Ship (ARMORED The earliest plans)

Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)

ARMORED. The earliest plans for the building of armored steamships appear to have been made by John Stevens of New Jersey in 1812. The idea did not then take practical shape but it was developed by his son, Robert Los who secured acceptance by the United States Government of a plan for the construction of an ironclad steamship in which all the machinery would be below the water-level. The keel was laid in 1854, but the French meanwhile produced the "Gloire," which, speedily followed by the sister ships "Invincible" and "Normandie," was the first ocean-going ironclad. In 1861 the United States provided for the building of the "Galena," "New each of which had distinctive features, which included inward-inclined sides, ram bows, retreating sterns, coverings of iron plate, and powerful batteries. The "Monitor" was really a floating battery, unsafe at sea, and her usefulness was proved in the fight with the "Merrimac" in the Civil War. Progress from that time on was marked by a development that alternated between the turret ship and the ship fitted for broadside fire from many guns. Italy, France, and Great Britain built both turret ships and broadside and central battery ships, and in the seventies a definite return was made by Italy and Great Britain to the turret ship with thick armor, central citadel, and battery of heavy guns. The caliber of the auxiliary guns was increased till the British in 1906 finally evolved the dreadnaught. This new type involved a concentration of force which made many other vessels obsolete. Turbine engines were introduced, the speed increased, and the principle of single caliber guns was adopted in all the great navies. The first battleship laid down in the United States was the "Texas" in 1889, and the improvement was uniform till the building of the "California" and "Oklahoma." The British super-dreadnaught "Queen Elizabeth" represented the utmost concentration of power during the World War, and its work in the Dardanelles in February, 1915, was an interesting exhibition of relative power between naval guns and land guns. SHIPBUILDING. The development of shipbuilding is represented in its main stages by the evolution of the hull and the introduction of the machinery of propulsion. The first carries us back almost to the prehistoric period and to an idea as simple as the floating log. The line of development through the raft, the hollowed-out trunk, the boat of skins stretched on frames, and the vessel of planks tied together brings us finally to the wooden and iron ship of modern times. From very early times the idea of the oars and the sail had already been evolved. Early Egyptian drawings show vessels of sawn planks with sails and The Greeks and Romans enlarged oars. the size of their vessels, but they still remained dependent on man-power. In mediæval times Irish mariners sailed in vessels propelled by sails and oars to the Faroe Islands and Iceland, which they discovered, and Columcille at Iona commanded fleets of vessels which passed constantly between Iona, Derry, and other Irish ports. Ships remained dependent on sails and man-power for propulsion down to modern times, but the arrival Ironsides," and the famous "Monitor," of steam engines resulted in a general awakening of the possibilities that lay in natural forces and shipbuilding, like other mechanical arts, took an upward bound. The general shape of vessels had to be modified to the new methods of propulsion, and gradual perfection was reached. Attention was given in the changed circumstances to greater stability and speed, simplicity was sought in the mechanical apparatus, and the structural arrangement was developed to secure greater habitability. The substitution of iron for wood and of steel for iron had reference not merely to increased resistance and durability and safety from combustion but also to the reduction of tion to weight weight of hull in proportio of lading. The investigation of the effect of the shape on buoyancy, speed, range of stability, and righting ability resulted in a certain standardization which has eliminated former dangers, so that safety at sea is now as procurable as on land. The naval architect drafts his plans on paper, and embodies parts of the vessel in wooden models. Molds are then laid by the constructive force. When these are completed actual construction begins with the preparation of the building way along keel blocks. On these the keel is laid, in sections, riveted together and fastened to the stern and stern posts. The midship frames are then set up, being held by a vertical internal keel till the forged stern and stern posts and the complementary plating are put in and the form of the ship is completed. After the launching the ma machinery is put in and the interior supplementary fittings are added. The reciprocating engine long held the field, but in recent years the development of turbine engines displaced the older type while the use of oil and the Diesel engine has produced motor vessels of the largest displacement as the latest type of all. The enormous expansion in shipbuilding has now also entailed the introduction of an immense variety of auxiliary machinery and appointments so that a modern transatlantic liner has come to partake of the character of a floating city. The building of naval vessels is, of course, differentiated from the building of passenger and cargo ships in many essential ways, but the actual ship is fundamentally the same, and the differences lie in the purposes of the parts, such as machinery, guns, and armament, added to it. See SHIPPING. SHIP CANALS. See CANAL,