Marine," by W. L. Martin (1902) ;
" The Atlantic Ferry : Its Ships, Men, and Working," by

Arthur J. Maginnis (London, 1893) ;
" Ocean Liners of the
World," by W.
Bellows (1896); "Life of Robert Napier,"
by James Napier (1904) " Handbook on Marine Engines and
;
Boilers," by Sir G. C. V. Holmes (1889) " The Royal Yacht ;
Squadron," by Montague Guest and W. B. Boulton (1903)

" The Rise and Progress of Steam Navigation," by W. J.
Millar (1881); "Practical Shipbuilding," by A. Campbell
Holms ;
" The Boy's Book by J. R. of Steamships,"
Howden (1908); "The Steam Turbine," by R. M. Neilson
(1903) " Our Ocean Railways, or Ocean Steam Navigation,"
;
by A. Macdonald (1893) " Life of R. Fulton and a History

;
of Steam Navigation," by T. Wallace Knox (1887); "Life

on the Mississippi," by Mark Twain " American Notes," by ;
Charles Dickens " The Orient Line Guide," by W. J. Loftie

;
(1901) "
; The History of the Holyhead Railway Boat Service,"
by Clement E. Stretton (1901) the " Catalogue of the Naval
;
and Marine Engineering Collection in the Science Division of

the Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington " (1899)
" Catalogue of the Mechanical Engineering Collection in the
Science Division " of the above (1907) " The Progress of ;
German Shipbuilding " (1909) ; " Leibnizens und Huygens

PREFACE xi
Briefwechsel mit Papin," by G. W. Von Leibnitz (1881);

"British Shipbuilding," by A. L. Ayre (1910); "Lloyd's
Calendar." In addition to the above, I have laid myself under
obligation to a number of articles which have appeared at
one time and another in the newspapers and periodicals within
the last century, and especially to certain contributions in
the Century Magazine, the Yachting Monthly, the Engineer
and in Engineering. For the rest, I have relied on material
which I have myself collected, as well as on much valuable
matter which has been courteously supplied to me by the
various shipbuilding firms and steamship lines.
My thanks are also due for the courteous permission which
has been given to reproduce photographs of many of the steam-
ships seen within these pages. To the authorities at South
Kensington I am indebted for the privilege of reproducing a

number of the exhibits in the Victoria and Albert Museum.
I wish also to thank the City of Dublin Steam Packet
Company for permission to reproduce the Royal William ;
Mr. James Napier for the illustration of the British Queen ;
the Cunard Steamship Company for the various photographs

of many of their fleet ; also the Royal Mail Steam Packet
Company, the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation
Company, Messrs. Ismay, Imrie and Co., Messrs. Anderson,
Anderson and Co., the American Line, the Norddeutscher Lloyd
Company, the Liverpool Steam Towing and Lighterage Company,
Messrs. L. Smit and Co., the Ymuiden Tug Company, Messrs.
Lobnitz and Co., Renfrew, the Mersey Docks and Harbour
Board, Liverpool, Sir W. G. Armstrong, Whit worth and Co.,
Messrs. William Doxford and Sons, Sir Raylton Dixon and Co.,
Messrs. Cochrane and Sons, Selby, the Fall River Line, Messrs.
A. and J. Inglis, Messrs. Thos. Rhodes and Co., the Caledon
xii PREFACE
Shipbuilding and Engineering Co., Messrs. Camper and Nichol-
Cammell, Laird and Co., the Great Western Railway
son, Messrs.
Company, the London and North Western Railway Company,
the London and South Western Railway Company, the South
Eastern and Chatham Railway Company, Messrs. Harland
and Wolff, and Messrs. C. A. Parsons and Co. To the Right
Hon. the Earl of Stanhope, to the New Jersey Historical Society,
and also to the proprietors of the Century Magazine I wish to
return thanks for being allowed to reproduce certain illustra-
tions connected with Fulton's early experiments in steam
navigation,and to the Yachting Monthly for permission to
reproduce the diagrams of steam yachts and lifeboats.
Finally, I have to apologise if thromgh any cause it should
be found that in spite of extreme carefulness errrors should
have found their way into this narrative. The nature of the
subject is necessarily such that to have erred herein would

have been easy, but I have been at great pains to prevent
such a possibility occurring.
E. Keble Chatterton.
June, 1910.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER
1. Introduction .......
The Evolution of Mechanically-Propelled Craft
PAGE
1
2. 12
3. The Early Passenger Steamships ... 63
4. The Inauguration of the Liner . . . 104'
5. The Liner in her Transition State . . . 145'
6. The Coming of the Twin-Screw Steamship. . 165
7. The Modern Mammoth Steamship . . .183

8.
Steamers .......
Smaller Ocean Carriers and Cross-Channel
215
9. Steamships for Special Purposes . . . 288
10. The Steam Yacht 266
11. The Building of the Steamship .... 282
12. The Safety and Luxury of the Passenger 297
.....
. .
13. Some Steamship Problems 309

"
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
The " Olympic " . . . . . Frontisp
Hero's Steam Apparatus .
Jonathan Hulls' Steam Tug Boat

The Marquis de Jouffroy's Steamboat
Patrick Miller's Double-hulled Paddle-boat
Symington's First Marine Engine
Outline of Fitch's First Boat .
The " Charlotte Dundas "

The " Clermont " in 1807
Fulton's design for a Steamboat submitted to the
Commission appointed by Napoleon in 1803
Fulton's First Plans for Steam Navigation
Fulton's design of Original Apparatus for deter-
mining the Resistance of Paddles for the pro-
pulsion of the " Clermont," dated 1806
The Reconstructed " Clermont "
Fulton Celebrations, 1909
Paddle-wheel of the Reconstructed " Clermont
....at the Hudson-
" Clermont "......

Fulton's Preliminary Study for the Engine of the
Fulton's plans of a later Steamboat than the

" Clermont-North-River," showing application
Engine
of the square side connecting rod
The " Comet " .
Engine of the " Comet " .
S.S. "Elizabeth" (1815) .
Russian Passenger Steamer (1817)

The " Prinzessin Charlotte " (1816)
The " Savannah " (1819) .
'
XVI LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

The " James Watt " (1821) . . Facing page 94
Side-Lever Engines of the " Ruby " (1836) 94
The " Sirius " (1838) 96
The " Royal WiUiam " (1838) . 96
The " Great Western " (1838) . 100
Paddle-wheel of the " Great Western 100
The " British Queen " (1839) . 102
The " Britannia," the First Atlantic Liner (1840) 102
The "Teviot" and "Clyde" (1841) 110
Side-lever Engine 110
Launch of the "Forth" (1841). 112
The " William Fawcett " and H.M.S. " Queen
'
(1829) 112
Designs for Screw Propellers prior to 1850 118
The "Robert F. Stockton" (1838) 120
The "Archimedes" (1839) 120
"
Stern of the " Archimedes 122
The "Novelty" (1839) . 122
The "Great Britain" (1843) 126
"
Propeller of the " Great Britain 126
"
Engines of the " Great Britain 128
Engines of the " Helen McGregor 128
The " Scotia " (1862) 130
The " Pacific " (1853) 130
Maudslay's Oscillating Engine 132
Engines of the "Candia" 132
The "Victoria" (1852) . 134
The " Himalaya " (1853) . 134
Coasting Cargo Steamer (1855) 134
The " Great Eastern " (1858) 138
"
Paddle Engines of the " Great Eastern 140
" " 140
Screw Engines of the Great Eastern
The " City of Paris " (1866) . 148
The " Russia " (1867) 148
The " Oceanic " (1870) . 152
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xvii
The " Britannic " (1874) Facing page

The " Servia " (1881)
The " Umbria " (1884)
The " Orient " (1879)
The "Austral" (1881)
The "Victoria" (1887) .
The " Majestic " (1889) .
The "City of Paris" (1893) (now the " Phila

delphia ") .
The " Ophir " (1891)

The " Lucania " (1893) .
The " Kaiser Wilhelra der Grosse " (1897)

The " Oceanic " (1899) .
The " Cedric "

The " Celtic "
The " Kaiser WUhelm II."
Giovanni Branca's Steam Engine (1629)

The Blades of a Parsons Turbine
The Parsons Turbine
The " Carmania " (1905)
.....
.
Facing
Lower half of the fixed portion of one of the

" Carmania's " Turbines
A Study in Comparisons : the " Magnetic " and
"Baltic"
on-Tyne .....
The " Mauretania " when completing
Stem of the " Mauretania "

at Wallsend
The " Lusitania "

The
The
"Adriatic" ....
.
" George Washington "

. . .
The " Beriin "

" Laurentic " on the Stocks
The
The
The
"Mooltan" ....
Starting Platform in the Engine Room of
the " Mooltan "
.
xviii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

The " Balmoral Castle " Facing page
The "Cambria" (1848) .
Engines of the " Leinster " (1860)

The "Atalanta" (1841) .
The " Lyons " (1856)

The " Empress " leaving Dover Harbour
The Ocean Tug " Blackcock " .
The Passenger Tender " Sir Francis Drake "

The 7,000 ton Floating Dry-dock under tow by
"
the " Roode Zee " and " Zwarte Zee
The Salvage Tug " Admiral de Ruyter " .
The New York Harbour and River Tug Boat

" Edmund Moran " .
The Paddle-Tug " Dromedary "

The Bucket Dredger " Peluse " . .
The Suction Dredger " Leviathan " .
The " Vigilant "

The Telegraph Steamer " Monarch " .
Deck View of the Telegraph Ship " Faraday "

The " Silverlip "
The Turret-ship " Inland "...

Section of Modern Oil-tank Steamer .
Cantilever Framed Ship ....

Midship Section of a Turret-ship
The North Sea Trawler " Orontes " .
The Steam Trawler " Notre Dame des Dunes "

Hydraulic Lifeboat
A Screw Lifeboat
.....
.....
The " Inez Qarke " Facing
The " Natchez " and the " Eclipse " (1855)
The " Empire "
The " Commonwealth " .
Beam Engine
An
of
The " City of Cleveland "...

an American River Steamer
American " Whale-back " Steamer

STEAMSHIPS AND THEIR STORY
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
In my previous book, " Sailing Ships and Their Story,"

which, indeed, this present volume is meant to foUow as a
complement of the story of the development of the ocean
carrier, I ventured to submit the proposition that a nation
exhibits its exact state of progress and degree of refinement
in three things : its art, its literature, and its ships ; so that
the development of the ship goes on side by side, and at the
same rate, as the development of the State. And if this was
found to be true with regard to the vessel propelled by sails,
it will be seen that the same can be affirmed with no less truth
in respect of the steamship.
In setting out on our present intention to trace the story
of the steamship from its first beginnings to the coming of
the mammoth, four-funnelled, quadruple-screw, turbine liners
of to-day, it is not without importance to bear the above pro-
position in mind. For though the period occupied by the
whole story of the steamer is roughly only about a hundred
years, yet these hundred years represent an epoch unequalled
in history for wealth of invention, commercial progress, and
industrial activity. The extraordinary development during
these years, alone, not merely of our own coimtry and colonies,
but of certain other nations — of, for instance, the United
2 STEAMSHIPS AND THEIR STORY
States of America, of Germany, of Japan — been as rapid ^has
as it has been thorough. Consequently, if our proposition were

correct, we should expect to find that the rate of development
in the ship had been commensurate. Nor have we any cause
for disappointment, for as soon as we commence to reckon
up the achievements made in art and literature during the
nineteenth, and the first decade of the twentieth centuries, and
to compare the rate of progress of the ship during this same
period, it seems at first not a little difficult to realise that so
much should have been accomplished in so short a time.
When the inhabitant of the Stone Age had succeeded in
putting an edge on his blunt stone implement, he had instantly

"broken down a wall that for untold ages had dammed up a
stagnant, unprogressive past, and through the breach were
let loose all the potentialities of the future civilisation of man-
kind." It is by no means an unfitting simile if I suggest that
we liken the invention of steam to the discovery of the poten-
tialities of the edge. Until the coming of the former we may
well say that progress, as we now know it, remained stagnant,
at any rate in respect of rapid movement. Omitting other
uses for steam not pertinent to our present subject, we may
affirm that in annihilating space, in quickly bridging over
the trackless expanse of oceans, steamships have succeeded
in accelerating the development of the countries of the world.
Ever since the time when primitive man first learned to
harness the wind in his navigation of the waters of the earth,
there had always been sailing vessels of some sort. For, at
any rate, 8,000 years there is a chain of evidence illustrating
one kind of sailing craft or another, and the work of later
was but to improve and increase the capabilities of
centuries
the sailing vessels handed down from one generation to the
STEAMSHIPS AND THEIR STORY 3
other. But with the first experiments in steamships it was

quite different. Here was a case of experimenting, with but
few data on which to rely. For, granted that already some
knowledge had been collected concerning the capabilities of
steam, and notwithstanding the fact that a great deal more
knowledge was extant concerning the art of shipbuilding, yet
the condition of relationship between ships and steam was
unknown, untried. How to generate the maximum of steam
power at the lowest cost ; how to apply this power in such
a manner as to cause the hull to go through the water at a
fair pace ; whether the propelling power should find its
expression at the side or the extremity of the ship —these and

many other problems could be solved, not by previous history,
but simply and solely by experimenting, as the primitive man
had solved the problem of the mast and sail in their relation
to the wind.
And yet it was scarcely probable that the value of the
sail, which had been appreciated for so many thousands of
years, should be suddenly found worthless. Inventions are no
sooner bom than they find themselves compelled in their weak
infancy to fight for their lives against the militant conservatism
of established custom. Seamen-descendants of ages and ages
of seamen, themselves the most conservative of any section
of society, were not likely to believe so readily that pipes and
boilers were going to do as much for the ship as spars and
sails. Nor, in fact, did they all at once. But something had
to come as a greater propelling power than uncertain wind.
For the world in the early part of this hundred years was
waking up again after the dull (Georgian period. It was perhaps
rather a new birth —another Renaissance. Soon it began to
get busy, and speed, not repose, became the general cry, whose
noise is heard now louder and louder each day on land as well
as sea. Every known device of the architect and builder was
employed to coax additional knots out of the sailing ship :
all the improvements in sails and gear were utilised to this

purpose. As the result of demands the magnificent
these
clippers doing their marvellous passages homewards evolved.
But that was all too slow. Passengers and freights were in
a hurry to get from shore to shore, and, later, perishable food
supplies could not be entrusted to the sailing ship. And so,
when once the steamship had appeared, even though not as

a pronounced success, yet the spirit of the times was such
that she should be encouraged as being likely to satisfy the
cravings of an active, restless age.
In the history of human progress we find everywhere
exemplified a continuous effort through centuries and centuries
of change to obtain an end with the least expenditure of
labour. It is one of the most striking characteristics of our
nature that we proceed along that road offering the least
and
resistance requiring the smallest amount of endeavour.
Not more true is this assertion to-day than in the ages which
have sunk into oblivion, and but for this human instinct, or
failing, the progress of the world would have been impossible.

The prehistoric man found the action of paddling his dug-out
so irksome and wearying that he invented the sail as a means
of harnessing the wind to do his work, and, as a result, what
does the world not owe to his apparent laziness ? How else
would new countries have been discovered and peopled,

commerce extended to nations beyond the seas, untilled areas
made to yield their fruitful produce, and wealth amassed by
production and exchange of commodities ? It was not until
Europe had at last begun to build her big caravels and caracks.
and to leam how them with adequate seamanship,

to handle
that the art of na\'igation far as to enable Columbus
advanced so
to sail across the Atlantic, and to lay the foundation of the
prosperity of the New World. To have attained such a feat
by the means of physical propulsion would have been im-
possible it was only by the invention of the sail and the
;
perfection of the sailing ship after many centuries of experi-

menting that came about. For man's endurance is hedged
this
in by stem limits. He can only work for part of the day, and
he must eat and sleep. But by yoking the wind to the sail
the voyage could be continued without the necessity for plying
the oar, and most of the crew could be below at their rest
or their meals.
But the sailing ship, too, has her limitations. "WTien the
wind drops her range of usefulness automatically ends. ^Vhen
the wind becomes contrary, or rises in sufficient fierceness as
to become a gale, the sailing ship again loses some of her utility,
whilst tides and currents in like manner combine to impede
her advance from one port to another. And so, realising all
these harassing circumstances, man has ever had a desire to

shake himself free from such irritating restrictions, to assert
his own independence of winds and seas and tides, and to steer
his ships where he liked, and as fast as he liked with the
minimum eSort.
And yet he has been a very long time indeed finding the
means of rising superior to the forces of Nature. He
has had
to fight very hard against heavy odds, he has had to devise
no end of ingenious methods, most of which have been utterly
and many a man, overjoyed at his discovery of a sure
useless,
means of overcoming the problem of propelling craft without

sails or oars, has found at the last that in practice it was
unworkable or too costly. Some have died from sheer want
through sacrificing their all to this one end ; others, rendered
more sensitive by the ridicule and scorn of their fellow-men,
have, on witnessing their own failure, died of a broken heart,
and been reckoned by the least discerning as among those
who wasted their lives in pursuing a shadow, frittered their
time and money in seeking to attain the unattainable, and
left behind them no monument except a pile of unworkable
propositions and theories.
But no generation is at any time of its career independent.
From its first moments it is under a debt to those which have
come and gone. Literature is but a collection of data amassed
by our predecessors and handed down to the next age, which
adds a little more to what is already known. It is scarcely
possible to point to one man and say that he alone was the
inventor of any new theory or device, although in carelessness
we actually so speak. His own conclusions have been based
on the accumulation of what his predecessors have left for
him; and it is the same with the invention of the steamship.

Some writers of different nationalities have patriotically upheld
one man or another as the father of the steamship with a zeal
that does more credit to their national loyalty than to their
sense of historical fairness. In point of fact, although in
different epochs one man has been more successful in practical
experiment than another, we cannot, at any rate in the history
of the steamship, give to that man a place of honour to the

exclusion of all those who have gone before. Without their
help he would never have succeeded. Their failures, even if
they left him little to work on, at least showed him what to
avoid. As an example we might here cite the instance of using
a propeller shaped after the manner of a duck's foot, which.
being a close copy of the method employed by a species of

animal which has its being on the surface of the water, appealed
powerfully to more than one inventor as the likely way to solve
a great problem ;
just as the early days of aviation were wasted
in endeavouring to follow too closely the methods of loco-
motion adopted by birds. The years of man are but three-
score and ten, and he cannot go on wasting his allotted time in
trj'ing and discarding all the experiments possible ; but from
the disordered mass of accumulated data he can extract just
those which have any semblance of sound sense and practica-
bility, from which he can deduce his own new theory and put
it to actual test.
Because, then, of this mutual inter-depehdence we shall
give the palm to no individual, but endeavour to show how,
step by step, the ship has shaken herself free of entire slavery
to the wind, one age helping her a little in her ambition, others
sending her forward farther still towards her goal. Chance
plays so curious a game with progress. A geniusmay spring
up too early or too late to be appreciated. He may be hailed
as a dangerous lunatic or as a benefactor of mankind, according
to whether the time was ripe for his appearance.
Papin, as we shall see presently, was bom out of due season.
His fellow-men did not want his steamer, so they smashed it
to pieces. Solomon de Caus, who showed that he knew more

about the application of steam than anyone who had ever
lived, was shut up as a madman, whereas Fulton, another
man of rare genius and wonderful fertility of invention, has

recently had his centenary celebrated and fetes in his memory
held, lest the recollection of his great gift to mankind should
be easily forgotten. But Fulton was just the kind of man to
acknowledge his dependence on the work of his predecessors.
and, in fact, did this in so many words when he was being
denounced by a rival inventor. Desblanc, a Frenchman, pre-
tended that his was the prior invention, but Fulton wisely
replied that if the glory of having invented the steamboat
belonged to anyone, it belonged not to himself nor to Desblanc,
but to the Marquis de Jouffroy, who had obtained a success
with his steamer on the Saone twenty years before. And the
designers and builders of the Mauretania and Lusitania to-day
would be among the first to admit that such achievements as
these mammoth ships are but the results of all that has gone
before : in other words, it is evolution rather than sudden
invention.
Genius is the exclusive possession of no particular nation,
still less of any particular age : but it needs just that happy
condition of opportunity which means so little or may mean so
much. And the more we realise that this is so, and that it
is even possible for two men, separated by thousands of miles,

to be working at the same scientific problem and to arrive at
similar solutions at about the same date (as happens more than
once in the story of the steamship), so much more quickly
shall we approach a fair and impartial verdict in assessing
praise to whom praise is due. All the mutual recriminations
and slanders, all the long years of law-suits, and the pain and
grief to both parties in several instances regarding their rival
claims for priority of invention of the essential characteristics

of the steamboat, might have been thus avoided. Coincidence
is a recognisable factor, and when men's minds are at one
particular time more keenly set on bringing about a craft
capable of moving without sails or oars, and working with
the same historical data before them, it is, in fact, more probable
than improbable that the same conclusions will be arrived
at by men who have never seen each other, nor availed them-
selves of each other's secrets.
There had always been a feeling that some means other
than sails or oars could be found for ship-propulsion, but it
was not until the possibilities of steam had begun to be

appreciated that the idea of a mechanically-propelled ship
took on any practical form. Thus we might divide our study
into two separate The first would consist of all those
sections.
vessels propelled by some mechanism moved by man or beast :
in other words, by physical strength employed to turn a paddle-
wheel or other arrangement. The other section would include

all those efforts to turn the machinery, not by physical, but
by steam force. The first dates from a time almost as old

as the ship herself ; the second in actual success covers, as
we have already said, a space of about a hundred years only,
but the first efforts date from the beginning of the eighteenth
century, when Papin performed his historic achievement.
For years and centuries man has longed to be able to
navigate the air, and to this end he has tried all shapes and
kinds of balloons, yet he is always more or less dependent
on the currents of the sky. But the recent jump from years
of failure to marvellous success is due as much to the collateral
invention and development of the motor. It was chance that

caused the aeroplane and the motor industry to develop
simultaneously, and yet but for the latter the former could
not have advanced. It is much the same with the evolution of

the steamship. It was only after Solomon de Caus had, early
on the appli-
in the seventeenth century, published his treatise
cation of steam as ameans for elevating water, and the Marquis
of Worcester, in 1663, had published his description of " An
admirable and most forcible way to drive up water by fire,"
that Papin was able to supply the key to the question of the
mechanical propulsion of ships. Even if it were possible to
prove that he had never acquainted himself with the theories
of de Caus and the Marquis of Worcester, that argument
would avail but little, for the solution was bound to come
sooner or later ; it was inevitable. There must be, man
reasoned, some means for propelling a ship along the water
other than by sails or oars. The Chinese had been working
at the idea, the Romans had at least attempted it ; through
the Middle Ages there had been actually accredited instances,
and so the eighteenth century was not too soon for its accom-
plishment. Thus, when Papin determined to apply steam
power to vessels, he was just one of those many benefactors
of the world who have succeeded by means of Nature to over-
come Nature : by employing fire and water to overcome
water and space.
Let us, then, turn to the next chapter and see something
more of the different methods which were tried before the
satisfaction of full and undoubted success rewarded man in
his struggle against the limits to his freedom. As this is a
history rather of steamships than of all kinds of mechanically-
propelled craft, we must examine not all the ingenious theories
and the wild conceptions which many minds in many ages
have conceived for propelling ships by mechanical means
other than steam (for with those alone we could fill this book),
but having shown something of the main principles which
underlay these, we shall pass on to tell, for the benefit of the
general reader, something of the vicissitudes through which
has passed that swift and majestic creature which carries him
across vast oceans and broad turbulent channels, as well as
the peaceful waters of the land-locked lake and river. For
STEAMSHIPS AND THEIR STORY ii
this reason, while not omitting anj-thing that shall contribute
to the better understanding of the story, we omit from

shall
our study such technical details and theories as came to

nothing practical and, notwithstanding their importance in
fashioning the future of the steamship, are of less interest to
the average reader than to the shipbuilder and engineer. Modern
activity is now so rapid ; event follows event so quickly ; the
ship of yesterday is already made obsolescent by a newer tj'pe,
that we cannot fairly be accused of living too near the period

to obtain an accurate perspective, ^yhethe^ steamships will
flourish much longer, or whether they will in turn be surpassed,
as they have ousted the sailing ship, is a debatable proposition.
At any rate, to anyone who has at heart one of the greatest
and most powerful forces in the spread of civilisation, the
story of steamship evolution, from comparative inutility to
a state of efficiency which is remarkable even in this wonder
age, cannot but appeal with an attractiveness commensurate
with its importance.
CHAPTER II
THE EVOLUTION OF MECHANICALLY-PROPELLED CRAFT
When the prehistoric man was returning home from his day's
fishing or hunting, and the evening breeze had died away to
a flat calm so that the primitive sail became for the time a
hindrance rather than a saving of labour, and the tired navi-
gator was compelled reluctantly to resort to his paddles once
more — it was, no doubt, then that our ancestry was first
inoculated with the germ for desiring some mechanical form

of propulsion, and the fever went on developing until it broke
out in full infection when the possibilities of steam were
beginning to be weighed.
The earliest records of the employment of some artificial
means for sending the ship along are not preserved to us,
although it is certain that repeated attempts were made in
many ages to do without oars and sails. When slave labour

was cheap and and this could easily be turned into
plentiful,
propelling power, perhaps it was hardly likely that there would

be much incentive for discovering or rediscovering such forces
as steam to do the work of physical energy. It seems to me
to be a curious and interesting fact that it was not until the
freedom of the individual from some sort of slavery and

servitude —whether belonging to ancient times or the Middle
Ages —began to be asserted that there was any real progress
made in labour-saving devices. The dignity of man, and
his superiority as a being possessed of intelligence and dis-
cernment, and, consequently, his right to be considered as

something more than a drawer of water, a hewer of wood, and
the motive force for any method of transport, had fully to
be recognised and appreciated before means were earnestly
sought to save human labour. The cry of the last few years
and the tendency exhibited by many world movements have
been all for asserting the right of the individual. The
French Revolution, the American War of Independence, the
rise of Socialism of some sort or another in most civilised
countries, have happened collaterally with the progress of -~

machiner}^ and the development of power independent of
physical force, necessitating less and less the expenditure of
human energy. Never in the history of the world has so much
been accomplished for obtaining mechanical energy as within
the last hundred and fifty years, and never perhaps has the
individual been able to possess himself of so much freedom.
But even in those days when slaves could be made to work
to the limits of their endurance, it is fairly evident that man
believed that there was a future for the mechanical propulsion
of ships, and the usual form which this took was of applying
paddle-wheels to the side of the ship, and revolving these by
means of a capstan turned either by slaves or by oxen. The
Chinese, it is scarcely to be wondered at, adopted this means,
and so also did the Romans. In 264 B.C., when Appius Claudius
Caudex one dark night crossed the Straits of Messina to Sicily,
he transported the troops in boats propelled by paddle-wheels

through the medium of capstans revolved by oxen, and there
is in existence an ancient bas-relief which shows a galley with
three wheels on either side to be used for this purpose. Over
and over again this same idea was exploited, and even as
recently as 1829 Charles Napier, a British naval officer, when
-

he was in command of the frigate Galatea, was by special per-
mission of the Admiralty allowed to fit her with paddles, which
were worked by winches on the main deck. He found that
in a calm he could thus get his ship along at three knots an
hour, and tow a line-o '-battle ship at one and a half knots.
But it was noticed then, what experimenters of this nature
always found in every age, that, firstly, this method of capstan
plus-paddle-wheels was good only for a short distance ; and,
secondly, that so great an expenditure of physical force could
be more advantageously applied by using the old-fashioned
method of rowing.
Many a student and philosopher pictured in his mind some
novel method for doing away with sails and oars, among whom
we might mention Roger Bacon ; but most of these theories
seem not to have gone farther than the walls of the study.
In 1543 another attempt was made by one Blasco de Garray,
on June 17. Himself a native of Biscay, he proceeded to
Barcelona, and experimented first with a vessel of 109 tons,
and later with one of about twice the size. For many years
it was commonly, but erroneously, stated that this was the
first steamship. Apart altogether from the unlikeliness of
this being the case at so early a date, it has now been proved
to be little better than a fable based on insufficient evidence.
Even to this present day this inaccuracy is still repeated,
and it is not out of place to emphasise the fact yet again that
de Garray 's was not a steamship. Special research has been
undertaken in the Royal archives of Simancas by able and
discriminating students, and the result is that, while it was
found that two separate experiments were made with two
different vessels, and that one ship had a paddle-wheel on
either side worked by twenty-five men, and the other ship
by forty men, and that a speed equal to three and a half

English miles per hour was obtained, yet there was discovered
among these manuscripts no mention whatsoever of the use
of steam. The vessels were found to steer well, but the same
conclusion was again arrived at —^viz.^that for a passage of
any length it was far easier to use oars.
The idea, however, was not dead, and we find it coming
up again in the time of Elizabeth. During her reign there
were numbers of little books issued to make the seamen more
efficient, and these, of course, deal with the sailing ship. One
of the most entertaining that I know of is that entitled
" Inventions or Devises Very necessary for all Generalles and
Captaines, or Leaders of men, as well by Sea as by Land :
Written by William Bourne." It was published in London in

1578, and is full of fascinating matter for preventing the enemy
from boarding ships, and useful tips for sinking him even when
he is superior in strength and size to the ship he is attacking.
Bourne mentions the following " devise " on page 15 :
— " And
furthermore you may make a Boate to goe without oares or
Sayle, by the placing of certaine wheels on the outside of the
Boate, in that sort, that the armes of the wheeles may goe
into the water, and so turning the wheeles by some provision,
and so the wheeles shall make
the Boate to goe." And the
next " devise " refers to the fact that " also, they make a
water IVIill in a Boate, for when that it rideth at an Anker,
the tyde or streame will tume the wheeles with great force,
and these Milles are used in France."
In another interesting sixteenth century book, full of
curious and wonderful machines, entitled " Theatrum Instru-
mentorum et Machinarum Jacobi Bessoni, Mathematici in-
geniosissimi," published in 1582, there are detailed illustrations

i6 STEAMSHIPS AND THEIR STORY
and descriptions of a curious ship which is in shape some-
thing hke a heart, the bow being the apex, so to speak ; the
stern has two ends, between which is fitted a species of paddle-
wheel of unusual kind. It consists of a cigar-shaped object
of wood, not unlike a modern torpedo, but broader. Through
this is an axle which allowed the wheel to revolve freely, and
on the axle at either end rests a vertical spar, which is fastened
to another spar at the top parallel with the wheel. From
the centre of this spar an enormous kind of mast or sprit rose
high up into the air, which was worked by means of a tackle
and ropes leading down to a winch, turned by two men. Thus,
if the reader will imagine an object resembling one of those
rollers employed in the preservation of a cricket pitch, but
made of wood instead of metal, he will get something of the
shape of this curious machine. Besson evidently thought a
great deal of this invention and speaks of it as " inventum vix
credibile," but it was a clumsy method and cannot really
have had many virtues to commend it.
Seven years after Besson's publication there appeared

another book which throws light on the prevailing passion for
mechanical propulsion, though it refers back to the time of
the ancient galley. In " The History of Many Memorable
Things Lost, which were in use among the Ancients . . .
written originally in Latin by Guido Pancirollus, and now

done into English Vol. i.," published in London in 1715,
but first issued in 1589, the following statement is made on
page 120 :
—" I saw also the pictures of some ships, called
Liburnae which had three wheels on both sides, without, touch-
ing the water, each consisting of eight spokes, jetting out
from the wheel about an hand's breadth, and six oxen within,
which by turning an engine stirr'd the wheels, whose Fellys
[spokes], driving the water backwards, moved the Libumians

with such force that no three-oar'd gaily was able to resist
them." This would seem to confirm the statement that the

ancient inhabitants of the Mediterranean certainly employed
the paddle-wheel.
But a year before Pancirolli published his book there
appeared another interesting work, which shows yet again
that the employment of paddle-wheeled craft was far from
non-existent. There is a scarce book in the British Museum,
pubUshed in 1588, entitled " Le Diverse et Artificiose Machine
del Capitano Agostino RamelU," which is illustrated with
some highly informative plates. Fig. CLII. shows a kind of
pontoon, to be employed by the enemy in attacking a town
from the other side of a stream or river. A horse brings a
rectangular shaped construction down to the water's edge,
where it is launched and floats. Everywhere this kind of
built-up dray is covered in, but in the bows a man is seen
firing his harquebus from his protected shelter, while on either
side of this craft a paddle-wheel is seen revolving with its
six blades, that are not straight, as in the modem wheels, but
curved inwards like a scythe. The illustration shows these
wheels being turned by a man standing up inside ; the wheels
are quite open, without paddle-boxes. An oar projecting at
the stem enables the craft to be steered.
We see, then, that that earliest form of ship propulsion
by mechanical means, the paddle-wheel, was thoroughly
grafted into man's mind long before he had brought about
the steamboat. We cannot give here every theory and sug-
gestion which the seventeenth century put forward, but we
can state that during this period various patents were being
taken out for making boats to go against wind and tide, some
of which were conspicuously distinguished by their display of
ingenuity to overcome the forces of Nature. We come across

all sorts of ideas for " to make boats, shippes, and barges to
go against strong wind and tide," "to draw or haul ships,
boates, etc., up river against the stream," " to make boates

for the carryage of burthens and passengers upon the water
as swifte in calms and more saft [sic] in stormes than boates
full sayled in greater wynes." The Marquis of Worcester,
in 1663, published a little book entitled " A Century of the
Names and Scantlings of Inventions," and he himself patented
an invention for sending a boat against the stream by using
the actual force of the wind and stream in a reverse manner.
But the fact to be borne in mind for our present purpose is
that from all these ingenious propositions nothing practical

ever evolved that was found to be of any service to man, or
the transportation of his commerce. At any rate, there is no
record of this.
Now that we have traced in outline the vain attempts at
physical propulsion, let us turn to take a view of the evolution
of that other invention whose advent alone delayed the practical
utility of the paddle-wheel to boats. Who shall say how it
was that steam came first to be regarded as a means of giving

power ? In certain parts of the world, where geysers and
boiling springs existed, man must naturally have been struck
by the elastic force which steam possessed. An intellect which
had any leaning to the side of practical economy must have
reasoned that here was a valuable force running to waste,
which might have been employed in the service of mankind,
just as the swift-running rivers could be made to turn the
water-wheels. But, as we said just now, steam was not wanted
yet, for human labour was too cheap to bother about it; and
HERO'S STEAM APPARATUS.
From the Exhibit in the Victoria and Albert Miisatm, South Kensington.
we might remark incidentally that it was owing to this same

cheapness that the galley, or rowing craft, was encouraged for
many centuries in the Mediterranean, to the partial exclusion
and great discouragement of the big sailing ship. Indeed,
slavery, or abundance of cheap, compulsory labour, has been
the means of holding back the progress of the world. Had the
big sailing ships come at an earlier date the far-off countries
would have been discovered much sooner, and the study of
the properties of steam —or some other means as the equivalent
of physical power —^would have been regarded with a greater
enthusiasm. Perhaps it would be more accurate to speak of
the re-discovery of steam than of its invention : for as early
as 130 B.C. Hero, of Alexandria,had written a treatise on

" Pneumatics," and described a light ball supported by a
jet of steam which came out of a pipe into a cup, much as one
sees in the rural fairs of to-day the same idea used when the
force of water raises a light ball for the bucolic rifleman to
shoot at. Hero also referred to the "aeolipile," which was a
hollow ball mounted on its axis between two pivots, one of
which was hollow and acted as a steam pipe. Two nozzles
formed part of the ball and were fitted at right angles to the
pivots on which the ball revolved, and owing to the reaction
caused by the escape of the steam from the jets touching the
ball the latter was made to revolve. This is well illustrated
in the plate facing page 18.
From the time of Hero to the seventeenth century ensues

a wide hiatus, although in the meantime there were not wanting
some who now and again added slightly to the body of know-
ledge which the world possessed on the subject. Of these we
might mention such names as Archimedes in the second century
B.C., and Mathesius in the sixteenth century a.d. But Solomon
de Caus, or Cans, in the first half of the seventeenth century
showed that the steam given by boihng water could be
off
used for raising water, and Giovanni Branca, about the same
time, brought about what is really the progenitor of the modern
turbine. In this seventeenth century, also, another ingenious
Italian, Evangelista Torricelli, proved that the atmosphere in
which we live possessed weight, and to-day everyone is aware
that this is so, and that the pressure of the air is 15 lb. per
square inch. The working of the mercurial barometer is the
simplest proof of this. We shall see presently how an isolated
fact unearthed in one age becomes the foundation of the
mighty success of a later inventor, and thus the assertion
which we made on an earlier page, that the credit of inventing
the steamboat belongs neither to one man nor to one age, is
not devoid of truth.

Otto von Guericke, about the middle of the same century,
showed the practical utility of producing a vacuum, of which
the syringe and the common suction pump are such excellent
examples. But we are not writing a history of inventions,
nor of steam, but of the steamship, and we shall pass on
presently to see how each of these separate important dis-
coveries eventually blended to form the subject of our present
study. In 1663 Edward Somerset, the second Marquis of
Worcester, to whom we have already referred, also published
his description of " An Admirable and most Forcible Way to
drive up Water by Fire," and in this year he obtained protection
by Act of Parliament for his " water commanding engine."
When he had interested himself so much in the problem of
sending a craft against a current, and simultaneously was
obtaining success in the development of steam power, it
certainly seems a little strange that the Marquis did not advance
just that one step farther which was necessary to complete

the syllogism, and apply steam for the purpose of solving the
problem of going against the tide or stream. That, however,
was reserved for another inventor, and of a different nation-
ality.
And so we come to one whose name is deserving of especial

mention in the history of the steamship, for it was he who
was the first to do what mjîads of others have since done.
Many writers have asserted wrongly that this man or the
other was the first to succeed : they have gone back as far
as de Garray and as short a distance as Fulton. Some have
stated timidlyand with reserve that Denis Papin is said to
have been associated with this honour. But there can be no
manner of doubt that to Papin certainly belongs the high
distinction of having caused the steamboat to be an actual
fact and not merely a figment of imagination. Papin was a
French engineer, who, being a Calvinist was, after the revoca-
tion of the Ikiict of Nantes, obliged to go into exile. For that
reason, therefore, he betook himself to the Court of the Land-
grave of Hesse, where he found refuge. In 1690 he published
a suggestion for obtaining power by means of steam. His
idea was to have a cylinder made of thin metal ; water was to
be placed therein and heated. In the cylinder were to be also
a piston and rod on which was a latch, and when the water
had been heated sufficiently so that enough steam had been
generated, the piston would be moved up|^ns and be kept
there by means of the latch. Thereupon nrc fire was to be
taken away, and, the steam then condensing, as soon as the
latch was loosed the piston was bound to drop to the bottom
of the cylinder and if a rope and pulley were attached to
;
the rod, then the descent of the piston would be able to raise
a weight at the end of the rope. This was practically what
was afterwards known as the atmospherical engine, and Papin
was of the opinion that it could be employed for draining
rivers, throwing bombs and other purposes. But it is especially
notable for our purpose that he firmly believed that it could

be employed for rowing a craft against the wind, and indeed
would be preferable to the working of galley slaves for getting
quickly over the sea; for men, he explained, occupied too
much space, consumed too much food, and his tubes and
pumps would make a far less cumbersome arrangement. It
is worth while noting that the idea of these early inventors
of the steamboat was not so much to propel the ship as to

row her mechanically by oars or paddles. We still call them
paddle-wheels rather than propelling wheels, and the early
wheels used for the steamboat were practically paddles placed
crosswise, with a blade at the end of each spar. When fitted
to an axle, of course, they moved in a circular fashion. The

French " roue a aubes," which is the expression that these
French inventors made use of in describing their creations,
conveys precisely the same idea.
Papin, casting about for some method of bringing about
the steamboat, suggests the use of these rotatory oars, and
mentions having seen them fixed to an axle in a boat belonging
to Prince Robert of Hesse. This latter was one more of those
attempts to propel a craft by physical means, for these revolving
oars were turned by horses. Papin, in considering the matter,
thought that instead of horses the wheels might be made to
go round by steam force, and in 1707 he actually constructed
the first steamboat, which he successfully navigated on the
River Fulda, in Hanover. He even did so well that he set
off in her to steam down to the sea and cross to London ; but.
of course, the old, conservative prejudice of the local boatmen

was bound to make its appearance as soon as so historical a
craft had shown her ability. And so, arriving at Miinden, the
watermen, either through fear that this new self-propelling
craft would take away their livelihood through inaugurating
a fresh era, or, being envious of a success which no man had
ever before obtained, they attacked this steamboat, smashed
it to pieces, and Papin himself barely escaped with his life.
Thus, a craft and its engines, which to-day would be welcomed

by any museum in the world, was annihilated by the men
who had the privilege of witnessing the first steamship. Papin
never got over the grief caused by so cruel a reception of his
brilliant labours, and it is deplorable to think that such scant
encouragement was possible. : Besides being the successful
originator of the steamboat, he was also the inventor of the
safety valve./
The publication of Papin's correspondence with Leibnitz
puts the case beyond aU possibility of doubt, and the reader
who cares to pursue the subject will find the facts he requires
in " Leibnizens und Huygens' Briefwechsel mit Papin," by
Dr. Ernst Gerland. From this we see that Papin had already
published a treatise dealing with the apphcation of heat and
water. In a letter, dated March 13, 1704, he wrote to Leibnitz
of his intention to build a boat which could carry about four
thousand pounds in weight, and expressed the opinion that
two men would be able to make this craft easily and quickly
to ascend the current of a river by means of a wheel which he
had adjusted for utilising the oars. That Papin made no
aimless plunge, but went into the matter scientifically, is
quite clear. He studied carefully the important fact of the

resistance which is offered to a vessel passing through the
water, and thus found what he beheved to be the correct lines
on which his ship was to be built. He shows that he had been
hard at work expanding his theories, and was longing to have
the opportunity to put them to a practical test. On July 7,
1707, he writes to say that he has many enemies at Cassel

(where he was then sojourning) and contemplates going to
England ; and in asking permission so to do he brings forward
the plea that it is important that the new type of ship should
have a chance of proving its worth in a seaport such as London.
He does not conceal the great faith which he reposes in this
novel craft " qui, par le moien du feu, rendra un ou deux
:
hommes capables de faire plus d'effect que phisieurs centaines

des rameurs.^' Then, writing again to Leibnitz, also from
Cassel, under date of September 15 of the same year, relating
the result of his experiment of this first steamboat, he remarks :
" Je Vous diray que V experience de mon hatteau a ete jaitte et
qa'elle a reussi de la maniere qv£ Je Vesperois : la force du
courani de la riviere etoit si peu de chose en comparaison de
la force de mes rames quôn avoit de la peine a reconnoitre quHl
alldt plus vite en decendani qu'en monianV
With such statements as these before us, we can no longer
be any doubt as to the first author of the steamboat.
in
Papin had discovered a method of producing a vacuum

by the condensation of steam, but Thomas Savery is one of
the many instances of the case where two men in different
countries were working separately and unknown to each other
at a common problem. The latter had patented an apparatus
for raising water by the impellent force of fire so far back
as the year 1698, or nine years before Papin 's steamboat made
her appearance ; but he had also independently discovered a
method of producing a vacuum by the condensation of steam
just as had Papin. And this same Savery had shown that
the same problem which Papin had succeeded in solving was
also interesting himself : for he had gone so far as to ask for
a patent for an invention for moving a paddle-wheel on either
side of a ship by means of a capstan, which capstan was to
be revolved by men. Eventually it had
occurred to him, as it
not occurred to the Marquis of Worcester, that steam might

be employed as helpful to ships. Nevertheless, Savery did not
carry this idea to any practical test.
We come now to Thomas Newcomen, who, notwithstanding
the fact that his home was at Dartmouth, where in the Eliza-
bethan years so much had been done in connection with ship-
building and the sending forth of so many naval expeditions
across the seas, does not seem ever to have done anything
directly for the development of the steamboat. But indirectly
Newcomen did much, and the machine which he introduced,
and with which his name is inseparably connected, was prac-
tically an English equivalent of Papin's atmospheric engine,
to which we have already referred. Newcomen's engine is
important to us, inasmuch as it embodied in a practical manner

the main characteristics of what eventually became the familiar
reciprocating steam engine ; and had it not been for this.
Watt might not have evolved his historic engine, and con-
sequently Fulton not succeeded as he did. I shall endeavour
not to weary the non-technical reader, but I must pause a
moment here to give some idea of the nature of Newcomen's
engine, because of the close relation which it bears to the sub-
sequent development of the steam engine as fitted in ships
and boats. It consisted, then, of a vertical cylinder, which,
imlike our modem cylinders, was open at the top. It was
provided with a piston to which were attached chains that
connected with one end of a beam, the centre of the beam being
so fixed as to allow it to oscillate. Steam was generated in a
boiler, on the top of which was a primitive cylinder, and by
opening a valve, steam was admitted into the cylinder and
so pushed up the piston. When the piston had reached the
top of the cylinder the valve was closed so that the steam
was shut off. Then was allowed to
cold water from a cistern
by this means the steam
enter the bottom of the cylinder, and
was condensed, so causing a vacuum by the pressure of the ;
air—^which, as already mentioned, is 15 pounds to the square

inch— piston was forced down
^the again. We get here, then,
the essential features of that steam engine which is so familiar
to all who travel by land or by sea. But these early atmospheric
engines were not invented for the purpose of transport : it
was pumping of water from mines that they were

for the
principally contrived,and in the case of the Newcomen engine,
the other end of the beam opposite to that which was worked
upwards by steam pressure (and downwards by atmospheric
pressure) was attached to pump-rods that worked in connec-
tion with the buckets for pumping out the water. Thus, like
the movement of the see-saw, when the piston-rod was down
at the bottom of the cylinder the pump-rods were corre-
spondingly elevated, and vice versa. As soon as the piston
descended to the base of the cylinder through the cessation
of the vacuum the spray of cold water was stopped, and steam
was again admitted into the cylinder to cause another upward
stroke. was necessary to discharge the
At the same time it
hot water which had accumulated at the bottom of the cylinder,

and this was done through a pipe fitted with a valve which
would not allow of its return any air admitted with the
;
steam and the cooling water was blown out through a snifting
valve (so-called because of the noise it makes) as the powerful

steam came in. But, the reader may ask, what about the
open top of the cylinder ? How can it be any good to use
an uncovered cylinder in conjunction with steam ? The
answer is, that since the top of the piston was always kept
flooded with water, all air was excluded.
We have thus seen the steam engine in its most elementary
form how that
; it employs boiling water until it becomes steam
which is then admitted to a cylinder and by its own force moves

a tight-fitting disc or piston up and down. We have also
seen that by attaching a rod to this disc, and, further, by
connecting this rod to a beam, we can make the latter go up
(by means of the steam pressure) or come down (through the
pressure of the air). In order to effect the latter we have
remarked the fact that a vacuum had to be made by condensing
the steam through spraying cold water.
With this explanation in the mind of the general reader,
to whom engineering matters do not usually appeal, we may
proceed with the progress of our story, and pass on to the
year 1730, when a method differing entirely from any that
we have yet mentioned was brought forward. Strictly speaking
ithad nothing to do with steam, but, as we shall see when
we come to consider the subject of steam hfeboats, it embodied
an idea which could only be satisfactorily employed by the
adoption of steam. In the year mentioned there was published
a little book under the title " Specimina Ichnographica or a :
Brief Narrative of several New Inventions and Experiments :
particularly.The Navigating a Ship in a Calm, etc.," by John

Allen, M.D. The author's idea was to propel a ship by forcing
water, or some other fluid, through the stem by means of a
proper engine. To this end he experimented with a tin boat
11 inches long, 5 inches broad and 6 inches deep. Placing
this little ship into stagnant water, he loaded it until it sank
in the water to a depth of 3f inches. Into the boat he also
placed a cylindrical-shaped object 6 inches high and about
3 inches in diameter and filled it with water. At the bottom
of the cylinderwas a small pipe, a quarter of an inch square,
and this led through the stern of the craft at a distance of
an inch and a half below the surface of the water in which
the boat was floating. As soon as Allen removed his finger
from the outlet of the pipe in the stern the water, of course,
ran out from the cylinder, and this action caused the boat
to travel, the speed being reckoned, in the case of the model,
at about one-fifth of a mile per hour. Although nothing
actually came of this theory at the time, it is none the less
perfectly workable, with some adaptations, and some of the

steam lifeboats, in order to avoid using propellers, which
are liable to get foul of wreckage when going alongside a ship
in distress, have an elaboration of this principle. They are
propelled by engines which work a pump that drives a
stream of water through pipes placed below the water-line
in much the same manner as in Allen's model. Allen at first
contemplated working the pumps by men, and then causing

them by an atmospheric steam engine. A similar
to be driven
device was employed in Virginia, U.S.A., by James Rumsey
in 1787. In his boat water was sucked in at the bow and
ejected at the stern. It was found that as long as the vessel
travelled at all she went at the rate of four miles an hour,
but as she only covered less than a mile and then stopped,
it cannot be said that this experiment was conclusive. In
1788, the following year, however, another boat was made
actually to go a distance of four miles in one hour, and the
device was patented in that country during the year 1791,

but Allen had already patented his invention in England
thirty years earlier.
(It is when we come to Jonathan HuUs or HuU that we
encounter the first Englishman to apply steam to ships." Hulls
was a native of Gloucestershire, who, in 1736, (patented a
method of propelling vessels by steam, \ and in the following
year issued a booklet on the subject of his invention which
was subsequently reprinted. The title reads thus : "A
Description and Draught of a New-Invented Machine for
Carrying Vessels or ships out of or into any harbour, port
or river, against wind and tide or in a calm ... by
Jonathan Hulls." His idea was to provide a steam tug so
that it should be able to render beneficial service to those
sailing accepting it.
ships His preference for placing the
" machine," or engines, into a separate ship, and thus using
her as a tug-boat, instead of installing the engines on board
each vessel was because he beUeved the " machine " might
be thought cumbersome and take up too much room in a
vessel laden with cargo. But besides the advantage of having
a tow-boat always in readiness in any port, he suggested that
an old ship which was not able to go far abroad could well
be adapted for receiving this " machine."
" In some convenient part of the Tow-Boat," he explains,
" there is placed a Vessel about two-thirds full of Water, with
the Top close shut. This Vessel being kept boiling, rarefies
the Water into a Steam : this Steam being convey'd thro' a
large Pipe into a Cylindrical Vessel and there condens'd, makes
a Vacuum, which causes the weight of the Atmosphere to
press on this Vessel, and so presses down a Piston that is
fitted into this Cyhndrical Vessel in the same manner as

in Mr. Newcomen's Engine, with which he raises Water by
Fire."
('
It will thus be seen that Hulls was an adapter of Newcomen's
atmospherical engine to marine purposes rather than an
actual inventor of something new and unheard ofy But Hulls
seems to have anticipated this criticism, for he adds :
" if it
should be said that this is not a New Invention, because I

make use of the same Power to drive my Machine that others
have made use of to Drive theirs for other Purposes, I Answer,
The Application of this Power is no more than the Application
of any common and known Instrument used in Mechanism
for new-invented Purposes."
We have already noticed that the most which Newcomen
could get out of his engine was an up-and-down movement,
which was all very well for the purpose for which itwas intended,
namely, pumping up water, but before it was applicable for
propelling a ship thepower had to be adapted to give a rotary
motion. The accompanying illustration, which is taken from
Hulls' specification for his patent, and reproduced in the
booklet mentioned above, will afford some idea of his proposal.
In the lower half of the picture the " tow-boat " is seen in
imagination hauling an eighteenth century full-rigged ship, a
performance which in actual truth she never achieved. There
is, in fact, some doubt as to whether Hulls ever did put the
idea to a practical test. Admiral Preble, a distinguished
American Naval ofl&cer, in his " Chronological History of the
Origin and Development of Steam Navigation," published

in Philadelphia in 1883, a volume which contains a vast
amount of interesting detail up to that date, says that Hulls
did not produce a satisfactory experiment. Scott Russell,
one of the greatest authorities on such matters in the nine-
o -
teenth century, aflfirmed that Hulls did carry out his theory
in definite shape, and the recent " Dictionary of National
Biography " also states that at any rate he experimented
with a vessel on the River Avon in the neighbourhood of
Evesham in 1737. One thing is certain, that whatever merits
the proposition might have had in certain respects,, it was,
commercially, a complete failure. On the other hand, in
emmciating a method of converting the rectilineal motion
of the piston-rod into a rotary movement Hulls undoubtedly
showed the direction in which others were to foUow.
In the upper half of the illustration of Hulls' drawing,
beginning at the bottom right-hand comer, we see the details
of his " machine." P is the pipe which comes from the furnace
and brings the steam to Q, the cyUnder in which the steam
was also condensed. (This last remark is important to bear
in mind, as we shall see later to what extent this feature was
modified.) The point marked R is the valve which enables
the steam to be cut off from entering the cylinder whilst that
amount of steam which has already been allowed to go in is
being condensed. The other small pipe S conveys the cooling

water which condenses the steam in the cylinder, and T is
the cock which lets in the condensing water after the cylinder
is full of steam and the valve is shut. TJ is the rope which is
fixed to the piston that slides up and down the cyUnder, and
this is the same rope that goes round the wheel D in the machine
shown in the larger illustration.
In this latter picture, too, wherein the^ tow-boat is seen
steaming along, A denotes, of course, the cKiomey " coming
from the furnace," while B is the tow-boat and CC are the
two pieces of timber which are framed to support the machine.
It will be noticed that inboard are three wheels marked
respectively Da, D, and Db. These are on one axis and receive
the ropes as shown. Ha and Hb are two wheels also on the
same axis projecting beyond the stern, and the six fans or
paddles are marked /, which move alternately in such a
manner that when the wheels Da, D, and Db move backwards
or forwards they keep the fans or paddles in a direct motion.
When these three wheels Da, D, and Db move forward then
the rope Fb must move the wheel Hb forward, and so cause
the paddles to revolve in the same direction. So also the
rope Fa connects the wheel Ha to Da, and when the latter and
its two sister wheels revolve the wheel Da, then the wheel
Ha draws the rope F and raises the weight G (barely decipher-
able in the sketch to the left of Da), at the same time as the
wheel Hb brings the paddles forward.
Furthermore, when the weight G is raised while the wheels
Da, D
and Db are moving backwards, the rope Fa gives way
and the power of the weight G brings the wheel Ha forward
and the paddles with it : so that the latter always keep going
forward, notwithstanding that the three wheels Da, Z),«'and Db
move backwards and forwards as the piston moves up and
down in the cylinder. LL scarcely — recognisable owing to
the reduction of the sketch—indicate the teeth for a catch
to drop in from the axis, and are so contrived that they catch
in an alternate manner to cause the paddles to move always
forward, for the wheel Ha, by the power of the weight G, is
performing its work while the other wheel Hb goes back in

order to fetch another stroke. Hulls explains that the weight
G must contain but half the weight of the pillar of air pressure
on the piston, because the weight G is raised at the same time
as the wheel Hb is doing its duty, so that in effect there are
really two machines acting alternately by the weight of one
pillar of air of such a diameter as is the diameter of the

cylinder.
another crude idea for when the ship
Hulls expressed
was navigating " up in-land Rivers " and the bottom could
be reached. The paddles were then to be removed and
" cranks placed at the hindmost Axis to strike a Shaft to the
bottom of the River, which will drive the Vessel forward with
greater Force."
^Daniel Bernoulli, in the year 1753, proved on paper that
it was mathematically possible to use a steam engine for pro-
pelling ships, the medium being also wheels with vanes attached.
There were not wanting other theories and experiments also
in the eighteenth century which attained little or no success,
their defects arising sometimes through ; lack of sufficient
power to go against a stream, or tlirough some erroneous

principle. Of these we might mention especially the experi-
ment made in France by Perier, who, after devoting careful
consideration to the problem of the amount of power required,
and, after reckoning the necessary force likely to be essential,
by the number of horses which were required for drawing
along a boat from the towing-path, set to work in his own
manner. It happened that in the year ^1775, to which we
are now referring, there was on view in Paris a unique engine
which the now famous and ever memorable James Watt had
made. This aroused so much interest that it was decided
to hire a boat on the Seine and place therein a Watt machine
of one horse-power. Perier carried out his experiment, though
owing to the force of the current of the Seine, and the too
limited horse-power which the engine was capable of pro-
ducing, the result was a failure. But one of Perier's associates,
the IMarquis de Jouffroy, had also been excited by the advent
of this English engine which was an improvement on any-
thing that the world had yet seen, and he resolved to try for
himself to find some means of making a ship to go against
swift-running rivers independent of horse-towage. In spite
of the prejudice which was likely to be aroused in case he
should prove successful (for the owners of the monopoly
of the more primitive form of inland water transport would
not quietly consent to see their living taken away from
them), he set forth with considerable courage and an heroic
determination. Since it is doubtful whether these interesting
experiments would ever have been made had it not been for
the happy coincidence of Watt's engine becoming known
when it did, it is only right that we should first see some-
thing of the circumstances which combined to bring the
Englishman's work into such prominence, and then return to
follow de Jouffroy in his efforts.
( To James Watti notwithstanding that his work and ingenuity
were expended for the purpose of land engines, belongs the
honour of having removed the most harassing obstacles which
were delaying the full and entire possibiUty of the marine
steam engine} In the chain of discoveries which leads back
into early times, without whose cumulative effect he himself
would not have done what he did, James Watt comes imme-
diately next to Thomas Newcomen. Despised in his weak,
delicate boyhood by his companions, his is another instance
of the stone which the builders rejected becoming the head
xjomer-stone. Or, to put the proposition in another way,
'Watt absorbed all the existing good that there was in the
latest engineering knowledge, and advanced that several steps
further until it reached the goal of practicabiHty. ]
In the Newcomen engine there were several notable defects

which maired its usefulness, and it was not until these could
be improved upon that there could possibly be a future for
the steamboat. This tj'pe of " machine " was not closely
enough related to the work which it was called upon to per-
form. Its pre-eminent fault lay in the fact that the condensa-
tion took place_in_-±he--cylinder. This meant a considerable

waste, for after the latter had been made
by the admission
cool
of the cold water for condensing the steam, the cyUnder had
to be heated again before every upward stroke. Heat, in
fact, was literally thrown away. It was in the year 1764 that
Watt, while endeavouring to repair a model of one of these

Newcomen engines and to remedy its poor performance, was
struck by the inadequacy of its mechanism and reahsed that
some means should be found to ensure a greater economy of
steam. From his ingenious brain, therefore, came an improve-
ment.* He provided for the condensation to take place not
in the cylinder but in a separate condenser, in which a jet of
water was to spray, and finally the condensed steam, the

injected water, and the air which had also found its way in,
were to be drawn ofi by means of an air-pump. After a delay

of several years Watt was introduced to Matthew Boulton,
founder of the Soho Engineering Works, near Birmingham,
and in 1769 Watt's invention, embodjing the principle of
the separate condenser, was patented. Although he had worked
out his idea as far back as the year 1765, it was not till four
years after that he had the means to secure its protection.
In the specification for his patent Watt enunciated what is
appreciated as an essential doctrine to-day, that the walls of
the cylinder should be maintained at the same heat as the
steam which was about to enter into the cylinder. And he
proposed to bring about this improvement by adding an
external casing to the cylinder, leaving a space between the
casing and the outside of the cylinder itself and keeping always
in this space steam so as to preserve a high temperature.
But, as was mentioned on a previous page, the steam
engine at this date was not developed with a view to transport,
but for the convenience of pumping up water from mines.
As a result of Watt's success a considerable demand arose
among Cornish mine-owners for these engines made by Boulton
and Watt, who were now working in partnership together.
For the work of pumping, these machines continued to serve
admirably, so long as a vertical up-and-down motion was
required. At length Watt turned his mind to some method
of obtaining rotary movement from his engine, but in a manner
different from that in which Hulls had attempted to attain
his end. Watt had covered in the top of his cylinder to keep
out the cooling effect of the air, and his well-known beam
pumping engine was an improvement on Newcomen's, owing
to the simple fact that in economising steam it halved the
cost of fuel, and not even to-day are these old-fashioned engines
in disuse. As we shall see later on, the beam engine is very
much in evidence in some of the river steamships of the United
States, apart altogether from those beam engines which are
still worked for pumping in some parts of our own country.
With such satisfactory results to encourage him it was
inevitable that sooner or later so brilliant a schemer would
think out some means for rotary movement, and Watt's first
intention was to cause the beam (which was pushed up by

the rod joining the piston) to drive a fly-wheel by introducing
a crank in something of the same manner in which nowadays
the crank of a bicycle drives round the cog-wheel, the cyclist's
leg being, so to speak, the connecting rod which joins the
beam. But before Watt had a chance of getting legal pro-

tection for this method his §ecret was stolen by one of his
workmen, named JPickard, who revealed it to a Bristol man
of the name of Wasbrough, who was also in search of some
method of obtaining rotary motion. The latter, therefore,
having in 1780 obtained his patent by stealth. Watt was com-
pelled to cast about for some other means of attaining the
same end : but his fertile mind soon gave forth what was
required,and in the following year he patented what is known
as the " smi-and-planet " gear, which converted the vertical
movement into~a'7otar5^ Put in a few words, the working
of the engine was as follows : At the top was the straight
beam of wood ; from one side of this there hung vertically
a rod which connected with the piston in the cylinder, and
was thus made to go up and down as in the Newcomen engme.
It will be remembered that in Newcomen's machine, at the
opposite end of the beam was the other rod for pumping
the water. Now in Watt's rotary engine the piston-rod was
moved up and down as before, but the opposite rod, at the
other end of the beam, was connected with a spur-wheel having
cogs in it. There was also a large fly-wheel which had a similar
cog-wheel on its and thus, as the piston rod pushed
shaft,
up its end of the beam the opposite end of the beam was
lowered and its rod also. But through the arrangement of
the two cog-wheels the connecting rod caused the fly-wheel
to revolve, and at twice the rate at which it would have gone
round had Watt's original rod and crank idea been employed,
*'
for the planet " cog-wheel goes round in a circle but does not
revolve on its own axis. Some of his engines of this type were
so arranged that the speed of the fly-wheel shaft was not so
much greater than in the case where a crank was employed.
Thus, in this important adaptation of the vertical to the
rotary movement, we get the nucleus of the future steam-
boat engine, which was to turn the paddle-wheels round. But
Watt did not stop there. We have seen that whilst it was the
steam which pushed the piston and its rod upwards, it was
yet the pressure of the air and the weight of the parts which
caused the piston and rod to descend. Now, as we have seen,
Watt had already resolved to cover in the top of the cylinder
in order to keep out the air from cooling the latter. It was,
then, but a natural transition to utilise the steam not merely

for pushing the piston upwards, but also for sending the same
down after its ascent had been made. We thus get what is
the well-known double-action of the modern-^ reciprocating

engine, in which steam is employed from either side of the
piston alternatively, so that each stroke becomes a working
stroke and the power of the engine is doubled. It was Watt
who, as early as the year 1782, discovered the advantages
which were possessed by the expanditure of steam, but as
this does not enter into practical application just yet, we can
postpone the subject to a later chapter. We need only
emphasise the fact that the fly-wheel which is so familiar to
all of us was the invention of Watt, and it is perhaps scarcely
necessary to explain that the reason for the existence of this
wheel is in order that it may, at the beginning of the stroke,
when the engine is at its strongest, store up the surplus energy
and give it back towards the end of the stroke. It thus main-
tains an equal motion throughout the whole stroke given

forth by the piston and its rod.
The earliest marine steam engines were very much on
these lines, then, and were really a slightly modified form
of land engine. But, as we shall soon come to refer to the
more complicated type of engine, and to make use of other

terms, it may
not be out of place here to deal at once with
the expression " horse-power," which is used for the purpose
of indicating the force which an engine is capable of developing.
The origin of this expression is not without interest, and Sir
Frederick Bramwell, Bart., F.R.S., D.C.L., in his entertaining
articleon the life of Watt in the " Dictionary of National
Biography," points out that_Sayery, to whom we have referred,
was accustomed to calculate that where any machinery had
to be driven by means of a single horse, it would entail a stock
of three of these animals being kept, so that one should be
able always to be at work. Thus supposing that the power
exertedby six horses was necessary to drive a pump, and
Savery made an engine capable of doing the same work by
mechanical means, he would call it not a six horse -power
engine, but an eighteen horse-power. Watt, howêver, did
not credit his engine with the idle horses. He satisfied him-
self that an average horse could continue working for several
hours when exerting himself so as to raise one hundredweight
to a height of 196 feet in one minute, which is about equal
to lifting 22,000 pounds one foot high in the same time, as
the reader will findHby simple arithmetic. But in order that
no purchaser of his engines should have any ground for com-

plaint. Watt went one step better, and determined that each
horse-power of his engine should be capable of raising to a
height of one foot, in one minute, not 22,000 pounds, but
33,000 pounds, or half as much again. And so to-day when
we speak of an engine possessing such and such horse-power
we still mean that it is equivalent to such a power as would
raise 33,000 foot-pounds per minute. I make no apology for
dwelling to such an extent on this point, but since at least
one writer on steamships has seen fit to refer to this assess-
ment of horse-power as being entirely arbitrary, and to admit
in thesame paragraph that he was altogether ignorant as to
what power a horse was actually capable of producing, I have
thought it not inappropriate to make the point clear in the
mind of the reader.
Let us now cross the Channel again to France, and remem-
bering that Watt had patented and that
his engine in 1769
Perier, after seeing one of the Englishman's engines, had

installed one in his boat on the Seine in 1775, and failed in
his experiment, let us see the attempts at steamboat naviga-

tion continued by the Marquis de Jouffroy. Here again
writers have cast some doubt on the achievements accom-
plished by this distinguished Frenchman, but if we turn to
an interesting little book entitled " Une Decouverte en Franche-

Comte au XVIIIe si^cle. Application de la vapeur a la navi-
gation," by Le Mis. Sylvestre de Jouffroy D'Abbans (Besancon,
1881), we shall find the facts verified. Briefly, the story is
that in 1776 the Marquis, undismayed by Perier's failure,
obtained a Watt engine suitable for his boat, which was only
13 metres long, and in width 1 metre 91 centimetres, so that
she was quite a small craft. She was propelled by steam,
the revolving blades being 2 metres 60 centimetres in length
and suspended on each side of the ship near the bows. The
engine was placed in the middle of the boat and worked the
revolving blades by means of chains. This experiment took
place at Baume-les-Dames, though it does not appear to have
contributed much to the ultimate success of steam navigation.
But in 1781 this same Francois Dorothee, Comte de Jouffroy
D'Abbans, made a much bolder essay and built a far larger
steamboat, which measured 46 metres long, 5 metres wide,
l\}
ûigam^
OF THE
UNIVERSITY
OF
and had a draught of 1 metre. This steamship was tried at

Lyons on the Saone on July 15, 1783, not 1781 nor 1782, as
some writers have asserted. Her success was undoubted, for
she went against the stream from Lyons to the Isle of Barbe
several times, not in any secret manner, but in the presence
of 10,000 witnesses. There is no possible doubt, for the
interesting event was duly attested and, I believe, this declara-
tion exists still in Paris. The illustration here given has been
photographed from the pen-and-ink sketch which was copied
in the year 1830 by jVIr. R. Prosser from a French print that
was published in 1816, and was alleged to represent this
steamboat to which we are referring. But this illustration,
from the fact that it was issued so many years after the
occurrence,and also that it differs in some details as given
by French writers, should be regarded with caution. It shows
a boat whose paddle-wheels are turned by a single horizontal
steam cylinder, the piston -rod engaging the shaft of the paddle-
wheels by means of a ratchet arrangement which will be easily
recognised. But it is also affirmed that Jouffroy's vessel of
1783 had two cylinders, that the piston of each of these was
connected with an iron flexible chain, and that these revolved
the paddle-wheels. The latter were 14 feet in diameter and
the paddle-boards themselves were 6 feet wide. The two
cylinders were placed behind each other and communicated
with each other by means of a wide tube. The French Revo-
lution followed, in 1789, when the Marquis de Jouffroy, in
order to save his life, had to go into exile for some time, and
on his return, ere he was able to obtain a patent for his achieve-
ment, someone else had stepped in and forestalled him.
In the meantime, in England, something more practicable
than Hulls' efforts had brought about was to be witnessed.
If the reader will examine the illustration facing this page he
will see a model of a curious double-hulled ship, which was one
of eight or more paddle-propelled vessels that were employed
in the experiments carried out by Patrick Miller, a wealthy
Edinburgh banker. This particular vessel was built at Leith
in 1787, and it is amusing to see in her that old idea of physical
propulsion brought forward once more. Between the two

hulls sufficient space was left for the insertion of five paddle-
wheels, 7 feet in diameter, immediately behind each other,
which were driven by thirty men, heaving away at the capstan
placed on deck. We find pretty much the same speed to be
obtained as in the experiments which we have mentioned
in connection with other craft thus propelled, for the best
effort when all these hands were working to get her through
the water appears to have been under 4| knots per hour. In
our illustration she is seen with masts and sails which she
used when the paddle-wheels were lifted out of the water
and placed on deck. It will be noticed that she was steered
by a couple of rudders ; her displacement was 255 tons.
This probably represents the final development of Miller's
design using muscular power, but an earlier and smaller ship

belonging to the previous year carried only two paddle-wheels,
6 feet in diameter and 4 feet wide, which were placed on each
side of the middle hull, for this ship was not double- but
triple-hulled.
After spending some time in making these experiments

and realising the enormous amount of muscular power which
was needed, it was suggested to Miller by James Taylor, who
was tutor to his children and a personal friend of William
Symington, of Wanlockhead, that it would be far preferable
to employ steam power to drive the paddle-wheels; and the
PATRICK MILLER'S DOUBLE-HULLED PADDLE-BOAT.
From the Mode! in the Victoria and Albert Mtiseiiin.
SYMINGTON'S FIRST MARINE ENGINE.

