Ancient to Modern Shipbuilding

It is impossible to state with any degree of accuracy the time or the portion of the globe in which shipbuilding originated. Among razor knives found in Denmark, belonging to the "bronze" age in Europe, are several with representations thereon of galleys, which compare favorably with those of ancient Rome, and show that the spirit of enterprise and adventure inherent in human nature led men of this early age to devise means of navigating the bodies of water near which they had their homes. The art of navigation was doubtless one of the first to occupy the minds of men dwelling near the shores of the great seas. The ark of Noah is the first vessel of which we have any record. It was 450 feet long, 75 feet in breadth and 45 feet deep. The proportions of length, breadth and depth are noticeable from the fact that the same ratios are now considered to be excellent for combining great strength of structure with large carrying capacity. The Phoenicians were the greatest commercial people of ancient history, and, instructed by the Egyptians, seem to have been the first to make material progress in the construction of vessels. In the tomb of Rameses the Great is a representation of a naval combat between the Egyptians and a people, supposed to be Phoenicians, whose ships are propelled by sails. A biblical reference to the power of Tyre, capital of Phoenicia, describes its vessels and their construction, the planking being made of the fir trees of Senir, the masts of cedars of Lebanon, the oars of the oaks of Bashan, the rowing benches of ivory and the sails of fine linen of Egypt. Reference is also made of mariners, pilots, caulkers and men-of-war, showing the progress made in the arts of shipbuilding and navigation. A peculiar feature in the construction of the ships of the Egyptians was the planking, which were about three feet square and were laid overlapping, like shingles upon a roof, being fastened to the ribs or frames by wooden treenails. According to Herodotus the Nile vessels were fitted with rudders at the stern, thus antedating the application of that invention to sea-going vessels by several centuries.

The vessels of the Phoenicians served as models to the Greeks, whose ships, at the height of their civilization, show a marked resemblance to those of the dwellers in Tyre. Heiro, King of Syracuse, built and sent to Ptolemy II. a ship of surpassing magnificence. It was built under the superintendence of that great master of mechanical arts, Archimedes, of whose ingenuity and mechanical skill we have ample proof, yet it is stated that his ingenuity was taxed to the utmost in launching this enormous vessel. It is said to have contained gardens, stables, fish ponds, mills, baths and an engine to throw stones 300 pounds in weight, and arrows 12 yards long. The floors were inlaid with scenes from the Iliad. As the vessels of this period depended mainly upon the use of oars for propelling power, their arrangements gave distinctive names to the various classes of vessels, such as Biremes, Triremes, Quadriremes, etc.

The nations of the north of Europe developed a class of vessels which, from specimens found buried in mounds in Scandinavia and Denmark, show a remarkable knowledge of the forms of least resistance, together with the strength of materials and their proper distribution, and suggest that the influence of the Phoenician ship-builders had in some way penetrated to the north of Europe. Caesar, in his history of the campaign against the Veneti, in the year 54 B. C., states that their ships were built entirely of oak, and designed to endure the force and violence of the tempests; the rowers' benches were fastened by iron spikes, instead of cables, they secured their anchors with chains of iron. A Roman ship of the time of Trajan, sunk in the Lake Ricciola, was raised after it had lain there more than 1,300 years; the planking was of pine and cypress, covered on the outer side with sheets of lead fastened with copper nails. Here we find metal sheathing and chain cables in use at the beginning of the Christian era.

The Greeks and Romans had a peculiar method of girding their vessels with long hempen cables, which, passing through holes at the stern post, continued all around the vessel, fore and aft, immediately under the wales; also the hulls were undergirded tranversely in the same manner as the vessel that was wrecked in carrying Paul to Rome. The ropes were tightened by levers, and by shrinking when wet drew the members of the vessel closely together after the fashion of the hoops upon a barrel. The hulls were thus strengthened to resist the violence of heavy seas and for ramming. The sailing vessels of the early Roman Empire, such as the one that bore Paul to Rome, and those engaged in the corn trade with Egypt, were the direct precursors of the large sailing vessels which superseded the galleys propelled by oars. But little is known of the shipbuilding of the middle ages.

In the fifteenth century the Spaniards and French made great progress in the art of shipbuilding, the French being the first to apply the principles of mathematics to the design and construction of vessels. The English availed themselves of the researches of the French, and, adopting the forms of the French vessels captured by them, soon began to acquire renown as builders of fast and powerful vessels.

