Every-day Science: Volume VII. The Conquest of Time and Space

ed sails at least 4,000 years before the Christian era. They did not depend entirely upon the sails, however, but used oars

on of the rudder being one of the few nautical inventions made during the centurie

they have left no very satisfactory and authentic records describing their boats. In all probability, however,

cessarily a maritime nation, and it was here that boat-building reached a very high state of development during the period of Greek predominance. Large ships fitted with sails and having severa

but the fabulous number of such banks credited by some authors seems to be entirely without foundation. It is p

description need not be taken seriously, as there is no proof that boats of such proportions were ever attempted in ancient times. But it is certain that the Greeks did build large vessels, some of them at least one hundred and fifty fee

ghter single- or double-banked vessels of Augustus. Augustus had adopted the low, swift, handy vessels of a piratical people, the Liburni, who had learned in their sea fi

riptions that give a good idea of the construction of their boats, which were sufficiently seaworthy to enable the Danes to cross the Atlantic and colonize America. But thanks to one of their peculiar burial customs some of their smaller boats have been preserved and brought to light in

he Norsemen, either through ignorance or choice, reverted to most primitive types in building their boats. Thus it required centuries for them to develop a knowledge of hull-construction that was familiar in an

?VAL

t striking. The Medi?val shipbuilders in striving to improve their craft, making them as seaworthy and as spacious as possible, first added decks, and then built towering superstructure

less exaggerated than in some later vessels. Nevertheless they were veritable "tubs"; and we know from the experience of the crew th

ourse exactly following that taken by Columbus on his first voyage. Sir George Holmes' terse description of this voyage is sufficiently illuminating wi

this innovation, although its superiority over the older steering appliances must have been appreciated fully. But after the begin

SAILI

enth century, however, the English naval architect, Phineas Pett, departed from many of the accepted standards of his time, and produced ships not unlike modern full-rigged sailing vessels, except that the stern was still considerably elevated, and

D THE NEW-

of the 16th century, and a modern submarine. The photograph was taken

minish the depth of the hull and superstructures, above the water line, with improved sailing qualities. England's extensive trade with Indi

rrower than ever constructed before for ocean traffic. The culminating type of wooden sailing ship was represented by the "Baltimore clippers," in which the length was five, and even six, times the beam, with light rigging and improved mechanical devices for handling it, whe

g of the steamboat. Here, as so often elsewhere in the history of progress, it has happened that the full development of a type has not been reached until the ultimate doom of that type, except for special purposes, had been irrevocably sealed. Ever since the full development of the steamboat in the early decades of the nineteenth century, the sailing ship has seemed almost an anachronism; and yet, in point of fact, the steamship did not at once outrival its more primitive forerunner. Even in the matter of speed, the sailing ship more than held its own for a generation or s

s of the nineteenth century. But of course long before this the steamship had proved its supremacy under all ordinary conditions. Even though sailing ships continued to be constructed in large numbe

fforts of several more or less visionary enthusiasts who were contemporaries of James Watt, and who thought they saw gr

TS TO INVENT

ment, he deserves a conspicuous place in the history of an epoch-making discovery. Yet his prophecy was based on his failures. From 1780, for twenty years he strove to perfect a steamboat. His efforts did not carry him far beyond the

t must stand as the most momentous in maritime history. In that year the little Clermont steamed slowly from New York to Albany, a distance of one hundred and fifty miles in thirty-two hours, unaided by sails or oars, and propelled entire

lf the first or the only inventor in the field. For a hundred years, in round numbers, men had been wrestling with the question of applying steam pressure to boat propulsion. All

but neither of these methods was looked upon favorably at first. Less promising was one in which the motive power was