From the Model in the Victoria and Albert Museum.
upshot was that Symington was commissioned to design a

suitable engine, which in October of 1788 was placed on one
deck of a double-hulled pleasure craft 25 feet long and 7 feet
wide, whilst the boiler was placed on the other deck. Thus
fitted, the strange little ship was tried on Dalswinton Loch,
Dumfriesshire, when she exhibited a speed of five knots per
hour, and afterwards seven knots. At the first attempt the
boards of the paddle-wheels were broken by concussion.
Symington's engine, however, was really of the atmospheric
pattern, with the addition of a separate condenser, and was
an infringement of Watt's patent. After but a few trials
the experiments accordingly had to be abandoned, although

^Miller afterwards got into communication with Boulton and
Watt, whom he endeavoured to interest in steam navigation,
but they decUned.
iVIiller next bought one of the boats used on the Forth
and Clyde Canal, and gave an order to the Carron Iron Works
to make a steam engine in accordance with Symington's plan.
On December 26, 1789, this vessel towed a heavy load seven
miles an hour, but was afterwards dismantled.
Sjonington's first engine is shown in the illustration facing
page 42, which is taken from a model in the South Kensington

3Iuseum, the original being in the Andersonian Museum,
Glasgow, and it will be useful for reference in case our des-
cription of Xewcomen's engine was lacking in clearness. As
will be noticed, there are two cylinders, each being open at
the top, and a piston working up and down inside. It will

be seen, too, that there are two paddle-wheels ; these were
placed in the ship fore and aft between the two hulls, and
not on either side as in our modem paddle-wheel steamers.
There were eight floats in each wheel, which were not
feathering, but fixed. Each piston was connected with a
drum by means of latter turning the drums
chains, the
alternately in opposite directions, and power was obtained
both from the upward and downward strokes. By means
of a ratchet arrangement, alternately engaging with pawls,
the paddle-wheel was made always to revolve in one direc-
tion. The engine was fitted with air pumps for the purpose
of which we have already dealt. In many ways it will be
seen that Symington's engine and gear resembled the method
proposed by Hulls.
But the same subject that was beginning to interest both
Frenchmen and Englishmen was also being studied with zest
in North America. In November of ^2Z'^4, at Richmond,
Virginia, James Rumsey had succeeded in making some
interesting experiments with a model boat propelled by steam
power, which boat was seen by George Washington. Rumsey
afterwards came over to England, and it is not without interest
to remark at this stage that one of the most frequent visitors
to him in his new home was that famous Robert Fulton, of
whom we shall speak presently. Mr. John H. Morrison, in
his " History of American Steam Navigation " (New York,
1903), alludes to John Fitch as the pioneer of American steam
navigation, but Fitch is known to have been very jealous of
Rumsey, and accused him of " coming pottering around " his
Virginian work-bench.
Fitch was the first man in America who successfully made
The date of this was July 27,
a paddle steamboat to go ahead.
1786, and the incident happened on the River Delaware./
According to Fitch's own description of his ship, which
was written in the same year as the vessel's trial, she
was just|â small skiff with paddles placed at the sides and
revolved by cranks worked by a steam engine. This latter

machine was similar to the recent improved European steam
engines —
^that is to say. Watt's —
but the American engine
was to some extent modified. It consisted of a horizontal
cylinder, in which the steam worked with equal force at either
end. Each vibration of the piston gave the axis forty revo-
lutions, and each revolution of the axis caused the twelve
oars or paddles to move perpendicularly, whose movements,

to quote Fitch's own words, " are represented by the stroke
of the paddle of the canoe. As six of the paddles \ix.y three
OUTLINE OF FITCH'S FIRST BOAT.
on each side], are raised from the water six more are entered."
In 1788, Fitch had another boat ready which was 60 feet long
and 8 feet wide, her paddles being placed at the stem and
driven by an engine which had a 12-inch cylinder. It was
this vessel which steamed from Philadelphia to Burlington,
a distance of twenty miles. He had another craft built
also
in the following year which was tried in December of
first
1789 at Philadelphia. This was something more than a mere

experiment, for the boat showed a speed of eight miles an
hour ;she afterwards ran regularly on the Delaware, and
during the summer of 1790 covered an aggregate of two or
three thousand miles. It is not to be wondered that Fitch
was mightily disappointed at the lack of faith which his share-
holders exhibited by retiring one by one, and finally he ended
his days by suicide. It would seem, indeed, that in giving
praise to Fulton, John Fitch has not always been credited
with his full deserts. Of his predecessors it may be said
generally that they had succeeded not so much as a whole,
but in regard to overcoming certain obstacles, and continuous
actions were being fought out in the American Courts for
some years which engaged Fulton until the time of his death.
It was not until the Supreme Court of the United States in
1824 decided adversely to Fulton's associates on the question

of exclusive right to steamboat navigation on the Hudson
that this new industry received its impetus and a large number
of steamships began to be built. But we are anticipating
and must return to the thread of our story.
In Scotland, which has been not inaccurately called the
cradle of the world's steamship enterprise, another interesting
experiment was to be witnessed early in 1802, where a vessel
named the Charlotte Dundas (of which an interesting model,
now in the South Kensington Museum, is here illustrated)
was to cause some pleasant surprise. This vessel was 56 feet

long and 18 feet wide she had a depth of 8 feet. As will be
;
seen from the illustration, she was fitted with a paddle-wheel

placed inside the hull, but at the stem. Her horizontal engine
was by Symington, and since most of the mechanism
also
was placed on deck, we are able to see from the model a good
deal of its working. It will be noticed that the cylinder is
placed abaft of the mast and that the piston-rod moved

on guides which can be just discerned in the photograph.
Attached to this is the connecting rod, which terminates at
the crank on the paddle shaft, an entirely different means
THE "CHARLOTTE DUNDAS."
From tlie Mo-1.:'. in the I'ictcria and A!'crt Muse:
THE "CLERMONT" IN 1S07.

From a Contemporary Drawing in the Victoria and Albert Museum.
of obtaining rotary motion as compared with the " sun-and-

planet " method which we saw adopted by Watt. As the steam
entered the cyUnder from the boiler it pushed the piston and
its rod horizontally and the connecting rod, being attached
;
thereto at one end, and to the crank at the other, the paddle-
wheel was made to revolve. Below the deck were the boiler,
the condenser and the air-pump. The two rudders were con-
trolled by means of the capstan-like wheel seen in the bows.
As here seen the paddle-wheel is open in order to show its

character, but as considerable spray would be cast up on
deck when the wheel was revolving it was covered over by
the semi-circular box, which is seen on the ground at the left
of the picture. This engine which Symington supplied to the

Charlotte Bundas was of a kind different from that which
he had previously fitted to Miller's double-hulled ship. For
by his own patent Symington superseded the old beam engine,
and obtained his rotary motion by couphng the piston-rod,
by means of a comifictiiig ro d, with the-crank.
This little craft is deserving of more than momentary
interest, for she marked an important advance and consider-
ably moulded the ideas of subsequent steamship inventors

or adapters. Hers was the first horizontal direct -acting engine
which was ever made, at any rate in this country, and in her
simple mechanism may be easily recognised the nucleus of

the engines in the modem paddle-wheel excursion steamer.^
She was built for Lord Dundas in 1801 as a steam tug-boat
to ply on the Forth and Clyde Canal. The year after she was
completed she towed for nearly twenty miles at a rate of
3j miles per hour two 70-ton vessels loaded, but just as bad
luck had followed the efforts of Papin, de Jouffroy and other
steamboat pioneers, so it was to be with the Charlotte Dundas.
Although she had so splendidly demonstrated her usefulness, yet
the wash from her paddle-wheel was such that the owners of
the canal feared for the serious amount of injury which might
be done to the canal-banks, and so the Charlotte Dundas was
laid up in a creek of the canal, and rotted out her years until
one day she was removed and buried in Grangemouth Harbour.

But we may look upon her with great respect as being one
of the parents of those two notable steamboats which were
to follow and set the seal of success finally on the steamship
proposition. I refer, of course, to the Clermont and the Comet.
^' And so we come to the name of Robert Fulton, whose
praises have recently been sung so loudly by his appreciative
fellow-countrymen. Born in the year 1765 at Little Britain,
Pennsylvania, of Irish descent, he left America in 1786 and
came to England, whence in 1797* he crossed over to France,
where he devoted himself assiduously to the production of
various inventions, which included, amongst others, a sub-
marine craft called a " plunging boat." Fulton's " good
fairy " was a fellow-countryman whom had

duties of office
also sent to settle in Paris. This Robert R. Livingston was
bom in New York City in the year 1746, and died in 1813.
A distinguished American politician and statesman, he was
appointed in 1801 as the United States Minister to France.
It happened that in his private capacity Chancellor Livingston
was keenly interested in mechanical matters, and the experi-

ments of Fitch and Rumsey had attracted his attention to
the question of steamboats. By an Act passed in 1798,
Livingston had been granted the exclusive right of navigating
all kinds of boats that were propelled by the force of fire or
• Mr. G. Raymond Fulton, the inventor's great grandson, however, gives the
date as 1796.
steam on all waters within the territory or jurisdiction of the
State of New York, for a term of twenty years, on condition
that within the ensuing twelve months he should produce such a
less than four m iles per hour.
boat as would go at a pace of not
Thereupon Livingston immediately had a 30-tonner built, but
her performance was disappointing, for she failed to come
up to the four-mile standard. It was soon after this that
he crossed to France and there came into contact with young
Fulton. To quote Livingston's own words, which he used
in describing the account of their business partnership, " they
formed that friendship and connexion with each other, to
which a similarity of pursuits generally gives birth."
The American Minister pointed out to Fulton the import-
ance which steamboats might one day occupy, informed him
of what had so far been accomplished in America, and advised
him to turn his mind to the subject. As a result a legal form
of agreement was drawn up between them, signed on October 10,
1802, and forthwith they embarked on their enterprise, Fulton
being allowed a fairly free hand in the preliminary experi-
ments which " would enable them to determine how far, in
spite of former failures, the object was attainable." Fulton
had a considerable knowledge of mechanics, both theoretical
and practical, and after trying various experiments on models
of his own invention he believed that he had evolved the right
principles on which the steamboat should be built. Some
of these experiments were carried on in the house of another
fellow-countryman, Joel Barlow, then sojourning in Paris.
A model 4 and 1 foot wide was used to ascertain
feet long
the best method to be employed whether by paddles, sculls,
:
endless chains or water-wheels, the power being obtained

temporarily by means of clockvrork. Finally, he decided on
having one wheeLateither side) but in order to convince them-
selves that what was true of a small model might also be
demonstrated in bigger craft, the two partners decided to
build a boat 70 French feet long, 8 French feet wide, and
3 French feet deep. Fulton states that they hired from
M. Perier a steam engine " of about 8 horses power." There
were two brothers of this name, and one of them had already
made an essay in the sphere of steam navigation, as we have
noted. Whether or not this borrowed engine was of the Watt
type I am not able to say, but since Perier had already possessed
one, and Fulton during the same summer in which his experi-
ment on the Seine took place got into communication with
Messrs. Boulton and Watt with a view of purchasing one of
their engines, it is by no means improbable that this was of
English make. On either side of the craft was placed a paddle-
or, as Fulton described it, a " water- " wheel, having a diameter
of about 12 feet. In an interesting article in The Century
Magazine for September and October of 1909, Mrs. Sutcliffe,
a great-granddaughter of Fulton, gathered together a number

of facts which have hitherto remained hidden away from the
eyes of the public, and published for the first time a complete
description of her ancestor's trial boat, taken from a docu-
ment prepared by Fulton eight years after the vessel was
ready for her experiment. In this statement Fulton strangely
enough remarks that the power from the engine was communi-
cated to the water-wheels " by mechanical combinations which
I do not recollect," but the drawing shown on page 51
will clearup this point. The arrangement of the boiler, the
cylinder, and the working parts sufficiently shows those
" mechanical combinations " which had slipped from Fulton's
memory during the following eventful and industrious years.

This boat which was used on the Seine was 70 feet long, 8 feet
wide, and drew very little water.
In January of 1803 Fulton, who had already been attracting
some attention in his adopted country by his submarine
experiments, decided to offer his steamboat to the French
Government and a Commission was appointed to inquire into
itsmerits. The illustration on this page is taken from Fulton's
FULTON'S DESIGN FOR A STEAMBOAT SUBMITTED TO THE COMMISSION

APPOINTED BY NAPOLEON IN 1803.
Front tht Original Dra-mring in tkt Coiistrvatoirt des Arts et Metiers, Paris.
own drawing of his projected steamboat submitted to this

Commission appointed by Napoleon, the original of which is
now preserved in the Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers, in Paris.

In his letter to the Commissioners, Fulton observes that his
original object in making this experiment was rather with a
view to the employment of steam tow-boats for use upon
the rivers of America, " where there are no roads suitable
for hauling," and " the cost of navigation by the aid of steam
would be put in comparison with the labour of men and not
with that of horses as in France." In fact, he suggests that
if his experiment should prove successful, it would be infinitely
less useful to France than to his native country, for he doubts

very much if a steamboat, however perfect it might be, would
be able to gain anything over horses for merchandise, " but
for passengers it is possible to gain something because of
the speed." Ultimately Napoleon's advisers counselled against
the adoption of Fulton's propositioij^-
However, by the spring of 1803, i:he boat was completed
and lying on the Seine in readiness for her trial trip. Fulton
spent a restless night, and we can well picture the feelings
of the man who had wrestled with calculations, worked out
theories, made little models, watched their behaviour in still
water, spent hours and days discussing the subject with his
friend Livingston, thought out every conceivable aspect,

allowed for obstacles, and now, at length, after watching the
child of his brain gradually take a concrete shape, waiting
sleeplessly for themorrow in which he was to have the chance
of living the great day of his life. Those of us who remember
ever to have looked forward with zest and suppressed excite-
ment to some new event in our lives likely to alter the trend
of future years can well sympathise with the emotions of this
clever young inventor, when, whilst eating his breakfast, a
messenger burst in and dramatically exclaimed to his horror :
" Please, sir, the boat has broken in two and gone to the
bottom " !
It was suggested in our introduction that it is usually the

case that an invention is no sooner bom than it is compelled,
while yet frail and infantile, to fight for its very exi§.tejice :
and it is curious that this should seem to be demanded not

merely as against the opposition of human obstinacy but

against sheer bad luck, which comes as a test of a man's sincerity
and of his faith in his own ideas. In the end, historically,
this calamity had no ill-effects, for it only spurred the enthu-
siast to greater and more perfect accomplishment. But
physically it cut short Fulton's life of usefulness. As soon
as the heart-breaking news was delivered to him, he rushed
off to the Seine and found that the intelligence was all too
true. For the next twenty-four hours he laboured assiduously,
not stopping for food or rest, ignoring the chilly waters of
the river, until his precious craft was raised from its watery
bed. Fulton never recovered entirely from these physical
trials following so suddenly on his years of mental work and
worry, and his lungs were permanently affected for the rest
of his But what he did recover and that no doubt was
life. —
to him more precious than his very life were the machinery —
and main fragments of the hull. The gale of the night before
had done more than wreck his ship it had taught him to
:
allow for one difficulty which he had overlooked, and it was

well that it had happened thus instead of later on, when loss
of life might have prejudiced the coming of the steamboat
even longer still.
For Fulton soon realised that he had made his hull in-
sufficie>r>tly strong for_the weight ofthe_machinery. ' This is
the truth of the incident, and not that jealous enemies had
maliciously sunk her, nor that Fulton had himself sent her
to the bottom through the lack of appreciation which Napoleon's
Commissioners were exhibiting. This is confirmed by an eye-
witness of the event, named Edward Church. But Fulton
soon set to work to get his ship built more strongly, and by
July of the same year she was ready for her trials. A
contemporary account, in describing the strange sight which was
witnessed on August 9,J:«08;-"s^ys that at six o'clock in the
evening, " aided by only three persons," the boat was set
in motion, " with two other boats attached behind it, and
for an hour and a half he [Fulton] produced the curious

spectacle of a boat moved by wheels, like a chariot, these
wheels being provided with paddles or flat plates, and being
moved by a The same account prophesies great

fire-engine."
things for the invention and that it will confer great benefits
on French internal navigation for, by this means, whereas
:
it then required four months for barges to be towed from
Nantes to Paris, the new method would cause them to do the

distance in ten or fifteen days. Very quaintly this account
speaks of the existence behind the paddle-wheels of "a kind
of large stove with a pipe, as if there were some kind of a small
"
fire-engine intended to operate the wheels of the boat !
These experiments were made in the vicinity of the Chaillot

Quay in the presence of many people, including Perier and
some of the leading Parisian savants, and the boat was found
to steam at a rate of 3£ miles per hour. It is therefore both
inaccurate and unjust to dismiss, as at least one writer has
done, Fulton's achievements on the Seine in one line by
referring to theni as unsuccessful and merely experimental.
True, this vessel did not show that amount of speed which
Fulton had hoped to get out of her, but she was very far from
being a failure. Fulton had left nothing to chance, and the
misfortune of the weakness of his first hull and the error in
the speed actually obtained were the results rather of inex-

perience than of carelessness. It is difficult to-day, when we
are in possession of so much valuable knowledge connected
with naval architecture and marine propulsion, to realise that
these early experimenters were feeling in the dark for an object

they had never seen. At one time Fulton had estimated that
a steamboat could be driven at a rate of sixteen to twenty-
four miles an hour, but he found that so much power was lost
in getting a purchase on the water that he altered his opinion

and put forward the speed of five or six miles as the utmost
limit which could be obtained by any boat using the best
engines then in existence.
Fulton had advanced with almost meticulous caution.
He had first collected together all the details that could be
got about contemporary experiments ; he had sifted the
theories of others and made use of the residue. He had often
talked with Rumsey while in England, and he had even accom-
panied Henry Bell to call on Symington, seen a trial trip of
the Charlotte Dundas, and incidentally obtained some valuable

information. Finally, after seemg what was good and what
was bad he had proceeded independently, and, after a stroke
of ill-luck, succeeded. He had knowledge of what others had
attempted in America, in England and in France, and emphati-
cally he was not the kind of man to deny his indebtedness
to what others had done before him. The ship which he
evolved was certainly in shape, proportions and general
appearance not unlike the model of that earlier craft whose
exploits on the Saone we considered on another page. The
Marquis de Jouflroy had sent this model to Paris as far back as
1783, the year of his successful enterprise at Lyons, or twenty
years before Fulton made his achievement, and it is most
improbable that Fulton, who endeavoured to see everything
which bore on his pet subject, living several years in Paris,
should not have carefully studied this. Furthermore, Fulton's
boat was constructed in the workshop and under the very
eyes of that Perier who had been associated with the Marquis
in navigating the Seine by steamboat, and from this same
Perier, as already stated, the engine was borrowed for Fulton's
boat. Fulton also personally considered the patent which
Desblanc, forestalling Jouffroy, had obtained, and the American
had described his impressions of Desblanc's idea in no praise-
worthy terms, for he saw that at least two-thirds of the latter's
steam power would be lost. Fulton worked his plans out to
the minutest details Desblanc had left his theory too scantily
:
clothed with facts. He had not found the proportion which

his paddles should bear to the bow of his boat, nor the velocity
at which they should run in proportion to the velocity at which
the boat was intended to go. Very scathing is the American's
denunciation of this haphazard method. " For this invention
to be rendered useful," wrote Fulton, " does not consist in

putting oars, paddles, wheels or resisting chains in motion by
a steam engine —but it consists in showing in a clear and
distinctmanner that it is desired to drive a boat precisely
—
any given number of miles an hour ^what must be the size
of the cvlinder and velocity of the piston^? All these things
)
being governed by the laws of Nature, the real Invention is

to find them."
Fulton believed that previous failures were due not so
much to a defective steam engine, as to the wrong methods
employed in applying the^steam power thus generated. He
Rumsey's method oTÔpirfltng^ a" ship by forcing
criticised
water through the stern (in a manner similar to that which

John Allen and Fitch had suggested) as the worst method of
all. Ten years before his Seine success Fulton had been in
communication with the Earl of Stanhope, who in 1790 had

patented a means of propelling a ship in a strange way. This
STEAMSHIPS AN STORY 57
consisted in using a JuMWtîc arrangement resembling a duck's

foot, placed* dn* eitnerjBp^. These feet opened and shut like
umbrellas and could send the ship along at three miles an

hour. Fulton, then staying at Torquay, wrote to Lord Stanhope
FULTONS FIRST PLANS FOR STEAM NAVIGATION

From tlu Drawings in possession of the Rt. Hon, the Earl 0/ Stankoff.
and proposed the use of paddle-wheels, but the noble earl

would not listen to the suggestion. A similar freak idea
was also put into practice in North America in 1792 by one
Elijah Ormsbee.
The illustrations on this page represent Fulton's first plans
-

for steam navigation. They were sent by him to Lord Stanhope
in the year 1793 and are here reproduced from a copy, by kind
permission of the present earl. In his letter descriptive of
these ideas Fulton shows the upper part of this illustration,
marked No. 1, to be an attempt to imitate the spring in the
tail of a salmon. Amidships will be noticed an object resembhng
a bow such as one usually associates with arrows. This bow
was to be wound up by the steam engine, and the collected
force attached to the end of the paddle, shown in the stem of
the boat, would urge the ship ahead. But the sketch of a
ship in the lower part of the picture marked No. 2 represents
the model at which he was then working. It will be noticed
that she has something of the characteristic stem which was
so marked a feature of the sailing ships of this period and
had been inherited from the Dutch of the seventeenth century,
and is still traceable in the design of the modem royal steam
yachts in England, as wiU be seen by a comparison with the
illustration of the Alexandra. In referring to this No. 2, Fulton
points out that he had found that three or six paddles answered
better than any other number, since they do not counteract
each other. By being hung a little above the water there
is allowed a short space from the delivery of one paddle to
the entrance of the other, and, also, the paddle enters the water
more perpendicularly the dotted ; lines show its situation when
it enters and when it is covered. In the smaller illustration.
No. 3, he emphasises the importance of arranging the paddle
blades still further. Thus the paddles A, B, C, and D strike the
water almost flat and rise in the same situation, whilst that
paddle marked E is the only one that pulls, the others acting
against it. Whilst E is sending the ship ahead, '"'' B.A. is
pressing her into the water and CD. is pulling her out, but
remove aU the paddles except E and she moves on in a direct

line.*' Finally, he concludes his letter with an explanation
that the perpendicular triangular paddles are supposed to be
placed in a cast-iron wheel " which should ever hang above
the water " and would answer as a "fly and brace to the
perpendicular oars " ; and with rârd to the design of the
**
steamship, he says : I have been of opinion that they should
be long, narrow and flatat_bottom, with a broad keel as a
flat Vessel will not occupy so much space in the water : it
consequently has not so much resistance."

Desblanc had, like the Earl of Stanhope and Elijah Ormsbee,
experimented with the duck's foot idea, but had also met with
failure. Fulton carefully went into the consideration of its
merits before trying his Seine boat, but deemed it to be un-

suitable. Whatever advantages this method might have
possessed, the action of the duck's foot caused far too great
resistance, since after making the propelling stroke it returned
through the water before being ready for the following stroke ;
whereas in the case of the revolving paddles or oars on wheels

their return is made through air. Thus the resistance is con-
siderably less.
But all this time Fulton had his native country in mind
and not so much the advantages that might accrue to the
land in which he had made his experiments. It was the Hudson,
not the Seine, which he longed to conquer by steam, and the
title-page of his note-book, dated more than a year prior to
the events on the Seine, in which he drew a prophetical sketch
of a steamboat travelling from New York to Albany in twelve
hours, eminently confirms this. Therefore, we find him
immediately writing to Messrs. Boulton and Watt from Paris,
asking them to make for him " a cylinder of 24 horse-power
6o STEAMSHIPS AND THEIR STORY
double effect, the piston making a four-foot stroke " ; also
he wants them to manufacture a piston and piston-rod, valves,
condenser, air-pump, and so on. It is perfectly clear that
Fulton had but limited knowledge of the amount of power
which an engine could develop. His ability consisted rather
in knowing how best to apply that power. Thus he asks in
his letter :
"
What must be the size of the boiler for such an
engine ? How much space for water and how much for the
steam ? How many pounds of coal will such an engine require

per hour ? " and so on. At first Boulton and Watt had to
decline the order, since they were unable to obtain permission
to get the engine into America. Finally, after paying £548
in purchase, it was not imtil March of 1 805. or most of two

years after receiving the order, that Boulton and Watt received
permission to ship the engine to America. FultoiThad crossed
from France to England in 1803, and in the autumn of 1806
left by a Falmouth packet for his native land. Writing to-day,

when the Mauretania and Lusitania are still making their
wonderful records for fast voyages between the two countries,
little more than a hundred years after Fulton had given the
inspiration to marine engineering, it is no small contrast that

the ship which carried him from England to America took
no less than two months on the way. But the same winter
he set to work immediately after his return to build that ever-
famous Clermont, so called as a courteous acknowledgment of
the hospitality he had enjoyed at Livingston's country place
of that name on the banks of the Hudson. From an agree-
ment which had already been made in Paris, dated October 10,
1802, between Livingston and himself, Fulton had jointly
contracted to make an attempt to build such a steamboat
as would be able to navigate the Hudson between New York
STEAMSHIPS AND THEIR STORY 6r
and Albany. She was to be of a length not exceeding 120 feet,
width 8 feet, and was not to draw more than 15 inches of water.
" Such a boat shall be calculated on the experiments already
made, with a view to run 8 miles an hour in stagnate water
and carry at least 60 passengers allowing 200 pounds weight
to each passenger." After the engine had at last arrived
in New York it remained for six months at the New York
Custom House, waiting, it is said, until Fulton was able to
raise enough money to pay the duties. But as Mrs. Sutcliffe
has pointed out in her article on Fulton to which reference
has already been made, and to which also I am indebted for
many interesting facts then for the first time made public, it
is possible that the delay arose because the boat was not yet
ready to receive her machinery. Fulton had rich friends who
were interested in his work, so that I think the latter is the
more probable reason for the delay.
And here, as we step from out of the realm of theories
and suggestions into a realm of almost uninterrupted success,
we may bring this chapter to a close. But before doing so
let us not lose sight of that important fact on which I have
already insisted — viz. that when steamboat success did
eventually come, it was the happy fortune of no single indi-
vidual, but an achievement in which many -men, long since

dead and gone, took part. It was the work of centuries and
not of a year or two to bring about this marvellous means
of transport. Hero, the ancient Romans, Blasco de Garray,
Besson, Solomon de Caus, the Marquis of Worcester, Papin,
Savery, Hulls, Watt, Perier, de Jouffroy, Miller, Symington,
Taylor, Fitch, Stanhope, Desblanc, Livingston, Rumsey and
others had all assisted in bringing this about, sometimes by
their success, sometimes also by their failures. \'VTien next
we step aboard even the most ill-found excursion steamer or
the grimiest and most antiquated tug-boat, more when
still
we lie peacefully in the safety and luxury of a great modern

liner, let us not forget that none of this would have been
possible but for centuries of work and discovery, years of
patient experiment and costly efforts, much disappointment,
and considerable anxiety and abuse.
CHAPTER III
THE EARLY PASSENGER STEAMSHIPS

Robert Fulton was not the first to attempt steam naviga-
tion on the Hudson, and we have already givên instances of
the experiments made in the New World ; but between the

time of his success in Paris and his return to America, although
others had failed before, experiments still went on. Thus,
in the year 1804, John Stevens, whose mterest in the steam
propulsion of ships had been aroused by watching Fitch's
endeavours, decided to see what he could do. So by the month
of May he had constructed a steamboat which succeeded in
crossing the Hudson from Hoboken to New York, being pro-
pelled by a wheel placed at the stem, driven by a rotary engine.
In the same month also Robert L. Stevens crossed from the
Battery, New York, to Hoboken in a steamboat fitted with
tubular boilers, which were the first of their kind ever to be
made. The machinery was designed by Stevens himself in
his own workshop, and it is important to add that this vessel
was propelled not by a paddle-wheel but by a double screw,
five feet in diameter, with four blades set at an angle of 35^,
Thus it was that three years before Fulton's Clermont

came on to the scene with her paddle-wheels, Stevens had
already shown the way with screws. But this success was
rather momentary than permanent a mere flash, though
:
startling in its brilliancy. Immediately after his return to

America, Fulton had set to work to build the Clermont, having
63
to endure in the meanwhile the scofiings and even threats
of the incredulous, which necessitated the ship being pro-
tected night and day before she was quite ready for service.
In addition to the main parts of the engines which had arrived
from Boulton and Watt, there was much to be done before
the combination of hull and parts could produce a steamboat.
In the meantime funds had been drained somewhat extensively.
FULTON'S DESIGN OF ORIGINAL APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING THE

RESISTANCE OF PADDLES FOR THE PROPULSION OF THE CLERMONT,
DATED 1806.
From the Original in the possession of the New Jersey Historical Society,
and an offer was made to John Stevens, to whom we have

just referred, to come in as a partner. The latter happened
to be a brother-in-law of Livingston, Fulton's patron, but
the suggestion was declined. In the end the money, amounting
to a thousand dollars, was found elsewhere, and the Clermont
was completed. We know on Fulton's own authority that she
measured 150 feet in length, was 13 feet wide, and drew 2 feet
of water, so that the original dimensions, as given in the agree-

ment which we mentioned as having been made between
Livingston and Fulton, were exceeded. She displaced 100 tons

of water, her bottom being built of yellow pine 1| inches thick,
tongued and grooved, and set together with white lead. The
floors at either end were of oak.
Before leaving England in 1806, Fulton had already made
a set of drawings embodj'ing his ideas with regard to the forth-
coming Clermont. And was he for their safety,
so zealous
that before lea\'ing by the October Falmouth packet he had
these carefully placed in a tin cylinder, sealed and left in the
care of a General Lyman, with instructions that it was not
to be opened unless he went down during the crossing of the
Atlantic. But if he reached America safely these were to be
sent across to him in one of the vessels leaving about the
following April, "when
the risk will be inconsiderable." The
illustration on page 64 represents " Plate the First," giving
Fulton's design of an apparatus for finding the resistance of

paddles for the propulsion of the Clermont. Jn this he demon-
strated the impropriety of making small paddles for a large
boat. Briefly we may explain it by remarking that Fulton was
pro\'ing that the paddles in the water should present, if possible,
more surface than the bow of the boat, and that careful calcula-
tion must be reckoned so as to avoid wastage of power by not
making due allowance for the resistance of the ship as she
goes through the water. In Fulton's time the relation of the
water to the moving ship had not been accurately defined,
and for that matter has not been finally settled to-day, although,
thanks to the patient and valuable experiments of the late

W. Froude and of his son. Dr. Robert Edmund
Scott Russell,
Froude, we have now considerable knowledge on the subject,
which has bome practical fruit in the design of the hulls of
modem ships. To-day experiments are still going on in
specially-fitted tanks in different parts of England, America
and Germany. At the moment of writing a special launch
is being built at Marblehead, U.S.A., for purely experi-
mental purposes under the direction of Professor Peabody,
since the conditions which prevail in tanks using small models
are not thought to be wholly trustworthy. The problems to
be considered will embrace the number of propellers which
give the best speed ; they will be tried in all sorts of positions,
and an endeavour will be made to ascertain the relation
of the resistance of the boat to the force generated by the
engines inside, and the effectiveness which the combination
of hull and boat produce. Every motor-boat owner to-day
knows very well that there is a good deal of difference some-
times between the calculations of the theorist in regard to the
propeller and the knowledge which comes by actual use.
Many volume will no doubt have often
of the readers of this
been struck by the enormous rate of speed which a porpoise
exhibits as he goes through the water. Those who spend
their time crossing the ocean are familiar with the sight of
these creatures saucily playing about the bows of a fast liner
as she goes tearing through the water. It has been calculated
that would require no less than 15 horse-power to obtain
it
the twenty miles an hour at which these animals can travel

for long periods at a time. The explanation is that in their
skins there is a wonderful system of glands, which exude oil
and so minimise the influence of skin-friction. Remembering

this, mechanical attempts have even been made quite recently
to obtain a steel plate which would allow the oil to exude

under pressure from the inside of the vessel's bows.
Possibly, nowadays, every engineer has his own formula
for determining the amount of horse-power essential for a
given speed. All sorts of sliding scales and devices have been
invented for this purpose, and the ideal shape of the modem
propeller has still to be ascertained. It is a well-known fact
that when a vessel moves through the sea she sets the water
itself in motion, so that some of it actually travels with the
ship ; but Naval Constructor D. W. Taylor, of the United
States Navy, found by experiment in 1908 that when a ship
progresses the flow of the water is down forward, and then
it passes under the ship, coming up again aft. Practically we

can sum up the resistance which a ship has to encounter
under three heads. First of all, there is the skin resistance
already mentioned, which, of course, varies with the amount
of wetted surface. Then after the ship has passed through
the water there ensues an i mpejling eddy at the stern,
as the reader must often have observed. Finally, there is
the resistance caused by wave-making, which for vessels pro-

pelled at high speeds is an important consideration, but varies
according to the design of the ship and her pace.
We have digressed somewhat from our inmiediate historical
continuity, because not merely is it essential to appreciate
some of the difficulties which the ship-man of to-day has to
encounter, but in order to show that, though Fulton was
very far from comprehending all the details of the relations
between resistance and hull which recent experiments alone
are determining, yet he was working on right lines, and with
a certainty of aim that was positively unique for the beginning
of the nineteenth century. Reverting, then, to the illustration
on page 64, he explains in his footnote that a nice calculation
must be made on the velocities of the wheels which drive the
paddle-wheels, whilst the same regard must also be had for
the rate at which the paddle-wheels and the boat herself are
to move. Thus, he says, supposing a boat is calculated to run
at the rate of four miles an hour, the paddles and bow pre-
senting equal surfaces in the water, then the circumference
of the wheel must run eight miles an hour, of which four strike
water back equal to the water divided by the boat, the other
four miles, so to speak, overtaking the boat. But, he adds,
if the paddles were made twice as large the engine would
stand still. In the illustration, much of which has necessarily
suffered through having to be reduced, we see an arrange-
ment of pulleys and lines, and a weight. To the left of the
diagram, A represents the boat which is to be propelled through
the water, while B, shown at the extreme right of the illustra-
tion, is the paddle which is to send the ship along. Both
present a flat front of four feet to the water. By the known
would require twelve pounds
resistance, Fulton argued, each
to draw each one mile per hour, so that if the pulley and
weight marked C weighed 24 pounds, and descended to where
it marked " No. 1," then the boat A would be drawn
is
to the point marked 2 (seen just to the right of it) and the
paddle would be drawn to that spot marked 3, each moving
through equal spaces in equal times, twelve of the 24 pounds
being consumed by the boat and twelve by the paddles.
Thus half of the power is actually consumed by the paddles.
Next, he says, suppose that the flat front of the paddle is
reduced to one foot while the boat still remains four. " The
paddle being one -fourth the size of the boat must move 2 miles
an hour to create a resistance for the boat to move one mile
in the same time." Finally, as we said, he concludes that
the paddles acting in the water should, if possible, present
more surface than the bow of the boat, and power will thus
be saved.
Practically no part of the Clerm ont was an invention of
Fultoft: was the manner of emplo ying these parts scienti-

it
fically that brought him his success. He was able, too, to dis-
tribute his weights so well that not only was the wooden hull
able to sustain them, but the vessel floated on an even keel
and was not inflicted with a list either one side or the other.
To have done this in those early days of steamship building
was rather more important an achievement than the average
reader may imagine, but any naval architect and shipbuilder
will readily grant it. The Clermonfs boiler was set in masonry,
while her condenser stood in a large cold-water cistern.
Fulton threw the whole of his enthusiasm into his work, and
when, in the early part of the year 1807, he was invited by the
President of the United States to examine the ground and
report on the possibility of making a canal to join the Mississippi
and Lake Pontchartrain, the inventor, writing on the 20th of
March, had to decUne the invitation for, says he, " I have
now Ship Builders, Blacksmiths and Carpenters occupied at
New York in building and executing the machinery of my
Steam Boat."
In May, i^Q9, four fohos containing Fulton's original
—
drawings for his first Clermont she was afterwards much
—
altered were discovered, and a well-known American naval
architect was able to draw out the plans from which the replica
of the Clermont was built for the Hudson-Fulton commemora-
tion, which took place from September 25 to October 3, 1909.
On August 9, 1807, exactly four years to the. day since that
memorable sight was witnessed on the Seine, the Clermont
was first tried, and Fulton found that his ship was able to
" beat all the sloops that were endeavouring to stem tide
with the slight breeze which they had." Eight days later
C-0
fdt
she began her memorable voyage on the Hudson, one of the
most historic incidents in the history of the steamship. At
first the Clermont went ahead for a short distance and then
stopped, but as soon as Fulton had been below and examined
the machinery, and put right some slight maladjustment, she
went ahead slowly. The illustration facing page 46 is from
a contemporary drawing South Kensington Museum,
in the
and should be compared with that here facing, which is from

a photograph taken in the autumn of 1909 of the reconstructed
Clermont, built for the Hudson-Fulton celebrations. If we have
the last -mentioned picture in our minds we can easily imagine
that memorable day when, with about forty guests on board,
she set forth. The realistic photograph here given shows
about fifty or sixty people aboard, so that we can gain some
idea as to what amount of deck space was available with
so many persons crowding on her. But few believed that
she would succeed in achieving what she did. The crews of
passing vessels, as she went gaily up this gloriously fascinating
river between its hilly banks, could not understand the monster
belching forth sparks from its pine -wood fuel, advancing
steadily without sails in spite of wind or tide. Some abandoned
their ships and fled to the woods in terror, others knelt down
and said their prayers that they might be delivered from so
unholy a creature. As we look down on her decks we can see
her under the charge of a paid skipper, with Fulton, handsome,
but anxious both as to his success and the lives of his guests,
on board. Some prophesied that she would blow up, and

none thought she would ever reach her destination. Those
who are familiar with the characteristics of the crews of the
modem steamship will learn with a smile that, of course, her
chief engineer was a Scotsman, the first of that long line of
i i
THE RECONSTRUCTED "CLERMONT' AT THE HUDSON-FULTON

CELEBRATIONS, 1909.
Photographs : Topical.
PADDLE-WHEEL OF THE RECONSTRUCTED "CLERMONT."
OF
men whom Kipling and others have commemo-

serious-faced
rated in "Mc Andrew's Hymn " and the hke. Leaving New
York on Monday at one o'clock, the ship arrived at Clermont,
Livingston's seat, exactly twenty-four hours later, having
S^-Jtra veiled 110 miles, which is about the distance that an ordinary
sailing coaster nowadays covers in the same time on the sea.
Among those on board was an Englishman, the then Dean
of Ripon, though the sentimental may find perhaps a fitting
sequel to the first stage of the voyage, when, before the ship
had yet anchored ofi Clermont, an announcement was made
that Fulton had become betrothed to another passenger.
Miss Harriet Livingston, niece of that other Livingston with
whom Fulton had been so closely associated in his first steam-
boat efforts. It was, in fact, this same statesman who, in
making the announcement, also prophesied that before the
close of the nineteenth century vessels having no other motive
power than steam might be able even to make the voyage
to Europe. The ensuing chapters of this book will show how
speedily and with what quickly succeeding changes this possi-
bility was to be realised.'
We need not weary the reader with the details of this first
voyage. It is sufficient to state that the Clermont proceeded

to Albany, covering the remaining forty miles in eight hours,
having made the whole trip of 150 miles in thirty-two hours,
at an average of nearly five miles an hour.The return journey
to New York was made in two hours less. If we look at these
two pictures of the Clermont, old and modern, we shall see
that she was an odd, clumsy craft. Her machinery creaked
and groaned as if protesting against the new service to which
it was being subjected. She was fitted with a yard and
square-sail on the fore-, and a spanker on her main-mast, but
during the journey to Albany and back the wind was pontrary.
" I had a Hght breeze against me," wrote Fulton, " the whole
way, both going and coming, and the voyage has been per-
formed wholly by the power of steam. I overtook many
sloops and schooners, beating to the windward, and parted
with them as if they had been at anchor. The power of pro-
pelling boats by steam is now fully proved." The sails, how-
ever, were retained for use on future occasions when a favour-
able wind might accelerate the Clermonfs speed.
If the reader will look at the illustration facing page 70, he
will be able to obtain an excellent idea of the vessel's paddle-
wheels. Here is shown the port side of the replica of the
Clermont. be noticed that the fly-wheels were hung
It will
outside the ship and just in front of the " water-wheels."

These " water-wheels " were always getting and
smashed,
on one occasion, when both of them had been carried away,
the engineer made use of the fly-wheels by attaching small
paddle-boards to the rims, and so the voyage was completed
without much loss of time. Local skippers treated the
Clermont in pretty much the same spirit as Papin's poor ship
had been welcomed by the local watermen, and the Hudson
sailing-masters took a malicious delight in running foul of
her whenever they thought they had the law on their side.
It is not, therefore, surprising to find that Fulton, in writing
to Captain Brink, whomhe put in charge of her, commands

him " run no any kind when you meet or overtake
risques of
vessels beating or crossing your way, always run under their
stern if there be the least doubt that you cannot clear their
head by 50 yards or more." But it was no exceptional
occurrence for the Clermont to come limping home with only
one of her paddle-wheels working. The circumference of
these was in each case an iron rim of about four inches, and
a contemporary says they ran just clear of the water, as will
be seen from the illustration, the wheels being supported,
it will be noticed, by the shaft coming out through the hull.
The boat was decked forward, and the stem was roughly
fitted up for the accommodation of passengers, the entrance
to which was from aft, just in front of the steersman, who

worked a tiller. This was afterwards supplanted by a wheel,
placed near the main-mast, which connected with the rudder
by means of ropes. Steam hissed from every valve and crevice ;
there was no steam-whistle, but warning of the boat's arrival

at a wharf was given by sounding a horn. After her first
voyage, when it was decided to put her into commission as a

regular passenger craft, she was somewhat modified. Thus,
her " boiler works," which had been open, were decked over,
each cabin was fitted with twelve berths, and many parts of
the ship were strengthened with iron work. There was clearly
a future for the steamboat commercially, not merely " because
of the certainty and agreeable movements " of Fulton's ship,
but whereas the average passage of the sailing packet to
Albany took forty-eight hours, the Clermont had done the
distance in eighteen hours less. She ran so successfully that
at the end of her first season she cleared 5 per cent, on the
capital which had been expended on her.
It will be seen from the illustrations of the boat that the
Clermont had no bowsprit, and, also, that in one her paddle-
boxes are shown, whereas in the other two they do not appear.
The explanation is that originally the wheels were uncovered,
but as it was found that the wheels were likely to become
entangled with ropes, and also to annoy passengers by splashing
water on deck, they were covered in. It will also be noticed
from the older illustration that Fulton had guards put round
the paddles as a protection against the inimical sailing ships,
and also to prevent damage when coming alongside a wharf.
Steps from the stem end of these guards were added for con-
venience in discharging and embarking passengers from rowing
boats. There is also existent a record by Fulton in which
he even mentions that he had so placed the masts that the
awning seen in the earlier illustration could be spread for
the comfort of the passengers. He also claims that he was
*'
the first who has so arranged the rudder of his Steamboat
as that the pilot may standjneaT the centre of the boat and
near the engineer to give h,im-t>rders when to stop or put the
engine in motion." ,_.—
With regard to the engines of the Clermont, Fulton claimed
to have been the first to use triaBg»4ac~Jbeams in the body of
his boat " to communicate the power from the piston rod
to the Water wheels," and work his air-pump. But if the
reader will turn back to the illustration on page 51, he will
find that the triangular beam was also employed in the engines
of his first steamboat on the Seine. During the winter of
1807-8 the Clermont was altered very considerably, so that her

name was changed to that of the ISorth River. Writing to
Livingston on November 20th, Fulton suggests that a new hull
be built so as to become nearly twice as stiff as she was origin-
ally, that she should carry much more sail, have a new boiler
knees and timbers, new cabins and other

installed, additional
improvements. Under her new name this re-built craft ran

regularly to Albany and back at a single fare of seven dollars
a head. On her forestay she carried a fore-sail, and besides
her other courses on her fore-mast she even had stun's'ls at
times, a mizen with a gaff main-sail being stepped as before.
There was a ladies' cabin containing six upper and four lower
-berths. The engine was one of Boulton and Watt's, having
a cylinder whose piston was 2 feet in diameter. On the top
was a cross-head made of iron which was slid
of the piston
up and down between guides on the " gallows- frames," that
FULTON'S PRELIMINARY STUDY FOR THE ENGINE OF THE CLERMONT

From tht Original in the pcisesnon of the New jfersey Historical Society,
reached from the bottom of the vessel to 12 feet above the

deck. This will be clearly seen in the second illustration of the
reconstructed Clermont facing page 70. The " gallows-frames "
are just to the left of the funnel, and the cross-head can be
discerned sliding up and down the iron guides. By com-
paring this with the above diagram, a very fair idea will be
obtainable of the working of this portion of her mechanism.
The optimists had prophesied correctly the steamboat :
had come to stay. So soon as Fulton had shown the way,

and during the eight years which ensued between the com-
pletion of the Clermont in 1807 and Fulton's death in 1815,
no fewer than seventeen craft of various kinds were built by
him, including the first steani frigate, and the first steam
ferry-boats. Among the number of this fleet were the The
Car of Neptune, launched in 1808, the Paragon in 1811, the
Fire Fly of 1812, and the Richmond of 1814. Fulton had,
from the first, as we saw when he wrote to Napoleon's Com-
missioners, the idea of opening up the Mississippi and other
North American rivers by means of steamships, and no sooner
had he got the Clermont to work satisfactorily than he ^vrote :
" Whatever may be the fate of steamboats for the Hudson,

everything is completely proved for the Mississippi, and the
object is immense." When one considers that it was Fulton
who introduced practical steam navigation, not only to the
Hudson but to the other great rivers of North America, and
that the Clermont was the historic embodiment of his thoughts,
it seems a pity that no one has been able to trace the where-
abouts of this epoch-making craft. She has vanished ; and
was either broken up or disguised beyond recognition.
We mentioned at an earlier stage the names of John and

R. L. Stevens, who had interested themselves in steamboat
experiments. Just about the time that the Clermont was
ready for her life's work these two men had built another
steamship, called the Phoenix. Originally intended for the

Hudson River, since now the Clermont's success had obtained
for Livingston and Fulton the monopoly of the steam navi-
gation thereon, the two Stevenses decided to send their craft
to the Delaware River. They therefore took her round to
STEAMSHIPS AND THEIR STORY ^^
Philadelphia by sea in Jurie^809, one of the owners being

in command. She arrived quite safely, and for several years
plied profitably on the Delaware. This is important as being

the first occasion_inL historjijwh^nthe steamship took to the
sea, for it was not until the James Watt achieved her distinc-
tion in 1811 that a British ship had shown her full confidence
FULTON'S PLANS OF A LATER STEAMBOAT THAN THE CLERMONT-NORTH

RIVER. SHOWING APPLICATION OF THE SQUARE SIDE-CONNECTING-ROD
ENGINE.
Front the Original in the possession of the Nciu jfersey Historical Society.
in steam. Impelled by the impetus which had been given by

Fulton and Stevens, the North American continent, with its
vast extent of waterways, quickly realised the possibilities
of the steamboat, so that in the next decade this novel type

of craft became familiar in many parts.
No apology is needed to the reader for having taken up
so much of his attention in witnessing the growth of the steam-
ship both on the Seine and the Hudson, for the importance
of these rivers in the history of our subject is anything but
insignificant. But let us turn now to see what was being
done in Great Britain, where a kind of slump, or rather inertia,
had been prevalent in regard to the steamship ever since the
Charlotte Dundas had been laid aside. We must cast our
eyes in the direction of the Clyde, where Henry Bell had
interested himself in the steamboat~pfiobTem^ Tiike^thers
before him, he had begun his experiments at first with hand-
driven paddle-wheels, but itwas not long before the inevitable
conclusion was thrust on him that the power ought to be
derived not from human force, but from steam. It was he
who had talked the matter over with Fulton, and had actually
accompanied the latter when a visit was paid to Symington
and the two men witnessed a trial trip of the Charlotte Dundas.
Bell was a simple, uneducated man, the proprietor of an hotel
at Helensburgh, on the Clyde, where he also conducted a
bathing establishment, and at one time possessed an engine
which was in use at his hotel for pumping up sea-water for
the baths. His enterprising mind argued that it would be
for the advantage of his hotel if he could inaugurate a steam-
boat service between Helensburgh and Glasgow, and so he
had the Comet built in 1811, by Messrs. John Wood and Co.,
of Glasgow. Some interesting details have been collected

of this early British boat by Captain James Williamson in
his book on " The Clyde Passenger Steamer its Rise and :
Progress during the Nineteenth Century " (Glasgow, 1904), and

in Mr. James Napier's "Life of Robert Napier" (Edinburgh,
1904). The illustration opposite this page, which represents
a model of the Comet now in the South Kensington Museum,
will afford a good idea as to her appearance. As will be seen,
THE "COMET."
From the Model in the I'ictoria and Alb':rt Mtiseion,
ENGINE OF THE "COMET."

In th< I'ictjri.z and Albert Miiscuiti.
;
she was a paddle-boat, and originally had two wheels on

either side, but one pair was removed later, as the arrange-
ment was found to be of too complicated a nature to work

satisfactorily. She was far less of a ship than the Clermont,
and much more of a river boat. She did not carry even a
single mast, but, as will be noticed in the model, she utilised
her thin, lofty smoke stack for this purpose and set a yard
across it, as the Clermont had done on her fore-mast. On this
yard she set the usual square-sail, while from the end of the
stumpy bowsprit she also set a triangular jib. This model

may be taken as authentic in its details, and it was to David
Napier that Henry Bell entrusted the task of making the
boiler and castings. The boat was of about twenty-five tons
burthen, 42 feet long, 11 feet wide, and 5 feet 6 inches deep
was driven by a condensing steam engine developing four
horse-power, and her greatest speed through the water was
five miles an hour. Her cylinder was vertical, the piston-rod
driving a pair of side levers. The crank shaft, on which was
fixed a large, heavy fly-wheel, was worked from the levers by
a connecting rod. A reference to the illustration —which is
from a photograph of the identical engine used in this

vessel, and presented to the museima by Messrs. R. and J.
Napier —
will reveal these details. Whereas the Clermont had
employed the triangular beam or bell-crank for conveying the
power from the piston-rod to the paddle-wheels, as we saw
had what was known as the " grasshopper "
just now, the Comet
or half-beam type. The steam was generated from a boiler
set in brickwork, and placed on one side of the engine. When
originally she had her four paddle-wheels two on — either
side —these were driven by means of an intermediate wheel,
which engaged them both by means of spur gearing. The
paddles were then, as will be noticed in the illustration, simply
placed on detached arms, but when the alteration was made
complete wheels were given to her. She was fitted with a
fo'c'sle and after-cabin, of which the hatches will easily be
recognised in the model. The engine-room took up the inter-
vening space amidships.

Writing now in the year when everyone has been interested
in the coming of Halley's Comet, it is interesting to observe
that Henry Bell's ship was so called from the fact that a meteor
had appeared in the heavens about that time. In August,
1812, she was advertised as being ready to ply up and down
the Clyde " to sail by the power of air, wind, and steam,"
the announcement also stating that " the elegance, safety,
comfort, and speed of this vessel require only to be seen to

meet the approbation of the public, and the proprietor is
determined to do everything in his power to merit general

support." Apparently, however, the " general support " was
not forthcoming, for commercially the Comet proved a failure.
Historically she was a success, for her influence was undoubtedly

for good, and Napier made some interesting observations,
from which he was able to deduce important conclusions.
Those who are familiar with the history of the sailing ship will
be aware that at the beginning of the nineteenth century both

the large ocean-going ships and the small coasters were dis-
tinguished by their remarkably heavy and clumsy proportions.

Especially was the bow still made bluff and full, since the
idea in the minds of the ship-designers was that their vessels

should rather breast the waves than, cut clean through them,
as the clipper-ships afterwards taught should be the manner.
It was the still surviving Dutch influence of the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries which had caused this fashion in
— -
STEAMSHIPS AND THEIR STORY 8i
naval architecture to prevail for so long. In a sailing boat,

where it was desired to carry sail well forward near the bows
as was essentially a Dutch custom —and where it was desired
to keep the ship as dry as possible, there was some reason
for the high, blunt bow. But with the advent of steam these
conditions disappeared. It is obvious to every landsman that
whatever seaworthy qualities the forward end of a boat thus
designed may possess, the smashing blows which her obstinate
form exchanges with the waves must be a great hindrance
to progress over the water in comparison with the clean, knife-
like movement of the more scientifically designed craft. And
so, long before ever the clipper-ships appeared, the same idea
struck David^-^fapier. He spent some time in making passages
from Scotland to Ireland in the Belfast sailing packets of that
time, and came to the conclusion that the fuU bow was not
suitable for easy propulsion. He followed up these observa-
tions by making further experiments with a model in a tank,
and continually modified the former until he was satisfied.
As long as ever she showed an increase of speed he kept on
fining away her bow and thus diminishing her resistance to
the water. "What he had in mind, after seeing the achieve-

ments of the Comet, was the inauguration of a steam cross
channel service between Scotland and Ireland to compete
with the sailing packets. At length, having brought his model
to what he deemed was a state of perfection, he had a full-
sized ship built after her by William Denny, the foimder of the
well-known shipbuilding firm. The result was the Bob Roy,
a vessel of about n inety tons and thirty nominal horse-power.
In 1818 she began running between Greenock and Belfast,
after which she was bought by the French Government and
kept up communication between Calais and Dover, though the
;

first time the English Channel was crossed, from Brighton
to Havre, by a steamship was in the year 1816 by the Majestic.
Thus, the Comet, if not remunerative to her owner, "^w^ any-
thing but a creation of no account.
Bell's ship did not belie her name,
for her life was literally
meteoric. She had been taken " outside," and on December

13th, 1820, whilst near Crinan, on the West Coast of Scotland,
was unable to wrestle with the strong easterly wind and nasty
tide-race and was wrecked. Bell himself being on board
happily no lives were lost. In the following year. Comet the
second was built, but she also foundered in 1825, through
collision. In the first days of the Comst, when engineers were
working with insufficient data, it was generally believed that
it would be impossible to make a steamship's machinery of
sufficient strength to withstand the shock of crashing into
a heavy sea, and some time no steamer went far outside.

for
There is an interesting anecdote that James Watt, who, though
largely responsible for the successful inauguration of the steam-
ship in the hands of Fulton, was none the less never directly
connected with the new industry, in his old age visited his
native town of Greenock. This was in the year 1816, or four
years after the ComM had commenced running. On this
occasion he took a trip in one of these steam vessels to Rothesay
and back, during which he entered into conversation with the
"
engineer and pointed out to him the method of " backing
the engine, and endeavoured with a foot-rule to demonstrate
his point. The engineer, however, was unable to grasp the
inventor's meaning, but eventually, throwing ofi his coat and
putting his hand to the engine. Watt explained the idea of
using a back-stroke ; for, previously to this the back-stroke
of the steamboat engine was not adopted, and the practice
was to stop the engines some considerable time before coming

up to moorings in order to allow of the diminution of the
speed. The incident is related in Williamson's " Memorials of
James Watt," and quoted in Chambers's "The Book of Days."
Not merely, then, in North America, but in Northern
Europe the steamship had become a practical and interesting
success. On the Clyde the imj)etus given by the Comet had
caused the development of the steamboat to be more rapid.
Vessels larger than Bell's boat were being built and put into
actual service, and in 1815 one of them was sent round to the
Mersey^ and thus began the important river steamboat service
which is now so significant a feature of the port of Liverpool.
The River T^hameStîn like manner, was to yield to the coming
of the steamboat. Although the London newspapers of 1801
refer to the fact that on July 1 of that year an experiment
took place on the Thames for the purpose of working a barge
or any other heavy craft against the tide " by means of a
steam-engine of a very simple construction," and go on to
state that " the moment the engine was set to work, the barge
was brought about, answering her helm quickly," and that
she made way against a strong current, at the rate of two
miles and a half an hour, yet this was one more of those isolated
incidents which came and went without leaving in their wake
any practical result. At a later date a steamer which had been
running between Bath and Bristol was brought to the London
river by means of canal, and history rejjeated itself once more.
Just as Papin and Fulton had suffered by the unwelcome
attentions of the local watermen, so it was in this case. The
men who earned their living on the waters of the Thames
showed so strenuous an opposition that the boat had to be
taken away.
However, in 1815, a steamboat called the Marjory, one of
the products of the Clyde, came round to the Thames and
commenced running daily between Wapping Stairs, near the
present Tower Bridge, and Gravesend and another boat, the
;
Argyle, came from the Clyde also. Both vessels were, of course,
of wood, and both were propelled by paddle-wheels. The
latter was afterwards re -named the Thames, and was the
inaugurator of those voyages now so dear to the Cockney

between London and Margate. After an exciting voyage from
the Clyde, she steamed up the Thames from Margate to Lime?
house, a distance of seventy miles, at an average of ten miles an
hour. Both of these vessels were of about seventy tons burthen.
We mentioned just now that James Watt always refrained
from interesting himself financially in the steamboat, although
it was his own improved form of engines which made the
steamboat a success. But " like father " is not always " like
son " in the race of progress, and in 1816 we find James Watt,
Jun., purchasing a steamboat called the Caledonia, which had
also come round from the Clyde to the Thames. After fitting
her with new engines he took her from Margate to Rotterdam
and so on to Coblenz she was eventually sold to the King
:
of Denmark. Other vessels of about eighty or ninety feet in

length, sometimes with engines by Boulton and Watt of about
twenty horse-power (nominal), were also presently witnessed
on the pea-green waters of the Thames estuary. And before
the second decade of the nineteenth century was ended steamer
communication for cross-Channel services between England
and France, and England and Ireland had already been
instituted. But as I shall deal with this branch of steamship
enterprise in a separate chapter, I need not make any further
remark upon that subject now.
SS. " ELIZABETH " (1815).
\r miml
RUSSIAN PASSENGER STEAMER (1817).
from Dra-i-inss i" the Victoria ani Albert Museum.
In the history of the sailing ship the flow of progress was

from east to west, from Babylon to North America, and then
it ebbed back again, bearing in its stream improvements which
newer nations had been able to effect to the sail-propelled
ship. To an extent, something of the same kind happened in the
case of the steamship. The latter's physically-driven, paddle-
wheel prototype began, if not in China, at least in the Medi-
and the first efforts
terranean, of steam propulsion were made
not many hmidred miles north of this. Then, after the Fulda,
the Saone, and the Seine, the movement was to the Hudson,
and so back to Europe through Great Britain and on to
Germany and Russia. Of the progress in steam navigation
made in the two latter countries about this time the illustra-
tions facing page 84 are interesting instances, and we shall
deal with them presently. But before we proceed to discuss
them let us turn back for a moment to Robert Fulton. After
he had at length established the steamboat as a thoroughly
soimd concern in America we find him not unnaturally sighing^
for other countries to conquer. Accordingly he set his mind
on introducing the steamboat not merely on the chief rivers
of North America, but even on the Ganges and-ê-Nevs: The
year in which Bell's Comet had come into service Fulton had
actually entered into a contract with one Thomas Lane to
introduce steamboats into India, and on April 12th of that
year he wrote to a Russian gentleman, who was then staying
in London, with reference to obtaining an exclusive contract
for twenty years, for establishing a steamboat service between
St. Petersburg and Cronstadt within three years after obtaining
the grant. It is evident from Fulton's correspondence that
Imperial permission for this was obtained. Fulton, however,
died in the year 1815, and at the time of his death the steam-
-
S6 STEAMSHIPS AND THEIR STORY

boat The Emperor of Russia was in course of construction
previous to being transferred to Russian waters. This enter-
prise was postponed and subsequently taken up by other
contractors. But the same year (1815) we find Charles Baird
engaged in doing what Fulton would have carried out had he
lived. The upper illustration, then, which faces page 84 repre-
sents a drawing of the steamboat Elizabeth. Originally a barge,
she was rebuilt and engined by Baird in 1815 at St. Petersburg
for service on the Neva. The steering arrangement is not dis-
similar to that of some of the Thames sailing barges of to-day,
with the use of the tackle leading from the rudder through
the ship's quarter to the helm. The reader will doubtless be
not a little amused to notice the brick chimney which stands
up in the boat as if rising from a factory. The engine is hidden
away underneath the deck, but it was of the side -lever type,
of which we have already spoken, with a single cylinder and
air-pump. The boiler will be seen placed aft. The weight of
the paddle-wheels was partly supported by the rectangular
frame-work which will be seen stretched across the hull. The
paddle-wheels had each four floats, which were kept level by
means of bevel gear. The other illustration facing page 84 shows
another steamer, which Baird built two years later for passenger
traffic between St. Petersburg and Cronstadt. It will be noticed
that, as in all these early steamboats^ the pa ddle-wheels were
placed far forward towards the bows. In this ship both paddle
wrheels were fitted with six floats, which were driven at fifty
revolutions per minute by means of a side-lever engine that

had a large fly-wheel. The arrangement of this ship's engines
was similar rather to those of the Comet than of the Clermont.
Looking at the lower drawing in this illustration we can easily
see how she was propelled. Amidships is the boiler, from

which steam is conveyed to the cylinder, through which appears

the piston-rod, which in turn connects with the side-lever,
that is placed as low as it can be in the boat. The connecting

rod comes up from the forward end of the side-lever to the
crank, which is attached to the shaft, and the latter, revolving,
of course turns the paddle-wheels.