The great forests of America enabled Americans to take the lead in the production of vessels at small cost. For many years the models and methods of the English and French were followed, but the impetus given by the fitting out of privateers during the latter part of the seventeenth and the beginning of the eighteenth centuries did much to create a new era in American shipbuilding. As has been well stated, "there was assembled here in New York, between the year 1685 and the year 1700, such a swarm of fighting sailormen, and such strong stimulus was given to the marine industries of shipbuilding, rope-making and the putting up of sea stores, that only a few cities in Europe could compare in completeness of equipment with New York."

In 1850 the American shipbuilders cut loose from the trammels of precedence and brought out the clipper ships, which, owing to their remarkable performances, soon influenced the naval architecture of foreign nations and made a lasting impress upon the models of the navies of the world. One of this class, the Red Jacket, of New York, made the trip from Sandy Hook to Melbourne, 12,720 miles, in 69 days and 11 hours; another, the Sovereign of the Seas, of Boston, sailed 5,391 miles in 22 days. The ship Great Republic was the largest of this class of vessels; she was 325 feet long, 53 feet wide and 37 feet deep, with a capacity of 4,000 tons. She had four masts, the main yard being 120 feet long; a suit of her sails contained 15,653 square yards of canvas, or sufficient to cover about 3 1/4 acres of land. So fleet were these vessels that for long distances, especially where trade winds could be utilized, they were scarcely inferior to vessels propelled by steam, and so were enabled to carry a large amount of the world's trade long after steam vessels were successfully introduced.

A great change took place in the art of shipbuilding when the steam engine was applied to ships. "The old proportions and forms so well suited for the speed of sailing ships and the forces impressed upon them were ill adapted for propulsion by the paddle wheel and still more so for propulsion by the screw." The steel as a material for shipbuilding, the practices of the shipwright have undergone a complete change, although the first steps, those of laying down, etc., remain practically the same.

The character of construction depends upon the material used, so that we have vessels built of wood, of iron, of steel and of a combination of wood, iron and steel. The era of wooden vessels in this country reached its perfection in the building of the war vessel Trenton, which was wrecked at Samoa during the great storm of 1889. England early saw the advantages of constructing the vessels, both merchant and naval, of iron, and has led the way in the development of iron and steel construction. With the growth of trade there sprang up in the minds of ship owners the desire to be compensated in some measure, in case of possible loss, for ship and cargo. This led to the foundation of companies of underwriters, who, for a consideration, would insure the owners against loss. Ships were first surveyed by the inspectors of the insurance companies, and the rates fixed according to the condition of the vessel, but from the desire for low rates of insurance on the one hand and for good risks on the other there were gradually evolved sets of rules of minimum scantlings for vessels about to be built and classified in one or the other of the insurance companies, so that to-day very few merchant vessels are built in the United States or in Europe that are not built according to the rules of some one of the Lloyds' or underwriters' associations.

Wooden ships are so called because built almost entirely of wood. From the difficulty of obtaining the necessary strength without excessive weight they have been confined to moderate dimensions. Their advantages are the ease with which they can be constructed and consequent low cost, and the fact that below the water they can be covered with copper, which by exfoliation clears the bottoms of barnacles and marine growths, thus enabling them to remain afloat a long time without docking. On the other hand, owing to the nature of the material of which they are constructed, frequent and extensive repairs are necessary.

The introduction of iron and steel as a material for shipbuilding made possible ships of almost any size, the only limit being the cost of production and maintenance and the size of existing docks. The difficulties experienced are deterioration from the action of salt water upon the metal, and the fact that barnacles and marine growths seem to claim the bottoms of iron and steel vessels as their own peculiar field for operation, especially in tropical waters, thereby retarding the speed to a marked degree and making necessary the frequent docking of vessels to clean and paint the bottoms. To obviate this trouble many medium sized vessels are built of iron or steel throughout, except the outer skin and deck plank, which is of wood. The bottom planking being of wood, is readily coppered, while the framework and topsides being of metal, confines the repairs chiefly to the renewal of the planking. This style of construction is called "composite."--By Rear-Admiral Hichborn, Chief Constructor, U. S. N.