AND AN EARLY TY

s at steam navigation as early as 1776. The upper figure shows a marine engine made in Scotland in 1788 for Patrick Miller by William Symington. It was used to equip a double-hulled pleasure boat which it

machinery, raised and carried toward the bow by the opposite motion. In some of these boats it was planned to have four sets of oars, two sets on each side, which were to work alternately, so that while one set was traveling forward through the air, its mate would be paddling through the water, thus in

viously if the conditions were reversed, and the undershot mill-wheel, for example, forced against the water with corresponding power, the propulsive effect might be great enough-since action and reaction are equal-to move a boat of considerable size. But curiously enough, at the time when Fulton began his experiments there was a wave of genera

uilt by the Spaniard, Blasco de Gary. In 1707, this inventor constructed a model paddle-wheel steamboat, an

ch was to be propelled by a stern wheel. His idea was to use his boats as tug- or tow-boats, and to equip the lar

ls, one of them ascending the Seine against the current; but nevertheless, the French government refused to grant the inventor a patent. Presumably, therefore, the boat was not considered a practical success in official circles; and this view is tacitly conceded by the fact that no more boats

fficers being present on this occasion. The boat was able to make fairly good progress through the water, and seemed so promising that a company was formed by capitalists known as the Rumsey Society, for promoting the idea and building more boats. Rumsey was

worked by a steam-engine. This boat worked so well that in 1801, Lord Dundas engaged Symington to build a smaller boat to be used for towing on the Caledonian Canal. This boat, called the Charlotte Dundas, completed in 1802, is said to

by the attitude of James Watt, who "predicted the failure of his engine, and threatened him with legal penalties if it succeeded." And when at last he received an order for eight smaller vessels from the Duke of Bridgewater, his patron died before the details of t

fice Museum in London. Since the beginning of practical steam navigation this engine has

Hoboken, New Jersey, was on the verge of accomplishing the same end with a screw-prop

CHARLOTTE DUNDAS

was 56 feet; beam 18 feet; depth 8 feet. The boat was a practical success, but its use was discontinued because of the damage done to the banks of the Canal by the wash of the padd

of three or four miles an hour on the North River, during the fall of 1802. But Stevens found so much difficulty in packing the blades of this engine without causing too much friction that he finally abandoned it for the more common type of reciprocating engine. But if this little

this rate, according to some observers. The engines of this boat are still in existence, and on several occasions since 1804 have been placed in hulls corresponding as nearly as possible to the original, and have demonstrated that they could force the boat through the water at six or eight miles an hour. These engines in

principle of his screw propeller, as is shown by the fact that three years later, while Fulton was building the Clermont, Stevens was also constructing a steamboat, not along the lines of his previous inventions, but as a paddle-wheel boat. This leaves little room for doubt that Stevens had not full confidence in the propeller; and when an inventor himself mistrusts his own d

AND THE

s an experimental skiff, but as a boat of one hundred and fifty tons burden-half again the size of the boats in which Columbus had discovered America-to be placed in commission between Albany and New York city. By August, this boat was completed, and the engines in place, and, under her own steam, the new boat was moved from the Jersey shipyard where she was constructed, and tied up at a New York dock. On August 7th, she start

along the river can be readily imagined. An eye-witness account of this first passage

er, while others did not hesitate to express their belief that it was a sign of the approaching Judgment. What seemed strange in the vessel was the substitution of lofty and straight black smoke-pipes, rising from the deck, instead of the gracefully tapered masts that commonly stood on the vessels navi

ed of nothing but the sea-monster, belching fire and smoke. The fishermen became terrified and rowed homewards, and they saw nothing but destruction devastating their fi

CLER

tember, 1909. The small picture shows one of the paddle-wheels in detail. The original Clermont, the f

ced any new principle or discovery in his application of steam to the Clermont. The boiler, engine, paddle-wheel-every part of the boat had been known for years. Ye

ING ST

oyages. The first steamship to cross was the Savannah in 1819. She made the voyage from Savannah to Liverpool in twenty-five days, using her paddle-wheels part of the time, but at other times d

nd America, until the voyage had been made in about seventeen days. Then, in 1838, two vessels, the Sirius and the Great Western, for the first time using steam alone as motive power, made record voyages, the Great Western crossing in twelve days, seven and a half hours. This was consider

the passengers being Samuel Cunard, a Quaker of Halifax, who was the founder of the enterprise. The population of Boston went mad on the arrival of this boat; streets

igation. Since that time no year has passed without seeing some important addition and improv