And here it may not be out of place to say something
concerning the survival of thejêam—engine. I have already I
referred on an earlier page to its introduction and traced its

development from Newcomen's atmospheric engine. When,
in the early days of the steam engine, its use had been limited
to pumping out water from mines, one connecting rod was
employed in pumping and the other was driven up by the
steam in the cyhnder. Then, when the engine was made, not
for pumping, but for giving rotatory motion, the connecting
rod which had been in use for pumping was used to give a
rotatory motion, by means of either the sun-and-planet move-
ment (as in Watt's patent) or by means of a crank (as in the
patent which his workman stole from him). In America Watt's
beam engines were imitated very closely, and to-day, as every
visitor to New York is aware, the curious sight is seen of enor-
mous ferry-boats, towering high above the water, with the
beam and connecting rods showing up through the top of the
ship. Now this idea is all very well where the steamer is
concerned only with navigation on rivers and peaceful waters,

but for ocean steaming, where the deck needs to be covered
in from the attacks of the mighty seas, it is out of the
'
question. Therefore, since it was advisable to retain the beam
in some form, and it could not be allowed to protrude through
the deck, the obviousL- expedient _w^&- adopted of placing it
below, but as far down in the ship_as_possible. As a general

statement we shall not get far wrong if we state that thus
placed, at the bottom, with the rods working upwards instead
of downwards, it was really a case of turning the engine upside
\ down. Thus arranged it became known as the si de-lever engin e,
and now, if the reader will look again at the bottom illustration
facing page 84, he will see our meaning. By turning the illustra-
tion round, so that the beam or side-lever is at the top, this
resemblance to the old-fashioned beam engine becomes still
more apparent. Later on we shall be able to show a more

complicated form of the side-lever engine, but for the present
thismay suffice for the interest of the non-technical reader.
For many years the side-lever was the recognised form of
marine engine, and its advantages included that of being
remarkably steady in its working because its parts were so
nicely balanced. Moreover, it was easy to drive from the beam
the various auxiliary parts, such as the air-pump. It was
also very strong, though both heavy and costly, as it became
in the course of time more complicated.
'''
Although it is true that in Fulton's Clermont the beam
was placed below the piston-rod, yet that was entirely owing
to English influence, as represented in Boulton and Watt,
who had manufactured this engine, or at any rate a good many
of its parts. It is now that the dividing line comes between
the two types, English an d American. " From this primitive
form," says Admiral Preble, in his volume already quoted,
*'
the two nations diverged in opposite directions — ^the Americans
navigating rivers, with speed the principal object, kept the
cylinder upon deck and lengthened the stroke of the piston :
the English, on the other hand, having the deep navigation

\ of stormy seas as their more important object, shortened the
cylinder in order that the piston-rod might work entirely

under deck, while Fulton's working beam was

(walking)
retained." From the engine, in fact, which Boulton and Watt
had constructed at Soho for Fulton, by far the majority of the
engines for the earliest steamboats took their pattern. And
if to the Americans belongs the credit of having so thoroughly
and so quickly developed the steamboat navigation of large
rivers, it is the British, as we shall see shori:ly, who have been
the pioneers of aoe.a.r\ navigation in steamshi ps.
The upper illustration facing page 90, which has been taken
from a contemporary engraving, is worthy of notice as being the
first steamer actually built in Germany. She,represents rather
a retrogression than an advance in the story of the steamship,
for she was following still on those lines which had been in
mind when Miller's double-hulled ship Dundee and the Charlotte
were launched. This vessel, the Prinzessin Charlotte, was
built by John Rubie at Pichelsdorf in 1816, for service on the
Elbe, Havel and Spree. As will be seen from the illustration,
her paddle-wheel was placed amidships and covered in. She
was driven by an engine possessing 14 horse-power and made
by J. B. Humphreys. Her long, lanky smoke-stack is supported
by numerous stays, while her double-rudders, though still
preserving the helms as used in contemporary saihng ships,
are moved by means of a steering wheel. Clumsy and beamy,
she is inferior in design to the Comet, and would no doubt
have needed all the help of her twin-rudders to get her
round some of the narrow reaches of the river. In the ^
adoption and emplojmient of the steering wheel neither
the Prinzessin Charlotte nor the Clermont was the pioneer of
this more modern method, its evolution having come about
on this wise : as the tillers became heavier when the size of
ships increased and the pull on them became greater, some
sort of lanyard was first attached to them so as to get a purchase
and divide the strain ; otherwise the steersman would not
have been able to control the ship. We see this as far back as
the times of the Egyptian sailing ships. In medieval times
and even in the seventeenth century the big, full-rigged ships
were still steered by a helm in the stern, the pilot shouting
down his orders to the steersmen placed under the poop. Then,
in order to counteract the wild capers which some of these
vessels had a tendency to perform in a breeze, it was an obvious
expedient to fit up an arrangement of blocks and tackles to
the tiller. From this came the transition to the employment
of these in connection with a winch, such as had been used
for hoisting up the anchor. This winch was driven by means
of " hand-spikes," a method that was not conducive to rapid
alteration of the ship's course. But in the eighteenth century,
when ships were better designed, and many improvements
were being introduced, the handspikes were discarded and the
spoked wheel was connected with the barrel of the winch,
placed not 'thwart-ship, but fore-and-aft, so that not merely
could the direction of the ship's head be altered more quickly,
but a steadier helm could be kept, because it was less difficult
to meet the swervings of the vessel from her proper course.

As everyone knows, this steering-wheel has been improved
by many minor alterations, and ropes have given way to
chains and steel wire but though steam-steering gear is now
:
so prominent a feature of the modern steamship, the wheel

itself is not yet superseded.
Already, then, the steamboat had shown herself capable
of doing her work on inland waters, and even for short voyages
across Channel, as well as for coasting within sight of land.
Independent of calms, currents and tides, she was a being of a
THE " PRINZESSIN CHARLOTTE" (1816).
THfc SAVANNAH" (1819).

different kind as compared with the sailing ship and was

carving out for herseK an entirely novel career of usefulness.
But the pessimists believed that here her sphere ended ; the
long ocean voyages could never be undertaken except in the
sail-carrying ships. However, in the year 1819, the first i^
attempt was made to conquer the North Atlantic by means of
a ship fitted with a steam engine. In the lower illustration facing
page 90 will be seen the Savannah, a full-rigged ship of 350 tons
burthen which was built in New York i i^ 181 8 as a sailing
vessel pure and simple. That, it will be remembered, was
eleven years after the launching of the Clermont, and during
these eventful years there had been plenty of opportunity
for those who wished to obtain proof of what steam could do
for a ship. Whilst the Savannah was still on the stocks, one
Moses Rogers, who had followed the efforts of both Stevens
and Fulton, and had even Commanded some of the early steam-
boats, suggested to Messrs. Scarborough and Isaacs, of Savannah,
that they should purchase this ship ; which eventually they
did. Therefore, after being fitted with her engine, a steam
trial trip was made in March, 1819, round New York Harbour,
and a few days later she left for Savannah under sail. During
this voyage of 207 hours she was practically nothing but a
sailing ship, for her engine was only running for four and a
half hours. On the 22nd of May she set forth from Charleston
and steamed outside. It will be noticed on referring to the
illustration that there were no paddle-boxes to cover her
wheels, and a remarkable feature of the Savannah was her
ability suddenly to transform her character as a steamship
to a sailing vessel, and vice versa. Within twenty minutes
she could take off her paddle-wheels, and away she could go
without any hindrance to her speed.
So it was, then, after she had brought up outside Charleston.
Unshipping her wheels she got under weigh early in the morning
of May 24th,and arrived off the coast of Ireland at noon of
June 17th, and three days later was off the bar at Liverpool.
But this voyage proved little or nothing of the capabilities
of the ocean steamship ; for of the twenty-one days during
which she was at sea the Savannah only used steam for eighty
hours, and by the time she had arrived off Cork she had used
up all her fuel. However, having now taken on board what
she needed, she was able to steam up the Mersey with the
aid of her engines alone. From Liverpool she went to the
Baltic, using her engine for about a third of the passage. Thence
she returned to America, having unshipped her paddle-wheels
off Cronstadt, but, after crossing the Atlantic and arriving off
the Savannah river, she adjusted her wheels once more and
steamed home. Shortly afterwards her engines were taken
out of her, and she ended her days as a sailing packet. Although
her voyages did nothing to help forward the ocean steamer,
yet she caused some amazement to the revenue cruiser Kite,
which espied her off the coast of Ireland. Seeing volumes of
smoke pouring out from this " three-sticker," the Kite's com-
mander took her for a ship on fire and chased her for a whole day.
The illustration gives a fairly accurate idea of the ship, though
the bow has not been quite correctly given, and should show
the old-fashioned and much modified beak which survived
as a relic of medieval times. It will be noticed that the distance
which separates the main and fore-mast was sufficiently great
to allow of plenty of room for the engine and boiler.
In the meantime the steamship was slowly but surely

coming into prominence and recognition, and the year ^4,821^
was far from unimportant as showing the practical results
which had been obtained. As proof of the faith which was

now placed in steam, the first steamship company that was
ever formed had already been inaugurated the year before,
and in 1821 began running its trading steamers. This was
the now well-known General Steam Navigation Company, Ltd.,
whose first steamer, the City of Edinburgh, was buUt on the
Thames by Messrs. Wigâjn_îd-Green, whose names will ever
be associated with the fine clippers which in later years they
were destined to turn out from their Blackwall yard. The
steamship City of Edinburgh was launched in March, 1821,
for the Edinburgh trade, and created so much attention that
the future William IV. and Queen Adelaide paid her a visit,
and expressed surprise at the magnificence of the passenger

accommodation. The machinery (which was only of 100 horse-
power) was described by the contemporary press as " extremely
powerful." In June of that year was also launched the James
Watt, of which an illustration is given from an old water-
colour. This vessel was built by Messrs. Wood and Co., of
Port Glasgow, and was referred to by the newspapers of that
time as " the largest vessel ever seen in Great Britain propelled
by steam." The James Watt, it will be seen, was rigged as a
three-masted schooner, with the typical bow and square stern
of the period. She was of 420 tons, and measured 141 feet
9 inches in length, 25 1 feet wide, and 16| feet deep. She had
a paddle-wheel, 18 feet in diameter, on either side of the
hull. These were driven by engines of the same horse-
power as those of the City oj Edinburgh, which had been
made by Boulton and Watt. It was in this year also that
the Lightning, a vessel of about 200 tons and 80 horse-power,

gained further confidence for thp_npwfr type, of vessel, for
she was the first steamship ever used to carry mails.
Before the third decade of the nineteenth century was
closed, a little named the
vessel Falcon, of 176 tons, had made
a voyage to In dia—of course, via the Cape —and the Enter-
prise, a somewhat larger craft of 470 tons, had also done the
passage from England to Calcutta ; but like the Savannah's
performance, these voyages were made partly under steam
and partly under sail, so that these vessels may be regarded
rather as auxiliary-engined than as steamships proper. At
the same time, the Enterprise was singularly loyal to her name,
for out of the 113 days which were taken on the voyage, she
steamed for 103.
Let us now pause for a moment to witness some of the

changes which were going on in regard to the machinery for
steamships. In the engines which were installed in the Russian
ship shown opposite page 84 we saw how the beam had become
the side-lever, and why it had been placed in this position
in the steamboat. This had become the customary type for

steamships which were by paddle-wheels, and
still propelled
the perfected development hadjjeeix-due to Boulton and Watt,
dating from about__L820. Until about 1860 this type was
used most generally, until ocean-going steamers discarded the
paddle-wheel for the screw. It is, therefore, essential that
before proceeding farther we should get well-acquainted with
it, and we shall find that following the lead which had been
given them, especially by the famous Robert Napier,
marine engineers began to build these types, as well for
deep-sea ships as for river-going craft. The illustration
here facing, which has been taken from a model in the South
Kensington Museum, represents the regular side-lever type,
the full-sized engines having been made by a Poplar firm in
1836 for the Ruby, which plied between London and Gravesend,
THE "JAMES WATT" (1821).
Front a IVater-Coôur Drawinff in the Victoria and Albert Mitsettn
SIDE-LEVER ENGINES OF THE "RUBY" (1836).

From the Modrl in the Victoria and Albert Afuseum.
bi-
OF THE ^
UN\
OF
fFOBtJi^
a vessel of 170 tons, and the fastest Thames steamer of that

time. On referring to our illustration, the side-lever will be
immediately recognised in the fore-ground at the bottom.
To the left of this are the two cylinders, side by side. The
side-lever is seen to be pivoted at its centre, whilst at the
reader's left hand the end by a connecting
of this is joined
rod. Thus, as the piston-rod is moved upwards or down-
wards, so the left-hand half of the side-lever will move. At
the opposite, right-hand, side of the latter the connecting rod
will be observed to be attached to the side-lever, whilst the
other end of the connecting rod drives the crank ; the latter,
in turn, driving the shaft on either end of which will be placed
a paddle-wheel. In this engine before us there are two cranks,
of which one is seen prominently at the very top of the picture.
Each connecting rod is attached to two side-levers, one on
either side of the cyhnder, by means of a cross-head. Similarly
at the piston-rod there is also a cross-head, with a connecting
rod on either side, of which one only is visible. Later on a
modified form of this type of engine was introduced in order
to economise space, for one of the great drawbacks of the
side-lever engine was that it took up an enormous amount
of room, which could ill be spared from that to be devoted
to the carrying of cargo or the accommodation of the
passengers. In this modification the cyUnders, instead of
being placed side by side, or athwartships, were fore and aft,
the one behind the other.

In 1831, there was built in Quebec, to run between there
and Halifax, a steamer called the Royal William (not to be
confused with a vessel of the same name to which we shall
refer presently). The engines were made by Boulton and
Watt, and dispatched across the Atlantic to Montreal, where
they were installed. In 1833, after taking on board over three
hundred tons of coal at Pictou, Nova Scotia, she started on
her Journey to the South of England, and arrived off Cowes,
Isle of Wight, after seventeen days, having covered a distance
of 2,500 miles. There is some doubt as to whether she steamed
the whole way, or whether she used her sails for part of the
time. At any rate, she measured 176 feet long, 43 feet 10 inches
wide (including her paddle-boxes), and after calling at Ports-
mouth, proceeded to Gravesend, and was afterwards sold to
the Spanish Government.
We nowcome to the year 1838, in which a handful of
steamers made history, and showed how uncalled-for had
been the ridicule which the pessimists had cast at the steam-
ship. With this year we reach the turning-point of the steam-
ship, and from that date~we~lnay~trace all those wonderful
achievements which are still being added to year by year.
Hitherto no vessel had crossed the Atlantic under steam power
solely. Because of the large amount of fuel consumption
which was a necessary failing of the early steamships, in pro-
portion to the amount of steam developed, it was denied that

it would ever be financially possible for steamers to run across
oceans as the sailing packets were doing, even if they were
capable of carrying sufficient fuel together with their passengers
and cargo. But deeds were more eloquent than the expounding
of theories, and the first surprise was quickly followed by
another, far from inferior. The first of these epoch-making
steamers was the Sirius. She was rigged as a brig, like many
of the sailing ships which then carried mails,
contemporary
and cargo between the Old World and the New,
passengers,
whose unsavoury characters had earned for them the nick-
name of " coffin-brigs." This Sirius was a comparatively
THE "SIRIUS" (1838).
From a Contemporary Draiving in the Victoria and Albert Museum.
THE -ROYAL WILLIAM" (1838).

By fertnission of the City of Dublin Steam Packet Co.
small ship of 703 tons, and quite small enough to cross the
Atlantic in the weather which is to be found thereon. She
measured only 178 feet along the keel, was 25 1 feet wide, her
hold was 18| feet deep, and her engines developed 320 horse-
power. Built for the service between London and Cork, she
was specially chartered for this transatlantic trip by the British
Queen Steam Navigation Company, whose own vessel, the
British Queen (shown opposite page 102), was not yet ready,
owing to the fact that one of her contractors had gone bank-
rupt. With ninety-four passengers on board, the Sirius steamed
away from London and called at Queenstown, where she
coaled. After clearing from the Irish port, she encountered
head winds, and it was only with difficulty that her commander,
Lieut. R. Roberts, R.N., was able to quell a mutiny among
the crew, who had made up their minds that to try and get
across the North Atlantic in such a craft was pure folly.
Having been seventeen days out, the Siritis arrived off New
York on April 22nd, and before the end of her journey had
not merely consumed all her coal, at a daily average of 24 tons,
but had even to burn some of her spars, so that she had got
across just by the skin of her teeth. But it was her engines
which had got her there and not her sails ; the former were of
the side-lever type to which we have just referred.
The next day came in the Great Western, a much larger
craft, that had come out of Bristol three days after the Sirius
had started and in her we see the prototype of those enormous

;
liners which go backwards and forwards across the Atlantic

to-day with a regularity that is remarkable. Unlike the little
Siritis, the Great Western had been specially designed for the
Atlantic by that engineering genius, Brunei, who, like his
ships and his other works of wonder, was one of the most
H
remarkable products of the last century. She was built with
the intention of becoming practically an extension of the
Great Western Railway across the Atlantic, and in order to
be able to withstand the terrible battering of the seas, which
she would have to encounter, she was specially strengthened.
Here was a vessel of 1,321 tons (gross), with a length of 236 feet
over all, with about half her space taken up with her boilers
and engines. Now the strain of so much dead-weight in so
long a ship whose beam was only 35 feet 4 inches, or about
one-seventh of her length, had to be thought out and guarded
against with the greatest care. And let us not forget that
at this time vessels were still built of wood, and that, except
in a few instances, iron had not yet been introduced. She
was given strong oak ribs, placed close together, while iron
was also used to some extent in fastening them. The advantage
of making an ocean-going vessel long is that she is less likely
to pitch in a sea, and will not dip twice in the same hollow ;
and if she is proportionately narrow in comparison with her

length, she will also roll less than a more beamy craft. But
the difficulty, so long as wood was employed, was to get sufficient
longitudinal strength to endure the strains of so long a span.
We shall be able to get ome gdea of this when we consider
.g
the behaviour of a vesselîn a sea. Waves consist, so to speak,

of mountains 'aiT3''^lleys. If the waves are short and the
vessel is long, then she may stretch right over some of them ;
but if the contrary is the condition, then, while her 'midship

portion is supported by the water, her fore and aft ends are
inclined to droop, so that in a very extreme case she would
break in two. At any rate, the tendency is for the centre
of the ship to bend upwards and the unsupported ends to
droop. This is technically called " hogging." In the reverse
circumstance,when the ends are supported on the tops of

two mountains of waves, whilst the centre of the ship spans,
unsupported, the intervening valley, the tendency is to " sag."
Now this has to be allowed for in the construction of the ship,
and, as already pointed out in my " Sailing Ships and Their
Story," this was understood as far back as the times of the
Egyptians, who counteracted such strains as these by means
of a longitudinal cable stretched tightly from one end of the
ship to the other. But with the coming of steamships there
was another problem to be taken into consideration. Engines,
boilers, fresh water for the boilers, coal and so on are serious
weights to be placed in one part of the ship. (In the case
of the Great Western, the first three alone weighed 480 tons,
although the gross tonnage of the whole ship was only 1,321.)
Throughout the length of the ship, then, she is subjected
not merely to irregular strains by the peaks and valleys of
the waves, but by the distrib ution of weights. Her structure
has to undergo the severest possible stresses, and these are
different when the ship is loaded and when she is " light."
If you divide a ship into sections transversely, as is actually
done by the designer, you will find that some parts are less
buoyant than others, no matter whether your ship is made

of wood, iron, or steel. Those sections, for instance, which
contain a steamer's machinery will have much inferior buoy-
ancy, and, indeed, were you to sever them from the ship and
seal them up so as to be perfectly water-tight, they would
in many cases sink. Therefore, this irregularity of buoyancy
has to be met by making the more-buoyant sections help to
support the less-buoyant. In actual shipbuilding practice it
is customary to regard the greatest stress to a ship as occurring

when she is poised on the crest of a wave, and it is usual to
"

suppose, in order to safeguard her manner of construction,
that she is poised upon the crest of a wave whose length from
trough to trough is equal to the length of the ship, and the
height of the wave from trough to crest to be one-twentieth
of its length when 300 feet long and below, and one twenty-
fifth when exceeding that length.
We have digressed a little from our immediate subject
in order to put into the mind of the general reader some con-
ception of the difficulties which Brunei had to encounter when
he set towork to produce such a vessel as the Great Western.
That she was built on sound lines is proved by the service
which she rendered to her owners before she was finally broken
up in 1847. On her first return voyage from New York she
took fifteen days, and the Sirius seventeen. The Great Western
had no such trouble with her " coal-endurance " on her maiden
voyage as the Sirius had suffered, for she had reached
New York with one quarter of her coals still unconsumed,
and the obvious conclusion which came to any reasoning mind
was that it certainly paid to build a vessel big enough to carry
plenty of fuel. But the Great Western " paid " in more senses
than this and at the end of her first year, her directors were
;
able to announce a dividend ofs^jper.cent. Thirty-five guineas

was the fare in those days, and the largest number of passengers
carried on any one of her journeys was 152.
Like her contemporaries, the Great Western was fitted with
side-lever engines, built by Maudslay. Steam was generated
from four boilers, and conducted into two cylinders, her daily
consumption of coal being about 33 tons. A model of one of
her paddle-wheels, which were 28 feet 9 inches in diameter,
is here illustrated. This type is known as the " cycloidal
wheel, in which each float, instead of being made of one solid
THK "GREAT WESTERN" (1838).
By pcn/tission of Messrs. Hinry Castle &• Sons,
PACDLE-WHEEL OF THU "GREAT WESTERN.

From the Mode! in the I uloria and Albert Museum.
STEAMSHIPS AND THEIR STORY loi
piece of material, is composed of several horizontal widths

arranged after the manner of steps in a cycloidal curve, as
will be seen by looking at the right-hand of the wheel. It
will be noticed that through the space left between each " step '*
the water could penetrate when the wheel was in the sea,
but when revolving out of it, the resistance to the air was
diminished because the latter was allowed to get through.
As the paddle came in contact with the sea, the concussion
was lessened, and thus there was not so much strain on the
engines. The Great Western employed the type introduced
by Joshua Field in 1833, but this form was brought in again
by Elijah Galloway two years later.
So far we have seen steamers running from London and
from Bristol to New York. Now we shall see the first steam-
vessel crossing from Liverpool to New York. Facing page 96
is the other Royal William, which was built in 1838 for the
Irish passenger trade between Liverpool and Kingstown, and
owned by the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company, by
whose courtesy this picture is now reproduced. The Royal
William was 3 feet shorter than the Sirius, but 2 feet wider,
and with a hold just 6 inches shallower. In July of that same
memorable year, the Royal William made her maiden trip
from Liverpool to New York, having been built and engined
at the former port. In was no doubt a great temptation to
emulate what the Sirius had been the first to perform, especially
as the two ships were so similar in many respects. Outward
bound, the Royal William did the trip in about the same time
as the Sirius, though her return journey occupied about a
day and a half less than that of the other vessel. But these
vessels were not big enough, nor seaworthy enough, for the
toil of the Atlantic, and both were soon taken oS from this
—

route. The illustration reproduced is from an engraving
after a sketch made of the Royal William, as seen in the
Atlantic on July 14th, 1838, when in latitude 47.30 N., longitude
30.0 W., on her first voyage to New York, and the landsman
in looking at the has depicted may find
waves which the artist
some assistance in reading our previous remarks on " hogging "

and " sagging " in this connection.
Finally, we come to the British Queen, which was yet
another vessel to steam across the broad Atlantic, and to show
once more that it was neither good fortune nor the powers
of any single vessel that had conquered the ocean, but the
building of the right kind of ship, engined with suitable
machinery. Built in London, and installed with engines by
Robert Napier (by the courtesy of whose kinsman, Mr. James
Napier, the illustration is here given), the British Queen was
considered a wonder in her day, and even exceeded the dimen-
sions of the famous Great Western, costing as much as £60,000
to build. As will be seen, she is neither brig- nor ship-rigged,
but is a barque. In spite of the hideous old stern of those
times and the old-fashioned square ports, and the medieval
custom of stowing one of her anchors abreast of the fore-mast
a practice which survived until well into the nineteenth century
—her appearance shows that she was an advance on what had
gone before. She had about seven beams to her length, and
her bow gives evidence that the old Dutch influence was at
last being forsaken : it is, in fact, the transition stage before
the clippers modified it still more. The same long space which
we noted in an earlier ship, extending between the fore- and
main-mast to afford room for the engines, will here be recog-
nised, and the paddle-wheels, unlike those of the early
river craft, are placed about amidships. In designing her with
THE "BRITISH QUEEN" (1839).
By PerinissiCH of âmcs A'a/>it'r, Esq.
THE •'
BRITANNIA." THE FIRST ATLANTIC LINER (1840).
From a ModiL By fer mission of the Cnnard Steamship Co.

about 40 feet greater length than the Great Western

had possessed, the aim was no doubt to attain not merely
sufficient space for passengers, cargo, engines and ample fuel,
but also to be able to wrestle with the long Atlantic waves,

whose average length has been computed at about 200 feet.
Seventy years ago this British Queen was designed to be 275 feet
over all ; to-day, the Lusitania is 760 feet thus measured,

and it is this appreciation of the value of length which has
a good deal to do with the evolution of the modem liner from
being a moderate-sized vessel to one of enormous proportions.
In her first voyage from Portsmouth to New York, the British
Queen kept up an average speed for one day of over ten knots,
whereas the Great Western had on her maiden voyage outward-
bound averaged about two knots less. Leaving Portsmouth on
April 2nd, 1839, the British Queen arrived in New York on
April 16th, or three days quicker than the first Royal William
had done the journey in the opposite direction under sail
and steam. The British Queen consumed about 613 tons of
coal on the way.
Thus we have seen the steamship arrive at a stage very
far from being merely experimental. We have watched her
gradually grow from her infancy, when she was good only as
a tug or river craft, until now she has shown in the enthusiasm
of her youth that she can stride across the Atlantic. It will
be our duty in the following chapter to indicate how she came

to be treated with entire confidence, and to take her part in
the regular routine of the world's work.
CHAPTER IV
THE INAUGURATION OF THE LINER
It was not to be thought that the achievements which we
chronicled at the end of the preceding chapter would remain
without their immediate results. If such small vessels as
the Sinus, propelled by steam, could cross the Atlantic and
return safe and sound ; if still more easily the Ch-eat Western
had been able to perform the feat and to show a substantial
return on the capital laid out, surely there was an assured
future for steamship enterprise. " What man has done, man
can do," is an old proverb, the application of which has led
to the founding of those mighty, excellently equipped fleets
which have transformed the trackless, desolate North Atlantic
into a busy thoroughfare, along whose fixed routes every day
of the year are carried thousands of passengers and tons of
merchandise from one continent to the other. Although nowa-
days there is scarcely a corner of the world to which a regular
line of steamships does not run, yet it is the North Atlantic
that has always been the scene of the greatest enterprise in
steamship development. We could find plenty of reasons
for this if we cared to inquire into the matter. It was not until
the advent of the transatlantic steamship that all the possi-

bilities of the Tudor voyages and discoveries began to be appre-
ciated fully. A continent, like a single country, flourishes not
merely by its produce of wealth, but by its exchange thereof.
So long as it is separated by thousands of miles, every fathom
of which is fraught with danger and has to be traversed by
104
sailing ships whose arrival may be weeks or months late, which

may, in fact, never arrive at all, a tight restriction is kept
/ on the exchange of wealth; stagnation ensues, people travel
as little as possible, and remain ignorant in their own narrow
provincialism. Whereas, to-day, they take every possible
advantage of travel, of voyaging the worid over, not merely
to exchange wealth but to exchange ideas, to add to their
knowledge, to wipe out their provinciahsm.
Forthis we must thank the coming of the liner.
was that memorable year of 1838 that set all this going.
It
Impressed by the obvious advantages which the steamship
now showed for speed and reliability, the Lords Commissioners
of the Admiralty, to whose care was then entrusted the arrange-
"
ment of postal contracts, saw that those ancient " coffin brigs
were doomed. Their lordships forthwith issued circulars
inviting tenders for the carrying of the American mails by

steamers. It happened that one of these circulars fell into
the hands of Samuel Cunard, a prominent merchant of Halifax,

Nova Scotia. He had been an}i;hing but disconnected with
shipping, for hewas the owner of a number of sailing ships
trading between Boston, Newfoundland and Bermuda, and
was agent at Halifax for the East India Company, who in
their time owned some of the very finest sailing fleets that
ever put to sea. And this Samuel Cunard had been one of the
shareholders of that first Royal William which crossed in 1833

from Pictou, Nova Scotia, to the Isle of Wight. A man of
energy and enterprise, he had already realised that a line of
steamers connecting the two continents ought to become some-
thing and he had sufficient foresight to see that
real, this
was an opportunity which does not occur many times in a

generation.
io6 STEAMSHIPS AND THEIR STORY
Having made up his mind, after reading this circular, the
next thing was to find the money. In Hahfax it was not possible
to raise the required capital, so he crossed forthwith to London.
But London is not always ahead of the provinces, and the
wealthy merchants declined to show their financial interest
in the scheme. armed with a letter of introduction
Therefore,
from the secretary of the East India Company, Mr. Cunard
travelled north to Glasgow, to Mr. Robert Napier, whose name
we have already mentioned as a great Clyde shipbuilder and
engineer. Napier promised to give him all the assistance
possible, and introduced him to Mr. George Burns, and the
latter, in turn, to Mr. David Maclver. Both had an expert
knowledge of the shipping business, and to a Scotch shrewdness
united wide experience and ability to look ahead. As a result,
within a few days the necessary capital of £270,000 had been
subscribed, and an offer was made to the Admiralty for the
conveyance of Her Majesty's mails once a fortnight between

Liverpool and Halifax and Boston. But the owners of the
Great Western, with a ship all ready for the work, were not
going to let so fine a chance slip by without an effort. They,
too, competed for the privilege, though eventually the organ-
isation with which Cunard was connected was considered
to have made the more favourable tender. This was accepted
by the Government, and a contract for seven years was signed.
—
The three enterprisers went to their posts Cunard to London,
.^; Burns to Glasgow, and Maclver to Liverpool, but before
matters had taken a final shape the Government required that
the service was to be carried on by four ships instead of three,
that fixed dates of sailings should be adhered to, and in con-
sideration of all this a subsidy was eventually granted to the
steamship owners of the sum of £81,000 per year. The cor-
poration which we now know as the Cunard Company was

then called the British and North American Royal Mail Steam
Packet Company, and they proceeded to get in hand the
building of those first four steamers of which the Mauretania
and Lusitania to-day are the lineal descendants. These four,
then, were respectively the Britannia, the Acadia, the Caledonia,
and the Columbia. They were all built of wood, all propelled
by paddle-wheels, specially adapted for the transport of troops
and stores in the event of war, with an indicated horse-power
of 740, accommodation for 115 cabin passengers, a cargo
capacity of 225 tons, while their dimensions and tonnage
differed but slightly the one ship from the other. Their speed
averaged 8^ knots per hour on a coal consumption of thirty-
eight tons a day, the engines in each case being not unnaturally
made by that Robert Napier who had by his introduction done
so much to bring the formation of this company to a practical
conclusion. These vessels were built on the Clyde by four
different builders in the year 1840, but the Britannia was the
first that was ready for service, her measurements being 207
feet long, 34 feet 4 inches wide, and 22 feet 6 inches deep,
with a tonnage of 1,154.

Before we go on to outline the marvellous gro-w-th which
has been seen under the Cunard Company's flag, whose history
is practically a history of the Atlantic liner, varied here and
there by the happenings which other rival companies have brought
about, it is both curious and amusing to append the follo\\'ing
letter, which has only quite recently been made public, and which
will surprise many of those who here read it. It is evidence
of the remarkable speed at which events may happen, and
men's minds adapt themselves to newer conditions. Although
Samuel Cunard was part owner of the first Royal William in
—
io8 STEAMSHIPS AND THEIR STORY

1833, and already three years earlier had thought over the
idea of starting a line of Atlantic steamers, yet it will be seen
that towards the end of 1829 he was not favourably inclined
to the project. Having in mind all that the Cunard Company
has done towards the inauguration of the liner, her continuous
improvements, her safety and her efficiency, it is instructive
to read the reply which was sent at this time to Messrs.
Ross and Primrose, of Pictou, Nova Scotia, who had written
to Cunard and Company in regard to steamship establish-
ment :
*'
Dear Sirs, —We have received your letter of the 22nd
inst. We are entirely unacquainted with the cost of a steam-
boat, and would not like to embark in a business of which
we are quite ignorant. Must, therefore, decline taking any
part in the one you propose getting up.-—We remain, yours,
etc. S. Cunard and Company.
" Halifax, October 28th, 1829."
The above letter is now in the possession of Mr. John M.

Ross, of Pictou.
But to return to the first sailing of the new company : the
Britannia started the mail service in no conventional manner.
Not merely was she to throw time-honoured custom to the
winds by carrying the mails by the help of steam, but she
dealt another blow to sailor-conservatism by setting forth
on her maiden voyage on a Friday, which also happened to
be the fourth of July, a day commemorative of another kind
of Independence. Of course, the old-fashioned prophesied
that so flagrant a disregard for superstition would spell disaster ;
but somehow the Britannia managed to arrive quite safely

at Boston, on July 18th, 1840, after a voyage of just eight
hours beyond a fortnight, though she had touched at Halifax

after eleven days, four hours. The citizens of Boston cele-
brated the event with banqueting and wild enthusiasm as

the forging —shall we not say —of the? first of those stronger
links which were to bind the two countries more closely and
more securely together. Four years later, one bitter February,
when this same Britannia was hemmed in, icebound in Boston
harbour, the same enthusiasts liberated her by cutting a canal
seven miles long and a hundred feet wide through the ice,
and this entirely at their own expense.

Facing page 102 will be seen an illustration of a model of
this Britannia. Old paintings show her rigged as a barque,
with a couple of ship's boats in davits on either side, and
another hung over the stern in a manner that will be familiar
to those readers who have seen the American sailing schooners,
and some of the Norwegian craft. The space for boilers and
engines still causes that long gap between the fore- and main-
mast that we mentioned earlier. The square stem, the old-
fashioned bows, and her lines generally, show that this first
Atlantic liner was hardly a thing of beauty, if even she is to

be remembered for ever as the new series. Her
first of a
paddle-wheels were 28 feet in diameter, and had 21 floats,
which measured 8 feet by 2.8 feet. The mean draught of this
little ship was 16.8 feet. Her engines were of the side-lever
type, ofcourse, the making of which Napier understood
so well. Steam was generated in four boilers with twelve
furnaces, and there were two cylinders. As we have already
dealt with the working of these engines we need do little more
than ask the reader to turn to the next page, where he will find
a sectional model of an engine very similar to that which was
installed in these first four Cunard liners. The non-technical
no STEAMSHIPS AND THEIR STORY
reader will find this some considerable help in following our
previous references to engines of this type, and the section of
the cylinder at the extreme left-hand of the picture will be
found illustrative of the working of the piston inside the
cylinder. As we are writing the story of the steamship, and
not a history of engineering, we need not digress from our
historical continuity, and we can now pass on to two other
steamers built in 1841, for the Royal Mail Company. In the
illustration facing this page will be seen the Teviot and Clyde
respectively, the former being of 1,793 tons, the latter of 1,371
tons.
We have already spoken of the founding of the General
Steam Navigation Company, and shall speak presently of the
Peninsular and Oriental Company. Following the precedent
set by the Cunard Company, the Royal Mail Line, on March
20th, 1840, entered into an agreement with the British Govern-

ment by which the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company were
" to provide, maintain, and keep seaworthy, and in complete
repair and readiness, for the purpose of conveying all Her

Majesty's mails, a sufficient number (not less than fourteen) of
good, substantial, and efficient steam vessels, of such construction
and strength as to be fit and able to carry guns of the largest
calibre now used on board of Her Majesty's steam vessels
of war, each of such vessels to be always supplied with first-

rate appropriate steam engines of not less than 400 collective
horse-power, and also a sufficient number —not less than four
— of good, substantial, and efficient sailing vessels, of at least
100 tons burthen each." Previous to this agreement, the

Government had conveyed the mails to the West India Islands
in gun-brigs, and in those days we must not forget that the
seas were not the free highways that they are now.
THE "TEVIOT" AND "CLYDE" (1841).
Frotn a Painting in the Victoria and Albert MiisenTft.
SIDE-LEVER ENGINE.
From the Model in the yictorta and Albert Museum.
OF THE
UNIVERSITY
OF
STEAMSHIPS AND THEIR STORY iii
The contract was for ten years, and to take effect from
December 1st, 1841. The fourteen ships were all named after
British rivers, and many readers will be aware that this custom
of the company has continued ever since, although in some cases
the names of foreign rivers have also been thus employed. Some
of these vessels were built at Northfleet on the Thames, others
and Clyde) were built at Greenock, others
(including the Teviot
at Dumbarton, Leith, and Cowes. The Lords of the Admiralty
stipulated that the vessels should be built under their super-
vision, and a naval officer was put in charge of the mails on
each steamer, and carried out a sort of supervision of the
ship's affairs, a boat's crew being always at when
his service
the mails were being taken aboard or disembarked. The

illustration facing page 112 shows the launch of the Forth
at Leith in 1841. This picture, which is taken from a con-
temporary painting, is worthy of perusal, as showing the close
resemblance between the mercantile marine and naval archi-
tecture of the period. Strength rather than slim beauty,
massiveness rather than fineness, formed the keynote both in
the steam and sailing ships of that time. In the same year
had already been launched the Thames from Northfleet, and
in the following year that vessel inaugurated this new service,
setting forth, like the older packets, from Falmouth, The

voyage from there to the West Indies took about eighteen
days, but exceptional runs were done in seventeen days.
This new steamship departure was an undoubted success,
and the Admiralty admitted that even the Government, with

all its naval resources, could not have succeeded so well as
this private company in getting together and ready for sea in
so short a time so many large and well-equipped new steamers.

Financially this meant a very large outlay, and there was not
much less than a miUion of money expended on this first fleet.
It should be stated, however, that the Government subsidised
the concern by a grant of £240,000 per annum. Presently
Falmouth gave way to Southampton as the headquarters of
the Royal Mail fleet. To-day there are so many big liners calling
at the Hampshire port, and there is at all times of the day so

continuous a procession of all kinds of large steamships, that
it is difficult to realise that in those days this was comparatively
a small port.
It was only natural that, as soon as ever the West
Indian service should have proved itself successful, a branch
should be extended to the South American Continent. In
1846, therefore, the company organised a means of transit
by mules and canoes across the Isthmus of Panama, which
were in 1855 superseded by the Panama Railroad. Although
we are departing from our historical sequence in the develop-
ment of the steamship, it is convenient here to sketch very

rapidly the progress of the Royal Mail Line farther still, for
the evolution of a steamship company is not necessarily that
of the steamship. A company may be famous for having
small
one or two ships that are always the last word in modern ship-
building and marine engineering a large company may possess
;
a considerable aggregate of tonnage, but its ships may be behind

the lead of others in improvements. For the moment we are
considering the enterprise which enabled the early steamships
to penetrate to distant, over-sea territories where the Eliza-
bethan sailors had gone in their slow-going ships scarcely
three centuries before.
In 1851 the Royal Mail Line service to South America
began, and about 1869 those steamers which had stopped
short at Brazil, and served the Argentine by transfer, continued
LAUNCH OF THE "FORTH" (1841).
By permission of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Co.
THE "WILLIAM FAWCETT" AND H.M.S. "QUEEN" (1829).

From the Painting by Frank Murray in the possession 0/ the Pcitinsular & Oriental Steam \avigatioii Co.
their voyage to Buenos Ayres. In the course of time it was

only to be expected that the heavy subsidy should be reduced.
It dwindled down to £85,000 a year, and was finally allowed
to vanish altogether as recently as June, 1905. Since then
the Royal Mail Company has extended its West Indian
service to New York via Jamaica. During the Crimean War
some of the vessels of this line did good service as trans-
ports,and even more recently still during the South African
War. It was on one of the vessels of this line that, during
the American Civil War, an incident occurred which was of
international importance. The ship which was brought so
prominently into notice was the Trent, that had been launched
at Northfleet. Some readers will doubtless remember that
Messrs. Slidell and Mason were forcibly taken from this vessel
by a Federal man-of-war, and that Lord Palmerston, by his
action in the matter, set forth that valuable doctrine, still
recognised, that an individual on board a British ship is as

safe from foreign interference as if he were on British soil.
It was in 1840, also, that the Pacific Steam Navigation

Company was granted its charter, and its history is, so to speak,
a complement of that of the Royal Mail Company.* After the
latter had extended its service to the Isthmus of Panama,
and established a means of transit across to the western
coast, it was evident that the Pacific littoral was ready for the
steamship, and this the Pacific Steam Navigation Company now
supplied. In the olden days the sailing ship had been the only
means of doing this, but that meant braving the terrors of
Cape Horn, as many of the surviving sailing ships do to this
day. But the enterprise of the Royal Mail Line on the
one side of the narrow neck separating North from South
* The Royal Mail Co. has now absorbed the Pacific Steam Navigation Co.
I
America, and the co-operation of the Pacific Steam Navigation
Company on the other, together with the intervening land-
journey, brought the inhabitants of the Southern Pacific much
nearer to Europe. The Panama Canal, which is promised
for opening in 1915, was thus foreshadowed. Sending round
its two steamers, the Chile and Peru, to the west coast, the
Pacific Company opened up a new sphere of commerce, and
these two steamships were the very first steam-propelled craft
that ever passed through the Straits of Magellan.
The foundation of the Peninsular Company dates back as
far as 1837. Even a year or two before then its ships had com-
menced running to the Peninsula, but at the time mentioned
a regular service of mail packets from London to Lisbon and
Gibraltar was instituted. Here again we find the existence
of a contract between the Admiralty and a steamship com-
pany for the carrying of the mails, but it was not until 1840
that the line was extended to Malta and Alexandria, and was
incorporated by Royal Charter under the now well-known
title of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Com-
pany, with a view to carrying on operations in the Far East.

The lower illustration facing page 112 shows the first steam-
ship owned by the Peninsular Company, a little paddle vessel
of only 209 tons. This was the William Fawcett, which was
built in the year 1829. She measured 74 feet long, only 16
feet wide, developed 60 horse-power, and was engaged in the
trade between England, Lisbon, and Gibraltar. But the first
steamer which the newly incorporated company dispatched
to India, via the Cape of Good Hope, was the Hindostan, a
vessel of 1,800 tons, and 500 horse-power. She began her
voyage from England in September, 1842, and her departure
was a memorable event when we consider all that was destined
;
to follow therefrom, and how meant the ending

certainly it
of the careers of those fine East India sailing ships which had
been brought to such a high state of perfection ere steam had
appeared on the sea. The Hindostan was a three-masted
vessel with a long bowsprit, " steeved " at a big angle,
setting yards on her fore-mast for fore-sail, topsail and t'gallant,
while her main and mizen were fore-and-aft rigged. She

is interesting as having not one but two funnels, the first being
placed very far forward, just abaft the fore-mast, whilst the
other was immediately in front of the main- mast. The distance
between the two funnels was great, for the purpose already
indicated. The Hindostan was followed by other steamers,
and in 1844 the P. and O. Company undertook a mail service
between England and Alexandria, and so from Suez to Ceylon,
Calcutta, and China.
Of course, as yet, there was no Suez Canal, so that, in a
manner similar to that across the Isthmus of Panama, an
overland route had to be instituted for passengers, cargo, and
mails across the Isthmus of Suez. The P. and O. Company
had, then, to land their passengers at Alexandria, and just as
canoes and mules had to be employed in America, so boats and
camels were requisitioned in Africa. But it was a complicated
journey, for this " overland " route was mostly an over-water
route. By means of the Mahmoudieh Canal the passengers and
goods were sent from Alexandria to the Nile, whence they
proceeded by steamer to Cairo. From there they travelled
through the desert to Suez. Three thousand camels had to
be employed for transporting a single steamer's loading
every package had to be subjected to three separate transfers,
and the inconvenience was indeed considerable. But for
nearly twenty years this system continued.

ii6 STEAMSHIPS AND THEIR STORY
Steam communication was inaugurated by the company
with Australia in 1852, by means of a branch line from Singa-
pore, and two years later the service between Suez and Bombay
was absorbed by the P. and O. Company. This had been
retained hitherto by the East India Company in order to
keep alive their navy. In 1869, came the opening of the
Suez Canal, and it was essentially the steamship and not the
sailing ship which brought this about, although the Suez
Railway preceded the canal by ten years. It is not generally
known, perhaps, that a continuous waterway had already

existed long years before. In the times of the early Egyptians
there had been a canal which connected the Nile with the
Red Sea, so that ships could circumnavigate Africa and,
returning by the Mediterranean, could come out through the
Nile into the Red Sea again. But the Suez Canal had not
been demanded so long as the steamship remained undeveloped,
and even for some time after the traffic to Australia and New
Zealand was principally carried on in those handsome clipper-
ships which were representative of the finest examples of the
sailing ship. It is only by means of the steamship that it
is possible to bring across so many thousands of miles the
great quantities of frozen meat and other perishable foods

which now reach this country, and the Suez Canal certainly
assisted to make this possible. Not merely did the steam-
ship indirectly bring about the Canal, but the latter increased
the steamship's sphere of usefulness.
About the time when the Suez Canal was opened the practical
adoption of the compound engine was taking place in the
mercantile marine. This idea had been introduced about
1856 by Messrs. Randolph Elder and Company, and had been
installed in the ships of the Pacific Steam Navigation Com-
pany. In explanation of this system we may say at once that

its great advantage lay in the fact that it reduced the coal
consumption to just about half of what it had been hitherto
in the most economical engines. The principle is based on
the fact that steam possesses elastic properties which can
be put to excellent use. Put simply, the compound engine
allows the steam to enter one cylinder at high pressure, and,
after it has moved the piston, escapes into one (or more) cylinders
of larger size, where it does its work by direct expansion, and
so much more work is done at little expense. The expression
" triple expansion," which frequently confronts the reader
interesting himself in steamships, simply means that the
steam is expanded one stage further. Quadruple expansion
is the same idea pushed still another stage. When about
twenty years ago the triple expansion system was brought
in, the steam pressures were increased from 125 lb. to 160 lb.
per square inch, and so the coal consumption was reduced

also. But the triple expansion had been preceded by the
compound and the low pressure engine, just as it was followed
by the quadruple.
The opening of the Suez Canal was not devoid of side issues,
for it took away that monopoly which the P. and O. had
enjoyed, since the world's steamships now poured in and
began to go eastward and back again. There was diffi-
culty with the Post Office, who refused to allow the Canal route
for the conveyance of mails, on the ground that it was not
so suitable as the Egyptian Railway, and it was not until
1888, when the charge for carrying the mails had been reduced
by nearly £100,000 a year, that the accelerated mails sent
via Brindisi were transferred to the Canal route, although
the heavy mails had already been carried by it. But the
ii8 STEAMSHIPS AND THEIR STORY
P. and O. were unlucky way. The Mooltan,
in another their
first ship to be installed with the compound engine, in 1860,
had proved such a success that several other steamers
of the line were thus fitted, but the result was disappointing.
Although it was quite clear that this type of engine made for
economy, yet was found unreliable, and in some cases had
it
to be replaced by less complex machinery.

We have now been able to see steamship lines estab-
lished and sending their fleets regularly with passengers, cargoes,
and mails to the uttermost ends of the earth, and we have
been able to look ahead a little so that we shall be free to
concentrate our attention very shortly on that centre of
steamship activity the North Atlantic. Between 1840 and 1860
the Cunard Company had practically a monopoly of the
Atlantic trade. For a time the American clippers hung on,
but as they had ousted the old brigs, even the fastest sailing
vessels were replaced by the steamship. From 1850 to 1858

there was, indeed, some opposition from a steamship com-
pany called the Collins Line, which had been subsidised by
the American Government. This competition was very keen,
for both lines were compelled to put forth the best steamers
they could, but in the end the Collins Line withdrew from
the contest.
But there was now another force coming in, which was
to entirely alter the character of the liner. Let us trace the
evolution of the screw propeller, which has completely ban-
ished the old-fashioned paddle-wheel from its place in the
ocean-going ship, and is rapidly having the same effect in
cross-Channel steamers. We
saw that away back in 1804
John Stevens had crossed the Hudson in a little ship that
was driven along by a screw propeller, but it was not until
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the year 1836 that the screw was re-introduced. In this year
John Ericsson, a Swedish engineer, obtained a patent for his
invention which consisted of two drums, on whose exteriors
were seven hehcal blades, the interior of each drum having
the three blades which formed the radii of the circle. Both
these drums worked on one axis, and were placed behind the
rudder, and not in front of it as is the modern propeller.
If the reader will turn to the plate facing page 118, he will
see this at the beginning of the second line to the left. The
drums were made to work in opposite directions, the object
being to avoid loss due to the rotary motion already remaining
in the water discharged by a single screw.
Ericsson applied this invention to the Francis B. Ogden,

which was built in 1837. She was 45 feet long, and was
driven by a two-cylinder steam engine with a boiler pressure
of 50 lb. The result of the experiment showed that she could
tow a vessel of 630 tons burthen at 4| knots against the tide.
The following year a larger vessel, the Robert F. Stockton, was
built by Laird Brothers, and attained a speed of thirteen
knots on the Thames, with the tide in her favour. After-
wards she crossed the Atlantic, but under canvas, and was
turned into a tug as the New Jersey, for work in New York
waters. The illustration facing page 120, which has been lent
by Messrs. Cammell, Laird and Company, Limited, of Birken-
head, shows her rigged as a topsail schooner under sail and
steam. Her measurements were 63.4 feet long, 10 feet beam,
7 feet deep, with a register of 33 tons, and engines of 30 horse-
power. Although she was the first screw steamer to cross
the Atlantic, yet her voyage is interesting rather as a fairly
daring trip of a small sailing ship than as proving the relia-
bihty of the screw propeller.

But at the same time that Ericsson was working at his
idea, Francis Smith, an Englishman, who was afterwards
knighted, was also engaged at the same problem, though
his method of solution was of a different nature, as. will be
seen by a reference to the last illustration on the first line
of the plate facing page 118. His patent was granted in the
same year as Ericsson's, and was tried with success the year
afteron the Paddington Canal. Smith was a farmer at

Hendon, and had already experimented with a model driven
by clockwork on a farm pond, just as Fulton had carried
out his early experiments with a clockwork model in a tank.
The next step was to repeat the experiment on a six-ton boat
which was driven by a steam engine, the propeller being, like
those of the modern aeroplanes, of wood. It was while thus
experimenting that an interesting accident happened, for
about one-half of the screw thus shown in the illustration was
broken off, and to everyone's surprise the boat instantly
began to leap forward at a quicker speed. Later the boat
was fitted with a screw having one turn instead of two, and
made of metal instead of wood, and in this small craft Smith
cruised as far as Folkestone. Her speed was 5| knots.
From these satisfactory results made by the six-tonner
Francis Smith, sufficient interest was aroused to form a syndicate

to test the proposition commercially, and to purchase Smith's
patents. The result was that the Archimedes, of 240 tons,
was launched from Limehouse in November, 1838, and fitted
with Smith's screw. It must be recollected that the same

old obstinacy was still very much
had hindered
alive that
other inventions connected with the ship, and was not until it
the Archimedes had toured round Great Britain, and steamed

across the Bay of Biscay and back without mishap, that people
THE "ROBERT F. STOCKTON" (1838).
Photo^rafh siifflkti l-y Messrs. OimimH, Laird &- Co., I.imiUd, Firteithead.
THE "ARCHIMEDES" (1839).

From a Contemporary Print.
began to believe in this new method of propulsion. To-day

everyone knows how entirely dominated by the screw the
steamship now is, and that the paddle-wheel belongs almost
exclusively to the excursion passenger steamer.
Of course. Smith's propeller was very different in expression
from the shape in use to-day, but the word as to the ideal
last
shape and size of the screw has even yet to be said. It would
be interesting to detail all the attempts which have been made

by different inventors to deal with the screw, but their name
is legion, and our space will not permit. An idea, however,
can be obtained of the various forms of screw propellers
patented in England before 1850 from the plate facing page 118,
to which we have already called attention.
The lower illustration facing page 120, which is taken
from a contemporary aquatint, shows the Archimedes on her
voyage from London to Portsmouth in the year 1839, when
she attained a speed of eight knots against both wind and tide.
Facing page 122 is reproduced a model of her stem framing
before being planked up. As a further test of this screw idea
Wimshurst, who had built the Archimedes, launched the Novelty
in 1839, a much larger vessel than her predecessor. The
Novelty will be seen in the next illustration, and in her we
see the " screw " vanishing and becoming more assimilated
to the modem propeller. Originally the corkscrew shape
entitled it to be called a screw ; but the evolution of time and
experience has now considerably altered this. It will be
noticed that in the Archimedes the screw is a little distance
away from the stem-post, but as seen in the Novelty the pro-
peller is put right close up against it. This Novelty was the
first cargo steamer fitted with a screw, and made her inaugural
trading voyage from London to Constantinople and back

with entire success. She is interesting also as having been
the first ship to be fitted with an iron mast. This material
was employed for the mizen, the other masts were of wood ;
her rig was that of a barque. For some years after the intro-
duction of the screw, and so long as sails were still retained as
auxiliaries, there had to be some means of overcoming the
resistance of when not in use and the ship was
the screw
proceeding under sail power. This was done either by fixing
the blades so that they caused the minimum drag, or by lifting
the screw into a well. The Novelty lifted hers on deck over
the quarter by means of davits. This arrangement will also
be seen in the illustration. This idea is now obsolete, since
sails are but rarely employed as auxiliaries.
Now the introduction of the propeller was not so simple
an event as the reader might imagine. Ordinarily, one is
tempted to argue that it was merely a case of putting the

power aft instead of at either side, as in the use of the
paddle-wheels. But, in fact, the introduction of the screw
opened up a new set of problems connected with ship design.
In the early days the design of a ship's stern, both in the sailing
ship and the steamer, was badly neglected. Later on the
improved lines of the clipper sailing ships certainly did much
to improve matters. I referred at the beginning of the previous
chapter to the rrianner in which a vessel going ahead moves

the water in which she floats, and how the eddies round the
stern impede her advance. Now when a propeller revolves,
much of its power is, even nowadays, wasted by what is called
" slip" —that is to say, by the yielding of the water so that
the screw does not progress to the full extent of its " pitch."
(The " pitch " of a propeller is the amount of distance which

is represented by one whole turn of the thread. We could
STERN OF THE "ARCHIMEDES.
From the Model trt the lictJria and Aibert Museum.
THE • NOVELTY " (1839).
From the Mode! in the I ictoria ana Albert Muse

measure, for instance, the " pitch " of a corkscrew by the

distance which it would penetrate in a cork.) Even after
years of experiments and improvements the wake at the end
of a steamship tends to reduce the speed of the water past
the propeller, but when first the screw experiments were con-
ducted the design of the afterbody of a ship's hull was so
carelessly considered that the " slip " of the propeller was
considerable. There is also to be taken into account the
fact that by the rounding in of the "stream lines" at the stern
the vessel receives a pressure which helps her forward. When,
however, a propeller is added to a ship and set in motion it
disturbs this helping-forward movement, and in a ship fitted
with only a single screw this disturbance is even greater than

in a twin-screw steamer, because the latter has her pro-
pellers placed well out, away from the hull. We need not
here pursue the subject further ; it is enough now to show
that every improvement in the steamship began a new chapter
of problems, introduced difficulties that could never have
been anticipated, which time and patience alone can solve
satisfactorily.
And so we come to the construction of the Great Britain,

of which the model is illustrated opposite page 126. Let us
recollect that it was only in 1836 that the little six-ton launch
Francis Smith had been built, and that it was only three years
later that the Archimedes showed by her successful voyages that
the screw method of propulsion was no fanciful, impracticable
theory. In this same year, 1839, there began to be built a still
more wonderful screw steamer. The Great Western Steamship
Company had already been so satisfied with the Great Western
that they believed that a far larger ship would be even still
more profitable. Therefore, Brunei was again consulted.
and he reported that already the furthest limit of long ships
built of wood was reached. There was no alternative but
to construct her of iron, for the reasons that I explained some
time since. Iron had already been used in ship-building for
barges and also for steamboats, but on no large scale. Aaron
Manby, in conjunction with Charles Napier, had built the
first iron steamboat as far back as 1821. This ship had been
conveyed in sections from Horseley, where she was made,
to the Surrey Canal Dock, and there put together. After
being tried on the Thames on May 9th, 1822, she steamed
away the next month with Napier in command, and Manby
as engineer, arriving in Paris on the eleventh of the same
month. She was thus not merely the first iron steamship,
but the first iron ship that ever put to sea. For the next twenty
years she continued to ply on the Seine. Napier was the
financier of the attempt to promote iron steamers on the
French river, but by 1827 the slump in the steamboat had
taken an acute form, and he was left a comparatively poor
man. But in 1832 the Lady Lansdowne was built by John
Laird of Birkenhead for the City of Dublin Steam Packet
Company, and she was the first iron steamer constructed
with the intention of performing sea-service. She was a paddle-
boat, and measured 133 feet long, 17 feet wide, with a tonnage
of 148 and a nominal horse-power of 90. Later still the Robert
F. Stockton, to which we have alluded, was also of iron.
But the Great Britain was to be 322 feet long, with a beam
of 50| feet, and a displacement of 3,618 tons, with a cargo
capacity of 1,200 tons, able to carry also 1,000 tons of coal,
and 260 passengers. To build such a big lump of a boat as
this was to be a very grave undertaking indeed. In fact, no
contractor could be found who would undertake the con-
struction of the ship or her engines. She was something out

of the unknown ; there were no data upon which to base cal-
culations. Brunei, therefore, made out the designs and the
Great Western Company with great daring proceeded to
lay down plant for building her themselves at Bristol. This
was in 1839. It was intended to give her the usual paddle-
wheel engines, but the Archimedes arrived at this port, and
the success of her screw propulsion caused Brunei to modify
his designs so that the Great Britain should become not only
the largest iron ship ever built, but the largest screw steamer.
It was originally intended to name her the Mammoth,
but she had better been called the White Elephant, for all the
use she was afterwards to her o^vners. Her rig was like
nothing afloat, and the vocabulary of nautical terms con-

tains no adequate description. From our illustration it will
be seen that she had six masts. On all except the second
she carried fore-and-aft canvas, but this second mast carried
two yards and square sails. Forward she had a bowspirt
and triangular headsails. In sail area alone she carried 1,700
yards of canvas, and in length the hull was 100 feet in excess
of the largest line-of-battleship afloat. She was actually
floated on July 19th, 1843, but it was not until December
of the following year that she was able to enter the river,
owing to the delay in the alteration of the dock. In the

meantime her engines had been put aboard, and on July 26th,
1845, after trips to London and Liverpool, she left the latter
port with sixty passengers, and 600 tons of cargo for the
Atlantic run. She arrived in New York after a fifteen days'
passage, with an average speed of 9^ knots. On the homeward
voyage her best day's run was 287 miles. The illustration
facing page 126 is from a model of her six-bladed propeller, with

—

which originally she was fitted ; but on one of her voyages
she had the misfortune to break and proceeded to Liver-
this
pool under her canvas. A new propeller was then fitted which
had but four blades, but later on she again resorted to the
original number. She continued her Atlantic voyages until
1846, when she ran ashore off the Irish coast in Dundrum
Bay during the month of September, and remained for eleven
months exposed to the terrible wintry weather but Brunei ;
had a wooden breakwater, loaded with stones, constructed

round her, and she was eventually re-floated and taken to
Liverpool, and though her bottom was naturally considerably
damaged, yet the mere fact that she had been able to survive
at all showed that confidence might be placed in iron as a
material for ship-building. But by this time her owners had
had enough and she was sold for less than one quarter
of her,
of the £100,000 she had cost. After alterations to her rig
and her engines, she was employed in the Australian trade.
She was next relieved of her engines, and turned into a sailing
vessel,and then used as a coal-hulk off the Falkland Islands.
Finally she was broken up at Barrow.
But apart from her size, the Great Britain possessed other
novel features which are worthy of notice. We have already
remarked that as the length of ships increased, so did the
longitudinal strain,and new methods had to be devised in
order to overcome
this. The Great Britain was specially
strengthened longitudinally, and furthermore she was divided
into five water-tight compartments. The original purpose
of transverse bulkheads was that if a vessel were holed by
collision or grounding, or —in the case of naval vessels
by shell, she might yet remain afloat. Nowadays they
pierced
do more than this, for, when carried up to the strong deck.
THE "GREAT BRITAIN" (1S«3).
Frotn the Maiil in the I 'idoria and Albert Mnseutn.
PROPELLER OF THE "GREAT BRITAIN.

Ft cm the ModH in tkf I'iitoria and Albert .Viisenm.
they add to the longitudinal strength of the ship. The Great

Britain also possessed another novelty, in bilge keels, which
extended for about one-third of her length. The object of
these, which are so well-known a feature of modern steamships,
was to lessen rolling. Her bulwarks consisted of iron rails
with netting running round the ship. Here, again, was a new
departure. In the older ships the heavy wooden bulwarks
were a relic of the days when the guns were sheltered behind
them ; but from the view of seaworthiness they were really a
false safety. If a heavy sea were shipped, the water was
held in and not allowed to get away easily ; in the case of
the Great Britain the water could escape just as quickly as it
came aboard.
Facing page 128 will be seen a reproduction of a model
of the Great Britain's engines, as originally placed in her
before Steam was generated in a double-
she ran ashore.
ended boiler. The nominal horse-power was 1,000, but twice
that amount could be obtained, and a speed of over 12 knots.
There were four direct-acting cylinders of which two will —
be seen in the foreground of the illustration —placed as low
down in the ship as possible. The early engines which were
used for the screw did not drive the latter directly, and on
reference to the illustration it will be seen that in the centre
of the crank shaft was a drum, which was connected with
another drum just below it on the propeller shaft by means
of four chains.
When referring to the side -lever engines in a former chapter,
I drew attention to the fact that in spite of their virtues they
had the great drawback of taking up a great deal of space.
The second illustration facing page 128 represents an attempt

to overcome this disadvantage. As will be seen on examining
the lower part of the engines, the lever has now become very
small in size. It will be noticed that there are two inverted
cylinders, whose piston-rods are connected by a cross-head,
the latter being guided by lever parallel movement, and from
it the power was conveyed by means of a connecting rod to
the crank on the paddle-wheel shaft. The connecting rod
can be seen between the two cylinders in the illustration.
These engines were made in 1843 for the Helen McGregor, a

paddle-steamer engaged in the Hull-Hamburg trade. She
was of 573 tons, and was one of the largest ships of her class.
It was not until 1852 that the Cunard Company were so
thoroughly convinced of the capabilities of either iron ship-
building or the screw propeller as to give both a trial. Four
iron screw steamers were then built, and these were the first
owned by line which were fitted with accommodaton

this
for emigrants. The next year six more iron screw steamers
were added, and connection formed with the chief ports of the
jVIediterranean and when the Crimean War broke out a
;
number of the Cunard ships were employed as transports.

But from one reason and another the screw propeller had
not found general favour among passengers. The vibration
it caused, its unpleasant " racing " in bad weather, and
the new motion as compared to that of the old paddle-wheel,

allied to the usual obstinate temperament, showed that the
earlier type had still to be retained for a while. Following
on the medieval custom, the stern of these early steamships
was and the saloon pas-

stiU regarded as the place of honour,
sengers were accordingly placed abaft the machinery, which

was amidships. Thus placed, the traveller was doubtfully
privileged, for the close proximity of the propeller made life
on shipboard exceedingly trying to the nerves, and there were

many who, having voyaged in the old ocean-going saiUng ships,

looked back with mixed feelings to the longer but less nerve-
racking journeys. The strain on the early screw engine
was very considerable when the vessel was pitching fore and
aft into the Atlantic seas. Being of comparatively small
size, its movements in such circumstances were far more
lively than in a modem, lengthy liner, which is able to stretch
over a longer span. Consequently, as the bow came down
into the sea and the stern rose out, the propeller was much
more prone to race and the
wildly, gearing, such as we saw
in the engines of the Great Britain, was not infrequently unable
to endure the terrible strain to which it was put. It was for
this reason that the screw engines were afterwards made
direct-acting.
The Cunard Company decided to build their next ship of

iron, but with paddle-wheels. This was the Persia, launched
in 1856, a vessel of 3,300 tons burthen, with accommodation
for 250 passengers.But she was even surpassed by the Scotia,
which was built in 1862, and is interesting as being the last
and the finest paddle-ship which was ever made for their Atlantic
service. An illustration of this vessel will be found opposite
page 130. She was fitted with the greatest luxury of the
time, to carry 275 cabin passengers, had seven water-tight
compartments, and a double bottom, so that even if she should
have had the bad luck to run ashore she would still most
probably be able to endure. Nowadays most steamships are
fitted with this excellent arrangement, which was first adopted
in the Great Eastern, through the ingenuity of Brunei, to which
we shall refer presently. But the Scotia turned out to be also
a fast boat, and materially altered the time spent in crossing
the Atlantic ; she lowered the record to just two hours under
J
the nine days. Her engines were of the famiUar side-lever
type, and were the finest examples of their kind that were ever
made. The cylinders were 100 38frin diameter, and steam
at 20 lb. pressure was supplied by eight boilers with forty
furnaces, the speed attained being 13| knots per hour ; her
daily coal consumption was 159 tons. She could carry 1,800
tons of coal, and was exceedingly strongly constructed. We
can obtain some idea of those paddle-wheels shown in the
illustration when we remark that they were no less than 40 feet
in diameter. She was afterwards turned into a " telegraph "
ship for use in cable-laying, and her paddles changed for twin
screws. It was not until about 1896 that her water-tight
bulkheads were put to practical use ; for as the result of an
explosion on board of vapour from spirit her bow was blown
out of her, and the water began to rush in. Her collision
bulkhead was also damaged, but happily the second bulk-
head saved the ship from foundering.
Turning our attention away from the North Atlantic for
a while, we shall be able to see that steamships on other routes
were now fast passing from the olden types, when designers
and builders were working with only a minimum of data on
which to base their achievements. We have already referred
to the highly important knowledge which was gradually being
obtained concerning the relations between the hull of a ship
and the water in which she is floated. One of the greatest
on this subject about the middle of the last century
authorities
was John Scott Russell, who worked out a theory regarding
the resistance of the ship passing through the water. He
it was who contended that the hull should only move the
water out of the way sufficiently to allow the widest section
of the ship to pass through, and to do this in such a manner
THE "SCOTIA" (1862).
From a Painting. By permission of the Cunard Steamship Co
THE "PACIFIC" (1853).

From a Paintiiii^ in the I'icloria and Albert Museum.
as should cause the least amount of friction and disturbance

of the water, so that, when the ship was gone by, the particles
of water should be restored to their original quietude. It
is important to bear in mind that the design of a ship must
be made with regard to the speed which it is intended to get
out of her. Thus, it is now a well-known principle that to
give a ship highly powerful engines so that she is forced beyond
her proper speed only makes the waves diverge from the sides
and waste themselves instead of travelling with the vessel
and giving it a forward impetus.
The model of the hull in the illustration facing page 134
represents the steamship Victoria, which was built in 1852
of iron, and designed by those two great geniuses Brunei and
Scott Russell for the Australian Royal Mail Steam Navigation
Company. Even the least practised eye on looking at her
lines can see that she possessed speed, and it was this ship
that gained the £500 prize offered by the Colonies for the
fastest voyage to Australia, her time from Gravesend to
Adelaide being sixty days, including two days' delay at St.
Vincent. The Victoria was designed as embodying the wave-
line theory and for a speed of ten knots. It is not necessary
to examine this model many moments before one realises

how unmistakably the clumsy, ponderous hulls so characteristic
of earlier years were now being replaced by sweet, graceful,
non-resisting features. The hull of the Victoria was separated
into a dozen water-tight compartments and displaced 3,000
tons, her length being 261 feet, with a breadth of 38 feet, or
approximately seven beams to the length. She had a two-
bladed screw, and when this was not in use, and the Victoria
proceeded under sail-power alone, the propeller was fixed
vertically. Thus arranged, the ship could sail 5| knots, but
—

it is interesting to remark that when the screw was allowed
to revolve freely the speed of the ship was increased another
couple of knots.
It was in this ship that a type of engine was fitted to which,
so far, we have not referred. This was the oscillating kind,
and was destined to become pretty well universal in paddle-
ships, though not without serious opposition at one time.
This type had been patented as far back as 1827, by Joseph
Maudslay, and in the Aaron Manby, already mentioned, the
machinery was of an oscillating nature, for which Manby
had obtained a patent in 1821, but even farther back still
in 1785 —
^William Murdoch had proposed the use of oscillating
cylinders. It is only fair to Maudslay to say that he had
independently worked out this arrangement, and so afforded

yet another instance of the possibility, which I have enunciated
before, of different inventors working at the same set of problems
and bringing about a similar method of solution. In the
accompanying illustration is shown Maudslay's original oscillat-
ing engine. In this type the cylinders, instead of being fixed,

oscillate, and the necessity of the connecting rod is dispensed
with, for the cylinder is placed immediately underneath the
crank shaft, as a reference to the illustration will show. Each
cylinder is mounted on trunnions in the same manner as a cannon,
being placed at a point about the middle of the cylinder's
length, so that it can swing, or oscillate, in such a way
as to correspond with the arc which the crank makes in its
movement. Thus there are both weight and valuable space
saved. In the instance before us the condenser is placed
between the two cylinders ; the central trunnions communicate
with the condenser, and the outside trunnions with the steam
pipe. But Maudslay's engines did not at that time find the
MAUDSLAY'S OSCILLATING ENGINE.
From the Original in the I 'ictoria and Albert Muse uin.
ENGINES OF THE "CANDIA."

From the Drauin,^ in lite Victoria and Albert Museum.
appreciation which had been hoped

and it was not until
for,
1838, when they were re-introduced by John Penn, that they

received their full favour. We shall return to the oscillating
type when we come to consider the Great Eastern. But we may
remark that the interesting steamship illustrated opposite
130 was also provided with the oscillating pattern. This is
the packet steamer Pacific, which was built in 1853 for the
Mediterranean service, and is another example of a vessel
constructed on the wave-line system. She was built of iron,
and had nine water-tight compartments.

The Pacific was interesting in another feature, in that she
generated her steam in four tubular boilers, each of which had
five furnaces. Briefly the evolution of the boiler had been
on this wise : As originally fitted in the Clermont and Comet
it was simply a water-tank set in brickwork, and was nearly full
of water, with the fire outside, or, to use the expression generally
employed, " externally fired." In those days the pressure of
the steam was not greater than the pressure of the air, which
we saw to be 15 lb. to the square inch. Then came a modifica-
tion of this in which the furnace was placed inside the boiler,
the advantage being that, with the water all round, the latter
could be the more readily heated. This developed into the
marine " box " boiler, with internal flat-sided flues and furnaces.
This t\'pe continued to be fairly universal until about 1845,
but the utmost pressure of steam which these were capable of
enduring was not above 35 lb. or thereabouts. But tubes instead
of the flat flues began to be introduced about the year 1850,
owing to the suggestion of the Earl of Dundonald, and these
were to be of about double the diameter of those which had
been common to locomotives for the previous twenty years. The
pressure was soon raised considerably, but there was a strong
J'
;

prejudice against using high pressures at sea, and the idea
was not encouraged.
In the same year that the Pacific took the water was
launched the Himalaya, of which a beautiful little model is
here illustrated. She was built for the P. and O. Line. This
fine ship-rigged steamship was constructed of iron at Black-
and in the following year was bought by the British
wall in 1853,
Government and steamed away from Plymouth with soldiers
for the Crimea. She was of 4,690 tons displacement, and
in that year made a record run from Gibraltar at an
average speed of 13| knots. Originally she had been built
for carrying both cargo and passengers, but now she is,
or was, ending her sphere of usefulness as a coal hulk at

Devonport. —
Her coal " endurance " she could carry 1,200
tons —^made her a valuable asset, and her six water-tight
bulkheads rendered her still more efficient. As will be seen

from the illustration, she had a single propeller, and this
was driven by yet another type of engine, which we have now

to consider. We refer to the vertical trunk engine. We
shall be able to understand this better if we examine the illus-
tration facing page 132, which reproduces a drawing of a

similar type of engines installed in the P. and O. Candia,
built a year later than the Himalaya. In the trunk engine
the piston-rod was done away with, so that the connecting
rod is attached directly to the piston within a trunk or tube.
This trunk passes through a steam-tight stuffing-box in the
cylinder cover, and is made wide enough to allow of the lateral
vibrations of the connecting rod inside. As long as steam
pressures did not exceed 35 lb. this proved to be satisfactory
but the friction of the stuffing-boxes when they became of large
dimensions was a serious drawback. The Candia, for which
THE "VICTORIA" (1852).
Front the Model in the I'ictoria and Albert J/user
THE "HIMALAYA" (1853).

Fro»i t/u Model in the I'ictoria ami Albert Museum.
COASTING CARGO STEAMER (1855).

From the Model in thi I 'ictoria and Albert Museum.
these engines were made, was a screw and the

ship, cj^linders
were placed in a fore-and-aft position. By means of this type
of engine, employing trunks, the height required was greatly
lessened, and it was not necessary, as will have been noticed
was essential in the case of the Great Britain's engines, that part
of them should come up through the deck. Thus, the trunk
type meant a saving of valuable space.
Between the cylinders
were arranged the condensers, which were of the jet type.
We may stop to remind the reader that the condenser had been
the invention of Watt, who had improved on the Newcomen
engine not merely by covering over the top of the cylinder,
but by condensing the exhausted steam in a separate vessel,
called a condenser. This condensation he brought about by

means of a jet of cold water, and the same principle was still
employed in the Candia. Condensation having taken place,

the water thus formed, together with any air which has got
in, is then drawn by the air-pumps, which will be seen in the
off
illustration to be worked from an intermediate crank. It will

be remarked on glancing at the left of the picture that the
Candia's crank shaft was connected with the propeller shaft
by means of spur gearing, which doubled the speed of the
screw, and so of the ship, but yet allowed the actual engines to
run comparatively slowly. This toothed wheel idea was
a better method than that employed in the Great Britain's
engines, though it was only just one stage better. There was a
rooted objection in the early days of the screw to running the
engines at a great speed, and thus it was only by some such means
of gearing that the propeller was made to revolve quickly. In

when a wider experience and knowledge
the course of time,
had been obtained, the gearing was
of engineering matters
done away with and the engines became direct-acting, and
so there ensued far less friction, an absence of complication,
and less expense caused by gearing. At the same time
the power obtained by the newer method became more
direct.
A customary apparatus nowadays adopted for steamships

is the surface condenser, and in the effort to increase the steam
pressures this has been a potent factor. But it had already
been tried by Watt, by David Napier, and re-introduced by
Samuel Hall in 1831. The surface condenser consists of a
number of brass tubes about three quarters of an inch in
diameter, through which a stream of cold water circulates.
This necessarily keeps the pipes cool, and thus condenses the
exhaust steam which is thrown on to them from the cylinder ;
it is practically a kind of tubular boiler. Instead of the jet,
as in the older form of condenser, it is the outside of the pipes

which performs the office, and the air-pump does its work
as before. The condensed steam is now available for feeding
the boiler, and after being filtered the feed pump draws it into
a heater and thence it is led into the boiler once more. If
the reader will now turn to the illustration facing page 132
once more, he will see in the right hand of the picture that in
the Candia the feed and bilge pumps were worked by small
beams from an eccentric.
By being able to use this water for the boilers a great

economy was effected, but in some of the P. and O. liners the
boilers suffered rather badly, since an injurious chemical action

was up owing to the continuous return of the same water
set
backwards and forwards from the condenser. Nowadays
the problems connected with the condenser have been fully
mastered, and the advantage of being able to use distilled
water is obvious ; for one of the surest and quickest methods
of bringing about ruin is to use sea-water for the boiler, over
which it will lay a thick crust of salt.
The third illustration facing page 134 is interesting as repre-

sentative of a type of coasting steamer introduced aboiA the
year 1855. She shows very well the simplest form of an iron
ship propelled with a screw, and evinces sufficient resemblance
to the dying sailing ship before the steamer had taken on
a distinctive character of her own. In a word, here is the
steamship not in her crudity, as in the ease of the Clermont,
but certainly in her elementary form without any of those
extra decks and houses which were still to come, and which
to-day give such distinct personality to the steamship. It
will be seen that she is just a flush-decked vessel, with a
central protection amidships for her engines and boilers.
There is no forecastle, no poop, and in the development

of type she stands at the beginning. She was built for the
North Sea trade, and in bad weather must have been a

singularly wet boat. She was only of 677 tons gross register,
and the absence of any shelter would, when steaming to

windward in a bad sea, cause her to be swept from end to
end. Similarly, her stern being equally unprotected by either
poop or quarter deck, she would be at the mercy of a bad
following sea. It was not surprising that this elementary
t}'pe soon gave way to those modifications that we shall see
hereafter. In design of her body this present model illustrates
again Scott Russell's system of obtaining a capacious ship
combined with the qualities of slipping through the water
with minimum of resistance. This will be especially
the
noticeableby regarding the long straight middle body. She
was propelled by oscillating engines, and a two-bladed screw,
having also sails on her three masts.
And so we come to that famous monstrosity and wonder
of her decade the Great Eastern, some idea of whose appearance
will be obtainable from a model of her, illustrated herewith.
Here again will be found a repetition of a curious rig with the
half-dozen masts, of which the second and third carried yards
and square-sails, and the others the usual fore-and-aft sails
set on the gaffs here seen. Although she carried one triangular
headsail, yet this was a staysail, and it is significant that in this
notable ship we find the disappearance of the bowsprit, a change

that is so characteristic of the modern liner. Much more
than either the Great Western or the Great Britain this epoch-
making monster stands for something altogether distinctive

in the eyolution of the steamship. Frankly, in spite of her
virtues, she was a creature born out of due time. Historically,
she exhibits in no uncertain manner the extraordinary and

almost incredible speed at which the development of the
steamship had progressed in fifty years, during which period
designers, ship-builders, and engineers had to feel their way
in the most cautious manner. No ship was built with such a
length as hers until the White Star Oceanic in 1899 no vessel ;
ever had such a beam until the coming of the Mauretania

and Lusitania, and even they only exceed the Great Eastern's
extreme width by a mere five feet. But it is half a century
since the latter was built, when all the experience that we
possess now was not yet obtained.
Originally she had been named the Leviathan, and her
beginning happened as follows : Already the fact had come
to be appreciated that there was a superior advantage in a
large steamer compared with a ship of smaller size when
voyages of considerable distances were contemplated, and that,
as already pointed out on a previous page, length of hull.
other things being equal, makes for speed. In designing the

Great Eastern with an extreme length of 692 feet she spanned
over so large a number of wave-lengths that the possibility
of pitching was very decidedly reduced. But even in smooth
water length still means speed, and to take the case of a rowing
" eight " and compare it with a single " sculler," we find that
this law is well exemplified. Without pursuing so interesting
a point beyond our limitations of subject, we might remark
that quite recently an expert took the trouble to work out data
obtained from the performances respectively of a Leander
" eight " and a " sculler " as observed at a Henley Regatta.
Although the displacement of the eight-oared craft works
out at about 240 pounds per rowing man, or including the
coxswain at about 217 pounds, whilst the sculler only dis-
places 208 lb., yet for all that the speed of the longer boat
was found to be greater in the proportion as 9.75 knots are to
8.12 knots, and this, bear in mind, while the eight is carrying
a ninth man who contributes nothing to the speed of the craft.
We mention this as a simple example of that important fact
of the superiority of length in ship-making, an importance
that is now exhibited so clearly in the enormous lengths of
the latest liners.
Brunei, who had already broken steamship records by his
previous daring essays, suggested to the Eastern Navigation
Company the building of such a ship as would be able to carry
an unheard-of number of passengers, a very large amount of
cargo, and at the same time be capable of steaming all the
way to Australia without having to coal on the voyage.
These virtues, together with her speed of fifteen knots, would,
it was thought, enable her to attract such a large amount
of business that she would handsomely repay her owners.
The contract was eventually given to Scott Russell's firm,
who were entrusted with the building of the ship, together
with the paddle-wheel engines. The screw engines were made
by Messrs. James Watt and Co., so that three of the names
most prominently connected with the history of the steam-
ship were especially associated with the construction of this
leviathan. Brunei was assisted in the designing by Scott
Russell, and the latter's wave-line principle was followed.
The building of the ship began on the 1st of INIay, 1854, and
on the last day of January, 1858, she was sent into the water
at Millwall. But this was not done without some difficulty.
The first attempt to launch this enormous mass of 12,000

tons was unsuccessful. Her weight was resting on a couple
of gigantic cradles which were to slide down an incline to the
water ; but they only moved a few feet and then stopped.
Finally, three months after the first effort, she was slowly
persuaded into the water, side-ways, by hydraulic machinery.
Instead of running her on the route for which she had been
built, where her exceptional abilities might have been utilised,
she was put to compete with the steamships already running

on the Atlantic, for which short voyage she was not specially
suitable, and financially she spelt ruin all round. First, the
attempts to launch her, and the ensuing delay cost £120,000

and the company, unable to bear the expense, was wound
up. Then the new company which bought her for £160,000
were ill-advised to employ her in the American trade, for
neither as a passenger ship nor as a cargo carrier could she
be made to pay her way. Subsequently she was used in laying
the Atlantic cable, and was handed over to the ship-breakers
in 1888, who brought her career to an end during the next
couple of years.
\
PADDLE ENGINES OF THE "GREAT EASTERN."
SCREW ENGINES OF THE "GREAT EASTERN."

Front the Mode's in (he I'ictoria and Albert Museum.
The Great Eastern was, in accordance with Brunei's idea,

propelled by both paddle-wheels and a screw. An illustration
is here given of a model of her paddle-engines, which were of

the oscillating type. It will be borne in mind that the leading
advantages of this type lay in the fact of their comparative
lightness in weight, and their economy as regards space. If
the reader will just glance at the illustration which faces page
138 of the Great Eastern's longitudinal section, he will be
able to see what little room these engines actually needed.
It will be noticed in her paddle-engines that each of two cylinders
drove a crank, the cylinders being placed vertically but at an
inclined angle. Each paddle-wheel could, if desired, be driven
separately. The condensers were of the jet type, and there
were two air-pumps, which were driven by a single crank in
the middle of the paddle shaft. The paddle-wheels were
tremendous, weighing ninety tons each, and measuring fifty-six
feet in diameter. But the Great Easterji amply proved how

unsuitable the paddle-wheel was for ocean work. Every time
the big monster rolled in a bad sea a great strain was put on
the machinery; these vast projections, too, offered not merely
increased windage and accentuated the ship's general unwieldi-
ness, but afforded a fine target for the Atlantic waves to
smash against. Once the Great Eastern, during a gale in
the year 1861, suffered pretty badly in this respect, when the
paddle-wheels were destroyed. She was afterwards fitted with
wheels five feet smaller in diameter, and of greater strength.
In the next illustration will be seen a model of her screw
engines, whose position in the ship will be found on referring
again to the longitudinal section. These were, it will be
noticed, no longer of that early type which needed gearing,
but worked directly, the cylinders being placed horizontally.
The number of cylinders was four, each of which had two piston-
rods, and steam was supplied by half a dozen double-ended
tubular boilers of the rectangular or " box " type. For the
benefit of the non-technical reader we may explain that the
object seen in the foreground of the picture, extending from
the centre to the right-hand side, is what is commonly called
the " link motion gear," which is employed for reversing the
engines when it is required to send the ship astern. This
controls the slide valves which allow the steam to enter the
cylinders. The principle of the link motion is just this : two
eccentrics are placed side by side on the shaft, but opposite
to each other. Each of them is connected by a rod to one
end of the " link," which is curved in shape. In this illus-
tration it will be easily recognised at the right-hand side in

the front. Now, as the link is moved up or down, so it controls
the eccentric. If it is lowered, for instance, then one eccentric
only is working the valve, but if the link is raised the other
eccentric will control the valve, and so the latter will work in
the opposite direction to which it did before. Thus, by using
one eccentric, steam enters the cylinder at one end first, while
if the other eccentric is employed steam will enter first at
the other. Thus it becomes possible to make the engine turn
in whichever direction is desired by regulating the end of the
cylinder by which the steam shall first enter.
The Great Eastern's propeller had four blades, and an

interesting arrangement was adopted so that when the ship
was proceeding by means of her paddles, sails, or both, the
screw propeller was kept revolving by means of two auxiliary
engines in order that the speed of the ship through the water
might not be diminished by the drag of the screw. Actual
results showed that this ship could do her fifteen knots with
screw and paddles, but her average speed was one knot less.
Under screw alone she could do nine ; under paddle power

alone she did seven and a quarter. It will thus be noticed
that when using both paddles and screw she ought to have
done better, and this failing is explained by asserting that
the paddle-wheels and the screw caused a resistance too great
for their respective engines.
The construction of this ship calls for more space than
we can here devote thereto, but some of the important features
may be enumerated. She was of great strength longitudinally,
and from the keel to the water-line her hull was double. The
longitudinal bulkheads extended to the topmost deck, and
materially added to her strength, while the inner skin just
mentioned not merely gave added strength, but was an exten-
sion of the double-bottom idea, and so increased her chances
in case of collision. Furthermore, the space between the two
skins was available for water ballast, so as to preserve the
trim of the ship as she neared the end of her voyage, and her
coal bunkers were becoming lightened. Transversely, also,
the ship was divided by iron bulkheads into water-tight com-

partments in addition to the longitudinal ones. The iron
plates out of which the was made varied from a
ship's skin
half to three-quarters of an inch thick. The Ch-eat Eastern
was able to give the world a very convincing proof of the
utility of the double bottom, for she had the bad luck to run
on a rock, and although more than a hundred feet of her outer
hullwas afterwards found to be damaged, yet she was able to
complete her voyage without the water getting through into
her hull proper.
For steering so large a vessel as the Crreat Eastern the
usual type of steering-wheel would clearly have entailed the
expenditure of very considerable physical effort ; so, for the
first time, was introduced in this ship a steam steering gear,
an example that is nowadays followed by almost all steamers
of any size, including even excursion boats. This arrange-
ment necessitates the use of a miniature steam engine, the
two cylinders working cranks, and the shaft causing the drum
containing the steering chain to revolve. Any movement
of the steering wheel admits steam, and as soon as the steers-
man ceases to turn his wheel so quickly does the little engine
cease to work.
We have no desire to try the patience of the reader by
presenting a mass of statistics, but those who delight in com-
parisons may be interested to learn how the Great Eastern
would appear if put alongside the Mauretania. The latter
displaces 40,000 tons, the Great Eastern displaced 32,000.

The big Cunarder is 790 feet long, between perpendiculars,
while the Great Eastern was 680 feet. The latter possessed
a combined horse-power — paddle and screw engines —of 11,600,

while the Cunarder has 70,000. And so we could continue.
But now that we have seen to what unheard-of limits the
steamship had shown herself capable of reaching by the end
of the sixth decade in the nineteenth century —^how she had, step
by step, grown from moderation to exaggeration — let us now
examine her progress during the next twenty years, in which
she passed through her transition period.
CHAPTER V
THE LINER IN HER TRANSITION STATE
The period which follows after about the year 1862 is notable
as witnessing not only the gradual universal adoption of the
screw in steamships, but the more general appreciation of
iron as the material from w^hich to construct a vessel's hull.
After the prejudices which already we have seen arising at
different stages of the steamship's history, it was scarcely to
be wondered at that iron should come in for its full share of
virulent criticism and opposition. The obvious remark made
on all sides was that to expect iron to float was to suppose that
man could act exactly contrary to the laws of Nature, and
this notwithstanding that already, besides barges, a few ships
thus built had somehow not only managed to keep afloat,
but to traverse channels and oceans in perfect safety, carrying

such heavy weights as their own machinery, to say nothing
of their cargoes and human freights. But slowly the pubUc
prejudice began to wane. Already the Cunard Company had
given way to iron in 1856, and in 1860 the Admiralty were
at last convinced that the new method was just and sound.
Within the limited scope at our command we have not space
here to enter into the elaborate discussion of matters which
have to be taken for granted before the building of the steam-
ship begins. But the plain answer to the natural inquiry,
as to how and why a vessel made out of iron does not imme-
diately sink to the bottom as soon as ever she is launched,
K 145
is this : whereas iron in itself is far heavier than water, yet
the iron ship has not the same specific gravity as the iron
from which it is made. Therefore, the ship of this material
will be supported by the water in which it is placed.
In actual displacement, an iron ship
is proportionately
lighter than a ship built of wood, and by " displacement " is

meant the amount of water which a vessel displaces through
being allowed to float. Of course, the quantity of water
which a ship displaces (or pushes to one side) depends entirely
on the weight of the vessel, and is exactly equal to the weight
of the ship. Thus, suppose we were to fill a dock with water
up to the level of the quay and then lower down into it by

means of gigantic cranes a Mauretania or Lusitania, the
water would, of course, flow over on to the quays. Now the
amount of water thus driven out would be the exact equivalent
of the liner's displacement. When we say, for instance, that
the displacement of the Mauretania is 40,000 tons, when
loaded, we mean that her total weight when loaded is this
number of tons, and her hull when afloat puts on one side
(or " displaces ") just that amount of water.
Now, as compared with wooden ships, the use of iron

meant a saving in displacement of about one-third, taking
the wooden and the iron ships to be of the same dimensions.
From this followed the fact that the iron ship could carry
a greater amount of cargo with consequent greater profit
to her owners. And, as I have already indicated in another
chapter, before it was possible to build ships of great length
iron had to be introduced to enable them to endure such

longitudinal strains. Again, a wooden ship must have her
skin and ribs made of a thickness far greater than an iron
ship, for the clear reason that one inch of iron is much stronger
than one inch of wood; in other words, to obtain a given
strength the iron will take up less room in the ship. Thus
in an iron steamer there will be more space available for cargo
than in a wooden ship of the same design. We could go on
enumerating the advantages of iron, and quote instances of
iron ships, whose cargo had got on fire, arriving safely in port
and coming into dock where the assistance of the local fire-
brigade had enabled the vessel's own pumps to get the
conflagration under. It is only as recently as December of
1909 that the Celtic, the well-known White Star liner, during
a voyage between New York and Liverpool, had the mis-
fortune to get on fire while at sea. By means of tarpaulins
and injections of steam it was possible to control the burning
until the Mersey was reached, when it was intended to flood
her holds. Had she been a wooden ship instead of steel, or
even iron, the Celtic would undoubtedly have ended her days
in the Atlantic.
The first Atlantic company to build all its steamers of
iron was the Inman Line, which had been founded in 1850,
and until 1892 was one of the foremost competitors for the
coveted " blue ribbon " of the Atlantic. Their first ships
had been the City oj Glasgow and the City of Manchester, and
these, inasmuch as they were built of iron, and were propelled
by a screw at a time when prejudice had not yet died down,
were entirely different from the prevailing type of steamer ;
and this, it should be remembered, at a period six years before

the Cunard had built their iron Persia. This City oj Glasgow
was built by a Glasgow firm and Mr. Inman
of shipbuilders,
had sufficient confidence in her to purchase her and form a

company. Barque-rigged, with a single funnel, she was of
only 1,610 tons and 350 horse-power. Under the command
afterwards changed to the Tonquin, and the superstitious will

find interest in the fact that she subsequently foundered at
sea in the year 1885. In the City of Paris the reader will be
able to remark some of the last traces of the old sailing ship,
which were destined presently to be altered considerably.

The long, narrow wooden deckhouse going down almost the
length of the ship, and leaving but little room for the passengers
to promenade ; the high, stout bulwarks, which rise almost

to the top of the deckhouse, were among the last Hnks which
connected the steamship with the sailing ship. We must
not forget that about the time when the City of Paris was
built, the great clipper sailing ships were enjoying their prime,
and no one will deny that their influence is very clearly marked
in the model before us. As an interesting lesson in comparisons,
showing how the tendency since the 'sixties has been to raise
the decks of the steamships higher and higher, the reader
is invited to compare this illustration with that of the Majestic,
facing page 162, and also that of the Kaiser WiUielm II., facing
page 180. In the sailing ship the deckhouse had to be small, for
the reason that the deck space was required for the crew to
work the sails ; in the steamer this space was encroached upon,
so that the deckhouse was elongated, and extended from the
break of the anchor deck to the hood at the stern.
The City of Paris's great rival came with the launching
of the Cunard Company's steamship Russia, which is here
and began running across the Atlantic in 1867.
illustrated,
But though the latter' s quickest passage from New York to

Queenstown was eight days twenty-four minutes, the City oj
Paris, in 1867, crossed in eight days four hours, which at the

time had broken the record, though the City of Brussels reduced
it still further to under eight days. The Russia was another
Clyde-built boat, and measured 358 feet long, 43 feet broad,
and nearly 28 feet deep, having a gross tonnage of 2,960, and
an indicated horse-power of 2,800. Her average hourly speed
was 13 knots on a coal consumption of 90 tons per day. She
was, of course, built of iron and had a single screw — two
characteristics which practically all the crack Atlantic liners
possessed from about 1862 until the end of 1883, if we except
the Cunard Servia, which was launched in 1881, although
the Allan liner Buenos Ayrean had been the first steel ship
on the Atlantic.
During this period the liner was steadily adapting herself,
her design, her engines, and her build, to meet the increase of
experience gained at sea, and the increase of knowledge which
shipbuilders and engineers were accumulating was in readiness
for the continuity of advance. In 1881, after a period of much

usefulness and great popularity among passengers, the Russia
was sold to the Red Star Line, who lengthened her, changed
her direct-acting engines to compound engines, and named her
the Waesland. But the Russia was not the first screw-ship
possessed by the Cunard Company. Already I have mentioned
that though this line had introduced the screw-steamer into
their fleet, it had not met with the reception it had expected,
and for a time a return had been made to the paddle-wheel.
It was the China, which had begun running in 1862 to New

York, that helped to convince those who were prejudiced
against the newer form of propulsion. She was 326 feet long,
and was driven by a type of surface-condensing engine geared
down to the propeller shaft by means of tooth-gearing after
the manner already described, her engines being of the oscil-

lating kind.
But we approach now another of those important crises
;
in the history of the steamship when her future, for some years
to come, became so definitely moulded. On other pages I have
already alluded to the boilers in use on the big steamers, and
to the important adoption of the compound engines using
the expansive force of steam to do additional work after it
has entered one cylinder. The increase of steam- pressure
necessitated the adoption of a different type of boiler, with a
cylindrical shell and flues. Thus the type which is known
as the " Scotch " boiler was introduced about the year 1870,
and is still in use even on the Mauretania. It was not until
this type was adopted that the compound system began to

make At the same time it is only fair to state that
progress.
the latter method had been introduced by the Pacific Steam
Navigation Company as far back as 1856, and by the National
Line in the early 'sixties. But it is when we come to the
pioneer steamship of the White Star Line that we see the real
influence which was at work to make the final cleavage between
the old-fashioned steamship and the new type of liner. That
flag which is now so familiar to all who travel across the
Atlantic used to fly at the masthead of a fleet of sailing clippers.

In 1867 the managing owner of the White Star Line retired
Mr. T. H. Ismay took over the control and began by
introducing iron for the clippers instead of wood. Two years
later and a fleet of steamships, especially constructed for the
American passenger trade, was ordered to be built. The order
was given to that famous Belfast firm, Messrs. Harland and
Wolff, who have built the White Star steamships ever since.
*^
In August of 1870 was launched the first Oceanic, which made
the old-fashioned rub their eyes in surprise and shake their c^>
heads in distrust. For the Oceanic simply threw convention /',
to the winds and set going an entirely new order of things '
in the steamship world. From her have followed most of the
modern steamship improvements up to the coming of the
turbine.Some idea of her appearance may be gathered from
the illustration facing this page, but in the fewest words we will
now endeavour to indicate some of her especial characteristics.

When she came into the Mersey that memorable day in
February of 1871 her immense length in comparison with
her beam was instantly noticeable. I have already explained
the value of length in ocean travel, but here was a ship with
a beam exactly one-tenth of her 420 feet length. Sir Edward
Harland knew what he was about when designing so novel
a craft, and in spite of the general comments that the Oceanic
would prove a bad sea-boat, and unfit to face the terrors of
an Atlantic winter's gale, she showed that science in ship-
building is of more avail than the blind following of an existing
convention. Nor did she encumber herself with the usual
heavy, high bulwarks that we noticed in the City of Paris,
but, instead, she substituted iron railings, and for a perfectly
sound reason. The old method gave to a ship a false security,
for it could not altogether prevent a sea from coming on board,
and when the latter had come over the ship the bulwarks
tended to keep it there, whereas the Oceanic's railings allowed
the sea to flow off immediately and freely, as she shook herself
and rose to the next wave. The long, narrow wooden deck-
house that we also noticed on the City of Paris was also dis-
carded, but another deck of iron was added. With her, too,
disappeared most of the objections to the propeller —at any
rate, in the higher-priced accommodation, since the saloon
passengers for the first time were placed not at the stern of
the ship (where the vibration and jarring of the propeller were
most felt), but amidships and forward of the machinery. The
OF THE
UN
or
saloon extended the entire width of the ship, whilst the /
numerous state-rooms were forward and abaft of the saloon. \

Furthermore, to an extent that had never been known on
an Atlantic liner, the use of glass side-lights was employed, /'
and these were made much larger than was customary, so
that the interior of the ship was rendered much lighter, as
it was also made more airy.
The Oceanic also introduced an improved type of water-

tight doors. The old-fashioned candle-lamps which lit the
rooms were replaced by oil-lamps, and instead of the old-
fashioned form for seating, the passengers had the comfort
of revolving arm-chairs, which have since become such features
of ocean travel. On deck, her forward and stern ends were
* with turtle decks, so that a wave sweeping over this
fitted
dome-like shape could swish across it without doing the damage

it could have effected on the first City of Paris, for instance.
The importance of this in a following sea of any size is obvious,
and we must remember that whereas to-day the stern of a

modern liner towers high above the waves, and can usually
defy them, yet in those days the Oceanic and her contemporaries
were still of modest altitude. From the illustration before us
some conception of the bow turtle deck, painted white, may
be gathered, but a much better idea may be seen of a similar
arrangement at the stern of the Britannic (facing page 154).
The addition of that, extra deck of iron in the Oceanic khows-
/jthe commencement of the many-decked modern liner, to which
A attention was drawn in the German liner and her successors,
so that in the Mauretania, as we look down on her decks, she
seems to be built up over every possible inch of space that
is permissible.
But the Oceanic was something more than a comfortable
boat and an ingenious example of the naval architect's
she was also a "flyer."
originality; With her fcLir-cylinder
compound engines she was able to reel off her 14| knots on
an average. There were two high-pressure cylinders and two
of low-pressure, the high-pressure cylinder being above the
low-pressure and driving the same crank. Her indicated
horse-power was 3,000, and her tonnage came out at 3,808 gross.
She even attained to 14| knots, and showed herself to be the
fastest liner afloat, faster even than the Inman liner City of
Brussels. It is a proof of the excellence of her design and

the perfection of her build that on her sixty-second voyage
in October, 1889, after she had been transferred to the Pacific
service running between San Francisco and Yokohama, she

made the quickest passage on record across the Pacific.
The owners of the Oceanic followed up their success by
the Britannic and the Germanic in 1874. A photograph of the
former is here reproduced as she appeared when leaving
Southampton during the Boer War for South Africa, acting
as a transport, with British troops aboard. From this picture
it will be noticed that she is purely a steamship, but when

launched she was rigged as a four-masted barque with yards
and sails, but, following the fashion of the Oceanic, the bowsprit
had been discarded. At one time the Britannic was given a
curious arrangement by which she could lower her propeller
so that it was almost level with the keel, and being placed
thus low it was hoped that all tendency to race when the
vessel pitched would be eradicated. To this end a hollow
recess was made in the hull at the stern so that the shaft could
be made to work up or down as desired. But the results were
disappointing, so that after giving the method, several months'
trial it was discarded. Both the Britannic and the Germanic
THE "BRITANNIC' a»74i.
As she appeared as a transport during the South African War,
From a Photo.;raph by F. G. O. Stiiarl, Southatnfton.
IHh sEKVlA" (1881).

From a Faiuting, By permisiiott of the Cunard Steamship Co.
OF THE
UNIVERSITY
OF
were larger craft than the Oceanic, and had a tonnage of just
over 5,000 tons, and a length of 468 feet, with 45 feet beam.
They also were fitted with compound engines, which gave
5,000 indicated horse-power, and a pressure of 75 lbs. to the

square inch. The Britannic broke the record again by her
speed of 16 knots, but the year after her launch the Inman
Line, with the City of Berlin, also developed 16 knots, and
wrested the record from the White Star boats by crossing
the Atlantic in seven days fourteen hours. She was a much
larger ship than those other two, had a gross tonnage of 5,491,
and was 520 feet over all. This ship is interesting as having
been the first Atlantic liner to be fitted with electric light,
which was installed in 1879. The White Star Line, however,
had endeavoured in 1872 to instal in their Adriatic a system
of lighting the ship by gas generated from oil. But the rolling
of the ship and other causes led to so much leakage that it
was discarded.
In the year 1879 the Atlantic competition was further
accelerated by the advent of the Arizona, which belonged to
the Guion Line. company had been formed in 1866,
This
and was originally known as Williams and Guion. In 1879
the Arizona further reduced the Atlantic passage by eight
hours, but in the same year, whilst bound eastwards, she had
the misfortune to run at full speed into a great iceberg, and
her bows were altogether crumpled up ; she would have
foundered, but her water-tight bulkhead happily kept her
afloat so that the ship was able to reach St. John's, Newfound-
land, her nearest port. It was such incidents as this which
caused the adoption of efficient water-tight compartments on
most steamships of and the influence

any size, of the British
Admiralty on our national shipping was in the late 'seventies
and the early 'eighties decidedly powerful. By their instruc-
tions every steamship on their list available for transport

duties was to be divided up in such a manner that if any
one of her compartments should be opened to the sea in calm
water this loss of buoyancy would not imperil the ship's
safety. As a result the shipbuilders took the hint, and greater
attention was paid to so important a point.
The Oregon, another of the Guion Line's famous steamships,
was purchased by the Cunard Company, and showed her
marvellous turn of speed by making the run from Queenstown
to New York in six days, nine hours, fifty- one minutes. She
distinguished herself by keeping up what was then the unheard-
of average passage of six days fourteen hours. But, like the
Arizona, this Oregon was born unlucky. Off the North American
coast she was run into and sunk by a sailing ship, though the
passengers and mails were happily saved. The Oregon had a
tonnage of 7,375, and was driven by direct-acting inverted
engines which developed the remarkable sum of 13,500 horse-
power, and produced the equally wonderful speed of 18 knots
per hour, thus earning for her the name of the " Greyhound
of the Atlantic."
We wish to call the reader's attention now to the Servia,
of which an interesting picture is reproduced opposite page 154.
In her was embodied the result of another scientific discovery
which has revolutionised the construction of the deep-sea ship,
whether propelled by steam or sails. As iron had superseded
wood, so now steel was to take the place of iron as the material
of which to build the hull. So thoroughly, indeed, has this
practice spread that during the year 1909, with the excep-
tion of a few small wooden vessels whose aggregate tonnage
does not much exceed a thousand, the entire amount of new
British shipping in that year was constructed of steel, and

iron was not used at all for the hull. Such a fact is highly
significant of the value of the newer material. Although as
far back as 1873 the French had used this in constructing
parts of their warships, it was not until four years later

that the British mercantile marine began to be interested in it.
But at length the Cunard Company were convinced of its

and ordered the Servia to be built
superior virtues over iron,
of this material. \Mien she made her appearance in 1881,
she was the largest and most powerful ship, excepting the
Great Eastern, that had ever been launched her measure- ;
ments were 515 feet, breadth 52 feet, depth 37 feet, with 7,392
gross tonnage. She lowered the Atlantic voyage once more
to seven days, one hour, thirty-eight minutes, her speed being
17 knots, though it was not until 1884 that she really
showed her full abihties. We may sum up the advantages
which were now recognised in mild steel as consisting of,
firstly, a saving of 25 per cent, in weight, just as we saw that

iron exercised a similar superiority over wood. " Mild " steel
is very ductile and can easily be fashioned into the required

shape suitable for a steamship without risk of cracking. Iron
is comparatively brittle, and steel is more uniform in quality.
The latter will also endure a greater strain on its elasticity,
and this had already been appreciated by the Royal Navy
years before commercial shipbuilders realised its full value.
Although the first cost of a steel-built ship was greater than
one constructed of iron, yet that extra cost was found to be
over - balanced by other considerations. Just as iron was
stronger than wood, so steelwas proved to be stronger than
iron consequently, the weight of the ship was diminished,
:
which meant that the ship could carry a greater amount of

fuel or cargo, or allowed of her being fitted with more powerful,
though more weighty, engines. Steel is now very much cheaper
than wrought iron, and used not merely for the plates of
is
the hull, but in almost every portion of the ship's construction.

Even in sailing ships the yards, masts, and rigging are to a
large extentnow made of this material.
The same builders who had been responsible for the Oregon
were commissioned to build two of the most historic Cunarders,
whose names are almost as familiar as the Atlantic over which
they voyaged for so many years with a regularity and relia-
bility that would be hard to beat. In 1884 the first of this
famous couple, the Umbria, was delivered, followed early the
next year by the Etruria. An illustration of the former, as she
appeared when originally rigged as a barque, will be found facing
this page. Both ships were identical in their main features,
and are interesting in many ways. Their masts were of steel,
as well as their hulls. At the stern we can see the idea of the
turtle deck, as inherited from the Oceanic, slightly modified
so that the upper part has become available for a short
promenade deck for second-class passengers, and the graceful
overhang at the stern also is indicative of the rapid advance
since the clumsy after-end of the steamship gave her a far
less yacht-like appearance. There is also a promenade deck
extending for nearly 300 feet amidships for the use of the
first-class passengers, on which a large teak deckhouse encloses
the entrances to the saloon, ladies' saloon, captain's room,
and chart room. Above this house comes the officers' look-
out bridge and house for the steersman, and over this, again,
is the flying bridge. Forward there will be seen the large
top-gallant forecastle, which extended for over 100 feet aft
from the stem. The engines were, of course, compound, with

THE "UMBRIA" (1884).
From a Painting. By permission of the Cnnard Steamship Co.
-4 e?v
jSP^ ^,^<5^^
THE "ORIENT" (1879).
From a Paintin.i;. By permission of Messrs. .Inderson, Anderson & Co.

one high-pressure cyhnder and two of low-pressure. These

vessels were built to the highest class and to be available for
Government service as armed cruisers in the event of war.
Their average speed was found to be 18| knots, although
the Umbria reached over 20 knots during her six-hours' trial
on the Clyde. These two ships between them broke up all
standing Atlantic records, for in August, 1885, the Etruria
crossed from Queenstown to New York in six days, six hours,
thirty-six minutes, although in 1892 the Umbria did better

still by crossing the Atlantic at an average rate of ove
19| knots. Campania and the Lucania,
Until the coming of the
the Cunard possessed in these the two fastest ships of their
fleet. But it is certain the company never owned two more
satisfactory steamships, for they have confessed that *' no
ships ever gave their owners less uneasiness than these two,
and none have done such an extraordinary quantity of good
work. They are monuments, that cannot lie, to the skill
of the design and the faithfulness of the labour that went
to their accomplishment."
As they got older, they actually became faster instead
of slower, and the Etruria made her fastest westward passage
in five days, twenty hours, fifty-five minutes, with a highest
day's run of 509 knots. She even maintained an average of
20 knots bound eastward. At the end of 1909 she was sold
by the Cunard Company, and a like fate befell her sister,
the Umbria, which was sold to the Forth Shipbreaking Company
in April, 1910, for the sum, it is said, of £20,000. But the
Umbria, right to the end, continued to break records, even
when she had been long since outrun in matters of speeds
For instance, in the year 1893, two days before Christmas,
whilst bound west across the Atlantic, it was discovered that
i6o STEAMSHIPS AND THEIR STORY
a serious fracture had occurred in the propeller shaft. The
engines were accordingly stopped, and after a time the German
steamship Bohemia came in sight and took her in tow, but
a heavy gale sprang up and the tow-rope parted. The JJmbria
lost sight of her friend and drifted about the Atlantic for
three days and nights, but during this time Chief-Engineer
Tomlinson pluckily succeeded in repairing the shaft, and the
Umbria, with her engines going half-speed, made New York
on the last day of the old year, to the great relief of those
ashore who had given her up forlost. Another record of a
totally different nature was made by her only a few weeks
before she was sold out of the Cunard Line. She reached
Liverpool just before midnight on Thursday, February 10th,
1910, and in spite of having only just completed her round
trip of the double Atlantic journey, she was got ready at once
to sail eastward again on the Saturday, February 12th. We
can gain some idea of the magnitude of the task when we
realise that in that remarkably brief time she had not only
to be overhauled, but to have her stores taken on board, to be
supplied with 3,000 tons of coal and 450,000 gallons of water,
to say nothing of the many tons of cargo of all kinds. Some
of the officers had barely time to make a hurried call to see
their wives before rushing back on board to superintend this
exceptionally fast " turn-round." The measurements of these
two ships were 501 feet long, 57 feet broad, 38 feet deep, with
a gross tonnage of 7,718 tons ; their builders were Messrs. John
Elder and Company, of Glasgow.
Before we pass on in the next chapter to witness the coming
of the twin-screw ship, and the disappearance of sails as the
auxiliaries of the steamship, we must glance at the progress
which was going on during the 'seventies and 'eighties in
STEAMSHIPS AND THEIR STORY i6i
the steamships employed running, not across the Atlantic, but

to the East. Already we have seen something of the origin
of the Peninsular and Oriental Line, and the difficulties which
it had to contend with in its early career. Now, in 1877,
another steamship service to the East was started by the
Orient Line, which began by chartering from the Pacific Steam
Navigation Company a suitable vessel which should run from
London to Sydney via the Cape of Good Hope. This was
the Lusitania—a very different ship, of course, from the modern
Cunarder of the same name — but her own time this Lusitania
in
was also famous. For many years, until, indeed, as recently as

1905, the Orient and Pacific Lines worked together to main-
tain a service between England and Australia. At first the
sailings were only monthly, but from 1880 they were fort-
nightly. Since 1905 the Pacific Company has withdrawn

from this trade.
The pioneer of the Orient Line's own ships —apart from
chartered vessels —was the steamer Orient, of which an illus-
tration is She was built of iron, in

given opposite to page 158.
1879,by the same firm who turned out the Etruria and Umbria.
Her measurements are 460 feet long, 46| feet wide, 36 feet
8 inches deep, with a tonnage of 5,386, and 5,400 horse-power.
She was given four decks, of which two were entirely of iron,
and sufficient bunker space was provided to carry enough
coals to enable her to steam all the way to Australia round
the Cape without having to coal en route. She was also provided
with a double bottom, which could be fiilled with water as
ballast, if desired. She was driven by inverted vertical engines
having the compound principle —one high-pressure cylinder
and two of low-pressure —and had a four-bladed propeller.
Amidships, it will be noted, is a white erection, which rises
up from the ship's side and becomes the bridge-deck, extending
right across the ship and some distance both fore and aft.
The origin of this development in the steamship is as follows :
Originally, in some of the early ocean-going steamships, the

openings on deck from the engine and boiler compartments
were merely protected by means of glazed skylights and
coamings, forming a hatch. Perhaps it was not a very sea-
worthy kind of arrangement, but it is essential for plenty of
air to get down below, unhindered, for the proper burning of
the furnaces, to say nothing of a supply for the engineering
section of the crew. However, during the month of January,
1866, the steamship London, after encountering a heavy gale in
the Bay of Biscay, endeavoured to make for Plymouth, but

during the night a bad sea broke over her, destroyed her engine-
room skylight, extinguished the furnaces, and eventually the
ship foundered. From this incident was learnt the advisability
of protecting this opening with something more substantial.
Its first form was, therefore, to raise the sides of the hatchways
from the ship by means of an iron casing so as to be about
eight feet above the deck and about level with the captain's
bridge. From this it was a perfectly easy transition from
the bridge to the bridge-deck, extending it sufficiently to
protect the opening adequately. The same idea in a more

elementary form will be seen in the tug Blackcock illustrated
in Chapter IX.
The Austral shows another early steamship of the Orient
Line. Constructed by the same builders as the Orient and
Umbria, she was launched in 1881, and it is a sign of those
later times that the yards have now disappeared, though she
was schooner-rigged and could set 28,000 square feet of canvas
on her four masts. Her gross registered tonnage worked out at
THE "AUSTRAL" (1881).
From a Photograph. By permission cf Messrs. .-Irnffrso'i, Anderson & Co.
THE "VICTORIA" (1887).
From th! Paintins by Frank Murray in tlu possession of the Peninsular & Oriental Steam Xavijâtion Co.
THE "MAJESTIC" ilSS9l
From a P/ictoîîp'i. h'y permission o/ .Messrs. j,»iay. hnrie &• Co.

5,524. Built of mild steel with a double bottom, the latter

being subdivided into nineteen water-tight compartments with
thirteen water-tight bulkheads in her hull, the Austral was
specially constructed to act as a cruiser, and to carry guns
in case of war. The year after she was launched the Austral
was lying in Sydney Harbour with her port-holes left open,
when, owing to a heavy list, caused through unequal coaling,
the water poured in, and she sank in fifty feet of water, but was
refloated again several months after.
The four-masted steamship shown opposite page 162 is
the Victoria, one of the P. and O. boats of this period.
Launched in 1887, the Victoria belongs to the company's
"Jubilee " class, and is now one of the oldest boats in this line's
employ. Both at the bow and stern there will be seen a
modification of the turtle deck. A sister ship was launched
under the name of the Britannia. Their tonnage is, in the case
of the Victoria, 6,522, but the Britannia comes out at three
tons more, the length being slightly over 465 feet, with a
beam of 52 feet, and a depth of over 26 feet.
We have thus seen the liner in a condition of change, and
it is only from the close of the eighth decade of the nineteenth
century that she begins to take on a form more in accordance
with a steamship able to pursue her way totally independent
of auxiliary The experience which we recorded as having
sails.
happened to the Umhria clearly marked the way for the coming
of the twin-screw ship. It was patent to anyone that by this
means an efficient safeguard would be obtained in the event
of a fractured shaft befalling the ship. If it was likely that
one should come to grief, it was highly improbable that the
other would not be available for getting the ship into port,
and so enabling the owning steamship line not merely to
preserve their reputation for carrying passengers, mails and
cargo with safety, but to avoid the very costly possibilities
of having to pay salvage claims to the rescuing ship that should
happen to fall in with the injured liner and to tow her home.
As soon as the twin-screw became established there was virtually
little use for the sails, and so it was not much longer before
they disappeared altogether from the crack liner.
CHAPTER VI
THE COMING OF THE TWIN-SCREW STEAMSHIP
During the 'eighties the competition for the Atlantic " blue
ribbon " had become very keen indeed, until the Umbria and
Etruria began to shatter existing records and to show their
undoubted superiority. But their turn to be eclipsed was
not long in coining, and the Inman Line were determined to
make a bold bid for supremacy once again. A year or two
before the launch of the Unibria they had made a spirited
effort with the City of Rome, a large vessel with a dis-
placement of over 11,000 tons. But she did not prove

successful.
The line became the Inman and International Company,
and set forth to build a couple of large, powerful steamships
which would be in advance of the City oj Rome in speed, though
not quite so large. Already there had been small twin-screw
ships, but the City oj New York and the City oj Paris were to
be driven by twin-screws of a size and power which had not
yet been produced. It was fitting that the Inman Line which
had introduced the successful screw liner to the Atlantic
should also be the pioneers of the very big steamships fitted
with twin-screws. These two vessels were taken over in 1893,
when the Inman Line became reorganised, and passed from
the British flag to sail under the eagle of the American Line.
Nowadays they sail from Southampton under the names of
the New York and the Philadelphia respectively. The illustra-
tion facing page 166 shows the City of Paris (afterwards called
L* 165 .
the Paris, and only later still the Philadelphia) getting under
way from New York. Her graceful bow, with its bowsprit
and figure-head, is reminiscent of the old clipper sailing ships.
The high dome of the first cabin dining-saloon will be seen
rising in the space between the fore-mast and the bridge, and
the promenade deck runs practically the whole length of the
ship from the bows to the stern.
The hulls of these steamships are built of mild steel, and

in addition to possessing a double bottom throughout their
entire length in which a considerable amount of water ballast
can be carried, they are divided into fifteen water-tight com-

partments. The bulkheads of the latter come right up to a
height of 18 feet above the water-line, so that in case of collision
the ship could still keep afloat even if three compartments
were open to the sea.
Their two engine rooms are separated from each other by

means of a longitudinal bulkhead, and they are driven by two
separate sets of triple-expansion engines. We have already
seen that triple-expansion is just the principle of the compound
engine carried one stage farther, and if the desire for attaining
the high speed contemplated were to be gratified it was in-
evitable that this method should have been adopted. With

the exception of a very few quadruple-expansion engined
ships, such as the Cunard Ivernia, the White Star Baltic, and
the German Kaiser Wilhelm II., most modern liners which
have not been fitted with turbines are of the triple-expansion
type. It may not be out of place, therefore, very briefly to
explain the working of this.
The steam, then, enters the cylinder above the piston-rod
by means of a valve, but when it has half-filled the cylinder
and the stroke is also half completed, the supply of steam
*l^^^>fjt
THE "CITY OF PARIS" (NOW THE "PHILADELPHIA") (1893).
From a Photograph. By p:rmission of the American Line.
THE "OPHIR" (1891).
From a Photograph. By permission 0/ .Messrs. Anderson, Anderson & Co.

OFth£
OF
S^/FORNi^
rJ
"
is cut off. But the piston-rod does not for that reason come
to a standstill : owing to the expansive force of the steam
the rest of the stroke is completed when the steam has occupied
twice the space it did at the time it was cut off — ^that is, when
the half-stroke had been made. Having, therefore, now com-
pleted its work in this cylinder, instead of being allowed to
escape, the steam is conducted to a much larger cylinder than

the first, for the steam still retains much of its expansive
force. In this second cylinder, the same thing occurs again,
but when it is admitted to a third, it has already lost much
of its pressure. It does its work, and having come through
the third cylinder has thus undergone " triple expansion."
Now that it has completed the stroke it passes into the surface
condenser already referred to, where it is suddenly chilled
and converted into water again, and the vacuum thus formed
tends to pull the piston back.In the olden days, as we have
seen, the vacuum was made by means of the jet condenser,
but now it is done by what is known as the " surface
condenser. It is by means of the latter that the fresh water
is able to be used again and again. Otherwise, a steamship
could only carry enough fresh water for a few days' voyage,
salt water being not used for the boilers, but merely for circu-
lating through the pipes of the condenser to keep them cool.
As the steam comes out from the lower pressure it impinges

on the sea- water cooled tubes and so falls to the bottom of
the condenser as water. It is then pumped into a tank by-
means of the air-pump, and from the tank it is pumped back
again to the boilers by a feed pump, passing on its way through
a filter in order that any oil which may have been gathered
in the cylinder may be extracted. It now passes through feed-
heaters, where it is heated by exhaust steam from the auxiliary
machinery, and so when the condensed water again enters the
boiler it is almost at boiling point.
The advantage was found to give
of this triple-expansion
greater speed with less expenditure of horse-power. At first
the City of Paris was not as fast as she ought to have been,
but after the A-shaped brackets, which supported the two
shafts, were removed and, instead, the hull at the stem was,
so to speak, bulged out to contain the shafts, her speed was

found to be 19 knots with an employment of 2,000 horse-power
less than she had needed before this alteration.
The had made her appearance in 1888, but
City of Paris
in the following year it was the White Star Line's turn to come
to the front again. From 1873 till 1884 their fleet had been
the fastest on the Atlantic and now again they were ready
;
to enter the lists. Sir Edward Harland was once more entrusted
with the task of designing the new ships, and those two beautiful
creatures the Teutonic and Majestic were launched, the former
in January and the latter in June of 1889. The Majestic is illus-
trated opposite page 162, but this view shows her as she was
afterwards altered and appears now. When these ships first
commenced to run they were both fitted with three pole-masts

with a gaff on each ; but following the custom now adopted on
many modem liners, one of the masts and all the gaffs have
since been removed. It will be seen that a modified turtle-deck
is still retained at the stem, and in one other respect this ship
also continued the influence of the first Oceanic. It will be
recollected that the latter possessed the enormous proportion
of ten beams to her length. The Teutonic measured 582 feet
long and 57*8 feet broad, so that she is only a few feet lacking
in this respect. Her gross tonnage is 9,984, and her indicated
horse-power 18,000. The Majestic broke the record by crossing
from Queenstown to New York in five days eighteen hours

eight minutes ; the Teutonic by doing the same journey in
five days sixteen hours thirty-one minutes. If called upon, these
ships could steam from Portsmouth to Bombay \'ia the Cape
of Gk)od Hope, a distance of over 10,000 mUes, in twenty-two
days without having to coal on the way, a fact that might
have some importance in the event of war breaking out.
In these two ships was also introduced the practice of
overlapping the twin-screws, and in order that they might
be able to clear the deadwood at the extreme end of the stern,
—
a hole technicaUy called a " screw port " was made after —
the manner in which a " port " is left for the screw to revolve
when a vessel is provided only with a single propeller. The
advantage in the case of the twin-screws was that they were
allowed plenty of water for their propellers to revolve in.
The advantage of the screws overlapping tended also to enable

them to work in a manner as near as possible to the centre
line of the hull.
The introduction was made in
of the twin-screw system
the Orient liner Ophir (see opposite page 166), which was built
in 1891. Each of her four decks is of steel, and she was given
the triple-expansion engines in two sets one set for each —
propeller. She was the first vessel on the Australian route
to be fitted with twin-screws, but many others have since
followed and proved the wisdom of this innovation. Her
propellers are made of manganese bronze, with three blades
each, and give her a speed of between 18 and 19 knots. It
will be recollected that it was this ship which was selected to
carry the present King and Queen on their tour of the British
Colonies in 1901.
The ceaseless competition in the Atlantic steamship progress
;

continued without abatement, and by now the Cunard Line
was ready again to fight for the lead. In September of 1892
the Campania was launched, and was followed in the next
February by the Lucania. Since their length was greater
than the width of the Clyde, where they were built, they had
to be launched into the river diagonally. They were, of course,
fitted with twin-screws and with triple-expansion engines,
there being five cylinders, of which two are high-pressure,
one intermediate, and two low-pressure. We do not intend
to weary the reader with a list of statistics which can easily
be obtained by those to whom bare figures make their appeal
our purpose is served if we show in what important detail
each successive vessel advanced the history of the steamship
so as to approach more nearly to what is considered the ideal
by modem experts. But we shall be shirking our duty if we
do not indicate some of the main characteristics which gave
to such a craft as the Campania a distinctiveness that dis-
tinguished her and her sister the Lucania from her contem-
poraries. One greatly improved liner nowadays so quickly
surpasses her predecessor ; the age of obsolescence now moves
at so greatly quickened a speed ; that the general public, whose
memory is also so short-lived, scarcely has time to appreciate
aU that the steamship means ere it has passed quietly
latest
from and been handed over to the ship -breakers, or,

service
under a new flag and a changed name, continues its work at
some remote corner of the world.
Those who remember seeing the Campania lying in the
Mersey soon after she was commissioned, and with their minds
full of the hitherto unparalleled features which had been fore-
told concerning her, will recollect that the first impression
conveyed was identical with that made on seeing the Mauretania
IT ^§
, 3
J'l
(
immediately after she had left the builders' hands. Not so

much size but gracefulness ; not the characteristics of a floating
monster, but of a singularly beautiful creature whose every
line suggested dignity with speed were the points that attracted
one.
Handsome is as handsome does ; these two sisters, one of
which is no more, were not long in showing that their achieve-
ments were not belied by their good looks. In appearance
less like " the biggest things afloat " than the most symmetrical
colossal yacht, the Campania was built for business, and not
primarily to be a thing of beauty. She has made the run
between Queenstown and New York in 5| days, and ocean
travellers soon appreciated the important fact that in getting
from one country to the other she had a reputation for regu-
larity that would be hard to beat, irrespective of winter and
summer weather. The Campania is slightly larger than her
late sister, and has averaged just under 22 knots for a whole
year's east-bound voyages. The engines of these elegant ships
were arranged in the manner already indicated so as to avoid
having unnecessarily large cylinders, the two high-pressure
cylinders driving one crank, being arranged tandem fashion,
the intermediate cylinder driving one crank, whilst the two
low-pressure were also put the one above the other like the
high-pressure, and by an ingenious contrivance it is possible
to prevent the screws racing for when the number of revo-
;
lutions begins to exceed its proper limit the supply of steam

is automatically cut off.
In order to render these boats less likely to roll in a sea-way,

they were fitted with bilge-keels. They have, too, since been
provided with wireless telegraph gear, whose aerials stretch
from one mast to the other, and connect with the Marconi
cabin, and the up-to-date system of submarine signalling is
also installed, so that in case of thick weather the sound waves

transmitted from submerged bells on lightships outside Liver-
pool or New York may be conveyed to the ship herself below
the waterline, and so by means of a telephone up to the officer
on duty in the navigating room.
These two ships also marked another advance in method
of building, for the steel plates from which their sides were
made were of unprecedented size, and thus it is obvious that
the number of rivets was considerably smaller. Opposite page 170
we give an illustration of the Lucania under way, and by
comparing her with the earlier Atlantic liners, a fair idea will
be obtained of the trend of steamship evolution. It will be

noticed that the Oceanic turtle deck has gone, for the reason
that since the stern had now become at such a height from
the water it was hardly necessary. The topmost deck of the
Lucania is the shade deck, and the one immediately below it
the promenade deck; it should be noted that these two

are not really part of the structure of the ship herself, but
platforms superadded in much the same way as in a vastly
different type of craft, the Viking ship, which, when it began
to enter its transition state, had fighting platforms erected
both at bow and stern so as to accommodate her men. The
Campania measures 600 feet (between perpendiculars), with a
beam of 65 feet 3 inches, and displaces nearly 20,000 tons.
It was only in the early months of 1910 that the Lucania,
her sister, after being on fire and compelled for that reason
to be flooded with water, was sold out of the Cunard Company's
service.
We
come now to consider the entering of fierce competition
from a quarter that hitherto had not affected the development
;
of the modern liner. We have seen that in spite of the efforts

which America had put forth from time to time, the pride of
the Atlantic Ocean had been British ultimately. The American-
subsidised Collins Line had in its head and
the end to bow
yield, nor has the reorganised Inman Line (now the American
Line) been a dangerous competitor in the matter of record
passages. At different times first one British line of steamships
pushed itself to the front, to be in turn ousted by its rival
and so the evolution of the steamship profited. But now

it was to be not Britain, nor America, but Germany, which
was to make a bold bid for the commercial sovereignty of

Atlantic speed. Few phenomena are more notable within
recent years than the sudden rise of (Germany as a world power.
In the realm of steamships there has been scarcely any parallel
to the rapid development which that nation exhibited, so that
within a remarkably short space of time she became able not
merely to build her own ships, but of a size that had been
exceeded only by the Great Eastern, and with a speed that no
liner of any sort or of any nationality had ever yet attained.
It is fitting, therefore, to give here a brief sketch of the manner
in which this new competition originated, for to this undoubtedly
is due the coming of the mammoth ships represented by the
Mauretania and Lusitania. In the future this is the direction
from which the quickening factor will come, as formerly it
used to come from internal steamship organisations.