LT OF IRO

struction of vessels. One reason for this was that suitable wood was becoming scarce and very expensive. But also there was a limit to the size that a woo

s of years, could not be overcome in a moment. And surely such a heavy substance as iron would not be likely to suggest itself to the average ship-builder. But at the beginning of the

a vessel, but he made detailed plans of one-not merely a boat with an iron hull, but with decks, beams, masts, yards, and spars made of the same material. It was nearly ten years af

ats. For at least sixty years it remained in active service. Indeed, for aught that

corresponding size built of wood. In wooden cargo ships the weight of the hull and fittings varies from 35 to 45 per cent. of the total displacement, while iron vessels vary from 25 to 30 per cent. This was a vital point in favor o

n 1835, drove many vessels on shore, among them an iron steamboat just making her maiden voyage. The wooden vessels without exception were wrecked, most of

those built of wood. By the middle of the century, iron shipbuilding was at its height, and in the decade immediately following, the Great Eastern was finished-possi

ime, but the innovations in the method of her construction gave the cue to modern revolutionar

antage, coupled with the high speed expected from her great length, would secure for her the command of the enormous cargoes which would be necessary to fill her. Mr. Brunel communicated his idea that such a vessel should be constructed for the trade to the East to the famous engineer and shipbuilder, the late Mr. John S

of the design, which, on account of the exceptional size of the ship, present

r, of the bottom of the Great Eastern the cells were completed by the addition of an inner bottom, which added greatly both to the strength and to the safety of the ship. It was also Mr. Brunel's idea that the great ship should

e principal dimensions and ot

en perpendic

n upper

readth of

r paddle-

upper deck

f water (

used in constru

es used in con

s used in const

gross 1

of paddle engi

r of screw e

et. There was accommodation for 800 first-class, 2,000 second-class, and 1,200 third-class passengers, and the crew numbered 400. The upper deck, which was of a continuous iron-plated and cellular structure,

ng her preliminary trip the pilot reported that she made a speed of fully 14 knots at two-thirds of full pressure, but the highest rate of speed which she attained on this occasion was 15 knots, and on her first journey across the Atlantic the average speed was nearly 14 knots, the greatest distance run in a day having been 333 nautical miles. The great value of the s

engines consisted largely in the use of higher pressures, surface condensation, and compounding of the cylinders, which resulted in a saving of about half the amount of fuel over en

steel plates in place of wrought iron was tried. The superiority of this material over iron was quickly demonstrated, and as the cost of steel wa

s remarkable in many ways. Her length, four hundred and twenty feet, was more than ten times her beam; iron railings were substituted for bulwarks; and the passenger quarters were shifted from

twin-screws had not proved as efficient as a single screw in developing speed. But in 1888 the City of Paris (now the Philadelphia) a twin-screw boat, began making new speed records, and the foll

single-screw steamer, or the derangement of her rudder renders the vessel helpless. Not so the twin-screw ship; for on such ships the screws can be used for steering as we

MPH OF T

m of which has been described elsewhere. Since the day of the little Turbinia, whose speed astonished the nautical world, the limit for size and spe

rmans in particular had produced fast boats, such as the Deutschland and Kaiser Wilhelm II, which for several years held the ocean record for speed. But meanwhile the turbine engine was being

ansion engines driving twin-screws of a size and shape known to develop the greatest efficiency, for several years offer

size and shape, the Caronia having the highest type of quadruple expansion reciprocating engines, while the Carmania was equipped with turbine engines. Here was

rman flyers. But in 1908 two more turbine ships, the Lusitania and Mauretania b

wo separate propellers for going astern. These engines develop 68,000 horse-power. Stated in this way these figures convey little idea of the power developed. But when we say that it would

on of watertight compartments half a century ago, as we have seen; and the size of the Great Eastern has been surpassed in only a few instances. But it is since the beginning of the present century that two revolutionary safety devices have been perfected-wireless telegraphy and the submarine signali