Modern German ship-building, like her other industries,
dates only from the close of the Franco-Prussian War, and the
birth of a united Empire. At the same time wood had already
given way to iron, and a new era had begun in the making of
ships. Great Britain possessed the exclusive confidence of
shipping owners, and, speaking generally, if Germany wanted
a had to send her order across
large ocean carrier built, she
the North Sea, although steadily and gradually her national
shipbuilding yards were growing up. But her designers and
shipwrights lacked the knowledge which the British, through
long years of experience, possessed. Since, however, the
Germans were determined to engage in overseas trade, they
had to obtain steamships, and these were made frequently on
the Clyde, where so many other fine ships had first been seen.
But from the early 'eighties a new order of things began,
and the Norddeutscher Lloyd commissioned a German firm
to build the first Imperial mail steamers, which were also the
first passenger steamers of large dimensions that the new
Empire had yet constructed. Up till then Germany had built
only two large passenger steamers, the displacement of each
not exceeding 3,500 tons. German express steamer
The first
for the Norddeutscher Lloyd Company had been the Elbe,

which was built at Glasgow, and began service in 1881, her
tonnage being 4,510. During the 'eighties, spurred on by

the competition which British steamships were arousing, the
Germans endeavoured to build for themselves vessels of con-
and send them on their long voyages.
siderable proportions
It is when we come to the 'nineties that we find the North
German Lloyd Company entirely reorganising its fleet, scrapping
the older-fashioned members, and, incited by the success
which the Campania and Lucania had obtained, determined
to produce from German yards such an express steamer as
should surpass both of the Cunard vessels. In 1897, therefore,
was built by the Stettin Vulcan Company the famous Kaiser
Wilhelm der Grosse —of which a striking illustration will be seen
facing this page. She was longer, wider, deeper and of greater
displacement than the Campania, but her horse-power was
5 5
< I
inferior to the Cunarder's by 2,000. Nevertheless, the German

outstripped the performances of the Campania and Lucania
by attaining a mean speed of 22' 81 knots, although her designed
speed had only been 22*5 knots, and thus for the first time
in the history of the steamship, the " blue ribbon " of the
Atlantic passed over to Germany. Like the Cunard ships,

the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse was installed with two sets of
triple -expansion engines, had been expressly agreed
and it
between the Norddeutscher Company on the one hand, and

the Vulcan Company on the other, that the ship was fu-st
to run a trial trip across the Atlantic to New York, and, if
during this she did not come up to the requirements of the

contract, then the Norddeutscher Lloyd were to be free to
reject the ship. Such a condition as this was as severe as
could ever be invented by any steamship line. However, she not
merely came up to specifications, but even surpassed them,
and remains one of the most efficient liners traversing the
North Atlantic.
This steamship was built with flaring bows so as to increase
her buoyancy forward, and is propelled by twin-screws.
Another instance of the advantages which the latter possess
as a means of ensuring the safety of the ship was exhibited

as recently as October, 1907. Whilst coming across the Atlantic
in thatmonth the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse chanced to fracture
her rudder. The weather was bad, and it was blowing a gale^
but her skipper instead of running for the nearest port, which
was Halifax, distant about 700 miles, brought her home safe
and sound To Bremerhaven, another 2,300 miles, calling at
Plymouth on the way. By means of the twin-screws the ship-
could be manoeuvred quite independently of the steering gear.
The measurements of this ship are as follows length over :
;

all, 648 feet 7 inches ; beam, 66 feet ; moulded depth, 43 feet
gross tonnage, 14,349; indicated horse-power, 28,000.
The British reply to the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse came
not in speed but in size, for it is not always realised how costly
it is to get an extra knot or two out of a big steamship, and
that such an attainment is out of all proportion to the expense
which this has involved. At high speeds the resistance of
the ship, of which we have already said something, increases
far more rapidly than it does when the speed through the water
is slow or even moderately fast. When a ship reaches the
speed of 20 knots the influential factor of wave-making comes
in prominently. Furthermore, in order to coax an extra knot
or two out of the ship, you must needs increase her weight
and usurp a very serious amount of space by larger engines
and boilers. Therefore, the answer to the German attack was
seen in the comparatively slow White Star Oceanic, the second
steamship of that name sailing under the same flag. This
modern ship was the first vessel which exceeded the length
of the Great Eastern, and is about 13 feet longer, though about
14| feet narrower than Brunei's craft. True to the White Star
type, the latest Oceanic is ten beams, and even more, to her
length, her measurements being 705 feet long over all, 68*4 feet
wide, a draught of 32| feet, and the terrific displacement of

28,500 tons, that of the Great Eastern having been 32,000.
Like the other great Atlantic liners since the City of Paris,
this Oceanic was fitted with two sets of triple-expansion engines

driving twin-screws ; she began her voyaging at the end of
1899. As will be seen from the accompanying photograph,
in spite of her magnitude, she is so beautifully designed that
there is nothing in the least out of perfect proportion. Some
idea of the number of tiers possessed by the Oceanic, rising
ill
high above the water, may be gathered if we enumerate them
singly. Looking at the illustration, and beginning from the
top, there is the captain's bridge towering 43 feet above the
sea. Eight feet below comes the boat deck, and below that
the promenade deck, and lower still the upper deck. Then
the first line of port-holes shows the extent of the middle deck,
and the next line the lower deck. In addition to these five
decks which stretch from one end of the ship to the other
there are two partial decks, the orlop and lower orlop respec-
tively. Like other modern steamships, the Oceanic has a
double bottom, sub-divided into so many cells. She has been
built with the intention of being used, if necessary, as an
auxiliary cruiser, and was designed with the necessary additional
strength. Keeping up an average speed at sea of about 20 knots,
this great ship is not compelled to drive headlong into what-
ever weather may be waiting for her. The absence of extra
powerful engines also means the absence of that unpleasant
vibration which is not unknown to some of the " flyers " that
tear across the ocean in a hurry to get their passengers and
mails to port. It will be noticed on examining this illustration
that, unlike the case of her namesake, the turtle decks have
disappeared altogether, the reason being, as already pointed
out, that the hull is so high above the water as not to need
these. In spite of her great length, the Oceanic is not so unhandy
as she might seem. Her forefoot is well cut-away, and this,
in addition to the proper employment of her twin -screws,

enables her to be manoeuvred with a facility that is a little
surprising.
The Cunard Company resting content with the performances
of their express steamers Campania and Lucania, still left
the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse to maintain the reputation for

M
pace, and, following example of the White Star Line,
the
built in the Ivernia and Saxonia a couple of steamships of
great size but comparatively moderate speed. The Ivernia is
two feet shorter than the Majestic, but her gross tonnage comes
out at 14,027, making her in this respect but little inferior
to the Kaiser Wilhelm der Chosse, though superior to the latter

in displacement tonnage. The Ivernid's speed averages about
15j knots ; she came into being in 1899. These vessels belong^
to a class of steamship which has grown up under the title
of " intermediate," its origin being based on the assumption
that a comfortable, economical, moderately fast type of ship
would be able to find appreciation no less than the high-powered
ships. Both the Ivernia and Saxonia have considerable
capacities for cargo as well as passengers, and are characterised
by their exceptionally low coal consumption. They are single-
funnelled boats, and engaged on the Liverpool-Boston route.
But the Ivernia was the first of the Atlantic liners to break
away from the triple-expansion system and to be installed with
the more modern quadruple-expansion type of engine. This-
being the same principle as the triple-expansion pushed one
stage further, using four instead of three cylinders, we need
not stop to explain what is already clear in the mind of the
reader.
Two other of these " Intermediates " were added to the
White Star Line in 1901 and 1903 respectively. These are the
Celtic and Cedric, and a photograph of the latter will be seen
opposite page 176. Only in regard to speed have these handsome
vessels the slightest right to be designated " intermediate."
They both possess a tonnage about twice that of the City
of Paris, for the Celtic is 20,880, and the Cedric 21,034 tons,.
and the speed of each is 16 knots. Speed is not the main.

'I mm
|.'
ii
u AM
consideration to those who have the sHghtest affection for ships

and the sea. The beautiful motion of the Cedric, for instance,
in a winter's Atlantic gale, rolling and pitching in a manner
just enough to show she is a living ship and not a dull, lifeless
steel box, pursuing her way with boldness and dignity, caring
little for the great waves mounting up astern, is a delight that
lives long in one's memory. She has no need to break her
neck hurrying and scurrying, trying to become a large-sized
submarine ; she prefers to go over the sea rather than through
it, and this with a movement that is comparable to that of a
well-bred lady gliding along smoothly and with dignity.
From the owners' point of view these are economical ships
to run, for with 16 knots the coal consumption is very moderate,
whilst at the same time their size enables them to carry large
numbers of passengers and considerable quantities of cargo.
As evidence of the remarkable evolution in type, I would

ask the reader to compare the accompanying illustration of
the Cedric with that of the Great Eastern. Both are of about
the same length, although the latter was about 8 feet wider,
and at the time of her launch the Cedric was the largest
ship of any kind that had hitherto been constructed.
Another " intermediate," the Arabic, followed in the same
year, possessing the same speed of 16 knots, but a tonnage
only of 15,801. This is one of the vessels employed on the
Liverpool- New York Southampton-New York White
route, the
Star service being supplied by the Adriatic (to which I shall
refer presently), together with the Oceanic, the Majestic and
the Teutonic.
The German success in the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse was
now to be followed up by a still more wonderful achievement
in the Kaiser Wilhelm II., a photograph of which is
i8o STEAMSHIPS AND THEIR STORY
here reproduced. Her coming in 1903 caused a sensation
in the shipping world, for she represented not merely the
extraordinary capabilities which the German shipbuilders had
already attained, but was superior in speed not only to all the
British steamships, but to her own sister, the Kaiser Wilhelm der
Grosse. Two and a half feet longer than the Oceanic, about
4 feet wider, but with 5 feet less depth, she was, like the Ivernia,
fitted with two sets of quadruple-expansion engines to drive
her twin-screws. Her gross tonnage exceeded that of the
Oceanic and the Great Eastern as well, and with a speed of
23 1 knots was a knot faster than the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse.
This vessel and the Hamburg- American liner Deutschland were
able to give to Germany the proud possession of the fastest
liners in the world until the Lusitania arrived on the scene.
The Kaiser Wilhelm II.^s best day's run is 583 knots, and she
has maintained an average speed from New York to Plymouth
of 23' 58 knots. To obtain this the phenomenal amount of
45,000 horse-power has to be developed by means of a double
set of quadruple-expansion engines —two for each propeller
shaft —necessitating sixteen cylinders, steam being generated
from nineteen boilers fired by no fewer than 124 furnaces. But
no one could assert that such a ship as this is economical to
run, for although her speed is only one knot faster than the
Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, yet each day she burns about
another 200 tons of coal in doing it, and supposing we were
to take the cost of fuel at 20s. a ton, we can easily see that
each Atlantic voyage means an ecctra expense of much more
than £1,000.
Now, since the steamship is run for the purpose of
making money, it is essential that over-seas trade should
not show any signs of lagging otherwise it becomes commer-
;
OS ^
CO «
< s
STEAMSHIPS AND THEIR STORY i8i
cially impossible to run these fast ships from one continent

to the other. The craze for speed is one that may go on and
on for just such a time as the financial support continues ;
but as soon as a diminution in trade sets in, and with it a

falling-off in revenue, this wild, reckless race for speed-supremacy
must automatically cease. At present it is but a reflection
of the restless activity on shore. May the time not come when
rest and simplicity will again replace excessive strenuousness
and restore to the Atlantic something of its plain expansive-

ness, and take back the character which it has now developed
as being merely a race-track for ocean greyhounds ? However
much designers, shipbuilders and engineers may conspire
together ; whatever inventions man in his brilliant efforts may
succeed in bringing about, the solid fact remains that Nature
is superior in force to all these. The winds will blow and the
great seas will rollup against all the mighty ships man may
build. Among the gifts to humanity there is not included
that of taming the sea. She is tyrannical in her strength, un-
tamable, dominant; and when you launch into her bosom
heavy masses of iron or steel, and deceive yourself with high-
sounding names — call them Great Easterns, Majesties, Indomit-
dbles, Titanics, —
and the rest the Sea only laughs at you, for
she knows perfectly well that a blow or two from her mighty
arm will end their days and settle their fate for all time. To
fight against Nature is to contend against heavy odds, to
engage in a contest whose result known long beforehand

is ;
and the most that man can ever do is make a truce with his
superior foe, so that he may be able to rush across her expanse
much as he would hurry past the open cage of a tigress. For
that reason speed is appreciated by some as the greatest
weapon which was ever given to the ship, but even then it
cannot terrify a much mightier power. In spite of wireless
gear, submarine bells, navigational science, expert seamanship,
perfect ship-building and design, well-found ships still put to
sea and disappear presently never to be seen again. The case
of the Waratdh is not an isolated incident, but an example
of the universal law that human achievement in comparison
with the eternal sovereignity of the Sea must take only a
second place, and learn to obey, when bidden, a power of far
older, far superior strength.
CHAPTER VII
THE MODERN MAMMOTH STEAMSHIP
In the history of the steamship during the short space of time

that she has been employed, the changes in connection with
her have followed with singular celerity. We have, during the
previous pages, witnessed in the material of which she is built
the gradual transition from wood to iron and steel we have ;
seen how steam became greater, and the ensuing

pressures
introduction of the compound system, the triple-expansion
and the quadruple. We have also watched the change from
paddle-wheels to a single screw, and thence to twin-screws.
Each change has seemed to be so excellent in its nature, so
beneficial in results, that almost on each occasion we might
have thought that finality had been reached. At times our
minds have been wearied with the constant reiteration of the
latest wonders, and our imaginations have found some difficulty
in responding to the demands which one invention after
another has put forward. It has all happened within so short
a time, and on a scale of such unheard-of magnitude, that
scarcely have we been able to find expressions adequate to our
subject.
But now we enter upon what is the most wonderful of any
period since the steamship came into the world, and for this
we have to thank the introduction of the turbine, merely
the beginnings of which we are now watching ; whose
influence, not merely in the engineering world generally, but
in the domain of the steamship particularly, is already marking,
183
in the most certain manner, a distinct cleavage between the
things of yesterday and those of to-morrow. The turbine is
only in its infancy, yet since its infantile influence has caused
already so great a revolution, one hesitates to reckon what
it will do before it is as old as the old-fashioned reciprocating
engine, whose history we have outlined. Its modern practical
invention is due to two men, one an Englishman, the other a
Swede, who during the early 'eighties made their systems
public. The latter is Dr. Gustav de Laval the former the ;
Hon. Charles Algernon Parsons, son of the Earl of Rosse, who

after a distinguished career at Cambridge, where he graduated
as eleventh Wrangler, brought out this new method in 1884.
Five years later Dr. de Laval, working at the same problem,
developed a somewhat similar engine. We have spoken of
the modern invention advisedly, for there is nothing new under
the Sim, and we shall see that the bare principle is hundreds
of years old. In its simplest form, the turbine is similar to
a water-wheel, a jet of steam taking the place of water. As
far back as 1629, Giovanni Branca, an Italian engineer, had
suggested much the same thing, and if the reader will now
refer to the illustration opposite he will be able to gain some
idea of the form in which his idea took shape.
Steam was to be raised as usual, by applying heat to a
vessel containing water. (In the picture this vessel is seen
to be in the shape of a man's head and neck, the steam, so
soon as it is formed, issuing out of his mouth. The original
illustration was published in Le Machine by Giovanni Branca,

printed in 1629, and containing all sorts of most interesting
labour-saving devices, such as the employment of winches,
chain-pumps, water-wheels, water-buckets and pumps of many
kinds.) As the steam escaped it was directed against the vanes
GIOVANNI BRANCAS STEAM ENGINE (1629).
The simplest form of Turbine.

Froffi the Exhibit in thi Victoria and Albert Musetttn.
on the circumference of a wheel fitted with little fans like a

water-wheel, and so causing it to revolve. In the picture the
wheel is being utilised by means of gearing for lifting pestles.
Speaking generally, this resembles roughly the idea of the
de Laval turbine, but in actual application de Laval allows
the steam to issue through one or more nozzles placed as close
i I
I- u
O h
bl y)
o o
Fixed Blades
IN Cylinder VkV.^VkVJ>k
Moving Blades Direction of
ON Shaft Moving Blades <
Blades
Fixed
VkVk^VVV^*^
Moving Blades
THE BLADES OF A PARSONS TURBINE.

of Messrs. C. A. Parsons & Co., NeiucastU-on-Tyne.
By pfrmission
as one-sixteenth of an inch to the blades or fans, so that every

particle of steam shall strike a blade.
But the Parsons system differs in detail from this, and
employs a number of wheels mounted on the same shaft, the
steam entering at one end, working its way along and expending
its energy to each wheel as it passes. If the reader will examine
the illustration facing page 186, he will see a section of one
of these turbines, which is here reproduced through the courtesy
of Messrs. C. A. Parsons and Co. But before we deal with
the actual working of this, we would also call attention
to the drawings on page 185, which depict alternate rows of
fixed and moving blades. Steam enters the turbine in a
direction parallel with the axis of the shaft, and flows through
the length of the turbine in a zig-zag fashion. Looking at
the top line in this diagram, we see a row of fixed discs or
blades sloping in one direction, on to which the steam pours.

These, so to speak, reflect the steam so that it passes at right
angles from the slope of the fixed blade to the first row of
moving blades which are on the shaft, thus givingthem and it

a rotational force in the direction indicated by the arrow.
But the curved shape of the moving blades causes the steam
to issue from them in a direction exactly opposite to that
in which it had entered, and thus the reaction gives additional
rotational force to these moving blades. The steam now
reaches the next row of fixed blades and repeats the same
action again on the next row of moving blades.
Turning now to the illustration of the turbine facing this
page, let us see how this applies in actuality. This sketch

represents a section of a cylindrical case with rows of inwardly
projecting blades, and within this cylinder revolves a shaft
with outwardly projecting blades. Steam enters at the point
marked A on the lower half of the cylinder, and then passes
through the different rows of fixed and moving blades, as
previously explained, finally leaving the cylinder at the exhaust

pipe, marked B. But it will be noticed that the diameter of the
shaft varies in three different stages, the reason for this being
that a method analogous to the compound method in the
triple-expansion engines is here employed. Thus the whole
expansive force of the steam is not converted into speed all
at one stage, but working its way along, expands as it goes.
It should be added that the fixed blades are on the case of

II
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3 J;
5 -•
H "
o
Vi .
Z b
i
^•^
a- :;
a -'3
1 5
OF
the cylinder, but the moving blades are on the rotor (or rotating
part, consisting of a hollow steel drum), the steam rebounding
from the fixed blades to the moving ones much as one billiard
ball cannons off another.

The cylindrical case is divided horizontally, and can be
taken off, so that the blades may be got at. The illustra-
tion facing page 188 shows the lower half of the fixed portion or
cylinder of one of the Carmania's turbines. The blades them-
selves are made either of brass or copper, and are caulked
one by one into grooves in the cylinder and shaft, but a newer
method enables them to be assembled in complete sectors
ready for insertion.The Allan Line turbine-steamer Virginian
contains no fewer than 750,000 of these blades on the rotating
part, but together with those which are fixed, they total a
million and a half, the diameter of the largest blade being
8 feet 6 inches.
Such, briefly, is the principle of the new form of engine
which is causing so thorough an alteration in the means of
propelling the steamship. Practically all the turbine craft are
of the Parsons type. For some years this system was employed
for driving electricdynamos on land, for pmnping stations,
colUery fans and the like, but in 1894 it was first installed in
the now celebrated little ship, the Turbinia, which was built
for the purpose of exhibiting the capabiUties of the turbine.
She was of only 44 tons, developing 2,000 horse-power, but
those who happened to see her racing along the water at
Spithead, doing her 34 knots without distress, were in no
further need of conviction as to her speed abilities. But
therein lay the drawback ; the difficulty at first was to obtain
such a speed as should be suitable for slow-going vessels, though
we shall see that this difficulty is now disappearing.
Another great fault of the turbine is that it can only go
one way, so that in order to enable a ship to go astern, she
has to be fitted with an additional propeller and turbine, the
blades in the latter being placed in the opposite way;
when the ship is going ahead, these just revolve idly. In
practice it is usual to employ two propellers and turbines for
going astern instead of one. For driving other than fast ships
the turbine was found not to be economical, but the reader

may ask the question " Why not let the ship go fast ? Why
:
detain her, if she is anxious to get to port ? " The answer is

that she wouldn't get there as fast, for the reason that unless
the ship is designed to travel at very high speeds, the propeller,
revolving at a great rate, loses its efficiency ; for, instead of
being able to use the water, much as an oarsman uses the water
for his oar to get a good grip, the water is simply carried round
with the screw. In order to counteract this failing, therefore,
it has been suggested that the turbine should not drive the
propeller direct but drive a djrnamo, the current from which
should actuate electric motors for such a speed as will suit
the propellers. With this would also vanish the reversing
difficulty, for a motor is easily reversible. But a paper was
read by the Hon. C. A. Parsons, the Vice-President, at the
annual meeting of the Institution of Naval Architects, in
March, 1910, in which he gave particulars of a scheme to
enable a high-speed turbine to be suitable for a low-speed
tramp steamer. As Mr. Parsons' theory has actually been
put into practice, and
will no doubt be found to be the solution
of the problem, we may here outline so interesting an experi-

ment. In a word, the method employed is just that which
we saw was used in those early days, when the screw engines
were first brought in. As the reader will recollect, the difficulty
THE "CARMAMA" (1905).
LOWER HALF OF THE FIXED PORTION OF ONE OF THE

"CARMANIAS" TURBINES.
From Photographs. By firmission of t!u Cunard Steatiiship Co.
was then overcome by means of gearing, instead of the engines

working directly on to the shaft so, in principle, at least, is
;
it in the present instance.

With a view of putting to a test turbines mechanically
geared to the propeller shaft, an old screw steamer, named
the Vespasian, was purchased in 1909. She was built in 1887,
and has a displacement of 4,350 tons. was fitted
Originally, she
with ordinary triple-expansion engines, and before making any

alterations it was decided to run trials with those engines in
use. But in order that these should show their best perform-
ances, they were overhauled, and rendered thoroughly efficient.
It was furi:her decided, in order that the proper data under

service conditions might be obtained, that she was to be run
property loaded. Arrangements were therefore made with a
firm of shipbrokers to take a cargo of coal from the Tjiie to
Malta, and during this voyage a special recording staff on
board made careful measurements of the coal and water con-
sumed. She then returned to the Turbinia Works, and her
triple-expansion engines were taken out, and in their place
were installed two turbines, one high-pressure and one low-
pressure, the former being placed on the starboard side, the
latter to port;, a reversing turbine being incorporated in the
exhaust casing of the low-pressure turbine. By means of
mechanical gearing the power was conveyed from the turbine
to the shaft, and without having made any alterations to the
propeller, the vessel was loaded again to her proper trim and
sent out to sea in February, 1910. The results are significant,
and may be summed up thus : the Vespasian was found to
possess under normal full-speed conditions an increase of
about one knot per hour owing to the higher efficiency of the
tm-bine, but with reduced water-consumption, and consequently
coal consumption, amounting to nearly 20 per cent. Further,
the weight of the reciprocating engines was 100 tons ; that of
the turbines is only 75. Thus the ship is enabled to carry
a larger amount of cargo, whilst simultaneously she effects a
saving in coal, in oil, in engine-room staff and in up-keep.
Mr. Parsons asserts that the turbines and gearing have given
no trouble, have caused very little noise or vibration, and
there is no appreciable wear on the teeth of the gearing.
To the Allan Line belongs the honour of having been the
first to introduce the turbine upon the Atlantic, and at the
beginning of the year 1905, the Victorian and Virginian, which

had been contracted for two years earlier, began running.
These two ships are employed on the Liverpool-Montreal
service,and were built to be of as great a size as safe navigation
of the river St. Lawrence would permit. They displace 12,000
tons each, and are fitted with Parsons triplicate turbines,
driving three independent shafts and maintaining a speed of
17 knots average; but on her trials the Virginian attained
a speed of 19*8 knots, and the Victorian 19'2 knots. Three
propellers are used for steaming ahead, and two low-pressure
turbines are employed for manoeuvring either ahead or astern ;
these are provided with a supplementary turbine for going

astern. When going ahead, the steam is first used in the
high-pressure turbine engine and then allowed to flow there-
from to the two low-pressure turbines, after which it passes
to the condensers. Owing to the turbine system the vibration
is reduced to a minimima, and since it is possible, from their
nature, to place the turbine engines very low in the hull, it
follows that the screws also can be placed very low. The
practical effect of this that the propellers are rarely out
is
"
of the water in a heavy sea, and so the objectionable " racing
disappears. The Virginian soon showed that she was not

merely a comfortable, but a comparatively fast ship, for she
made an eastward trip in the shortest time hitherto occupied
between Canada and England.

In the same year the Cunard Line followed with the
Carmania, their first turbine liner, fitted with three turbines
and three screws. She was preceded a by the Caronia, a
little
sister ship in every way except that the latter is propelled by

two sets of quadruple -expansion reciprocating engines, driving
twin-screws. These ships have a displacement of 30,000 tons,
and a length over all of 675 feet. They were built of a strength
that was in excess of Board of Trade and other requirements,
and when we state that no fewer than 1,800,000 rivets were
used in the construction of each, one begins to realise some-
thing of the amount of work that was put into them. Their
steel plating varies in thickness from three-quarters of an inch
to an inch and an eighth in thickness, the length of each plate
being 32 feet. Fitted with a cellular bottom which is carried
well up the sides of the ship above the bilges, they can thus
carry three and a half thousand tons of water-ballast. The
principles underhang the design and construction of these
ships were steadiness and strength, and in the attainment of
this they have been eminently successful. There are eight
decks, which may be detailed by reference to the photograph
of the Carmania facing page 188. Immediately below the bridge
is the boat deck. Then follow successively the upper pro-
menade deck, the promenade, the saloon, upper, and main
decks. Below the water-line come two other decks for stores
and cargo, the depth from the boat deck being eighty feet. Both
of these ships are fitted with the now well-known Stone-Lloyd
system of safety water-tight doors, which renders the vessel
practically unsinkable. This enables the doors to be closed
by the captain from his bridge, after sufficient notice has
been given by the sounding of gongs, so that everyone may
move away from the neighbourhood of these doors. But
should it chance that, after they have been shut, any of the
crew or passengers have had their retreat cut off, it is only
necessary to turn a handle, when the door will at once open and
afterwards automatically shut again. The system is worked
by hydraulics, and is a vast improvement on the early methods
employed to retain a ship's buoyancy after collision with an
iceberg, vessel or other object. A glance at the illustration
will show that a very great amount of consideration was paid
to the subject of giving the Carmania a comprehensive system
of ventilation, a principle which has been carried still further
in the Mauretania and LiLsitania.
In the event of war the Carmania and Caronia would be

fitted with twelve large quick-firing guns, for the hulls were
built in accordance with the Admiralty's requirements for
armed cruisers. For this reason, also, the rudder is placed
entirely under water, and besides the ordinary set of steering
gear, there is another placed below the water-line.

On her trials the Carmania attained a speed of over 20 knots,
and the saving in weight by adopting turbine engines as
compared with the Caronia's reciprocating engines was found
to amount to 5 per cent. In actual size these fine ships are
inferior to the Great Eastern, but they were built with meticulous
regard for strength, and needed 2,000 tons more material than
was used in the old Brunei ship. The arrangements of the
Carmania's turbines are worthy of note. There are three pro-

pellers and shafts. That in the centre is the high-pressure
turbine, whilst the " wing " (or two side) turbines placed
respectively to starboard and port are the low-pressure and

astern turbines. Steam is supplied by eight double-ended and
five single-ended boilers, which are fitted with Howden's system
of forced draught. This latter enables the air to be heated

before it enters the furnace, and was patented in 1883. It
is also in use on the Mauretania.

The beautiful picture facing page 192 was taken in Holyhead
Harbour in June, 1909, and is a study in comparisons. At
the left, first come the two small steam craft, then the White
Star passenger tender, the Magnetic, a twin-screw steamer of
619 tons, and, finally, the other White Star twin-screw mammoth
Baltic, of 23,876 tons. The Magnetic happens to be less than
100 tons smaller than the little Sirius, which was the first
steamer to cross the Atlantic entirely under steam power in

1838. Therefore, we but imagine in place of the twin-screw
if
tender the paddle Sirius, we can form some fairly accurate

idea of the extent to which the Atlantic steamship has developed
in less than seventy years, a development that neither Fulton
nor anyone else could have foretold in their wildest flights
of imagination. This Baltic, with her 24,000 tons, is one of

the largest vessels in the world —about 9,000 tons larger than
Noah's Ark, if we take the Biblical cubit as equal to a foot
and a half, which makes that historic craft about 15,000 tons
register. The Baltic has a length of 725| feet; the Ark
measured 450 feet in length. The Baltic can carry with the
utmost ease and luxury 3,000 passengers, as well as 350 crew.
Just how many animals she could put away in her holds as
well, if called upon, I do not know ; but in any case it would
be able to put up a keen competition with the capacities
of Noah's craft.
Here, again, we find a AYhite Star ship excelling not in
X
speed, but in size, for she was designed to do only 16| knots
at the outside. She is propelled by quadruple-expansion
engines. She made her appearance in 1905, and is additionally
interesting, as she exhibits a slight divergence from the ten
beams to the length principle, which governed for so long a
time the White Star ships ; to come up to this rule this vessel
would have to be another 30 feet in length.
Wehave already explained the reason which underlies the

comparatively moderate speed of these ships, and mentioned
that the question of economical steaming was at the root of
the matter. As an example we might quote the case of the
Majestic, belonging to the same line, as an instance. This
vessel consumes 316 tons of coal per day to get a speed
of 19 knots the Baltic, a vessel nearly twice and a half
;
the size, requires only 260 tons of fuel a day for her 16|
knots.
And so we come to those two leviathans which form, with-
out exception, the most extraordinary, the most massive, the
fastest, and the most luxurious ships that ever crossed an
ocean. Caligula's galleys, which were wondrously furnished
with trees, marbles and other luxuries which ought never to
desecrate the sweet, dignified character of the ship, were less
sea-craft than floating villas exuding decadence at every
feature. There are some characteristics of the Mauretania
and Lusitania, with their lifts, their marbles, curtains, ceilings,
trees,and other expressions of twentieth century luxury, which,

while appreciated by the landsman and his wife, are nauseating
to the man who loves the sea and its ships for their own sakes,
and not for the chance of enjoying self-indulgence in some
new form. But all the same these two Cunarders are ships
first, and floating mansions only in a secondary sense. They
are even more than that : they are ocean-greyhounds of a

new breed with a pace that surpasses any other of the mercantile
sea dogs.
These two historic craft are regarded in different ways by
different people. You may think of them as hotels, you may
look at them as representing the outcome of the greatest
minds in naval architecture, ship-construction and marine
engineering. Or, again, you may reckon up how much capital
is tied up within their walls, how much material they have
eaten up, how many hundreds of men they have given, and
are giving, employment to. But whichever way you regard
them, from whatever standpoint you choose, there is nothing
comparable to them, there are no standards whatsoever by
which to judge them. We can only doff our hats to the
organising and originating geniuses who in one way or another
brought these marvels from out of the realm of impossibility
to the actuality of the broad Atlantic. Cover them with tier
upon tier of decks, scatter over them a forest of ventilators,

roofs and chimneys, till they look like the tops of a small town ;
fill them inside with handsome furniture, line their walls with
costly decorations ; throw in a few electric cranes, a coal mine,
several restaurants, the population of a large-sized village
and a good many other things besides ; give them each a
length equal to that of the Houses of Parliament, a height
greater than the buildings in Northumberland Avenue, disguise
them in any way you please, and for all that these are ships,
which have to obey the laws of Nature, of the Great Sea, just
as the first sailing ship and the first Atlantic steamship had
to show their submission. I submit that to look upon these
two ships as mere speed-manufacturers engaged in the record
industry, as palatial abodes, or even as dividend-earners is an

insult to the brains that conceived them, to the honourable
name of " ship " which they bear.
The Mauretania and Lusitania are the outcome of an
agreement made between the British Government and the
Cunard Steamship Company, in which it was contracted to
produce two steamships " capable of maintaining a minimum

average ocean speed of from 24 to 25 knots an hour in moderate
weather." In every way these ships have exceeded the dimen-
sions of the Great Eastern. There was no precedent for them
in dimensions, engine power, displacement or aught else.
It was not to be expected that such gigantic productions as

these could be the outcome of one mind ; such a thing would
be impossible. It was only as a result of an exhaustive inquiry
made on behalf of the Cunard Company by some of the most
experienced ship-builders and marine engineers of this country,
aided by the constructive and engineering staff of the Admiralty,
as well as by the preliminary knowledge derived from models,
that the best form for obtaining this unprecedented speed
was evolved. Whatever was best in existing knowledge or
materials was investigated. A special committee, representing
the Cunard Company, the Admiralty and private industries

went deeply into the question of engines ; and with right judg-
ment, and, it must be said, with no little courage and enter-
prising foresight, decided, after conferring with Mr. Parsons,
to choose turbines, applied to four shafts, each carrying a
single screw.
These two absolutely unique steamships differ entirely
from the previous fast liners that we have enumerated, as well
as from those large " intermediates " with moderate speed.
The size of these mammoths was decided upon, not with
reference to their cargo-carrying capacity — for they have
;

practically no space for this —but order to be able to steam
in
at an average speed of 25 knots in moderate weather for

3,000 miles, to carry enough coal to last them the voyage when
consuming about a 1,000 tons per day, and to carry an adequate
number of passengers to allow the ships to pay their way. It
was impossible, therefore, to have given them any smaller

dimensions. I make this statement on the authority of no less
an expert than Sir William H. White, K.C.B., the illustrious
naval architect who was connected so closely with the birth

of the Maureiania. was a happy coincidence that the turbine
It
had already shown itself capable of so much that to employ

it in these ships seemed a justifiable experiment. For other-
wise, in order to obtain the requisite speed the vessel could
not have contained the large amount of propelling apparatus.
The working speeds of these two ships exceeds by 1| knots
the highest speeds ever attained in the Atlantic service. Had
the reciprocating engine been employed instead of the turbine
there would have been serious risk of troublesome vibration, the
shafts would have had to have been of very large dimensions
large-sized propellers would have been necessary, and these
latter, of course, would have been unfavourable to high efficiency
of propulsion, whilst with the more rapidly revolving turbine

the screws are still of moderate diameter. But apart altogether
from the questions of economy of space, liability to accident
and so on, there was a national consideration to be reckoned.
This country has now for many hundreds of years prided itself
on being the mistress of the seas, a title that was only won
after serious, hard struggles. Although that title has reference
rather to matters immediately connected with the Royal Navy,
yet national industry and a series of private enterprises had,
as we have seen, given us also an analogous position in regard
to our mercantile marine. This was until theGerman Kaiser
Wilhelm der Grosse, followed by the Kaiser Wilhelm II. and
the Deutschland, took away — in speed, at least —this title.
It was, therefore, a matter affecting our honour and our pride

that we should put on to the water some ship or ships that
should be capable of winning back the " blue ribbon " of the
Atlantic, and restoring to us the supremacy of speed at sea.
There is, however, a more practical consideration. Without

the assistance of the Gk>vemment it would have been financially
impracticable even for so wealthy a corporation as the Cunard

Company to cause such a couple of ships as these to be built.
And yet it was worth while that the nation should help the
Company, for in the event of war breaking out between us
and another fu-st-class nation, it would not be long before
we should be starved into submission if by any chance our
over-seas food supply were cut off. It has been suggested
with every appearance of probability, that in such a condition
the Mauretania and Lusitania might render the highest service
by making rapid passages across the Atlantic and, being there
loaded up with grain, might hurry back home again. Their
speed alone would save them from the enemy, except perhaps
from the latest and fastest types of fighting-ships. But if
convoyed by the Indomitable and Invincible battleship-cruisers,
with their enormous speed and equally enormous " smashing
power," the chances would be in favour of the grain-ships
reaching port. Thus when the British Government advanced
the sum of £2,000,000 sterling (which amount represents about
one-half of the total cost of the two vessels) it was acting
with a wisdom and a power for looking well ahead that is
not always possessed by political bodies. With their very
considerable capacities for passenger accommodation, these

two ships would also be invaluable if called upon to act as

transports.
The singularly impressive picture facing page 198 shows the
Mauretania whilst she was still lying on the Tyne at Wallsend
before being quite ready for service. It is by a happy coin-
cidence that the same picture shows a delightful contrast
between this last word of modem invention and the old-
fashioned type of steam tug-boat in the river, to the right.
There is, in fact, so mighty a divergence in character that it
is not easy to catalogue both under the very elastic and com-
prehensive title of steamship. Only by comparison with
any idea of the Mauretania^ s colossal
existing ships can one gain
qualities. The present writer was one of those who watched
the Mauretania docked for the first time at Liverpool imme-
had come round to the Mersey from the Tyne.
diately after she
By her was lying another steamship, by no means out of date,
whose appearance at one time called forth some of the expres-
sions of amazement and wonder that these two Cunarders
have brought about. For size and speed this older " grey-
hound " was property and legitimately famous, but yet within
the comparatively small dimensions of the dock-space one was
able to obtain a more accurate idea as to the exact proportions
of the Mauretania than when lying outside in the river, where
space brings with it deception and it was amazing to remark
;
how utterly and unconditionally the new steamship over-

shadowed the old. Even in such close proximity as one stood,
everything else looked small by comparison. The captain on
the Mauretania's bridge resembled a small, black dot, the
funnels looked like four great, red caverns. A brand new thick
rope warp was brought to the shore to stop the Mauretania's
way. It was so heavy that a score of men were needed to move
it about. And yet although she seemed scarcely to be moving
the liner broke it in two just as a toy model breaks a piece
of cotton. may look at this same ship lying
Or, again, one
at her mooring buoy on the Cheshire side of the Mersey and
be lost in wonder at her graceful curves. With such sweet
lines you could not doubt that she was also speedy. But it
is not until one sees a good-sized steam-tug go shooting by
thebuoy that one obtains any idea as to measurements. The

buoy is as big and bigger than the tug, and, therefore, how
many more times must the liner herself be bigger than the
tug ? You see another steamer alongside this mountain of
steel and the steamer is nothing remarkable. But presently as
she comes down by the landing-stage, past a smaller liner
brought up to her anchor in the middle of the river, you find
that that little steamer is several sizes bigger than a moderate

coaster. It would have been so easy to make this finest ship
in the world look also the largest ; it is a much finer achieve-
ment to have made her look, what she is, the handsomest.
Passing then to some of the details of these leviathans,
we find that they measure 790 feet long, 88 feet broad, whilst
the depth from the topmost deck to the bottom is 80 feet.
Choose out some high building or cliff 150 feet high, and it
will still be 5 feqt less than the height of these ships from the
bottom to the top of their funnels. Their displacement at
load draught is 40,000 tons ; they each develop 68,000 horse-
power, and draw, when fully loaded, 37| feet of water. When
crew and passengers are on board each ship represents a com-
munity of 3,200 persons. They are fitted with bilge keels,
double bottoms, water-tight doors, and there are eight decks
in all. To hold such massive weights as these ships exceptionally
powerful ground tackle is necessitated. The main cable alone
STERN OF THE " MAURETANIA."
Frotn a Phohy^raph. By p^ryttission of the Cunard Steamship Co.
weighs about 100 tons, and there are about 2,000 feet of this,
or 333 fathoms. The double bottom of the Mauretania averages

in depth 5 to 6 feet, and she has five stokeholds containing
twenty-three double-ended and two single-ended boilers the ;
coal bunkers are arranged along the ship's sides in such a

manner as to be handy and as a protection to the hull in case
off collision. Three hundred and twenty-four firemen and
trimmers are engaged in three watches of four hours in the
stokehold.
The striking illustration facing page 200 shows the stern of
the Mauretania out of water, the photograph having been taken
whilst the vessel was being built at WaUsend-on-Tyne by Messrs.
Swan, Hunter and Wigham Richardson. It will be noticed
that there are two propellers on either side of the rudder.
The two outermost are driven by the high-pressure and the
inside two by the low-pressure turbines. The two inner pro-
pellers are also used for going astern, and since the turbine
can only turn in one direction these two are each fitted with
a high-pressure turbine, and when the ship is steaming ahead
these astern-turbines are simply revolving idly. When we
examined the interior of a turbine on page 186, we noted that
the steam is allowed to expand in stages therein. The turbines
of the Mauretania are arranged with eight stages of steam
expansion, while the blades vary in length from 2^ to 12 inches.
We would call attention once more to the modem
custom introduced by Harland and Wolff of cutting a hole,
or " port," in the deadwood of the ship. On referring to the
illustration facing page 200, it will be seen that the Mauretania

possesses this feature in a remarkable degree, so that the flow
of water to the screws is very free indeed. It will be noticed
also that the rudder is of the balanced type, so that part of
it projects forward of its axis, whilst the whole of it is some
distance below the water-line. It will also be remarked that
the two " wing," or outermost, propellers are placed a good
deal forward of the two inner screws, the object aimed at
being to give these forward screws plenty of clear water to
work in without either pair of propellers having to revolve
in water disturbed by the other pair. In examining this picture
the reader will readily be able to obtain the scale by remem-
bering that the draught up to the water-line shown is 37| feet.
The illustration facing this page shows the appearance these sis-
ter ships possess at the bows. The present photograph shows

the Lusitania under way. The navigating bridge, which will
be discerned at a great height, has been necessarily placed
comparatively much nearer to the bows of the ship than is
customary in many liners. Here the binnacle, the engine-

room telegraph instruments, and other apparatus employed in
the controlling of the ship, are stationed, whilst immediately
abaft of this bridge, but in a connecting room, is the wheel-
house. Into this small space is concentrated the exceptionally
serious responsibility of ruling the ship, a responsibility which,
though it now lasts but a short time, thanks to the shorter
passages of the steamship, is far heavier than it was when
steamships were less complicated and less huge. It is a respon-
sibility which covers not merely the ship herself, the crew,
the mails, and the passengers' lives, but sometimes a very
precious cargo. Only whilst these pages are being written
the Mauretania steamed into Liverpool a veritable treasure
ship, far surpassing in this respect a whole fleet of some of
those old Spanish treasure-frigates. Stored in the strong-

rooms of the Cunarder were precious metals of the aggregate
value of over a million pounds sterling, consisting of 6^ tons
z s
< %
3 3
•J 5
X
of gold coin and 36 tons of bullion in the shape of 1,100 bars

of silver. Add all this to the value of the ship, her furniture
and her passengers' belongings, and we get something between
three and four millions of mone5\ The mere thought of it
is enough to make Sir Henry 3Iorgan and other buccaneers
and pirates turn restlessly in their prison-graves.

Ever since they first came out the Mauretania and Lusitania
have been improving on their speeds. Their most recent
remarkable performances have been by important
caused
alterations to their propellers. These were preceded by experi-
ments made by the Mauretanid's builders with their specially
constructed electrically-driven model launch. Since these two
liners commenced running, over twenty-four different sets of
three-bladed, and seventeen sets of four-bladed propellers have
been tested, in addition to further frequent experiments with
models of the three-bladed propellers originally supplied to
the Mauretania. By modifying the bosses and the blades,
and adopting four blades instead of three, a very extensive
saving in horse-power was effected in experiments. Finally,
the Mauretania was fitted with four-bladed propellers on the
wing shafts, while three-bladed propellers were retained on
the inside shafts. The result has been a substantial raising of
her average speed, while the coal consumption has been about
the same or rather less, but this latter is thought to be due
probably to the improvements in stokehold organisation.
Sir William H. White has expressed himself as of the opinion
that the recently much increased speed of these two monsters
is due much more to the greater knowledge of the turbines,
as well as the better stokehold management, than to the pro-
peller alterations. Up to May of the year 1908 the best average
speed of the Mauretania on her westward trip was 24*86 knots.
— ..

but during the year 1909 it was raised to 26'6 knots. It was
officially stated, on March 24th, 1910, that the Lusitania made
a new record on her westward trip by steaming at 26*69 knots
for a whole day, that is at the rate of 30*7 land miles. Leaving
Queenstown on the Sunday, she had up noon of the following
till
Wednesday covered 2,022 knots, at an average of 25*97 sea

miles. A fortnight previous to this the Mauretania, for the
last part of her eastward voyage to Fishguard, steamed at an
average speed of 27*47 knots per hour, or 31*59 land miles.
The Lusitania is now fitted with the Mauretania' s first pro-
and the chairman of the Cunard Company has remarked
pellers,
that he has been informed that the Mauretania would be glad

to have them back again. The following tables will give some
idea of the comparative passages which these ships have made.
They are interesting as being reckoned not from Queens-
town, but from Liverpool landing-stage and the Cunard pier.
New York :
Outward Voyages Days

Lusitania . Quickest passage
Mauretania . Quickest passage
Lusitania . . Longest passage
Mauretania . Longest passage
Lusitania . . Average passage
Mauretania . Average passage
Homeward Voyages.
Lusitania . Quickest passage
Mauretania . Quickest passage
Lusitania . Longest passage
Mauretania . Longest passage
Lusitania . Average passage
Mauretania . Average passage
But in spite of their bold dimensions and their efforts to

prove their superior prowess in contending with the mighty
ocean, both the Mauretania and the Lusitania have shown
that after all they are still yet ships, and are subject to
those same laws which govern the rusty old tramp, the
square-yarded sailing ship, and the massive modern liner.
We may take but two recent instances, one as happening to
each of these two great vessels during the winter of 1910.
In the month of January, the Lusitania made the slowest
passage in her history, having encountered adverse winds
and mountainous waves ever since leaving Daunt's Rock.
On Monday, the 10th of January, she ran into what was thought
to be a tidal wave. Immediately an avalanche of water broke
on the promenade deck. The officers on duty at the time
calculated the liquid weight that came aboard at 2,000 tons,
and 100 feet high. At the time of the occurrence the captain
and the passengers were below at dinner, and it was fortunate

that no one was on deck. The wave wrecked the pilot house,
which is 84 feet above the water-line ; four lifeboats were
smashed, as well as eleven windows in the wheel-house.
Companion ladders were carried away, while the captain's,
officers' and their stewards' quarters below the bridge were
so badly damaged that they could not be used. The chief
officer was on the bridge at the time, and he found himself
in water up to his armpits. The quartermaster was swept

off his feet, and struck against the chart-room bulkhead, with
the fragments of the steering wheel in his hands, and the chart-
room was flooded everjrvvhere with water. As if that were
not bad enough, the masthead lights and sidelights were
extinguished by the wave. Happily, the chief officer kept his
head above all this excitement, and finding that the engine-
2o6 STEAMSHIPS AND THEIR STORY
room telegraph gear was undamaged, down to the
signalled
engineer to reverse the turbines. The captain, who had
only left the bridge a few minutes earlier, rushed back, and
in less than half an hour the big ship was on her course again,
heading for New York, where she arrived twenty-six hours
late.
It was during the following month that the Mauretania

also suffered her worst passage on record. The weather was
so bad from the first that she was unable to land her pilot at
Queenstown, who had to go all the way to New York. During
the first day or two the sea became worse and worse. On the
night of Sunday, February 20th, the Mauretania was in the
thick of a heavy gale and meeting seas of rare magnitude.
Some idea may be gathered of the conditions, when it is
mentioned that the speed of this colossal liner had to be

reduced to seven knots, and kept at that for the next five hours.
It may be remembered that the Astronomer Royal reported

that the wind-pressure at Greenwich that night showed a
velocity of 100 miles an hour. When full steam was again
resumed, the Mauretania received some punishing blows, and
the upper works were subjected to a series of continuous
batterings from heavy head seas. The glass of the bridge-house
was shattered, several of the lifeboats were shifted, the water

got below and flooded the forecastle, and finally an anchor,
weighing 10,000 lbs., and 50 fathoms of cable were swept
into the sea. Reading all this whilst having in mind the
magnitude of these two steamships, truly we can say that the
sea is no respecter of persons, nor even of the most marvellous
products of naval architecture.
The four-masted steamship here illustrated is the
WTiite Star Adriatic, which was built in 1906. This mighty
a; ~
< s
vessel is of 25,000 tons, and though smaller than the two

Cunarders with which wê have just dealt, is superior in size
and speed to the White Star Baltic, and until the advent of
the Olympic and Titanic, was the biggest production which
the "White Star Line has conceived. Like the Baltic, the second
Oceanic, and the Cedric, this Adriatic follows out the modem
White Star practice of giving mammoth size, moderate speed,
and considerable luxury. She steams at 17^ knots with an
indicated horse-power of 16,000. Unlike the more modem
ships, the Adriatic is propelled not by triple or even quad-
ruple screws, but by twin-screws, and is employed on the
Southampton - Cherbourg - Queenstown - New York route.
Although not provided with turbines, the Adriatic exhibits
a minimum of vibration owing to the careful regard which is
now paid to ensure the balancing of the moving parts of the

reciprocating engine. She has tAvo three-bladed screws, which
are made of manganese bronze, driven by twin engines,
and her dimensions are : length, 725*9 feet ; beam, 77*6 ;
depth, 54 feet. It will be seen, therefore, that the old ten-

beams to length rule is yet again broken in the modem White
Star leviathans.
In 1905, the German Hamburg -American Line became
possessed of the Amerika, which with the length of 670| feet,
beam and a tonnage of 22,225, and a moderate speed,
74'6,
makes her rather a rival of the White Star Baltic and Adriatic,
than of the Cunard ships or the Norddeutscher Lloyd Kaiser
Wilhelm der Grosse and Kaiser Wilhelm II., and the Hamburg
Company's own fast steamship, the Deutschland. Although
sailing under a foreign flag, she is to all intents and purposes
a British ship, for she was built at Harland and Wolff's famous
Belfast yard, where the \Vhite Star ships have come into
being. Her speed is 18 knots, so that she is rather faster than
the latest White Star ships, although inferior to the fastest
contemporary liners. Carrying a total of 4,000 passengers
and crew, the Amerika is one of the finest vessels, not merely
in the German fleet, but in the whole world.
The George Washington, which is seen steaming ahead in
the illustration herewith, was the first of the Norddeutscher
Lloyd steamers to make a considerable advance on the 20,000
tons (registered) limit. In length, breadth and tonnage she
was launched as the biggest German ships, and some of
of all
her details are not without interest. Her speed of 18^ knots
is obtained by two engines with an indicated horse-power of
20,000, and her gross register is 26,000 tons. She is propelled
by twin-screws, and was built of steel according to the highest
German standards, with five steel decks extending from end

to end, a double bottom, which is divided up into twenty-six
water-tight compartments, while the ship herself is divided
by thirteen transverse bulkheads which reach up Mb the upper
deck, and sometimes to the upper saloon deck, and separate
the vessel into fourteen water-tight compartments. A special
feature was made in the bulkheads to render them of such a
strength as to be able to resist the pressure of the water in
the event of collision. The three upper decks seen in the
photograph show the awning, the upper promenade, and the

promenade-decks ; while, as in the Mauretania and her sister,
and in the Adriatic, electric lifts are installed for the convenience
of the passengers- wishing to pass from one deck to the other.
The four pole -masts are of steel, and have between them no
fewer than twenty-nine derricks. The George Washington's
engines are of the quadruple-expansion type, with two sets of
four cylinders, the propellers being two three-bladed, made of
THE •' GEORGE WASHINGTON.
THE iJfcKLiN.
'
From Pko'o^raphs. By firmission of thf Norddnttscher Lloyi Co., Bremen.

bronze. The difficulty with large reciprocating engines has

always been to cause them to work without giving forth con-
siderable vibration. But the careful arrangement of the cranks
of the engine so as to balance each other tends to neutralise

the vibration. It is easier to balance four cranks than three,
and in this (ierman ship the four-crank principle is followed.
Steam is supplied by four single-ended and eight double-ended
boilers, the Howden draught system being employed.
The Berlin, the other latest modern liner of the Norddeut-

scher Lloyd Line, will be seen in the next illustration. Unlike
her sister, she has been given only two masts, and in another
illustration, in a later chapter, we show this ship under construc-
tion. She was recently built at Bremen for the INIediterranean
to New York service, and carries 3,630 persons, inclusive of
crew. Like other modem German liners, this vessel is hand-

somely furnished, and the pubUc rooms are all united in a
deckhouse lighted by a large number of cupola-shaped sky-
lights. She has a registered tonnage of 19,200 gross, and
in the Norddeutscher fleet ranks next after the Kaiser
Wilhelm II. She passed into the hands of her owners at the
end of 1909.
Two interesting new ships were commissioned in 1909 by
the \Vhite Star Line, for the Liverpool- Quebec service, named
respectively the Laurentic and Megantic. An illustration,
showing the former on the stocks at Harland and Wolff's

yard, Belfast, is given opposite page 210. The Laurentic
and Megantic are, as to hulls, sister ships, and each has a
tonnage of 14,900, thus being among the largest steamers in
the Canadian trade. But whilst the latter is a twin-screw
ship propelled by reciprocating engines, the former has three
screws and a combination of reciprocating engines and a
low-pressure turbine, being the first large passenger steam-
ship to be
designed with this ultra-modern method.
" "
Each of the wing propellers is driven by four-crank triple
balanced engines, the central propeller, however, being driven
by the turbine. The object aimed at by this novel hybrid
method was to retain the advantages of the carefully balanced
reciprocating engines, but at the same time to obtain the
benefit of the further expansion of steam in a low-pressure
turbine, without having to employ a turbine specially for
going astern. The reciprocating engines of the Laurentic are
adequate for manoeuvring in and out of port, and for going
astern, since they develop more than three-quarters of the
total combined horse-power. This steamship, single-funnelled
and two-masted, measures 565 feet in length, and 67 feet
4 inches in width, and besides having accommodation for
1,690 passengers, carries a large quantity of cargo. Like many
other big steamships that we have noted in the course of our
story, she has a double celljilar-bottom which extends the
whole length of the ship, being specially strengthened under
the engines. Her nine bulkheads divide her up into ten water-
tight compartments. It will be noticed that the rudder has
gone back to the ordinary type common before the introduction
of the balance method. Notice, too, that the blades of the
propeller are each bolted to the shaft, and that the latter
terminates in a conical shape now so common on screw-ships.
This is called the " boss," and was invented by Robert Griffiths
in 1849. It was introduced in order to reduce the pressure
of the water towards the centre. This method was first tried
on a steamer in the following year at Bristol and afterwards
on H.M.S. Fairy. By reason of its shape, it naturally causes
less resistance through the water.
'J,M
OF
FORTiii
Whilst these lines are being written, there are building at

Harland and Wolff's yard still another couple of ships for the
White Star flag, which, if not in speed, will be the most wonder-
ful, and certainly the largest ships in the world. After the
Baltics and Mauretanias one feels inclined to ask in amaze-
ment :
" What next, indeed ? " They will measure 850 feet long,
90 feet broad, and be fitted with such luxuries as roller-skating

rinks and other novelties. They will each possess a gross
register of 45,000 tons. (By way of comparison we might
remind the reader that the Mauretania has a gross register
of 33,000 tons.) Named respectively the Olympic and Titanic,
they will be propelled by three screws, and have a speed

of 21 knots, so that besides being leviathans, they wiU
also be greyhounds, and are destined for the Southampton-
New York route. The first of these, the Olympic, will take
the water in October, 1910, and some idea of her appear-
ance may be gathered from the illustration which forms
our frontispiece. Like the Laurentic, these ships will be
fitted with a combination of the turbine and reciprocating
engines, and wiU thus be the first ships running on the New
York route to have this system. Their buUders estimate that
the displacement of each of these mighty creatures will be
about 60,000 tons, which is about half as much again as that
of the Baltic. Each ship wUl cost at least a million and a half
of money, and it will be necessary for each of those harbours
which they are to visit to be dredged to a depth of 35 feet.
It is a complaint put forward by both ship-builders and owners

of modern leviathans that the governing bodies of ports have
not shown the same spirit of enterprise which the former
have exhibited. To handicap the progress of shipping by
hesitating to give the harbours a required depth, they say.
is neither fair nor conducive to the advance of the prosperity
of the ports in question, and on the face of it, it would seem
to be but reasonable that if the honour of receiving a mammoth
liner means anything at all, it by re-
should be appreciated
sponding in a practical manner. In New York Harbour this
fact is already recognised, for dredging is being undertaken
so as to provide a depth of 40 feet.
At the present moment the Cunard Company are also
engaged in replenishing their fleet, consequent on the removal
from service of the Lucania, the Umbria, the Etruria, and the
Slavonia. An 18,000 ton steamship, to be called the Franconia,
is being built by Messrs. Swan, Hunter and Wigham Richardson,
Ltd., the firm which turned out the Mauretania, and will be
ready some time in 1911. This latest addition will not, it is
understood, be a " flyer," for her speed is believed to be less
than 20 knots, and it is therefore probable that she is
intended to replace the Slavonia. But it is supposed that

another vessel is to be built presently to relieve the Mauretania
and Lusitania, or to co-operate with them, and that her speed
will be 23 knots, though it must not be forgotten that this ship
will not be built with the help of Government money, but

will be purely and solely a commercial transaction.
In the meantime German enterprise shows but little signs
of lagging. Hamburg-American Line are understood to
The.
have ordered from the Vulcan Yards at Hamburg a new
passenger liner of more than 800 feet in length and a displace-
ment of between 45,000 and 50,000 tons. Her speed is to be
21 knots. Herr Ballin a couple of years ago had a similar
project in view, and entered into a contract with Harland
and Wolff for building the largest ship in the world, to be
called the Europa. But the condition of the Atlantic passenger
trade became unfavourable for the enterprise, and the contract

was annulled. The contract now goes, not to Belfast, but to
Hamburg, for the Belfast yard has no slip vacant for several
months to come. It will mean, therefore, that this Europa,
which is destined to excel the big Cunarders in size though
not in speed, will be the largest undertaking that German
ship-building yards have yet had to face, for the biggest
merchant ship which up till now they have turned out is the
George Washington, of 26,000 tons. Since the Deutschland lost
the honour of holding the " blue ribbon," the Hamburg-
American Line have not worried much about recapturing the
first position in speed. Economy plus a first-class service
would seem to be the modem combination of influence that
is dominating the great steamship lines. Speed is a great
deal, but it is not everything in a passenger steamship, and
whether the limits have not already been surpassed, and the
Mauretania and Lusitania with their high speeds and enormous
cost of running will presently be regarded rather as belonging
to the category of white elephants than of practical commercial
steamships, time alone can show.
After all, the Atlantic and the other oceans were made by
the Great Designer as barriers between separate continents, and
although we speak of them casually as rather of the nature of a
herring-pond, and build our big ships to act as ferries, yet are
we not flying in the face of Nature, and asking for trouble ?
In the fight between Man and Nature, it is fairly plain on
which side victory will eventually come, in spite of a series
of clever dodges which throughout history man has conceived
and put into practice for outwitting her. You can fool her
very well in many ways for part of the time ; but you cannot
do this for ever in every sphere. ^\Tien we read of fine.
handsome, well-found modern liners going astray in the broad
ocean, or of excellent, capable little cross-channel steamships
foundering between port and port, %vithout any living witnesses
to how it
tell all happened, we have a reminder that the ways
of man are clever beyond all words, but that Nature is
cleverer still. What the future of the steamship will be no

one can tell. Already ship-builders profess themselves capable
of turning out a monster up to 1,000 feet in length. But
whether this will come about depends on the courage of the
great steamship lines, the state of the financial barometer,
and any improvements and inventions which the marine
engineer may introduce in the meantime. Perhaps the future
rests not with the steam, but the gas engine : we cannot say.
It is sufficient that we have endeavoured to show what a
century and but little longer has done in that short time for
the steamship. Sufficient for the century is the progress
thereof.
CHAPTER VIII
SMALLER OCEAN CARRIERS AND CROSS-CHANNEL STEAMERS
Although it is true, as I have already pointed out, that the

North Atlantic has been the cockpit wherein the great steam-
ship competition has been fought out, yet it is not to that
ocean alone that all the activity has been confined. Because
of the limitations which the Suez Canal imposes it is not
possible to build steamships for the Eastern routes of such
enormous tonnage as are customary for the North American
passages.
In the course of our story we have seen the beginnings of
the principal steamship companies trading not merely to
the west, but in many other spheres. In tracing the history
of steamship companies as distinct from that of the steamship
herself,we are immediately confronted with difficulties, for
the company may be older than steamships of any sort or, ;
again, the company may be of comparatively modern origin,
yet from the first possessed of the finest steamships, of a

character surpassing their contemporaries. For instance, one
of the very oldest lines is the Bibby Line to Rangoon. This
was founded as far back as 1807, yet it was not until 1851
that it adopted steam. The White Star Line, as we have seen,
was previously composed of sailing vessels, and its first steam-

ship, the Oceanic, did not appear until 1870, but when she did
make her appearance, she surpassed anything else afloat by
her superior virtues. To take, therefore, a chronological survey
of the establishment of the steamship organisations would
215
2i6 STEAMSHIPS AND THEIR STORY
be to convey nothing satisfactory to us in our study of the
evolution of the steamship, but nevertheless, we may perti-
nently set forth some of the more venerable but no less active
steamship lines of the present day.
In addition to those already mentioned whose coming
certainly was intimately connected with the evolution of the
steamship, we might mention Messrs. George Thompson and
Company's Aberdeen Line, which at one time was famous for
its fine fleet of sailing ships. This line was established in 1824,
the year of incorporation of the General Steam Navigation Co.
Six years later the Harrison. Line arose, though the Allan
back to 1820, did not run its first steamer
Line, which dates
until The
1854. well-known Hull firm of Messrs. Thomas
Wilson and Sons appeared in 1835, and the African Steam-
ship Company three years earlier. In 1849 the City Line,
now amalgamated with the EUerman Line, was founded, as also
were Messrs. Houlder Brothers. The Anchor Line came in
1852, and the Castle Mail Packets Company, which is now
amalgamated with the Union Line to form the Union-Castle
Line. The British East India Company dates from 1855,
and the Donaldson Line a year The year 1856 saw
earlier.
the inauguration of Messrs. J. T. Rennie and Sons' Aberdeen

Line to South Africa, and in 1866 the Booth Line was first
started, whilst the Collins Line had been formed in 1850, the
Inman Line the same year, the North German Lloyd in 1858,
the Compagnie Transatlantique in 1861, the National Line
in 1863, and the Guion Line and Guion) in
(originally Williams
1866. Some of the last-mentioned are now extinct, and have

been dealt with in another chapter. Within the last few
months the P. and O. Company have absorbed the Lund
Line, and the shipping interests of the late Sir Alfred Jones
have been consolidated by Lord Pirrie, whose name is so well

known by his close connection with the firm of Harland and
Wolff. Dm*ing 1910 another Atlantic service was inaugurated
by the appearance of the Royal Line, which the Canadian
Northern Railway Company is running between Bristol and
the Dominion. Their two ships the Royal Edward and the
Royal George were originally built under different names for
an express service between Marseilles and Alexandria, but
that venture was not found profitable. They have recently
been modified to suit the North Atlantic route and are repre-
sentative of the finest examples of the modern steamship,
though not so large as the biggest liners. Propelled by turbines
driving triple screws, they have all the luxury of the most
up-to-date ships, with lifts, wireless telegraphy, special dining-
room for children, cafes and many other up-to-date features.
The Royal Line is thus another instance of a new steamship
organisation stepping right into the front rank at the first effort.
If it is alleged that some of the older lines engaged on the

South Atlantic and Eastern routes have not shown that same
progressive spirit which the North Atlantic companies have
exhibited, at least recent ships have shown that everything
is being done which can be expected, short of reaching the
mammoth dimensions of the Atlantic liners. Passengers
voyaging to Australia, India, South Africa, and South America,
for example, realise that they are destined to remain at sea
for a long period, and the question of the utmost speed is not
of primary importance. Owing partly to the American spirit
of speed and the much shorter distance which separates the

two continents, the voyage between England and New York
has become rather an elongated channel passage than a
down for weeks, and the
journey in which one settles oneself
incentives to make it shorter still are never for a moment
wanting.
The recent additions to the P. and O. fleet are indicative
that progress is not confined to any one route. A new epoch
in the history of this company began when the first of their
" M " class was added. Reckoning them historically from
1903 these are the Moldavia, Marmora, Mongolia, Macedonia,

Mooltan, Malwa, Mantua, and the Morea. The smallest of
these, the Moldavia, is of 9,500 tons ; the largest are the last
three mentioned, which are of 11,000 tons, and though wire-
less telegraphy has not played the same conspicuous part
as on the Atlantic, yet this is now being installed in all the
P. and O. mail steamers on the Bombay and Australian routes.
Two new steamers, also of the " M" class, are being built,
to be called respectively the Medina and the Maloja, which
will be thus fitted. It is no doubt owing to the slowness with
which Australia, India, and Ceylon have adopted land in-
stallations that a corresponding reluctance has been found in
the case of the steamships to adopt what is so significant a
feature of the modern steamship. The illustration facing page
216 shows one of this " M" class, the Mooltan, coming to
her berth in the Tilbury Dock, whilst the opposite illustration
will afford some idea of the starting platform in her engine
room. Her measurements are length 520*4 feet, beam 58*3
:
feet, and depth 33*2 feet her tonnage is 9,621, with an indicated
;
horse-power of 15,000. She was built in 1905 by Messrs.

Caird and Company, of Greenock. It was owing to the increase
in size of the new P. and O. ships that the comparatively recent
transfer was made of the company's mail and passenger steamers

from the Royal Albert Dock to Tilbury.
The Union-Castle fleet is composed partly of those ships
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which belonged at the time of amalgamation to the old Castle

Line, and partly of those which were of the Union Line. In
addition to these, new steamships have been since brought out
to swell the list. The depression in South Africa consequent
on the Boer War necessitated a careful consideration before
the addition of other mail steamers, but the Balmoral CasUe {see
opposite page 220), which was completed in 1910, and her sister
the Edinburgh Cattle, are the largest and most powerful vessels
employed in the South African trade. This Balmoral CasUe
has a gross tonnage of about 13,000, with an indicated horse-
power of 12,500, and is fitted with twin-screws. Fitted, of
course, with water-tight bulkheads and cellular bottom, every
modem improvement has been taken advantage of in her
internal arrangement with regard to the service for which she
was built. The Baimoral Castle has a deck space larger than
that usually given in this line, the first and second class
having practically the whole of the boat deck ; whilst by

joining the poop and promenade deck the third class have
their deck space doubled. She is installed with the modem
loud-speaking telephones between the bridge and engine-room
and the extremities of the ship. Wireless telegraphy has not
been installed, but a room has been specially built and equipped
if it is decided hereafter to adopt this apparatus. On the
fore-mast head a Morse signalling lamp has been placed for
long distance signalling, and a semaphore after the Admiralty
pattern on the bridge for short distance signalling. She is
propelled by two sets of quadruple -expansion engines, and has

ten boilers.
The WTiite Star Line, in addition to their regular mail
and passenger service across the North Atlantic, have three
special freight and five-stock steamers — viz. the Georgic, of
10,077 tons, the Cevic of 8,301 tons, and the Bovic of 6,583
tons — all of these having twin-screws. Besides these they
possess four ships engaged on the New Zealand route, five
on the Australian trade, besides two smaller ships for freight.

We have already mentioned the Ivernia and Saxonia as
belonging to the intermediate, economical types which the
Cunard Company own They
in addition to their bigger liners.
also carry on a Mediterranean service from New York to
Gibraltar, the Italian and Adriatic ports, to Algiers and Alex-
andria. The North German Lloyd Company also own a
number of smaller steamships employed in intermediate service
to ports other than those served by their fast liners, the largest
being of about 6,000 tons.
The American Line, which was formerly the old Inman
organisation, own besides the Philadelphia, already discussed,
the New York, the St. Louis, and St. Paul, but the last two,
each being only 11,629 tons, are the largest of their small fleet.
Besides the Anchor and the Allan Lines and the new Royal
Line the Canadian Pacific Railway now maintains a long
connection by steamship and railway from Liverpool right
away to Hong Kong through Canada. The Empress of Britain,
with her quadruple-expansion engines and twin-screws, is
one of the finest steamships on the Canadian route.
We could continue to deal singly with all the steamship
lines which have now sprung into existence, with the fine ships
of the Atlantic Transport Line, whose Minnehaha, in the spring
of 1910, had the misfortune to run on to the Scillies during

her voyage from America to this country. We might instance
the Holt Line, the Nelson Line, and other enterprising organis-
ations, but such matter would come within the
hardly
scope of our subject, which shows the manner in which the
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O
steamship has developed into so useful an institution.
Since we have now been able to witness the manner in which

the steamship has been adapted for service across the deep,
wide ocean, let us, before we close this chapter, take a glance
at the way in which she has also become so indispensable

for those shorter but no less important cross-channel passages.
\ Atân earlier stage we saw that the cross-channel steam-
ship service owed its inauguration almost exclusively to that
shrewd Scotsman, Napier, who, after devoting a great amount
of patient study to the subject, evolved the Rob Roy. But we
must not omit to give credit also to others whose work in this
connection has been of such historic importance. From
about the second decade of the eighteenth century there had
been a service between Holyhead and Dublin, carried on by
means of sailing packets, as there was, indeed, between Scotland
and Ireland, as well as England and the Continent. Then
had come the first steam service when the Talbot, of 156 tons,
built in 1818 at Port Glasgow, for David Napier, began running
in the following year between Holyhead and Dublin. In

1819, also, was inaugurated the Liverpool and Dublin service,
and in 1823 one of the oldest steamship companies still in
existence, the Dublin Steam Packet Company, was formed.

It must be recollected that the journey between London and
Dublin was a long and tedious one, for there was no railway,
and considerable sums of money were expended in order
to improve the road between Holyhead and the English capital.
The sailing packets took on the average about twenty
hours to cross the Irish Channel. The Royal William, already
alluded to when we discussed the first Atlantic steamers,
was one of the early steamships of this City of Dublin fleet.
In 1836, when (ieorge Stephenson proposed the construction

of the Chester and Holyhead Railway, he intended that the
company should also provide ships between the latter port
and Ireland, but the various steamship companies opposed
this until 1848. The London to Liverpool railway was opened
in 1838, and so, since the Liverpool to Dublin route was
the quickest way to get from London to Ireland, Holyhead
was given the cold shoulder for the next ten years. But when
the continuous railway was opened between London and Holy-
head, the popularity of the Welsh port returned, and the
directors and principal shareholders of the Chester and Holy-
head Company, who had formed themselves into a small
independent company, ordered four new vessels, the Cambria,
the Anglia, the Hibernia, and the Scotia. Of these the first
is illustrated herewith. These ships were 207 feet long, 26 feet

wide, and 14 feet deep, with a draught of 8 feet 10 inches.
They had a gross tonnage of 589, carried 535 passengers, and
possessed the remarkable speed of 14 knots. Instead of the
slow passages of the old sailing packets these four ships lowered
the average voyage to 3 hours 34 minutes. In 1859 this
Chester-Holyhead railway was amalgamated with the London
and North Western Railway, and in 1863 the latter introduced
a new type of craft, with the same speed as before, but of 700
tons. Both a day and a night service were presently instituted,
and this service has continued to be one of the most efficient
and the fastest of all the cross-channel ferries from this country.
Of four new vessels which were buUt for the Holyhead-Kings-

town service in 1860 we may mention the Leinster. She was
a large vessel for those times, with a displacement of 2,000 tons,
and constructed of iron. The illustration facing this page
shows a capital model of her engines, which were of the oscil-
lating type, and since we have previously described this kind
THE "CAMBRIA" (1848).
Painting. By perinissiofi of the London &• Xorth Western Rait-way.
ENGINHS Or THE "LEINSTER" (1860).

Frcui fit.: .-ifodt! i : the Victoria and Albert Museufn.
it is hardly necessary to deal with them now, further than to

remark that they gave the ship a speed of nearly 18 knots.
Coming now further south, it will be remembered that
Napier's Roh Roy, which had first plied between Greenock and
Belfast in 1818, was in the following year transferred to the
Dover and Calais route, and was thus the first regular steam-
ship to open the mail and passenger service between these ports.
This was followed for a long time by other steam " ferries,"
some of which were Gk)vernment mail packets, and others
were privately owned. The General Steam Navigation Com-
pany, which had been formed in 1820, and commenced its
steam coastal trade, was not long before it had inaugurated
a service between London and Hamburg, and by 1847 it
had steamships running between London and the following
ports : —
Hamburg, Rotterdam, Ostend, Leith, Calais,
Havre, as well as from Brighton to Dieppe, and Dover to
Boulogne. These were all paddle -steamers until the screw
was introduced in 1854. In April of 1844 their paddle-steamer
Menai was advertised to leave Shoreham Harbour, calling at
Brighton Chain Pier —or rather Brighthelmstone, as it was then
still known —ând thence proceeding to Dieppe. She was thus
the first channel steamer to run between these places.
It was not until the old stage-coach had given way to the
railroad that the numbers of travellers between England and
the Continent increased. By June of 1843 the South Eastern
Railway had reached Folkestone, and in February of the
following year it had also joined Dover. The London, Chatham,
and Dover Line was of later date, and did not reach Dover
until 1860, where they were able to put to the best use their
capable fleet of passenger boats which steamed to Calais. But
in 1845 the South Eastern Railway had, like the Chester and
Holyhead Line, formed themselves into a separate company,
to run a line of steam packets, owing to the fact that the suc-
cessors to the Rob Roy were deemed unsatisfactory, and endless
objections were made by the complaining passengers who
reluctantly crossed the choppy waters of the English Channel.
Previous to this date the South Eastern Railway were wont
to hire steamships to carry their passengers between England
and the Continent to Boulogne, Calais, and Ostend. When
their line had joined up Dover they started running from
there to Calais with their own boats in two hours, twenty-eight
minutes, calling at Folkestone on the way for twenty-eight
minutes. The first of these steamboats were the Princess
Maud and the Princess Mary. The run from Dover to Ostend
took four and a half hours.
In 1848 the Admiralty, which had been responsible for the
steam mail packets service (as also we have seen earlier in this
book they had charge of the transatlantic mails), handed
over their charge to the Post Office. But neither of these
Governmental branches was able to make a success of this,
and after a time the Post Office withdrew their mail packets
and in 1854 put the carrying out to contract. A Mr. Church-
yard was accepted as the contractor, and his agreement con-
tinued until 1862. It will be recollected that two years previous
to the latter date the London, Chatham and Dover Company
had connected their line to Dover, and they obtained the
contract in succession to Churchyard for carrying the mails
from Dover to Calais. At the same time the South Eastern
Railway Company withdrew their steamboat service to Folke-
stone. It should be mentioned that the General Steam Navi-
gation Company had also withdrawn from this route owing to
the competition on the part of the railway companies, who
were in a superior position by being able to run their passengers

on both their own railways and their own steamboats.
The general character of these early cross-channel steam-
craft was very similar to that of the Cambria. Some of the
steamboats employed on this Dover-Calais route nave been
marked by the possession of exceptional features. It was in ,
1875 that the Bessemer was designed with the object of making
the dreaded passage across the Straits of Dover less disagree-
able and free from the infliction of sea-sickness. To this end
she was given a unique apparatus which was to swing with
the motion of the vessel, and in such a manner that the pas-
sengers would always be kept on a level, however much the ship
might roll. She was built double-ended, so that she would not
have to be turned round when she reached the French port.
But emphatically she resulted in a complete failure, for not
only was this ingenious deck found to be unworkable, and
had to be fixed, but the Bessemer collided with Calais Pier,
and succeeded in knocking away about fifty yards thereof.
Another ingenious vessel on this service was the Castalia.
She was a twin-ship composed of a couple of hulls. Those who
crossed in her about the year 1876 found her very comfortable,
and she was so steady that comparatively few of her passengers
were sea-sick, but her drawback was that she was not fast.
The genesis of this double-hulled ship was in order to obtain
greater steadiness, and the experiment was first tried by

fastening two Woolwich steamers together, having first removed
the inside paddle-wheels. Following up this, the same principle
was exemplified in a ship called the Express, which had been
constructed for a firm that became financially embarrassed,
and she was accordingly taken over instead by the owners of
the Castalia, and became the famous Calais-Douvres, which
most of my readers will well remember. She was certairly a
fast ship, but her life was not devoid of adventures. In L'By,
1878, she collided with Dover Pier through her steering âr
going wrong, her main engines having previously broken down.

She was subsequently repaired and did well until 1887, when,
worn out by active service, she was withdrawn, having proved
an expensive boat to run, and obtained an unenviable reputa-
tion for a large coal consumption. The Castalia was withdrawn
in 1878, and became a floating small-pox hospital> on tLe
Thames, where she remained for about twenty years, and w

finally towed therefrom to Dordrecht by one of that fleet
'
Dutch tugs which we shall mention in a later chapter i

being famous for the towage of big docks. In the cours
of time new and improved Channel steamers continued i
be put on this Dover-Calais route, and in 1899 ai
amalgamation of interests owned by the South Easten.

and the London, Chatham and Dover Railways took place, so
that now the two fleets are under one management. Within
recent years they have shown a very enterprising spirit by
leading the way in placing turbine steamers on their route,
and the illustration on the opposite page shows their turbine
steamer Empress clearing out of Dover Harbour. In general
character we may take the appearance of this vessel as typical
of the more modern cross-channel steamers which now ply
alsoon other routes owned by the various railway companies.
The fine service of steamboats, for instance, possessed by the
Great Western, Great Eastern, the Midland, the London and
North Western, the Great Central, and the London and South
Western consists rather of miniature liners of a very up-to-date
type. Not merely wireless telegraphy and turbines have been
introduced into the cross-channel steamers, but every con-
3ff THE "ATALANTA" (1841).
From a raiiiting. By fcriiiission of the London and South Il'cstern Raihvay Co
THE "LYONS" (1856).

Frofu the Model in the I'ictoria and Albert Mitsentn.
THE "EMPRESS" LEAVING DOVER HARBOUR.

ceivable regard for the comfort of the passengers has been

taken commensurate with the size of the ships, and the special
work which they are called upon to perform.
We have addressed ourselves especially to the services
between Dover and Calais and between Holyhead and Dublin,
for, owing to their geographical character, these two are
naturally the most important and the most historic. The
custom of railways being owners of steamships has continued,
the chief exception being the Great Northern Railway. The
Newhaven to Dieppe route is modern origin,
of comparatively
and it was not until 1847 that the London to Newhaven
line was completed. During the following year there were
three steamers running to Dieppe from this port, but at first
the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway was thwarted

owing to legal difficulties, and properly their service dates
from 1856, for at one time they were compelled to run a service
under different ownership from their own. The model shown
opposite page 226 shows the packet steamer Lyons, which
was built in 1856 for the Newhaven-Dieppe service. She
was a paddle-boat of 315 tons displacement.
Between England and the Channel Isles connection in
the pre-steamship days was kept up by sailing cutters. After
that the Admiralty conveyed the mails from Weymouth to
Jersey and Guernsey by ships of the Royal Navy, and one
of these — ^the Dasher —was until recent years employed in
watching the oyster But in 1835 a steam
fisheries off Jersey.
packet service was started from Southampton to Havre, twice

a week, and between the Hampshire port and the Channel
Islands, which was owned by the South of England Steam
Navigation Company, while a rival came forward in the British
and Foreign Steam Navigation Company, which ran to the
Channel One of the earliest steamers belonging to the
Isles.
former company was the Atalanta, of which we give an illus-

tration opposite page 226. She was afterwards lengthened, and
as thus altered she appears in our illustration. Her days
were ended as a coal hulk in Jersey.
From 1838 to 1845 the mail service between England and

the Channel Isles was carried on from Weymouth, but in the
latter year this servicewas transferred to the South Western

Steam Packet Company, and remained exclusively with the
Southampton steamers until 1899, when the joint running
of the Channel Islands service by the steamers of the London
and South Western from Southampton, and of the Great Western
Railway from Weymouth, once more caused mails also to be
carried from Weymouth. It was in the year 1860 that the
South Western Railway, following the prevailing custom,

took over their fleet from the South Western Steam Packet
Company, and under the railway ownership this service has
continued ever since. The origin of the Weymouth service
was on this wise. An opposition company had been floated
by the Channel Islands merchants under the title of the Wey-
mouth and Channel Islands Steam Packet Company, and this
continued until 1888, when the service was taken up by the
Great Western Railway Company. For a time the keenest
competition between the two railway companies as steamship
owners continued, but after eleven years an amicable arrange-
ment was come to whereby they agreed to work a joint service,
which agreement is still in force. To-day, notwithstanding
the losses which have been sustained by sad disasters involving
loss of life, notably the memorable instance of the Stella, which
foundered on the Casquets in March, 1899, this fleet is able to
keep up an uninterrupted service carrying passengers, mails.
and freight, whilst during the summer season extra cargo

steamers have to be put on for the conveyance of the big
potato trade, fruit and flowers. These vessels, by reason of
their route, cannot be expected always to avoid accidents.
Those who know the treacherous character of the Channel
Islands coast-line, and the continuous stream of traffic which
is going up and down the English Channel, will readily appre-
ciate what means to take a small steamship from port to
it
port in thick weather. It was only in April of 1910 that one

of the London and South Western Railway boats, the Laura,
while on her way from Southampton to Cherbourg, collided
when about twenty miles south of the Needles, with a Norwegian
saihng vessel named the Sophie, bound up channel from South
America to Hamburg. Here again the wireless telegraph gear
came in useful, for it chanced that the Royal Mail Liner Asturias
was in the vicinity, and she at once telegraphed for assistance.
These Channel Islands steamers all carry sufficient coal for the
voyage there and back, wuth an additional amount adequate
for all ordinary contingencies. From Southampton also the
same owners carry on a steamboat service to Havre, Cher-
bourg, Honfleur, Roscoff, and St. Malo while from Jersey
;
to St. Malo and from Jersey to Granville two twin-screw

steamers are employed.
Between Harwich and the Hook of Holland, the Great
Eastern Railway keep up an important steamship connection,
and employ in their ships not merely wireless telegraphy, but
the submarine signalling which is mentioned as being a charac-
teristic of the modern Atlantic liner. Their turbine steamer,
the St. Petersburg—a same company's Munich
sister ship to the
and Copenhagen—which was only put into active service in

1910, began a steamship connection that is carried on
entirely by turbine craft. It is, indeed, owing to the advent
of the turbine that the notable improvements in our cross-
channel steamers have been made within the last few years.
Not only has this system obtained for the ships a greater
popularity because of the absence of vibration, but it has also
enabled the owners to avail themselves of the greater accom-
modation for cargo and passengers, as well as giving greater
speed to the ships under economical conditions of working.
One of the most notable cross-channel steamers is the Isle
of Man Steam Packet Company's Ben-my-Chree, which can
do 25 knots per hour and carry 2,500 passengers. On this
route the turbine has very decidedly justified itself also. A

breakdown causing the disablement of the turbine steamer is as
yet unknown, and it is worth noting that from the now cele-
brated Channel steamer Queen, a turbine steamer of only 8,000

horse-power, which was ordered only as recently as the year 1900,
to the Mauretania, with her 70,000 horse-power, is a step that
shows how thoroughly satisfactory the turbine has proved
itself in so short a space of time. In the case of a liner a break-
down is a serious enough item, but in the case of a channel
steamer it is an occurrence of sufficiently grave a nature as
to be guarded against with every precaution. The chances
of a shaft breaking in the case of a turbine steamer are very
remote, and will probably continue to be so, with the steady
nature of the working of the turbine, the worst likely
accident being the breaking of one of the many blades.

Moreover, the turbine has proved that it gives increased
reliability to the steamship, which, in the case of the short
cross-channel voyages, is a matter that cannot lightly be re-
garded. In the case of the Ben-my-Chree just mentioned,

the mean time in performing the distance from Liverpool
Bar lightship to Douglas Head differed only by a minute

in one season from that of the previous year, a fact that is highly
significant. It is the time that is wasted in manoeuvring
to get alongside the quay and clearing away that detracts from
the smartness of the voyage, although in this connection it
may be stated that bow rudders are in use in certain cross-

channel craft in order to enable this manoeuvre to be accom-
plished with greater celerity.
It is curious how the channel service of a steamship line
presents difficulties and problems of its ot\ti no less than those
demanded by the ownership of ocean-going steamships.
Obviously the short-voyage ship is limited as to size. What
she has to accomplish must be done quickly. Not only must
she get out of one harbour and into the other with the greatest
economy must get up her full speed at once.
of time, but she
Then, again, owing to the demands of the passengers for special
comfort a great strain is put on the patience of those respon-
sible, as well as on the designer of the ship. Cross-channel
steamers which have a fairly long night passage require a
good deal of their limited space to be usurped by extra state-
room accommodation, and the modern demand for single-
berthed cabins means rather more than the average passenger

realises. The work out something as follows in the
figures
case of a four-berthed room the measurement of the space

occupied comes to about seven-eighths of a ton per passenger.
In the single-berthed cabin it becomes nearly two and a quarter
tons per passenger. All this means that the ship has less
available space for earning her living, since fewer passengers

and less cargo can thus be carried.
Again, the passenger is spoiled nowadays. If a line has
turbines and wireless telegraphy, submarine bells, the latest
conceivable luxury, speed and other virtues, he is sufficiently
well informed to appreciate these things to the disadvantage

of another service, scarcely less efficient, but perhaps a little
less advanced in accordance with the very latest inventions

and improvements. An old ship that has done years of good
service and earned a reputation for punctuality and reliability
has to be scrapped before her time just because a rival service

has held out the tempting bait of the latest steamship features.
On the other hand, there was room for an approach to be made
towards more satisfactory conditions. The short crossings on
some no unmixed
of the cross-channel steamers were in the past
joy. The bad sea-boats which some of these proved them-
selves to be, driven at a speed that made them vibrate from
stem to stem, wet and generally uncomfortable, badly ventilated
and equally inefficiently lighted, they certainly belonged to
the days that are past. What the future has in store this
deponent knoweth not ; but if the internal combustion engine
should ever become sufficiently popular for big ships, certainly
in no service is it likely to be more suitable than in the cross-
channel voyages, where speed is a vital consideration. But
economy is equally to be taken into account, if steamers are
still to be regarded as commercial, dividend-earning concerns,
and not exclusively as objects for the exercise of sentiment.
We have, owing to the influences at work everywhere, come to
regard the virtue of speed as excelling everything else. Whether
this is deserving of all-powerful merit, or whether in the future
there may be a reaction and a desire to " go slow," time alone
can tell. Perhaps such a condition might lead to an increased
tranquillity of life as a whole, but it would also put a brake
on progress generally, and on the steamship in particular.
CHAPTER IX
STEAMSHIPS FOR SPECIAL PURPOSES
We have been enabled to gain some idea by now both of the

nature and the historical evolution of the steamship liner.
But not all steamships are liners, any more than all cattle
are race-horses. Steamship is a word which covers a multitude

of varying craft and embraces a large family of different
natured children. Some of them go out into the world far
beyond the horizon and vanish until a few weeks or months
later they come returning homewards proud of their achieve-
ments as the safe carriers of mails and passengers. But there
are other members of the same family whose duty keeps them
close to the home where they first saw the light ; who rarely
venture out of sight of land. There are others who, though
they never carry any passengers but their crew, nor an ounce
of cargo, are yet as useful to the human race as those great
speed-makers which go rushing through night and day across
the ocean. Some of these steamships used for special purposes
have a character of their own no less distinctive than their
more elegant sisters, and the mere fact that they are not
so violently advertised, or so prominently pushed before the
eyes of the average citizen, detracts nothing from their interest-
ing virtues. Nor, again, do we wish to give the impression
that this large class of special steamships in any way entirely
is
confined to coasting or inland voyages. The steamship nowa-

days, both large and small, goes everywhere, and is ready to do
almost anything, and one of the most interesting of all
233
mechanically-propelled craft is the tug-boat, which it is quite
possible the landsman, promenading his floating hotel,
may have barely deigned to cast his eyes upon as his big steel
home is being drawn out from the quay, or landing-stage, and
swung round on her way to the other side of the world. How
frequently indispensable is the tug to the big steamship, both
when entering and leaving the comparatively narrow harbours!
You see her at Southampton, for instance, pulling the great
steel hull away from the quay you see her at Liverpool
;
hauling ahead to get the mighty, towering bows of the liner

clear of the landing-stage out into the river. You see them
in New York when the mammoth comes to enter the narrow
opening alongside the pier, pressing their noses on to the
mammoth's stern and compelling her giant dimensions to
move round. Or, again, you see the tug towing her over-
grown sister through the dock at the end of her voyage, coming
slowly in as if she had captured one mightier than herself,
and was proudly conscious of her performance. Yet it is not
only the big steamships, but those beautiful modern steel
sailing ships You meet them
which have to employ her help.
down Channel somewhere with perhaps only staysails and
jigger set and a powerful tug ahead at the end of a strong
tow-rope. In a day or so they will have parted company.
The tug will return whence she set out ; the bigger ship will
spread her canvas and begin her many-monthed voyage.
It is possible that if you were not a sailorman, and your
eyes chanced to fall upon such a ship as that illustrated opposite
this page, whether in harbour or at sea, you might feel no

more interest in her than in any other craft. And yet this is
a little vessel which can go anywhere and tow almost anything

from a great floating dock to a disabled liner. Her name is
THE OCEAN TUG "BLACKCOCK."
From a Fhotograph.By permission of tht Liz-trpool Strew Tffjiing & Lighterage Co.
THE PASSENGER TENDER "SIR FRANCIS DRAKE.

From a Photografh. By permission of t!ie Great Western Raihiay Co.
the Blackcock, and she is one of the famous, powerful tugs

owned by the Liverpool Screw Towing and Lighterage
Company. Captain G. B. Girard, who commands the Black-
cock, has been aptly termed the " Grand Old Man " of deep-sea
towing, and during the last quarter of a century has covered

200,000 miles over the seas at this work. Quite recently he
took the Blackcock to Fayal in mid-Atlantic to fetch over to
Oporto a dismasted Portuguese barque. In spite of stiff
breezes and heavy cross seas, the Blackcock and her tow made
an average of 160 miles per day. It was this same tug which
set up an interesting record some years ago by steaming
2,600 miles from Barbados to Fayal without having to stop
for coal anywhere. She was towing a 2,000-ton German ship,
named the Ostara, from Barbados to Hamburg, a distance

of 5,000 miles altogether. In 1894, the Gamecock, a sister of
this tug, towed a disabled steamer from Port Said to Liverpool,

a distance of 3,300 miles, in twenty-seven days. The Blackcock
took an important part in towing from Fayal to Liverpool
the Cunard liner Etruria, which had been disabled, and caused
the greatest anxiety in consequence of her being lost sight
of for so long a period with himdreds of passengers aboard
at the time. This towing voyage represented a distance of a
couple of thousand miles, and there are many
other equally
wonderful incidents connected with these well-known " Cock "
tugs. If the reader will bear in mind what we said some time
back with reference to the origin of the bridge deck, he will
be able to see the point well-illustrated in the illustration
before us. The bridge deck and its sides are joined to the
ship's hull in such a way that in the case of the tug being
attacked by a cross-sea she is not likely to founder through
the water getting down below to the engines, as in the sad
incident that we chronicled at an earlier stage. These tug-
boats are necessarily exceptionally powerful, the Blackcock
having over 1,000 horse-power.
But it is the Dutch, for some reason or other, who have
specialised more than any other country in the towing in-
dustry, and they own the largest and finest tugs in the world.
The reason for this national development I attribute partly
to the nature of the coastline between Germany and France,

with its series of nasty sandbanks and shoals always ready
to pick a ship up ; partly, also, to the numerous straightways
with frequently a foul wind. In either case there is plenty
of opportunity for the tug to go out and earn a living.
The finest fleet of ocean-going tugs is owned by Messrs,

L. Smit and Company, of Rotterdam. Besides about a score
of river and harbour craft, they have no fewer than ten bold
ocean-tugs, which by reason of their high power and large
bunker capacity are enabled to undertake towages to almost
any part of the world. When the Mauretania left the Tyne
for her trial trip this company's tugs, the Ocean and the
Poolzee, had her in tow at the bows. Tugs of this line have
also accomplished such interesting long voyages as towing
floating dry-docks from the Tyne to Trinidad ; an obsolete
Spanish warship from Ferrol to Swinemiinde ; the s.s. Kron-
prinzessin Victoria from Las Palmas to Antwerp, after the
liner had lost her propeller. When the old Inman liner Citt/
of Rome was put aside, she was towed by the tug Zwarte Zee
from Greenock round to the Weser. The illustration facing
this page shows the tugs Roods Zee and the Zwarte Zee taking
in tow an enormous floating dock, capable of holding vessels
up to 7,000 tons, from Wallsend on Tyne to Callao (Peru).

To tow so unwieldy a thing as this for any distance at all is
a pretty severe tax on a tug ; but to take it all the way to

Peru on the west coast of South America is about the utmost
test which the most severe critic could ever impose. The
distance is 10,260 nautical miles. One of the largest and most
modern of this line's tugs is the Zwarie Zee, which was launched
in 1906. She resembles very closely the Roode Zee, seen in
the foreground of the accompanying picture, and measures
164 feet long, 30 feet wide, 18 feet deep, and has the extra-
ordinary high horse-power (indicated) of 1,500. It will be
noticed that, like the Blackcock, she is well protected by her
bridge deck amidships.
The sturdy little vessel illustrated opposite page 238 shows
the salvage tug Admiral de Ruyter. She is owned by the
Ymuiden Tug Company, Amsterdam, and is stationed at
Ymuiden in readiness to render assistance to vessels in distress
off the treacherous Dutch coast. She is capable of facing
any weather, and her high bows and bold sheer enable her to
keep fairly dry in even a pretty bad sea. An interesting com-
parison will be seen between this and the Edmund Moran.
This represents a typical New York harbour and river tug.
No one who has ever come into the American sea-port can
have failed to have been struck instantly by the numbers of
fussy little tug-boats of a peculiar type that come running up
and down the Hudson and across from the New Jersey shore
to the great city. Their prominent features include a good
deal of sheer, an exaggerated bridge deck with wheel-house
in front, at the top of which is usually a golden spread-eagle.
In the winter-time, when thick ice-floes obstruct the Hudson
and the bitter cold penetrates into the little wheel-house,
there are more comfortable though less exciting avocations
than those enjoyed by the commanders of these busy steam
craft,which now carry on their work in such numbers where
Httle more than a century s.go Fulton's Clermont was scorned
and ridiculed by those who never thought that the river and
harbour would ever see such steam-shipping.
But the tug-boat has in some cases been enlarged, and
super-imposed by a promenade deck, and even given a saloon
so as to become a passenger tender. The illustration opposite
page 234, for instance, shows this evolution. This is the
Sir Francis Drake, one of the passenger tenders owned by the
Great Western Railway Company, and, since the opening of
Fishguard Harbour for the calling of Atlantic liners, this vessel
has been employed for landing the Mauretania's and other

great ships' passengers without wasting time. The liner
comes into harbour from America, lets go her anchor, and

immediately after there come alongside her three of these
tenders. One takes the mails as they are shot on to her
deck, another receives the baggage, while the third is used
for passengers ; this third tender is also the last to leave the
liner, so that when the passengers get ashore they find their
baggage already awaiting them at the Customs platform.
In the olden days the tug was a wheezy old lady lacking the
smallest attempt at smartness, and exceedingly slow. Her hull
was of wood and clinker built, her paddle-wheels gave to

her a very moderate speed, and her accommodation was
chiefly non-existent. But to-day, as the Sir Francis Drake
shows, she has developed in some cases into practically an
Atlantic liner in miniature.
But although the screw-propeller has ousted the paddle-
wheel in very many instances, yet this has been by no means
universal. The advantage which the older method possesses
is that it can work in less water than the screw needs for its
THE SALVAGE TUG "ADMIRAL DE RUYTER."
From a Photosraph. By permission of the Ymiiiden Tug Co., Amsterdar,
THE NEW YORK HARBOUR AND RIVER TUG BOAT "EDMUND MORAN.
—
revolutions. In certain harbours, for instance, and shallow

rivers —especially in those extreme cases where it is weedy
the paddle-wheel steamer is still pursuing its useful work.
It is therefore not unnatural that the tug should in many

cases be paddle -driven. The illustration facing page 240
shows one of these paddle-tugs of a fairly modern date. She
is owned by the British Admiralty. The Dromedary, as she
is called, is well known among the Portsmouth craft, and just
as the tug is employed for helping liners out of port, so the

Admiralty use the Dromedary for assisting such leviathans
as the modern Dreadnoughts out of Portsmouth harbour, and
rendering assistance in berthing in a harbour where the tides
are very strong and the water is considerably crowded.
We referred in a preceding chapter to the serious difficulty
which, owing to the gradual increase of the modern steam-
ships, is felt in certain ports. New York harbour had to be
dredged before it could accommodate the Mauretania and
Lusitania with safety. Liverpool's depth of water is such
that the two Cunarders can only enter during twelve hours
out of the twenty-four. Fishguard has had to be dredged,
whilst Southampton has been, and will need it again. In a
smaller degree most ports need constant dredging, otherwise
local conditions combine to silt up the navigation channel.
Now all this is carried out by specially designed steamships,
which, like other vessels, have gradually been increasing to
enormous sizes. We might divide dredgers into two classes
— the " bucket " dredger, and the " suction " dredger. The
illustration facing page 240 gives an excellent idea of the
former. This is the Peluse, the largest sea-going bucket-dredger
in the world. She was built by Messrs. Lobnitz and Company,
Limited, of Renfrew, for employment on the Suez Canal.
There is nothing in the least beautiful about this type
of steamship. Ugly to look upon, splashed all over with mud
and sand, covered with machinery and unsightly erections,
they are sisters of toil to the ships of beauty. They " bring
up " in a harbour or channel, and set their series of buckets
dredging away to increase the depth. These buckets are
readily seen coming down from a height in the centre of the
ship. They by an endless

are revolved chain, and the ship
is cut open longitudinally to allow them to work.
It will be noticed that since the rudder, if placed in its
accustomed place in the centre line of the hull, would be in
the way, it has been duplicated and placed on either side of

the stem. After the dredger has taken aboard her full cargo
of mudfrom the sea-bottom she proceeds to the deep sea,
and there discharges her contents through doors placed in the
bottom of the hull, though sometimes she may discharge the
mud into barges brought alongside. It will be seen that
the Peluse has been very efficiently protected against any
damage which might be inflicted by another vessel coming
alongside her. These vessels are given very powerful machinery,
which drives both the propellers and the dredging apparatus,
an arrangement allowing the latter to be connected with the
main engines. The most modern example of this type has
triple-expansion engines and twin-screws, so that she is entitled
to more respect than her unwelcome appearance might suggest.

The suction-dredger, on the other hand, as its name
signifies, does not scoop up the sand, but sucks it up into her
holds through pipes which reach down to the bed of the river
or estuary. The largest of these is well-named, and is illustrated
opposite page 226. This represents the Leviathan, which is
owned by the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board, Liverpool,

THE PADDLE-TUG "DROMEDARY."
From the Model iit the I'icioria and Albert Mnseit7i
THE BUCKET-DREDGER " PELUSE."

from a Pholografh. By permission of Messrs. Lobnitz & Co., Ltd.
and it is through her work that the river is able to be main-

tained in a navigable condition. This voracious animal sucks
up sand at the rate of 10,000 tons in less than an hour, by
means of centrifugal pumps, and when loaded with this heavy
cargo steams out to sea at a speed of ten knots, and then by
means of doors discharges the sand through her bottom. The
doors are worked by means of hydraulic machinery. She her-
self is propelled by four sets of triple -expansion engines, which
also work the centrifugal pumps. We can get some idea of

the size of this dredger when we remark that her enormous
length of 500 feet makes her as long as the Etruria.
The owners of the Leviathan are also the proprietors of the
ship shown in our next illustration. This, the Vigilant, is
seen alongside the crane in the Herculaneum Dock, Liverpool.
The Dock and Harbour Boards are practically local Trinity
House brethren, though totally independent bodies. Just
as the Trinity House authorities have the upkeep of the light-
houses and lightships round the English coast, so the Dock
and Harbour Boards are charged with the duties of keeping
the local buoyage in efficient order for ensuring safe navigation
into and out of their ports and estuaries. Gas buoys have
to be refilled periodically, moorings have to be laid down
afresh, and, in the case of damage, replaced. Periodically
these have, in any case, to be brought ashore to be overhauled,
repainted and then returned to their duties, bobbing about
to the ceaseless heave of the waves. For such work as
this the Vigilant is employed. The illustration shows a gas
buoy being lowered on to her deck from the quay. Not
very long ago an out-going steamship from Liverpool fouled
one of the Mersey buoys in a curious manner. She was pro-
ceeding in such close proximity to the latter that she actually
caught her propeller in one of the mooring chains, with, as
may be expected, consequent damage.
The introduction and the invention of the
of electricity
telegraph caused a new sphere of work for the steamship.
For connecting land to land across the sea, cables had to be
laid, and for this purpose it was thought at one time that
any very large steamship would suffice. It will be recollected
that the unhappy Great Eastern was thus employed after she
had given up running as an Atlantic passenger ship. Then
presently it was shown to be advisable to use specially designed
ships for this purpose. The illustration facing page 244 shows
an interesting little model of one of the older craft thus
employed, the telegraph steamer Monarch, a schooner-rigged,
iron, screw vessel built at Port Glasgow in 1883, for the
Telegraph Department of the Post Office. Enormous sheaves
are fitted at the bows as fair-leads for the cable to run out
or for haulingit in. This particular ship was employed both

in laying and repairing submarine cables, and could carry
enough fuel and stores for six weeks' work. She had a
displacement of 2,135 tons, and a single propeller driven
by compound engines. The bow-sheave wUl be easily dis-
cerned. An earlier telegraph ship was the Medway, launched
in 1865, and built originally for the Mediterranean trade,
but she was used in the following year to help the Great Eastern
in laying the Atlantic cable. She carried the Newfoundland
end of the cable after the Great Eastern had gone as near in
to shore as she dared. The Medway also carried 500 miles
of cable in case the 2,730 miles which the Great Eastern had
aboard should prove inadequate. Another converted vessel,
the John Bowes, was used in laying the cable from Dover to
Ostend, but modem telegraph ships have the dimensions
THE "VIGILANT."
Frcfm a Phoi(?^;^n2fh. By J^rfHisst\''H of thi ^lirs^y D-.l
and general appearance of liners. The Silvertozvn, which
was well-known on this work, is still afloat and to be seen in
the West India Dock, London. Such modern cable-laying
ships as the Faraday are further supplied with platforms
which project from the side of the ship at the stern for greater
convenience in the work for which these vessels are intended.

As much as from three to four thousand sea-miles of telegraph
cable can be carried by some of these ships, which, in addition
to the bow fair-lead have a similar arrangement at the stem,
and are supplied with all necessary grappling apparatus in
case a broken cable has to be picked up.
Another special tjê of steamship is the oil-tanker. Owing
to the nature of her cargo a steamship that carries oil is far
more Kable to disaster through combustion than even a cotton-
ship. Oil is carried not in barrels, but in bulk. At one time
it used to be carried by sailing ships in barrels, but this meant
that a great deal of trouble and space were unnecessarily
expended. The first tank steamer was built in 1886 by Sir
W. G. Armstrong, Mitchell and Company. Carrying a cargo
of petroleum in bulk is obviously a fairly risky proceeding.
Firstly, there is the terrible risk of fire, more especially as
the ship must have engines and furnaces ; but there is also
the risk of the oil obtaining a good deal of impetus, unless
guarded against, &s the ship rolls. It can easily be under-
stood that so considerable a weight moving about in liquid
form —a shifting cargo, in fact, of a pecuUar type — is likely
to cause the gravest anxiety. The illustration facing page 246
will show to what trouble the designers and builders have been
put in order to devise a safe oil-carrier. This represents the
interior of a modem tank steamer built by Messrs. Sir W. G.
Armstrong, Whitworth and Company, Limited, by whose
courtesy this photograph of a model is here reproduced. First
of all, it will be seen that the whole of the engines are placed
aft, so as to be away from the dangerous oil. This charac-
teristic, however, has recently been departed from, and in some
ships the engines have been placed amidships, as in most
steamships. Of this we might instance the s.s. Phcehus,
built by Messrs. David J. Dunlop and Company, for the carry-
ing of 9,000 tons of bulk oil. In such cases as these it is essential
to insert a long, oil-tight tunnel which encloses the propeller

shaft, but the drawback is up a good deal of
that it takes
valuable space from the The accompanying
ship's hold.
illustration shows the holds divided up into a number of
separate compartments by means of oil-tight bulkheads,

which are further subdivided by a longitudinal bulkhead.
But oil possesses the properties of expansion and varies accord-
ing to the prevailing temperature. It is obvious, therefore,
that room must be left for expansion. To meet this, then,
a long trunk or slit is left to allow the oil to expand, so that

after the ship has filled her holds to the proper height the
cargo may yet be allowed to become larger in bulk. The
model before us shows slits at the sides at the 'tween deck,
so that this expansion may take place. It will be recognised
where the ladders lead down to the holds beneath. These
vessels carry powerful pumps, the oil being taken on board and
discharged by this means. Oil is also employed as the ship's
fuel, and the boiler is kept as far away from the cargo as
possible, but in order to counteract the possibility of the oil
getting adrift and leaking into the after part of the ship, a
separate small compartment is also added, so as more com-
pletely to divide the hold from the boiler and engines. This will
be easily recognised in the illustration. The other illustration

THE TELEGRAPH STEAMER " MONARCH.
Frovi the Model in th; rictoria and Albert Muscian.
DECK VIEW OF THE TELEGRAPH SHIP "FARADAY."

I'roin a PJwtOi^raph. Hy perynission of Messrs. Sienietis tfr Co.
facing page 246 shows a model of the Silverlip, also with
her engines placed well aft ; but this, with her derricks and
her deck-houses, represents a larger and more complex ship.
We come now to a type of steamship, which, by reason of
its peculiar construction, is deserving of more than ordinary
consideration. Opposite page 248 we give the latest example
of this type —the s.s. The "turret-ship," as the class
Inland.
is called, is of quite modem origin, and no one can come face
to face with her without being instantly struck with her unusual
appearance. She owes her birth to Messrs. William Doxford
and Sons, Limited, of Sunderland, who are the patentees and
builders of this kind of ship. It is needless to say that when
this novel class of steamship first appeared in the early 'nineties
there was aroused the usual prejudice ; indeed, having in
mind what has been the experience of other inventors in con-
nection with our subject, the reader could hardly expect
otherwise. Firstly, let us consider her with regard to her
appearance. It will be seen that she differs from the usual
cargo and passenger ship in that her sides tumble right in
above the water-line. This forms a kind of half turtle deck,
and is known as the harbour deck. But the upper deck
of the " turret-ship " is extremely narrow. (This will be seen
more easily by reference to the next illustration, which
gives a model of the midship section of such a ship.) The
harbour deck need not be used except when in port, but it
can be employed for stowing long timbers or even iron girders

if required. Like the oil-tanker, many of the turret-ships
have their engines placed right aft, so that there is a long
clear space for stowing the cargo in the hold, an advantage
which is especially appreciated in the carrying of certain kinds
of cargoes. Just as we saw there was great danger to a ship
in the possibility of oil washing about the hull and shifting
in a perilous manner, so also there is a danger in such cargoes
as rice and With regard to the latter, I remember
grain.
the case of a big cargo ship which had the misfortune to spring
a leak and the water swelled the rice to such an extent that
the ship, strong as she was, burst her sides. But in the case
of grain the danger is not merely that, but also of shifting.
As guarding against this possibility the turret-ship, by reason
of her special design, is specially suitable, for any shifting that
may take place in the turret matters but and whatever

little,
shifting may take place in the hold is compensated for by the

turret the cargo can be shot into the hold without needing any
;
trimming. The deck of the " turret " portion will be seen from
the illustration facing page 248 to form a navigating platform.
Some of the modern turret-ships are fitted with twelve
or fourteen masts arranged in pairs, each pair being across
the ship instead of fore-and-aft-wise. These vessels have
proved themselves to be excellent sea-boats, and owing to
their high freeboard and the harbour deck, which acts as a
kind of breakwater, it has to be a very bad sea indeed that
will break over the ship. Furthermore, the harbour deck
tends to reduce the rolling of the ship, for when one side of
the ship heels over so that one harbour deck is under water,
the windward side, when it holds a certain amount of water,
actually tends to bring the ship back to her level. More-
over, since these decks are unencumbered with obstructions,
they can suffer no damage through the wash of the sea. They
are also extremely strong ships, for the sides of the turrets
increase the strength of the vessel longitudinally, while the
curved formation of the harbour deck augments their strength
transversely ; their simplicity of construction and their adapta-
z ;
2 l
O <
bility for almost any cargo still further add to their virtues.
But from the view-point of the owners the turret-ship is even
still more a welcome type of craft, in that since dues are paid
on a ship's registered tonnage the turret-ship is able to carry

far more cargo in proportion to her size than most vessels. On
a small registered tonnage the turret-ship has an exceptionally
large dead-weight capacity, and those parts of her which are
liable to be taxed are diminished as far as is possible, whilst
at the same time greater space is allowed to the carrying and

handling of the cargo. Economically, then, the turret-ship,
with her odd shape, her many masts and derricks, is a very
advantageous carrier.
A good deal of interest has recently been aroused by the

peculiarities of a steamship named the Monitoria, which,
though not a turret-ship, is sufficiently out of the ordinary
design to warrant special mention. She is just an ordinary
single -deck cargo steamer, but instead of the usual wall-sided
shell-plating has two longitudinal corrugations along the
outside of her hull. These swellings, so to speak, extend
below the water-line and gradually merge into the ship's lines
at bow and stern. The claim made for this novelty is that
it is effective in reducing the wave-like irregularities, and allows
of more power being available for propulsion, whilst it also
lessens the rolling and pitching of the ship. The captain
of this ship is reported to have said that these corrugations
had a beneficial effect on the steering, whilst the wake of the
ship was found to be smooth and about half the width instead
of the full breadth of the ship. Very interesting as practical
comment on a subject that we have treated elsewhere in this
volume, is her commander's remark that whilst in a diagonal
sea, which was running at a height of 9 feet or 10 feet, a ship
of ordinary form and the same dimensions as the Monitoria
would have been no higher speed than
safe proceeding at
6 or 6 1 knots, yet the Monitoria was safe going ahead at
1\ to 7| knots. The corrugations are said also to increase
the ship's buoyancy, and thus admit of three per cent, more
cargo being carried, while the hull is more readily able to resist
the strains than vessels of ordinary shape. It is probable
that this novel principle will be presently exemplified in a
first-class liner, and in a" foreign cruiser.
Similar to the turret-type is the " trunk-deck " steamer,

which possesses like advantages. She resembles in appear-
ance the former type, but instead of the curves (seen in the
Inland) at the gunwale and bases of the turret or " trunk,"
the sides of the trunk rise from the main deck nearly at right
angles, the harbour deck being really a true deck. This kind
of ship owes her birth to Messrs. Ropner and Sons, of Stockton-
on-Tees. Such vessels afford even more than the turret-ships

the appearance of a kind of up-to-date man-of-war, without
the guns which one would almost expect to see protruding
from behind some of her steel plates. It should be borne in
mind that both the turret and the trunk type possess an absence
of sheer, for the height of the lofty turret, or trunk, enables
this to be dispensed with, while to make up for this lack of
sheer from the bows to the stern, the vessel is given a top-
gallant forecastle.
When a vessel is carrying her full cargo her stern is suffi-
ciently immersed to prevent her propeller from racing badly

in a heavy sea. But when she is making a voyage " light "
there is great danger of damage to the ship through the fractur-
ing of the propeller shaft as the ship dips her bows and raises
her tail in the air. Everyone who has had experience of hand-
THE TURRET^HIP " INLAND."
Fro*n a Photograph. By permission of Messrs. If. Dox/ord & Sons, Ltd.
MIDSHIP SECTION OF A TURRET-SHIP.

From the Mode! in the Victoria and Albert .Museum,
any kind is aware that the lower the ballast

ling small craft of
is placed the more the ship will roll. In an extreme case,
when all the ballast is placed outside the ship on to her keel,
the motion in a sea-way is more like that of the pendulum
than anything else. The method which we are now about
to discuss allows of water-ballast tanks being placed sufficiently
high at the " wings " to counteract this rolling. Opposite page
250 will be seen two illustrations of the patent cantilever-framed
steamers which are built by Messrs. Sir Raylton Dixon and
Company, Limited, of Middlesbrough, through whose courtesy
the photographs are reproduced. By examining them it will be
seen that water-ballast can be carried not only in the usual
tank at the bottom of the ship, but in the wing tanks at the
sides of the ship, and at such a height that when the ship is
crossing the ocean without cargo, she will have an easy motion.
The lower illustration shows a section of one of these
cantilever ships, and the water-ballast tanks, above which
is a shelter deck that in the case of a passenger ship can
be used as a promenade, or can accommodate live cargo in
cattle-ships. It will be noticed that the ship's frames are bent
inwards, and that these, together with the vertical sides of
the hull, form the triangular spaces for the tanks. Now these
tanks run fore and aft on both sides and increase the strength
of the ship, not merely longitudinally, but transversely. Owing
to this the necessity of adding such obstructions to the hold
as pillars and beams vanishes, and as will be seen in the illus-
trations, the hold is thus free and unencumbered for all manner
of cargo. It is further claimed for this cantilever craft that
she can carry a dead-weight more than three times the net
register, and since these tanks are not reckoned into the ton-
nage they increase the safety and comfort of the ship without
detracting from her utility. The reader will also notice in the
upper picture to what an enormous extent the modern steam-

ship is now being fitted with extra derricks, with a cross-piece
up the mast to take the strain involved in working the latter.
As the reverse of being specially adapted for a particular
service, the steam tramp is built so that she can readily engage
in almost any carrying trade. Unlike the liner with her fixed
routes and set times of departure and arrival, the tramp is
a nomad, and wanders over the world picking up a cargo here
and there, and taking it across the ocean at her economical
but jog-trot speed. If there is nothing for her to pick up at
the last port of call she betakes herself elsewhere with
the hope of better luck. Her main income is derived as a
coal-carrier, and for this she is quite suited. But the modern
collier—the kind of ship which is expressly built for the coal
trade — is fitted with numbers of steam winches in keeping
with the modem feverish haste and hurry, so that no sooner
has she come alongside than she may instantly begin to unload.
In old-fashioned times the discharging was done from the
shore, but nowadays the up-to-date turret-ship makes short
work of handling her black diamonds. Special appliances
are also provided for those steamships which bring over the
seas vast quantities of New Zealand mutton, fruit, and other
perishable articles of food. Elaborate refrigerating machinery
has to be installed in the ship, and special means employed
to facilitate the disembarking of the cargo, especially in the
ease of the former.
To a still more exceptional purpose has the steamship
been adapted in order to act as an ice-breaker and give liberty
to those ships which, in certain parts of the world, have, with
the approach of winter, been compelled to enter a lengthy
CANTILEVER-FRAMED SHIP.
/»_>* fzT^m'sswn oX Sir Ray^ôn Dixon <S- Co.^ Lta.
i:rB^
OF THe
^nive:
f^Stry
OF
'4m »RNL!
imprisonment. Such localities are found in both Canada

and Russia. Thanks to the ice-breaker steamship it has been
made possible to keep open the Baltic ports with a passage
of sufficient width. Constructed of a strength which is possessed
by no other vessel than a man-of-war, the ice-breaker
attacks the frozen masses as a battleship used to ram her foe.
She goes for the enemy with her curved bow, and wages
ship's
war with all the ability which the ship-builder and naval architect
have given her. Her bow is specially strengthened to suffer
the force of the contact with the heavy ice masses, and the
lines of the hull are such that the ice in its endeavour to crush
the ship finds difficulty in getting a good grip upon it. Never-
theless, these ships are fitted with numerous water-tight
compartments. Their means of propulsion are, of course,
screws.
Similarly, across the North Atlantic, the steamship on the
Great Lakes, where for one third of the year the water is frozen,
has to battle %vith the ice-fiend. Ordinary steamers have to
be laid aside, but the train-ferry steamship still goes on with
her work, being specially designed to break through the
impeding ice. As in the Russian ice-breakers, so here the
principle employed is that the ship shall forge her way unto
the ice, and by means of her overhanging bow, and its weight,
shall break through the obstruction.
Across the wide harbour of New York the steamship train
ferries, carrying rolling stock run aboard by lines, are employed
to an extent that is strange in comparison with English customs,
although the idea is not new to the Mersey, and the evergreen
scheme of instituting a ferry of this nature across the English
Channel to France, so that international travellers can go from
Charing Cross to the other end of the world without having
to change their compartments, is still advocated with
enthusiasm.
We pass now to another type of steamship, which endowed
is
with as much distinctive character as the steam tug. The steam

trawler may not be as smart as a steam yacht nor as fast as a
torpedo destroyer ;
yet, for all that, she is able to encounter
as bad weather and — size for size — is perhaps a good deal
better sea-boat. In the North Sea, which has been the favourite
cruising ground of the steam trawler, there is to be encountered
as nasty and dangerous a short sea as can be found, perhaps,
in any other part of the world. In all weathers, and at all
times of the year, the trawler has to go about her business,
and the comparatively few disasters that overtake her is
a credit at once to the seamanship of her skipper and the sea-
worthiness of the little ship herself. Opposite this page we
show a photograph of a typical North Sea steam trawler.
This is the Orontes of Hull, built in 1895, of iron, by Messrs.
Cochrane and Sons, of Selby. She measures 110 feet long,
21 feet wide, and 12 feet deep, her net tonnage being 76, and
her horse-power 60. The evolution of the steam trawler
was on this wise When the value of
: steam had been shown
to be worth the consideration of the fisherman he responded.
At first the old-fashioned paddle -steamer was used tentatively
on the north-east coast of England, and the writer remembers
in the early 'eighties the singular unattractiveness —the total
absence of beauty, indeed —which these vessels possessed.
By and adoption these were properly tugs, but they did

birth
a bit of trawling on their own account when not otherwise
required, and met with sufficient success to repeat the experi-
ment many times. Some of these ugly old craft are still to
be seen in the neighbourhood of Scarborough and Whitby.
THE NORTH SEA TRAWLER "ORONTES.
THE STEAM TRAWLER "NOTRE DAME DES DUNES.

From Photoi^raphs. By permission of Messrs. Coch^-ane &' Son, Selhy,
OF THE
;^'FORNy^
But since the fishing fleets were at sea for weeks together,
and something faster than a saihng ship was required to hurry
the cargoes to market, a special steam fish-carrier came in
which plied her voyages from the Dogger to London and the
east coast ports. From that it was an easy step to building
a steamship for use not as a carrier but as a trawler. Already
steam had been in use on board the sailing trawler, but that
had been for hauling the nets and warping into dock. The
increase of competition, the loss of a market through calms
and the prevalence of head winds, clearly marked the way for
the coming of the steam trawler. Recently it has been shown
that the employment of the motor-propelled trawler means
a saving of cost and a greater share of profits to all concerned,
and perhaps in the next decade the steam trawler may find
the more modern form of propulsion to be a serious rival.
But even now sail has anything but vanished, and there are
many purely sail-driven trawlers, as also there are many steam
trawlers with auxiliary sails. Within the last few years the
steam fishing ship has grown to be of considerable size, with
topgallant forecastle, high freeboard and lofty wheel-house,
so that it penetrates to oceans thousands of miles away from
the North Sea, being enabled by reason of its size to carry
sufficient quantities of coal for many miles. The lower illustration

facing page 252 shows one of the modern type of steam trawler.
This is the Noire Dame des Dunes, built by the same makers
as the Orontes. Her substantial forecastle, her bold sheer
and high bows, together with her length (rather more than six
beams to the longitudinal expanse), eminently fit her for her
work in most trying circumstances. A curious survival of
the old-fashioned sailing ship is seen in the retention in a
twentieth century ship of the imitation square ports painted
;

along her topsides. The Notre Dame measures 160 feet long,
25 feet wide, and 14| feet deep.
But to-day, even with all the modem improvements which
have been put into the ship, both sailing and steam-propelled
notwithstanding all the navigational appliances, the water-
tight compartments, the size of shipsand the excellence with
which they are sent on their voyages, there is still need for
the lifeboat, which has to go out many times during a bad
winter at the summons of necessity. Although it is possible
that the motor, as in the trawler, will eventually oust steam
from this special type of craft, that stage has not yet been
reached. Steam is a comparatively recent innovation to the
lifeboat, and this is partially explainable by the deep-rooted
prejudice of the local seamen. It is also owing to the fact
that when the lifeboat has to go out at all the seas are very
bad, and the craft is subjected to the water breaking over,
and unless special precautions were taken to guard against
this the fires would be put out, and the boat would be rather
worse off than if she had no engines. There are only a few
steam lifeboats along our shores, and they are placed at such
stations where they can lie afloat instead of having to be
launched down the beach or from a specially constructed slip-
way. The first form of steam lifeboat was to some extent

on the lines of the ship which John Allen had suggested as far
back as 1730, of which we spoke in an earlier chapter. It
will be remembered that he advocated a system which was
actually employed by James Rumsey in 1787. The principle
was that of sucking water in at the bows and ejecting it at the
stern. A more recent instance of the use of this idea will be
found in the boat illustrated on the opposite page which
shows a hydraulic lifeboat. The disadvantage of having a screw
HYDRAULIC LIFEBOAT.
Bi permiisian from " Tht Yachting Manthty,'
propeller is that it stands a very good chance of being fouled,
if not damaged, by wreckage and ropes. Thereforeengines
were installed which sucked in the water by "
means of a scoop,"
placed at the bottom of the boat amidships. The water thus
indrawn is discharged aft on either side of the hull, and if
the craft is desired to go astern, then this is easily done by
discharging water forward. This type has been in actual use,
and has been highly efficacious in saving human life from
shipwreck. By referring to the lower figure of the illustration
on page 255, which shows the midship section of one of the

hydraulic type, some idea will be gained of the placing of the
*'
scoop." By using alternately one of the after pipes the ship
can be manoeuvred to port or starboard just like a vessel fitted
with twin-screws. But there are corresponding disadvantages
which require to be weighed. It is distinctly not an economical
method of propulsion, and if the sea happens to contain much
sand considerable dam^âa^J|appen to the engines, and
other undesirable matter also may work still greater havoc.
On the other hand, we have mentioned that the screw

has its drawbacks owing to the possibility of its suffering
injury. was therefore decided that this could be avoided

It
by placing it in a tunnel some distance forward of the stern,

and thus protected against all likely damage. (A similar
method is also employed in the steam fire-boats which are
used by the London Fire Brigade on the Thames, and are
summoned whenever a river-side warehouse or factory gets
ablaze.) If reference is made to the illustration on page
257, this tunnel will be discernible. In order to leave nothing
to chance a water-tight hatch is placed in the cock-pit floor
just over the propeller, through which any pieces of sea-weed,
rope, or other undesirable matter can easily be removed without
^-7 T^
C{=-~-^H-— '^^ E'^jr-Mt*" !_~Sîuta_ p^
'~^:- r
Twnn«l
SgfcTlOH fhrOuqK ToNNtU.
A SCREW LIFEBOAT.
By permission /rvm " The Vacktin^ Mtntkly.'
having to beach the craft first. These little ships measure
about 50 feet long, and about 15 feet wide ; they are driven
by direct-acting, compound, surface-condensing engines, which
give to them a speed of about nine knots.
In certain parts of the world where the rivers are shallow,
either at their banks or in mid-stream, steam navigation is
only possible by means of " stem-wheelers." Such instances

occur on the West Coast of Africa, and also in America. In
general idea, though not in detail, this method is a reversion
to the antiquated ship already discussed in Hulls' idea for
a tow-boat. The stem of these steamships to which we are
referring is not ended in the same continuous straight line,
but is raised slightly upwards at an angle so that the paddle-

wheel is able to revolve freely without requiring such a draught
of water as otherwise it would have needed if placed on the
ship's side in the usual manner. This will be seen on examining
the stem of the Inez Clarke, illustrated opposite this page.
This stern-wheeler was built as far back as 1879, but the points
on which we are insisting are here well demonstrated. The
draught of the ship, notwithstanding the weight of her engines,
was only 15 inches, so that she was enabled to go into the very
shallowest water, where even a bottle could float. Nevertheless
her stern-wheel was sufficiently powerful to send her along at
15 miles per hour. Her measurements are 130 feet long, and
28 feet wide. Steamboats possessing a similar principle to
that exhibited in the Inez Clarke, but much different in the
arrangement, are to-day in use on the Ohio and Mississippi

Rivers, being used as tugs to tow along a large fleet of flat-
boats containing coal. As much as fifty to sixty thousand
tons are taken in tow at one time.
To North America, with its fine long rivers, the steam-
THE '• INEZ CLARKE."
/>.;« the .i/r<rV. in the i'lcr.^ria aiui .-IA"cr: Mu
THE "NATCHEZ" AND THE "ECLIPSE" aS55).
THE "EMPIRE."
From the Model in the I'ictoria and Albert Museum.
boat has been, as Fulton in his foresight prophesied it would

be, a highly useful institution. To the European mind the
vast possibilities of the mighty Mississippi come as a shock
when fully realised. To quote the very first sentence in one
of the most popular books which that most popular writer,
Mark Twain, ever wrote, " The Mississippi is well worth reading
about " ; so, also, we might add, are its steamboats, but in our
limited space we can only barely indicate some of their essential
features. The illustration facing page 258 shows a couple of
these, the Natchez and the Eclipse, racing against each other
along this great river by the light of the moon at midnight.

The first thing that strikes the attention is the enormous height
to which the decks of these steamboats are raised. The pilot-
house is higher and will be recognised as about midway
still,
between the water-line and the top of the long, lanky funnels.
Even to Mark Twain the height seemed to be terrific. " When
I stood in her pilot-house," says the author of " Life on the
Mississippi," " I was so far above the water that I seemed to
be perched on a mountain and her decks stretched so far
;
away, fore and aft, below me, that I wondered how I could
ever have considered the little Paul Jones a large craft.
When I looked down her long, gilded saloon, it was like gazing
through a splendid tunnel. . . . The boiler deck — i.e. the
second storey of the boat, so to speak — was as spacious as a
church, it seemed to me ; and there
so with the forecastle ;
was no pitiful handful of deck-hands, firemen, and roust-

abouts down there, but a whole battalion of men. The fires
were fiercely glaring from a long row of furnaces, and over
them were eight huge boilers."
The accompanying picture, which is taken from a lithograph
printed in 1855, shows two of the finest contemporary Mississippi
steamboats. The Eclipse was propelled by a high-pressure
engine with a single cylinder, the paddle-wheels being 40 feet
wide. Her two boilers were placed forward about 3| feet
above the deck, having internal return tubes, such as we dis-
cussed at an earlier stage. The waste gases returned through

the tubes and escaped through the funnels, which rose 50 feet
above the hurricane deck. This ship only drew 5 feet, and
measured 360 feet long and 42 feet wide, whilst the hull was
8 feet deep. For fuel, rosin and pitch pine as well as coal were
used. Mark Twain has left us some details of the keenness
with which these and similar Mississippi steamboats used
to race.
" In the olden times," he wrote, " whenever two fast boats
started out on a race, with a big crowd of people looking on,

it was inspiriting to hear the crews sing, especially if the time
were night-fall, and the up with the red glare
forecastle lit
of the torch-baskets. Racing was royal fun. The public

always had the idea that racing was dangerous ; whereas the
opposite was the case. . . . No engineer was ever sleepy
or careless when his heart was in a race. He was constantly
on the alert, trying gauge-cocks and watching things. The
dangerous place was on slow, plodding boats, where the engineers
drowsed around and allowed chips to get into the '
doctor,'
and shut off the water supply from the boilers. In the '
flush
times '
of steam-boating, a race between two notorious fleet
steamers was an event of vast importance. . . . Every

encumbrance that added weight, or exposed a resisting surface
to wind or water, was removed. . . . When the Eclipse
and the A. L. Shotwell ran their great race many years ago,
it was said that pains were taken to scrape the gilding off the
fanciful device which hung between the Eclipse's chimneys

and that for one trip the captain left off his kid gloves and
had his head shaved. But I always doubted these things.'*
In 1870 the Natchez ran from New Orleans to Natchez,
a distance of 268 miles, in seventeen days seventeen hours.
The most famous race of all, and one that created national
interest, was that in the year 1870, between the Robert E. Lee
and the Natchez, from New Orleans to St. Louis, a distance
of 1,218 miles. The former covered the journey in three days
eighteen hours fourteen minutes, the latter in three days
twenty-one hours fifty-eight minutes, but the officers of the
Natchez claimed seven hours for having had to stop through
fog, and repairs to the machinery.
But let us pass further North. The Hudson has, since
the time of Fulton, been famous for its steam-craft, and the
impetus which necessarily followed after the success of the
Clermont, and her successors, has not yet ceased to exist. As
representative of the Hudson River type of boats in vogue
during the 'sixties, the model of the steamer Empire facing
page 258 is not without interest, since it shows, the half-way
transition between the Clermont and the ultra-modern built-
up ship as in the illustration facing page 262. Like her other

sisters, the Empire, it will be seen, has a very light draught,
and a characteristic feature of the development of the North
American passenger side -wheel steamer is here to be noted
in embryo, and as pushed to its furthest limits, in the case
of the Commonwealth. I am calling attention to the manner
in which the American custom extends the steamship's sponsons
or " guards " (as they are called). In a British paddle-wheel

steamer, such as one finds employed on passenger or tug service,
the sponsons are quite short. (This can easily be seen by
reference to the Dromedary opposite page 204.) But the
American fashion is to allow these not to end suddenly, but
gradually fine off at bow and stem so that the deck is carried
well out-board. Forward is the pilot house, the passenger
''
accommodation being provided in the centre of the " guard
deck and upper deck. The length of this vessel was 336 feet,
whilst the breadth of the hull proper was 28 feet, though in-
cluding " guards " 61 feet. In many of the Hudson steamers

the strange sight is still seen of the use of the old walking-beam
which penetrates through the top of the deck. As we have
already discussed this elsewhere, it is scarcely necessary here
to refer to it further, but the sectional model illustrated opposite
this page will show quite clearly this principle.
One of the best known steamship companies in the United

States is the Fall River Line, belonging to the New England
Navigation Company. The Fall River Line runs from New
York to Boston, and their vessels are of exceptional interest
as being propelled by paddle-wheels notwithstanding that

their size is in some cases of from four to six thousand tons.
Characteristic, too, is the extent to which the decks tier aloft
and spread out beyond the hull of the ship. Among their
fleet may be reckoned the Priscilla, Puritan, and Providence,

vessels which vary in length from over, to just under, 400
"
feet, with a beam of about 50 feet, but including " guards
about another 30 feet. Opposite this page will be seen the

Commonwealth, the flagship of this celebrated fleet, and the
most modern. Instead of the paddle-boxes rising to a great
height, they are absorbed by the excessive amoimt of top-
hamper. To such an extent, also, has the widest beam of the
ship been pushed that the paddle-wheels are scarcely dis-
cernible, being quite underneath the " guards," instead of

projecting from the hidl. The Commonwealth plies between
BEAM ENGINE OF AN AMERICAN RIVER STEAMER.
From the Sectional Model in the Victoria and Albert Museum.
New York and Boston via Newport and the Fall River, and
is the largest and most magnificent steamship built for service
on inland waters. Some idea of her value may be gathered

when we remark that she cost £400,000 to build. It will
be seen that she has been given a high bow, for the reason that
she must be a good sea-boat, since part of her route is exposed
to the Atlantic. She is 456 feet long, 96 feet wide (reckoning
in the " guards "), and has sleeping accommodation for two
thousand people. This voyage is performed in about twelve
hours, mostly by night, from New York to the Fall River, and
the retention of the paddle-wheel gives an absence of vibration,
and enables the nerve-wrecked citizen to sleep as peacefully
as on shore. The Commonwealth is steady in a sea-way,
and has pushed the cult of luxury just about as far as it can
go, whilst yet retaining any of the accustomed characteristics
of the ship. Practically these craft are remarkably up-to-date
hotels moved by a pair of paddle-wheels. Replete with their
barber's shops, cafes, Ubraries, saloons, orchestra, galleries,
stairways, dining-rooms, spacious bedrooms, kitchens, and

other features too numerous to mention, they are representative
afloat of the prevailing passion ashore for luxury and personal
comfort. The Commonwealth, Uke her sisters of the same
fleet, is built of steel, and for greater safety she has seven bulk-
heads, which extend to the main deck, and are so installed that
no carelessness can leave the doors open. Her hull is double
and the space between the bottoms is divided into numerous
water-tight compartments, whQst collision bulkheads are also
placed at each side of the steamer at the "guards."Her speed
is twenty-two knots per hour, which is obtained by compound
engines, with two high-pressure cylinders. The paddle-

wheels are of the feathering type, with curved steel buckets.
and in addition to the usual steam pumps, there is a large
pump for use on the fire-sprinkler system which covers
the whole interior of the ship. The ship has a powerful search-
light, and an electric lift to the kitchen. In case both her
steam-steering and hand-gear should get out of order the
ship can be steered by independent auxiliary gear attached
direct to the rudder stock.
Having regard to the fact that it was North America which
played so prominent a part in the history and introduction
of the steamship, it is by no means unfitting that that country
should also have developed the paddle-wheel steamboat to
an extent that is entirely unknown in Great Britain. The
difference in types is partly owing to the difference in tastes
and habits between the two peoples, but also owing to the
contrast in geographical arrangement. We in England have
nothing comparable with the Hudson, for instance, and its fine,
long sweep of navigable water ; nor with the vast American

Great Lakes, which, in a unique manner, have held out a special
kind of encouragement to the steamship. As carriers not
merely of cargoes, but also of passengers, especially during
the tourist seasons, the steamships on the Great Lakes have
attained the character rather analogous to the ocean liner than
to the inland steamboat. The spirit of luxury is not concealed
in these Lake liners, and some idea of one of the two-funnelled
passenger steamboats now plying on the Great Lakes of America
may be seen in the illustration facing this page of the City of
Cleveland. The two characteristics already noted in the case

of the Hudson and the Fall River steamships will here be
noticed still further. We refer to the extent of the added decks,
and to the increased beam which is given to the ship by means

of the " guards."
THE "CITY OF CLEVELAND."
AN AMERICAN " WHALEBACK " STEAMER.