INE SI

and boisterous nights which frighten the distressed landsman have no terrors for the sailor. Given an open sea

is under favorable conditions; and unfortunately such conditions do not always prevail. And if there is a wind stirring or the sea running high atmospheric sounds cannot be depended upon. A fog whistle whose sound ought to carry several

than in preventing it. Thus in 1908 when the wireless operator on board the steamer Republic flashed his message broadcast telling ships and shore-stations for hundreds of miles around that his vessel had been run down in a fog and was sinking, he could only give the vessels that hurried to the Republic's aid an appro

degrees; but these waves are not affected when water is the medium through which they are passing. The knowledge of these facts was turned to little practical account until the closing years of the last century when Arthur J. Mundy of Boston, and a little later Pro

that of a submerged bell. It is possible for a person whose head is submerged to hear the ringing of such a bell distinctly for a long distance; but of course for practical purposes such submergence is o

les. The location of the bell could be determined by having two such brass balls, one on each side of the hull of the vessel but not submerged to a depth below that of the hull, so that the ship itself acts as a screen in obstructing the sound waves coming from the bell. By listening alternately to the sounds of the bell transmitted thr

discovered presently that by using the inside of the outer steel skin of the ship's hull below the water line as one side of the brass ball, the transmitter would work equally well. Indeed, with added improvements, this hollow me

the detection of the sound of the bell. But presently a receiving device was perfected which ignored all sounds but those of the bell, thus giving

g the strokes so that the mariners could tell by the intervals just what bell he was in touch with, as he knows each lighthouse by the intervals between the Hashes of its lights. A further development in the signaling device was to e

gauged from the clearness of the sound heard in the telephone receiver. At the distance of a quarter of a mile the sound of the bell is so

re of vessels went groping in the fog to her assistance, while the entire civilized world waited in breathless expectancy. Most of the rescuing vessels, although constantly in communication with the stricke

its use is not confined to the larger boats. The apparatus can be made so small that even boats

g vessels now supply each of the attending dories with a submarine bell which weighs about forty pounds and is run by clockwork. When caught in the fog the fisherman hangs this bell over the side of his dory and thus warns approaching steamers of his position, at the same

of modern vessels minimizes rolling and pitching. Turbine engines practically eliminate engine vibrations. The danger from fires was practically eliminated by the introduction of iron and steel as building material; the danger of sinking after collisions is now guarded against by the division of the ship's hull into water-tight

ys, one hour, and forty-five minutes, making a new record. In 1909 the Mauretania covered the same distance in four days, ten hours, and fifty-one minutes. In March, 1910, the same vess

ions, however, the White Star Company at once began constructing two vessels, the Olympic and Titanic, each with a displacement of one-fourth more than the great Cunarders, and

. They are ninety-two feet in beam, and sixty-two feet in molded depth. The roof of the pilot house is seventy f

rocating engines drive the two outer of the three screws, and the exhaust from thes

UID

ges of this form of fuel have been recognized, the Russians having brought its use to a high state of perfection, both in boats and locomotives. Practically all the steamers on

and easily, is cleaner, and reduces the engine-room force to one-fourth or one-third the number of men required when coal is used. Incidentally it reduces the difficu

el have been so compelling that it is now coming into use on all classes of war vessels, and seems likely to supplant coal entirely on some types of boats, such as the torpedo destroyers. Moreover, the experience of the Russian boa

these tests it was found that the steaming radius was greatly increased, the firing force reduced, and fuel taken into the ship in about

oil is atomized by the use of steam spray, or air blast, it being impossible to get proper combustion of the oil except when used in minu

he crude, cheap oil, as the finer and lighter oils are used in motors to-day. When this occurs the space-consuming boilers and furnaces used in ships at present will be replaced by compact machinery, quite as efficient, but occupying