But perhaps the most extraordinary looking American

steamship is the well-known " whale-back " which is in use
on the Great Lakes as a cargo-carrier. PracticaDy speaking
she is just a whale-like steel tank with an engine and propeller
at the stern. Anything but comely in appearance, she is
something of the American counterpart of the British turret-

ship, but with one difference. The American type has no
turret, but is just a long curved box with two comparatively
small erections at bow and stem respectively, as will be seen
by examining the photograph of one of these vessels reproduced
opposite page 264. But the design of these Lake steamers
is to carry the largest amount of cargo with the lowest registered
tonnage, and this object is attained with satisfactory results,

for there is scarcely any space at all in the ships but is thus
employed.
And with this we may bring our chapter to an end. We
have now seen the rise, the gradual growth, and the specialisa-
tion of the steamship in many ways, and in many different
localities whenever employed as a commercial money-earning
concern. But the steamship, like the sailing ship, is not ex-
clusively employed either for commerce or for With
war.
the latter kind of ships we have in the present volume no
concern ; but with regard to the development of the steam
yacht we shall now have something to say.
CHAPTER X
THE STEAM YACHT
That the steamship should become for the sportsman what

for some time the sailing vessel had been was a natural prophecy.
Even if steam were not to oust the simpler craft, at least both
might sail the seas together without let or hindrance. But,
of course, the old prejudice asserted itself again in yachting
just as we have so frequently through the pages of this book
seen that it did in the evolution of the purely commercial
and experimental ships.
The pioneer of the steam yacht was undoubtedly the late
Mr. Assheton Smith, of Tedworth, near Andover. A man of

substantial means, a keen sportsman, who was well-known
among both hunting and yachting men, he was rather more
far-sighted than his contemporaries, and considerably less
prejudiced. He had owned a number of sailing yachts, was

a member of the Royal Yacht Squadron, and had it in mind
to extend the encouragement of the sport also to vessels using
steam. But to the select and conservative minds of the Royal
Yacht Squadron this was by no means a happy suggestion,
and they promptly showed their resentment by passing a
resolution on May 5th, 1827, to the effect that since a material
object of the club was to promote seamanship and improve-
ments of sailing vessels to which the application of steam-
engines was inimical, no vessel propelled by steam should be
admitted into the club, and that any member applying a
steam engine to his yacht should cease to be a member. As
266
the late Mr. Montague Guest, in his history of the Royal

Yacht Squadron, remarked, this prejudice was no doubt caused
by the objectionable vomits of smoke which contemporary
steamers in that locahty were wont to emit, so that the fair
shores of Southampton Water were poUuted, and distant
objects completely obscured. Smith was taunted with the
remark that in wishing to introduce the steam yacht he was
intending to make a connection between business and pleasure,
and him so severely that he eventually resigned
this insult stung
his membership.
In August of 1827, the Northern Yacht Club offered at
their regatta a twenty guinea cup, to be awarded to the swiftest
steamboat, and so far as I am able to ascertain this was the
first occasion when steam craft ever raced against each other
under such conditions. Several steam vessel owners sent in

their entries for the race, and after an exciting contest for
three hours round a marked course, a paddle-ship, named the
Clarence, won. This is especially interesting, inasmuch as that
boat had been engined by the famous Robert Napier to whom
we referred earlier in this book, and in more ways than one
this success led to considerable success. The incident attracted
the attention of Assheton Smith, who, although he was then
fifty years old, was fired with enthusiasm over the possi-
biUties of the new sport. He had already had five sailing
yachts built for him, and after resigning from the Royal Yacht
Squadron, wrote to Napier asking him to come south to his
place near Andover. Neither had met before, and the upshot
of the northerner's visit was that he was conunissioned to
build a steam yacht, the cost of which came to £20,000, Napier
being given a free hand in regard to her entire construction.
A recent writer has seen fit to remark that " no accoimt exists
of the first steam yachtby Mr. Smith," so that it may be
built
worth while to add that this vessel was named the Menai, that
she was built in the year 1830 and delivered at Bristol. She
measured 120 feet long and 20 feet wide, her tonnage being
230, and her nominal horse-power 110. She was, of course,
a paddle-wheel craft and driven by Napier's double side-lever
engines, of which we have already explained the detailed
working. Those who wish to see what this first historic steam
yacht was like can examine a model of her in the Glasgow
Art Galleries.
The Menai turned out a great success, and so pleased was

her owner, that he commissioned Napier to build him another
boat, which was named the Glowworm, a vessel of 300 tons
and 100 horse-power. She was made ready by 1838. Until
Smith was eighty years old the connection thus formed between
the two men was continued, and during the period of twenty
or thirty years Napier built quite a fleet of steam yachts for
his patron. The Glowworm was followed by the Fire King in
1839 — ^this being a 700-ton ship and the biggest of
them all. -
Afterwards came at different dates three Fire Queens (in honour

of Queen Victoria, who had come to the throne since the first
steam yacht had been launched), the Jenny Lind, and the
Sea Serpent the latter about 1851.
; The Fire King was
designed with hollow water-lines, and was a vessel possessing
considerable speed. Before her trials were run. Smith issued
a public challenge in BelVs Life that she would run against
any steamer then afloat, from Dover Pier to the Eddystone
Lighthouse and back, for 5,000 guineas, or even higher stakes
if desired. One of the thiee Fire Queens was the fastest vessel
of any kind at that time, and possessed the exceptional speed
of 16 knots. This was the third vessel of that name, and was
built in 1846, her tonnage being 300 and her horse-power 120.
She was driven by steeple engines which actuated a screw, and
the Admiralty thought so much of her that they purchased
her as a packet. Smith, however, did not like the screw, and
his next ship reverted to the use of paddle-wheels.
In 1844 the Royal Yacht Squadron began to climb down
gradually from their haughty position of serene isolation, for
in that yearthey showed some slight recognition of the steam
yacht by resolving that " no steamer of less than 100 horse-
power should be qualified for admission into, or entitled to
the privileges of the Squadron," and in 1853 the last objection
to the steam yacht was withdrawn by the rescinding of all
rules which prohibited her use. Thereupon a number of the
Royal Squadron members had auxiliary engines fitted to their
sailing craft, but by 1856 there were not more than a score of
steam-engined yachts as against seven or eight hundred sailing
ones. In 1868 a unique race, which excited some derision at the
time,was run between Lord Vane's steam yacht Cornelia and
Mr. Talbot's Eothen. During the early 'eighties many of the
non-racing yachts flying the Squadron's colours, and used
solely for cruising, were either purely steam or auxiliary steam
yachts. By 1883, out of 2,000 yachts no fewer than 700 were
steam, which had cost originally two and a half millions sterling.
To such an extent had this new development of the sport
gone ahead that it was even seriously suggested by the Field
that ordinary cruising would be extinguished by the steam
yacht. During the number of English steam
'eighties the
yachts multiplied in parts of the Kingdom owing to several
all
causes. The improvements which had been going on, as well

in the making of marine engines as in yacht building and
designing, were assisted by the more economical consumption
of coal which was now But the sport of steam-
possible.
yachting is entirely, by reason of its nature and its costliness,
confined to the rich man. Apart altogether from the advan-
tages which steam gives in that it renders the yacht independent
of calms and tides, yet it carries with it especially a social
feature. The influence of Cowes week, the dispensing of hospi-
tality, and the privilege of enjoying a floating home anything
but bereft of the highest comfort, must be reckoned as among

the potent factors of an extent equal to, if not greater than,
the sheer delight of voyaging from one port to another. Many
steam yachts spend their time within the comparatively
sheltered waters of the south coast of England, or the west
coast of Scotland, perhaps running out to the Riviera in
December or January. But a few, such as Lord Brassey's
celebrated Sunbeam, go round the world, penetrate to the
Arctic circle, cross the Atlantic, and go east through the Suez
Canal.
For a long time the steam yacht naturally enough retained
most of the features of the sailing yacht. I say naturally,
not merely because steam was still distrusted, and, therefore,
canvas was retained, but because beauty of form and symmetry
are demanded more in the steam yacht than in the steamship
designed for commercial purposes. For the creators of steam
yachts were rather yacht-architects than steamship-designers.
We have only to quote the admirable work of such men as
St. Clare Byrne and G. L. Watson to emphasise this point.
Indeed, with the exception of the Triad, so recently added to

the fleet of steam yachts, and to which we shall refer fully in
due course, the lines and general appearance of the steam pleasure
vessel is far more " yachty " than perhaps one might have
imagined would be the case, having regard to the diflêrences
which have sprung up in. the appearance of the commercial
steamship. The illustration on page 271, which is typical
of the steam yacht about the year 1890, shows how markedly
the influence of the clipper sailing ships of the 'sixties was at
work. The gilding at the bow, the figure-head, the fine entrance,
and the bowsprit have existed long after the latter was required
for setting a jib at the end of it. As a rule, the schooner rig
has prevailed, though some ocean-going steam yachts are
rigged as barques, ships, and barquentines. For long voyages
between distant ports the retention of the sail as a saving
of the limited coal supply is but natural, and also for the
purpose of steadying the ship in a sea-way.
In the early days the steam yacht was usually of the type
which has one flush deck. But to-day she varies to the same
extent as the sailing yacht. Topgallant forecastles, quarter
decks, bridge-houses, awning decks, shade decks, spar decks,
and many other features have been added. Three masts
have given way to two, and now only one is being retained,
and that merely for signalling purposes or for wireless tele-
graphy. Formerly, the steam yacht was a long, narrow

creation carrying a considerable quantity of ballast, but
to-day she is given greater beam, and in many points is
coming far more under the sway of the ocean steamship

than ever she has in the whole of her history. The
accommodation is being modified and improved, and the
elemental features are undergoing a change. Whereas the
older types carried their dining and drawing-rooms below,
nowadays these, as well as the state-rooms, are, whenever
possible, placed on the main deck. Much more room is afforded
for promenade by the adding of deck upon deck, and a notice-
able characteristic of the modern steam yacht is the extent
to which the deck-house and pilot-house have been carried.

Like their bigger sisters, the steam yachts of to-day are fitted
with every thought for comfort. Electric light, refrigerating
plant, exquisite decorations, heating apparatus, search-lights,
and a thousand other details go to swell the long bill which
has to be paid for the private steamship.
The old square stern inherited from the Dutch, through the
British Navy of yesterday, and, finally, through the royal
yachts, is modified nowadays from a clumsiness to resemble
more nearly the counter of the smart sailing yacht. Ample
overhang at bow and stern gives both increased deck space
and makes a drier ship, and at the bows this additional room
is advantageous for working the anchors. As compared with
the liner, the yacht has far more opportunities of showing
what a graceful creature the ship really is : for she has not
to rush across seas at break-neck speed, nor has she to waste

her internal space with accommodation for cargo and mails.
She need not clutter up her decks with clusters of derricks,
but go about her easy work in a quiet and dignified manner,
not. forgetting to look pretty all the time. And yet she is able
nowadays, by reason of her size, to carry large enough quantities
of water, coals and stores to last her for lengthy voyages,
independent of the shore. The question of speed is subservient
to fuel-endurance, and to get her owner and his guests to their
destination with the least degree of discomfort is of far greater
import than to set up new steaming records. She is a good
sea-boat, for she is not harassed by the limitations as to the
distribution of weights which have to be studied so closely
in the case of the liner. The single-screw is giving way to the
twin-screw, and the triple-expansion engine is usually adopted,
with its absence of any great vibration,
s
The steam yacht, has, however, found out the advantages
of the turbine, and the first to be fitted thus was the Emerald,
built on the Clyde in 1902 for Sir Christopher Furness. She
has a Thames measurement of 797, and is propelled by three
separate propellers, with their individual shafts actuated by
three sets of turbine machinery. Her speed is about 16 knots
on an exceptionally low coal consumption, and she showed
her ability by crossing the Atlantic in the year following her
birth. The recent adaptation of the Parsons turbine for
moderate speeds, already discussed, will doubtless pave the
way for a much more general adoption of this form of propul-
sion in the yacht. Otherwise speed in the steam yacht is a
doubtful advantage, for with reciprocating engines there is
demanded a greater amount of space which could be better

used for extra cabin room. Water -ballast and bilge-keels are
used to a large extent, and steel has long since proved its worth
for the making of the hull as well as many other features of the
ship. Now that the engines of a steam yacht have proved
themselves to possess that reliability which was for a long
time not conceded, the need for sails, except for steadying
the ship, or, as already mentioned, for long ocean voyages,
has disappeared. It is much more common to see a steam
yacht given the rig as seen in the illustration on page 275,
with stay-sails and try-sails, than the yards and gaff-sails of
yesterday. Indeed, one might go so far as to assert that the

retention of the two masts is based on appearance more than
with a view to utility.
One of the most extraordinary steam yachts ever built

was the Livadia, of which a capital model is illustrated opposite
page 276. She was built in 1880 by Messrs. John Elder & Co.
for the Russian Admiralty. Her unusual design was based
on the idea of a circular floating battery invented by John
Elder and reintroduced by Admiral Popoff ten
in the 'sixties,
years later. From a technical paper read some years ago by

her builder, we gather that she was constructed in accordance
with Admiral Popoff's designs to give 14 knots per hour. In
case of her failing to come up to the required standard, the
Russian Admiralty were to be allowed to reject her. Previous
to her actual building, elaborate experiments took place with
a model, and both before and after the appearance of the ship
she was subject to considerable criticism, some of which, no
doubt, was owing to the radical departure from accepted custom.
Her builder described her as being turbot-shaped with a super-
structure which contained the Imperial apartments and the
accommodation for suite and crew. After her trials, she sailed
from the Clyde to Brest in fine weather. Thence she crossed
the Bay of Biscay, and the bad weather which had sprung up
increased to a gale of exceptional violence, which also afforded
the most conclusive test for her steadiness. It was found
that she was wonderfully endowed with the latter virtue, and
that although she had been designed for service on the Black
Sea, she was able to take the seas of the Bay in a most satis-
factory manner. The height of the waves was adjudged by

the experts on board as being from twenty to twenty-five feet,
but the receding formation of the turbot had the effect of
dividing the wave against itself. In no case did the waves

succeed in reaching the keels of the ship's boats hung in davits
22 feet above the load-line, and although the table was
loaded with candelabra and other easily capsizable articles,
the ship never lurched so as to send them moving. It is true

that when she put into Ferrol, owing to the exhaustion of the
crew, two of the thirty-seven cells on the external rim of the
s -
3 c
turbot were damaged, yet this did not vitiate the general
principle of her construction. She was driven by three pro-
pellers and three independent engines, and was easily handled.
During the gale she only required one man at the wheel. She
displaced nearly 4,000 tons, measured 235 feet in length,
153 feet in extreme width, and drew only 6| feet.
Perhaps the one conspicuous example where the steam

yacht has been designed not by a yacht architect is in the
case of the steam yachts possessed by the Royalty of this

land, and it is a matter of regret that some of the worst and
most old-fashioned traditions should be perpetuated in what
one would have expected to have been the most up-to-date
and efficient steam craft afloat. There has ever been displayed
in the royal steam yachts far more of the Admiralty influence
of yesterday than of the modem factors at work in yacht-
design. Grace and delicacy have been avoided for a kind of
clumsy impressiveness, and the worst features of the eighteenth
and early nineteenth centuries naval architecture are retained
with a surprising obstinacy. The heavy quarters and counter,
the tasteless display of external carving and gold leaf have
had to make a pretence of affording what should have come
spontaneously from the beauty of the vessel's own lines. The
Victoria and Albert, launched a few years ago, is especially
expressive of the defects which she ought never to have
exhibited. And the latest English royal yacht which was
launched in 1907, has but little character that is superior to
her predecessor. This Alexandra will be seen at her trials in
the illustration facing page 278. True, the heavy quarters

have been very much modified, but in any assemblage of
steam yachts or modem ocean-going steamships, she stands
out less owing to her inherent beauty, than for the impression
of solidity which she conveys. The Alexandra has a registered
tonnage of 2,157, and is driven by three turbines.
The illustration of the Sagitta, facing page 280, is of par-
ticular interest, for when she appeared in the summer of 1908,
she was the largest steam yacht ever built on the south coast.
Constructed by Messrs. Camper and Nicholson for the Due de
Valen9ay, she has a Thames measurement tonnage of 757,
and on her trials showed a speed of 15'2 knots, which was
2*2 knots above that contracted for. Steam yacht building
has more usually been the work of the northern yards. Two
of her features are especially noticeable as showing a divergence
from the stereotyped design of the steam yacht. Firstly, the
three, and even two, masts, have gone altogether, and only
one is retained, in a most unusual position, for signalling
purposes. Secondly, her stem goes right away from the accepted
clipper-bow-plus-bowsprit end, although the yacht-like over-
hanging counter is retained. In matters of this nature personal
taste will enter quite independent of the demands put forward
by naval architecture, but it can scarcely be said that this
hybrid arrangement makes for beauty, for the nice balance
which is so significant a feature of the ends of a yacht is here
hardly possible. Much more acceptable is the de^gn of the
Triad, which, amid considerable adverse criticism for her
originality, made her appearance in the summer of 1909.
An interesting photograph of this novel yacht appears opposite
page 280, but it conveys little idea of her size. With her two
funnels, her straight stem and modified turtle-deck stern,
she is a " whole-hogger " as compared with the compromise
which the Sagitta represents. In the Triad the steam yacht
breaks right away from accepted conditions and shows the
first real approach to the contemporary ocean-going steam-
THE ROYAL YACHT 'VICTORIA AND ALBERT."
THE ROYAL YACHT "ALEXANDRA."

Froin a Photograph, By permission of Messrs. A. »?- jf. J/tîis. Ltd
uw
OF
:i«.
ship. To some extent, no doubt, she exhibits some resemblance

to the well-kno^vn German Imperial steam yacht, the Hohen-
zollern, but she is rather a deep-sea liner in miniature, capable
of going anywhere, and performing practically any service
which could be asked of her. She has been built on steamship
lines by a firm which, I believe, had never previously constructed
a steam yacht. Her size of 1,416 tons would alone make her
interesting, but it is her business-like appearance which causes
her to be especially noticeable. Her stem has come in for a
good deal of criticism, some of which is doubtless justifiable,
but not a little is obviously based on the fact that convention
was thrown aside. It is claimed that the clipper-stem is not
merely advantageous in regard to looks, but besides giving
increased deck space where it is needed to work the anchors,
permits of a generous amount of flare to protect the fore decks
from water coming aboard. The older form also provides
a useful " false " end in the case of a ship colliding, while, on
the other hand, the straight stem possesses considerable merits
for docking and berthing in a congested harbour.
The Triad measures 250 feet long, between perpendiculars,
and 35 feet wide, and is equipped with twin-screw engines, which
give her a speed of 16 knots. She has two double-ended boilers,
and one auxiliary boiler for driving the electric installation

when in port. Some of her minor features are sufficiently
unusual to merit remark. Thus, for instance, the windlass
on her forecastle is fitted with a special indicator which shows
the amount of cable run out, and an arrangement something
similar in principle to that mentioned as existing on liners
is installed, whereby the engineer cannot easily make a mistake

in carrying out the captain's orders from the bridge. If the
engines are going ahead the captain knows this by an electric
lamp which shows red ; if they are going astern the lamp
shows green, the movement of the engines themselves indi-
cating automatically. In matters of personal comfort this

miniature liner is amply fitted. Besides the usual acconmao-
dation, she has dining-room, drawing-room, music-room, maids'
room and ample bedrooms, all upholstered and furnished with
due regard to modern luxury.
It would be impossible within the limits of our subject to
refer in detail to all those magnificent stately steam yachts
which are afloat in European and American waters. Such
vessels as the Vanadis, with her 1,233 tons (Thames measure-
ment), triple-screws and triple turbines built in 1908 ; the
well-known loland, built for Mr. Morton F. Plant of New York,
by a Scotch firm ; the Wakiva, twin-screw steam yacht, the
Lysistrata, the Liberty, are representative of the magnificent
fleet which has come into being so speedily, in spite of the
chilly reception and opposition which greeted the steam yacht
during the first half of the past century. The Liberty, some-
thing of whose internal comfort we shall show in another
chapter, is of 1,571 tons, was launched in December of 1907,
and is one of the most notable productions of recent years.
She is spar-decked throughout, with magnificent lines and a
handsome appearance, whilst retaining the more conventional
stem-plus-bowsprit. She has exceptional accommodation, all
connected by corridors and vestibules with no fewer than a

dozen state-rooms for guests. She is driven by two sets of
triple-expansion engines actuating twin-screws, which, to mini-
mise vibration, are at a different pitch, and run at varying
speeds. She can carry sufficient coal to allow her to cruise for
6,000 miles, and both in internal and external appearance
is as handsome as she is capable.
THE S.Y. "SAGITTA."
From a Photo^^raph. By perviission o Messrs, Caynper & NicJiolson , Ltc^.
THE S.Y. " TRIAD."

From a Photograph. By permission of the Caledon Shipbuilding Co., Lta
With the capabilities of which the motor has shown itself
to be possessed, the future of the steam yacht is perhaps a little
uncertain. Economy would seem to indicate that the former

has numerous merits in that it enables sail power to be utilised
more readily, and thus may arrest the fashion which is advancing
in the direction of steam. For long passages the extreme
comfort which is now obtainable in the modern liner leaves no
choice in the matter. To keep up a steam yacht for the usual
summer season of four months is a very serious item of expen-
diture. If we reckon £10 per ton as the average cost and this —
is the accepted estimate — ît will be seen that such a yacht
as the Wakiva, for instance, leaves but little change out of
£10,000 per year, and for this expenditure most men would
expect to get a very large return in the way of sport and travel.
Whether or not a like proportionate return is made, at least
employment to thousands of shipbuilding and yacht-
in giving
hands, this special branch of sea sport is deserving of the high
interest with which it is regarded.
CHAPTER XI
THE BUILDING OF THE STEAMSHIP
We propose in the present chapter, now that we have seen

the evolution of the steamship through all its various vicis-
situdes and in its special ways, to set forth within the limited
space that is now left to us some general idea of the means
adopted to create the great steamship from a mass of material
into a sentient,moving being.
Around the building of a ship there is encircling it perhaps
far more sentiment than in the activity of almost any other
industry. Poets and painters have found in this a theme
for their imagination not once, but many times. Making a
ship is something less prosaic, a million times more romantic,
than making a house, for the reason that whilst the ship, as
long as she remains on the stocks, is just so many thousand

tons of material, yet from the very moment when she first
kisses the water she becomes a living thing, intelligent, with

a character of her own, distinct and recognisable. In the
whole category of man-made things there is nothing comparable
to this.
Her genesis begins when the future owners resolve to have
her built. Before any plans are drawn out there must first
be decided the dimensions, the displacement and the general

features which she is to possess, whether she is to be a slow
ship, a fast ship, engaged in passenger work, cargo -carrying,
on the North Atlantic route, for the East through the Suez
Canal, and so on ; for all these factors combine to determine
262
the lines on which she is to be built. Before we progress any

farther, let us get into our minds the nine different types which
separate the generic class of steamships. If the reader will
follow the accompanying illustrations, we shall not run the
risk of being obscure in our argument. Fig. 1, shows the
steamship in its elementary form, just a flush-decked craft.
Fig. 1— FLUSH-DECKED TYPE.
with casings for the protection of the engines as explained

on an earlier page. This represents the type of which the
coasting steamer illustrated opposite page 134 is an example.
This casing in the diagram before us is, so to speak, an island
on the deck, but presently it was so developed that it extended
to the sides of the ship, and, rising up as a continuation of the
Fig. 2.— "THREE island;' TYPE.
hull, became a bridge. At the same time a monkey forecastle
and a short poop were added to make her the better protected
against the seas. This will be seen in Fig. 2. This is known
as the " three-island " t\^ for obvious reasons. It must be
understood that on either side a passage leads beneath the
bridge -deck so as to allow the crew to get about the ship.
But from being merely a protection for the bows of the ship.
—

the monkey became several feet higher, so that it
forecastle
could accommodate the quarters of the crew, and this " top-
gallant " forecastle, as it is known, will be seen in Fig. 3.
At the same time, the short poop or hood at the stem has now
Fig. 3.-TOP-GALLANT FORECASTLE TYPE.
become lengthened into something longer. But in Fig. 4 we

find the lengthened poop becoming a raised quarter-deck
that is, not a mere structure raised over the deck, but literally
Fig. 4.-TOP.GALLANT FORECASTLE TYPE. WITH RAISED QUARTER-DECK.
a deck raised at the quarter. This raised quarter-deck was

the better able to withstand the violent force of the sea
when it broke over the ship. In Fig. 5 we have a still further
Fig. 5.— EARLY "WELL-DECK" TYPE.
development in which the topgallant forecastle is retained

as before, but the long poop and the after end of the bridge
are lengthened until they meet and form one long combination.
This is one of the " well-deck " types, the " well " being between
the after end of the forecastle and the forward end of the
bridge-deck. This well was left for the reason that it was
not required for carrying cargo, because it was not desirable
to load the ship forward lest she might be down at the head
(which in itself would be bad), whilst at the same time it would
raise the stern so that the propeller was the more likely to
Fig. 6.— •• WELL-DECK " TYPE.
race. But in the modem evolution of the steamship it is not

only a question of trim and seaworthiness that have been
taken into consideration, but also there are the rules and
regulations which have been made with regard to the steam
vessel. Now, this well-space not being reckoned in the tonnage
of the ship (on which she has to pay costly dues) if kept open.
Fig. 7.—" SPAR-DECK " TYPE.
it was good and ser\4ceable in another way. Considered from
the view of seaworthiness, this well, it was claimed, would

allow the prevention of the sweeping of the whole length of
the ship by whatever water that broke aboard the bows (which
would be the case if the well were covered up). If left open,
the water could easily be allowed to run out through the

scuppers. But this type in Fig. 5 is rather midway in the
transition between the " three-island " type and the shelter-
deck type. The diagram in Fig. 6 is more truly a well-decker,

and differs from the ship in Fig. 5, in that the one we are now
considering has a raised quarter-deck instead of a poop. She
has a top-gallant forecastle, a raised quarter-deck and bridge
combined, and this type was largely used in the cargo ships
Fig. 8.-" AWNING-DECK" TYPE.
employed in crossing the Atlantic Ocean. It is now especially
popular in ships engaged in the coal trade. The advantages

of this raised quarter-deck are that it increases the cubic
and makes up for the space wasted by the
capacity of the ship,
shaft tunnel. By enabling more cargo to be placed aft, it
takes away the chance of the ship being trimmed by the head.
Fig. 9.— "SHADE-DECK" TYPE.
Fig. 7 shows a " spar-decker," which is the first of the

three-deckers that we shall now mention. This was evolved
for the purpose of carrying passengers between decks. It has
a continuous upper deck of fairly heavy construction, the
bridge deck, of course, being above the spar deck. In Fig. 8
we have the "awning -decker," which has a continuous deck
lighter in character than the last-mentioned type, and like the
< s
u ^
^ "^ 5
latter, the sides are completely enclosed above the main deck.
Because of this lightness of construction, it is not customary
to add further erections above that are of any weight. Its
origin was due to the desire to provide a shelter for the ships
employed in carrying Oriental pilgrims. Later on this type
was retained in cargo-carriers. Finally, we have the " shade-
decker " as in Fig. 9, which is provided with openings at the
side for ventilation. This type is so well known to the reader
from posters and photographs, that it is scarcely essential
to say much. But we may remark that the lightly constructed
deck fitted between the poop and forecastle is supported by
round stanchions, open at the sides (as shown herewith), but
sometimes closed by light plates. It is built just of sufficient
strength to provide a promenade for passengers, or shelter

for cattle, on the upper deck. This is still a very popular type
for intermediate and large cargo steamers.
With these different types before us, we may now go on
with our main subject. Having settled the question as to
the type and character of the steamship to be built, the next
thing is to design the midship section, which shows the general
structural arrangements and scantlings of the various parts.
In the drawing-office the plans are prepared, and the various
sections of the ship worked out by expert draughtsmen attached
to the shipbuilding yard. This necessitates the very greatest
accuracy, and the building is usually specially guarded against
those who might like to have an opportunity of obtaining
valuable secrets. The plans having been worked out on paper,
there follows the " laying off " on the floor of an immense
loft, called the " mould floor," where the plans are transferred
according to the exact dimensions that are to be embodied

in the ship. In many cases the future owner insists on a
wooden model being submitted in the first instance, by the
builder, so that a fair idea may be obtained of the hull of the
proposed ship.
Each vessel is known at the shipbuilder's by a number
and not by her name. The keel is the first part of her to be
laid, which consists of heavy bars of iron laid on to blocks
ofwood called " stocks," and the line of these slants gently
down to the water's edge, so that when, after many months,

the time arrives for the launching of the great ship, she may
slide down easily into the sea that is, for the future, to be
her support. After these bars have been fastened together,
then the frames or ribs are erected, the ship being built with
her stern nearest to the water, and her bow inland, except
in the few cases (as, for example, that of the Great Eastern),
where a vessel, owing to her length in proportion to the width
of the water-space available, has to be launched sideways.
These ribs are bent pieces of steel, which have been specially
curved according to the pattern already worked out.
Let us now turn to the accompanying illustrations which
show the steamship in course of construction. These have
been specially selected in order that the reader might be
able to have before him only those which are of recent
date, and show ships whose names, at least, are familiar to
him.
The photograph opposite page 286 represents the Maure-
tania being built on the Tyne. This striking photograph shows
the floor and the double cellular bottom of the leviathan in
the foreground ; whilst in the background the frames of the
ship have been already set up. Some idea of the enormous
proportions may be obtained from the smallness of the men
even in the foreground. The next illustration represents the
5 i
Z 2 -t
Norddeutscher Lloyd liner, George Washington, and exhibits
the framing of the ship and bulkheads before the steel-plating
had been put The photograph was taken from the stern,
on.
looking forward, and one can see already the " bulge " which
is left on either side to allow for the propeller shafts. Opposite
page 290 is shown the bow end of the Berlin (belonging to
the same company) in frame, and on examining her starboard
side it will be seen that already some of her lower plates
have been affixed. Finally, opposite page 292 is shown one
of the two mammoth \Vhite Star liners in course of construc-
tion. This picture represents the stem frame of the Titanic

as it appeared on February 9th, 1910. No one can look at
these pictures %\"ithout being interested in the numerous over-
head cranes, gantries and scaffolding which have to be employed
in the building of the ship. The gantries, for instance, now
being used at Harland and Wolff's Belfast yard are much
larger than were used even for the Celtic and Cedric, and have
electric cranes, for handling weights at any part of the berths
where the ships are being built. Cantilever and other enormous
cranes are also employed. Cranes are also now used in Germany
fitted with very strong electro-magnets which hold the plates
by the power of their attraction, and contribute considerably
to the saving of labour.
Whilst the hull of the ship is being built, the engines are
being made and put together in the erecting-shop which also —
must needs have its powerful cranes and after being duly —
tested, the various parts of the engines are taken to pieces
again and erected eventually in the ship after she has been
launched. After the frames and beams are " faired " the
deck-plating is got in hand. Besides affording many advan-
tages, such as promenades and supports for state-rooms, the
deck of a ship is like the top of a box, and gives additional
strength to a ship. The illustration opposite page 292 shows
the shelter deck of the Orient liner Orsova. The photograph
was taken looking aft, on August 1st, 1908, whilst the ship
was being built at Messrs. John Brown & Co.'s yard, Clyde-
bank. The photograph is especially interesting as showing the
enormous amount of material which has to go to the making
of the steamship. But even still more significant is the
next illustration, which shows one of the decks of the
Lusitania whilst in course of construction. To the average
man it seems to be well-nigh impossible ever to get such
masses into the water.
After the plates have been all fastened by rivets to the
frames, and the outside of the ship has been given a paint
of conventional salmon pink, the time approaches for her to
be launched. During her building the ship has been resting
on the keel blocks where her centre touches, but her bilges
have been supported by blocks and shores. These latter will
be seen in the illustration of the Mauretania already considered.
As the day for launching approaches, so also does the anxiety
of the builders increase, for at no time in her career is the
ship so seriously endangered. On the day of the launch the
weight of the vessel is gradually transferred from the stocks
on which she has been built, to the cradle, being lifted bodily
from the keel-blocks by means of an army of men driving
wedges underneath her bottom. This cradle
constructed is
on the launching ways, and the ship herself, being now " cradle-
borne," is held in place only by a number of props called
" dog-shores." At the right moment the signal is given for

these to be knocked aside, and at the first symptoms of the
ship in her cradle showing an inclination to glide, the bottle
of wine is broken against her bows by the lady entrusted with

so pleasant an honour. With a deep roar the ship goes down
the ways, and as soon as the vessel becomes waterborne the
The ship herself is taken in charge by a tug,
cradle floats.
whUst numerous small boats collect the various pieces of
timber which are scattered over the surface of the water.
Two or three days before the launch, the cradle which has
been fitted temporarily in place, is taken away and smeared
with Russian tallow and soft soap. The ways themselves are
covered with this preparation after they have been well scraped
clean. In case, however, the ship should fail to start at the
critical moment after the dog-shores have been removed, it
is usual now to have a hydraulic starting ram (worked by a
hand-pump) under the forefoot of the ship. This will give
a push sufficiently powerful to start the great creature down
her short, perilous journey into the world of water which is
to be her future abiding-place.

But it can readily be imagined that such a ponderous
weight as this carries a good deal of impetus with it, and since
in most cases the width of the water is confined, precautions
have to be taken to prevent the ship running ashore the other
side —
and doing damage to herself perhaps smashing her
rudder and propellers, or worse. Therefore, heavy anchors
have been buried deep into the ground, and cables or hawsers
are led from the bows and quarters and attached thereto, or
else to heavy-weights composed of coils of chain, whose friction
over the ground gradually stops the vessel. Not infrequently

the cables break through the sudden jerk which the great
ship puts on them, and the anchors tear up the slip-way.
Perhaps as many as eight cables may be thus employed, each
being made fast to two or three separate masses of about
five to fifteen tons, but with slack chain between so that only
one at a time is started. As soon as the ship has left the ways,
all the cables become taut, and they put in motion the first
lot of drags. Further on, the next lot of drags receive their
strain, then the third, so that no serious jerk may have been
given, and the ship gradually brings up owing to the powerful
friction. Lest the force of the ship going into the water should
damage the rudder or the propeller, these, if they have been
placed in position, are locked so as to prevent free play. After
this the ship is towed round to another part of the yard where
her engines are slung into her by means of powerful cranes.
The upper structures are completed, masts stepped and an army
of men work away to get her ready for her builders' trials.
Carpenters are busy erecting her cabins, painters and decorators
enliven her internal appearance, and upholsterers add the final
touches of luxury to her saloons and lounges.
Turning now to the illustration facing page 290, we see
the Norddeutscher Lloyd Berlin just before she was launched.
The anchors and cables which will be dropped as soon as she
has floated will be seen along her port side, and the plat-
form for her christening is already in place. In the illustration

facing page 294, which shows the launch of the Royal Mail
Steam Packet Company's Araguaya, we have a good view
afforded of the ship as she is just leaving the ways and becoming
water-borne. The other illustration on the same page shows
the launch of one of those turret-ships to which reference was
made in an earlier chapter. In the picture of the Berlin will be
seen the system of arranging the steel plates in the construc-
tion of the ship, and the rivets which hold them in place.
One of the most important events of the ship's life is her

trial trip. Before this occurs the ship's bottom must be cleaned,
STERN FRAME OF THE 'TITANIC," FEB. 9. 1910.
From a P.'t^^^rafh. By firmUsiott of Missrs. Ismay, hnrU &• Or.
OF
'FOf
THE SHELTER DECK OF THE '"ORSOVA" IN COURSE OF CONSTRUCTION.
From a Pholocap/i. Fr fer»i:ssio>t of Messrs. .-Inderscn, Anderson &• Co.
ONE OF THE DECKS OF THE "LUSITANIA" IN COURSE OF CONSTRUCTION.

From a P/iofo^rap/i. By permission of the Cunard Steamship Co.
/
for a foul underwater skin will deaden the speed, and give
altogether erroneous data. The weather should be favourable

also, the sea calm, and the water not too shallow to cause
resistance to ships of high speed, while a good steersman must
be at the helm so as to keep the ship on a perfectly straight

course. Around our coasts at various localities are noticeable
posts erected in the ground to indicate the measured mile.
To obtain the correct data as to the speed of the ship, she
may be given successive runs in opposite directions over this
measured mile ; a continuous run at sea, the number of
revolutions being counted during that period, and a continuous
run past a series of stations of known distances apart,
the times at which these are passed being recorded as the
ship is abreast with them. For obtaining a " mean " sf>eed
over the measured mile, one run with the tide and one against
the tide supply what is required. During these trials, the
displacement and trim of the ship should be as nearly as possible
those for which she has been designed. But besides affording
the data which can only show whether or not the ship comes
up to her contract, these trials are highly valuable as affording
information to the builder for subsequent use, in regard both
to the design of the ship herself and the amount of horse-
power essential for sending her along at a required speed. The
amount of coal consumption required is also an important
item that is discovered. This is found as follows : Let there
be used two bunkers. The first one is not to be sealed, but
the latter is. The former is to be drawn upon for getting
up steam, taking the ship out of the harbour, and generally
until such time as she enters upon her trial proper. This
first bunker is then sealed up, and the other one unsealed,
and its contents alone used during the triaL After the trial
is ended, the fires being left in ordinary condition, the second
bunker is again sealed up, and the first bunker drawn upon.
By reckoning up the separate amounts it is quite easy after-
wards to determine the exact quantity which the ship has
consumed during a given number of knots in a given time.
Finally, after every detail has been completed, the ship is
handed over to her owners and steams away from the neighbour-
hood of her birth. Presently she arrives at her port, whence
she will run for the next ten or twenty years, and before long
she sets forth with her first load of passengers, mails and cargo
on her maiden trip across the ocean. To begin with, she may
not establish any new records for speed ; for a ship takes
time to find herself, and her officers to understand her indivi-

dualities. " Know your ship " is one of the mottoes which an
ambitious officer keeps ever before him, and if this is true
on the navigation bridge, it is even still more true down below,
where the engines will not show their fuU capabilities for
several passages at least.
But it is not merely in ship-building, but in ship-repairing
that the genius of those responsible is fully shown. Some
of the achievements which have been wrought in this way
are scarcely less remarkable than the work of building the

ship from the beginning. It would be impossible here to go
through all the historic occasions when the ship-builder's art
has been so exceptionally manifested, but it is pertinent to

our inquiry to mention some of the most interesting. One
of the most recent was the repairing of the P. & O. China,
after she had been on the rocks at Perim for several months.
The damage was so serious that Harland and Wolff had to
reconstruct her entire bottom, and the docking of her for
repairs was supposed to have been a notable engineering feat.
LAUNCH OF THE "ARAGUAYA."
Fro7n a Photograph, fty f>(rmission of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Co.
LAUNCH OF A TURRET-SHIP.
hfoin a Photograph. By ferinission o/ Messrs. Dox/ord & Sous, Sunderland,
The American liner now called the Philadelphia, of which we

gave an illustration on another page, some years ago caused
consternation by getting so far out of her course whilst pro-
ceeding down channel that she ran on to the dreaded Manacles,
south of Falmouth. Eventually she was got off, but her damage
was very great, and she had to be taken round to Belfast,
where she was practically rebuilt with an improved stem,
and entirely new engines and boilers. Since then she has
continued to ply her voyages across the Atlantic without let
or hindrance. Most readers will also remember the Scot, the
famous South African liner, which had a marvellous career

for record breaking. She was owned by the old Union Line
before they amalgamated with the Donald Currie Company.
This same vessel was taken to Belfast, placed in dock, cut
in two, and lengthened by building over 50 feet into her midship
body, and a like operation was performed on the Hamburg-
American liner, Auguste Victoria, at the same yard. The
Germans themselves in a similar way lengthened the steam-
ship Wittekind, which was taken into dock at Geestemiinde.
But without doubt the most notable case of all was that of
the White Star liner Suevic. This was a comparatively new
ship, and was on her way home from Australia via the Cape
of Good Hope, and with her tonnage of 12,531, is the largest

vessel steaming from the United Kingdom in the Australian
trade. She had entered the English Channel, but being out of
her reckoning, had the bad luck to run on to some of the
dangerous rocks off the Lizard, as many of my readers will
doubtless recollect. The illustration facing page 296, which
is taken from a photograph made at the time, shows this fine
ship in her sad predicament. Happily, it was found that only

her fore part was ashore, and after strenuous and brilliant
work, quite two-thirds of her were cut off by means of blasting,
and, not without grave peril, towed all the way up Channel
to Southampton, where this greater portion was docked, and the
present writer remembers the sad and sorrowful sight she
presented lying alongside the quay. But the firm of Harland
and Wolff, who had made her, at once set to work to build
a replica of the bow portion which had been left on the Lizard
rocks, and this, also after a perilous passage from Belfast to
Southampton, was towed round to the dock, where the other
two-thirds were awaiting. The illustrations here given show
the stern portion of the Suevic lying in dock at Southamp-
ton, with all the breakage cleared ready for the new bow,
and the replica of the forward portion just arrived from Belfast
and being warped into the dock to be joined on. The two
parts were effectively joined together —a wonderfully clever
shipbuilding achievement —and the Suevic partly modern and
partly old, has long since been restored to her original route
as a perfectly sound and satisfactory ship.
M i5
M I
O ^
THE STERN PART OF THE "SUEVIG" AWAITING THE NEW BOW
AT SOUTHAMPTON.
THE NEW BOW OF THE "SUEVIG" AT ENTRANGE TO DOGK.

Irom l'ho;o.;raflii by Reginald Silk, Portsmouth.
CHAPTER XII
THE SAFETY AND LUXURY OF THE PASSENGER
In the course of our story we have treated with less considera-

tion the aspect of luxury which, to some minds, is at once
the most obvious and most striking feature of a steamship,
whether yacht, liner, or excursion steamer. But since we set
forth not to write a treatise on marine furniture and upholstery,
but to show, step by step, how the modern steamship has
come to be what she is, it was essential that we should have
kept strictly to the main points of our task. Nevertheless,
we should have fallen short of our duty had we omitted to
give some idea of the care which is paid to make the ship
take on the dual personality of hotel and ferry. It is inevitable
that the ship in any age, whether of sail, steam or petrol,
should be influenced by the forces at work ashore. Caligula's
galleys (of which a detailed description was given in the author's
" Sailing Ships : The Story of Their Development from the
Earliest Times to the Present Day ") were not in discord with
the debasing influences at work on shore, and after due allow-
ance has been made, it cannot be regarded as a healthy sign
that modem tastes have to be catered for with such luxuriance,
and that steamship companies even go so far as to advertise
their graceful, stalwart ships as hotels. Not that one would
wish to revert to the hardships and utter discomforts which
had to be endured by the transatlantic passengers less than
a hundred years ago, when the ship, after contending against
waves and wind, at last came staggering into port to the intense
297
relief of everyone concerned. Pitching and rolling, washed
fore and aft, swept from one gunwale to the other, a hell
afloat for the timid and sea-sick, and a source of the gravest
anxiety to her officers, she was too small to be equal to her

task, too barely furnished to make life other than just tolerable.
Cooped up bad weather below, where ventilation was sadly
in
lacking ; crowded with men, women and children going out to
the New World to try their fortunes with hard, scanty sleeping
;
accommodation that was not even human in its comfort gang- ;
ways crowded with mean luggage, and no proper commissariat

department no refrigerating machinery, no preserved foods, but
;
a medley of animals on deck to be killed and consumed as

required — if they were not washed overboard by the unkindly
Atlantic seas — it was no wonder that when at last the dragged-
out agony was ended the passengers stepped ashore with firm
resolutions never more to entrust themselves to the uncertain
vagaries of the sea and its ships.
When Charles Dickens crossed in January of 1842, not then
was the experience one of delight or anything approaching
thereto. The ship on which he travelled to America was the
Cunard Britannia, bound for Halifax and Boston with the
mails. Of the other features of this early steamship we have
already spoken, but some of the impressions which Dickens
has left us regarding the comfort, or the want of it, on board
this ship are worthy of attention by those who find cause
for complaint even in the perfectly appointed travelling
Atlantic " hotels " of to-day. Something of the appearance
of his state-room may be seen by looking at the illustration
facing this here inserted by the courtesy of
page, which is
the Cunard Company. " That this state-room had been

"
specially engaged for Charles Dickens Esquire and Lady,'
'
CHARLES DICKENS'S STATE-ROOM ON THE "BRITANNIA."
/^v /•erni!ssi,nt of the Cunard SUamship Cc.
^Hi
'ê
o;'^«/7>
he remarks in his " American Notes," " was rendered sufficiently
clear even to my scared intellect by a very small manuscript
announcing the fact, which was pinned on a very flat quilt,
covering a very thin mattress, spread like a surgical plaster

on a most inaccessible shelf." He speaks of his cabin as an
" utterly impracticable, thoroughly hopeless, and profoundly
preposterous box." What he thought of the Britannia's
saloon is depicted for us in no sparing terms. " Before
descending into the bowels of the ship," he adds, " we had

passed from the deck into a long, narrow apartment, not unlike
a gigantic hearse with windows in the sides ; having at the
upper end a melancholy stove, at which three or four chilly
stewards were warming their hands ; while on either side,
extending down its whole dreary length, was a long, long
table, over each of which a rack, fixed to the low roof, and
stuck full of drinking-glasses and cruet-stands, hinted dismally
at rolling seas and heavy weather." What he would have
thought of the saloon and the state-rooms on the Maureiania,
with their glaring contrast to the accommodation on the lively
little Britannia, we need not stop to imagine. The fare in
those days from Liverpool to Boston was thirty-eight guineas.
Nowadays, for one-half that sum life on an Atlantic liner can
be pleasant and luxurious.
As steamships became bigger, the conditions of travel
became gradually more tolerable, but it was not until the
influence of the first AVhite Star Oceanic that a revolution was
made in these matters. Quite apart from the superior qualities
of her hull and engines she was more thoughtfully arranged
with a view to making the passenger's hfe at least as comfort-
able as was then thought possible. Some of these improvements
we have already noted in the course of our story, but it is
;

worth remembering that in the amelioration of the passenger's
lot the White Star Line have not been in the rear. Among
other items, they have to their credit the honour of having
originated on board ship the placing of the saloon and
passenger accommodation amidships, instead of right aft
installing electric bells, providing separate chairs in the saloon,
instead of using the old-fashioned, uncomfortable high-backed

forms, which were thought good enough for the ocean voyager ;
installing self-acting water-tight doors, supplying third-class
passengers with bedding, eating and drinking utensils —for in
olden days the emigrant had to provide not merely his own
supply of food for the voyage, but everything he required
of all sorts excepting water. It was the White Star Line
which was the first to supply an elaborate system of Turkish
baths for first-class passengers. But it was the Oceanic which
was the turning-point in steamship comfort. All else that
has since followed has been not a little influenced by this ship..
For us to go through a detailed list of the wonderful comforts,

which are obtainable on board the modern passenger steam-
ship would convey the impression of reading through an
advertisement catalogue. Already the reader is in possession
of some knowledge of the really wonderful equipment which

is to be found on the modern ocean-going steamship. Nothing
has been omitted tha,t could well have been added. Nowadays,
in spite of the extravagant waste of space which such a pro^
ceeding involves, many of the best steamships are fitted with
single-berthed state-rooms, so that to be thrust into acquaint-
anceship with a perfect stranger is no longer essential for the
whole voyage. Dickens's " preposterous box " has grown into
an exceedingly comfortable apartment, and the millionaire
may hire for the voyage the regal suite with bedrooms and
THE VERANDA GApfi OF THE " LUSITANIA.
From a Plwtoi^raplt. By partnission of lite Cunard Steaynship Co.
FIRST-GLASS DINING SALOON OF THE "ADRIATIG."

Irom a PhotO/;iaph. oj Messrs. Ismay, Imrie & Co.
By permission
OF THE
u
OF
dining-rooms, its fire-places, mirrors, sconces, bedsteads and

the rest, as perfect as in the most extravagant metropolitan
hotels in New York or London. With the ship's smoke rooms,
veranda cafes, libraries, lounges, writing rooms, orchestras,
telephones from the state-rooms, lifts from one deck to the
others, a him each morning as
newspaper printed ready for
he comes down to breakfast with the latest American and

Em-opean news transmitted to the ship over-night by wireless
telegraphy with gymnasia to keep him fit and well during
;
the voyage, with Turkish baths, a high- class cuisine, the

opportunity of dining either a la carte or table d'hote without
extra charge, whilst all the time the good ship is breaking
records each voyage to get him back to mother earth as quickly
as ever can be —what else is there left to the ingenuity of man
to devise for the increased comfort of the much-pampered and
stiU-grumbling passenger ?
The illustration facing page 300 shows the veranda cafe

just alluded to, which is placed high up in the sky on the
Lusitania. Since it faces aft, no inconvenience can be felt
through the speed at which the vessel is rushing through the

air. But who that stood on the deck of the Clermont or the
Charlotte Dundas could ever have imagined that this spacious
cafe should form just one small section of a steamship ? It
is the Germans who have to some extent set the pace within
recent years in steamship luxury. Anxious for the patronage

of the wealthy American who was accustomed to the luxurious
comforts of the best hotels, the German- American lines began
to lead the way in showing that the steamship could be made
as glorious within as any shore building, notwithstanding the
restrictions necessarily laid upon an object that is subjected
to the buffetings of wind and wave. Low ceilings gave way
to high ; was conquered by ornate decoration, and
simplicity
this in no vulgar but an exceedingly artistic manner. Stereo-
typed arrangements of saloons and cabins gave way to some-
thing more in accordance with the requirements of good taste
and elaborate comfort. A free use of applied art by the highest
craftsmen in paintings, carvings and so on ; magnificence
in place of more or less ample comfort —these have been the
principles which have actuated the Teutonic internal steam-
ship arrangements ever since the 'nineties. The Kaiser Wilhelm
der Grosse came as a sensation in this respect, and in regard
to her decorations alone was the handsomest vessel in the

world. The rise of German prosperity, and, therefore, the
appearance of what economists demonstrate to be the immediate
sequel —an instant desire to expend money in all sorts of
self-indulgence — ^has been followed by a readiness on the part

of the steamship companies to put forth the greatest material
comfort that is practicable on board ship. German decorative
art was in a peculiarly happy position to be able to supply
all that was necessary to make a steel tank resemble a palace.
Conventional dolphins and anchors were ousted by mosaics
and exquisite woodwork, and a new sphere for what was
original, but yet suitable, in art was opened. On such ships
as the George Washington and the Berlin it is possible to regard
a standard of applied art which cannot be easily equalled, still
less surpassed by anything of the kind ashore. It was the

German ships which were the first away from the
to break
convention of the long tables which divided up the saloon,
and to introduce a number of round tables more in accordance
with the interior of a modern restaurant. And what has
been found to be best in this respect in the German ships has
not been long in being copied in the rival national lines.
DINING SALOON OF THE S.Y. "LIBERTY."
GYMNASIUM OF THE S.Y. "LIBERTY."

Frotfi Photograf*hs by 11'. ,7. KirJb &• Sons, Cowes.
UBR4^X
OF th
^nive fîSlry
Of
The White Star Adriatic, whose saloon is shown opposite

page 300, in addition to her many elements of floating luxury,
has a number of other features which are notable for any
steamship. Besides her hfts, she has a large Turkish bath
establishment and a salt-water bath big enough to swim in.
Like some of the German ships, she has also a gymnasium

under the direction of a competent instructor, where one can
enjoy saddle exercise, or practise rowing mechanically. There
are also electric light baths and an orchestra of skilled musicians.
But even these un-shippy features are not confined to the
big steamers,and the illustrations opposite page 302 show
respectively thegymnasium and the dining-saloon of the steam
yacht Liberty, one of the most modern and luxurious yachts,
which is owned by Mr. Pulitzer, the well-known American
millionaire newspaper proprietor.
But if the luxury of human desires is catered for on ship-
board, so also is personal life. Infectious disease has to be
provided against, especially in the case of ships carrying
emigrants. Dispensaries and hospitals are carried, with their
proper equipment, and it is not so long since the world was
thrilled by the announcement that on one of the swiftest
mail liners a case of appendicitis manifested itself, and had
to be attended to without delay. When the moment arrived
the engines of the great ship were stopped in mid-Atlantic
while, with great courage and admirable nerve, the surgeon
performed successfully the delicate operation on the unfortunate
man.
So also, in a manner entirely different, is the safety of the
passengers provided for, and to an extent that is not excelled
even by the fine railway systems on land. With two or
three thousand souls on board, all of whom could be sent into
eternity in a few minutes, besides large quantities of cargo
and precious mails, it is no wonder that not a thing is omitted
that could conduce to the most efficient preservation of life
and matter. From

the safety valves of the engines to the
elaborate apparatus on the navigating bridge, the word " safe-
guard " is spelled out in every single detail. Some of the
more important essentialswe have already spoken about, but
there are others that we must not omit to mention, which find
a place in the up-to-date steamship. Besides the duplicate
steering gear, the elaborate system of water-tight doors, water-
tight double-bottoms, powerful pumping engines, the life -boats,
life-buoys, and life-belts — ^the first of these being placed as

high as possible, so that, in case of emergency, they are as
far above the water as can be —there is a fire alarm installation
which leads to the bridge-house, and a highly efficient fire-
extinguishing apparatus. With the introduction of electric
light in place of oil lamps no doubt the dangers of fire have

been minimised ; but the hold and the bunkers must needs
be kept well ventilated. On the German liners and on the
Fall River Line steamboats electric thermostats are distri-
buted over the principal parts of the ship and connected with
an electric fire-alarm system extending to every part of the
crew's quarters, which enable the extinguishing apparatus' to
be set working at once. Gas generated from chemicals which
together possess great extinguishing virtues, is introduced into
burning hold or bunker by means of an engine, so that one
of the deadliest enemies of a ship at sea is not merely capable
of control, but even of extinction.
Having regard to the speed at which steamships are now
compelled to traverse the oceans, it is essential that all the
recognised facilities for accurate navigation are taken advantage

of in the modern liner. To prevent any possibility of mistake
the engine-room telegraph is provided with a means of replying,
so that the commander is able to tell whether the order has
been understood. Further still, an apparatus informs him
whether the order has been correctly carried out, and in the
event of any of these complicated mechanisms breaking down,
the speaking tube is still available. Speed indicators to register
the number of revolutions made by the screws, mechanical
logs, and deep-sea sounding machines, Morse signalling lamps,
powerful sirens (especially useful in fog when in the vicinity

of other shipping and the coast), are all now employed to give
to the ship a safe and speedy passage, and to relieve the

anxieties of the over- burdened modern captain.
But in two respects especially has electricity within the
last few years shown itself to be of the greatest service to the
ship at sea. Taking them in the reverse order of their chronology,

there is first of all the system of submarine signalling so
recently installed. This takes advantage of the fact that
water is a conductor of sound, and with a speed more than
four times quicker than air. In the case of fog overtaking a
steamer approaching land, or the vicinity of a channel marked
by buoys or hghtships, it is possible to obtain warning by
sound when sight is denied, and this at a distance of four or
five miles. The submarine bell is attached to buoy or light-
ship, whilst the receiving apparatus is attached to the interior
of the ship's hull at the bows. From there the signals are
conveyed to the chart-house by means of telephones. One
receiver is placed on each bow inside the plating of the ship
between the keel and the water-line, so that the bell may be
located on either side. A very interesting instance of the
utility of submarine signalUng was afforded recently in the
case of the Kaiser Wilhelm II., which, owing to a dense fog,
was anchored off Cherbourg. Her tender was awaiting her
just outside the harbour, and sounded her submarine bell to
indicate the direction to be steered in order that the big liner
might make port. At a distance of no less than fifteen miles
away the Kaiser Wilhelm II. picked up the signals by her

and was enabled to
receivers, find her way into the French
harbour by this means alone.
Stillmore wonderful is the invention of wireless telegraphy,
which has come to the ship as the greatest blessing and boon
within recent years. With the general principles of its working
the reader is, no doubt, already familiar, and the present
volume need not enlarge upon them, but the accompanying illus-
tration will be found interesting as showing the Marconi room

with a telegraphist at work on a Cunarder. For a distance of
2,000 miles from Liverpool wireless connection can be main-

tained between the ship and the shore, whilst passing liners
many miles apart are enabled to communicate with each other
to their mutual benefit and safety. Whilst these pages are being
printed a transatlantic wireless service has been instituted
between Europe and America, and it is indisputable that the
next naval war will be considerably influenced by the employ-
ment of wireless gear on board battleships, cruisers, scouts,
and the bigger mosquito craft. Of the invaluable aid which
already the wireless system has been to the steamship in peace
we could give countless instances had we the space ; but the
following will suffice to show its utility within the last two or
three years. On May 28th, 1907, the German liner Kaiser
Wilhelm der Grosse, whilst on her voyage was enveloped in
a dense fog and passed, without sighting, close to another

steamer sailing in the same direction. The German ship.
THE MARCONI ROOM ON A CUNARD LINER.
From a PhotOi;rafh, By ffrtnission of the Cunard Sttamship Co
—

however, heard the other's sirens, and knowing that the Cunard
Caronia was on the same track, and might run some chance
of collision with the unseen vessel, the German captain sent
a wireless message to the Caronia, and two hours and a half
later received a reply from the latter which showed that the
third steamer was on the Cunarder's course, and might have
been a danger to her.
A clear case of the avoidance of costly salvage was afforded
in April, 1910, when the Allan liner Carthaginian, which had
left Liverpool a week earher for St. John's, Newfoundland,
was disabled owing to the breaking of a piston-rod.
at sea
She was able by means of her " wireless " to inform the same
owners' Hesperian of her mishap, and the latter received the
news when a hundred miles west of Malin Head, County
Donegal. The Hesperian thereupon went to her sister's assist-
ance, and took the ship, with her 800 emigrants on board, in
tow for the Clyde. Still more interesting is the thrilling rescue
which was obtained from the sinking Kner Kentucky by the
Alamo, which took place in February, 1909. The following
statement, taken from a daily newspaper of the time, needs
no embeUishing, and the simple facts speak once more
for the triumphant victory which the new telegraphy has
obtained over some of the terrors with which the sea is inevit-
ably associated :
" A full statement obtained to-day from Mr. W. F. Maginnis,

the operator in the Kentucky, who sent the wireless message
received by the Alamo, is a most dramatic narrative. The
wireless telegraphic apparatus was installed in the Kentucky
just before her departure on a 14,000-mile cruise round Cape
Horn, and to it forty-five men owe their lives.
"Early on Friday morning, during a heavy storm, the
engineer informed Mr. Maginnis that the ship was doomed.
An hour later Mr. Maginnis got into wireless communication
with the Alamo, then about ninety miles away, but not until
noon was it possible for the captain to get an exact observation
of his position.
" '
Half an hour before that,' says Mr. Maginnis, '
the
electrician came to me and said that the water was creeping
up and that the dynamo power would soon be lost. All hands
were then directed to abandon all other work and devote
themselves to keeping the water away from the dynamo.
The turbine engine and dynamo were wrapped in canvas and
power was thus preserved until the vital message was des-
patched.'
" When the Alamo at 3.30 p.m. reached the Kentucky, the
deck of the sinking vessel was almost awash. The crew, despite
the high seas, were rescued by the boats without mishap, and
when they had clambered on board the Alamo they immediately
gave three cheers for Mr. Maginnis.
" The Kentucky was insured for £14,000. Her seams opened
wide during the storm."
CHAPTER XIII
SOME STEAMSHIP PROBLEMS
I have left till the end of the story the consideration of

some of those points which, though of the highest interest
to many who are anxious to know something of the intimate
character of the steamship, may seem to some readers to
possess a special rather than a general concern. However, now
that I have shown the manifold manner in which the steam-
ship has advanced from a thing of scorn to a vessel of admira-
tion, and have indicated as far as possible within the limitations
at my ways and means that have brought this

disposal the
about, we may moments
pertinently stop to consider for a few
some of the problems which still have to be encountered even
to-day, when naval architecture and marine engineering have
attained to such heights of perfection. I shall, endeavour,
as, indeed, has been my aim throughout the course of this

volume, to make myself perfectly clear without the employ-
ment of more technicalities than may be necessary. To the
reader who may happen to form one of that large class who
regard the ship, whether propelled by sails or by steam, with
an admiration that verges on affection, I need offer no
apology ; for no one can possibly reverence the ship and,
at the same time, be content to remain in ignorance about
her complex nature.
Perhaps there is no feature of the steamship which is less
suspected of being misunderstood than the propeller. To the

average mind, its character is apparently so self-evident as
u* 309
barely to require any unusual consideration. But its introduc-
tion as a means of ship-propulsion has been the cause of a
good deal of miscomprehension, and has set to work the keen
brains of some of the most able mathematicians in order to
determine the exact relation which it bears towards the ship
and the manner in which it is capable of being used for the
greatest good, and with the utmost economy. Here and there
in the course of the narrative I have hinted at some of these
problems, but in order not to break up the continuity of
the story, I deemed it best to defer until now the fuller
presentation of the subject. It is not necessary to remark

that the propeller's function is, by means of its revolutions,
to drive the ship ahead, and to overcome the resistance which
encounters the hull. Besides the skin friction, the eddy-
making, and the wave-making, there is also the resistance of the
air. Now let us suppose for a moment that instead of pro-
pelling itself ahead by its own engines and screws, a liner
were to be taken in tow by a powerful tug-boat. It would
follow then that the pull required to cause the liner to go
through the water would be equal to those total entities of
resistance which we have just enumerated. But let the tug

be castoff, and allow the liner to start her engines and proceed
by means of her propellers. The above resistance now becomes
augmented by the resistance of the propellers. The reason is
that the propeller causes a suction which tends to pull the ship
back.
It is a striking fact that about one quarter of the propeller's
work is wasted in friction, and slip. (By " slip " is meant the
loss caused through the yielding of the water at the propeller,
and the screw not progressing to the full extent of its pitch.)
In designing the screw for a steamship, due regard must be paid

to the amount of horse-power which the engines are to generate

and the speed at which the vessel is to travel, but whether the
inward- or outward-turning propeller is the more efficient
has not yet been satisfactorily determined by experts, though
the probability would seem to be with the outward-turning
screws. An instance of this was recently afforded by one of
the leading firms of ship-builders in this kingdom who had been
commissioned to construct a vessel 300 feet long, with a speed
of between 18 and 19 knots. The owner, who was a scientist,
particularly stipulated that the ship's propellers should be

inward-turning, and was very positive of the advantages which
would thus accrue. The builders, however, arranged the
engines in such a manner that they could be driven either
way with equal ease. After they had tried turning inwards,
they tried outward-turning, and reversed the propellers with
a decidedly satisfactory result. The same conclusion has also
been arrived at by Professor W. S. Abell, who asserts that all
his experience goes to prove that greater hull efficiency is
obtained by outward-turning propellers. In this connection

I might quote the case of the steam yacht Niagara II.,
which was built some years ago in the United States. She
was about 250 feet long, with a displacement of 2,000 tons,
and her deadwood aft was not cut off. Information was
obtained through two six-hour trials under similar conditions,
except that her screws were interchanged from side to side,

so that they were inward-turning on the first trial, and outward-
turning on her second. Notwithstanding that greater horse-
power was used when the inward-turning propellers were
employed, yet the latter did not give the ship the same amount
of speed as when they were made to turn outwards. Indeed,
the speed of the inward was found to average 12*8 knots.
whereas the outward-turning screws gave an average of 14'12
knots. It is in the department of the propeller that fuller
information is awaited with an enthusiasm that belongs to
no other branch of naval architecture.
When we speak of a steamship as being of such a tonnage,
we do not always thereby convey a correct idea as to her size,
for there is a decided difference between one kind of tonnage
and another. When we say a vessel displaces so much water,
we know that her weight is exactly that amount of tons ; but
the tonnages which are given in a vessel's certificate after being
surveyed are of a totally different character. The Board of
Trade recognises three measurements of tonnage. First of
all, comes the under-deck tonnage. The " tonnage-deck " is
the second deck from below when the ship has more decks
than one, and the length for the purposes of tonnage-measure-
ment is taken along this deck. This length is divided into a
number of equal parts, and the transverse sectional areas
are found, deductions being allowed for the thickness of the
ceilings. The gross tonnage of a ship consists of the under-
deck tonnage plus the tonnage of all the closed-in spaces above
the tonnage-deck, excepting the spaces fitted with machinery,
wheel-house, shelter for deck passengers, galleys and w.c.'s.
If the poops, bridges and forecastles are fitted with doors or
some other means of closing them permanently, they have

to be measured into the gross tonnage but if they are not
;
of a permanent character, they are exempt. Thus, the gross

tonnage of a steamship might include the under-deck tonnage,
the space between decks, the poop, the bridge, the forecastle,
the captain's and the officers' quarters, the chart-room, the
light and air space, and so on.
But the net register tonnage will be ascertained by making
"
certain allowed deductions, which include the space taken up

for propelling power, the quarters of the crew, and of the
captain, as well as the chart-room, the boatswain's store-room,
and the water-ballast spaces. As instancing the curious results
which are obtainable from the different measurements for

reckoning tonnage, Mr. A. L. Ajtc, in his " British Shipbuilding,"
gives the interesting comparison of a particular steamship
according to her var}Tng tonnage- Thus the ship in question
has an imder-deck tonnage of 550, whilst her gross tonnage

worked out at 980, and her net register tonnage at 360. It
is not generally known perhaps that the complicated system

of arriving at the net register tonnage gives opportunity for
strange and amusing effects. Owing to the difference between
the actual engine-room in a steamer and the theoretical engine-
room, it is not only possible to build a ship with a negative
tonnage, but this has actually occurred in the case of a certain
tug, and was referred to in the report of the Royal Conmiission
on Tonnage, 1881. The present writer was recently aboard
a new 20-ton yacht, in which the owner had been fortimate
enough to persuade the authorities to get the measurements
down so low that the net register tonnage came out at a ludi-
crously low figure. Internally, nothing was more conspicuous
than her roominess, which was of a quite exceptional character.
The vessel was a two-masted sailing craft, but supplied also
with an auxiliary motor, which did not detract from the roomi-
ness of the ship, since it was placed out of the way underneath
the companion ladder. However, by the time the deductions
had been made for " engine-room " space, " chart-room
(which was really the comfortable and spacious main cabin),
and sundry other items, the size of the yacht had theoreticaUy
shrunk from 20 tons to something almost insigniiioant, and
the consequence was that this bold vessel was able to escape
with harbour dues as low as yachts of one quarter of her own
tonnage. Not long since a humorist saw fit to write an amusing
yarn, in which he depicted a certain individual who, smarting
under what he believed were excessive harbour dues, determined
at length to get even with the authorities, and finally had
built a steam vessel rather on the lines of the screw tug than
the usual steam yacht. Roominess was not the owner's
objective ; all he wanted was just as much space for himself
as was comfortable. But he sub-divided the rest of the ship
into a large space for her engines and boilers, as well as auxiliary
engines to drive capstans, together with a roomy forecastle

for the crew. own cabin was clearly
His marked on the plan
as " Captain's Cabin." Finally, after the vessel was launched,
and the internal capacity of the hull, as well as the spaces
occupied by the machinery and the crew, had been deducted
so as to obtain the net register tonnage, it was found that
instead of coming out at so much net register, the figures
showed that she was minus 7 tons ! Consequently, the owner
used to protest every time he was charged with harbour dues,
that instead of being called upon to pay, it was really the
harbour authorities who owed him. After this, it is not

surprising to learn that the name of the vessel was the Euome.
I do not suggest for a moment that this story is anjrthing but
mythical, but it is sufficiently illustrative of what may occur
when the tonnage measurement rules are in a state of such
confusion.
It will be readily understood that it is of the utmost import-
ance that regard be paid to the stability of the steamship,
and herein is presented another of those problems which have
to be taken into account and solved as easily as may be. Now,
a vessel loses a great deal of her stability when she carries
loose in her hold oil in bulk, grain, rice, and such movable
cargoes. A similar effect is produced, of course, by the amount
of free water in her tanks. For unless these features of danger
are guarded against, it when the ship is inclined
follows that
to one side or the other by wind or wave, the cargo will cause
the ship to have a worse list, and there may be some chance
of her not regaining her proper trim, and turning turtle alto-
gether. It is not so very long since a well-known cross-channel
steamer which had set out for this country disappeared during
the course of her voyage, and never a man hved to say how
the foundering occurred. Butwas known that when she
it
set forth a portion of her deck cargo consisted of a heavy

furniture van, and this, indeed, was seen floating about at
the time the disaster was thought to have occurred. The
conclusion generally arrived at in the minds of the best critics
was that this heavy deck cargo had caused the stability of
the ship to decrease to such an extent that when the ship

rolled excessively she was unable to avoid rolling right over.
We have already shown during the progress of our story

how the use of tanks has gradually been employed in the
ballasting of the steamship. Not merely is the double bottom
used for this purpose, but, as we mentioned, tanks are placed
between decks in the wings in certain ships. Although a
steamship, when her double bottom tanks have been filled,
becomes much strffer and possesses a greater displacement,

yet she will certainly roll more heavily, and so tend to cause
heavy bad weather. Many vessels possess also tanks

strains in
both in the fore-peak and the after-peak, which are extremely
useful for the purposes of modifying the trim of the ship.
This is especially valuable when the ship is proceeding " light,"
and has not the advantage of a weighty cargo on board to
keep the propeller well immersed. At the same time, supposing
that the after-peak tank were utilised for the purpose of
immersing the stern to a greater extent, it would also follow
that the bows would be raised fairly high above the water,
and in the case of a beam wind, the ship would not be easy
to handle, for her head would have a strong tendency to fall
off in just the same way as the man in the Canadian canoe
seated at the stern finds that considerable difficulty is met
with in steering his little craft with her bows out of the water,
and at the mercy of every puff of wind which may blow from
either side. As in other respects the ship is a compromise,
so in regard to stability. She has to be stiff, or else she will
roll right over in a sea-way ; yet she must not be too stiff, or
she will roll badly, and perhaps do herself serious harm, quite
apart from being extremely unpleasant to those who happen
to be aboard. Therefore, the aim nowadays is to give the
ship a reasonable amount of stability, and to cause her rolling
in a sea-way to be of an easy character. This is brought about

by additional ballast tanks, which not only give the ship
greater immersion and displacement (so causing greater stability),
but by raising the centre of gravity through placing additional

ballast in those 'tween -deck wing tanks that we discussed
when we were considering the cantilever ships, the tendency
of the vessel to roll is minimised. In fact, the combination of
the double-bottom tanks and the wing tanks takes away
excessive stiffness and heavy rolling, and makes the ship to
behave in an easy manner in bad weather, even without cargo
on board.
Then, again, since salt water is more buoyant than fresh,
it will follow that when a ship passes from the sea into fresh
water, her draught will be mcreased, and, therefore, there will

also be a decrease in the amount of freeboard above the water-
line, and, consequently, the range of stability becomes less
also.
Perhaps, like the propeller, the rudder also has been granted
too scanty a consideration by most general readers, although
its action is of the greatest interest. First of all, we must
remember that the rudder is useless in the case of still water ;
that is to say, the ship must be going ahead or astern and not be
stationary, and the speed of the vessel must be greater or less
than that of the water. Thus, when a ship is riding to her

anchor in a tide-way, the rudder is operative, and the vessel
can be steered across the stream ; but supposing she were
and had with her a 4-knot
to be steaming at the rate of 4 knots,
tide, she would not answer her helm. We mentioned at an
earlier stage that the ship when going ahead caused a column
of water to follow after her.The screw itself drives a column of

water astern, and must be obvious that these masses
it
of water must act on the rudder of the ship, and so on her

steering. Thus, the column of following water causes a decrease
in the and so makes the rudder less
pressure on the rudder,
operative. The column of water, however, which is driven
astern by the propeller will cause a greater pressure on the
rudder, and thus it is possible for steamships propelled by a
screw to use a small rudder, and by cutting away the deadwood
of the ship just forward of the rudder, the latter is less inter-
fered with by the hull, and the steering qualities are improved.
We quoted just now the expert opinions that better speed is
obtained when the screws are outward turning rather than

inward. The outward-turning screws also give superior steering
results in the case when the screws are placed near the hull.
though when the propellers are well out, this is not so notice-
able. If one desires to have a ship which shall turn quickly
this characteristic is obtained by cutting away the deadwood
aft, and also the ship's forefoot. An extreme instance of this
is found in the case of a centre-board sailing craft, which, as
anyone who has handled her knows full well, will turn round
with a remarkable and surprising celerity.
There are two types of inidders fitted to steamships. These

consist of the ordinary kind when the rudder is hung at its
forward edge, and the balanced type which has part of its
area forward of its axis. An example of the former will be

found in the case of the White Star Laurentic, while the
Mauretania and Lusitania each has a balanced rudder. Since
it is necessary to the rudder that to obtain steerage effect
there must be the motion of the ship through the water, or a
flow of water past the rudder, so that an excess of pressure
may be obtained on one side of the latter, it is possible for
the steamship to possess steerage way actually before she

has obtained motion ; for the propeller race brings this about
in an effective manner. The advent of the twin-screw system
was responsible for a material increase in the turning possi-
bilities of the ship, an advantage which was much appreciated
when already the steamship had attained such enormous
dimensions in regard to length. Thus, for example, supposing
a twin-screw steamship wishes to turn quickly to port, she
can do this by starboarding her helm, putting her port engines
astern, and her starboard engines ahead. The advantage of
the balanced type of rudder just mentioned is that it is easier
to put over than the ordinary type, but it demands that the
deadwood of the stern should be considerably cut away.
It is only comparatively recently that the full importance
which it deserves has been granted to the naval architectural

experimental tank, but these interesting objects are now
becoming more numerous, and yielding most valuable data
on which to work. Fifty years ago naval architecture in Great
Britain was certainly not on a scientific basis, and it was to
France that we had to look for the leadership in these matters.
But ever since the founding of the Institution of Naval Architects,
and such men as Scott Russell, Sir Edward Reed and others
led the way, scientific shipbuilding began to advance in this
country. The results are evident in the shipbuilding history

of our Royal Na^'y, as well as in the excellence of our splendid
merchant fleets. In elucidating the many problems connected
with ship architecture the experimental tank is now taking
even a more prominent place than hitherto, and the recent
opening of the National Experimental Tank at Bushey, where
research will be carried on continuously without interference
from commercial considerations, is deserving of the warmest
congratulations. One of the most important tanks in the
world is that owned by Messrs. John Brown and Co., Ltd.,
at their Clydebank works. Indeed, it may be said that no
feature of this important yard is more deserving of interest.
The tank is 400 feet long and 20 feet wide, with a depth of
8 to 9 feet. At the end of the tank, where the models are
worked, are dry and wet docks for trimming these little ships,
which are sometunes as large as 20 feet long. The latter are
made of wax, carefully moulded, and their weight is auto-
matically registered. There is an over-head rail for removing
the models from one place to another, while the carriage from
which the model is towed through the water runs on rails fixed
on each side of the concrete walls of the tank, and is driven
by electricity. At about the centre of the main tank building
there is an observation room which is used for photographic
purposes. Messrs. John Brown and Co. themselves have
admitted that it is owing to the valuable experiments obtained
in this tank that they have been able to design ships producing
the best results, whilst also exhibiting the maximum economy.
Mathematical theories and formulae have contributed much
to the development of the steamship, but there is a point
reached when these are of no avail for the reason that wh^n
new problems arise that cannot be solved by former experiences
and existing data, a more practical method of obtaining infor-
mation must be found. It is here that the tank comes in to
solve the difficulties at hand both as to the hulls of the ships
themselves and the character of the propellers which are to
send them through the water. Had the experimental tank
been encouraged at an earlier date, no doubt certain of the
errors which characterised some of the ships of the sea might
have been avoided. It is not enough to build a steamship
of enduring strength, and to give her the best engines of the
time ; it is also essential that she be designed in such a manner

that her propellers forge her ahead with the minimum of
resistance.
Germany and America, no less than Great Britain, are now
busying themselves with the employment of the naval experi-
mental tank, and obtain thereby so many valuable data as
to make such institutions indispensable if advance in the
science of naval architecture is to be something more than
ephemeral. The Norddeutscher Lloyd Company had such a

tank built in 1900 on the model of the one belonging to the
Royal Italian Navy at Spezia, and some description may not
be without interest. The tank is contained in a building
170 metres long and 8 metres wide. On either side of the
tank is a strong set of rails on which the towing carriage runs,

and the building contains workshops wherein the models are
constructed. The experiments are not complicated, for after
the displacement of the projected ship has been decided on,
several models of such a displacement are made from drawings
by means of an ingenious machine. These models are made
out of paraffin wax, and about 4 or 5 metres long. (A metre,
it should be remembered, is the equivalent of 1*094 English
yards.)
Presently, after they have been finished off, the models
are towed through the tank, and their resistance is measured
by a dynamometer, the automatic drum simultaneously
measuring the course and time. It should be mentioned that
it is after the models have been formed in sifted clay that they
are cast in wax as a hollow shell, the core being made of battens,
strong canvas being also employed. After the model has been
subjected to the cutting machine, it is planed and scraped by
hand to remove the excrescences of paraffin. The advantage
which the experiments made in tanks give lies in the fact that
one can thereby ascertain the resistance which the model will
encounter through the water, and consequently the amount

of effective horse-power that she will require. Granted that an
owner desires to have built a steamship of a certain displace-
ment, it follows that that amount of displacement is capable
of being embodied in numerous different shapes ; and it is
part of the work of the experimental tank to determine the

most suitable ratios of length, breadth and draught which
shall produce the ideal ship for the purpose desired. Indeed,
it may be said that it is only by means of the experiments made
in tanks that any safe and reliable method can be afforded
for attaining the desired end.
The model is made according to scale with a displacement
proportionate to that of the steamship to be built, and the
correct amount of immersion is given to the model by adding
ballast in the shape of small linen bags containing shot. In
order to obtain the measurements of the model's resistance
in the water, it is placed under the carriage which bears the
measuring instruments for indicating both the resistance of
the model, and the thrusting and twisting stresses of the model
screws. It should be explained that the carriage is moved
by motors which derive their current from accumulators,
and it is possible, by regulating the accumulators, to obtain
over 400 different speeds. The advantage of this in studying
the wave formation which the models set up is of the highest
importance. To be able to ascertain how much resistance
the model sets up at lesser and higher speeds is a great gain,
and in no respect is this information more valuable than when
experiments are being made with a view to high-speed torpedo
boats ; but as this kind of craft does not come within our
present scope, we must pass on.
We may turn now from some of the more technical problems
incurred by the steamship to a consideration of some of those
which are of a more practical nature. It is just because the
ship has in modern times taken on a dual character become —
something else besides a sea-craft— ^that the possibilities of
any accident occurring to her have increased tremendously.
It is obvious that so long as you retain simplicity, there is
not much chance offered for accident ; but as soon as you begin
to make the ship a mass of complications, then instantly there
arise on every side facilities for mishap of some sort or another.
Fractured shafts are happily of rare occurrence, but when
they happen at all they are naturally far worse for the single-
screw ship than the -essel havmg two or more propellers.

When a connecting rod or piston-rod breaks the matter is
serious, for it is not advisable to attempt repairing the same

at sea, since unless the thing is done quite effectively, there
is danger of the rod giving way again, and if the piston were
to be disconnected suddenly from the crank, it would smash
the engine. The first time that a tail-shaft was ever repaired
at sea was in October of 1900, when the chief engineer of the
s.s. Athena successfully brought about so [interesting an achieve-
ment, and a similar feat was performed about five years later
on the s.s. Milton, so that the ship was able to steam at the
rate of a hundred miles per day.
But a far more difficult and rarer task was that of the chief
engineer of the s.s. Matoppo, who for the first time on record
actually renewed the blades of the propeller at sea. This
would be no mean performance in the case of fair weather, but,
as it happened, there was a high sea running at the time, and
the work was rendered both difficult and dangerous. One
of the most tiresome accidents occurs when the steamship
loses her rudder, or becomes so much damaged as to be
it
unserviceable. In the case of a twin-screw ship, as we have

already intimated, the consequences are not necessarily serious,
and ships have succeeded in making long passages steering by
means of their two propellers. But in the case of a single-
screw ship the carrying away of the rudder is of greater con-
sequence, and it becomes necessary to rig up a jury rudder
as well as possible. This consists in towing astern a spar which
is attached to either quarter of the ship by means of hawsers.
An interesting experience is related by Commander W. H.
Owen, R.N.R., who at the time of the following incident was
in command of a screw steamer of about 1,200 tons. \Vhen
about 600 miles south-west of the Lizard, his ship had the
misfortune to carry away her rudder. A jury rudder was
rigged up in the usualway by fashioning a big steering oar
out of the heaviest derrick which the ship possessed, bolting
together iron plates at the outside end, and weighted below
so as to keep the blade vertical. From the end steel hawsers
were led in through outriggers to the steam winch. This aU
took time, and was a day and a quarter before the arrange-
it
ment was fixed up. When it was finally put into place, it
only lasted a few minutes, for the first scend of the ship smashed
the whole thing. Other means had, therefore, to be employed,
and the ship was eventually steered into Falmouth, where tem-
porary repairs were effected, the vessel then proceeding to
Southampton, where a new rudder was made. Commander
Owen adds that he considers the best possible arrangement,
if such an accident should occur, to be as follows ; —A heavy
spar should be lashed to as much chain cable as the spar can
sustain while yet keeping afloat, the bights of cable being
allowed to hang down in lengths of about two fathoms, thus
forming practically a solid sheet of iron, the bights of the
cable being lashed close together by smaller chain. The con-
trivance is then towed astern of the ship from the quarters,
sufficient scope being given to allow the spar to clear the
counter as the vessel pitches or scends, the controlling being
effected by means of steel hawsers attached to the other end
of the spar, and led through outriggers to a steam winch.
Another kind of disaster which may overcome the steam-
ship is that of fire. Owing to the frequency of this species of
calamity, the conamittee of Lloyd's some seven years ago
instituted a special inquiry into the matter, and after examining
no fewer than 627 cases of fire on ships, it was found that
as many had occurred while the ship was in port thus
as 403 ;
only about one-third of the instances happened while the

ship was at sea. In most cases there was no evidence to show
the cause of these fires, but since it was ascertained that many
of the outbreaks occurred while the ship was discharging or
loading cargo, was thought that a closer supervision over
it
the use of lights and a more stringent prevention of smoking

in the holds would give more satisfactory results.
The use of water and steam as fire extinguishers is frequently

abortive, and causes unnecessary damage to the cargo ; but
nowadays there are scientific appliances which are much more
effective for extinguishing outbreaks that may occur on board
ship, and these are recommended for use at the ports and
docks. In 1906, the New Zealand Government appointed a
Royal Commission to inquire into the causes of fires occurring
on ships which carry such commodities as wool, flax and tow.
Besides recommending that every ship engaged in the
carrying trade of this nature should be fitted with a chemical
fire-extinguishing system, the Commission reported that the
cause of fire in the case of flax and tow would seem to have
been usually other than that of spontaneous combustion,
but the very nature of these articles makes them especially
liable to fire from extraneous causes. With regard to wool,
however, there was evidence for supposing that spontaneous
combustion does take place.
A steamship problem of an entirely different nature is
that which concerns the commissariat department. In the

olden days, when travellers were accustomed to remember
that they were voyaging on a ship, matters were fairly simple
and straightforward ; but now that the ship has become a
floating hotel, and the passenger expects to live quite as well
;

as, if not more luxuriously than, on shore, the problem of
being able not merely to feed two or three thousand people
for a week or longer, without being able to touch port, but
to supply most of the dainties which are only found in the best
equipped land restaurant has assumed large dimensions. The
days when salted meat was the staple sustenance of the sea
traveller have long since gone, and to-day even the steerage
passengers are catered for in a manner that is at least humane,
even if it is scarcely luxurious. All this has been brought about
by the influence of more comfortable living ashore, as well
as by the keen competition between the rival steamship
companies to hold out alluring incentives to the potential
passenger. The work in connection with the culinary depart-
ment has grown so enormously as to necessitate the employ-
ment of mechanical contrivances wherever possible. Thus,
for instance, on some of the Atlantic liners the coffee-mills
instead of being turned by hand, are driven by steam-engines

and electromotors. Ingenious boiling apparatuses for eggs
machines for cutting meat, for mincing, whipping cream,
straining, dish-washing and drying without the need of using
towels, making bread, water and many other purposes
filtering
are employed, and the perfection of these minor machines is
scarcely less admirable than that of the engines whose sole

service consists in propelling the ship across the ocean. Some
of the Norddeutscher Lloyd steamships have recently availed
themselves of a new invention for carrying live fresh-water
fish, so that they may come fresh to the table. This innovation
was first made on board the Kaiser Wilhelm II. The fish-
tanks are placed on the awning deck, where ocean passengers

are able to have the singular experience of catching alive at
sea such fresh-water fish as trout, carp, pike and tench.
The ventilation of a steamship also presents a problem

that is not always capable of easy solution. Indeed, ship-
ventilation presents difficulties that do not arise in the case
of shore-buildings, and this is to an extent due to the fact

that there is only a limited space available for the ventilating
apparatus. Mechanical fans are much employed for both the
stokehold, and the quarters of the passengers, being driven
by electric motors. The efficient ventilation of the store-rooms,
which contain nowadays such quantities of perishable foods,
is also effected by this means. On cattle-ships, especially in
hot climates ; in giving air to the holds of grain ships, and, in
fact, on the steamship generally, a thoroughly capable ventilat-

ing arrangement has long since been found to be a necessity
rather than a luxury. But there is a difficulty with regard to
the ventilators themselves on board ship. If they are left
open for the air, it is also possible for some fool or criminal
to throw down a lighted match or cigarette-end, and so ignite
dangerous vapour that may be below deck. After the disastrous

fire on the liner Sardinia when off Malta, in 1909, the Board
of Trade inquiry made clear the cause of the catastrophe,
namely that inflammable matter had succeeded in reaching
the cargo space where chemical action had generated dangerous
vapours. There was only one way in which fire could have
reached this dormant danger, and that was by means of the
ventilators. The reader will probably recollect that the ship
was carrying Moorish pilgrims at the time, and that they
had been cooking food at one of their braziers, and some believe
that a hot cinder was blown down a ventilator and so arrived
in the hold, with the result that is now common knowledge.
The possibility of such a thing occurring again, however, is
now obviated by a patent weather-proof ventilator, which is

so constructed that access to the holds cannot be reached
by anything else than air. Neither rain nor sea can get down,
still less any inflammable matter.
Thus, one by one, problems arise to thwart the hand of

man, but only to be overcome by the latter through patience
and the knowledge which comes after much thought and
actual experience. Not merely in seaworthiness, nor in the
mattier of speed, has the steamship reached what even the
most blase must call the limit, but the same enterprising spirit
which has brought this about has also provided that comfort
is also of an importance that demands the most detailed
attention. WTiether in return for all this care and trouble
the passenger is proportionately grateful is another question
altogether.
j ; s
INDEX
Aaron Manby, the, 132 97 ; early fares, 100 ; Liverpool
A. L. Shotwell, the, 260 —New York route, 10 1 the
;
AbeU, Prof. W. S., 311 Royal William, 10 1-2 the British

;
Aberdeen Line, 216 Queen, 102 ; inauguration of

Acadia, the, 107 mail service, 105-7 the Britan- ;
Admiral de Ruyter, the, 237 nia, 107-9; Collins Line, 118;

Admiralty, the, mail service and, the Robert F. Stockton, 119;
105, no, 114; use of bulkheads Scotia's record, 129 Inman Line ;
and, 156 and mail service, 224 ;

; competition, 148 ; Cimard com-
and mails to Channel Islands, 227 petition, 149 records of City of
;
Adriatic, the, 179, 206-7, 208, 303 Paris, Russia, and City of Brus-
African Steamship Co., 216 sels, 149 ; White Star competi-
Alamo, the, 307 tion, 154-5 Britannic' s record,
;
Alexandra, the, 27 155; City of Berlin's record, 155;

Allan Ivine : introduction of turbine Guion Line competition, 155 ;
into Atlantic service, 190 foun-
; Servia's record, 157; records of
dation of, 216 Umbria and Etruria, 159; com-
Allen, John, method of propelling petition of 'eighties, 165 Majes- ;
boats by, 27 ; and lifeboats, 254 tic' s and Teutonic's records, 169 ;
America, early steamboats of, 44 ; Lucania's and Campania's re-

steam navigation in, 60, 63 cords, 171 ; German competition,
development of steam engine in, 173,1 79, 1 80 ; Kaiser Wilhelm II.'
88 river steamers of, 258 lake
; ; record, 180 ; Allan Line and tur-
steamers of, 264 bines, 190 ; records of iVfaj^re/ania
American Line, 165, 173, 220 andLM5i/ama,204; Royal Line,2i7
Amerika, the, 207 Atlantic Transport Line, 220
Anchor Line, 216, 220 Atmospheric engine, invention by
Anglia, the, 222 Papin of, 22
'Arabic, the, 179 Auguste Victoria, the, 295
Araguaya, the, 292 Austral, the, 162
Archimedes, steam power and, 19 Australia, inauguration of steam
Archimedes, the, 120-1, 123, 124 service to, 116
Argyle, the, 84 Australian Royal Mail Steam Navi-
Arizona, the, 155, 156 gation Co., 131
Armstrong, Mitchell & Co., 243 " A\vning-deck " type, 286
Asturias, the, 229 Ayre, A. L. " British Shipbuild-
:
Atalanta, the, 228 ing," 313

Athena, the, 323
Atlantic, steamships on, 91, 96 the ; Baird, Charles, 86
Sirius, 96-7 ; the Great Western, "Balanced" rudders, 318
V** 329
9 ;
330 INDEX
Ballast, questions of, 315 British Queen Steam Navigation
Ballin, Herr, 212 Co., 97
Balmoral Castle, the, 2 1
" British shipbuilding," by A. L.
Baltic, the, 167, 193, 194,207 Ayre, 313
Barlow, Joel, association with Ful- Brown, John, & Co., 319
ton, 49 Brunei the Great Western, 97
:
Beam engine, 36 ; development and the Great Britain,

123 the
;
adaptation, 87 ;of American Victoria, 131Great Eastern, 139

;
river boats, 262 ;

" Bucket " dredger, 239
Bell,Henry, and Symington, 55 ; Building of ships, 282, et seq.
experiments with paddles the : Bulkheads, of Scotia, 1 29, 1 30 ; of
Comet, 78 Great Eastern, 143 of Arizona,
;
Ben-my-Chree, the, 230 155; Admiralty and, 155-6; of

Berlin, the, 209, 289, 292, 302 New York and Philadelphia, 166 ;
Bernoulli, Daniel, îZ of George Washington, 208 of;
Bessemer, the, 225 Laurentic, 210 of oil-tankers,

;
Bibby Line, 215 244 ; of Commonwealth, 263

BUge-keels, of Campania and Bulwarks, disappearance of, 152
Lucania, 171 ; of Mauretania Buenos Ayrean, the, 150
and Lusitania, 200 Bums, George, io6
Blackcock, the, 235-6, 237 Bushey, national experimental tank
Boiler, evolution of, 133; distilled at, 319
water and, 136, 167 ; " Scotch " Byrne, St. Gair, 270
type, 151
Booth Line, 216 Cables, submarine, laying of, 242-3
"Boss" of screw shaft, 210 Caird & Co., 218
Boulton and Watt, 35, 43, 59, 60, Calais-Douvres, the, 225, 226
75, 84, 88, 89, 94, 95 Caledonia, the, 84, 107
Boulton, Matthew, association with Cahgtila's galleys, 194, 297
Watt, 35 Cambria, the, 222, 225
Bourne, William, " devises " for Campania, the, 159, 170, 171, 172,
propelling boats, 15 174, 17s, 177
Bovic, the, 220 Camper and Nicholson, 278
" Box " boiler, 133 Canadian Northern Rmlway Co.,
Branca, Giovanni, discovery of ships of, 217
principle of turbine by, 20, 184 Canadian Pacific Railway, ships of,
Bridge deck, evolution of, 162, 283 ; 220
in tugs, 235, 237 Candia, the, 134, 135, 136
Britannia, the, 107, 108-9, 298 Cantilever-framed ships, 249
Britannia, the (P. &0.), 163 Car of Neptune, the, j6
Britannic, the, 153, 154 Cargo, dangerous, 243, 246
British and Foreign Steam Naviga- Car mania, the, 187, 191, 192
tion Co., 227 Caronia, the, 191, 192, 306
British and North American Royal Carthaginian, the, 307
Mail Steam Packet Co., 107 Castalia, the, 225, 226
British East India Co., 216 Castle Mail Packets Co., 216
British Queen, the, 97, 102, 103 Cedric, the, 178, 179, 289
;
INDEX 331
Celtic, the, 147, 178, 289 " Cofl5n-brigs," 105
Ceoic, the, 220 Collier,improvements on, 250
Channel Islands, boat services to, CoUins line, 118, 173, 216
227 Columbia, the, 107
Charlotte Dundas, the, 46-8, 55, Comet, the (i), 48; building, 78;
78, 301 engines, 79 commercial failure,
;
Chester and Holyhead Railway Co., 80 wreck of, 82

; boiler of, 133 ;
ships of, 222 Comet, the, (2), 82

China, the, 150, 294 Commonwealth, the, 261, 262
" Chronological History of the Compagnie Transatlantique, 212
Origin and Development of Compound engine, principle of, 117
Steam Navigation," by Admiral Condenser, invention of, 135 ; sur-
Preble, 30 face, 136, 167 ; of Great Eastern,

Churchyard, 'Six., and mail contract, 141
224 Continental routes, 223
City Line, 216 Copenhagen, the, 229
City of Berlin, the, 155 Cornelia, the, 269
City of Brussels, the, 149, 154 Cranes used in shipbuilding, 289
City of Cleveland, the, 264 Cross-channel service, institution
City of DubUn Steam Packet Co., of, 82, 84, 221, et seq.
loi, 124 Cunard Company foimdation of, :
City of Edinburgh, the, 93 106 early ships of, 107

; mono- ;
City of Glasgow, the, 147 poly of Atlantic, 118; adoption

City of Manchester, the, 147 of iron, and screw propellers, 128,
City of New York, the, 165 145 ; Atlantic competition, 149,
City of Paris (1), the, 148, 149, 152, 156, 170, 178 use of steel, 156 ;
;
153, 176 use of turbines, 191 ; agreement

City of Paris (2), the (Inman), 165, with Government as to Maure-
168, 178 tania and Lusitania, 196 ; new
City of Philadelphia, the, 148 ships, 212 ; Mediterranean ser-
City of Rome, the, 165, 236 vice, 220
Clarence, the, 267 Cimard, Samuel, and Royal William,
Clermont, the, 48, 60, 63 ; engines 105 ; association with Robert
of, 69 ; original drawings for, 69 ; Napier, 106 tender for steam
;
first trials of,

69 trip on Hud-
; carriage for mails, 106 British ;
son, 70 at Hudson-Fiilton cele-

; and North American Royal Mail
brations, 70 alteration of, 73 ;
; Steam Packet Co., 107 corre- ;
disappearance of, 76 engines of,

; spondence with Ross and Prim-
88 steering methods of, 89
; rose, 108
boilersof, 133, 137,238,261,301
Clydebank Works, 319 De Caus, Solomon, 7, 9, 20
Clyde, the, no Decks, evolution of, 149, 152 ;
" Clyde Passenger Steamer Its : "turtle," 153, 158, 168, 172;
Rise and Progress during the "bridge," 162; oiLucania, 172;
Nineteenth Century," by Capt. J. of Oceanic, 177 ; of Carmania,
Wilhamson, 78 191 ; of George Washington, 208 ;
Coal consumption, tests for, 293 of Balmoral Castle, 219 ; of turret-
1 ,;
;
332 INDEX
ships, 246 ; of American river EngUsh Channel, first steamer cross-
boats, 259 ; of lake steamers, ing, 82
264; of yachts, 272; types of, Enterprise, the, 94
283-287 ;construction of in Eothen, the, 269
liners, 290 Ericsson, John, screw propeller of,
Deck-cargo, dangers of, 315 119
Deck tonnage, 312 Etruria, the, 158-9, 161, 165, 212,
Decoration in modem liner, 302 235
De Garray, Blasco, early experi- Europa, the, 212-3
ments of, 14 Experimental tank, naval archi-
De Marquis, as first in-
JouflFroy, tectural, 318; national at Bushey
ventor of steamship, 8 experi- ; 319 ; at Clydebank Works, 319 ;
ments with Watt engine, 33, 40 ; Norddeutscher Lloyd, 320 ;
second steamboat of, 41, 55 Itahan, 320

De Laval, Dr. Gustav, invention of Express, the, 225
turbine, 184
Denny, William, 81 Fairy, H.M.S., 210
Desblanc, Pulton and, 56 ; experi- Falcon, the, 94
ments by, 59 Pall River Line, the, 262, 304
Deutschland, the, 198, 207, 213 Palmouth as mail port, iii
Dickens, Charles, on Atlantic pas- Faraday, the, 243
sage, 298-9, 300 Pield, Joshua, 10
" Displacement," definition of, 146 Pire, methods of extinguishing,
Donaldson Line, 216 304 ; causes of, 325 ; extin-
Dover-Calais route, first steamer guishers, 325
on, 223 Fire Fly (18 12), y6
Dredgers, variety of, 239 Fire King, the, 268
Dredging of harbours, 21 1-2 Fire Queens, the, 268
Dromedary, the, 239, 261 Pishguard, dredging at, 239
Dublin Steam Packet Co., 221 Pish-tanks on liners, 326
Dundonald, Earl of, 133 Pitch, John, association with Rum-
sey, steamboat, 44-5
44 ; first ;
Eastern Navigation Co., 139 dispute with Pulton, 46

Eclipse, the, 259, 260 Plush-decked steamship, 137, 283
Edinburgh Castle, the, 219 Ply-wheel, invention by Watt, })2,
Edmund Moran, the, 237 Forth, the, iii
Elbe, the, 174 Francis B. Ogden, the, 119
Elder & Co., John, 160, 274 Francis Smith, the, 120, 123
Electric light, first use of on liners, Franconia, the, 212
Pulton, Robert, centenary, 7
Electricity, modem service of, 305 and Desblanc, 8 ; and Rumsey,
Elizabeth, the, 86 44 ; versus Pitch, 46 ;birth :
EUerman Line, 216 visit to Prance :

" plunging-
Emperor 0} Russia, the, 86 boat " association with Living-
:
Empire, the, 261 ston, 48-9 experiments in Paris,

;
Empress, the, 226 49 loss of first boat, 52 second

; ;
Empress of Britain, the, 220 boat, 54 the Clermont, 60

;
1 ; ;;
INDEX 333
building of Clermont, 63 ; experi- Hall, Samuel, 136
ments on paddle-resistance, 65 ; Hamburg- American Line, 207, 212
construction of Clermont, 69 Harbour-deck of turret-ship, 246
first voyage of Clermont, 70 ;
of trunk-deck steamer, 248
betrothal, 71 death, 76; Bell's
; Harbours, depth of, 211 dredging
;
association with, 78 schemes ;

of, 239
for India and Russia, 85 ex- ; Harland, Sir Edward, 152, 168
periments with model, 120, 259, Harland and Wolff, 151, 207, 209,
261 211, 212, 217, 289, 294, 295
Harrison Line, 216
Galloway, Elijah, 10 Harwich-Hook of Holland route, 229
Gamecock, the, 235 Helen McGregor, the, 128
General Steam Navigation Co., Helm, developments of, 90
founding of, 93, 216, 223, 224 Hero (130 B.C.), application of
George Washington, the, 208, 213, steam power by, 19
289, 301 Hesperian, the, 307
Georgic, the, 219 Hibernia, the, 222
German ship-building, growth of, Himalaya, the, 1 34
Hindostan, the, 114
Germanic, the, 154 " History of American Steam Navi-
Girard, Capt. G. B., 235 gation," by J. H. Morrison, 44
Glass, use of for sidehghts, 153 "Hogging," 98, 102
Glowworm, the, 268 Hohenzollern, the, 279
" Grasshopper " engine, 79 Holt Line, 220
Great Britain, the, 123, 124, 135, Holyhead as port, 221
138 Holyhead-Kingstown service, 222
Great Eastern, the, building of, 138 ; Horse-power, definition of, 39 ; in
launch of, 140 engines of, 141 ;
;
relation to speed, 67
speed of, 142 construction of,
;
Houlder Brothers, 216
143 ; comparison with modem Howden draught system, 209
ships, 144, 157, 173, 176, 179, 180, Hudson, the, steamers of, 261
192, 196, 242, 288 Hudson-Fulton celebrations, 69, 70
Great Eastern Railway, boats of, 229 Hulls, Jonathan, inventions of, 29,
Great Lake steamers, 264 et seq. ; 258
Great Western, the, 97, 99, 100, 102,
103, IDS, 106, 123, 138, 148 Ice-breakers, 250-1
Great Western Railway, steamers India, steamship voyage to, 94
first
of, 98, 123 Channel service of,

; first steamships to, 114
228 passenger tender, 238
;
Inez Clarke, 258
GriflBths, Robert, 216 Inland, the, 245, 248
" Guards " of American paddle- Inman Line, iron steamers of, 147 ;
boats, 261, 264 Atlantic competition, 148, 165
Guericke, Otto von, discovery of Institution of Naval Architects, 319
vacuum, 20 " Intermediate " ships, 178, 220
Guest, Montague " History of
: loland, the, 280
Royal Yacht Squadron," 267 Irish Channel, steam service across,
Guion Line, 155, 156, 212 221, et seq.
334 INDEX
Iron, first use of in masts, 122 ; Liverpool,first steamship in, 83 ;
first steamboat of, 124 general ;

depth of water at, 239
use of, 145 advantages of, 146
; Liverpool Screw Towing and
Isle of Man Steam Packet Co., 230 Lighterage Co., 235
Ismay, Mr. T. H., 151 Livingston, Robert R., association
Ivernia, the, 167, 178, 220 with Pulton, 48-9, 60
Lloyd's, committee of inquiry into
James Watt, the, 77, 93 fires, 324
Jenny Lind, the, 268 Lobnitz & Co., Messrs., 239

John Bowes, the, 242 London, the, 162
Jones, Sir Alfred, 216 London, Brighton and South Coast
Railway, boats of, 227
Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, 174, 175, London, Chatham and Dover Rail-
177, 178, 179, 180, 198, 207, 302, way, boats of, 223, 224, 226
306 London and North Western Rail-
Kaiser Wilhelm II., the, 149, 162, way Co., ships of, 222
179, 180, 198, 207, 209, 306, 326 London and South Western Rail-
Kentucky, the, 107 way, Channel service of, 228, 229
Kronprinzessin Victoria, the, 236 Lucania, the 159, 170, 171, 172,
174, 175, 177, 212
Lady Lansdowne, the, 124 Lusitania, the (Cimard), 8, 60, 103,
lyaird, John, 124 107, 138, 146, 173, 180, 192,
Lane, Thomas, association with 194-206, 212, 213, 239, 301, 318
Fulton, 85 Lusitania, the (Orient Line), 161
Launch, conduct of a, 290 Lyons, the, 227
Laura, the, 229 Lysistrata, the, 280
Laurentic, the, 209, 211, 318
" Leibnizens und Huygens Brief- Macedonia, the, 218
wechsel mit Papin," by Dr. Maclver, David, 106
Ernst Gerland, 23 Magnetic, the, 193
Leinster, the, 222 Mails, carriage of Continental, 224
Leviathan, the, 240 Mail service to Channel Islands,
Liberty, the, 280, 303 227, 228
" Life of Robert Napier," by James Mail steamer, the first, 93
Napier, 78 Mail steamers, first tender for,
Lifeboats, 254-6 105 early Cunard, 107
; Royal ;
Lifeboats, steam, application of Mail Steam Packet Co.'s first

Allen's principles to, 28 contract and ships, iio-ii
Lightning, the, first mail steamer, 93 Majestic, the, 149, 168, 178, 179,
Liner, inauguration of, 104, et seq. ; 194
transition state of, 145 ; luxuries Maloja, the, 218
of, 3CX)-4 navigation safeguards
; Malwa, the, 218
of, 305 ventilation problems,
; Manby, Aaron, and first iron steam-
327 commissariat difficulties of,
; boat, 124, 132
385 Mantua, the, 218
" Link-motion gear," 142 Marconi system, installation on
Livadia, the, 274, 276 Campania and Lucania, 171
;
INDEX 335
Marjory, the, 84 Napier, David, experiments in
Marmora, the, 218 resistance, 81 the Rob Roy, 81 ;
;
Mathesius, steam power and, 19 and cross-channel packets, 220

Matoppo, the, 323 and Comet, 79 ; condenser and,
Matthews, Capt. B. E., 148 136
Maudslay, Joseph, 132 Great ; Napier, James : " Life of Robert
Western engines, 100 Xapier," 78
Mauretania, the, 8, 60, 103, 107, Napier, Robert, engines for British
138, 144, 146, 151, 153, 173, 192, Queen, 102 and Samuel Cunard,
;
193, 194, 206, 208, 211, 212, 213, 106, 107 ; and steam yachts, 267
230, 236, 238, 239, 288, 299, 318 Natchez, the, 259, 261
Mechanical propulsion of boats, National Line, 151, 212
early forms of, 10, 13, 14, 15, 16, Naval Architects, Institution of, 319
20, 22 ; Earl Stanhope's scheme, Navigation, modem safeguards, 305
57 ; Elijah Onnsbee's scheme, 57 Nelson Line, 220
Medina, the, 218 Newcomen, Thomas, steam engine
Medway, the, 242 of, 25-7 improvement of by
;
Megantic, the, 209 Watt, 35, 135

" Memorials of James Watt," by New England Navigation Co., 262
WiUiamson, 83 Newhaven-Dieppe route, 227
Menai, the, 223 New York, the, 165, 220
Menai, the (S. Y.), 268 New York harbour, dredging of,
Mersey Docks and Harbour Board, 212 tugs of, 237
;
240, 241 New Zealand Commission on causes

Miller, Patrick, first paddle-boat of fire, 325
by, 42 steamboats by, 43
; Niagara II., the, 311
Milton, the, 323 Noah's Ark, compared with Baltic,
Minnehaha, the, 220 193
Mississippi, Fulton's scheme for Norddeutscher Lloyd, growth of,
the, 76; steamboats of, 258, 259, 174, 208, 209
260 North German Lloyd, 174, 216, 220
Moldavia, the, 218 Northern Yacht Club, and steam
Monarch, the, 242 yachts, 267
Mongolia, the, 218 Notre Dame des Dunes, the, 253
Monitoria, the, 247 Novelty, the, 121
Monkey forecastle, 283-4
Mooltan, the, 118, 218 Ocean, the (tug), 236
Morea, the, 218 Oceanic, the (i), 138, 151-5, 168,
Morrison, H.J. " History of
:
299, 300
American Steam Navigation," 44 Oceanic, the (2), 176, 179, 180, 215
" Mould floor," shipbuilders', 287 Ohio, steamers of the, 258
Munich, the, 229 Oil-lamps, first use of, 153
Murdoch, WiUiam, 132 " Oil-tanker," the, 243
Olympic, the, 207, 211
Napier, Charles, application of Ophir, the, 169
paddle-wheels by, 14 ; and first Oregon, the, 156
iron steamboat, 124 Orietit, the, 161, 162
5
336 INDEX
Orient Line, foundation of, i6i Peninsular and Oriental Co., estab-
Ormsbee, Elijah, 57, 59 lishment and first ships of, 114;
Orontes, the, 252 " overland" route to India, 115 ;
Oscillating engine, principle of, 132 ; Australian service ; influence of

oi Great Eastern, 141 ; oi Leinster, Suez Canal on, 117; the Mool-
222 tan, 118, 161, 163; and Lund
" Overland " route, 1 1 Line, 216; of, 218
recent ships
Owen, Commander W. H., 323 Penn, John, 133
Perier, experiment with a Watt
Pacific, the, 133 engine, 33, 40 association with
;
Pacific Steam Navigation Co., estab- Fulton, 50, 54, 56

lishment of, 113, 161, 151 Persia, the, 129, 147
Paddle-wheels, Roman use of, 13 ;
Philadelphia, the, 165, 220, 295
on frigate Galatea, 14 early ; Phoebus, the, 244
application of, 16-17 early ; Phoenix, the, 76
forms of, 22 de Jouffroy's, 41
; ;
Pirrie, Lord, 217
Patrick Miller's, 42 Syming- ;
" Plimging-boat," Pulton's, 48
ton's, 43 Fitch's, 45
; of Char- ; Pool Zee, the, 236
lotteDundas, 47 Pulton's, 49 ; ;
Popoff, Admiral, 276
Fulton's experiments on resist- Post Office mail packets, 224
ance of, 65 of Clermont, 72-4
; ;
Preble, Admiral, on HuUs' experi-
Bell's experiments, 78 ; of Comet, ments, 30 on American and
;
79 ; on early steamboats, 86 ;
EngUsh engines, 88
of Prinzessin Charlotte, 89 of ; Prince Robert of Hesse, paddle-
Savannah, 91 " cycloidal " type ; wheel boat of, 22
of Great Western, ICK) ; of Brit- Princess Mary, the, 224
annia, 109 of Scotia, 129, 130
; ;
Princess Maud, the, 224
in tugs, 239 of Great Eastern, ; Prinzessin Charlotte, the, 89
141 stem, 258
; American ; Priscilla, the, 262
" guard " system, 261 of ; Propeller, problems connected with,
Commonwealth, 263 first fitted ; 309-10 inward v. outward turn-
;
to yacht, 268 ing, 311 ; effect on steering, 317

Panama Canal, 114 Providence, the, 262
Pancirolli, Guido " History of : Pulitzer, Mr., 303
Many Memorable Things Lost, Puritan, the, 262
&c.," 16
Papin, Denis, invention
7, 9, 10 ; Quadruple-expansion engines, 166,
of steam engine, 21 steam- ; first 178
boat, 22 safety valve of, 23
; ;
Queen, the, 230
correspondence with Leibnitz, Queen Victoria, yachts in honour
23-4 of, 268
Paragon, the, 76
Paris, the, 166 Randolph Elder & Co., 116
Parsons, Hon. C. A., invention of Reciprocating engine, Watt's inven-
turbine, 184 tion of " double action " for, 38 ;
Parsons turbine for yachts, 274 difficulties of, 209 ; of Laurentic,

Peluse, the, 239, 240 210
3 1 3;
INDEX 337
Red Star Line, 150 Rttssia, the, 149, 150
Reed, Sir Edward, 319 Russell, Scott, on Hulls' experi-
Rennie & Sons, Messrs. J. T., 216 ments, 31; and "resistance,"
Repairs, curious, 294-6, 323 1 30-1, 137 ; and Great Eastern,
Resistance, Fulton's experiments, 139, 319
65 ; recent experiments, 66
varieties of, 67 ; D. Napier's ex- St. Paul, the, 220
periments in, 81 ; John Scott St. Petersburg, the, 229
Russell and, 130-1 ; speed and, St.Louis, the, 220
176; experiments in, 321-2 Safety-valve, discovery by Papin
Richmond, the, 76 of, 23
Robert G. Lee, the, 261 " Sagging," 99, 102
Robert F. Stockton, the, 119 124 Sagitta, the, 278
Rob Roy, the, 81, 221, 223, 224 Sailing ship, limitations of, 5
Rogers, Moses, 9 Saloon, position of, 152 fittings ;
Roode Zee, the, 236 of, 153 ; of modem liners, 300,

Ropner & Sons, Messrs., 248 302
Rotary engine. Watt's, n Sardinia, the, 327
Royal Commission on Tonnage, 31 Savannah, the, 91
Royal Edward, the, 217 Savery, Thomas, inventions of,
Royal George, the, 217 24-5 ;
" horse-power " calctila-
Royal Line, 217, 220 tions of, 39
Royal Mail Steam Packet Co., Saxonia, the, 178, 220
first contract for mails, 1 10 the ; Scot, the, 295
Teviot and Clyde, iio-ii Forth ; "Scotch" boiler, 151
and Thames, launch of, in ; Scotia, the, 129
removal to Southampton ex- ; Scotia, the (Holyhead), 222
tension to South America, 112; Screw, first use of by J. Stevens, 63
the Trent, 1 1
" Screw-port," introduction of, 169 j
Royal William, the (American), 95, of Mauretania, 201
103, 105, 221 Screw propeller, development of,
Royal William, the (2) (1838), loi 119; Ericsson's, 119; Fran-
Royal yachts, 277-8 cis Smith's, 120 ; effect on
Royal Yacht Squadron and steam ship-designing, 122 " slip " and ;
yachts, 266-9 "pitch" of, 122-3; "racing,"

Rubie, John, 89 129 of Victoria, 131
; spur- ;
Ruby, the, engines of, 94 gearing for shafts, 135 ; of Great

Rudder, balanced type of, 201 ; Eastern, 142 ; twin-screws, 165 ;
bow-, 23 1 of " bucket " dredgers,

;
" overlapping " of twins, 169 of ;
240; action of, 317; types of, Ophir, 169 of Campania, 171 ;
;
318; loss of, 323 in relation to turbine, 190 of ;
Rumsey, James, method of pro- Mauretania, 201, 203 of Lau- ;
pelling boats of, 28 experi- ; rentic, 210 adaptation to life-

;
ments by association
; with boats and fire-floats, 256 for ;
Fulton and Fitch, 44 254 : yacht, 269

Russia, introduction of steamships Sea Serpent, the, 268
into, 85 Servia, the, 150, 156
;
338 INDEX
Seventeenth century, sdentific dis- 20 ; Denis Papin's invention,
coveries of, 20 21-4; Savery's inventions, 24-5 ;
" Shade-decker " type, 287 Newcomen's engine, 25-7 Jona- ;
Shaft, fractured, 323 than Hulls' tow-boats, 29 Watt's ;
Ship architecture, problems of, 319 engine, 34-8 Symington's

;
Side-lever engine, development of, engine, 43 ; Fitch's development

88 of Britannia, 109
; improve- ; in America, 44-5 ; improve-
ments of, 127 of Helen
; ments on Charlotte Dundas, 47 ;
McGregor, 128; of Scotia, 130; Fulton's experiments, 49, et seq. ;

first applied to yachts, 268 the Stevens's boats, 63 develop- ;
Silverlip, the,245 ment in America, 76 " Grass- ;
Silvertown, the, 243 hopper " type of engine, 79

Sir Francis Drake, the, 238 side-beam engine, 88 American ;
Sirius, the, 96, 97, 100, 10 1, 105, and English engines, 88 im- ;
193 provements in engines, 94; the

Slavonia, the, 212 compound engine, 116; oscillat-
"Slip" of propeller, 122, 310 ing engine, 132 vertical trunk
;
Smit & Co., Messrs. ly., 236 engine, 134; condenser, 135, 136,
Smith, Assheton, and steam yachts, 167 steering gear, 144
; triple- ;
266-8 expansion engines, 166-7 quad- ;
Smith, Francis, screw-propeller of, ruple-expansion engines, 178 ;

120 turbine engines, 184 beam ;
Somerset, Edward {see "Worcester, engines of American river boats,

Marquis of) 262 ; applied to yachts, 268
South America, establishment of Steel, first ship of, 1 50 develop- ;
Royal Mail service to, 112 ment of, advantage

156 ;
of, 157
South Eastern Railway, 223 boats ; Steeple engines, 269
of, 224 Steering gear, steam, of Great
Southampton, as headquarters of Eastern, 143 principle of, 144
;
Royal Mail Co., 112; -Havre Steering-wheel, development of, 89

route, 227 ; dredging at, 239 Stella, the, 228
South of England Steam Naviga- Stephenson, George, 221
tion Co., 227 Stem, height of, 153, 172, 201
South Western Steam Packet Co., Stem-%vheel boats, invention by
228 Robert Stevens of, 63 : 258
" Spar-deck " type, 285 Stettin Vulcan Co., 174
Speed, appreciation of, 181, 213 Stevens, John, stem-wheel steamer
Sponsons, arrangement of, 261 of, 63 proposal from Fulton to,
;
Spur-gearing, 135 64; the Phoenix, 76, 118

Stability,problems of, 315-6 Stevens, Robert, invention of tubu-
Stanhope, Earl of, Fulton and, 56 ;
lar boilers by first screw- :
experiments of, 57, 59 steamer of, 63

Steam power, problems concerning, Stone-Lloyd water - tight doors,
3 ; evolution of, 18 ; application 191
of by Hero, Archimedes and Strain, 98, 99, 126 ; minimised by
Mathesius, 19 Solomon de Caus'
; length, 139 ; effect of iron and
and Giovanni Branca'sdiscoveries, wood in, 146-7
; ;
INDEX 339
Submarine signalling, 172 on ; Trawlers, steam, 252
Great Eastern boats, 229; methods Trent, the, Slidell and Mason inci-
of, 305 dent, 113
Subsidy, Cunard Co.'s first, 106 Triad, the, 270, 278, 279
Royal Mail Steam Packet Co.'s Trial trip, how carried out, 292, 293
first, 112; reduction of, 113; Triple-expansion engines, principle
for Alauretania and Lusitania, 198 of, 117, 166
" Suction " dredger, 239, 240 " Trunk-deck " steamer, 248
Suevic, the, 295 Tubular boiler, 133
Suez Canal, 115, 116, 117; limita- Tugs, variety of, 234 " Cock " ;
tions imposed by, 215 type, 235 Dutch, 236

; sal- ;
" Sun-and-planet " gear, 37, 47 vage, 237 New York Harbour,
;
Sunbeam, the, 270 237 as passenger tenders, 238

; ;
Sutcliffe, Mrs., on Fulton, 50, 61 paddle-wheel, 239 as trawlers, ;
Swan, Hunter and Wigham 252

Richardson, 212 Turbine, Giovanni Branca and, 20
S37niington, William, engine for importance of, 183 invention ;
Miller's boat by, 43 the Char-

; of, 1 84 Parsons system of, 1 86
; ;
lotte Dundas, 46 the Carmania's, 187 faults of, ;
188 ; the Vespasian experi-

Talbot, the, 221 ment, 189 of Virginian and
;
Taylor, James, 42 Victorian, 190 of Carmania, ;
Taylor, Nayal Constructor D. W., 192 ; of Mauretania and Lusi-

experiments in resistance by, 67 tania, 197, 201 ; low-pressure of
Telegraph ships, 242-3 Laurentic, 210;on cross-channel
Telephone, use of on Balmoral boats, 226 on Great Eastern ;
Castle, 219 installation on liners

; Railway Co.'s boats, 230 on ;
of, 305 Isle of Man boats, 230 ; relia-

Teutonic, the, 168, 179 bility of, 230 on yachts, 274 ;
Teviot, the, no Turbinia, the, 187

Thames, first steamship on the, 83 Turret-ships, 245 ; comparison with
Thames, the, 84, in " whale-back," 265
Thompson, George, & Co., 216 Turtle decks of Oceanic, 153 of ;
" Three-island " type, 283 Umbria, 158; of Victoria, 163;

Titanic, the, 207, 211, 289 of Majestic, 168
Tonnage, of " turret-ships," 247 ; Twain, Mark, on Mississippi
measurements of, 312 Royal
; steamers, 259, 260
Commission on, 313 anomahes
; Twin-screw, evolution of, 163 ; in-
of, 313-4 troduction of " overlapping,"
"Tonnage-deck," 312 169 ; of the Kaiser Wilhelm der
Tonquin, the (ex City of Paris), 149 Grosse, 175 ; oi Adriatic, 207; in-
" Topgallant " forecastle, 284 fluence of on steering capacity, 318
Torricelli, Evangelista, discovery of Twin-ships, 225
weight of atmosphere, 20 Tjrpes of steamships, 283-7
Towing, feats of, 236-7
Train-ferries, 251 Umbria, the, 158-9, 161, 162, 163,
Tramp steamer, the, 250 165, 212
;
340 INDEX
Union-Castle Line, 216; ships of, " Whale-back " steamer, 265
219 White, Sir William H., 197, 203
Union Line, 216 White Star Line, first steamships
of, 151 ; Atlantic competition,
Vanadis, the, 280 151-5, 168; "intermediate"
Ventilation, methods
327 of, ships of, 178 recent ships, 193-4
;
'>
Veranda cafe of Lusitania, 301 206-7, 209, 211 saihng ships of, ;
Vertical trunk engine, 134 215 ;freight and live-stock

Vespasian, the, 189 steamers, 219
Victoria, the, 131 Wigram and Green, 93
Victoria, the (P. & O.), 163 William Facwett, the, 114
Victoria and Albert, the, 277 WiUiams and Guion, 155, 212
Victorian, the, 190 Williamson, Capt. J.: "The Clyde
Vigilant, the, 241 Passenger Steamer Its Rise and :
Virginian, the, 190, 191 Progress during the Nineteenth

Vulcan Yards, Hamburg, 212 Century," 78
Williamson's " Memorials of James
Waesland (ex Russia), 150 Watt," 83
Wakiva, the, 280-1 Wilson, Thomas, & Sons, 216
Waratah, the, 182 Wireless telegraphy on Campania
Water-ballast, tanks of cantilever- and Lucania, 171 on P. & O. ;
framed ships, 249 ; for yachts, ships, 218 on cross- channel

;
274 tanks for, 315

; boats, 226 usefulness of, 229
; ;
Water-tight doors of Oceanic, 153 ; on yachts, 271 on liners, 306 ; ;
Stone-Lloyd system, 191 instances of utility of, 307-8

Watson, G. L., 270 Wittekind, the, 295
Watt, James, 33 early engine of,
; Wood, John, & Co., and the Comet,
34 association with Boulton, 3 5
; ; 78
beam engine, 36 ; " sun-and- Worcester, Marquis of, 9, 10, 18, 20
planet " gear, ^7 rotary engine,
;
ij ; invention of fly-wheel, î ;
" horse-power " calculations of, Yacht, the steam. Royal Yacht
Squadron and, 266-8 Northern ;
39 anecdote of, 82 ; invention

:
Yacht Club and, 267 Robert ;
of condenser, 135, 136.

Napier and, 267 development
Watt, James, & Co., 140
;
of, 269 the Sunbeam, 270

;
Watt, James, Junr., and steam-
lines 270
of, decks of, 272 ; ;
ships, 84
fittings 273 of,engines and ;
Wave-line theory, 131, 133
ballast, 274 Royal, 277-8 ;
Waves, action of, 98 ;
the Sagitta, 278 the Triad, ;

" Well-deck " type, 284-5
278-9 noted yachts, 280-1
;
West Indies, inauguration of mail

Ymuiden Tug Company, 237
service to, no
Weymouth and Channel Islands
Steam Packet Co., 228 Zwarte Zee, the, 236
Printed by Cassbu. & Company, Limited, La Belle Sauvage, London, B.C.

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(1910) Steamships & Their Story

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UC-NRLF

WITH 153 ILLUSTRATIONS

GASSELL AND COMPANY, LTD.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVBD

and the steamship there is a wide difference, as well in

character as in their respective development. But that is

no reason for supposing that the steamship is less interesting

in her history or less deserving of admiration in her final

a halo of romance ; that is undeniable even by the most modem

without, I trust, wearying, the general reader.

and authoritative material obtainable, and to supplement

tionate regard, as her predecessor the sailing ship, whose sphere

of utility she has succeeded so materially in limiting. After

many smaller areas such as channels and bays wherein the

following pages not merely the conditions which in the past

posed to withdraw the suggestion that the steamship is a

October, 1910, will be launched the Olympic, whose size

will dominate even the Mauretania. Much further than a

preface was written, an aeroplane succeeded in flying, in perfect

the incredulous by traversing the same course through water

If that be a true forecast, it is perhaps as well that the steam-

connection : "A Chronological History of the Origin and

in the "Dictionary of National Biography"; "Ancient and

Clyde Passenger Steamer and Progress," by Captain

James Williamson (1904) " The History of American Steam

Navigation," by John H. Morrison (1903) " The History of ;

North Atlantic Steam Navigation," by Henry Fry (1896) ;

" The American Merchant Marine," by W. L. Martin (1902) ;

" The Atlantic Ferry : Its Ships, Men, and Working," by

Boilers," by Sir G. C. V. Holmes (1889) " The Royal Yacht ;

Squadron," by Montague Guest and W. B. Boulton (1903)

by A. Macdonald (1893) " Life of R. Fulton and a History

of Steam Navigation," by T. Wallace Knox (1887); "Life

Charles Dickens " The Orient Line Guide," by W. J. Loftie

and Marine Engineering Collection in the Science Division of

German Shipbuilding " (1909) ; " Leibnizens und Huygens

Briefwechsel mit Papin," by G. W. Von Leibnitz (1881);

ships seen within these pages. To the authorities at South

Kensington I am indebted for the privilege of reproducing a

Mr. James Napier for the illustration of the British Queen ;

the Cunard Steamship Company for the various photographs

subject is necessarily such that to have erred herein would

3. The Early Passenger Steamships ... 63

4. The Inauguration of the Liner . . . 104'

5. The Liner in her Transition State . . . 145'

6. The Coming of the Twin-Screw Steamship. . 165

7. The Modern Mammoth Steamship . . .183

9. Steamships for Special Purposes . . . 288

10. The Steam Yacht 266

11. The Building of the Steamship .... 282

12. The Safety and Luxury of the Passenger 297

13. Some Steamship Problems 309

Jonathan Hulls' Steam Tug Boat

The " Charlotte Dundas "

" Clermont "......

Fulton's plans of a later Steamboat than the

Engine of the " Comet " .

S.S. "Elizabeth" (1815) .

Russian Passenger Steamer (1817)